Dimension 467H, Sol System, Earth, capital of the United Nations of Earth, Cradle sector, Cosmic Alliance Headquarters
President Nicholas Sauer had read his speech About nine times now, and finished his tenth read through. The speech had been handcrafted by himself, for he thought that news this serious required a personal touch
He had not slept for two days, because he had to put Sarah's report into the senate's council. Even though many of the Senate were his allies and friends he dreaded appearing before them with this news, for as per law the senate was broadcasted on a public channel to every planet. It was up to him to bring the news
But he had no time to reconsider, for he had been called to podium. Walking along the polished marble hallway he finally reached the podium on its pedestal.
Across from his display was representatives from every member of the alliance, And he heard the chatter quiet down awaiting his words. Before him he saw the Raltek kingdom representatives, with their furry ears perked up in anticipation.
"Members of the senate I have called this meeting for an extremely important issue" His grave tone brought the Zaanami out of their bored trance, with all their eyes focused on him
"As I'm sure you're all aware a little over four months ago, approximately point one five light years away from Earth from Sol's star a massive wormhole triple the size of the one in the Orphang system appeared" the display behind him showed the massive pink swirl and the smaller blue Orphang wormhole next to it.
"We sent our best and brightest to discover it's origins, however they only gave us more questions. We had established three things: One the wormhole was extremely unstable. Two it didn't have it's sister location defined, three it's destination was not in our galaxy" every species in the room had a reaction, from intrigue to concern, Nicholas pressed on
"We decided to use a Tachyon tethering device on the Vancouver and the first fleet to explore the wormhole, and establish a presence there. But what we found confirmed our suspicions"
"It lead to a alternate dimension" The senate erupted into shock, and a barrage of questions began, starting from the United Tyanki stars
"I thought this could only be achieved by the Yuun?! Not through a wormhole!" They were of course referring to the gateway on Mars that had been discovered in the twenty fifth century. That alternate dimension was eerily similar to theirs, but had been randomly deactivated after four hundred thousand years of service to the Yuun
"That's what we thought to, however there is proof. The fleet had arrived at an active battle between a organic scourge and a new species. The fleet was attacked by the scourge which according to the battle data... had one twentieth of a vanguard fleet from the Prethoryn scourge" the council's panic subdued a bit from the implied victory
"The new species identified themselves to fleet after the battle as the Aeldari, but more specifically the Eldar. I've sent a report just now to your consoles, which has all the data we have so far on this new dimension. I'll answer questions after a twenty minute recess from this meeting" the representatives eyes began to become glued to the datapads, which showed everything from combat data to ancient texts from Eldar scholars.
Stepping down from the podium he walked underneath the giant flag of the Cosmic Alliance that decorated his exit, and he hoped they would see his reasons for his expansion plan and reinforcements
20 minutes later
"The alternate galaxy is much larger than our own. Our Milky Way is around a quarter of its size, the imperium alone outnumbers us by a factor of Eighteen to one" the revelation caused ripples of panic and opportunistic thoughts within the senate
"And these allies... the Eldar have agreed to a non aggression pact?" The question left the mouth of the Jas'gavas representative with a hint of concern
"Currently they are working in union with our forces, but due to their previous experience with humanity they are reluctant to agree to a truce" the response was met with many nods of understanding, for this alternate mankind was... concerning to say the least
"Mr. President I see your reasons for reinforcements and the expansion plan, but don't you think thirty construction ships is too much? Maybe twenty or so could do the job, but the requisition for nine additional fleets is preposterous" the president knew that the idea was founded, but he found it hard to agree with the proposal
"I understand your concern, but while we are not a warmongering alliance the species there have that trait, and waiting until they come knocking on our door could be disastrous" the avian's eyes narrowed at the opposition
"As the battle data shows even one of the most dangerous threats in their dimension is pathetic to ours. I believe we could instead use the fourth through twelfth fleet more effectively on our side of the portal. I propose sending in the twenty-fourth through twenty-ninth as reinforcements" the president found himself became increasingly annoyed, for his sleep deprivation hated any opposition
"Our current expansion plans are too big for only those fleets. They would be overstretched even at maximum battlegroups" the two stared at each other deciding on who could keep their eyes open longer till the avian pressed his statement
"Our defence is more important than the meeting new contacts, most of which are hostile. It would be a waste of resources to commit any further than my proposal"
The president was extremely sleep deprived. He had served in the marines in which discipline and holding your tongue was commonplace, but the older he got the harder it was to control his temper. What he said next was fuelled by said anger
"When has saving lives been a waste of time?" There was no reply as he continued, for his question demanded silence "On the other side of that wormhole people are dying. We have the resources, we have the military might, and we have the manpower to stop that from happening... If we allow ourselves to trade lives for our own safety, we would be no better!" He slammed his fist on his console to enunciate his point
But sensing an opportunity Nicholas pressed further "This alliance was founded on the basis to protect life. Not just our lives, but all life! On that side of the wormhole there lies organizations that oppose our that sentiment and would love for the opportunity to destroy us! We do not grant the privilege of freedom for those that earn it, for it is a right! As per the fourth amendment of the constitution of Sol, it dictates that we must fight for freedom. That right to live should not be exclusive to our borders"
The crowd was stunned. Nicholas stood haunched over his console breathing heavily for his outburst. But the moment he wanted to speak he was cut off by thunderous applause from the representatives, which spread throughout the senate. Soon they were all cheering as the applause escalated even further. He saw the crowd give him a standing ovation, and in that moment he knew he would have his thirty construction ships
Immaterium, demon controlled world, temple of the gods
The temple was essentially a giant stone box. It was made without much ornateness to neither please nor displease either gods, for it was made as a meeting place for the gods to decide on what to do for their changing plans.
A giant stone table was placed in the middle of four giant chairs, that had of their respective sign engraved behind them. The gods themselves sat their looking down at their representative.
Khorne was livid, but that was always his mood. Nurgle showed concern for one of his children, because he saw their face of horror. Tzeentch showed no emotion at all, but all the others could tell he hadn't seen this outcome. Slaneesh however was on the opposite spectrum for they showed every negative emotion at once
The representative stared blankly ahead of them, with the look of fear forever etched on their faces. "What happened my dearest?" The grandfather of plagues gurgled out.
"They... they did not accept our offer" the demon shifted forms out of fear of its masters, but it was Tzeentch who found it appropriate to talk first
"That was to be expected, but why did you not deal with them there?" The demon flinched as he finished his question. He was curious about the newcomers for they somehow managed to elude from him about their fate
"BAH! They fight with no bloodshed in their tactics! Why are they important to us?!" The bellowing echoed from Khorne who appeared disinterested at the letdown, and the promise of bloodshed
"It matters because they are stealing my pets! My property has been taken from me, and this worm won't tell us anything useful" the prince of pleasure scowled even deeper with their normally... revealing clothing replaced by a long robe that swirled with colour
"Th- the one I tried to recruit managed to banish me. He was the most powerful psyker I've ever met" the father of plagues grew more concerned at his child's fear
"He banished you? What did he catch you off guard or something?" Slaneesh's snide remark wounded their subject deeply, even though it was partly true
"We should've killed them from the start! I have no time for those that refuse to battle!" Tzeentch decided to take hold of the situation, before the others tried to kill each other. Again
"We have given you a great amount of power, and you say he banished you? From the looks of it very easily too. I say we exterminate them before we have a blunder"
"Why should it matter? My children are growing by the day, and with the gate gone we finally have a upper hand in the sector" the pestilence lord affirmed his statement of stagnation like always
Tzeentch found his comrade rather lazier than usual, but wrote it off as a minor hinderance to his plan "One of anathema's children has reawakened, and my plans must be pushed along as quickly as possible. The newcomers will not stand with us, and are therefore against us. I'll have our servants deal with them later"
Concanid system, in orbit of star, the Vancouver, bridge
Sarah was extremely pleased. She had just received news that she would receive her requisition and more. She saw the speech Nicholas had given, and the support in the expansion plan had risen both in the senate and the populous.
Her aid would come in the form of fifty construction ships and over thirty fleets under her command. Her happy thoughts on how to use these forces more effectively were in motion, when her tactical officer broke the occasional chatter of the bridge crew "Unknown vessel has dewarped outside of the system on a direct course to us"
"Show me" the bridge camera showed what she had been expecting and dreading. The vessel was similar to their own ships around two kilometres in size making it the same as a corvette. What concerned her were it's markings. A giant golden two headed bird was on its prow with a sleek black exterior and white highlights. The Imperium of Man had arrived
"Hail it immediately, and alert the Javelin battlegroup to intercept and detain if it breaks four hundred thousand kilometres to the star" the ship attempted to make itself hidden in a gas cloud, and activated a cloaking field.
"Should I activate the FTL inhibitor?" The Vancouver had said device to prevent any kind of flanking maneuvers on the fleet, but she felt that this could be seen as an attack
"No, but hail them again telling them about their options" her officer raised an eyebrow
"Their options admiral?"
"If they refuse to leave the gas cloud within the next hour we'll blow it to pieces" the threat wasn't a bluff. She had been enlightened to their nature, and while she understood why they were like this. She would not allow it while she was in control
Final Judgment, bridge
"We've received another hail lord, it's a threat to leave the gas cloud within the next hour. should we respond?" The inquisitor wondered why the newcomers would use such primitive ways to communicate, but the fact of the matter was that he was outgunned outmatched and outmanned.
"No, but set a course to approach the flagship. Full shields" the crewman nodded, and his ship began to creep forward out of the gas cloud
He could see through the glass the hundreds of ships that lay before him. Most were bigger than any ship in the imperium, or from the dark age of technology. A small portion of the ships began to move towards his ship, and encircled him in a semi circle. He could feel the noose tighten around his neck with every avenue closed off
He had been in bad situations before, but this was the apex of groxshit he had to trudge through. He prayed to Emperor for what could be the final time before giving his next orders
Vancouver, bridge
"Well... the message reads: In the name of the Emperor's holy inquisition all ships will be detained and purged of heresy. Please stand by for boarding and inspection" the threat was met with a laugh from H'aras who had entered the bridge
"Even in this dimension Humanity still has gonards" the admiral eyed her friend at the compliment? "But don't worry their bark has no bite my friend. Do treat them with suspicion though, for they will have a trick or two if they're smart" the warning echoed in Sarah's brain as the ship was given docking coordinates
Taking the teleporter pad to the nearest destination to cruiser bay two showed the ship in painful contrast to the blue hue of the machinery. Marines had been summoned from every available station to greet them
PAU had appeared in one of his hologram projectors, and walked beside the admiral with SES in tow. "I called for them. It seemed appropriate to show a little force in this situation" Sarah didn't agree to his reason, but appreciated the extra safety they provided
Out of a shuttle stepped a man around six foot three, with one of the most ornate outfits she had seen. His attire had scripture stamped on it with wax seals, and candles burning on his shoulders streaming incense in smoke streams. His armour had multiple insignias on it the most common looking like an I with a skull plastered onto it. One of them actually had a human skull, which made her Navy outfit look like pyjamas in comparison.
The moment his eyes rested on her he became agitated, his left eye twitched and his hand rested upon a giant pistol on his hip. "You are Human?" The question was dripping with venom as the words rolled off his tongue
"Yes and no. We come from a place where humanity works with other species. I have been told that its not the same case here" Sarah decided to stay completely cold to inquisitor and not give him any room
"Only heretics and desperation compels us to work with xenos. I work in dealing with those people" the inquisitor's retinue stepped out with weapons drawn. This did not help the tension
She noted what looked like a woman covered in fourteenth century French battle armour with bone white hair. Next to her stood about three or four soldiers in green and beige flak armour. But the star of the show was could be described as a metal monstrosity, with a dark red robe and tentacles coming out from under the folds
It seemed most interested in PAU as the orange hologram was inspected by the robed figure. It began to talk in a string of bleeps and pauses, which she recognized as a mixture of Morse code and binary
~~~Translated from binharic~~~
"Query: What are you?/purpose?" PAU did a mock bow before the metal man as he presented himself
"Identification: PAU (Personal Assistant Unit) class 7 artificial intelligence. Current function: to protect and upkeep the first fleet and Superheavy juggernaut Vancouver, current tour of duty: 32/50 years completed" The machine visibly recoiled at his words with its weapon tentacles powering up in response
"Warning! Heresy detected! Weapons engaged for immediate extermination!" PAU chuckled at its outburst, and overloaded his capacitors with images of cats to shut him down
The smug AI jested at the machine "Assessment: receive upgrades in firewall and internal security systems to prevent incursion for next related incident"
The techpriest doubled over and immediately four things happened. The Inquisitor drew his bolt pistol, and levelled it at the admiral's forehead. The sister began to aim her flamer at the nearest marine prepping a blast. The soldiers dived for cover, and finally the UNE marines and SES activated their shields
PAU however would not have any bloodshed that he would've had to clean up later, and activated personnel safety protocols. A cone of energy shot out from the ceiling, and surrounded the would be attackers. The Inquisitor's bolt pistol was cut in half by the energy forcefield, and one of the soldiers almost lost a face, but instead slammed face first into said forcefield.
The trapped Imperials began to attack the shield with whatever weapons they could use, as H'aras pulled up next to the admiral. "I said to not trust them Sarah. They have known only war and destruction, anything unknown and they'll blast it into two. That includes us" The reptilian's words were met with a killing glare from the armoured woman
"Vile xenos! You refuse to face us in battle! Even a child would not use such dishonourable tactics!" The words of hatred was only replied with a laugh much to the knight's dismay
"I wish to talk to her later Sarah. I can feel her hatred so much that I can smell it" and as quickly as he entered, H'aras left leaving a much frustrated Sarah to talk to her now prisoners
"Detain and quarantine the ship's crew I don't want a revolt on my ship" PAU nodded to her, and continued coordinating the guards and ships in the hanger in a massive effort to bring the captured ship under their control
Craftworld Kaelor, in tow behind the Vancouver, medical centre, two hours ago
Florence awoke in a medical bed much comfier than the ones he was used to. Every single one of his nerve was either in extreme pain or sore. The SES could feel his enhancements heal his body, with slow progress due to the massive hole in his shoulder
The wound itself was gone since he returned to life in the park, but the poison took time to completely leave his body. Every second was a feeling of either sheer coldness and terror or agonizing burning
The child had not left his side determined to see him through the pain. He could feel her weight on his left leg as she rested her head and slept. He could feel her chest rise and contract with every breath, which reminded him on why he was in this state
In his brief moments of respite he found himself reflecting on his conversation with Erebos. Am I really that important? Was I being told the truth? Did he really create mankind? Most concerning however was its revelation about the wormhole. He felt angry at Erebos for using them as tools, but more importantly the extents on what he could do
His train of thought was interrupted by a spike of pain in his shoulder causing him to flinch. The slight movement awoke the girl who's head immediately shot to see if he was awake. "Hey buddy how are you doing?" He put up a fake smile to hide on how much pain he was in
"Male'ora" Florence dropped the smile in confusion, she sighed and pointed to herself before repeating the word. Her name is Male'ora. He smiled again "My name is Florence" he tried to raise his hand, but found it shaking as it raised
The girl immediately paled and began a flurry of Aeldari as she rifled around in her bag. He realized she didn't know what a handshake was, and was about to retract it but she placed something into his hand. His hand registered what was given to him instantly, but looking down revealed his sidearm "Did you touch this since then?"
The girl understood his somehow question, and frantically shook her head. What confused him the most was the weapon's condition. The safety was still on, which meant unless someone had turned off the biometrics for that short period of time... she had shot a safe weapon.
The mystery of the extent of her powers came to a end as another eldar walked in.
Florence struggled to tell who it was, but recognized the voice when it spoke "Ta hea'lu norgah uruy kohnaria" the language seemed incomprehensible to him as it was angelic in the way it rolled off their tongue. The owner of the voice came into view confirming his suspicion of the speaker. It was his sparring partner still in her bone white armour
She walked over to Male'ora and held her shoulder, before speaking a few words to the kid which apparently dismissed her. Male'ora was sad to leave with a droop on her ears, before walking out of the clinic
The banshee stared at Florence for a moment, as he became increasingly worried if he'd done something wrong. But his worry ended with a sigh emanating from the banshee, as she offered him a small piece of machinery
He recognized the tech as a rudimentary universal translator, and plugged it into his implants. "Haja kilé hal'ua-ing? Does the device work?"
"Aye it's working now. Did I miss something, or was that between you two?" The banshee's ponytail was brushed out of the way
"It is of no concern. I've come to check on you, are your injuries healing well?" Almost as an answer another spike of pain erupted across his torso causing him to close his eyes and concentrate on the conversation
When his eyes returned open he saw the banshee without her helmet once more. He didn't get a good look last time, but he was glad he did now
Her face was impossibly beautiful, with literally perfect proportions on her cheekbones and nose. The most distracting part was her eyes though. They were the darkest green he'd ever seen like a reflection of a forest canopy of Pirvus
He realized he was staring though and answered her question "They're healing fine, but that's not the real reason you came here is it" the banshee was taken back by his forwardness, but she surrendered to his query
"I want to know more about you"
"Well it is my favourite subject after all, but why me?" she cut him off
"You intrigue me Mon-keigh, for you show an amazing amount of both stupidity and courage. I would rather learn about you while you're still alive, and not after you jumped off a cliff to save more civilians or something" Florence wanted to shrug, but his shoulder prevented any movement of it at all
"Ask away then. It's not like I'll get any other company today" the banshee rested her helmet on her lap as she settled in on the chair next to him
"You clearly have training in hand to hand, but use firearms and guns to fight. Why?"
"Basic training has almost all soldiers know how to defend themselves without their weapons. Guns are nice but will run out of ammunition. Ours are nicer and don't have that problem, but you never wanna be caught down the creek without a paddle" the banshee cocked her head to the side at the comparison, but eventually got it. Releasing a small quiet sigh she asked her next question
"You appear to have technology that surpasses what I've experienced for humans, for how long has your nation existed?"
"Well... humanity as we know it has been around for nine thousand years with the UNE being around for one and a half thousand years" the eldar looked surprised at his answer
"Only nine thousand? We Aeldari have been around over four times that long" Florence chuckled at her apparent disbelief, but realized that the Aeldari would classified as a Fallen empire. That realization brought him out of his humour, but his memories were interrupted by the eldar asking her final question
"You could've jumped out of the way. Why didn't you?" The question was answered quicker than she had expected, almost as if it was a simple statement
"If I did I would risk Male'ora's safety. I have body enhancements, she didn't"
"Body enhancements?"
He tapped on the side of his head where the translator was plugged in, showing it clearly. "SES: Surgically Enhanced Soldier. We apply and get selected to receive them, then a few years of service due to manufacturing costs"
"I've met human soldiers with enhancements before... it was not as pleasant" she stayed quiet for a few moments before Florence asked
"You don't have to tell me anymor-" She looked at him before holding up her hand stopping him from continuing
"It was a raid on our craftworld. The Mon-keigh had begun to purge the sector of 'heresy' and they started their assault on the residential areas. That's where the fighting began, and I was still a child with my family back then... They didn't make it"
"It is sad to know that this kind of thinking has happened here as well" she brushed away her hair once more and set her eyes on him once more
"Here as well?" Florence put up a small smile, but the eldar could sense it was fake with or without her slightly empathic abilities
"Earth fell to a hostile lost rouge colony empire, the Commonwealth of Man. They had different ideologies on how other life should be treated. My grandfather fought in the rebellion, but he tells me it wasn't as heroic as the stories remembered"
The eldar paused, Terra had fallen? To another kind of humanity no less
"The Commonwealth began to... 'Purify' the planet of alien life. To say that we were unhappy is an understatement, and according to the records" he paused as he sat up straight apparently in mock recital as he continued
"Out of the six billion able bodied people on the cradle of man, six billion rose up in rebellion to fight for what was right" the eldar was shocked at the astonishing low numbers he had said, but the soldier continued "Historians have argued for actual decades on wether this true or not, but it remains as a cool story nonetheless"
Lae'hareil was trying to figure out how small the humans numbers were, when the soldier answered her question before she asked it "the Cosmic Alliance has around one point three trillion people in it's protection"
"How small is your galax-... I didn't ask that question yet" The soldier grinned at her suspicious nature, but replied by tapping the side of his head once more
"Telepathic implants. Apparently they work on eldar" Florence noted the banshee turn red as a tomato, as she put on her helmet and left him muttering a faint goodbye
Florence managed to stay awake long enough to see her leave, but his conversation powered by sheer will took its toll and he drifted back into unconsciousness
Lae'hareil was cursing herself for her foolishness, of course they would be telepathic why wouldn't they try that! Her inner panic worried about if he had heard her... analyzing his face once more and her other embarrassing thoughts. The war mask however fought against her flurry of emotions and soon she was returned to her familiar neutral state.
Retrieving UNE file... ...
File found, file name: United Nations of Earth Navy Configuration
Since the beginning of the age of crisis the UNE needed mass militarization for the cosmic alliance to survive
The UNE has 48 fleets with the CA having a combined total of 278 fleets. Said fleets are composed of 250 Megalodon class battleships, 600 Whale class cruisers, 850 Crab class destroyers, and 1300 Shark class corvettes. These fleets can break up into 10 sub fleets comprised of 5 battle groups
The ships themselves (excluding Jörmungandre) were conceived to be complete warships, most being around four to six times the size of most civilian ships. The size of these ships are as follows:
Poseidon class colossus (CLASSIFIED)
Teran class planet cracker, (DATA EXPUNGED)
Jörmungandre class superheavy juggernaut, 40km with four thousand mega weapons and three-point five million smaller weapons
Kraken class titians, 20km long with eighty mega weapons and one thousand and two hundred smaller weapons
Megalodon class battleships, 12km long with forty mega weapons and six hundred smaller weapons
Whale class cruisers, 8km long with twenty-five mega weapons and three hundred smaller weapons
Crab class destroyers, 2km long with no mega weapons, but with four hundred smaller weapons
Shark class corvettes 1.2km long with no mega weapons, but with two hundred and fifty smaller weapons
Most UNE ships use dark matter propulsion engines, except the Superheavy Juggernaut class due to its size, which instead uses giant impulse engines.
Their weapons range from tachyon lances and gamma laser arrays with plasma cannons, to having kinetic brethren with the Giga cannon and Gauss cannon complimented with artillery. But the most powerful weapons are still being developed under lock and key
"We have the most powerful weapon ever conceived at our disposal: A person who has something to protect, with a ship" -UNE admiral Khalid Navajos