NationStates Jolt Archive

It measured nearly fourteen kilometers in length as it hung in the empty space, silently passing the centuries in solitude. No one had disturbed the almost-holy rest of this massive torpedo-shaped battlecruiser, it's cannons pointing outwards in silent warning, for nearly four thousand years, if not more. Only the writing on the side indicated anything about its origin or where it might be headed.

Slowly approaching the floating derelict was the Norma Mente, a DLE ship sent in this direction to investigate rumors of a ship graveyard. So far, they had found nothing but the usual derelicts and this thing. But unlike the normal derelicts that they dodged from having experience with the region, this one caught their curiousity and held it with the grasp of a small child fighting to keep their toy. And for this child, the opposition was too weak to take it away.

"Sir, the writing is definitely Sarkarasetan. It identifies the ship as a battlecruiser named Somanos. The ship appears dead. Your orders?" Leutent Yatos asked.

"I want to board this one. It may have technology that will help us. In the very least, the information we will gain about them will be worth the effort and risk," Captain Soma said.

The DLE ship slowly maneuvered itself close to the old battleship, quite surprised to not be fired on by the obvious weaponry. It was not until the ship had attached itself to the derelict they got the first sign the old crate still had power: The airlock door openned. But, otherwise, the ship did nothing.

Soma and Yatos decided to lead a team of six marines into the old craft, leaving behind the other six to guard the remaining two crewmembers. As they stepped onto the ship, lights began to slowly power up, obviously responding to motion sensors. Surprisingly, the ship still had artificial gravity after all of these years.

"Sir, this ship still has at least half its power. It may be entirely functional. Imagine the prestige we would get for bringing an intact Sarkarasetan battlecruiser home!" Yatos exclaimed.

"It won't be much if this ship was abandonned for a reason. We need to get to engineering. The master controls are there. But which direction?" Soma asked.

Much to his surprise, the wall before him lit up with a holographic map, showing both the location of those onboard it and the directions to engineering. The fact the ship responded to verbal commands in Sarkarasetan suggested to him at least the rudiments of an AI, which Sarkaraset was known to possess. Yet, this may be the most disasterous news of all, as sometimes AIs went insane.

"Marines, your job is to provide security and carry what we find back to our ship. Only one of each item. We'll have our scientists reverse-engineer it later," Soma said.

"Sir, look at this," Yatos said.

Yatos was holding a stange crystal she had plucked out of the wall. The metal walls had crystals implanted all throughout them, the crystals shining in the light. As Yatos held the crystal closer to the hologram, it seemed to flicker and then vanish, only to reappear when the crystal was pulled away. Soma looked at the effect curiously.

"These crystals seem to disrupt electricity and they're everywhere. I even noticed a laticework of them on the exterior of the ship, but it doesn't stand out," Yatos said.

"So? What does that have to do with anything?" Soma asked.

"Any energy weapons fired at this ship would dissipate before they struck. Even torpedos and missiles are questionable, though antimatter tech can still affect it. Sir, if this ship does hostile, we won't be able to stop it," Yatos said, pocketing the crystal.

"Then let's hope it doesn't. Marines, move out. We have a schedule to keep and this ship isn't moving on its own," Soma said.

They continued, quiet, finding the strange, empty ship almost disconcerting. There was no visible sign of damage or even dead bodies, which only helped contribute to the overall sense of wrongness that seemed to permiate the air. Everything, from the way the lighting hit the floor to how the hologram floated along with them, seemed out of place.

Yatos stopped and looked down one hallway that suddenly appeared to their left. The hallway faded into blackness and, despite the absense of any signs of life, Yatos got the disturbing feeling of being watched. It wasn't the feeling one gets when a predator is watching, but more of a feeling of some creature that defies the laws of physics to the point of producing instant madness upon seeing it. Yatos shuddered and then hurried on to catch up with the group, not wanting to linger there.

Intrudersss...

They reached the engine room, only to stop and stare. The engineering section was where expected, at the center of the ship, but this was not what they had expected. The center of the section was a massive black diamond connected to a block below it by four prongs. Surrounding the central construct were four antimatter reactors, each positioned at one of the cardinal points. The surprising thing was the size of the room, at least 200 meters from floor to ceiling, and the fact thr antimatter reactors were still active.

Yatos walked over to a consol and touched it, surprised it came up. She quickly began searching through the files, finding herself unchallenged as she accessed the highest-priority ship systems. The way the controls responded, she could almost swear the ship itself was actively trying to help her. But, what she found was even more important.

"Sir, this ship has weapons unlike any I've seen before. The biggest cannons are singularity weapons. If the files are correct, they have enough power to wipe out entire planets. The next size down are antimatter cannons. But the majority of the weapons are a modified form of disruptor technology we have not encountered before. Also, it appears this ship has a large supply of antimatter torpedos," Yatos said.

"What about the engines?" Soma asked.

"They use a more sophisticated jump drive than I have ever heard of. Two hundred parsecs per jump. And they use warp for slower travel," Yatos said.

"Wait, how did you get in without access codes?" Soma asked.

At that moment, a clang came from outside the engineering room. Soma motioned for a marine to check it out, now feeling warned that something was up. The question of access was temporarily forgotten.

Yatos stopped, turned towards one of the antimatter reactors, and smiled. She walked over to it and touched it in one spot. Surprisingly, the reactor quickly shut down and a square of the floor rose up, having a strange barrel-like device beneath it. Yatos motioned for two marines to come over and, with their help, managed to get the device out the floor and back towards the consol.

"Sir, this device produces antimatter from matter. We can backwards engineer it to skip decades of research. Plus, I've checked and they have a technology database in the consol. All we have to do is remove it," Yatos said.

At that point, the marine Soma had sent to investigate the strange sound came running it, his head down and weapon lost as energy bolts shot around him to strike the walls and ceiling. Behind him was what looked like a minigun on a stand with wheels, it rolling to a stop as it faced the group. The barrels were still spinning, but now they were not firing.

"I would suggest you stop," a female voice said from the ceiling.

"Who are you?" Soma asked.

"The ship's artificial intelligence," the voice said.

OOC: Since no one is interested, this post is ending it.

IC:

"Ship's AI? In that case, perhaps we can help you. Have you identified our species?" Soma asked.

"Yes. You are Sarkarasetan, but have unusual genetic anomalies. Considering the amount of time that has passed, this is not unusual. Which empire due you hail from?" the AI asked.

"The DemonLordEnigma Empire, based on Terran," Soma said.

"I have record of the planet, but it is listed in my database as a barren rock intended for colonization by both empires. The empire has appeared since then. How many empires are the Sarkarasetans divided into?" the AI asked.

"Just the one. We're the descendants of all that is known to remain of that people," Soma said.

"The... the empires fell?" the ship asked.

"Yes and no. They destroyed each other. Of all of the colonies we've checked, only ours has survived. In most cases the entire solar system is missing. We are all that is left of those empires," Soma said.

"In that case, I must assume myself to be the last remnant of Sarkaraseta. I will have my guards escort you out of my territory and confiscate what you have stolen," the AI said.

"Wait! We have something to offer!" Yatos said.

"What could you possibly have to interest me?" the AI asked.

"Simple. You let us take what we have already stolen and a technology database containing items within our technological capacity and we will help you with supplies and defense," Soma said.

"Agreed. An alliance it is then."