Hello everyone and welcome to a new story that has been in my head for a while, like several months.
Now, changes will be made where changes need to be made to make sense. The changes won't be big, mostly small.
Artifacts... not sure what to do, but most will be ignored. Each fraction will receive one, but I'm not telling which.
The super weapons Novalith Cannon, Deliverance Engine, and Kostura Cannon. I can't see a way to use them, so I will probably not use them at all, but if someone can think of a way, tell me.
Updates for this story, happen whenever I am in the mood and based on the support I get... so there.
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Commander-in-chief Raoul Reade was staring out the window of the new constructed starbase in the Lesath System. Raoul was 5 ft. 7 in and had a light brown skin tone. He was in his officer's uniform of navy blue, with an ocean blue shoulder cape and small scarf. Over his cape he had segregated metal pates over both of his shoulders along with a small medal in front of his left shoulder. He also had a brown belt with their peoples symbol on the front. His hat also had the same symbol on the front. His eyes were light purple and he had a small beard and moustache, both light brown. He was wearing brown boots with a long medal plate in the front where in feet enter. His boots nearly reached his knee, with the part covering his feet being darker.
He looked nice in his suit.
Starbases were something designed by the R&D department to better protect their systems. Designed to be the ultimate in defensive installations and stop any invading fleet. They are massive structures, far larger than anything else ever made by their hands. The one he was currently in was the first one built, made years ago as a test bed. As the TEC has never built anything like it, they needed to make sure they could be useful, and were practical to build. Luckily it worked, or it would have been a colossal waste of time and resources, something they couldn't afford to waste.
Several more have been made sense then, along with many improvements to it. The R&D department has plans for more improvements to make it even better.
He was currently looking at some of the smaller defensive platforms floating around the planet. They had gone through several revisions to get them to their current state. 'Sigh'. Sometimes, it just got too stressful for him. All the planning, debates, arguing, and the war. The war was the single most stressful thing going on. Everyone was affected by it, and the TEC as a whole wasn't looking too good. People were dying each day, the market took a hit, their industry had to be moved to war instead of for the people, and moral was low. It wasn't looking to good.
Compared to the Vasari and Advent, the technology of the TEC was subpar at best. That didn't mean they couldn't fight on even terms, it was just harder to do so. To make it worst, they weren't warriors. However, the TEC had a far better industry than either one.
He clutched his fists 'Why did this have to happen? We're traders for god's sake.' Unfortunately, he couldn't let anger cloud his judgement, he needed a clear mind or he would make costly mistakes. Mistakes they couldn't afford.
An aide walked in and gave a short bow before speaking "Sir, the delegate's vessels have entered the system, they'll be here shortly." His voice was light. He waited patiently for his rely.
Raoul nodded without turning around. A representative from both the Vasari and Advent have recently asked for peace. At first, he didn't believe it. After 30 years of war, they finally wanted peace. It didn't make sense. Why now? Something wasn't right, he could feel it. He hesitated before accepting to meet with them. If peace was indeed possible, it was an option he was willing to take. The war has gone on too long, it needed to stop. He dismissed the aide, before heading to the meeting location.
It took only minutes to get to the meeting location. Upon entering the meeting area, he took a seat on the opposite side the delegates would enter from. Using the time he had, he went over the information he had on both parties.
The Vasari were the only advanced extraterrestrial race they knew of; the Advent being modified humans. The Vasari make use of nanotechnology, energy weapons, and other advanced technology. They have slavery as part of their culture, and have numerous races under them. Not much is known about their history, and much about them is still a mystery.
The Advent were once a part of the them, but separated a thousand year ago. They practiced what was considered sinful and taboo to the people of the early Trade Order. Cerebral Integration Technologies, unrestricted biological experimentation, strange forms of collectivism, and the wholesale usage of countless neurochemicals were but a few of the transgressions committed by the Advent against the Trade Order's bylaws. They were forcefully removed. They make use of something they call PsiTech throughout their society. Not everything is understood about them, but more is known about them than the Vasari.
He continued to go over the information he had on them, no matter how little it was, and think about what they could want and formulate possible replies, he was going in prepared.
It was twenty minutes later that the delegates would enter and each side would greet each other. Two of their guards followed the delegates in. Raoul had two of his own guards behind him. He had water prepared for everyone as well. He didn't know what would be best in the case of the Vasari delegate, so he just chose water. It was simple, and unlikely to cause any problems.
The Vasari delegate was roughly 6 ft. tall, pure yellow eyes, and had a segregated back head that came to a point. He, or she maybe (he couldn't tell what sex it was), was wearing a red and black segregated uniform(?) of some kind, with gold edges here and there. He, or she, had a had three toes with the middle one being the biggest, and wasn't wearing any type of shoes, as their clothing stopped at their first knee. Vasari had duel double jointed legs. He, or she, had a staff with them, that had their symbol at the top. He, or she, had no mouth like a human, and instead had special lips.
The Advent delegate wore some kind of white dress with a special blue line pattern that covered everything expect her hands and head. She wore sliver buckles around her wrists, hip, and neck with each having a gold centerpiece located at the back of her wrist, and the front of her hip and neck. Her eyes were pure white, and her hair was black with white segments. Her face however, wasn't all that special and was somewhat normal looking.
He waited a moment for them to take one of the seats provided, with a special one for the Vasari delegate. The Advent delegate was to the right of the Vasari delegate. "Welcome." he started with a neutral tone "You are here to secure peace between our people, if I fully understand your intentions." They nodded.
The Vasari delegate nodded before speaking with a gruff voice "You would be correct, however, it would be best that we fully explain it all to you before assumptions are made." He nodded to this. Assumptions can lead to trouble things if they are wrong. "This one's name is Taudir, and my counterpart is Leandra." She nodded. "I would like to ask something before we go any further. How much of my people's history do you know of?" Taudir set his staff up next to him, it stayed pointing up.
That was an odd question. And one he couldn't answer. He replied as such.
Taudir didn't seemed surprised "Understandable. Let me briefly cover our history, it reveals why we are and more. My people's homeworld, called Veathea, is located next to the galactic core, and we expanded outward. We brought many species into our fold, either though peace or force. For a time, everything was good, until they came. We do not know who they are, what they look like, or much at all really, but we know they attacked and destroyed our empire. We gathered what we could before we left. We left beacons behind as we went, they fell silent we traveled." His voice darkening. "They have followed us no matter where we went. Eventually we arrived here, and the rest, as you humans say, is history." His voice returned to normal.
That was... the craziest story Raoul had ever heard. First off, he didn't even name the enemy, anything about what they looked like, or anything at all for that matter. He knew firsthand how powerful the Vasari were, surely no one was powerful as what was descried... unless of course they were. He didn't want to even think about that.
"If what I'm getting, what I think I'm getting, from your tale, there is an enemy out there hunting you down, and the reason you're telling me this now is because they're here." His eyes narrowed as he spoke.
Taudir nodded, and something else showed on his face, but Raoul didn't know what. "You are close, but they aren't here just yet. But they will be in a few short years." Raoul tighten his hands; he didn't like this. "But that is not all there is. My people are split on what to do." Raoul had a sneaking suspicion about what was going to be said, and he didn't particularly like it. "One side believes we should continue with what we have been doing; evacuate, siphon, run. The people I represent wish to stop running and fight this enemy. Give how we could not do it alone, we sought out allies who could help us. Both you and the advent."
Raoul nodded in understanding, but didn't particularly like it. "That explains why you are here," gesturing to Taudir, then to Leandra. "but not you."
Leandra nodded before gaining an apologetic look. "When we first came here, we came for revenge for what had happened all those years ago. Now, not all of us believe that revenge is the way, and we have spit from the whole, and seek peace." Her voice was pleasing to listen to, much more so than Taudirs.
Raoul twitched. 'Great, this is just great. I honestly thought peace was going to happen, now I find it this. Just great.' The sarcasm could be felt when he spoke. "Let's say I believe you, what do you propose we do? Pull our resources together to fight this enemy, while fight the others." It was an actually question he would like answered.
Taudir shook his head "As it stands, we would not win. We need time to prepare our people. That is why, we will leave to set up elsewhere. Then we can prepare away from all the fighting."
Raoul replied "Even if we leave, we would have the enemy right behind us. We wouldn't have the time to build up our infrastructure that much before they would be upon us." Referring to the fact that they have been followed by the enemy for who knows how long.
Taudir nodded in understanding before speaking "You would be right, but we have a plan. Knowing the enemy was gaining on us while we fought your people, a plan was made shortly after the war started. A small group of ships was put together and left ahead of the fleet, dropping communication beacons along the way. Either when the war was over, or the enemy came to close, they would construct a phase stabilizer on their end and connect it to a one here. The beacons were made near stars, and would crash into them to hopefully hide the path they took. It would allow us a chance to hopefully escape from them."
"And you have control of the phase stabilizer?"
"When we split from the others, we managed to take it from them before they could react. Everything we have is around the device, they could not take it without risking damage to it."
It was a brilliant plan to say the least, expect one problem. "If I'm not mistaken, the distance would likely be thousands of light years." Taudir nodded in response. "Then wouldn't the time to travel to the other end take considerable time."
"A little over three mouths."
Raoul grimmest. That was a long time. Trader ships could hold enough supplies for a while, but not that long. They would need to change some things for it to be possible.
"Will you come with us?" Leandra asked.
Raoul shook his head before replying "I can't agree to something like this on my own. The council will decide."
Taudir reached inside his clothes making Raoul's guards tense. They would have reached for their weapons, but Raoul raised his left hand up and stopped them. He knew what they would do. Taudir didn't stop and pulled out a small black and circular device. "Should you agree, push the button in the center, and we will know." Both delegates got up, with Taudir grapping his staff. "However, do not take too long."
Leandra had one last thing to say. "We hope you agree; we wish to make amends." With that said, they left.
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Two days later
Arguing had been going back and forth for hours now between the members of the council. Although, it was mainly two members.
There was Raoul, seating in the outer center of a 'U' shaped table. Behind him was a view of a colony. The room was small, roughly 10 by 10 meters, with nothing else in it but the table and the four people seating at it.
Carine Somer oversees the R&D department and has several PHDs. She stands at 5'3, has blond hair that reaches neck, is wearing a white lab coat, and is wearing glasses. Her body is shapely, and she is well defined. She had a black V-neck shirt and brown shorts under her lab coat. She and her team have led to the technologies that have kept their people alive. She would be turning 32 in a month. She going over research data and notes on several things, letting the others argue while only giving input every now and again
Kurtis Hayhurst oversaw the logistics and trade of the TEC. He is a slightly overweight man with a black suit, tie, and pants. He was 28 and his hair was dark blond.
Jack Harper runs the intelligence division. It used to be by a woman by the name of Jelena Hugill, but she was killed two weeks ago by the advent in a surprise attack. Jack was her protégé for years now. He was going to take over a roughly a decade from now. But as she was killed, he had to take over at the age of 21. He had a similar getup as Kurtis, expect he had no tie, had black hair, and had a portion of his shirt under his face white. When he was 11, his family gave their lives protecting him from the advent so he could make it to the last transport and live. He's hated them ever since.
Before the war, there were many more people who took part in council, such as planetary governors. More people from the logistics department as well. The R&D department and the military had the biggest changes since the war started. Before the war, the military was at a fraction of their current size and power and were considered unimportant by many. They didn't have any say in the council and were more of an oversized police force. The R&D department was broken up into several different groups, all doing their own thing. They rarely worked together or helped one another and had no centralized leadership. They also worked for whoever payed them and had no say in the council.
War changes everything.
Jack was against working with the advent and vasari. Carine didn't care one way or the other. Kurtis was leaning towards working with them, if only to end the war. And Raoul wanted the war over with and couldn't care less if he had to work with them. He also had concerns about the enemy that was coming.
Jack spoke again "We can't trust them. The moment they get the chance; they'll kill us all." He kept his anger in check, not letting it out.
Kurtis replied "Can you really say that for sure. It does seem like they have changed." Before thinking for a moment and adding. "Well, at least some of them have."
Jack wasn't convinced, but before he could speak again, Raoul slammed his hands onto the table while standing up, getting everyone's attention. "ENOUGH!" They could feel his irritation. As a military man, Raoul liked getting work done, not complaining about it. He sat back down before continuing. "Everyone has made their decision on the matter already. Anymore talking is pointless. We will put it to a vote here and now. All for working with them, raise your hand."
Raoul, Kurtis, and Carine all raise their left hand. Jack knew he wouldn't win, but he had to try at least. "You're making a mistake." His anger did bleed through this time.
"It's been decided Jack, get over it." Replied Kurtis.
"You can't honestly expect me, and anyone else who hate them to just accept working with them." Jack looked at Kurtis like he was insane.
Kurtis merely shook his head in response "You will have to put your..."
"He's right."
"I agree."
Surprisingly, it was Carine that spoke first. Kurtis looked at her for a moment, not understanding it for a moment, but before he could reply, Raoul spoke up again. "Many people have a deep hatred for either the advent, vasari, or both. Few will be willing to let go of that hatred and move on." Jack gave him a hard stare, but he ignored it. "I talked with Carine before you two arrive about this." Carine waved her hand informing them she was aware of what was going on, but still continued to read from her datapad. "We will leave the decision up to the people. They will choose to stay or go. Jack can lead those that stay behind." Jack's eyes widened in disbelief.
Kurtis eyes dilated for a moment before speaking "Are you sure this is for the best? We exist to protect the people. We can't do that if we leave them behind." His mind was having trouble understanding the logic behind it.
"If we try and force people to accept this, it can only lead to problems. Its better this way." Replied Carine while still paying attention to her datapad.
"Fine." Kurtis crossed his arms over his chest. Agreeing to it, but not liking it.
Raoul nodded his head. "Then it is done. Inform the people about this and make sure they all understand."
"It's going to be hell to both transports everyone and building up the infrastructure to house everyone."
"That's what the Akkan is for." Kurtis shot Carine a glare before getting up and leaving, while muttering to himself about how to complete the mission. Transporting billions of people is not easy.
Carine looked up from her datapad and said "I have work to take care of, have a nice day gentleman." She got up before leaving the last two alone.
"Why me?" That was the biggest question that Jack had. He was young and inexperienced. Not the best qualities when looking for a leader.
"No reason. But if I had to choose, I'd say luck."
"And what am I to do with everyone that stays behind?"
"You decide what to do, not me. Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do. However, I have one thing to say to you Jack before I leave." They lock eyes with each other. "After we leave, I should never see you or anyone else who stays behind again. You understand me."
"Crystal, sir."
"Good." Raoul got up before leaving Jack alone.
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Codex: Phase Space
Phase Space technology is used in a variety of ways from phase inhibitors that delay the time it takes to for enemy ships to enter phase space, phase space cloaking that allows vasari scout ships to hide in phase space to perform spy missions, to Phase Space sensors that can help your empire track down any enemy. Phase jumps can be made from different planets that head to one of your planets, and phasic missiles that the vasari use on all their ships that allows them to bypass enemy shielding and attack the hull directly inflicting heavy damage to the enemy ship. Most notably phase space technology is used by humans, advent, and vasari to allow faster-than-light travel by using their phase drives with which they enter phase space that allows your empire's ships to cover vast distances from planet-to-planet or to other star systems in a very short time.
One of the major disadvantages to phase space technology is with phase drives. In order to activate a phase jump from one system to another the ship must firstly be in a correct position outside a planet's gravity well and aligned towards its target system. Ships preparing for phase jumps will be defenseless and all strike craft from carriers/capitals must be recalled. Additionally, with the exception of vasari systems with phase stabilizers, phase jumps can only occur on marked pre-existing lanes which can make re-routing fleets to some systems difficult or conversely easier to defend. Phase jumps between star systems can only be initiated from the star itself and takes you to the target star.
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Well, here is my next story. I like this one, mostly because humans in this one are traders and not warriors. I really like that about sins.