Song of the Void

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”Let’s give the officials on Haven the courtesy of informing them about the approaching Shaer ships. We wouldn’t want them to freak out and start a battle where it might be avoided.” Amaterasu suggested as soon as people started to gather on the bridge of the ship. Many of the usual suspects were off-duty, so they were either on the station or relaxing on the ship.

“How long until they arrive?” Xiaoli asked.

“Well, I noticed them fairly early, but I wasn’t specifically keeping an eye out so not very long. A few minutes depending on how fast they decide to travel the rest of the way. I think they sensed the fact that I noticed their approach. They could always choose to tarry on purpose or speed up, I suppose.” Selendil replied. It was hard to really determine such things as so many things could affect the arrival time.

“The station has been informed. They were understandably not pleased and wanted to ask all sorts of questions, but that’s their problem. I have no obligation to answer them, nor do I have the patience to play twenty questions when most of the answers will change in a few minutes anyway.” Nox announced.

They spent several tense minutes waiting for the arrival of the Shaer, interrupted only by the arrival of a few more of their bridge crew. “They’re coming.” Selendil finally announced and the Shaer vessels started appearing. The Shaer ships had a weird way of exciting phase space as they seemed to shimmer into normal space without forming the phase rift usually associated with the jump. There was a good reason for the way they did it of course. Their ships seemed to specialize in stealth, and it would be hard to remain cloaked if the enemy could detect you exiting or entering phase space.

Xiaoli bit at her thumb in frustration. “I really want to get my hands on one of their ships. That method of exiting phase space would make things so much easier for us. Our stealth shuttles wouldn’t need to hitch rides on enemy ships anymore. That alone would allow us to make our stealth vessels much larger and more effective.”

“Speaking of large ships, that’s a really bloody big ship they brought along!” Lilly exclaimed as she looked at the readings. She had a reason for her agitation. One of the Shaer vessels was much larger than any they had seen before. It dwarfed even the dreadnought class vessels most races used, and it did it by a fairly large margin. It was actually larger than the biggest ships the Shinzen made, and the Shinzen used meteors as hive-ships.

“I believe that would match the ones we’re also trying to construct. A Titan-class vessel.” Amaterasu pointed out.

“Wait, the Illum are building something like that as well?” Xiaoli turned to the former Illum empress.

“Well we were designing one at least, and we had constructed the necessary shipyard capacity. I’m not entirely sure if the plans were moved into production, what with the recent peace with the Tetrarchy and everything.” Amaterasu shrugged, unbothered by revealing relatively sensitive information, mainly because she was fairly confident the project had been put on hold. “We’ve also learned some new things about weapons technology and with the void shields facing eventual obsolescence, the need for such large vessels is also reduced. You can build a dozen dreadnoughts with the same resources, and those can be in several places at once. It remains to be seen which is more effective.”

“Master, the ship is large, but I don’t think it’s designed necessarily for pure battle purposes. According to my readings, the ship shares many features with our old Arkships. I think it was primarily designed for travel between galaxies, and likely might serve as something like a mobile command center. That’s not to say it can’t perform in battle, just that it seems multipurpose.” Nox reported.

“The Shaer ships are not moving to attack the station. The other ships are forming a protective formation around the large ship. If they wanted to just attack, then they’re wasting time and their advantage of surprise.” Amaterasu pointed out.

“There’s something else.” Nox added. “They've created something strange that I haven’t seen before. They brought something that seems to absorb nearly all attempts of scanning it. Even my sensors have trouble getting detailed readings. It seems like a cloud or artificial nebula made of some sort of nanite particles that can absorb almost any energy. I would assume any ships that got inside the cloud would be drained and left dead in space in a very short period of time. I can just make out some sort of basic superstructure inside the cloud, as well as trillions of missiles and torpedoes of different sizes and yields.”

“A three-fold attack against anything caught inside.” Selendil mused. “First the energy drain, supported by the nanites likely trying to eat away the hull of any ship inside to, I assume, create more of the missiles and torpedoes. And then the ordnance itself. I wonder if they can fire those missiles out of the cloud? It would be somewhat ineffective if they couldn’t. The whole thing also seems to be unmanned. The individual parts are all so small that I didn’t sense it in phase space at all. Clever.”

“So. They don’t seem to be attacking just yet, but they did come prepared to do battle.” Amaterasu mused.

“They’re contacting us. Us directly and not the station.” Nochehuatl reported. The serpentine science officer had become one of the hardest workers on the ship and you could almost always find him on the bridge scanning something or working on a project. He even spent most of his free time here.

“Put them through. I think we will soon find out what they’re doing here.” Selendil waved at the colorful serpentine scientist.

“They aren’t hailing us directly. They simply sent a message. In the language of the Dhar. Apparently they are here for two reasons. They want to confirm whether your words about being a Dhar are correct. If they are, then good. If not, then they will need to eliminate the station because the AI has gone rogue." Nochehuatl explained.

“I don’t exactly enjoy being doubted. That implies my word is not worth trusting, which is a rather large insult for a Dhar. Did they mention how they were going to do this confirmation?” Selendil asked with a displeased voice.

"They did not," Nochehuatl replied.

“In that case, send them a message. Tell them I don’t appreciate being doubted, and I don’t feel the need to prove myself to anyone. Tell them they have some leeway but very little, and I certainly won’t be taking any orders from them.” Selendil stated firmly.

“They responded," Nochehuatl reported only moments later. "Apparently you already passed the first test. A true Dhar wouldn't be pushed around by their old servants nor would they take being doubted lightly. If you had agreed unconditionally just to save the station or had shown no displeasure at being doubted, then they would’ve attacked immediately. They are asking permission to send a handful of people to meet with you.”

“Keep it small and I’ll tolerate it. They can fly a shuttle with the people they want to send to our ship and I’ll warp anyone on board on our ship from the shuttle once they get close.” Selendil decreed and got up to move to a more appropriate meeting room. She wasn’t going to allow the Shaer on the bridge. “Amaterasu, stay here and keep an eye on the fleet. Lilly, you come along to make sure my anger doesn’t get the best of me.”

“Me?!” The surprised Mrrroww asked in shock.

“Yes, you. You seem like the one with the most sensitivity to such things among this group." Selendil confirmed. She wasn’t blind to her own potential faults, even if her desire to fix them was limited.

As they were going to be meeting several of the large arachnoid Shaer, they needed a bit of space. Thus Selendil decided to meet them in one of the large meditation chambers. The room was entirely undecorated and had no furniture aside from a handful of comfortable platforms to meditate on. Selendil was taking the chance to do a bit of meditation herself and was floating in place in a meditative pose as she warped in the Shaer delegation. A handful of Dashane were near the door keeping watch, led by Ka’aukai, and Lilly was sitting on her hover pillow behind Selendil.

The first thing Selendil noted that one of the Shaer was very strong psionically. The being wasn’t even close to matching even the weakest of the Keepers, but it would’ve fared well in comparison to most normal Dhar. This single being would’ve been enough to attack Haven on its own if Selendil wasn’t here, and it was also a testament to the being’s skill that Selendil had not sensed it until they had actually arrived. She had sensed the being once the ships had come out of phase space, and had expected the being to be one of those sent to meet her.

The second thing she noted was that they had brought along a large cylindrical container filled with some kind of nanite solution. A very old and completely greyed out Shaer floated in the container. The being was completely shriveled and was barely able to cling to life. The only thing that allowed it to survive was the liquid in the tank that kept the most important organs operational. They would’ve shut down under normal conditions long ago. Selendil could sense a great deal of lethargy and tiredness from the being, and it was clearly on the border of death. In fact, you could say it had long since stepped over the border and was only barely clinging to the last remains of its life.

These Shaer were also different in that they all wore pieces of armor, even the old one. Selendil knew that the Shaer had not seen much need for clothing in the past, something that many insectoid races had in common, but they could appreciate decorations and the practical benefits of certain armor pieces that added to their own natural protections. The two guards standing mutely in place wore golden masks that hid their faces. Not that Selendil could tell the difference between Shaer faces anyway.

The powerful being was the one to step forward. “Greetings. I am Speaker Ana-sin-emid. This one is Elder Samsu-Iluna. The two of us will be the ones to confirm whether you truly are a Dhar as you say.”

“I already mentioned in the message that my patience is wearing thin. I have no obligation to prove myself to anyone, nor do I have the interest to do so. You walk on thin ice.” Selendil replied and looked towards the Elder in the container. “I see the Elder lives up to the title, but if you’re trying to claim that he was alive when we were still around, then I’m going to have quite a few suspicions. I seem to recall your species was quite long-lived, but this is a bit too much.”

The Speaker made an odd sound that they could not quite interpret. “No, though your guess was fairly close. The Elder was not alive when the Dhar still walked among us, but he is old enough to have lived at the same time as those that did. Thus his knowledge of the Dhar is not warped by countless generations of hearsay, legends, and stories that grew in the telling. He has actual second-hand information and not just some fables that contain a grain of truth. He has spent most of that time in stasis, which is how he managed to survive."

The old Shaer barely managed to open some of its eyes. It looked at Selendil, though its eyes were damaged by time. Most of the observation was actually done by sensing her aura. “Which galaxy was our species born in?” He finally asked in a voice that sounded as if a Mrrroww was being strangled.

On the surface, the question seemed a bit too simple, but Selendil realized immediately why the old being had asked that exact question. "It seems there is some truth to you being so old. The Eternal Empire designated the galaxy where your uplifted race lived in as 78-Alpha-Cestus. However, your species was moved there while you were uplifted as your old world was meant to go through terraforming. Your old world was in another galaxy designated as 156-Alpha-Gladius.”

The grey and ancient being nodded in approval and closed its eyes. “I am satisfied. She has the aura of a true Dhar. There might exist other energy beings so looks could deceive, but she has the aura of a Dhar. My parents used to talk about her kind often. What they didn’t like to talk about was the time before we were uplifted. Most of our kind of that generation wanted to forget our primitive past. Few are aware that the cradle of our current species is not our original homeworld. Very few. Most because they are not told, while others because they do not want to know. The current generations have all forgotten.”

The Speaker also nodded. “I have also done my part. In fact, my part was done as soon as I stepped on board. You claimed the title of a Keeper. We do not have the exact knowledge of what that entails, but we do know that the Keepers were the mightiest among the Dhar. Therefore, a real Keeper could never be weaker than me. There are very few beings that can come even close to me in power, or at least we have not met more than a handful. And you are by far the most powerful being I have sensed.”

“Death Premonition?” Selendil’s voice suggested that she wasn’t really asking. Death Premonition was a rather rare psionic talent that allowed the psion to get a small glimpse of their future, though in a very limited sense. Specifically, they could get a premonition about people stronger than them. They could sense when fighting a person stronger than them would lead to their death.

“Indeed.” The Speaker admitted.

"Well, at least yours is at a high level of mastery. I would've been able to nullify the ability if it wasn't." Selendil stated. "That's a lesson to most psions. Any power can be countered, even unintentionally."

“I shall keep that in mind.” The Speaker made a small bow by bending its front legs just a bit.

“So are you satisfied?” Selendil asked. These were the sorts of tests she could live with as she didn’t really have to do anything.

“We are. However…” The Speaker was a little hesitant.

“However?” Selendil asked, her tone growing colder.

“Well, the problem is that we do not represent the entirety of our race. We are usually quite unified in our larger goals, but even our people are divided into factions. There are certain factions among our race that won’t take my word on a subject like this. They are not the real problem though. They will decide to take the cautious path just in case. The real problem comes from the factions that won’t care. They have no respect for what they call old fables and they can’t see how your presence here should change anything.” The Speaker summarized the problem.

“That sounds like a problem you need to deal with internally.” Selendil pointed out.

“Perhaps. Perhaps not. I suppose that depends on how you expect us to deal with this news. To tell you the truth, we still do not know what your purpose in this galaxy is, and whether our goals are in conflict. Your identity is enough to recognize that the AI of the station has not gone rogue. Even the other factions will recognize the fact that at least the station recognizes your identity, which is enough to leave it be. What else though? If our goals are not in conflict, then there need not be any conflict between us. I’m sure many among our people will want to make contact with you, out of curiosity if for no other reason, but you can just send them away. The real question is, what do you want?” The Speaker asked.

Selendil tapped her chin a bit in thought. What did she want? “The station is obviously to be left alone, but you already figured that part out. I suppose I’ve taken an interest in some of the races in this galaxy. I also have members of those races working on my ship. Your sudden aggression towards those races is bothersome.”

"I can see how it could be, however, this does somewhat conflict with the way the Dhar of old did things. I would think that you would approve the way we do things, as we follow your example in many ways. We treat those under us with courtesy and they gain from being under our rule. From the old records, we can tell that the Dhar also took over countless galaxies, and we are trying to do something similar, following in your footsteps. We are not here to perform genocide but to bring order. We also protect those under our sway from the dangers posed by overly aggressive neighbors. And just like the Dhar, we don't really demand much from them. So I do not see the problem really.” The Speaker seemed genuinely curious.

“It’s not a problem of principle or even methods, although you might want to keep a better watch on those races that are eager to do rather horrid things to please you. In addition, the Dhar are a warrior people and we consider struggle as a driver of progress. However, my objection is with the particular races involved. So my objection isn’t one of principle but one of practical realities.” Selendil explained her point of view.

“So in essence, you would want us to stop our activities in this section of the galaxy?” The Speaker summarized.

“In essence, yes.” Selendil nodded.

“And if we do not, you will stand against us?” The Speaker asked in confirmation.

Would she? “To an extent at least. This isn’t a matter that I care intensely about, however, I don’t have to. You should know if you are really in a similar position to the one we held in the past. I don’t need to care intensely about something to feel annoyed if someone goes against my will.”

“I do understand. However, some would argue that you no longer hold the position to make such demands. I would not make that argument, but some among my people will.” The Speaker voiced an argument that would eventually be made.

"Those that hold such views are welcome to come and try to pry that authority from my cold dead fingers. If they do come through, they should come prepared to lose their lives in the attempt." Selendil stated firmly.

The Speaker considered her words carefully before finally speaking. "This has been enlightening. I will inform the rest of my people of these news. How they will react remains to be seen. Something to take note of, however. If some of my people do decide to fight you, a certain modicum of proportionality might be prudent when dealing with them. They will have to bear the consequences of their choices, and that is fair. However, the rest of us will not condone things if your response becomes completely disproportional. We will be forced to defend our people if we are pushed into that corner."

“I do not live by the rules and limits of others. It does not matter how many come. They will all have the same fate.” Selendil was not planning on giving in. Both sides had made their case and knew the stakes. All that remained was to see how things developed.