{Author's Note}
So hi, thanks for clicking the story, as I said in the summary this is my first story AND it currently unedited, so expect some mistakes in grammer, spelling, and other such things.
Plans for this have been lain out up to about 120,000 words, but could be longer, could be shorter.
I will answer all questions in the next chapter.
I just spat this out on the page in 2 hours of feverish typing and it is now 5 am, I just had to get this idea out of my brain. I hope you find it as good as I did.
Enjoy!
[Edit 1/28/17] Just fixed up a few misspelling and made sure everything lined up story wise, will do a full edit tomorrow after work.
[Edit 2/1/17] Wow, okay so, complete re-write of almost all dialog, tons of grammatical errors and punctuation fixes. Few other major and minor plot changes. Your best bet is to just re-read the entire chapter, sorry!
In a lonely solar system, a massive, ship suddenly blinked into view. A blue and green mottled core was nestled between two sleek, silver branches, coming to form the shape of an eye. "Bioship #001: Temperate Lands, read along the sides in blocky white lettering. Sitting at 500 kilometers long, 160 kilometers tall and wide, the Temperate Lands was one of the largest research craft the galaxy had seen to date. The two-dimensional eye glowed white in the rising sun, as slowly drifted from the dark side, to the light side of the glittering blue and green planet ahead. On the dark side of the planet, veins of light from large cities could be seen everywhere. A very similar looking planetoid spun lazily in what would be the iris of the massive craft, while a clear shield like surface formed the iris itself, protecting the planetoid the craft seemed to almost cradle.
Within the bridge of the Temperate Lands sat a single man, the captain. His eyes focused on the blue lightly glowing screen ahead of him in the otherwise dim room. He sat with his back hunched forward in his seat, hands clenched in a steeple in front of him, and his foot tapped away at the floor.
An impossible decision was to be made, and his time to decide was quickly running out. The screen indicated twelve large objects quickly approaching the system, specifically the planet that lay just below.
"What am I supposed to do?" Eyeing the estimated arrival timer left him even deeper in panic "Only 10 minutes to decide…"
The man appeared to be in his late twenties, and had an average body and build. A dusting of brown hair on his head, and face. His slightly angular jaw was clenched, with his mouth stuck in a grim line. His light eyes searched around the screens in front of him. The comfortable-looking long sleeve shirt and pants he wore, hung loosely around his frame, slightly too large.
He quickly stood, and walked around the console in front of him, to stand in front of the large window. He stared out at the planet just waking up for the day, his hands coming to rub at his eyes, as if to make an answer to his question appear.
"Heh, wonder what they're thinkin down there now that they've spotted the BTL." A small grin formed on his bearded face as his hands folded in front of him.
"21 billion intelligent souls down there…" Just as quick as it had come, the smile fell off the captain's face at the reminder of the impending decision.
"22.24 billion as of the last scan, actually Amicus." Said a synthetic voice from the small ear bud on his right.
"Wow thanks Jax, that certainly makes it easier on me." Amicus's voice said dripping sarcasm.
Jax, the AI that had been with Amicus since the beginning. Jax was the one constant in Amicus's long life, and if asked, Amicus would say without hesitation Jax was his best friend, though his only friend for too long to mention. Though the mental health effects of only having a simulacrum of a human around for so long remained to be seen.
"I aim to please." Either missing the sarcasm or ignoring it, Jax replied, sounding extremely pleased with himself.
"Would you like me to attempt to establish a comm-link with them again?"
"Sure, sure… They'll probably ignore it like the last 100 or so tries." He flippantly waved off the unseen AI, turning again to frown at the planet peacefully rotating planet below.
How had it all gone so wrong? Just a few years ago the human empire spanned the entire galaxy, nearing 1 trillion souls strong.
He thrusted his hands once again to his face and gripping at his hair as he continued to remember, the implant in his brain silently transmitting the data from the ship's networks.
The plague happened, that's what.
Tears began to well up in Amicus's eyes.
The disease started in silence. He still had never found where it came from, beyond it being a designer disease, probably made by a terrorist group. It had mutated beyond anything anyone could have ever intended. Entire planets would fall silent in a matter of hours. Hell, they couldn't even detect the thing until The Empire's population had fallen to just 10 billion. As it turned out, it hid out as the common fucking cold, something literally every human in the galaxy had in their body.
It would infect an entire a planet, be spread through every possible medium; air, water, contact, blood. Then, almost all at once, as though someone had flipped a switch, it struck. First taking down the immune system of the human host, leaving it free to wreak havoc. Anything it could infect and destroy it did. The infected lasted only minutes once this process started, seeming to "rot in front of you" one hysterical survivor screamed.
In just 300 years, less than a sliver of the average human lifespan, The Empire lay abandoned; skeletal abandoned worlds still infected with the disease lay quarantined by automated drone ships, and stations. The planetary shielding leaving the once lively planets as tombs. Only a Senate majority order could unlock these tomb worlds. Given that the Senate no longer exists there is little chance of accessing the infected worlds.
Amicus, using his considerable skill in biology, and microtech, had found that by having nanites tweak a few genes that controlled the formation of immune cells, forcing them into unique, but functional shapes, that the disease could no longer destroy the immune system. No longer kill.
His hands fell listlessly to his sides, empty eyes still staring at the planet below.
In his state, Amicus missed Jax telling him only 8 minutes remained.
But it was too late. The population of humanity rested at an estimated 300 thousand; various pockets of people that were off planets, in secure sterile facilities, and so on to reach out to one another.
His first contact with survivors was with the colony ship of Helios. He came to offer the cure in person, as, being the stubborn humans they were, refused to believe Amicus had defeated the disease, without proof. The people of the Helios assumed that if Amicus was still alive after all this time, he couldn't be diseased, so they trusted him that much at least.
Placing his hands above his head against the glass to support himself, and clenching his eyes shut Amicus barely stood as the emotions hit him. Tears began to fall.
They were wrong.
In his state, he missed the voice of Jax informing him just 4 minutes until contact.
Amicus, while not affected by the Plague, was still a carrier. Just five minutes into his visit, the entire ship had become infected. The cure was designed to rebuild the human immune system in a new form that was able to resist the disease, but it took time. He had tried to apply the cure to those nearest him as panic engulfed the Helios. Too little too late, Amicus was forced to watch as the disease made people decay before his very eyes. The entire population of Helios was silenced just a few minutes after he arrived. His thoughtless actions had reduced the survivor count to just 100 thousand humans.
The captain began to sob.
If only he had been faster in creating the cure.
If only he had thought before he acted.
If only.
'At least it only affected humans,' He thought grimly, standing up after a moment, wiping his bloodshot eyes on his sleeve. Glancing once again towards the planet below, peacefully turning unaware of what was coming.
"Captain sir. They've answered." Jax suddenly said over the com-link.
Running back to the comms screen, Amicus laid eyes on the first human he had seen since the tragedy. The man appeared to be just past the prime of his youth, though his stone cold eyes told of a man who had seen many battles. His attire was that of a decorated soldier.
"This is Admiral Briggs, of the Last Remnant Fleet. Please identify yourself survivor."
Ah yes, Admiral Briggs, the hero of the last clone wars, and the one responsible for the genocide of all surviving clones.
A flare of anger was easily formed at the thoughts.
As well as a staunch supporter of the blacklisting of all types of cloning, it was the last of the "old technologies" to be blacklisted. He was easily able to use his fame from the war to sway The Empire's leaders into nearly anything he wished, for a time at least.
'But that was a almost 1000 years ago. He must be more reasonable now right?' Amicus thought, panic now returning in full force and mixing with the anger.
"Greetings Admiral, my name is Amicus. I am a researcher licensed by The Empire. You and your fleet are on course for my system. Might I ask what you intend to do here?" Only a slight waver betrayed his true feelings at the moment.
While not technically a lie, he had stretched the truth. Once upon a time, he was a licensed researcher, but the license had long since expired, and had not any official contact with The Empire in thousands of years
"You there! Find everything we have on the Imperial Researcher, Amicus!" Briggs yelled to someone off-screen. The admiral then sat back slightly in his own seat, looking much more collected than Amicus felt.
"We were unaware that this system was in anyone's possession, let alone that they still lived... As you might be aware, most of The Empire has fallen,"
Amicus felt pain spike in his heart at the casual mention of his greatest failure, only adding to the maelstrom of emotions.
"And as far as we have been able to ascertain, we are all that remain. Yours is the only transmission we have received, though, I must apologize for not answering your call sooner. We almost missed it as you had been broadcasting on a decommissioned frequency."
"It's no issue, I have been out of contact with The Empire for some time now…"
"Sir, this is everything we have on this Amicus... I had to pull most of it out of The Empire Archives, though." Someone off-screen handed the admiral a data pad.
The admiral's eyebrows rose at this. The archives only contained information 10,000 years or older.
"Give it here!"
As the admiral read through the report, Amicus's mind was running a million miles a second, trying to figure some way out of what the man was about to discover.
"6 minutes until contact." Jax informed.
'Oh god! they'll know, they'll know!' His panicked thoughts began to blur.
"...This... this can't be right! It says you were there at The Empire's founding, nearly 60,000 years ago! No human can live that long!"
'No no no nono-' Amicus's panicked thoughts continued to blend together further.
Growing more and more angry as he read further, Amicus's mind had ground to a halt; his entire long past flashing through his mind.
"...Nanites, cloning, cybernetics, synthetic life!" The admiral's face flushed red with anger "This is nearly every piece of tech The Empire ever blacklisted!"
"I ca-" Amicus started, but was almost instantly interrupted by the now incensed admiral.
Gasps of those on the bridge with Briggs could be heard as he listed off each and every crime The Empire had lain on Amicus.
"This monster defiled every law, value, and tradition we have ever stood for, and you dare to pretend to be him?!" Now attempting to look directly into Amicus's eyes searching for truth.
"I really am-" Amicus tried to defend himself again.
"It says right here he was thrown into a black hole for his crimes against humanity in 3054. There is absolutely no way to come back from that!" Each word spoken with such rage behind them it was a wonder the Admiral could speak them all.
"Now who are you really?" The grizzled war veteran interrogated, attempting to catch Amicus's downcast eyes.
"I am the one with a cure for the Plague."
Despite his psyche falling apart he continued.
"Everything I have done, has been with the intent of creating a better future for all," He said, eyes slightly crazed, as though he was a wild animal that had been cornered.
"4 minutes until contact." Jax updated.
While the admiral fell into thought, Amicus couldn't help but remember what the he had brought up, his implant silently providing the information from his neural network.
Nanites running rouge, killing millions. Cybernetics being used to enslave entire planets under tyrants. The clone wars. All of it was made with the intention of helping people.
Nanites to help keep people healthy, allowing everyone and anyone to create and deconstruct things at will! They'll keep you healthier, boost your immune system, let you edit your genes on the fly! Until the tiny self-replicating robots escaped control, and began replicating out of control, consuming anything they could reach to continue to reproduce. Strike one against Amicus, in The Empire's eyes. He was never even given the chance to correct his mistake. All use outlawed in fear of repeat incidents.
Cybernetics to allow everyone to think and act at the speed of a computer! Robotic limbs, organs and an incredible amount of entertainment opportunities! Until one hacker had realized they could be hijacked, and used to control the user. It took the better part of 1500 years to free everyone affected from the control, and usage of their cybernetics. Strike two. Again, not even given a chance to correct himself beyond freeing people.
'At least strike three was worth it.' Amicus thought with a small smile, despite the dire situation.
The general suddenly spoke. Though no longer hostile, his voice still betrayed his skepti
"A cure? How could you have done what our scientists could not do in 300 years? Although..." He trailed off, quickly glancing at the data pad once more, glancing over the list of banned tech, "if you are in fact Amicus, I could almost believe it." The general suddenly spoke. Though no longer hostile, his voice still betrayed his doubts.
A small bubble of hope had began to form deep inside the whirlwind in his psyche, and the voice in his mind cheered at the possibility for a peaceful resolution. A sudden realization had nearly popped the bubble.
"That's wonderful! I'll begin prepping the doses to be distributed. However, you never answered my question of why you came here of all places."
The Sol system, as well as the rest of the "local fluff" cluster should just read out to any scanner as a strip-mined wasteland, of an area from the early Empire, with little to nothing of interest or value. In fact, the massive hydrogen gas clouds should have muddled sensors enough that it would be dangerous for their unequipped ships to travel to the ancestral home of the humans. Even more so given that Amicus had always ionized the massive gas clouds, making them even more dangerous.
"As I'm sure you're aware, Sol is the home system of our people. What better place to take refuge?" He gestured out as though it was the most obvious thing.
"And as I'm sure you're aware, since the Senate has fallen, along with any other government structure, all other habitable worlds we know of are tombs." He said, his mouth forming a grave line.
"Why would the Senate order such a thing?" Amicus's face a mask of confusion, stress gone now that the danger had passed.
"2 minutes till contact." Jax said, using the lull in the conversation to keep Amicus updated.
" It was a knee jerk reaction. They, along with everyone else were scared. They died out before the order could be rescinded, so the AI continued to carry it out until no planets remained unsealed in Empire Space."
A bit of disgust showed on Briggs's face before he continued
"It's a shame, really, the disease being just a virus means it would have been easily possible to sterilize a planet, and resettle there. All those planets, forever locked away…" He trailed off looking at something off-screen.
"WHAT-" Briggs suddenly yelled, before moving quickly off-screen.
While Briggs ran off-screen, Amicus began thinking of what the future might hold now for him, now that he could finally pay off his debt to humanity.
'If they have a terraformer ship, I could have Venus pulled a little further from the sun, and they could transform the planet quickly with my help…' Amicus thought to himself.
His thoughts were brought to a screeching halt as Admiral Briggs came crashing back into view of the comms screen, like some sort of bull.
"HA HA ha.. You almost had us, you snake! Had we not found mention of you in Helios's comm logs, you would have had us!"
"What do you me-" Amicus's face showed only pure horror and self loathing, as his implant reminded him of the events behind the name Helios.
'No it was an accident.'
"Amicus, the Bane of Humanity. That was your "posthumously" awarded title. But I'm sure you know that, don't you." The Admiral sneered at the gobsmacked look on the younger-looking man's face.
Amicus was unable to speak, as he watched his hopes die at the hands his own mistakes once again.
"I wouldn't be surprised if the entire plague was created by you, you monster! "
'No, no, no, no, no, no I didn't do it' Amicus's inner voice cried with grief.
"Enough, cut the comms, I'm done with this filth. We can destroy him, and sterilize Earth as plan-"
"NO!"
Amicus had found his voice with the scream.
"You can't do that! There's billions of lives down there, intelligent lives!" Amicus was now openly crying, and begging.
But the comm-link had already closed.
He collapsed to the captain's seat, tears flowing silently.
The decision had been made for him.
"Contact: 1 colony ship, 4 Empire destroyers, 6 Empire cruisers, 1 Empire dreadnought spotted 2000 kilometers off starboard bow!" Jax exclaimed fearfully.
Amicus still stared where the Admiral's face had been.
"Amicus you must do something! The enemy has begun targeting The Temperate Lands!" Jax shouted at the unresponsive man.
'Enemy…' The word passed through Amicus's head, shaking from him the state that the rapid reversal had left him in.
Gazing out at the enemy he nearly laughed. The massive colony ship, which sat at 100 kilometers long, was dwarfed by the nearly 800 kilometer long military dreadnought that filled the void in front of him. The 400 kilometer long terraformer hanging back was nothing to sneeze at either. The bulbous gold of the colony ship was contrasted by the sleek, and deadly design of the silvery dreadnought and cruisers, which all clearly bristled with massive cannons. The terra former and destroyers were all the same, with a boxy design that was standard on most smaller Empire ships. With a colorful mix of ships it was a true Frankenstein's fleet.
"Warning, Captain: terraformer class vessel appears to be gathering energy for a Gamma Ray Burst targeted at Earth." Said Jax, mild distress in the AI's voice.
Sure enough, a faint white glow could be seen near the front of the ship, even from this distance.
"Jax."
"Yes sir?"
"Broadcast to Papa-Gold-Delta code: 0. And call all available ships in the area."
The glow around the terraformer increased, until all at once a massive beam of energy exploded silently from the front, tearing off towards the planet below. The gamma radiation would be more than enough to kill them all.
The choice was never really a choice at all.
He stood silently as thousands of objects suddenly dropped out of slip-space. Around the planet, 100km long railgun stations and shield generators appeared silently.
"Planetary defense grid active. Orders sir?"
"Activate the shield, Jax."
Before the words had even left his mouth, Amicus watched as the hexagonal shields spread out from each station, forming a protective cocoon around the planet.
The Gamma Ray Burst splashed off the shield harmlessly, only slightly discoloring the otherwise clear shield sectional.
Amicus would always have protected his creations, those he thought of as his children.
The ships Amicus had called had dropped out of slip-space and surrounded the now seemingly tiny Remnants Fleet. A hodgepodge of military, mining, and science ships similar to The Temperate Lands surrounded the enemy in a loose semicircle. The thousands of AI-controlled ships ranged in size from a car, to something that rivaled even the Remnant Dreadnought."
"All units, target the trespassers."
All at once, every single canon, from the massive railguns, to the smallest ion blasters, targeted the last bastion of the human race.
"Fire."
At once every single gun fired upon the now pathetic collection of ships. The vibrations of The Temperate Land's relatively small guns were nothing compared to the boom of the railgun stations just below, throwing their massive projectiles at near the speed of light, through armor and shielding like a rock through wet tissue paper.
Amicus counted to ten in his head, though that was perhaps a bit too long. It was over in seconds. The small fleet of twelve ships were quickly torn to shreds. All that remained after the hail of fire to mark them as have ever been there was a cloud of tiny debris. Amicus opened his eyes and gazed at the cloud of material, his face unreadable.
Just because it had to happen, didn't mean he was okay with it.
"Jax, please salvage what is left of the wrecks. Do not leave any trace. I am going to lie down." Amicus spoke in more of a monotone than Jax had ever heard.
"I'll get right on it sir… Are you alright Amicus?" Jax questioned the silent man.
"No, no I am not Jax." Amicus said slowly. Taking out his earpiece, and throwing it to the ground, he shuffled off the bridge, through the long, empty hallways, all the way to his bed chambers, where he collapsed onto his bed and passed out immediately, completely spent from the ordeals of just the past 10 minutes.
'You did it for them.' Was his final thought before drifting off to a blessedly dreamless sleep.
{Author's Note}
I'd like to thank the following people for all their help with this so far, please go take a look at their stories if you have a chance!
jettmanas
Lukahlyo
Someone I'll just call Gomez pending further communication
And one of my teachers who I'll call Mr. D (ha)
Without these guys this story would be so much less than it already is becoming! Give them a round of applause!
Wew! That was probably a bit of a ride considering how bad I am at accurately portraying characters and emotions, but I hope I got the general feel of it across.
Yes, I do know this is not Zootopia, yet. We will get there, probably next chapter, if not, then the next for sure.
(But really please review this as hard as you can, I need feedback since everyone just says "Oh yeah that sounds fine sure sure cool good thx buddy" which is useless. )
Till next time lovelies.