At last it was the time every Alteran had waited for with baited breath; the first pilgrimage through the Laniatus Portas to an unknown and uncertain future. The assembled fleet was in position near the Portas and Hergara was standing on the bridge of the lead ship: Liberium. She beamed with pure joy, anxious to see what awaited her on the other side. She had of course travelled through an Astria Porta on many occasions yet nothing had quite prepared her for what lay just a few hundred metres in front of her. The device looked just as an Astria Portas did yet was many times bigger and required more power then ever.
On another ship near the rear of the fleet was the science vessel Adaris where Fergall was inputting the address to the secondary Portas and was waiting for the go-ahead to dial the device once more. To his left his computer terminal alerted him to an incoming message from the council; Begin the dialling sequence. Fergall bade to do as he was ordered and input the signal. Again the device began to spin and electricity was once again channelled through the device before the wormhole was formed once more.
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The High Council, once satisfied, ordered the embarkation of the fleet, which was composed of the newly constructed City-Ship; Terra, three Aura-Class Scout Cruisers, one Libertum-Class Evacuation Ship, One Laniatus Class Warship and a Videum-Class Colony Ship. The council believed this was enough to start small-scale colonies and the decision for sending more ships would be made at months end. Slowly, the Alteran fleet began to move into position before the gate and one by one they entered the event horizon. Time seemed to stand still as those in Avalon waited for conformation that the fleet had been received on the other end. Using the stones the councillors could see everything that their companion stone user could see. From the observation deck on Destiny, the high council were able to see the fleet exiting the Portas and moving into formation around the planet. The Alterans were ecstatic, now they could continue their voyage of exploration and discovery and extend their mighty empire out into the stars.
The Colonium Star System was now coursing with activity, all over the system, the Alteran colonists were busy preparing dwellings from which they could begin to live their new lives. With the amazing technology the Alterans had access to, there empire was swiftly growing and within no time at all, a permanent city had been constructed on the first planet in the system, which they named Unum, the Alteran word for First World. With the Laniatus Portas providing ongoing support from Avalon, the high council could see amazing things on the horizon. The Alterans had managed to give their subspace communication device a massive boost of power meaning that it was able to project a holographic avatar of the stone holder. This allowed for face-to-face communication without actually being face-to-face. Currently Hergara was deep in conversation with the High Council. They were deciding on the best direction to take their exploration. "I strongly believe that the smaller scout ships we have in our possession should be used to further explore the galaxy", said Hergara, "with these we can find new worlds, potential allies and supplies so that we can become self sufficient on our own". The council pondered her words for a moment before Menia replied, " This is indeed a most opportunistic idea and I for one would be glad to see the empire grow, however, I, and I believe my fellow councillors agree with me, that we need to concentrate our efforts on achieving all we can in the colonium system before we move further out into the galaxy". The other councillors nodded in agreement and Hergara bowed. "If this is the councillors wish". She bowed once more the holograph faded from existence. Merodan, one of the older members of the council looked around the room before saying, " We need to be wary of her, my friends, she commands great respect and we cannot afford for her to undermine us, this could prove disastrous if we do not tread lightly with her".
Back on Unum Hergara left the communications terminal and wandered around her city. Like the plans on Terra; a huge colossal city had been built on Unum and the City-Ship Gaia was there at the heart of it, the heart of the colony and the facility that housed the planets Astria Porta. The city was still growing through the use of Matter Creation droids and the hope was that by the end of the planetary cycle around the sun, the city would have covered the entire planet. It was such a site to behold; when buildings simply leapt into creation before your eyes and it made Hergara smile. She was surrounded by huge towers intermixed with the beauty of nature all around her. She breathed deeply; the atmosphere on Unum was slightly different to that of Terra and it took a while to get used too.
In order to protect the colonium system Hergara, with the council's go-ahead, ordered the construction of the experimental lagrangian point satellites throughout the system. The devices were extremely experimental and had not yet been tested however the universe was a dark place and such precautions were necessary in order to protect the Alteran people. Running alongside the defence satellites were the cloaked jumpers being manned by an autopilot bio-presence. Hergara was not yet ready to send her people out unprotected and her lead scientist was able to run a program to allow the control of a jumper from a terminal in Gaia. It was a complicated algorithm that mimicked the brainwaves of an Alteran and sent them to the console aboard the jumper essentially allowed for remote control of the ship. Currently a young pilot was testing the interface and was channelling his thoughts into the program. His thought patterns were then adapted into workable jumper commands. The mechanisms of the device allowed the pilot to see what was happening from the jumper and gave him the sensations of being inside the jumper.