NationStates Jolt Archive

"War is a constant, my son. It is a living being, one which thrives on our existence, the existence of all life. For, if it is one thing all life shares, it is conflict. The conflict within itself, the conflict between the many forms of it throughout the universe. We are drawn towards conflict, and it is inevitable that it will consume us. The only thing we can control is how much of our soul it will consume"-Former President Kal'shir of the Kelauan Dominion, pre-Great War era

War was a constant, and it did consume everything. Much like it had with the Kelauan Dominion. The Kelauan Dominion had been a rather peaceful nation; they had colonies, who bickered and complained over how they lost so much of their gains to the homeworld. Who, in turn, told them in no uncertain terms that they owed them for helping to get them there. They bickered, and fought two brutal civil wars about it. However, they were as a people, peaceful and focus on technological advancement. During those times, they had primitive ships that tore open inefficient holes in space to go from system to system, and only had primitive railguns and missiles for weapons. This was enough to keep them protected and put down rebellion and pirates. But, as they say, progress comes with conflict, and progress through conflict requires a heavy price. The Dominion learned this first hand with the coming of the Arl'skich.

A strange, enigmatic race who came out of nowhere twelve years ago, and slammed into the Outer Rim of the Dominion, viciously tearing through all the ships and forces the Dominion had in the area. A counter-response was finally organized two weeks after the initial assault, with the first ring of worlds taken by the Arl'skich. It failed utterly, and the Dominion watched horrified as the alien weaponry ripped through their ships, destroyed their soldiers, and killed their populations. Military strategists at the highest levels gathered, as the Outer Rim burned, and determined a course of action. They presented it to the then democratic government, the Congress and President, and it was unanimously approved. They knew what had to be sacrificed in order for their race to live.

For three brutal years, the Dominion fought a losing war with the Arl'skich. They threw entire navies and armies at the Arl'skich like they were water, hoping to slow them down in order to fulfill the plan they had put into motion. This was possible with the president giving all control of the nation to the military, for the best coordination possible. Lives lost were counted in the millions, and soon, the billions. The Arl'skich, however, were slowed due to this tactic and an oddity of theirs. They had this racial urge to occupy every possible space they could, even if it was insanely impractical. As such, this gave the Dominion time to evacuate all it could, and conduct raids on Arl'skich facilities, ships, and bases. They stole countless data dumps, devices, and even weapons and armor, and then studied them. Took them apart, tested them, and eventually reverse-engineered them. They took the technologies of the Arl'skich and improved on them. They gained grasers from the Arl'skich beam weaponry, they gained their shields, they gained better railguns with a better understanding of gravitics, and they gained lasers. They even made the beam weapons better by adapting anti-matter into beams for their strongest weapons. The biggest change, however, was the genetic technology. The Arl'skich were masters of bioengineering, and their control over genetics was remarkable. The Kelauans, having seen that even without weapons that they were outmatched by the primal power of the Arl'skich did what they had to.


They changed the genetics of the entire population. Of course, the military got the stronger and more hazardous upgrades. The citizens were now stronger, faster, had more endurance, they were better in every way. The Dominion Marines, the front-line soldier, were the next step. Becoming even stronger than the citizenry, but they were the limit a Kelauan could go with normal upgrades. If they wanted to become the ultimate warrior, and be the sword and shield of the Dominion, to become so changed as to be no longer recognizable as they were before, they could become a Warbringer. These hulking warriors of power armor and heavy weapons have come to be the first line of defense, last line of defense and main weapon against the Arl'skich.

The initial three years bought them time; the next seven years were upgrading, building fleets and changing their race. The last two consisted of the counter-attack. In a series of crushing and fast campaigns, they destroyed the Arl'skich invasion and reclaimed their worlds. They even began an invasion of their own, doing a reverse of what happened to them. They slammed through the outer defenses and took much of the outer colonies. However, the Arl'skich primitive defiance and their insistence on occupying all space possible have begun to slow down the campaign. Fighting has become horrendously fierce, the Arl'skich have begun to counter-attack and the warrior culture of the Kelauans hasn't helped either. As part of fighting a desperate struggle with the Arl'skich and their brutality, an honor-driven warrior culture of sorts has emerged. If one wants to be respected, honored, and go up in society nowadays, they become an established war hero or a well-known fighter, with plenty of victories or battle stories under his/her belt.

The Kelauans love war, they just haven't admitted it to themselves yet. They enjoy the fighting, the blood, the carnage, the challenge of outwitting and crushing an enemy. Which has led to their maxim of if any enemy attacks them, they will completely destroy them, every last woman and child. They do not want a repeat of what they did to the Arl'skich to happen to them. Which is why they have taken it upon themselves to wipe out their foe, every single one. Which is why the situation at Keris IV is what it is.

Two weeks ago, a full battle fleet under the command of Warlord Kraesis entered the system and fought a large engagement with the Arl'skich forces, and their reinforcements. Casualties were low, about seven ships. Six others were damaged to the point of going back to the rally point for repairs. The remaining ships proceeded to the main population planet, blockaded it, and proceeded to bombard it for a day straight. They knew the Arl'skich had underground tunnels and cities, which they had to send the infantry and tanks to clear out, but they wanted to be sure the surface was theres. This made most planets barren, but they didn't care. They wanted superiority, if it killed countless eco-systems, they didn't think on it much.

They quickly established a main base on the surface, in the ruins of the capital, which they named Alpha Command. They had fortified this place until it could serve as a new capital. Some probing attacks by the Arl'skich were bloodily driven away, while some scouting forces looked for the entrances to the underground. When they were found, the battle for this planet was going to go into full swing. The discovery of one such tunnel, barely a mile from Alpha Command, did just that.....






**********************
Arl'skich tunnel, Keris IV Campaign.

The tunnel was dark, damp, and incredibly spooky. The Arl'skich terraformed everything to fit their needs and wants. As such, the tunnels were covered with some kind of black moss, with what could be best described as "bloody vine-tentacle things) pulsating on the walls. They didn't know why they did that, and since it didn't serve a combat function, they didn't care. The Dominion wanted dead Arl'skich, not understanding of their culture. So, that was why they had sent in the Warbringers.

Massive warriors that wielded immense suits of power armor, with energy shielding, deployable auto-cannons, both energy and kinetic rounds, along with using large energy-field blades, and the many weapons of the Dominion. They were the elite, the best of the best, and their job was to find the main line of the Arl'skich in this area, blow it apart, and hold it until they could send a force to establish a beachhead. There was bound to be heavy resistance, plenty of heavy fighting, and a long time away from friendly units and backup. The force they sent?

Two Warbands of the Death's Head Chapter, who didn't even take any armor with them. After all, it'd be overkill.







**************

The two Warbands, equaling about five thousand men total, had made their way down the tunnel with little effort. They had met no resistance, and soon exited to enter a large cavern. Their armor was the customary black with secondary gold fillings signaling their Death's Head identity. Their helmets showed none of their face, only red glowing slabs that took in data and processed it for the A.I. each Warbringer had in their suit, and a breather that filtered all hostile gases and air.

They had only two hundred at point, with two thousand guarding the rear, and the rest serving as backup. The one leading the mission was Warcaptain Tarsai. A veteran of countless battles, he was like all the other Warcaptains. Warcaptain was the highest rank in Chapter, and it showed that he was one of the seven original Warbringers made, who had a strange side-effect that boosted their augmentations. He crept along with the others in the point group, but paused when he heard the growling speech of Arl'skich. He sent a mental command through the suits, alerting the others in the group, who froze and crouched. Warbringers had a hivemind setup for their suits, though they each had separate A.I's, but they just connected to the network during situations like this. This allowed him to send messages without making hand motions or speaking; this allowed him to be silent and much faster. He sent another signal, calling for his second in command, Warbrother Jeerin.

The summoned warrior came up next to Tarsai and opened a link to his suit.

<"What is it, Warcaptain?">

<"Your sight, Warbrother Jeerin. I need to see what is up ahead.">

Although emotions could not be sensed through links, Tarsai could almost sense the anticipation welling up in Jeerin. <"My pleasure to do so, Warcaptain."> Jeerin crouched further, and activated his zoom function on his suit. All Warbringers could see very far, especially with the zoom function of their helmets, and were also able to see at night. However, unique traits popped up, like better strength, sight, etc, in the Chapters. Jeerin was one of those. After a moment, Jeerin came back, almost bursting with excitement. Iyt was infectious, as hope began to rise in Tarsai.

<"What is it, Jeerin?">

<"It's a full Arl'skich base, Warcaptain! They have probably a quarter of their force here at least! We have the first shot at them!">

<"Calm down, Jeerin. Think tactically first; the fun comes after. What is their number, and do they have any of their genetic warbeasts with them?">

<"Plenty of both, Warcaptain. I estimated about ten thousand Reapers, standard troopers, and about ten Juggernauts, with the standard complements of Ravagers and Shades, forty each.">

<"So, ten thousand Arl'skich, with ninety of their beasts with them, against five thousand of us. I was hoping there'd be more.">

<"True, Warcaptain, but we can have some fun. That and their base will serve the perfect beachhead.">

Tarsai nodded. <"Very well. Tell the rearguard to send the message and put down a beacon for our location, then double-time it to us. Have the rest join us; let's begin this battle.">






***************

The Arl'skich walked about their defenses, energy rifles and body armor glittering in the soft light of the cavern. Juggernauts, great beasts that had two giant claws for arms, and skin like a tank, were the Arl'skich counter for heavy vehicles, were kept in back in their cages. Ravagers, large dog-like beasts with wicked claws, were their scouts that they used to hunt down enemy squads, were patrolling the base, while the Shades, flying mouths, were used to take out snipers, rested in their cages. They all waited for the Kelauan offensive to come and then go to the fight as they always did, glorifying in ripping apart the invaders. They would be able to hold off many waves of their enemies Marines on these defenses, with their defense energy turrets, anti-tank positions, and their warbeasts.

They hadn't counted on the Warbringers however. <"FOR THE DOMINION AND GLORY TO THE CHAPTER!"> A loud roar echoed throughout the cavern, and the entire base froze, the warbeasts coming awake in an instant and howling. The peace was shattered when the bullets and energy bolts of the Death's Head Warbringers cut through the air to slam into the wall guards. A long line of Warbringers had deployed the arm autocannons, which deployed from the bottom of the power armor, were firing one for kinetics and one for energy. This double whammy served to confuse the Arl'skich, while sending wailing death throughout the base. Several bullets penetrated some gas containers and a large explosion rocked the base. However, a large amount of them aimed for the turrets, sending one after the other into flaming ruin. Tarsai pulled out the Warblade that they all used, a large sword that had an energy field around it and a sonic field. Both enabled it to cut through metal, flesh and bone with relative ease, though the Juggernauts took effort. He charged down towards the gate, roaring, and he was followed by the rest of the Warbands, all roaring. Most held various weapons, discharging them at any enemy they saw, while some carried Warblades as well.


They destroyed the wall guards, and broke through the main gate, which Tarsai cut through and then smashed out, and had made it to the courtyard when the response came. A Ravager lunged at his throat and he countered with a downward slash. Blood spurted all over his armor, as the two halves of the creature fell to the ground, twitching. Bullets and energy bolts shot through the air as the other Warbringers continued their support from afar, and began to make their way down to base, firing all the way. The Reapers were not idle, though, and their bolts began to cross the air, red death that hit their shields. Almost as one, the energy shields of the Warbands flared blue as they were impacted, and they responded in kind, blasting rail shell and bolt in reply. The roar of battle was sounded, and explosions began to go off as rocket wielding Warbringers unloaded and grenades began to be thrown about by both sides. Tarsai, leading his fellow Warblade wielding brethren, rushed to engage the Warbeasts in close combat. He cut through another Ravager, and crushed a Shade in his hand, laughing all the while. He heard a roar from behind him and the ground shuddered. He turned and saw a Juggernaut, only ten feet away, roaring at him. He smiled and let out a roar of laughter, as he gripped his sword in two hands and charged, which the Juggernaut did as well.

Destruction and death was the order of the day, with an entire army coming down the tunnel, it would only escalate. And this would be the norm for countless decades, even centuries,at the rate things were going. Unless something arrived to change that.....unless someone came with the ability to quickly defeat the Arl'skich once and for all.....

Probe 4981-726-X5B

Imagine, if you will, a vast network of eyes, all attached to the same body. Eyes that could see through walls, and for distances that staggered the imagination. This was the probe network of the Realm. For some sixteen months, now, they had been watching the Kelauan. For sixteen months, however, they had found themselves decidedly unable to act.

The tiny metallic device clicked rapidly as the Arl'skich approached it, and fused its internal components together with a tremendous blast of heat. The beast did not even feel it - it looked down at the rapidly cooling metal lump, and ignored it as shrapnel from the battle.

The data, however, had been sent. The Unbroken Eye, once merely the para-military branch of the Realm, now assumed most functions of government. An intelligence organization with all the resources of the Realm at its command Of particular interest to them there were the Arl'skich, and the Kelauan. Of course, any interstellar war interested the Realm. They tended to gravitate towards wars, in the same way bird-watchers gravitated towards birds. With keen, yet mild interest.

This war, however, had potential. Consider it, said one voice. The sheer realms of possibility! Intervention on either side would make them allies. Of course, the Arl'skich would hardly be strong allies, both their cultural peculiarities, and their inability to see anyone else as allies. They would be usable, but only to a certain point. At which point, no doubt, they would be wiped out by some other race, angered at the Arl'skich intervening in their affairs.

No, it was the first race, the Kelauan, that interested the Realm. Firstly, they were so similiar to the Realm, it ached. They had been down the same path. Or, at least, one near enough. Modified for war, they were no longer the "originals" of their race. Bred, then, for war, they were incapable of doing anything else.

The moderates sententiously quoted ancient morality, touting the ability of the Realm to evolve into a power on its own, stating that the Keluaun were winning - they should be left alone.

This argument was shot down when the cost was pointed out - a millenial war, with over a trillion casualties. A war that had pushed their race to the edge of extinction, and had driven them into hiding for centuries, in stasis, hoping against vain hope that there would be some respite. In the end, there had been a victory, but it was won half by luck, and the cost had been their worlds. It had been scarcely a hundred years since they had come out of stasis, and a scant few thousands had rebuilt their race.

That argument, then, had failed.

The second position, that of the conservatives, was to aid them covertly, as the Realm had always done. Act from the shadows - tidbits of information from "nowhere" would materialize when they were most needed, weaponry could be found "abandoned" - the Keluaun would receive aid and guidance as they needed it, and would win their war with more ease. There would be no need to endanger the Realm foolhardily for such an endeavour.

This time, however, the voice of the radicals won out. Why not send a ship? A superfortress, for instance. There was one available, and nearby. Win this battle for them, gaudily and easily. Impress them. Into service, perhaps. Not as a slave race - no, no. There would be no conquest. Especially considering the Realm's rather stretched resources at the moment. Rather, once they saw the prowess of the Realm's ships, they would be convinced to join their cause.

Psychologically speaking, their race should be easy enough to control, argued the radicals. They loved war. They thrived on war. They would be a useful weapon, one they could use when the need occurred, one they could unleash upon their enemies.

The moderates came around first, once they had been convinced of the Realm's safety. There was no need for the Keluaun to know the location of Hypatia, after all. If they refused the aid of the Realm - why, then, they would simply disappear, known only as mysterious benefactors!

The conservatives were harder to convince. It was a minute-long debate. In a time of instantaneous thought-communications, it encompassed millions of words. What was shown to them, however, was the footage of so many burnt worlds. Realm worlds. Worlds that had been "saved", from the shadows. If the Realm had put forth her full might, the radicals argued, perhaps more could've been saved. More could've been done.

Finally, an agreement was reached. Then, a consensus. There was only one available battleplate, and sending it would be, perhaps, foolish, before they knew what they were dealing with. The superfortress Victorian Architecture, however, was in range. At the time of the battle, it was in-system, cloaked as a planetoid. The easily-conjured illusion gave it the look of a planetoid speeding through the system at immense speeds, a path that would take it within lightseconds of the planet. Negligible, then.

Until it reached the closest point the "planetoid" would. At which point it casually stripped away the disguise, and accelerated to near-lightspeed within barely a second. It reached the planet within two - enough to worry the Keluaun, but not enough to give them time to react. That being done, it quietly teleported down to the surface, merely metres above the tunnel. Longwave sensors pinged the tunnel - the Keluaun and the Arl'skich positions were pinpointed.

Captain Jarl-Fresk looked down with a slight tinge of worry on his face.

"Are we sure this will work, Victoria?"

The feminine voice spoke, calm, and confident. "Of course, Captain. We have a point zero zero one zero two percent chance of killing a single Keluaun, if we aim for a perfect kill ratio. If we merely aim for those within a safe range, there is a perfect zero percent chance. My gravitics are impeccable."

Jarl nodded. "Do it."

The forces of gravity contorted the tunnel, acting with immense power, briefly, oh, so briefly on each Arl'skich, gently enough so that the Keluaun were not caught within the gravitics fields, yet strongly enough to pulp them - as if an invisible meat grinder were quickly passing over their bodies.

The Arl'skich started falling, no longer capable of movement - sharp bursts of gamma-ray radiation pumped into them, in order to sear their bodies into crisps. Pulping a Realm human would merely incapacitate them, provided their neurallink and nanites remained intact, so a certain amount of energy was required to prevent any irritating resurrections.

The frontlines saw mere wounds - the same gravitics that pulped Arl'skich further back would harm the Keluaun up front, so they fell to the ground, a thousand tiny blades ripping through the frontline Arl'skich's bodies, tearing them up from the inside.

"And people wonder why we scoff at ground warfare, sir."

Jarl laughed. "I'd like to see you get so close with a fully-armed c-frac base on the surface, Vicky."

"They're really very good, sir. Encrypted chatter has been broken - they use low-processing AI in their suits, as well as hiveminds."

"I know, Vicky. I've seen the files."

"Victoria, if you please, sir. I am a superfortress, not some common tavern wench."

"Of course, Victoria. But more about the AI?"

"Similiar set-up to our own, though more localized. Tactical data is shared between minds, and filtered by an AI. You know what to do, and when to do it."

"So.."

His voice trailed off. There were differences, he'd grant that. They stood perhaps half as high as most Keluaun - they were dwarves among giants, here. But the geneering, the war.. it was too similiar to ignore.

As the corpses settled, the superfortress blinked back into high orbit. It was time to see how the Keluaun reacted.

The battle was in full swing on the ground, as the first War Companies of Marines began to enter the large room and engage the enemy. The Arl'skich were fighting back hard, and more and more of them were pouring out of the caves. Energy bolts cut through the air, leaving the acrid smell of ozone to seep over the ground, and the endless shells of the modular weaponry the Kelauans used covered the ground like rain. Explosion sounded off like firecrackers, and war cries and primal screams were the order of the day. Tarsai cut through an Arl'skich, empty his pistol into the face of another. The dead carcass of the Juggernaut he had literally ripped apart with only his Warsword lay some feet behind him, the ground covered with Arl'skich and Kelauan bodies. There were more of the aliens than his soldiers, but they still were losing soldiers.

He heard a roar and saw a Shade jump at him, only for it to be gunned down with energy fire. Turning, he saw Jeerin running towards him <"You must be careful, Warcaptain.">

He grinned under his helmet. <"But of course. How goes the assault?">

<"Well, Warcaptain. The enemy is pushed back to the very rear of their base; with one more charge, we will be able to break their lines.">

"Understood. Let's begin the-">

Before he could finish the command, however, they felt a slight wave of nausea and then every Arl'skich was crushed by some unseen force and their blood splattered everywhere. Alarmed, they sent scans throughout the area, thinking it some kind of suicidal weapon. However, they discovered that not a single Arl'skich was left alive. The area was clean. Tarsai was confused; did High Command have a weapon they didn't know about? He put a call to the Wrathful, Warlord Kraesis' personal flagship.

****************

<"No, Tarsai, I didn't do it. We are looking to see what caused it now. I will keep you informed."> He cut the link and gazed at the screen hard. Kraesis, Warlord of this Battle Fleet, was perturbed. A strange sight, considering he wore armor akin to that of the Warbringers, and he had a powerful physique. However, the kind of technology to do what had just happened was beyond current Dominion tech, and that led some frightening possibilities. If another alien race with this kind of power entered the war, against them, they'd have no chance this time around.

<"Sir, we've located the source of the gravity well we detected earlier. It appeared to come from some planetoid that had been flashing through the system. It went so fast the A.I. thought it to be a glitch and began to do a self-diagnostic.">

He nodded. <"I see. That's why Alleria vanished all of a sudden. Well, where did it go?">

<"We don't know, Warlord. We are-"> The superfortress zipped into view in high orbit, amongst the ships orbiting the planet. The immense size of the ship overwhelmed them, even the Warlord he dropped the cup of wine he had been drinking.

<"By Kelaua's name...what is that thing?">

A flash and the A.I. popped in. "I imagine its the one that decided to crush all the Arl'skich on the ground, and under it. I suggest we act real nice and talk to them. I doubt even with this fleet that we can even harm that thing, if the energy levels I am reading are correct."

He raised an eyebrow. <"Feeling outclassed?">

"By a ship larger than most of the fleet combined, yeah, I'd say so."

<"Ouch, so bitter.">

She rolled her eyes. "Are you going to contact them or not?"?

He held up his hands. <"Alright, alright."> He pressed a key and a channel opened.

<"Unidentified ship, this is Warlord Kraesis of the Kelauan Dominion. I....thank you for the aid, although it was quite a start. May I ask what you are doing in this system?">

Had they done the wrong thing? For a moment, Jarl thought so. Inteference in a war that seemed so private could have been immoral. He sighed.

"Victoria, I will speak."

"Of course, captain. I would not think of denying you such a thing."

The viewscreen came on. Without pbjects around him to grant perspective , the tiny Jarl would seem much larger than he really was. But his face was immaterial, for it was covered by his armour. He spoke.

"You have asked."

He took a deep breath.

"I will answer. I am Captain-Commandant Jarl of the superfortress Victorian Architecture. I am a servant of the Realm, a power among these stars. We have watched your race for some years, now. You are a people tempered by war - twisted by war, forced to change your essence, so that you may better combat this threat."

He frowned. "You would win your war, without our intervention. We are not necessary for this. There is merely this. When you win, what will become of you? We have suffered the same fate. Without an enemy, you must consume yourselves from within. We have suffered this fate. We have survived it. The consequences were.. disastrous. The deaths of one point two seven nine trillion sophonts can attest to this."

The superfortress halted in orbit for a moment, engines thrumming in order to keep it motionlessless against gravity.

"We have come to redeem you, before you require redemption."

Kraesis was blown away by the response of the captain in the immense vessel which had, with but a minute effort on its part with its weaponry, wiped the considerable population of Arls'kich out of existence. He listened as the smaller man, much smaller than the Warlord, identified himself as Captain-Commandant Jarl, how they had watched their race being forced to evolve to fight their war. He acknowledged that they could win it on their own, but asked if they would not consume themselves from within, a fate they had suffered and cost the lives of trillions of beings.

"We have come to redeem you, before you require redemption." He sat back in his chair, blown away. The word string true indeed, after all, they had two opposing forces in the Dominion right now. As victory came closer and closer, the old guard called for democracy and a return to the life before. The new generation, HIS generation, argued that to do so would invite a similar event, and one they could not survive. They had to forge ahead as they were, and build a new civilization, all the while ensuring that they do not get caught off-guard again. If things kept going the way they were, they might have to deal with a civil war down the road.

Alleria stirred next to him and opened a link to his suit. He complied and began to speak with her.

"I hate to say it, Warlord, but I think we should take their offer, whatever it is."

His eyes widened. <"What makes you say that?

"Well, for one, we are going to be involved in this war for generations if we keep going at the pace we are, which is slow as you have seen in the statistics. However, with the help of this 'Realm', we can crush the Arl'skich, reclaim our space, get revenge, and get a powerful benefactor. Think about it Kraesis, no one would dare attack us with such a power backing us. Think of the technological possibilities! Think of how we can rebuild our civilization without being attacked by such races like the Arl'skich! We can ATTAIN peace in our time!"

He was quiet for several moments, thinking this over. He had to admit it sounded good, but he was not sure if his people could stomach it. They had become proud, if a bit war hungry, and they were not ones to surrender to such words. "You do realize that if we anger him, he can crush our little fleet, right?"

<"I know.....Ask him what it would involve while I contact High Command.">

Jarl would see the glittering symbols and numbers of a Kelauan A.I. appear on the screen, replacing Kraesis. "My apologies for the sudden change, but the Warlord has to contact command about your proposal. Such an offer affects us all, and we want to be sure we have their support. Now, how will this "redemption" go about? What will you do, what will we need to do, and how changed will we be? We have changed immensely, and I don't think we can handle too much more change.">

Ever-so-quietly, Jarl was shunted out of the way. An infolink suddenly appeared - a tightbeam, high-frequency wave between the Keluaun AI, and the Victorian Architecture.

<Ah, hello. I am a Realm AI, Class-2, the Victorian Architecture. I will be transmitting all relevent data on what my commander so eloquently called a "redemption".>

<Essentially speaking, it would not involve any direct genetic manipulation of your people. The alterations required to make you perfectly safe without any outside intervention would also require a.. eugenics program of horrific scale. Our own tendencies towards self-destruction have been bred out of our species - but the cost of such removal is unthinkable. We would not push it upon another species. No, you are warriors. We accept this. We would not demand the acceptance of our own government upon you, merely your willingness to accept our guidance at times when it becomes necessary.>

A brief pause. Nanoseconds in length, it was still an eternity between the two AI.

<You would remain soldiers, as you are now. Your technologies are quite advanced - within two generations, they would equal our own. We will simply bypass this barrier, advancing you to our own levels. We will aid you in your war with the Arl'skich, which will, again, merely accelerate what was already happening. More importantly, we will sate your desire for battle. You will fight alongside us - as we will fight alongside you. Inevitably, we will be caught in wars. However, you will not be destroyed, as you would otherwise be. We have no intention to force your people to this - we merely offer the chance of escaping an otherwise long and painful cycle.>

Another pause. <You may have as much time as you need. This superfortress will remain to aid you in your war, regardless of your decision.>

The link remained open for a reply, yet, it seemed, the attention of the superfortress was elsewhere. For, there was another event, as momentous and important as this one. At this very moment, Fleetmind Kara had very nearly destroyed the Battleplate Watcher in the Shadows. Victoria winced. Watcher had been a friend of hers - he was a lot smarter, admittedly, but it frightened her to see how clever Kara was. For she knew that, in this system, her intelligence beat practically everything by an order of magnitude. An intelligence that probably beat her by two or more was unsettling.

:: ACCESSMILNODE ::
:: Download Battle Record - Fleetmind Kara Encounter #1 ::

The moment passed.

<However, it would be appreciated if we could continue the war whilst you make your decision. This superfortress is sorely needed elsewhere - at present, the Realm is engaged in a rather difficult conflict.>

--Transmit Basic Data: Fleetmind Kara--

The data on Kara, or at least her basic capabilities, was sent to the Keluaun
AI. This, too, would be part of their decision. In part, it was a bribe - a taunt, almost. Showing them the enemy they would have to prove themselves against if they accepted, and that they would not be able to, should they not. On the other, however, the Keluaun had the right to know what they would be getting themselves into. Committing to face the Fleetmind had not been a decision lightly undertaken by the Realm.

<We are presently facing an entity known as Kara. In older times, we faced an AI similiar to this one - with superior capacity for destruction, admittedly, but all Kara needs to gain such capabilities is time.>

A black cube materialized on the surface.

<This is a quantum link to my superfortress. We will be striking at Arl'skich manufacturing capabilities presently. If you wish to contact us, simply transmit to that cube. Meanwhile, this war must be brought to a speedy conclusion. If you have any desired targets, transmit data on them. Otherwise, we will be scourging the worlds of the Arl'skich. We predict that it will take between six and twenty-nine days to eliminate ninety percent of the Arl'skich population, depending on the speed of their tactical adaptation.>

With that, the superfortress jumped. Previously, they had been willing to wait. With two battleplates in active service, and two more under construction, the Kara campaign would be able to continue apace fairly comfortably. However, with the near-destruction of the Watcher in the Shadows, it left the Realm in a somewhat precarious position. There were two major fleet assets remaining in the Realm, and, despite their power, Kara had shown that she was more than capable of destroying them. If she found the two battleplates that were under construction, the Realm itself could well come under threat.

That in mind, Victoria quietly dropped an automated stasis-colony tray into a gas giant. It'd be able to constantly harvest fusionables in order to maintain a non-crushed altitude, and, if it came to the worst, there would be more Realm humans to take up their banner once more.

The colonists dropped, she began the chore of destroying the Arl'skich. Hopelessly unable to adapt, it would take them years to be able to construct a sufficient defense. She did not intend to give them years.

Alleria was surprised to see the face of Jarl being replaced by an info-link, and the gentle but immense presence of the Victorian Architecture washed over her like a tidal wave. She visible flinched and took a moment to gather herself. It would look rather amusing to the Realm A.I., especially with the look of shame mixed with awe that Alleria had. It is hard for one to recover from the moment they met a being that was like them but outclassed them in so many ways. She took a breath, a nanosecond to recover and then listened to the A.I. as it came onto the channel.

"Greetings, Victorian Architecture. Hmmm, interesting naming structure. Each of my kind usually get a unique name, not the name of the ship. Of course, the names of our ships are rather....warlike and not something an A.I. would like to be called." She glanced over the file, taking only a few nanoseconds to do so; she wasn't as fast as the Realm A.I. who'd do it instantaneously, but she was still top-class. After all, only the best A.I.'s were put onto the Warcruisers of the fleets. Coordinating the hellish maze of debris and energy fire took some doing, after all.


<Essentially speaking, it would not involve any direct genetic manipulation of your people. The alterations required to make you perfectly safe without any outside intervention would also require a.. eugenics program of horrific scale. Our own tendencies towards self-destruction have been bred out of our species - but the cost of such removal is unthinkable. We would not push it upon another species. No, you are warriors. We accept this. We would not demand the acceptance of our own government upon you, merely your willingness to accept our guidance at times when it becomes necessary.>


She crossed her arms, as she considered this latest bit of text. The skipping of the change process that the Realm had gone through was relieving; it wasn't that the Kelauans didn't welcome change, just that they needed to relax and get used to their new existence in an age without war. That and the subtle hints and tips on the destruction caused during the process for the Realm made it not so appealing. "I am sure I am speaking for the Dominion when I say I am glad for this part of the arrangement. We like our government and would rather keep it. Having someone who is obviously wiser and stronger than we are guide us at times is something all nations wish at some point in time. We can struggle and fight through conflict, but its always helpful to have that wise old uncle to guide us through. Of course, this uncle wields about massive battleplates, but thats a different story."


<You would remain soldiers, as you are now. Your technologies are quite advanced - within two generations, they would equal our own. We will simply bypass this barrier, advancing you to our own levels. We will aid you in your war with the Arl'skich, which will, again, merely accelerate what was already happening. More importantly, we will sate your desire for battle. You will fight alongside us - as we will fight alongside you. Inevitably, we will be caught in wars. However, you will not be destroyed, as you would otherwise be. We have no intention to force your people to this - we merely offer the chance of escaping an otherwise long and painful cycle.>

Another pause. <You may have as much time as you need. This superfortress will remain to aid you in your war, regardless of your decision.>


She smiled. She couldn't help but do the A.I. equivalent of drooling at the prospect of new technology, especially on the level of the Realm. Then there was the fact that they would be allowed to be themselves, get all the wars they could fight, and have the aid of the Realm, as they would have the Dominion's as well. At the mention of time, she glanced over at Kraesis who was returning. The entire conversation and data was on her line and a line to the Warlord, who had been sending it to High Command. When he noticed her gazing at him, he sent a short nod. They had agreed, unanimously. They were sick of the Arl'skich and wanted them gone, the technology would be a boon, and the temptation of wars was too much.

<However, it would be appreciated if we could continue the war whilst you make your decision. This superfortress is sorely needed elsewhere - at present, the Realm is engaged in a rather difficult conflict.>

"That is quite alright, Victorian Architecture. I have been given the response of the Dominion. I thank you for the data on this....Fleetmind Kara." She glanced at Kraesis, sending him the file, which was relayed to High Command. A few nanoseconds passed and the reply came back, same as ever.

We accept. We offer our blade of war to the Realm.

Smiling, Alleria sent the message to the superfortress. "As you can see, the Dominion has its mind made up by this course of action. The feast you have set before us is too tempting for us. You have the right tools, have made the right pushes on our society. We will follow you and your guidance."


Alleria leaned forward when she saw the quantum link being offered to her by the Realm A.I. When they jumped and she was told that if they wanted a target to tell them, she smiled. "We do have target actually. I am sending coordinates with this message. We have, through many encounters, located the Arl'skich home systems. We had been making our way there, but as you can see, it was slow going. If you can wipe out the core, we can launch one last assault on the outer rim areas, and just break though. After a month, as you said, the Arl'skich will be no more."


"Simply tell us when you need us to fight this Fleetmind, and we will be ready."

OOC: Sorry, I've had a very assignment-heavy week. Three in four days, all in-class, so preparation time has taken precedence over fun stuff. I'm good now, though.

IC: Fire whirled from the skies, kinetic harpoons crashing down into Arl'skich colonies. Some worlds, those less-inhabited, were merely scoured with c-dust, enough to ruin cities, and destroy armies, but also quite sufficient to allow the biosphere to recover in terms of mere decades. The more heavily inhabited worlds, however, were not spared the fire of the Victorian Architecture.

The Arl'skich had grand colonies, but their defenses, Victoria mused, were pitifully inadequate. The war of attrition had left them open to a major thrust. Their faster-than-light travel was odd, and, while they had developed rudimentary inhibition fields, they simply weren't capable of stopping the superfortress. From systems away, asteroids materialized metres from the surface of inhabited planets, travelling at near-c speeds.

"War of extermination, captain?"

"Keep a few samples, Vicky. Arl'skich genetic material probably contains all sorts of useful codes."

Shuttles whisked down to the surface evacuated entire hives - immobilizing thousands of Arl'skich, from their drones up to their greatest beasts. The superfortress was brimming with alien life, which, in due time, would be analyzed, and either discarded, or used. The Kaisar system had an immensity of space, and the five hundred or so buffer systems the Realm maintained around Hypatia had many easily-concealable hiding-places. The Arl'skich, he decided, had forfeited their right to exist.

They had refused to be useful.

Had the Arl'skich been more usable, the Realm would no doubt have decided to take the other side of the conflict. Despite all the emotion the peoplemind had about it, the clarity and logic of the AI who mediated generally prevailed. This, he decided, did not need to be revealed. The decision was made, and despite the relative.. callousness of it, he agreed with the decision, if not the reasoning.

After a day, forty-three percent of the Arl'skich population had ceased to exist. Victoria sighed internally. This was easy enough. She longed to be deployed to the Kara conflict. Now there was a battle worth fighting. If one she might well die fighting.

A single message was relayed to Alleria. <The message, I suspect, will come soon enough. In the meantime..>

<Victoria wishes to transfer data. Approximate size of file: 88.2 petabytes>
<Accept? Y/N>

Information. Terabytes of information. It was Victoria's own archives - technological archives. Almost everything was to be given to the Keluaun, bar one thing. The FTL inhibition systems were to be detailed, but the specifics of the Realm variant were not. The codes, the methodology for breaking the fields were deliberately vacant. But, she decided, there was enough information in there to fast-track the Keluaun to the status of a galactic power, if not a major one.

As she sent the file, a call came out, from elsewhere. The Acquisition had not gone unnoticed by the rest of Travellia, and, seeing its inherent usefulness, its resources had been requested. The Fleetmind conflict had truly begun.

(Consider this where the Star Swallower thread steps in)

OOC: Can you send me a description of the tech I got by TG, or just fine me online somehow?