Song of the Void

”Humans are a weird race. On one paw they try so hard to better themselves and go to great lengths to achieve that goal. Some might even consider their more extreme methods unethical. Yet at the same time, once they succeed in improving their race, they panic and try to reject the improvements they’ve worked so hard to achieve. Maybe that’s because almost always those improvements are done to someone else. It’s never the scientist performing the experiments or the general public that gets improved, and perhaps that makes them jealous. Maybe even worried about being replaced. Enlightened self-interest is an important driving force in the universe, but there comes a time when that self-interest does more harm than good. Such has happened to humanity twice, once with the Cybrans and once with the Illum. Both of those incidents are black stains in the history of humanity, and they are still suffering the consequences.”

-High Ambassador of the Mrrroww

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Xiang was trying to concentrate, but her mind kept wandering. The tools in her hand worked with meticulous precision despite her fraying focus as she had done this a million times before. She was in the middle of adjusting the energy balance in her cybernetic left arm while using her right hand to work the tools necessary. The peeled back fake skin and muscle would look a little gruesome to most humans, but to a Cybran it was rather normal. They all learned to make changes to their own enhancements or they fell behind. Most of Xiang’s body was enhanced in some way, and it didn’t really need adjusting at the moment. She just did it anyway to keep herself busy.

‘This was such a shitty idea.’ She cursed in her mind.

‘So you keep saying.’ Her companion AI replied for the sixteenth time. The damn thing was integrated with her brain on a level where it could hear her conscious thoughts.

‘Well, it hasn’t become any better of an idea since the last time I said it. Or the time before that. How long is this damn phase jump going to take?’ Xiang cursed in her head. No point in wasting precious air on saying things out loud when her only companion could hear her thoughts anyway.

‘By my calculations, we have to be close to arriving any time now. They used one of their precious accelerators to boost their jump, so wherever they are jumping, we should almost be there.’ The Ai pointed out. As it had done before.

The problem with hitching a ride attached to another ship using a stealth shuttle was that you couldn’t really get off until the ship you were hitching said ride on reached the destination. When entering the weird dimension known as phase space, a ship formed a kind of bubble around it, often called a phase envelope, and that bubble both helped maintain their speed and the necessary twist in space to keep the vessel within phase space. Exiting the envelope was only feasible once the ship forming it came to a halt; usually either to do repairs or utilize some resources they found in phase space. Otherwise, the stealth shuttle would be torn apart by the spatial forces while being ejected back to normal space. The maneuver had been done successfully, but only due to sheer luck.

‘It’s not the trip wherever we are going that worries me, but the fact that we have to get back. I’m going to run out of air and supplies!’ Xiang argued. Despite the fact that she was more a machine than human now, she still needed some air and nutrients, mostly to keep her brain operational. Her consumption was low compared to normal humans and she could put herself into a sort of meditative state to minimize that consumption even further, but there were limits. This jump had been a long one and the shuttles were not really designed with long jumps in mind.

Suddenly a dashboard behind her bleeped and Xiang spun around in her chair. “What do we have?” She voiced her question while putting her left hand back to a semblance of normalcy.

“We are returning to normal space.” The Ai stated sounding excited, just as the view in front of the shuttle shifted from the odd blue-ish hue of the phase space into the normal starry space.

“I can see that.” Xiang pointed out with some amusement. “I meant something a bit more specific. Where are we? And tap into the Tetrarchy ship’s central computer. We need access to their sensory data.”

One of the largest advantages the Cybrans had over their Tetrarchy counterparts was the usage of AI in electronic warfare. For some reason the normies were skittish about using AI. Meanwhile, the Cybrans were more than happy to utilize that advantage to the fullest. “Calculating…our current position is at the very edge of the galactic rim…calculating…we are currently in the sector B7, solar system BD-137. No known data. The system is currently uncharted and is tagged as unclaimed.” The AI seemed so personable at certain times, while other times it sounded so…machine-like.

“B7? That’s not too far from our furthest colonies. Assuming the Admirals haven’t moved the city-ships drastically in the last three months. We might actually be able to get back alive. Although…uncharted, huh? That means there are no frequently used phase lanes nearby. That could be a problem.” Xiang mused. It was nice to know they were within range of friendly territory, but exploring for new viable phase lanes was one of the most dangerous professions for a reason. Making nearly blind phase jumps was an excellent way to get yourself killed.

“Gained access to the sensors of the Tetrarchy ship Vindicator. We are closing on the gravity well of the fourth and furthest planet orbiting the central star. Way out of the habitable range. Anomaly detected…unable to get specific readings…speculating…the long-range scanners are detecting a derelict ship. No heat signature and no energy readings. Active scans having trouble locking on. The information is available from long range optical sensors only.” The AI immediately focused on the biggest anomaly.

“Show me,” Xiang commanded before a grainy picture of a silvery ship appeared on her screen. “That’s a shitty picture. Why?”

“Speculating…the derelict ship has some method to interfere with optical sensors, but that method is not working well, likely due to damage sustained or a malfunction.” The AI replied.

The ship itself looked odd, nothing like Xiang had ever seen. It had a vaguely egg-shaped or oblong central section made of some impossible to identify material that seemed somewhat glossy, almost like glass or crystal. It also had what looked like roughly claw-shaped extensions; four that ran almost the entire length of the central section while four others seemed to be half-length. The eight extensions didn’t actually seem to be attached to the central section but were still closed around it, giving the impression of a closed flower with really weird petals.

“Any idea whose ship it is? I can’t identify it.” Xiang asked. She was extremely familiar with most ship designs the Cybrans had ever encountered or heard of, but this one was something new. Or something very old.

“Comparing with the records I’ve found a tenuous match…” The AI had suddenly turned more personable again actually sounding shocked. “The ship matches the vague descriptions we have of Progenitor vessels.”

“The level of confidence?” Xiang asked quietly. She wasn’t sure how to react to the news.

“Uncertain. According to our best intelligence, no Progenitor ship has ever been found. There are rough descriptions and images from races that no longer exist but that’s about it. The Illum likely have more information but they are not willing to share despite our tenuous peace treaty. Still, the mere possibility forces us to take this seriously.” The AI argued.

Xiang considered the possibilities. “Keep monitoring until we know more. We can’t return without finding out something we can use. Even if we rushed, the odds are that the ship would be gone one way or another before our fleets got here. Better to wait and find out as much as we can. But be ready to escape at the first sign of trouble. I have a bad feeling about this.”

Xiang’s stealth shuttle remained hooked to Vindicator’s systems as the larger ship slowly closed in on the suspected Progenitor vessel. The Tetrarchy ship launched probes once it got closer to the strange ship in order to run deeper scans, but Xiang took some delight in the fact that those scans came back with almost nothing to show for it. Apparently, the strange ship had some way to disrupt such scans despite being dormant. The normies inside Vindicator must have been furious.

Still, there were two things that came from the drone scans. The first one was the determination that the ship was really old and structurally intact from the outside. There was some wear visible on the ‘claws’ or ‘petals’ as Xiang called the extensions, but the damage seemed almost cosmetic. The central section seemed to be in pristine condition. The second discovery was that of something that looked like a hangar bay. The hangar seemed to be open to the empty space aside from a containment field of energy to keep the space and the hangar separated. The hangar was located on the inner side of one of the ‘claws’.

As the Vindicator launched another probe to see if it could enter the hangar, the situation changed for Xiang. “Reporting, something is invading the systems of the Vindicator. Something much more powerful than me. That something is likely the AI of the dormant vessel and it’s pushing me out almost as an afterthought. I think the ship is waking up.” The AI reported with clear signs of panic. The Cybran Ai’s were not used to being overpowered and could get a bit emotional at times.

Xiang made a lightning fast decision. This was about to go pear-shaped and fast. “Disengage from the Tetrarchy vessel and start drifting away as quickly as you can without attracting attention! We’re jumping away from here as soon as we get outside the gravity well of the planet. I’d rather take my chances trying to chart my way out of this system than whatever is waking up.”

One of the downsides of phase space was that no phase jumps could be performed too close to the gravity well of a star, planet, or another object with sufficient gravity. The gravitational force would tear the jumping ship in two. More advanced engines could jump closer to the source of gravity, but the stealth shuttle was not equipped with one of those engines. Neither was the Vindicator incidentally. Those kinds of things were the province of more advanced races.

Xiang wasn’t the religious type, but she did give a small prayer to anyone that might be listening just in case. She had a very bad feeling about this.

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Miyo smiled at the jubilation of the crew once the drone successfully entered the hangar. Apparently, the force field was similar to the ones used by the races closer to the galactic core. It didn’t stop vessels or drones passing through, just air and debris. The gathered scientists had been quite miffed once they found out that the scanning drones didn’t work on the Progenitor ship, which was apparently made from some materials that rejected such attempts. Speaking of, the eight extensions seemed to be formed of some unknown silvery metal, and no one had any idea what the central section was made of.

That in itself wasn’t surprising. Many of the materials currently in use by the space fleets were made of elements that had been unknown to the humanity before phase space was discovered. Material sciences had taken leaps forward since then. The metal plating lining the floors, for example, were made of standard alloys that had been soaked in a very particular type of radiation only found in phase space. The upside was that the metal now created a localized source of gravity, or as most called it artificial gravity. It didn’t quite go up to full one G, but it was close enough. The material was a new enough discovery that most Tetrarchy ships still used spin gravity or acceleration gravity, but the new plates were becoming more widespread. They were planning on testing drives and weapons based on gravity next, but that was decades from being put into general use even if it worked. Still, if humanity could find something like that, imagine a race like the Progenitors who could go much deeper into phase space.

The sudden hushed quiet pulled Miyo away from her thoughts, just before she was jolted by sudden cheering by the military personnel. She looked at what they could be cheering at and noticed that the drone had gone deeper into the hangar, which seemed to extend for almost the entire length of the extension, which made the hangar roughly a little over a kilometer long. It was full of what looked like fighters, a handful of shuttles and a pair of very humanoid looking mechs.

“It’s about time we found something useful.” One of the military officers commented. The man was wearing a blue and gold uniform, which meant a fleet officer.

Miyo scoffed at the thought. The lack of any obvious weaponry on the outer hull of the Progenitor ship had made the military people nervous, the fleet officers especially. Just the chance of studying the propulsion or the detection equipment of a Progenitor ship, not to mention materials sciences and other related areas, should’ve made the military giddy, but of course fleet officers were only happy with things that made other things go boom. The black-uniformed Psicom officers usually knew better, or at least hid their feelings better. These fighters were obviously armed, although it was debatable if any of the weapon systems were operational anymore. A few million years could do a number on even progenitor created materials.

Of course, Miyo also happened to know something that the others here did not. This ship might have not have any visible weapons, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t armed. Her Majesty had been one of those fortunate to stumble on a colony left behind by a race that once served the Progenitors. The beings that used to inhabit the colony were long gone, but there had been many things left behind. One of those things was a data storage that included stories about Progenitors ships in battle. According to those stories, the weapon systems of the Progenitors had been rather unorthodox. The stories spoke of hexagonal portals that opened in the space along the ship to spit out fire and death. There was some poetic license used, but the implication was rather intriguing, to say the least.

“Interesting that they have mechs as well. Our use of them is a response to the development of void shields, but even the progenitors have them. Wonder what they used the things for.” One of the nearby xenoengineers whispered to Miyo. Why he was suddenly acting so familiar seemed a bit odd, but she ignored it for now.

He did raise an interesting point. Weapon systems commonly developed in response to prevailing trends in warfare. If one race developed a weapon that changed the nature of the battlefield, then other races would develop their own systems to counter the new threat. Thus a particular system or idea might not make the best sense in a vacuum, but it made perfect sense when you knew the context. The use of mechs was one of those things. They had been developed solely in response to the void shield technology deployed by almost all races, but without the presence of void shields, they were just slow fighters.

“You’ll note that there seems to only be two. Maybe they were not the main focus. Perhaps they are for their equivalent of a Deity to get closer to targets? Our psions like to use the things as well.” Miyo speculated. She wasn’t really a military strategist, even though she knew some of the basics. She knew that a high ranking psion with special training could do a lot of damage to a ship, but usually the amount of damage was determined by how close to a target they got. Deities, in turn, were psions that could turn the direction of entire battles. Few of them could turn the direction of entire wars just by their presence. That’s partially why she had been so shocked to see one on the ship, albeit not a high ranked one.

That was another thing she had noted. The crew of this ship was a rather eclectic collection of experts in different fields, but Miyo had figured out that they all had something in common. They were all top experts in their field, but they were all somewhat expendable. Their loss would be a tragic blow to the Tetrarchy, but not a blow they could not get over. Considering the nature of their discovery, one would think it warranted the presence of nothing but the best and the brightest, but this was a risky endeavor.

Miyo herself was a perfect example. She was a recognized authority in the field of pretty much anything that had something to do with the Progenitors. She was recognized as brilliant and she was popular in the field. On the other hand, despite all her knowledge, she was not someone who got access to the top-secret materials at the cutting edge of the Tetrarchy technology. The public might recognize her as probably the most well-known xenoarcheologist, but that was in large part because she was what many would call ‘media friendly’, which basically translated to her being charming, well-spoken and most importantly attractive. She didn’t have the expertise of a long career in the field or the connections that came with that long career.

However, most would assume she was someone hungry to prove herself and thus ready to take some risks. She might not have been recognized as a first-tier expert by all her most accomplished peers, but she was definitely more than second-tier and ready to prove herself. Or at least that was what people thought. The fact that she knew more than she let on was well hidden. She knew many of the others on this ship were in a similar situation.

‘Well, aside from the whole being a spy thing.’ Miyo thought to herself with some amusement. Of course she was an expert in the field since the Illum were much more advanced in the field in general. Her Majesty was the foremost expert of course, but even an Envoy like Miyo was above these poor souls.

Suddenly a loud announcement got everyone’s attention. “We have determined that entering the hangar is safe for now, so all those willing to volunteer to be in the first wave report to the nearest Psicom officer. We will select those most qualified and useful.” Volunteering might have seemed like an odd way to pick the first people to step inside the Progenitor vessel, but there was a very good chance they would all die. That and the fact that there would be several actual commandos going along without all this volunteer nonsense made it a pretty safe bet.

Suddenly she noticed something from the corner of the probe’s camera, and a grin split her face. An opportunity had presented itself. A very risky opportunity, but one with immense payoff. While the others would be fumbling around entirely blind, she had at least some idea what to do. Perhaps she’d even get the chance to steal the whole vessel from under the noses of the Tetrarchy, assuming it could be controlled by anyone other than one of the Progenitors.

The only problem was that it would most likely get her outed as a spy if she succeeded, and that would adversely affect those close to her still left within Tetrarchy space. It would be a shame to do that to Leon in particular. Such a good man that she actually cared about. He might have been a means to an end, but a good man was a good man, no matter their affiliation. But sacrifices had to be made and Her Majesty would be very pleased about a service like this. That was more important than anything.

The xenoengineer shook in fright. “I’d never step foot there before it’s fully secured. How about you Miyo? Will you be risking your life in that deathtrap?” The question was likely prompted by her excited expression.

“Of course. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” Miyo replied and went to approach the nearby officer.