Song of the Void

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"I really don't think this is a good idea," Lilly argued for the third time. “We have no idea how strong they are or how hostile they are. Confronting them seems like a really bad plan.”

“You don’t seem to have all that much hope in the rules of the station.” Xiaoli joked with a lopsided smirk. “Considering the fact that you’ve actually worked here, you should know that it would be against Haven’s rules for the enemy to harm us.”

“It’s because I worked here that I’m fearful. I’ve seen enough people get hurt, station rules be damned. It’s very comforting that they could get into trouble if they hurt us, but that won’t be much use for us if we’re dead.” Lilly retorted.

“You’re missing the forest for the trees though.” Amaterasu retorted. “Most of the violence you’ve seen on the station is either criminal activity or individuals harming each other for personal reasons. That rather justifiably leaves you with the impression that violence has little consequences aside from what you as a law-enforcement officer levy against the criminals. It's a little different in our case, however. The enemy has already made it clear that they have some diplomatic plans in this part of the galaxy, and they are taking the station's rules seriously. Having them attacking us would be a different matter entirely when compared to a bar-fight.”

“Haven, are we headed the right way?” Yrala asked with some confusion. “I’m not an expert on the station, but I’m pretty sure we’re not headed for the docks.”

“You’re not headed for the docks, that is true. The beings you seek are making their way towards the core of the station. They know what routes to take and where to go as well. They’ve been very quick and efficient at traversing through the station without notice.” Haven replied.

“Why would they be going to the core of the station?” Lilly asked with a befuddled look. “The place doesn’t really have anything there.”

"I would assume they're aiming for the AI core," Haven stated as if the matter didn’t concern him at all.

“…can they get access to the core?” Xiaoli asked a little worried.

“Well, yes and no. There are defenses in place and they can’t get access quickly unless they have access to abilities the Dhar could not anticipate. I’ve been fixing those defenses with the aid of Nox and Selendil every time they visit. However, as with most defenses, it’s a matter of time. Any defense can be defeated given sufficient time and expertise. The core is the most secure place on the station, but it’s not exactly designed to be impenetrable. This isn’t that kind of station.” Haven replied with the same tone.

“You don’t seem all that worried though.” Xiaoli pointed out.

"Obviously Selendil would deal with it if the AI core was actually in real danger," Amaterasu replied in Haven's place.

“There’s that too, yes.” Haven seemed to chuckle. “But that’s not what I was referring to. One of the main defenses that Selendil reactivated placed the core in a temporal pocket. Unless the group has a psion who excels in temporal psionics or some other way to deal with that, then they’ll literally die of old age before reaching the core. That particular defense requires the powers of someone with those abilities to activate, which is why it wasn’t working until Selendil arrived. That’s why the Mrrroww got so close to the core back then.”

“Wait the fucking moment! Temporal psionics? Are we just going to let that one slide without asking questions?” Yrala demanded and rounded on the rest of the group.

“Yeah, that freaked me out as well the first time I heard about it. That and a hundred other things. You’ll get used to it.” Xiaoli comforted the Eriad woman with a pat on her shoulder.

“But temporal psionics! That’s the dream of most psionic researchers. Even Mother would get giddy at the thought!” Yrala stomped the floor with one of her hooves in excitement.

"Not the time or the place," Amaterasu said curtly and continued walking.

“Ah, right. We have strange and creepy aliens to question. Assuming they don’t kill us.” Xiaoli joked.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Lilly questioned for the fourth time.

“Look, it’s a bit risky, but we could learn a lot. Even a simple slip of their tongue, wait do they even have tongues? Anyway, even a single misspoken word from them could reveal a lot, even if they aren’t in a sharing mood. And if they are, then this is definitely worth the risk.” Xiaoli explained.

“They don’t have tongues. Not in the way you think. Just remember that if you actually pick a fight with them, there’s little I or Selendil can do to stop them from harming you. She can arrive here pretty fast, but not that fast and that’s assuming she’s standing by, ready to jump in, which she’s not.” Haven replied to the half-rhetoric question.

“Speaking of what they do and don’t have, you mentioned something about them having powerful personal cloaking devices.” Xiaoli pointed out. As a Cybran, she was especially interested in that aspect. Their special forces often relied on stealth.

“Not exactly. It’s not a device they use per se. It’s an ability they possess. They possess the ability to cloak themselves from most visible wavelengths of light, thus rendering them effectively invisible. It shouldn't be a problem for you though. The nanites you were provided with, as well as Xiaoli's enhancements, should allow you to see them." Haven explained.

“Alright, head up. We’re about to get to the place where they are.” Amaterasu urged as they quietly rounded a corner.

Haven’s words proved to be correct as they could all see blurry figures standing in the hallway operating a door panel that didn’t seem cooperative. There were four of the beings, and they were all surprisingly large, blocking the rather spacious corridor completely. They all had relatively wide lower bodies that looked a lot like something a large spider would have. They had several spindly and spiky legs that seemed to have blades attached to them, although it was hard to tell if they were a natural feature or something added later. Their upper bodies were insectoid as well, but closer to a praying mantis. They had small-ish triangular heads and varying numbers of arms with thin fingers that ended in wicked-looking claws.

One of the creatures turned around as the group arrived and seemed to consider what to do for a second before casually waving a single arm in their direction. They could sense a powerful wave of psionic energy suddenly coming their way and Yrala stepped forward, placing both of her arms ahead of her, erecting a barrier of energy to protect them. As the two energies collided, Yrala was pushed back several steps before giving a painful grunt. It was clear that the opposing party was more powerful than her, though not by a margin that rendered her completely helpless.

“Are you sure you should be doing something like that on a diplomatic station?” Amaterasu said smoothly using the basic language of the Eternal Empire. Haven had mentioned that the other party knew that language, and it was one of the languages that Amaterasu had learned from Nox.

Her words made the other creatures halt for a moment. “I thought you said they wouldn’t attack us? I told you this was a bad idea.” Lilly hissed angrily.

“We did not expect anyone on this station to speak our language.” The largest individual in the group of beings stated, turning its large body around in a rather agile fashion. The being’s voice sounded high-pitched and grated on the ears.

“Yes, well, it’s not just your language, now is it?” Amaterasu pointed out.

"No. No, it's not. However, most have forgotten that. And none we have met so far have spoken the language unless we made them learn it." The being insisted, rather keen on that point.

“Most people do a lot of silly things. But most does not mean everyone.” Amaterasu countered. The game was afoot. Now that she’d gotten them talking, she might be able to fish for information. Yrala’s show of force had made the other party take them somewhat seriously, while her use of the language had gotten the other side’s attention. “Your arrival was a rather flashy one. Mind telling us what you’re here for?”

The being looked at Lilly on her floating pillow. “I see you brought one of the unworthy trespassers with you.” Then it looked at Yrala. “And you brought something else. A forgery made by some blasphemers. You are fortunate that we don’t think you did this to yourself. Otherwise, we would have to kill all of your kind. Luckily for you, we can sense the handiwork of others like us.”

Yrala grunted with clear displeasure and was about to rebuke the being, but she was waved down by Amaterasu. “You say the Mrrroww are unworthy, implying you’re different. What makes you worthy, and for what?”

The being made a sound that they were unsure if it was supposed to be laughter or a sign of anger. “You take what doesn’t belong to you. If you have the power to do so, then you have the right. Except when it comes to the things left behind by the Creators. For that you are unworthy. If you want to rifle through the remains of those that failed the test of the Creators then you’re welcome to it, but you are not worthy of taking that which belongs to the Creators. We are their children. We are the rightful guardians of what was left behind until the Creators return.”

‘Oh shit. I was hoping for information, but I didn’t expect to be handed all of it on a silver platter.’ Amaterasu thought to herself. “So is this you trying to punish us?” She asked.

“No. Those that break the rules knowingly are worthy of punishment. You can’t help the fact that you’re ignorant of the rules, however. You can’t help that you’re base and greedy for anything that can give you an advantage. That is as it should be. What you really need is guidance, not punishment. Once you do know the rules and choose to break them, then we will really punish you. But before we can properly guide you, we need to establish who’s in charge. It would be great if you all chose to submit peacefully, but so far our experience has been the opposite. Before enlightenment, you need to be shown the error of your ways. Pain is often the best teacher. Still, the option for peaceful surrender is open. You can simply choose to submit.” The being seemed to be genuine about the offer. It seemed like the being was truly trying to teach them the error of their ways. That’s why it was bothering to explain things in such detail. It wanted the word to spread, to give them the chance to surrender.

"I can't help but notice that their attitude is not all that far from what Selendil has told us about her people," Xiaoli muttered.

“And yet you seem to be trying to gain access to the core of the station made by the people you call Creators. Surely you too should abide by the rules set by a station of the Creators?” Amaterasu insinuated, trying to change the subject. She wasn’t planning on surrendering, but stating that outright might not play well.

“We did abide by the rules. Yet it seems the station’s AI resists. There are only a handful of reasons for this. The most likely being that the AI has gone rogue. We need to determine if that’s the case. Even if the station was made by the Creators, we can’t have the station’s AI become estranged from the will of its masters. Should the worst happen, we might have to destroy the station. This too might be a trial set for us.” The being said in what they assumed to be an unsatisfied tone, but it was hard to tell.

“I don’t think you’ll have much luck in getting through. We have it on good authority that the defenses will be too much for you to handle.” Amaterasu stated as if trying to advise them.

“Perhaps. But we must try. We have our ways. Whether they are enough or not remains to be seen. We would appreciate it if you left us to it and spread the word of our offer. The results of our attempts might be dangerous to those in the vicinity.” It was odd to hear something like benevolent if a little disdainful concern from the other party.

Amaterasu signaled for the others that they should go. “Well, that went better than I expected.” She released a breath as they got far enough away.

"Well, we're not dead, so there's that," Lilly stated, clearly relieved.

“I have to admit that I agree with the fluffball.” Yrala gestured towards Lilly. “Having felt their strength, that could’ve gone badly very easily. And having heard them, I don’t think they care as much about diplomacy as we initially thought. While they might prefer the more peaceful method, something I’m not actually convinced about, they don’t seem to have any compunctions about taking over the whole place by walking over a whole lot of corpses.”

"Yes, I do believe I may have placed a tad too much faith in their willingness to play diplomatic games. Luckily they also seem to be going the benevolent dictator route so we might have some leeway." Amaterasu admitted.

"I also wasn't particularly fond of the way they spoke about my people. And what exactly did it mean when it said handiwork of others like them?” Yrala asked with displeasure visible on her face.

“I think we might be in trouble if we don’t get Selendil’s help. This is sounding more and more like something above our level.” Xiaoli admitted. “Besides, her showing up might just resolve things without a battle. Assuming they can still recognize her. They seemed rather quick to dismiss Yrala despite the similarities in appearance. Who’s to say they’ll actually believe her if Selendil claims to be a Dhar?”

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"I must admit, I was not expecting this," Selendil admitted as she watched the battle outside.

"I'm not sure we should allow the Guardians to see this," Nochehuatl commented. His words were not without reason. On the outside thousands and thousands of living ships that almost looked like plants and flowers were engaged in battle with the Cortoid vessels that were far fewer in number. “They’d want to plant some of those ships in the hydroponics.”

The largest of the vessels seemed to open up like a flower opening its petals and energy gathered at its center. Suddenly it seemed like an enormous tree made of light pushed its way through the Cortoid formations, destroying hundreds of ships as it passed through. The destruction would’ve been even worse had the formation of the Cortoid fleet been tighter, but it seemed they had prepared for the attack somewhat. “Master, that’s one of the weapons the Cortoids took away from the station they looted. It seems like the Shinzen took it back and are using it against them.” Nox reported.

The trip to this contested solar system had been an odd one. Selendil had tried warping into the galaxy but had quickly noticed that all of the beacons had been gathered together in three large groups. She had picked one of the clumps that seemed the largest and they had arrived here, in the middle of a battle. They could also see that some of the Shinzen ships were dragging some sort of large nets behind them where all the beacons were gathered.

“Is the weapon able to fire again?” Selendil asked.

“It’s hard to say. The…ship seems to have closed its petals and that’s blocking my scans very effectively. Not very quickly by my estimates, but if I had to make a bet, I’d say it can fire again given enough time. The Cortoids certainly seem to think so.” Nox replied.

The surviving Cortoid vessels seemed to be focusing their fire on the large Shinzen vessel, but only some of their fire got through the swarm of Shinzen vessels and all the damage they managed to cause was being repaired relatively quickly. Most of the Shinzen fleet seemed more focused on dealing with the planetary defenses of a rather developed and industrial world with extensive orbital facilities and shipyards. The shipyards were heavily armed and were constantly firing on the Shinzen vessels, causing horrendous losses, but the Shinzen didn’t seem to care and their numbers seemed endless. Most of the damage to the Shinzen was taken by the smaller beings that swarmed around the larger vessels, and they numbered in the millions.

"The Shinzen seem to be developing some tactics as well," Ka'aukai commented. "They're forcing the Cortoids into overextending in order to deal with that large ship. The front Cortoids ships can’t see that those that should be coming behind them to reinforce them and protect their rear are being cut off and overwhelmed as they desperately try to deal with the big flashy threat. It’s a hunting tactic we often use when dealing with herds. We separate the herd of prey into smaller groups and take those groups down one by one by focusing our fire. The different parts of the herd are separate and without support, being attacked on all sides. The confusion and chaos also prevent them from acting in an intelligent manner."

"The Shinzen seem to have things well in hand," Selendil commented.

“That’s putting it mildly. I do wonder though. According to these readings, we’re relatively close to the deep regions of Cortoid space. Why don’t they have more ships defending what seems like a major industrial world?” Nochehuatl questioned.

“I think we’ll need to ask the Shinzen. It’s easier than making wild guesses.” Selendil said while deciding to wait and see how things turned out.