Song of the Void

”The Haven has earned its name. The station had become a place of security for at least three races that no longer have any other place to go. That said, the Haven will not save you if you are not willing to save yourself. Most members of two of the three races in question still live as spacers while working either as merchants or soldiers of fortune, and they are improving the position of their race as well as slowly increasing their numbers. Those two races still have a future, even though it’s a very precarious one and filled with risks. The third race, the Zlorth, have locked themselves on one of the station’s segments and are mostly just waiting for a slow death. Just because they are safe for now, that doesn’t mean they have a future. The station can bring you temporary safety, but in the end your future is still in your own paws. Or hands. Or tentacles. Or whatever.”

- High Ambassador of the Mrrroww

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As Selendil activated the warp drive, the ship disappeared in a bright flash of light. If sound traveled in space, and if there was someone nearby, they would have also heard a loud and high-pitched crack. As the ship arrived at its destination, Selendil grunted a bit in dissatisfaction. Normally a warp jump could barely be felt at all. First timers might feel slight disorientation when warping within an atmosphere and the surrounding suddenly changed, but inside a ship there should have been almost no feeling at all. “Remind me not to have the ship do too many low powered warps in the future. That was not a pleasant sensation.” This time it had felt like being squeezed through a tube, though only for a second.

Nox decided to ignore her comment. “Calculating our location. We have arrived roughly in the right place, though there was a slight deviation from the exact coordinates. Nothing to worry about. Good news and bad news concerning the surroundings. The good news is that the beacon is inside a tiny cloud of matter that could be described as a nebula, which explains partly why the beacon hasn’t been found despite its proximity to the Seat of Power. The bad news is that the other reason it has not been found is that the nebula is made partly of fairly acidic gasses. Another piece of good news is that the gases are not acidic enough to damage the ship or the beacon, but it will do a number on most ships.”

“Will it damage one of our shuttles or my mech without my protection?” Selendil asked.

“If the shuttle still had the dampening field or the structural integrity field intact, then no. However, since we can barely charge the ship enough to have it fly to the Seat, then I’d say you’re out of luck. The shuttle would not be destroyed, but it would take damage. The mech I’m not sure of. You know better than anyone that those are not built for maximized sturdiness in mind but to enhance your psionics. So I’d say your guess is better than mine. Why do you even ask? You could fly your mech inside a star or a black hole when you’re using your psionics, so why would a little nebula bother you?” Nox asked curiously.

“I’m just cognizant of the possibility that someone aboard the station might be able to feel my psionics, that’s all. I’ll take the mech. They might have found some of our shuttles since we didn’t hide or destroy those back then. Mechs are luckily similar enough across most races that it should be fine. Besides, this might still turn into something hostile and the mech will be more useful in combat.” Selendil replied. In fact, her mech did look a bit like a large but featureless Dhar. It was made of a reflective glass-like substance that was similar to the material the ship was made of. Luckily she could change the mech’s appearance to a certain extent.

As she clad herself in the mech, the mech turned white in color and looked more like it was made of some generic alloy metal often used in ships. The material itself didn’t change, just the appearance. “Have the ship run quiet and close the hangar doors behind us. I can teleport inside if necessary. We don’t want anyone just waltzing in like last time. I know the VI did that on purpose, but we still don’t need to make it easy.”

“Already on it.” Nox replied. “I’ll try to contact the station’s VI as soon as we get close enough.”

As she got outside, Selendil oriented herself towards the enormous station she knew to exist in the distance. The flight speed of the mech over long distances was not that high, as it was not designed for sustained flight. However, a Dhar mech was still faster than most ships outside phase space, so she expected she’d arrive in a few hours. Or she would if she flew normally. Almost as soon as she had sensed her target with her powers, a cluster of minds that large was easy to detect for a psion of her ability, she started making small jumps towards her target using her power to teleport short distances. It only took her fifteen minutes to reach outside the nebula.

Almost as soon as she did, she could already see the enormous station, and it was rather hard to miss even from this distance. The station orbited a medium-sized star at a moderate distance. She knew the station was oriented towards the star to allow for natural light, so they were only seeing the bottoms of the various sections of the station. On the other hand, most defenses, docks and other facilities including shipyards and satellites were located on this side. The bottom of the station was actually more active than the top.

The station itself had a large central hub that looked like two black hexagonal pyramids stacked base to base. Selendil knew this to be the heart of the station where most of the critical systems were located. It was also larger than the other sections, though not at the base. There was a simple reason for the design. The central hub was surrounded by more than a hundred hexagonal sections, and all those sections were connected at the base, forming a grid that was almost a complete wall. The other sections each served their own purpose, although many of them served either as living areas for various races or as hydroponics. Many of the sections had the ability to sustain itself for short time and each section was large enough to hold a small city.

In fact, Selendil knew most of the sections, with the exception of the central hub and few of the sections connected to it, could be detached and flown away as they had their own engines. They didn’t move all that quickly, but they could be moved. She doubted those engines were in a perfect condition either, but the fact remained. In the past, it had been common to move the sections around based on the need of the day. Even now there were two empty slots in the grid that could take in a section and the two detached sections were floating on the dark side of the station, apparently undergoing some sort of maintenance.

“It seems someone has added sections.” Nox commented. "According to my records, the Seat of this galaxy only had eighty sections. Now there are 124.”

“I think the station’s VI might have added a few based on need, but many of those outer ones are clearly made from other materials. The other races must have added their own.” Selendil commented.

She wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about the whole situation. She had disdain for the way the younger races were almost warring for the opportunity to rob the graves of her people. This was slightly different though. The station was originally meant to be utilized by other races, albeit ones that had submitted to the Dhar. The races using the station currently were not simply relying on what the Dhar had left behind either. They had added their own touch to the station by creating new sections, and creating one of those sections wasn’t exactly cheap. It required a lot of materials, even if the materials were different from what the Dhar used.

As their mech got closer, Nox finally got in contact with the station’s VI. “I have to say, the communication abilities of the mech are dreadful.” The AI complained.

“Well, we didn’t really need communication abilities back then. I could just contact the Dhar on the station with my mind, or we could’ve arrived on a ship like most civilized people.” Selendil countered.

Nox chose wisely against arguing the point. “Humm, the station’s VI has recognized our claim but won’t transfer control to me until you get on the station. Apparently there have been others trying to falsely claim they are Dhar and have tried to reclaim the place. The VI can tell I’m most likely a genuine companion AI, but theoretically someone could’ve just managed to wake me up without you. The VI needs to confirm your presence with the bio-scanners on board the station.”

"That's…surprisingly intelligent," Selendil commented.

"I think the VI might have started to develop some genuine intelligence and self-awareness over time, maybe because so much time has passed or maybe because the younger races have been poking around. It should be alright though. I can tell most of the limitations are still in place.” Nox said after a short burst of calculations.

“What’s the status of the station?” Selendil shifted the topic a bit. Now that she was within range of most scanners of most ships surrounding the station, she could no longer jump around so her travel speed had slowed down considerably. Those ships would undoubtedly wonder where a solitary mech had appeared from, and they might try to trace her trajectory back to the nebula, but that was a risk she had to take. Of course, that all assumed the ships that noticed her didn’t just assume the mech belonged to one of the other ships, or even cared enough to think about it at all.

"According to what the VI was willing to tell me, the station was originally in a rather bad spot but the younger races have been doing a rather good job maintaining it in the last few thousand years. With a little help from the VI of course. We will be able to find the materials we need on the station, though not in great quantities unless we are willing to trade with the other races. The VI was forced into using most of the materials during the long years of silence to maintain itself.” Nox exchanged information with the VI while explaining the most important pieces of information. Selendil spent most of her time lost in memories.

“Did the younger races gain control of the station entirely?” She suddenly asked.

“Apparently not. The VI was forced to cede a certain amount of control to allow for proper maintenance and peaceful relations, but most of the important systems are still under the VI’s control. Or at least it can take the control back if necessary. They did rename the station though.” Nox explained.

"Good. Personally, I wasn't fond of the original name. It was pompous and generic with every Seat having the same name. What did they rename it to?” Selendil replied.

“The Haven.” Nox translated.

“Like a sanctuary? Not too bad. Assuming it’s in line with the station’s current purpose. That reminds me, have the VI send us the files on the languages commonly used on the station. Then give me a quick lesson.” Selendil realized that this was the perfect opportunity to get rid of the language barrier. She had absorbed the languages spoken most commonly in the Tetrarchy and Illum, but the station was different.

She could theoretically spend a few hours listening to a language and her abilities allowed her to absorb the language passively from the speaker’s mind. That method was quick but it would still take a few hours per language. On the other hand, as Nox was connected to her mind, she could have the AI insert the information directly. That was much faster, although she would have slight trouble with the language in the beginning since she had never spoken or even heard it spoken. A combination of the two methods would allow her to learn a hundred languages in a day.

-----

Docking with the station was rather hassle-free, as the officials in charge of arrivals were informed by the station’s VI that this was a first contact situation. As a result, the traffic controllers left the procedures up to the VI and Selendil was guided to a specific docking bay rather close to the central hub of the station. The bay turned out to be a lift that brought her mech into a hangar that had an atmosphere suited for her and she was given instructions to approach the hangar doors once she was ready. The doors would scan her and perform a simple but effective decontamination procedure that had been in place since the time Dhar still controlled the station. The hangar itself was designed for much larger ships, so she had plenty of room.

Selendil had decided to don a white environmental suit with slight silver highlights. In general, the suit looked like a mixture of mesh armor with some leather for comfort. It also had extra plating for protection in vital areas. She had added a featureless helmet and a white cape for effect. She also carried a long staff that looked like a decorative spear. Slight streams of reddish-orange energy swirled around her, just to reinforce the whole ‘Solarian’ idea.

“Oh, by the way, if I’m forced to endure hiding my race, you get to change your name as well. No self-respecting Solarian would name their AI Nox anyway.” She said with slight mirth. For a moment she considered storing away her mech like she stored her weapons, but that would’ve been too suspicious, so left the mech alone in the hangar.

“Now wait just a minute!” Nox protested.

“Change designation from Nox to Lux.” Selendil recited the command, not waiting at all.

“That’s not fair! You got to keep your name!” Nox, now known as Lux protested vehemently.

“That is a shame. Now pay attention, we’ll be getting some company.” Selendil cruelly moved on, as she approached the door. She could sense four people on the other side. The decontamination procedure took place in a small connecting chamber barely large enough to be called a closet, and a wave of energy washed over her.

As the doors of the decontamination chamber opened, she was greeted by a fairly comfy room clearly designed for some sort of negotiations. There was a large circular table in the middle of the room with several differently sized and molded chairs placed all around it. Clearly the varying chairs were designed for varying body types. All the seats had a computer terminal in front of them. Four of the chairs opposite of the door Selendil had entered from were occupied, although she wasn’t sure if one of the beings actually was sitting on a chair. Behind the four beings was another door that led deeper into the station.

“Welcome to the Haven station traveler. Excuse our meager reception, but your arrival has caught us by surprise.” The smallest being spoke smoothly in what Selendil recognized as the most common diplomatic language, universal standard. The quadrupedal being was about 80 cm long, without counting the tail, and about 40 cm tall feline wearing official dark clothing. It was covered completely in white and black fur, and it was lounging on a tall chair that came to the height of the table. For some reason Selendil got the urge to pet the being.

‘I think I saw some very similar beings in the memories I got from the two hu-mans. They were called cats and kept as pets. This one is a bit larger but…’ Selendil silently told Lux.

‘I saw something similar in the data. Specifically about something called ‘Cat Videos’, but the related data suggested the contents were vile, so I didn’t research further. Incidentally, the history files I got suggest that these Mrrroww as they are called quite like the humans due to the reverence the humans show their less intelligent cousins. No idea what that’s about.’ Lux replied with a sulky voice. The AI was still unhappy about the name change.

“Don’t mention it. I’m not here as an official representative of my race.” Selendil slowly replied, speaking the language for the first time. With every word her speech felt more natural, something the others noticed.

“Nevertheless, since this is the first time your race is making an appearance on the station, there are certain procedures we need to go through. We will also provide you with information on how to conduct yourself on the station, no matter what business has brought you here.” The feline being stated. “First we should make some introductions. I am Ambassador Fluffington McMeowerly of the Mrrroww, and we are the nominal leaders on this station as we were the first to find it. Incidentally most call me Fluffington.”

A tall and broad-shouldered armored humanoid signaled his turn. The only things showing of him were his hands with four thick digits and a scaled and narrow head that jutted forward from a long but thick neck. “I’m am Ambassador Cholt and I represent the Azi. You will find that a large portion of the police forces on the station come from our race.” His tone was very formal but not entirely unfriendly. His words revealed a rather impressive row of sharp teeth.

A long serpentine being with brightly colored wings and even more brightly colored clothing went next. In addition to the wings, Selendil noticed a pair of thin arms that were hidden within sleeves. “Chichicacoatl from the Coatl race.” The serpent hissed simply.

The last being simply nodded. The Mrrroww ambassador interjected on their behalf. “That’s Firtrunk from a race called the Guardians. They’re not very talkative, but they are a major presence on the station. I still don’t get why he always comes to these meetings.” The last sentence was muttered in a voice that Selendil wasn’t quite sure if it had meant to be heard.

She introduced herself in turn. “And I am Selendil of the Solarians. In case you were going to ask, I’m here mostly for information and for trade. And this is Lux.”

“Hello.” Lux’s voice could be heard, though the source was unclear.

“An AI. Marvelous.” Cholt commented, clearly unhappy.

“Selendil, the presence of AI’s is allowed on the station, but they need to be strictly controlled. The station itself will monitor any activity and you will be responsible for any damage your AI might cause. If your AI is caught in something illegal, you will be tossed out from the station.” Fluffington explained.

“Noted," Lux replied in Selendil’s stead.

“Are you armed?” Cholt asked, eyeing Selendil’s spear that looked mostly decorative. “I mean properly armed.”

"Always," Selendil replied succinctly. “And even if I wasn’t, it would not matter. I don’t need weapons.”

“A psion then?” Fluffy asked with an obvious glance towards the swirls of energy that sometimes whirled around Selendil. The ambassador continued without waiting for an answer. “You will be tested on that by the way. There are certain rules concerning psions on the station as well, but we’ll explain those after the test, and as they pertain to you. We welcome trade on the station. Weapons are also allowed as the station isn’t always the safest place, but we request that you avoid any damage to the station and the trade of any dangerous and especially explosive materials needs to happen outside the station. Any information on trading practices will be provided after this meeting.”

The feline creature proceeded to list many of the rules of the station and asked many questions about Selendil and the ‘Solarians'. Most of the rules could be summarized with ‘don't be an ass' and ‘keep any violence and illegal activity to a minimum'. Selendil, in turn, avoided or dodged around most of the questions, and the others seemed to accept her reluctance to answer since they didn't really press for answers.

‘This is going to take a while.’ She thought to herself. The procedure had been much more simple back when the Dhar were in command.

‘Bureaucracy. The bane of all intelligent races.’ Lux replied.