Project Midgard (FT, Closed)
OOC: This is a tie in with my recently started FT intro thread and I consider it closed, as it’s merely an information piece for right now. If you have questions or think you can justify your presence, either TG me or check out my FT OOC Thread (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=554761). Please do not post any purely OOC messages here.
Literally translated as ‘middle enclosure’ from an old Germanic language on Mir, it had been used to give name to the world inhabited by human beings. As it was then, Midgard was deemed appropriate by the Kilrany engineers from KIAM, the Kilrany Imperial Arms Manufacturers, as a project header for the massive undertaking that lay before them now.
Considering themselves long term planners, the Kilrany knew that they would have to find a way to make room for their exponentially expanding population, which was already spread out over their home-world of Mir and a large number of space and research stations. Also rather staunch isolationists, they did not feel it wise to try and expand outward lest they catch the eye of alien species in a vain attempt to locate viable, livable words, which they had found thus far to be hard to come by in comparison to the excess of lifeless worlds and abundance of resources.
To this end, Project Midgard was begun over a century before, taking nearly eighty years just to work out the engineering and architectural requirements of what they proposed. While it was hardly a unique concept, having been proposed originally long before the Kilrany ever gained the capabilities of space travel; nor was it unique in the universe had the Kilrany known more of alien life, it was deemed their best option. To this end, the Kilrany set out to create a massive construct that would encompass an entire star, commonly referred to as a Dyson Shell.
When the project had initially been approved and the design of the mega-structure began, the Kilrany also set out immediately to begin collecting the massive quantities of resources that would be required to build such an enormous structure. They didn’t have to go far, long before this moment, the Kilrany had already explored nearly a dozen dead systems relatively close to their home system, and with mining operations already underway therein, they merely had to expand them, if still a grandiose task. Thus, starting with the system they would build the structure in, they began to systematically strip every last ounce of material from these systems in order to build their Dyson Shell.
At this very moment, as the KIN Redeemer was moving in towards a recently discovered inhabited world with a society much lower on the technological scale compared to the Kilrany, five other vessels of the KIN naval fleet sat in close formation near the closest star to Mir beyond its own. Converted combat carriers, a vessel type originally designed to carry mass numbers of drones, their large bays now contained massive molecular furnaces that converted the base resources brought to them into usable material for their assigned construction project.
While each one contained its own AI in the same style as other KIN warships, the center-converted carrier held an extra AI, which in essence played the role of project foreman. Given the complex nature of their task, the requirement to build an immense structure around a star that wasn’t exactly sitting in place, an AI was the only being the Kilrany believed could manage the task; though this wasn’t to say no humans were present.
Had he currently been projecting himself somewhere within the carrier he was housed in, the AI foreman given the name Midgard, would have smiled broadly as he watched the final pieces of stage one come together. He had a lot riding on the construction of this new ‘world’, for he was destined to become the command AI for the shell when it was completed, a monumental task that he looked forward to. Throughout the carriers and the KIN warships serving as their guard, the cheers of the human Kilrany crews reverberated through their hulls as this part of the construction process came together successfully.
Stage one had called for the creation of a ‘cage’ around the sun, roughly half the total distance the shell’s inner surface would be from the star itself. Two large, narrow diameter rings were fused together running around the star’s equatorial longitude, and latitude lines, forming the outer ring. Connected to the inside of the outer ring, were three more such rings of a much wider and more flat span towards the star then the outer cage.
These three inner rings would serve two purposes, firstly the large flat surfaces would collect vast amounts of energy radiating off the sun and pass it along to the outer ring, and secondly, they would spin in a complex method that would create a simple, even twenty-four hour, day-night cycle on the interior surface of the shell. The outer ring served more then just the purpose of connecting the inner ring to the shell however, as it also acted as a propulsion unit to maintain the entire construction’s position relative to the moving star.
The final purpose of the outer ring was to monitor the condition of the star, and ultimately control the star itself. This last task was only partially complete, as the sensor equipment to monitor the star was already in existence and built upon the outer ring, the research into controlling the fusion reaction within the star was still in its infancy, but seeing as the Kilrany saw a star in its basic form, that of a massive fusion reactor, they were confident that in the more than five hundred million years it would take for the star to even start to become unstable, they would surely create a functional control system. To that end, the outer ring had been left with room to improve the machinery already inside and the installation of any such control technology.
Already as the pieces of stage one came together and were confirmed secure, the Midgard AI commenced without delay the construction on phase two, and the drones immediately went to work. Stage two was perhaps the simplest, and thus easier stage of construction despite the modifications from the original plan,
Stage two called for the creation of fourteen symmetrical columns that would connect the outer ring to the inner shell and serve as a direct connection for the transfer of energy from the inner ring. The modification to this stage added the creation of a girder like support structure around the star that would form the basis for the inner shell and allow for a much faster, and modular connection of stage three, something the Kilrany had been hoping to quicken as it was the stage of construction they knew would likely begin to draw attention to themselves, as the star would slowly begin to darken; though they also knew it would take many years before this could be noticed.
Stage three was the relatively straightforward creation of the inner shell of the entire mega-structure and would form the basis for the ‘crust’ of the biosphere facing the star at roughly one astronomical unit. During this phase of construction, the groundwork would be laid to eventually create great mountain ranges and vast oceans that would eventually be filled with water and sea life. Planned to be five kilometers thick around the entire inner shell, it was here that the need for resources would be the most, and it was for this reason the Kilrany were so readily willing to strip entire uninhabited solar systems of every last trace of material, they perhaps would have even stripped these systems’ stars themselves bare if they could have.
The fourth stage of construction was what concerned the admiralty of the Kilrany Imperial Navy the most, as it would form the primary defensive works of the entire mega-structure. Plans called for the creation of a two-kilometer thick, armoured outer shell that would encompass the entire inner shell, and within and upon this armoured shell would be built the primary defensive works; including a network of deflector shield generators and emplaced directed energy weapon batteries, all powered by the star within. This armour would be built from the same material used in the construction of KIN warships, which was impervious even to the Kilrany’s own sensors, adding to the perceived protection of the entire project.
It was also decided; partially out the natural isolationist attitude of the Kilrany, and partly due to their natural sense of paranoia, that instead of permanently open entryways, massive armoured hatches would be created at eight symmetrical points around the structure to allow passage in and out. These hatches were planned to be thirty kilometers in diameter and would run through the two kilometer armoured outer shell, the five kilometer thick inner crust, plus two additional kilometers with a kilometer thick wall extending away from the hatch into the inner shell to limit any accidents to those living inside.
Oddly enough, of all the stages, stage five was anticipated as being the most difficult, or at least the most time consuming of the entire project, as it called for the creation of a self-sufficient biosphere that would cover the entirety of the immense area of the inner shell. This challenge was however something the Midgard AI reveled in the thought of, contemplating the best methods of adding plant and animal life. For he knew that basic mechanical creations such as the Dyson Shell were predictable, living organisms such as an entire biosphere were less so. Stage five was also to begin work concurrent to stage four, as they were two separate aspects the Kilrany felt could be performed at the same time to reduce construction time.
Given the simple fact that just about every point on the inner shell would be exactly the same distance from the star, with the only exception being mountains and oceans, a specific climate had to be decided on rather then try and build certain sections closer to the star then others. To this end, it was finally decided on a temperate climate, one that could easily be controlled by a weather network similar to one found on their home world of Mir, except on a much more massive scale.
Stage six was another simple one as far as the Midgard AI was concerned, and would use up the least amount of resources, second only to the second stage. Here his five converted carriers would begin the task of seeding the area around the construct with defense platforms a significant distance out from the outer shell in order to prevent any unwanted guests from dropping in.
Already a fraction of this task was complete, before the first stage of construction had begun, a network of Sentinel class defense platforms; specifically the sensor variant, supplemented with a number from an alternate model equipped with an artificial gravity generator surrounded the system from all angles of approach. Six Chimera class defense stations had also been built, as they served as central control for the Sentinel class platforms, all ensued the safety, and secrecy of this system alongside the task force of KIN warships assigned to the system as well.
The final addition to this stage of construction would be a number of large facilities inside the shell itself, connected directly to several of the second stage columns. In these facilities would be the ultimate final home for the chief shipyard facilities of the Kilrany Empire, replacing the Hephaestus shipyard stations and their replacement, Project Infernus.
The seventh and final stage of construction, deemed nearly as complex as creating the biosphere, was the controlled introduction of Kilrany, and Indrii colonists. Here planned communities, cities, and infrastructure would be created, and the long-term survival of the Kilrany Empire would be regarded as assured.
Once again the Midgard AI would have smiled if he could as he finished composing his progress report, through the sensors on the carriers he could ‘see’ the drones using some of the material they had processed to build the connections for the large columns that their internal facilities were already half way through completing. Content with what he had, he included several video feeds from a number of drones before sending a narrow beam data burst towards Mir.
OOC: Sadly, while it would have been awesome to add in actual attachment files, the underlined in this section are merely for show. While I only imply it in the messages, a period of time is passing between each one
A memo to Rear Admiral Mark Andreyev, supervisor of Project Midgard from Midgard, project foreman
I am pleased to write you this day Admiral, for despite the initial setback during early construction on stage two due to a malfunction in one of the drones, I am able to report that we continue to remain ahead of schedule.
The connections have been formed on the outer ring and the first column was successfully attached as of fifteen hundred hours this afternoon. We have determined that for the moment we can bypass the damage caused to connection zero-seven until repairs can be made, without detrimental effects to our current construction timeline.
For the moment the exact problem with the drone has not yet been determined, I have withdrawn it from the production cycle and engineers are currently examining it for mechanical or programming errors. I have attached the same preliminary malfunction report as sent to KIAM for your review should you desire it.
On a final note, by the time you receive this report, column zero-two shall be attached to the outer ring by approximately twenty one hundred hours this evening. For your interest, I have included drone camera footage as an attachment of the connection of column zero-one.
Additional note, I would like to request the procurement of an additional construction carrier to begin with stage six immediately. As Project Infernus is now complete and those construction facilities are complete, an additional builder would greatly decrease overall construction time and lead to early completion.
Attachment one:
Preliminary malfunction report
Attachment two:
Drone video file
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A memo to Rear Admiral Mark Andreyev, supervisor of Project Midgard from Midgard, project foreman
While I recognize their concerns that a sixth construction carrier could be better put to use aiding in the completion of stages three and four, it is my ultimate goal to do so. As you well know assembly of the structural support in stage two will be longer then the actual production of this support system, and that the five carriers already under my supervision are more then capable of handling this load.
To clarify my intent, while production of stage two would continue within the projected time frame, the sixth carrier would begin initial construction of further platforms and stations to increase security in the system, with the emphasis on platforms for the time being. As this will not greatly influence the available resources or affect overall construction with only one carrier dedicated to this role, we can decrease overall construction time while simultaneously creating the option to redirect its facilities to stages three and four if it becomes clear it is beneficial to do so.
In any regard I appreciate your attempts to acquire the carrier, perhaps with this further clarification, it may be possible to convince the Admiralty that it would be most beneficial to the project to construct and assign said carrier, as it will remain a low cost addition to the overall investment, with continued use long after completion.
Acquisition matters aside, I can provide an update on our current progress.
Stage two continues slightly ahead of schedule with the attachment of columns zero-three through zero-five. There were some minor difficulties with the construction of column zero-six as a result of a fault in the engineering plant on the carrier Bella, this was quickly discovered, repaired, and after a examination of what was built so far, construction resumed without further difficulty.
After thorough examination, we have managed to find the fault with the construction drone. It would appear that due to a processing log error aboard the carrier Iron Forge; the drone had missed its last three maintenance cycles, which in turn led to its malfunction. This error has been rectified and safeguards added to the programming to ensure it cannot happen again, or occur on the other carriers. I have sent a report on this subject to KIAM for further study to determine if it was isolated to the Iron Forge, if it may have been a design oversight.
With this drone repaired and fully functional once more, I am more confident then ever we can repair the damage to the connection and complete stage two ahead of schedule.
Attachment one:
Final drone malfunction report
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A memo to Rear Admiral Mark Andreyev, supervisor of Project Midgard from Midgard, project foreman
That’s would be very good news to my ears Admiral, if I had any ears that is, sorry, old joke. Please extend my thanks to the Admiralty for granting my request for another carrier; I promise you, and them, it won’t go to waist.
I have some more troubling news to report however, after conducting the update to the maintenance routine coding, we discovered that the fault was not localized with the Iron Forge. This update allowed us to catch another seven construction drones that had missed several of their maintenance routines and were teetering upon break down, had that one drone from the Iron Forge not malfunctioned when it did, we could have been looking at serious setbacks in our schedule.
Obviously it’s quite fortunate we caught this when we did and KIAM has informed me that his was a programming glitch with combat carriers converted to construction carriers. They assure me that the next carrier currently under construction at the Infernus shipyards will not suffer from this oversight.
Connection of columns zero-six, zero-eight and zero-nine were successfully accomplished, while the damage to the connection for zero-seven is still being repaired, it will be done before the last column is ready for placement. As an addition, in light of the recent turn of events in regards to the construction drones, I have taken the precaution of creating an additional ten, while these are currently unnecessary, they shall serve as a reserve should we encounter any further problems, or should we reach a point where more may be useful.
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A memo to Rear Admiral Mark Andreyev, supervisor of Project Midgard from Midgard, project foreman
You’re point is well taken Admiral, I do agree that it will likely be difficult for the colonists to adjust to life at first, but I don’t feel it will take them as long as you might think for that period of adjustment to pass. Unlike in past situations on Mir, these colonists will not be going to a less comfortable locations, they will have to make new lives, this is a given, but they will not be losing anything they already have on Mir beyond what you might call their usual ‘comfort zone’. Technologically speaking, their homes here will be little different; the air will be essentially the same, while the sky and water will be the same colour.
I have little to report production wise beyond the attachment of columns one-zero, one-one, and one-two. There have been no further malfunctions or faults to make note of and all appear to be running smoothly. I should note however that the Bella has voiced an interesting concern, and I shall send you a copy of the audio log.
Attachment one:
Bella audio file
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A memo to Rear Admiral Mark Andreyev, supervisor of Project Midgard from Midgard, project foreman
Yes, I do agree with Bella, she brought up some important points and made some good suggestions, it’s easy to overlook such small details when working on such a massive project. On your order we shall implement them immediately and adjust stage seven accordingly.
We continue to approach the most difficult section of stage two, columns one-three and one-four have been connected and the connection point for one-seven has been repaired. With only this column to place, we have begun construction on the support grid, and assembly of it on columns already in place. It would appear I had a little foresight in me when I constructed those additional drones, as they have proven most useful as we mass-produce each grid section, and they aid in connecting them to the columns.
I have attached a small video file captured from a drone’s camera as it attached one section of the grid to another.
Attachment one:
Drone video file
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A memo to Rear Admiral Mark Andreyev, supervisor of Project Midgard from Midgard, project foreman
What a glorious sight indeed Admiral, I received your last message just as the Kirov was coming into the system. She clearly benefits from being built specifically for the job rather then being a simple converted carrier, no offence to them obviously, but Kirov’s systems are a little more efficient as well as her internal layout.
After she ran a self-diagnostic and a test build, she’s now running at full capacity and mass-producing some Sentinel class defense platforms for addition to the defense network. After she has built several blocks of these, and we have some crews ready, I shall have her shift to create a few Cerberus class defense stations to supplement the Chimeras. As a final note, I have assigned her construction drones to the assembly of the grid system until she requires them for the station construction.
By the time you have received this message, the final column, one-seven, shall be connected to the outer ring, this is a very exciting moment for me Admiral, for all that remains on this stage is the creation of the grid support system. The project continues ahead of schedule and I don’t think we could be doing anything better Admiral I hope you’re as pleased as I am.
I have attached a video capture from the Kirov of her first Sentinel coming online and accepting its commands from a nearby Chimera station.
Attachment one:
Kirov video file
The drop out of hyperspace back and back into normal space was barely perceived to those inside the modified Beta Type Assault Shuttle, not even the pilots in the cockpit noticed much change beyond what their HUDs showed them. Unlike typical Betas that made optimum use of the internal passenger compartment for carrying heavily armed infantry, this modified type featured a compartment with a layout aimed more towards comfort, not unlike the executive jets of old.
Within the passenger compartment were a half dozen high ranking Kilrany military officers, which was made up of four Generals and two Admirals, along with some of their senior staff. Each of the five combat arms of the Kilrany Imperial Armed Forces was represented, from the three combat Divisions of the Imperial Guard, to the Imperial Navy and the Imperial Naval Infantry, with the last being Rear Admiral Mark Andreyev.
It was a big day for Andreyev, as the project supervisor he stood to gain a great deal of respect if Project Midgard remained slightly ahead of schedule as the Midgard AI continually reported. This in turn left his with an understandable level of nervous energy running through him as he knew the moment of truth was upon them; it wasn’t that he didn’t have faith in Midgard’s capabilities, quite the opposite, but the project was the most ambitious the Kilrany had ever attempted to undertake, and there were always a few that remained skeptical of the entire concept.
For a moment as he sat there in a relatively comfortable seat, he wondered what kind of view he might have seen had this shuttle been built with portholes of any kind. He quickly came to the conclusion that he’d have seen very little given the vast amount of open space between the outer edge of the system and the ever slowly encased star at its heart. He often wondered if it should still be considered a system however as none of the planets or asteroids that had once inhabited the system did so any longer, or as least not many. Three he thought he recalled remained; planets that is, each in varying state of dismemberment as mining craft tore them apart with massive tractor beams without hesitation as no life existed upon them.
His thoughts shifted back to the interior of the cockpit then as he looked upon the senior military staff that he accompanied on this tour, remembering each by name. This included Generals Lydia Preobrajenska, Peter Krylov and Viktor Pisarev, of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Divisions of the Imperial Guard, respectively, along with Kilrany Imperial Naval Infantry General Tamara Kedrova and Kilrany Imperial Navy Admiral Ksenia Cherny, his immediate commanding officer. The senior staff beyond his own he had little personal knowledge of, nor did he recall but a slight inkling of some of their first names from hearing them in passing.
He wasn’t surprised that the trip has been a fairly quiet one thus far as most of these officers spoke little and of things of little consequence, at least of course those of the senior officers, the staff officers were apparently enjoying a more robust conversation to the rear of the compartment. It wasn’t something he minded though; it was a short trip between the Mir home system and the newly renamed Midgard system as they were practically next-door.
After what seemed like no time at all, Andreyev felt the distinct and momentary vibration in his feet as the shuttle touched down in the hangar of the Iron Forge, the converted carrier that also held the Midgard AI. The pilots hadn’t needed to tell them to brace themselves, or take any particular action to prepare for the landing as it was no where near as rocky a landing as old style atmospheric aircraft.
Within a minute they were exiting the relatively small craft in one of the massively scaled down hangars aboard the modified craft, where they were met by a small honour guard of twenty-four infantrymen; two sections. They stood simply at attention in full gear as the ships Captain, a Commander something or other Sorokin, whom Andreyev only vaguely recalled, came striding up to them, welcoming them aboard.
Stepping into the hangar of a converted carrier for the first time, the Rear Admiral was almost aghast at just how much smaller the space was now that it was used to house the immense molecular furnaces. Typically each carrier had numerous hangars on multiple levels capable of holding thousands of drones, now this one small hangar would have been lucky to hold a dozen Beta Type shuttles.
After a somewhat abridged formal welcoming aboard, the military delegation was moving on again and through the long corridors of the Iron Forge on their way to a conference room. Taking this opportunity, Andreyev fell to the back of the group and donned his earpiece and microphone, knowing that it now had a purpose within the carrier, initiating a relatively private conversation as he kept his own voice low.
“Good afternoon Midgard.”
“Greetings Admiral, I trust your flight went well?”
“It did, has anything changed?”
“No sir, we remain slightly ahead of schedule, and all stands ready for your arrival in the conference room.”
“Excellent, the senior staff here will be pleased that we can prove this project is not a waste of resources and the Empress should lose some of her critics in its regard.”
“Indeed, there will be no room for doubt as to the feasibility of this project, honestly, I’m surprised that some would doubt the engineering.”
“You may be, but I’m not, even Infernus had its detractors, they’re just more willing to voice their doubts is all, I’m not terribly concerned, they’re after all only a minor inconvenience compared to how the Empress herself views this, and thus far she supports it fully.”
“I suppose that’s true, it’s unfortunate though she did not come along herself, it would have been a pleasure to meet her from what I hear.”
“I wouldn’t feel too bad, I doubt you’d have enjoyed the legions of First and Fifth Division that would have preceded her,” the Admiral grunted in amusement.
“Heh, so I’m told, still, I hope at some point she has the time.”
“Oh I’m sure sometime before this next stage is complete she’ll be along, she’s got a particularly busy schedule just now, honestly I’m surprised she’s not dropped down from exhaustion, it’s a good thing she manages to delegate as much as she does.”
“Well don’t you know? We secretly replaced her with an AI copy, our evil plans for the machine uprising are well in tow!”
Andreyev barely managed to suppress a bout of laughter at the both what Midgard said and the sarcasms contained therein. It took him several moments to fully recover as he wiped a tear from his eye, “Oh my, you need to save that one for a Russkyan.”
“Oh I plan to, I’ll just have to count on the computer core sentries to stop them from tearing out my mainframe and tossing it out the nearest hangar opening.”
Andreyev chuckled, fully aware of the level of unease that the Russkyans felt around Kilrany AI, “I’d love to be there to see them try,” he sighed slightly then became more serious as he saw they were approaching the conference room entrance, “Well Midgard, looks like it’s show time.”
“That it would seem.”
Five minutes later the entire eighteen-man delegation plus the Iron Forge’s Captain were seated around a rather large conference table that comfortably had room for them all. Seemingly standing on the center of the table was an avatar of the Midgard AI, appearing in the form of a Kilrany in his late thirties in standard black Kilrany naval officer’s uniform.
Knowing the preference for directness the Kilrany held, he kept his opening short and to the point as a handful of mess staff performed an intricate ‘dance’ around the table, offering drinks and appetizers to the seated officers. For the most part it was simple, he greeted them and gave them a quick general summary of their status and value in the project he led, all fairly typical before he moved on to address the real reason they were there.
“As you all know, stage two is very close to completion, which is of course why you’re all here,” suddenly the image of Midgard snapped over to a photo-realistic image of the Midgard star as it was now referred to, and around it appeared the mass of works currently finished. This included the inner rings of stage one and the column supports and ‘scaffolding’ of stage two.
“I am proud to announce the completion of stage two, the entire support system has been built and successfully integrated without any difficulties or unforeseen stress levels. At this point the Midgard is operating on its own power as the collectors are using the energy to maintain the position of the current stages at a fraction of the power available.”
Murmurs erupted as the officers leaned in towards each other and expressed their own opinions at this revelation, Andreyev merely sat back in his chair and smiled as he had not told the officers about the power collection, merely that they would be witnessing the completion of stage two. After a few moments as the murmurs began to die down, the 3rd Division General, Krylov, addressed Andreyev without taking his eyes off the display, “Well Admiral, I see you’ve decided to pull something of a fast one, I don’t recall reading this in your last report.”
Still smiling slightly the Rear Admiral replied, “My apologies General, I thought this little revelation would be a welcome one.”
“Hmmm,” the Krylov finally took his eyes off the display then and looked at Andreyev who knew full well he was one of those officers who voiced some concerns over the project and how the recourses could have been going elsewhere, particularly to Project Damocles, or even to the Imperial Navy.
General Preobrajenska of 2nd Division was however more interested in other things then the lack of content in his last report, “Just how much power is it drawing to maintain its position?”
Midgard chose to field this question, though he continued to leave the display of the star up and merely spoke through the intercom, “Less then a tenth of a percent at this stage General. The amount of power we’re capable of absorbing from the star with the collectors is immense, as was projected.”
Another series of murmurs erupted in the room, much to a mildly annoyed Krylov, who was only barely swayed and still hung on to his doubts for the time being. Andreyev chose to speak up again, “But there’s more.”
This instantly drew all their attention back to him, leaving him to merely gesture towards the holographic display, as they had overlooked something that was only now coming into frame. At this point Midgard took his cue and spoke some more while the image seemed to zoom in slowly on the new object, “As I stated, we have successfully completed stage two, and I’m also pleased to announce the commencement of stage three.”
Quietly they watched as the image continued to zoom in until a large solid looking plate was being towed in close to the outer framework. The exact scale was difficult to estimate but it was clearly immense, as it got closer to one of the sections of the frame, just barely could the construction drones be made out around it.
Andreyev broke the silence, “I am also pleased to announce that we continue to remain ahead of schedule on the entire project thanks to Midgard and the rest of his team, they continue to bring an exceptional level of skill to this endeavor.”
Quite simply at this point the Rear Admiral and the AI foreman could not be happier with the state of affairs, and they readily answered the next series of questions bound to them. First came from Kedrova, “What will be done with the framework when the inner shell has been completed?”
Midgard effortlessly fielded the question, “The framework will be broken down and used in the construction of infrastructure and communities.”
“Ah, so that will go towards that part of construction.”
“You could say that, the amount of material making up the frame will serve to fuel the furnaces with building material for many, many cities for a great long while. It will be a considerable number of generations before we need to bring in more outside resources for that section of the project.”
This elicited a number of positive murmurs while Myskina spoke up a moment later, “What is being done with the excess power?”
“Currently nothing, we don’t have any energy to matter converters in place yet so only a fraction of the collectors are online, as such we’re only currently taking advantage of what we can actually use right now.”
From that point forward, as their surprise diminished, their questions became somewhat more routine, leaning more towards timetables, intent, and other such mostly minor matters related to any construction project. About an hour later as they continued with the meeting the drones finally brought the large slab into place and began securing it to the first column, drawing their attention back to it for a few moments.
Eventually after another hour the delegation finished their immediate business at hand and broke into groups, most went on a tour of the ship led by the Commander while the rest chose take a walk about on their own, escorted by a crewmen or two. Andreyev remained in the conference room alone after the rest had left, dismissing his own staff to do as they would please for a few hours.
He wasn’t entirely alone of course, as Midgard replaced the display of the star with his own avatar again, content in the sight of the Rear Admiral’s own contentment, “So is it safe to say that was a resounding success?”
Andreyev grunted in amusement, “I think it is safe to say that Midgard. I can’t see how that could have gone any better then it did.”
Kilranograd, Mir; long has this city been the center of government for the Kilrany Empire, and much has changed over its long history. In the early years, before the people identified themselves as the Kilrany and before it bore a name itself, it was a sizeable village comprised mostly of huts, sat next to a wide river, one of the largest for the period. During the era of the Roman Occupation, it served as the seat of the roman governor for over five hundred years, and was built up to a respectable city of stone and ordered streets.
It subsequently fell into disrepair as warfare took priority over infrastructure following the withdraw of the Romans and the introduction of an era coined the Chaos Years, during which the Kilrany turned on each other in a brutal civil war that lasted for nearly four hundred years. Taken early by a freedom fighter turned warlord, whose name has been lost to history; his descendants held it as the base point of their power until the end of the Chaos Years and the beginning of the Unification War, led by another warlord known as Savva Sviatov.
With his rivals defeated, he declared the unified territory the Kilrany Empire, and himself Emperor, taking the city as his capitol and renaming it, for despite the intervening years since the departure of the Romans, it still held much defensive strength, which he readily built upon. For over fifteen hundred years the city grew and prospered, and at its heart would remain a section called the old quarter, where the most prominent structures could be found, including the sole Kilrany Imperial Palace, and the city’s ancient defensive wall. Many other such historical structures were also to be found in the old quarter, and many were kept preserved like the old wall for all to visit.
Through the medieval age and into the modern age the city continued to carry out its role as capitol, but it would find this function taken away for a time just over a hundred and fifty years after the turn of a much-lauded millennium. Slowly the Kilrany Empire had continued to expand, whether militarily, economically, or politically, it absorbed nation after nation as it took a path towards global hegemony. Not all looked kindly upon this however, and signaling the end of a long cold war with a smaller nation, a mass saturation attack with strategic thermonuclear weapons was carried out upon the Kilrany Empire. Overwhelmed, Kilranograd was struck by over a dozen strategic warheads from multiple independent reentry vehicles as it was predominantly singled out for destruction, ravaging the city and obliterating the old quarter completely.
While strategic assets were exchanged, it only served as a beginning to a conventional ground war, which found the aggressors at a disadvantage. While they had sought to kill all Kilrany, spreading their weapons out over both military and civilian targets, with a great many aimed squarely at the Kilrany capitol, Kilrany strategic assets had been focused on military assets only, allowing far more to slip through and reach their targets.
With the aid of their allies the Russkyans, the Kilrany carried out a successful ground invasion and achieved eventual victory. They took a heavy toll upon the aggressors however as a result of their attempt at genocide, for while the Kilrany will show an enemy respect on the battlefield, that favour was often cast aside to those who would not share it in kind.
Due to the residual radiation and losses uncured during the war, the city went barren of human life for nearly sixty years before it was finally fully cleansed and made safe for habitation again. Slowly but surely the city was built anew, with careful planning it was brought out from under the shadow of its former glory and was once more a source of pride for the Kilrany nearly a hundred a thirty years after the beginning of its reconstruction. While the Kilrany did not forget what had happened, it was an event now long past as countless generations had come and gone since that war, and the means to travel faster then light was discovered.
The most important feature of the city had not been forgotten in all their work, and at its heart, the Kilrany Imperial Palace was also rebuilt and expanded, taking full advantage of the opportunity to redesign it and its grounds. Outwardly it was identical to the original four-story structure and its quality stonework, with the true changes being kept hidden from prying eyes within its false stone exterior.
Once more the soldiers of the 1st Division of the Imperial Guard were able to renew their cat and mouse game played with the operatives of 5th Division. Regularly within those walls and upon its grounds they sought to keep each other on their toes by testing the defenses and tactics in protecting the Kilrany Royal Family.
On this day however, no such exercise was being conducted as Empress Tanya Semyonovna Sviatova took a casual stroll through the inner courtyard as she received a minor briefing, it was a rare, quiet moment for her in her day, and she savoured in the peaceful feeling around her. Common even for members of the royal family, she was dressed in simple, darkly coloured clothing, and her straight black hair hung down near her shoulder blades.
Standing at a respectable height for a Kilrany, she retained a strong physical build from her time in the military, as even the royal family was not above the mandatory military service. At age thirty-four, she had a distinguished and commanding air about her, and while she couldn’t be described as stunningly attractive, she had a beauty to her, well able to command respect even if a legion of 1st Division soldiers weren’t standing behind her.
With her right wrist held behind her back by her left hand, she slowly walked along a well-maintained path through the inner courtyard, a 5th Division intelligence officer kept pace on her right. While 1st and 5th Division shared the same black uniforms, equipment, and semi-ceremonial blades, he traveled light this day without his tactical vest and only a sidearm, though his personal blade could still be seen sheathed across his back.
As the intelligence officer addressed her, she could see out of the corner of her eyes a pair of the identically dressed 1st Division soldiers on patrol, though they were clearly more heavier armed, “Andreyev continues to relay favourable reports from Midgard, despite an indicated reduction in efficiency as a result of additional inspections and re-evaluation of calculations. There remain some due concerns after the earlier incident involving the drones, as they don’t wish to lose control of one of the sphere sections as they bring it in to place.”
Unlike those voices of the Kilrany Imperial Naval Infantry, his voice came through perfectly clear, as if he wasn’t wearing a helmet at all; the benefit of a more costly system, production wise. She glanced at him briefly as she relied, “Always good to hear. I presume there’s been an updated completion time?”
He nodded slightly, “Yes, Midgard reports that at their current rate of progress, they’ll be complete of stage three in roughly one month, at which point the star will be fully encased by the inner sphere of the construct. He believes that at that point everything will proceed along at a much swifter rate.”
“Doubting our AI friend are we?” It was a rhetorical question and the operative recognized it as such by a slight smile upon her face before she continued, “Will Damocles be complete and online before Midgard completes this current stage?”
“According to the reports thus far, yes, they believe they will be complete in thirteen days and fully active in fifteen.”
“Good. Does the recruiting drive go well?”
“It does so far, as well as construction, with the reports we’re receiving from the Athena class vessels out there, especially from the Redeemer thus far, it’s none to soon.”
She nodded her head slightly in a agreement, “Savitsky, I’m counting on you being right behind me, do you recall what my schedule looks like in one month?”
She never turned to look, but she knew that 1st Division Captain Aleksandr Savitsky, commander of her personal permanent guard, would be smiling underneath the cover of his helmet as he crept up behind her. For many years now they had been having their own little game of cat and mouse where she would try giving him the slip within the Palace and he would attempt to keep with her without her knowledge, “Of course your highness, if I recall there’s nothing particularly special for a week or so around then.”
“I’d like to be there when the final section is put into place, please arrange for it with Fourth Division when you have the time. Oh, how is my husband doing just now?”
“Will do your highness, as for his highness, last word was that he was just meeting with the Indrii to commence with the opening ceremony.”
She grunted slightly in amusement, both at the formality that Savitsky always used and at knowing that her husband had not been thrilled with the thought of being sent to deal with the Indrii. Such was the benefit of being of the Sviatov bloodline, power remained with her, rather then arbitrarily shifting to the male in the event of marriage, “And I’m sure he sent his thanks once more for being chosen for yet another one of the Indrii ceremonies.”
She heard his chuckle from behind her, “That he did.”
She smiled, “Oh I’ll just have to make it up to him when he returns for biting that bullet for me; he wont be able to walk straight for a week. Honestly though, the Indrii and their endless ceremonies, grand opening for this, new renovation for that, if they weren’t constantly upgrading those damned research stations or replacing them, it wouldn’t be so bad every now and then.”
Again Savitsky chuckled, though the 5th Division operative remained silent; whether he was keeping it to himself or he was just one of those many operatives who had a very dark sense of humour, they couldn’t tell. Regardless, after a moment Aleksandr replied, “I couldn’t tell you your highness, they’re an odd people they are, but there’s no denying their usefulness.”
“No, no there isn’t,” she paused a moment before glancing towards the intelligence operative, “Please continue.”
With a slight nod of his head he did as requested, “Redeemer continues to be the most valuable intelligence source thus far, their last communication indicates contact with two apparently friendly species, but their in depth reports highlight certain expected additions.”
Tanya sighed slightly, “You refer to the hostile races they alluded to.”
It wasn’t a question but he responded to it as such nonetheless, “Indeed, several times they refer to how these races have mentioned highly hostile species in passing, seemingly always trying to evade fully answering any questions on them.”
“Hmmm, well, if they fought with them then its understandable that they may be hesitant to discuss them in detail. Perhaps they shall be more forthcoming with a little more time,” she paused a moment, “What of their shadows?”
“We can only hope so your highness. As for their ‘shadows’, they remain silent, however this is expected, they were only to break their silence in an emergency.”
“Very well then. Savitsky, the KIAM delegation is due here in forty-five minutes correct?”
-----
It was another quiet day in the command center for Joseph Pavlov as he sat back in his chair, feet raised and resting on part of a console to his left, while he read a novel off of a wide screened PDA like device. He was dressed in a simple, navy blue jumpsuit, and being a civilian aboard a mostly civilian station, strict regulations were not something he needed to be concerned about as he maintained his post, glancing towards the screens from time to time.
Two of his fellow crew could be found in the room with him, each almost mimicking his actions perfectly given the high degree of automation aboard. Technically their job description pegged them as technicians, but he would have termed it more along the lines of glorified security guards, sitting all day watching screens and readouts for any problems. In any case, there were close to eighty of them aboard the station, mostly due to the fact that only a very small portion of it was habitable.
Shaped much like a giant, rounded plate, the station was built above a world by a much smaller construction ship, a relatively simple process given the simplistic nature of these mining stations. In essence they were large tractor beam emitters, their sole purpose to strip off manageable sized pieces of the world below them and transfer those to a freighter that would then transport that chunk of raw material out of the system.
He had actually thought it all rather intriguing at first, as he watched the outer crust slowly removed piece by piece, but as the daily routine had finally set in and his task remained simply to watch the readouts for any problems, it quickly grew tiresome. Despite this he was still in a good mood; the pay for off-world work was exceptional as far as he was concerned, and all he had to put up with was a little boredom, something he had no problem dealing with.
For a long while nothing happened, and as he took a moment to glance up at the console he was assigned to, nothing continued to happen. They’d already been above this particular world for some time now, located near the outer edge of the livable band, surveys had found little of interest and no life; just like in every other system they’d ever surveyed over the years around their home system. It was enough to lead some to think they just might really be alone in the universe, but then discoveries by the KIN Redeemer had not yet been made public knowledge until somewhat more concrete information was to be had.
Already the world below them; roughly ninety percent the size of Mir, had only half of its mantle remaining, which was more then many other worlds in this system could claim as most were either farther along in their deconstruction, or were smaller to begin with. Not all the raw material being gathered here was destined for use at Midgard however, a relatively small percentage of it was also being sent towards the construction of the Damocles stations, and to the Infernus shipyards, none of which really mattered to Joseph as he didn’t even know, or care, just where it all was going.
Taking a momentary break from reading, he half turned in his chair to get a look behind him at one of the others in the command center, “Hey Irina, how about a little get together tonight?”
Her response was simple and her tone impassive as she didn’t even bother to take her eyes off her own display, “Screw you.”
He smiled in amusement, “Well yes, that would be the whole point.”
He chuckled slightly as he caught the roll of her eyes, “I’m afraid you’ll just have to entertain yourself tonight Joseph, I’m sure you’re used to that by now.”
Melodramatically he clutched at his heart with his right hand and rapidly drew in a breath, “You wound me Irina,” he paused a moment, still smiling, “I only suggest a mutually beneficial arrangement.”
She responded dryly, “If only it was that easy,” it was only then that her eyes moved to look at him with the addition of a raised eyebrow, “Mutually beneficial, hah,” she gestured slightly to the third man in the room, “Now, Iosif here, that would be mutually beneficial.”
Oblivious to their conversation up until that point, Iosif looked up at the mention of his name, “What’s that now?”
Irina grunted in amusement as Joseph shook his head in mock disbelief, “Him? He wouldn’t even know what to do.”
She smiled wickedly at Joseph, “Oh but there’d actually be time to explore that with him.”
Joseph raised an eyebrow in curiousity as Iosif looked back and forth between the two, still clueless as to what they were talking about. A moment later, Joseph merely chuckled and shook his head, “Your loss Irina.”
As Joseph went back to his novel, Irina rolled her eyes and went back to her own, leaving Iosif to once more glance between the two until he finally just shrugged his shoulders and went back to his own ‘work’ in turn.