AN: Yes, I know you can only assign one admiral per fleet in game but I find this more appropriate for my story.
"I don't know if things reside in the layer between universes but I know this; there may be things residing in the in-between or it may be empty, sheer nothingness. I don't know which terrifies me more." - Imperial Research Overseer Robin Song upon learning of the [REDACTED]'s psionic ascension
Bridge of the ITS Dominion, orbit of Sirius A, Sirius system, 22/11/2544
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Admiral Williams asked the chief scientist stationed on the orbital platform in a concerned tone. The orbital platform was shaped like a massive circle, with a command post on its left and massive power arrays and energy banks on the right. It was the crowning jewel of the Physics and Engineering division of the Imperial Science Department and the result of 裂谷跳跃者计划 or Project Riftjumper. If it were to succeed, humanity, the Technocracy and their allies would be the first multi-universal species.
"Of course, Admiral," came the reply. "Based on our study of the various abandoned gateways and the recent opening of the L-gates, on top of our existing subspace knowledge, we will be the first ones in the galaxy to set foot in a new universe."
Willams sighed. He still couldn't believe he had agreed to do this when his superior gave him the request. He could still remember his words; "came down from the Imperator himself, and said it was 'of the utmost importance.'" He was now standing on the bridge of the Dominion, a Patriarch-class titan and one of two titans present in the fleet.
"Relax Williams," his fellow admiral, Juliet "Julie" Conner, said. She was stationed on the other titan, the Absolution, which was a Matriarch-class. "You said the same thing when we opened the L-gates, remember?"
"Yeah, and a swarm of nanite battleships came out!"
"Remember one of my species' sayings, Williams; 'for one to prosper, one must endure the pain of the unknown.' Think about the resources the Technocracy could harvest from this new universe!"
Williams rolled his eyes. Julie wasn't a human. Instead, she was a Hesukari, the first alien species humanity made contact with and the most loyal and steadfast ally humanity ever had, even when the dark forest of the galaxy became illuminated with the wonder and joy of various alien species, and Julie just so happened to be Williams' childhood friend, growing up on the tundra world of Xin Harbin, one of the Technocracy's mining worlds. They were together as they went through the academies, they were together as they trained as soldiers and they were together as they were infused with nanites as they finished their conscription period. They thought about taking their relationship in a more intimate direction, but their roles as admirals kept them very busy and being assigned to the same battlegroup, as was the Technocracy standard of assigning two admirals per fleet, was more than good enough.
"Why are we even going through there in the first place? Shouldn't a science ship take point?"
"If this project works, we will be entering uncharted territory with unknown dangers," the chief science officer said. "With all due respect Admirals, your fleet is best suited to combat any dangers that would arise. Besides, the team of scientists stationed on both your titans will be responsible for the majority of the research and two construction ships each to construct the arrival gate."
"Exactly Williams," Julie said.
His mind still wasn't at ease. He had seen enough battles and massacres to know that things are rarely easy or go exactly to plan. Julie should've known this too, as they were both involved in an ambush by another empire's corvette fleet, losing three corvettes and severely damaging the rest. Despite that, she still had a child-like fascination with danger which Williams keeps trying to correct but even he couldn't resist the allure of meeting species of another universe.
"How much longer, chief scientist?" Williams asked.
"Capacitors are at seventy-five percent Admiral," the chief scientist replied. "Sirius A was very generous in providing all the power we'll ever need for eternity." He was referring to the star the battlegroup was orbiting. Williams looked out one of the windows of the bridge and saw a thin line coming out of the star and terminating at the right side of the orbital platform.
"Eighty-five percent now," The chief scientist said as Williams saw the right half of the circular orbital platform split from the left and drifted linearly for around twenty seconds before stopping, the two halves being connected via twin electric discharges.
William took deep breaths as his crew tapped on their red holographic displays.
"Ninty-five percent." A purple point of light appeared in the center of the frame.
"All repair crews to your posts," William said nervously. "Standby procedures. Order for all ships."
"You heard the man, move it!" Julie said, repeating his order to her repair crews and reinforcing the order throughout the fleet.
"One hundred percent, activating the bridge!" The purple dot suddenly expanded to cover the space between the frames completely. "Success! A stable connection! Holy shit, we have a stable connection!" The head researchers said through the communications as the rest of the scientific crew both on the station and on the titan cheered in joy as the culmination of nearly a decade's work bore fruit. "Admirals, you are cleared to cross when you are ready."
Williams took another deep breath before he and Julie gave the orders simultaneously.
"All ships, advance."
William felt the floor rumble slightly as the titan's massive engines and thrusters activated and his ship moved with the rest of the fleet toward the gate.
"We shall not fear to take the leap, across the abyss to fare," William recited the chant of the surveyors.
"Though may it all be dark and deep, adventure awaits us there." Julie finished just as their titans crossed the boundary.
Instantly, the fleet was in a purple-yellow tunnel which had swirling colours and lightning flashing out of the windows, some striking the ship. The appearance seemed to be shifting and mixing, with no appearance lasting for more than a couple of seconds before being replaced. The titan's contingent of scientists raced to observation windows, furiously taking images and recording notes for the archives.
Unbeknownst to both admirals, otherworldly entities had taken notice of the sixty-five-strong fleet and the weird ships.
"Juliet," Williams yelled through the comms. "What's your status?"
"Fine...now...no damage... normal!" Julie's voice was broken as this weird place, no, dimension interfered with their comms.
Williams was then hit with a pounding headache as visions of unknown beings flashed in his mind, but he ignored it for he had a fleet to command. One of the ship crew collapsed on the ground while clutching their head, screaming and crying and was dragged to the infirmary.
"Time to destination?" Williams yelled.
"Ten seconds!" a navigational officer yelled back.
The seconds felt like days as the pounding in his head got stronger and stronger. Gunshots erupted from the other decks as soldiers shot at hallucinations. Disembodied voices laughed throughout the vessel, seemingly taunting them. Flashes of a figure with crab claws for hands appeared in the bridge for a few moments then disappeared, but Williams couldn't tell whether it was real or the figment of his imagination. Then the fleet emerged in space again, the headaches suddenly stopping as William and the rest of his crew passed out.
Information Data Logs
Project Riftjumper: 裂谷跳跃者计划 or Project Riftjumper was a project to entertain the idea of alternate universes, thereby proving the multiverse theory. It began as a response to two empires suddenly gaining psionic powers and to study the source of this power, now called "The Shroud." Through careful testing and probing, a theory emerged that the Shroud could be the connector between multiple universes and if one could travel through the Shroud, one would theoretically emerge in a completely separate universe entirety, although it would be a one-way trip. To solve this, an orbital station, the titular Riftjumper, was constructed in the Sirius system near Sirius A to exploit the energy of the star. When fully powered, the Riftjumper would open and rip a contained hole into the shroud and form a weak tunnel to guide a fleet toward the theoretical universe. The fleet would construct another Riftjumper gate on the other end to stabilize the tunnel. The outcome of this project, if successful, would bring untold power to the Technocracy.
星际太阳技术专家 (Interstellar Solar Technocracy): The Interstellar Solar Technocracy is the largest empire in the galaxy in terms of fleet and troop power, economic output, research output and sheer size. Despite other empires being near equal in an individual aspect, none can compare to the strength and size of the Technocracy's fleets and the power and discipline of the Technocracy's troops. Established in the year 2122 from the Imperial Asiatic Technocracy on Earth, humanity waged a long and bloody war now called the "War for Societal Unification" to unify the human race and eliminate the borders that held humanity in "bondage" and "shackles." It is an autocracy, with the Imperator holding absolute power although he very rarely uses it. The Technocracy is divided into sectors, each of which is under control by various governors whom the populace elects into power, although the candidates are selected by the imperial government. It is shockingly free for an autocracy with very little propaganda present (one poster or billboard per 12 city blocks), as the populace genuinely enjoys living and serving the Technocracy. While not xenophobic per se, the Technocracy is very protective of its traditions and way of life, taken from an amalgamation of various East Asian cultures, and its reliance on slave labour for a decent portion of its economy is one of the main critiques for oppositionists.
Hesukari: The Hesukari or Elvus sapiens tundrarum are a humanoid mammalian race that evolved on the tundra world of Mithra in the triple-star system of Mituhar. They evolved sapience from primitive ancestors a bit earlier than humans (6.1 million years ago) and followed a similar evolution and developmental path, with the first farms being created while humanity was just starting to settle down into permanent communities with agriculture (11,000 years ago.) The first divergence came from the progression of the medieval period, where the Hesukari medieval period lasted almost 1.2 times as long, ending when humanity was entering the Steam age. While humanity was murdering each other with mustard gas and artillery, the Hesukari underwent a fierce Eugenics program. As they evolved on a tundra world, the Hesukari have a natural affinity to the cold and it is not uncommon on cold worlds to see Hesukari groups wearing a light jacket and mildly thick pants in weather that would require thick winter coats for humans, an aspect that the Hesukari frequently tease about, which often leads to the development of romantic relationships, sometimes intimate. The Hesukari share 96% of their genetic material with humans, which led the Technocracy to investigate the possibility of cross-breeding. Out of 100 subjects tested, 94 gave birth to healthy offspring, three had genetic deformities and were euthanized and three were stillbirths. The Technocracy counts this as a success.