AN: For those wanting the Technocracy to face the consequences of their actions, their comeuppance will come in the next chapter in the form of everyone's favorite endgame crisis!
Also, sorry for the (very) late update, combination of life events plus travel really delayed this. I'm trying to find a new schedule now though lmao
Also, yes, the Whispers in the Void is basically Tzeentch, and the Instrument of Desire is basically Slaanesh.
"Hell hath no fury than a tyrant challenged." - Unknown
ITS Deliverance bridge, Sirius starbase, Sirius A, Sirius System
Admiral Song had been waiting in orbit around the starbase for around five cycles now, waiting for reinforcements to arrive and fuming slightly that he wasn't taking part in the celebrations back on Earth. He'd only been to the cradle of humanity three times before, all of them being either related to his work as a member of the Admiralty or to vet the crew that would man his flagship personally. He had no choice though, as the order came down directly from the Imperator himself and the punishment for refusing an imperial order was death, he had to bite his tongue and take it. Reading over one of Admiral Williams' reports, Zhang frowned as he came across the paragraph written with very... choice words. Humanity in the other universe was a belligerent, spiritualist, backward, primitive empire that could barely keep itself together yet despite that they still prioritized the cleansing of alien life in the galaxy and not trying to repair itself. The admiral chuckled dryly to himself, it reminded him of a fanatic purifier empire that the Technocracy obliterated when they tried to "cleanse" humanity from the cosmos.
The rest weren't much better, with the Eldar being a distant and uncaring fallen empire-like civilization whom the Technocracy had abandoned trying to convince or convert, preferring to monitor them instead, and a blue humanoid alien race whom they had next to no information on. Sighing, he swiped the holographic console on the center of the bridge of the Deliverance, the hologram changing from the Titan to a display of the entire fleet. Along with the normal warships, they also were escorting six colony ships, as the Imperial Colonial Affairs Department had deemed it necessary to increase the Technocracy's presence within the other universe. They're only there to be there, though, with specializations planned later.
Swiping again, the hologram depicted the various troop carriers connected to the starbase, with lines of light entering the ships representing the reinforcements. Tapping on a line, a textbox listed the entire reinforcements that he was provided with.
1st Expeditionary Corps (2 million troops, transport ship "Augustus") [BOARDED]
2nd Expeditionary Corps (2 million troops, transport ship "Nero") [BOARDING]
234th Punitive Armored Division (150,000 vehicles w/ crew, transport ship "Caesaris") [BOARDED]
123rd Punitive Armored Division (155,000 vehicles w/ crew, transport ship "Dominus") [BOARDING]
Tapping on one of the armor division names, the admiral saw the composition of each one. The majority was made up of various tank models, along with APCs, anti-air, and other support vehicles. All of this was for one colonization mission. Had this been anywhere else, he would've laughed in the face of whoever proposed this along with recommending that they be fired for proposing such an outrageous idea. After reading Williams' report, he secretly felt this was the minimum for basic survival in that universe.
Sighing again, he swiped one more time to a hologram that depicted the armaments of the Patriarch-class Titan; six large Gauss Cannon turrets, eight Marauder cruise missile launchers, an uncountable amount of point-defense systems, and the signature Faust perdition beam cannon that could vaporize any space-borne ship in existence. Zhang smiled to himself; commanding the most devastating model of warship ever made that could destroy any warship in existence and ruin a planet's surface gave him a high that no drug in existence could. Tapping on the munitions depot where the ammunition needed for orbital bombardment is stored and fabricated, he spotted the usual munitions that were used during extended sieges; Hellstorm synth-napalm bombs, Armageddon nuclear bombs, Marauder bombs, the usual stuff, but there was also something else. Zhang tapped on the hologram and saw something out of the ordinary.
There, in about a quarter of the bomb bays, were warheads containing Phiranna nanites, the population-ending, matter-eating swarms of molecular machines that the Technocracy uses to clear a world of particularly "uncooperative" beings while leaving the infrastructure intact, thereby leaving all of the foundries, the forges, and other important structures for more worthy beings, like humanity, to use. Although Zhang didn't object to the use of Phiranna nanites, he was confused as to why they were on his ship.
"Armsman," he said into the comms. "Why is my ship carrying Phiranna nanites?"
"Stand by sir..." they replied. Tapping noises and the sound of cycling munitions could be heard as the armsman checked the manifest. "Oh, uh, it's part of the reinforcements that the Imperator ordered for the fleet, sir."
The admiral sighed. Of course, it was. He always found it uncomfortable when the Imperator himself ordered him to do something. Zhang much rather the Chief Defense Officer give him the order, instead. It was just more palatable that way.
"Make sure the reinforcements get on board their transports on time, tell them to hurry up." The admiral replied, his voice laced with annoyance. He was getting fed up with idling in the orbit of the starbase.
"Yes, sir."
After a few more hours of troop boarding, the citadel finally reported that all the reinforcements had boarded their transport ships and the fleet was ready to depart.
"All boardings completed, admiral," the control officer said. "You are free to disembark."
"Finally," Zhang replied. "Ignite the gate, we're heading through.
"Copy, see you on the other side."
As the frame of the Riftjumper gate turned a shade of purple, signaling that the gate was activated, the admiral decided to check on the destination system, named Illiad by Admiral Williams. All seemed in order, with the citadel on the other side having been re-staffed after it was evacuated due to a gas leak. He was about to turn off the hologram when a signal was detected on one of the planets, Illiad III. The planet was a polluted thing, with noxious clouds covering much of the surface from orbit. The signal used by the Punitive Corps and Planetary Guard and by law, anyone who receives such a signal must investigate.
"ITS Supremacy," Zhang said through the comms. "Take the fleet and escort the colony ships to their destination, I have a thing to check out."
"What 'thing?'" Asked the confused and annoyed voice of Verdigan, his fellow admiral.
"A Punitive Corps signal, that's what. I'm taking the Deliverance into the orbit of Illiad III, see what I can do."
The plantoid admiral sighed. "Fine, just don't go off the deep end."
"When have I ever?"
"You are the most unhinged Loth'tekk (bastard) I've ever met."
"That means I'm efficient, which is a good thing," the human said with a laugh as he coordinated his battlegroup towards the gate, the first Corvette passing through to the other side.
Illiad III, Illiad System, 1:38 pm local time
Zhang didn't know what he expected from a world colonized by the Imperium, but he wasn't expecting this. For starters, the air smelled and tasted fucking awful, the odor of pollutants, chemicals, and other waste materials permeated it. The clouds were also a sickly yellow color, reminding him of the skies of Venus. At least the situation was being improved somewhat, as he saw both Punitive Corps and Planetary Guard soldiers along with scientists that he suspected were trying to rescue this ruined rock deploying terraforming devices on the surface. It turned out that the signal he detected on the other side of the Riftjumper gate was indeed a Punitive Corps signal, and the admiral landed to see a beautiful but odd sight.
The planet of Illiad III was indeed a polluted hellhole, with barren earth and clouded skies. Still, the wonders of innovation that the Technocracy had made were repairing this mistake, akin to a mother tending the wounds of her child. The golden cathedral-like structures of the Imperium, monuments to ignorance and regression, were being converted to tall, secure, and progressive black-red Technocracy buildings, a much-needed presence upon this planet. The barren earth, tainted by waste and chemicals, was being reclaimed by grasses and a couple of flowers and saplings were dotted among the green. All that was left was to remove the foul-smelling air that tainted the planet. As he pondered the plans for this planet, a Planetary Guard general approached him.
"Admiral, sir," they began, a slight hint of unease present in their voice. "We weren't expecting your presence here." Zhang continued to look around the area, not caring about what the baseliner had to say. To normal humans, the Punitive Corps were cold, unfeeling golems of nanite-infused flesh that were completely detached from the rest of humanity, which didn't bother such members in the slightest.
"Tell me, baseliner," he began, ignoring the general's discomfort. "Did you send the signal?"
"N-No sir, the guys over there did." They looked over and pointed at a group of nineteen Punitive Corps soldiers who waved at them.
"So why are you here, then?"
"Same as you, we received the signal that they sent and decided to check up on them."
Zhang looked over the general's shoulder, a trivial task as he was much taller than him, and saw another group of humans that were kneeling with their arms and legs bound.
"Who are they?"
"They're prisoners that the Punitive Corps captured, sir."
"Why haven't they been executed yet?"
"Well, given that they're a bunch of misguided humans, I felt like we could rehabilitate-" The general was interrupted by Zhang punching him in the chest, his right arm a blur to the other baseline humans, and breaking several ribs. As they lay on the ground screaming, the admiral leaned down and looked at him with a blank expression.
"That is considered collaboration with the enemy, general," he said, voice low and threatening. "Collaboration with the enemy equals high treason. The punishment for which is death." He called over four soldiers that he landed with, all members of the Punitive Corps. As they aimed their weapons at the whimpering baseliner, Zhang stopped them.
"He isn't worth the bullets."
As his troops began to beat the general to death with the butts of their rifles, Zhang himself approached a scientist who was trying to ignore the screams and the sounds of bone breaking. Completely unaware of his presence, the admiral stood behind the scientist and cleared his throat.
"You," he said with a commanding tone. "Are you in charge of the terraforming process here?"
The scientist turned around with a yelp, clearly not expecting the admiral's presence. Collecting themselves, they began to speak.
"Y-yes, sir," they stammered out. Zhang looked around at the grasses, the shrubs, the flowers, the saplings, and finally the sickly yellow sky with disapproval. "O-our progress is steady but slow since we're working with less support than we'd normally have." This was true, as in the Technocracy's universe, even the most dead planet that was ravaged by nuclear war could be healed within an Earth year or two via the Technocracy's terraformation technology. It was quite depressing, how many irradiated planets, or Tomb Worlds, that humanity came across.
"Can't you do something about the air? It smells horrible," Zhang asked, the stench of sulphur and chlorine stinging his nose. The scientist was too busy to respond, distracted by the sight of the Punitive Corps beating the Planetary Guard general to death, whose screams had devolved into wet gurgles at this point. The admiral then forced the scientist to look at him.
"I asked you a question, baseliner."
"W-We've requested atmospheric filters, but we haven't heard a response yet, sir."
Zhang noted this as he walked off, leaving the terrified scientist alone. Unlike the vast majority of the Admiralty, he cared little about subtlety or respect, often descending into sadistic tendencies, especially towards the ignorant and spiritualists of the galaxy, unnerving the usually fearless and unshakable Punitive Corps. Speaking of the Corps, he spotted the group kicking around one of the captives in the distance.
"I see you guys know how to treat our prisoners," Zhang began. "Unlike the baseliner getting beaten to death behind me."
"Indeed, sir," a Punitive Corps soldier replied. The admiral's helmet scanned them and revealed that they were Corporal Richards, a member of the Dominion's retinue.
"So when did you all get here?"
"Well..."
Six cycles earlier...
"What's the hold up?" Richards impatiently asked the pilot of their drop ship as they descended into the atmosphere of Illiad III. His squad of twenty was tasked with seizing the planet from the Imperium and he was getting frustrated that they weren't on the ground yet.
"I'm trying to avoid their anti-air defense systems," the pilot shot back. "Or do you want us to get blown out of the sky?"
"We have a Wraith jamming their sensors, they're blind to us."
"They can still see us, sir, I'm just trying to-" the corporal suddenly drew his pistol and pressed the barrel to the back of the pilot's head, the shock causing the dropship to stutter slightly.
"I am your superior officer, and I am ordering you to land immediately," Richards hissed. "Any other excuses will be considered insubordination. Do I make myself clear, baseliner?"
"Y-yes sir, landing now."
The Falcon dropship stuttered again as the pilot cautiously began the descent protocol, breaking through the polluted clouds just as the dusk broke over their target. It wasn't a large facility, especially by Imperium standards, but it still posed a continuous risk to the Technocracy's operations in this new universe, hence the need to occupy it. The rest of the descent was uneventful, and the Punitive Corps soldiers prepared to drop.
"Not to insult your abilities, sir," the pilot cautiously began. "But don't you think that the task in front of your squad seems a bit... large?"
"That's why we have reinforcements coming soon," Richards dismissed. With that, the Falcon approached the surface and hovered ten feet off the ground before the squad of twenty dropped out and headed into the fading dark.
Colonel Brandt was strolling around his station, bored out of his mind. Like the vast majority of Guardsmen, he was forced into service via conscription, but he couldn't possibly have imagined that he would be placed on a backwater planet, guarding who knows what. Sighing, he redid his route for an unknown time, since he stopped counting at around twenty laps, and encountered two of his fellow Guardsmen, Private Oliver Wreg and Sargent Dimitrius Traos.
"May He bless us today," Brandt greeted, barely managing to conceal his tiredness. "Anything to report?"
"Nothing, sir," Wreg replied, followed by a yawn.
"Nope," Traos affirmed. "You?"
"Absolutely nothing." A yawn escaped Brandt's lips. "Frak me, I'm tired."
The Sargent nodded his head. "All of us are, sir. I was up at the detection center and saw the karking fool manning it passed out over the console."
"Did it pick up anything?"
"Who knows, I was too tired to care. Wrote the fool up for his impromptu nap though."
"As you should. Well then, continue your duties." The two gave a weak salute that made Brandt thankful that their commissar wasn't around to see them. They had a habit of suddenly popping up when you didn't want them to. He was just about to fall asleep when the panicked voice of Wreg pierced the silence.
"W-W-Wha-" he stammered out before a thumping noise sounded through the deserted halls. Brandt muttered in annoyance. The fool had probably fallen asleep mid-stride and face-planted the floor. It was only when Traos let out a wet gurgling sound that he really started to be concerned. Raising his lasgun, he slowly made his way back to the private's last location, only to find him on the floor, a long blade sticking out of his neck, blood pooling around him. Spinning around, Brandt took a shot at a red-and-black blur before a fist moving faster than he could perceive punched his head off.
"Oh, great," Richards muttered as the sound of an alarm blared through the empty halls. He looked at the squad. "Get ready, it's about to get fun soon." The sounds of firing pins cocking were his reply. At the same time, a group of four green-armored humans turned the far corner and stumbled in pure shock as they saw the group of twenty 8'5" Punitive Corps soldiers before being gunned down by one of them.
As the squad moved throughout the complex, they encountered more and more of the green-armoured soldiers as well as white-haired women in exoarmor, each carrying their own form of weaponry. There were kinetic weapons, laser weapons, flamethrowers, and even chainsaw swords of all things. Richards was in the front of the pack, the corporal either shooting or punching anyone in his way. He was having a blast, as was the rest of the squad on account of all the laughing and whooping that they were making.
Suddenly, one of the white-haired women in exoarmor grabbed him by the arm and half-tossed, half-dragged him away from the rest of the squad, who were busy dealing with another wave of the green-armoured humans.
"Sir!" A squad member called out as a volley of laser fire struck them, forcing their attention towards the perpetrators.
Meanwhile, Richards and the woman were engaged in an impromptu duel, with her wielding one of those chainsaw swords and the corporal wielding his Ampere sword. Sparks showered the area as motorized teeth met smooth neutronium, the sound of grinding metal nearly dominating the sounds of gunfire. As the pair recoiled from the force, Richards took a swing at the woman, only to go wide and miss his target, forcing him to block a retaliatory strike with his arm.
The corporal thought that he could easily weather the blow, but he was proven wrong by the initial strike raising his dissociation level by 15 percent, with the subsequent grinding raising it by 2 percent a second. Shoving his opponent off of him, Richards checked his arm and found that the armor plating and the flesh of his arm had been mangled but it was already self-repairing and healing, his nanites rushing to fix twisted metal and shredded flesh alike.
Dodging another swing from his opponent, the corporal managed to block another blow from the chainsaw sword with his own weapon before managing to trap his opponent's weapon beneath it and break it in half with a single stomp. This in turn caused the woman to stumble back in shock. Taking the opportunity, Richards proceeded to punch her in the abdomen before bringing his Ampere around and slicing through his opponent's neck. Two of the squad then ran up to him while the rest continued to fight with more reinforcements, although the number of people in each group was beginning to decrease with each reinforcement.
"Are you ok, sir?" One of them asked with an emotionless voice. Their armor was partially shredded, likely due to kinetic weaponry.
"I'm fine," Richards replied. "Progress?"
"Slow and steady, sir," the other squad member replied. "By rough estimates, over a sixth of the complex inhabitants have been neutralized, but their laser weaponry is raising our dissociation levels significantly."
"Are any of our reinforcements coming?"
"Yes, but-" The soldier was cut off by a blue, plasma-like projectile impacting them and sending them to the ground, their head and upper torso completely melted away. This caused the squad to freeze and slowly look in the direction where the shot came from; one the many green-armored humans that they were killing in droves was holding a weird rifle-like weapon that had waves of heat radiating out of it. Everyone immediately took cover behind any object they could find, the risk of true death now present.
Another blue-colored plasma blast flew over the head of Richards, only to impact the wall behind him and melt through it, the molten droplets acting like raindrops that bounced off his armor. Thinking fast, the corporal tossed a chunk of debris in the direction of their target, causing them to fire a plasma blast at it, before jumping out and quickly filling their body with bullets.
"Well that was intense," Richards said to no one as the rest of the squad stood up and left their cover. Most of their armor looked somewhat melted as a result of impacts from laser weaponry, while the corporal's arm had healed somewhat already, leaving only shallow cuts from where the grinding teeth of his opponent's sword impacted. One of the squad members even had holes from kinetic weapons that were beginning to heal. After a few more moments, one of them spoke up.
"What was that, sir?" They asked in confusion.
"Primitive plasma technology, gotta be more careful." The corporal then looked at another squad member. "You, collect the corpse of our fallen. The rest of you, clear out any stragglers. When reinforcements get here, I don't want us to seem incompetent."
With that, one squad member dragged the body of their fallen member out of sight as the corporal and the rest of the squad proceeded deeper into the complex.
Present day...
"Is that really why there's one of you missing?" Admiral Zhang asked.
"Yes, sir, much to my shame," Richards replied with genuine regret. The admiral sighed at that.
"You should be ashamed, corporal. To let one of your men fall in battle, to a baseliner no less, is truly the epitome of embarrassment."
"I... understand, sir."
"How did the twenty of you clear this place so fast?"
"We had reinforcements arrive around halfway through." Sure enough, the admiral looked and saw more and more Punitive Corps soldiers emerging from the structure, each taking a body or a struggling prisoner as they exited. One of them was even slightly on fire.
"How long will it take for this place to be converted?"
Richards looked at a scientist who cowered behind their console. "If the lab coats are being truthful, one and a half Earth months. Don't worry admiral, we'll erase all traces of these ignorant bastards yet."
"Good," Zhang said as he looked at the prisoners they'd taken. There were fifteen in total; twelve in green armor looking terrified, and three with white hair in a primitive form of exoarmor who glared at the group. "Who are they?"
"Don't know, don't care. They kept spewing nonsense about a 'god-emperor' and how it would 'smite us.' They only shut up when we knocked them unconscious."
The admiral wasn't listening at this point, he was instead looking at the group of prisoners with a predatory smile, akin to a lion looking at a herd of gazelle. He got down on one knee and took one of the prisoners in green armor by the lower jaw and forced them to meet his gaze as the ground around them thumped rhythmically, akin to a heartbeat. They looked like they were barely over twenty.
"Tell me, corporal," Zhang began, his tone low and predatory. "Have you seen such blatant ignorance? Such backward thinking?"
"I can't say I have, sir," the corporal replied. "The fact that they achieved space flight at all is something I'll never understand."
The admiral turned his attention to one of the white-haired women in exoarmor.
"Tell me," he spoke to the captive. "What is this 'god-emperor?' I want to know what goes on inside your mind to make one so delusional."
"I waste my breath trying to explain His might and power to you," his captive spat out. "A heretic like you will never understand His miracles." Zhang chuckled at that as his captive seethed.
"See, what you describe as miracles, I consider delusions. Have you not considered that you and all who follow in your ignorant ideals as merely insane?" Before they could respond, the admiral spoke again. "Of course, you don't. Your head is so deep inside your ass that you fail to see humanity regressing around you. In fact, why don't I prove you wrong right now?" He walked towards a Punitive Corps soldier and took a grenade from their belt.
The Punitive Corps soldiers looked at each other and stepped back, knowing full well what Zhang meant. The admiral was well-known for having a sadistic streak, with his battlegroup and armies acting as either a well-disciplined group or a band of marauders depending on his mood. Taking a grenade, the admiral dragged his captive away from the main group.
"You know," he began. "I pride myself on being a man of reason, never believing anything until I make an experiment that proves me otherwise. You and me?" He leaned down so that he and his white-haired captive were at eye level. "We're going to make an experiment."
Zhang threw his prisoner in front of him, and as they tried to get up, he went over and shoved the grenade into their mouth.
"Theory: this so-called 'god-emperor' is real," the admiral said with sadistic coldness. "Hypothesis: this grenade won't blow up if this 'god-emperor' is real. Alternate hypothesis: you become a shower of blood and gore." He pressed down the priming mechanism. "Commencing experiment."
Getting away from his captive, Zhang watched with glee as his test subject realized with horror that nothing was stopping the grenade from detonating.
"Think happy thoughts," he called out in a mocking tone. "It's the only thing going for you at this point."
The prisoner looked at him one final time before they turned into a cloud of red, barely distinguishable from the fireball that was slowly rising from where the captive once was. Laughing gleefully, Zhang patted the shoulder of a Punitive Corps soldier whom he was standing beside.
"Guess we can disregard that hypothesis," he laughed as red droplets rained down from above.
"And the rest, sir?" The soldier pointed his rifle at the other prisoners.
"Send them to Earth for the upcoming summer equinox festival. They, along with the others that Williams captured, will make for a fine treat."
"Yes, sir."
Pictor IV, Pictor System, Segmentum Ultima, 银河系东部 (Eastern Galactic Expanse)
"Administrator," the voice of Admiral Verdigan echoed through the communicator, the plantoid's signature cold and calculating tone giving his words an edge. "Status report, what's the progress on colonization?"
"Status... nominal," Administrator Collins replied as he looked down at his holopad. The colony ship had already disembarked its cargo and was in the process of unfolding itself into an actual city, a process that would take around an Earth week. "Rudimentary tents and field outposts have been established, sir." He looked out of the former bridge of the ship, now turned into an administration building, at the landscape below. Black and red plastic tents dotted the greenery of the planet as red smoke marking the locations of field outposts rose out of the dense forests in the distance.
"Good, expect reinforcements within a cycle."
Collins sighed. He preferred that reinforcements would arrive immediately as the one hundred Planetary Guard members were all busy with either guard or enforcement duties and everyone else was busy getting infrastructure set up or running admin. The administrator wondered what would be the fate of this colony; an agri-world? A mining world? A generator world? Another tech world? More planets dedicated to science never hurt anyone, especially given that this was a new universe with potentially new sciences, but the issue of consumer goods remained a constant specter, one that the Technocracy learned the hard way.
It was the late 2300s, and humanity was still spreading out across the Milky Way via peace, warfare, or a mixture of both. The amount of planets humanity laid claim to numbered thirty-five, and a third of that were tech worlds, entire planets dedicated to the pursuits of science; biology, engineering, and physics. Originally focusing on all three simultaneously, it was later deemed more efficient by the Imperator that each field should have its planet dedicated to its pursuit. All concerns related to consumer goods output were waved off, and the Technocracy proceeded to colonize three planets; an arid planet, an oceanic planet, and an arctic planet each dedicated to physics, biology, and engineering respectively, a testament to humanity's dedication to galactic supremacy.
When it was realized that the Technocracy was consuming more consumer goods than it created, the council waved it off as unimportant, as the prospect of scientific dominance was a far more pressing concern to them. What started as an inconsequential shortage soon turned into something more, as already established tech worlds reported a decrease in requested equipment, from simple testing and protective gear to chemicals and samples, all the way to shops empire-wide being forced to close due to goods shortages. Eventually, three more planets were colonized and were designated factory worlds to compensate, and the crisis was officially over.
The hiss of the doors behind him brought Administrator Collins back to reality as a pair of Planetary Guard soldiers entered the room.
"Administrator," one of them began. "We've established another field outpost to the southwest of the ship and scientists are already on their way to its location."
Collins nodded. "Increase patrols around the ship's perimeter, I want all shifts doubled until more reinforcements arrive."
"Understood," the other soldier sighed before the pair turned on the spot and walked out. The administrator knew that the troops were tired, but they knew what they signed up for. Looking at the green canopy in the distance, Collins wondered what wonders would reveal themselves to humanity, and what the scientists of the Technocracy would find.
Field Scientist Jin Liang was in one of two dozen field laboratories, busy working on his fifth floral sample of the day: a blue rose-like flower that puffed out a purple mist when disturbed. Unlike his colleagues, Jin never liked being cooped up in a proper laboratory in a major city on one of the Technocracy's many planets, preferring instead to be out in nature, especially on frontier worlds, especially on frontier worlds with little to no data. He had achieved the equivalent rank of Sargent after all, and he sure wasn't going to waste it in one of many labs in the Technocracy's urban jungles. Placing the sample within a holographic monomolecular slicer, closing it, and pressing the activation button, Jin looked around the sterile environment. The field lab itself was not large, but not small, either, having enough space for the basics: a molecular analyzer, various microscopes, the typical stuff needed for scientific studies. All it truly needed was more entertainment types since re-runs of The Living Meat had long gotten old by this point. Lackluster entertainment options aside, Jin preferred to be immersed in his work rather than a cheap holo-flick any day of the week, so it wasn't really as much a problem for him as it was for his colleagues.
The sound of a beep tore him from his thoughts as he focused his attention back to the slicer. There, between monomolecular sheets of holographic laminate, was the blue flower in all of its alien glory. It was akin to a blue star; its petals acted as its light, its purple pollen the galaxy. Jin smiled to himself. Ever since he was a child, he'd been obsessed with the stars and all who lived amongst them, his life on a frontier colony only reinforcing his life path, having to forage for edible plants on his own since he refused to eat the glop the Technocracy called nutrient paste. It kept you alive, sure, but between starving to death and eating that, Jin would almost prefer the former just like his partner did.
Speaking of his partner, they hadn't checked in with him for over an hour now, well past their designated timeframe.
"SH-1022, come in," Jin said into his communicator, using his partner's serial designation instead of their actual name. "What's the hold-up?"
No response.
"1022, respond," he said again with similar results. Sighing, this only meant that he would have to investigate himself. He grabbed his standard-issued rifle and left the small field lab for the surrounding alien wilderness.
Jin trudged through the foliage, rifle at the ready, brushing away stray strands of flora from his face. While it may seem odd that a field scientist would carry such firepower, the Technocracy cares deeply for the safety of its scientific assets and as such, each field scientist is issued a Planetary scientist Guard rifle for self-defense, both against hostile fauna and members of hostile civilizations. Now, surrounded by the calls and sounds of various alien beasts, Jin gripped his rifle harder, thankful that he had at least some form of protection.
The humid air made his movements hard, the droplets of condensation and his sweat running down his waterproof, kevlar-based lab suit that could stop small arms fire with ease. Jin was used to such conditions, he'd worked on both freezing Arctic planets to scorching desert planets, but that didn't mean he liked them, especially when his partner was missing.
"Stupid, useless bastard," he muttered to himself, his grip on the rifle becoming increasingly slick with sweat. "Can't even remember a check-in time." Jin wasn't one for people, much less those who were careless, preferring the company of plants or synths instead. After around fifteen minutes of walking, Jin came across a less dense portion of the foliage where he saw the shapes of four individuals and a flying object within. Raising his rifle and activating his emergency locator, he stepped within.
"1022," he yelled as he entered. "Why the fuck haven't you-" The sight of his partner's panicked face caused Jin to stop. There were three other individuals around his partner, all of them wearing bronze-colored armor and holding long rifles, along with a drone that had both twin blasters aimed at him and a flat, circular top.
"Jin, I know this looks bad, but I can explain," his partner began, nervousness dominating their tone. At the same time, one of the other individuals, a blue-skinned alien with a slit on its forehead, began to walk towards him. Jin, for his part, did the only logical thing one can do in his situation: he turned around and sprinted out of there, the drone following him as he went.
A beeping noise coming from Administrator Collins' tablet yanked him from the conversation he was having with a Planetary Guard lieutenant. Glancing at his tablet, Collins' brow furrowed as he saw the alert flashing in an angry red.
"Something wrong, sir?" The lieutenant asked in concern.
"Maybe… Do you have any available men, lieutenant?" Collins asked back.
"About six of my men have nothing to do, why?"
"Pick four more from the patrols, an emergency locator just activated. I've sent the coordinates to you now."
"Yes, sir," the lieutenant replied with a salute before they left.
The Grand Archive, the Forbidden City, Earth, 01/06/2545, 11:44 pm
"欢迎来到大档案馆. 知识是我们的力量; 创新进步是我们的武器, (Welcome to the Grand Archive. Knowledge shall be our strength; innovation and progress our weapons,)" the voice of an automated announcer greeted Elathana as she passed the threshold that led into the river of information. Despite the disgust she felt at this facility's unapologetic arrogance, the farseer couldn't help but feel curious at the amount of information that flowed like water between servers. Stepping through the sliding glass doors with her hands clasped behind her, the farseer noticed that despite the late hour, there were still a lot of people present within the facility, most of whom were admirals or generals who only glanced at her before going back to reading their holographic sheets, their capes trailing behind them, refreshments in their hands. As she walked through the Archive, a couple of holographic sheets floated down as if sensing her presence and orbited around her, trying to get the farseer to read them.
Seeing as she had nothing else to do, Elathana reached out and took a holographic sheet titled Manifest Destiny - A Collection of Various Annexations Preformed by Humanity. It had nothing of interest, mainly just fluff proclaiming the importance of the constant expansion of humanity via any means necessary, accompanied by the justification of the ruthless exploitation of natural resources on various planets. She tossed the sheet into the air with a scoff. Humanity could make all the excuses it wants, but the nature of humans will always lean towards violence. Despite her sentiments, however, she had to admit that their archive was a considerably peaceful place, even as gunshots rang out in the distance. It seemed like not even the seat of humanity's power was safe from violence.
Sighing, farseer grabbed another orbiting sheet, this one detailing the technological advances and decisions made by humanity. The first paragraph proved to be of little interest, composed mainly of gloating and arrogant descriptors of how humanity was "the most advanced race in the universe" and how the "savage primitives" of the rest of the galaxy couldn't hold a candle to the Technocracy, words that would cause quite a stir if they were ever leaked. Yet in between all of the bravado, there were some genuinely fascinating technological achievements and plans, from the infamous nanites to interdimensional travel. Two entries caught her attention, however.
Neutron Sweeps - The Act of Genocide Without Shedding a Drop of Blood
Whether it's an enemy garrison planet full of soldiers that you don't want to spend the time and/or resources to tackle, or a planet where you care about the infrastructure and flora much more than you do about the population, there comes a need for a method of eliminating an entire population without shattering the planet's core, negating all benefits in the process. As such, the Imperator has ordered a more "humane" form of extermination in the form of the neutron sweeper, a colossus-sized weapon that gathers, accelerates, and "paints" a planet with high-energy neutrons that directly destroy biological tissue, no matter how much genetic modifications are made to the target or how much armour they have. As the blanket of energized neutrons bathes the planet, all biological matter begins to burn away as the planetary population turns into ash due to the sheer amount of radiation washing over them annihilating their cellular structures. Surprisingly, the sheer amount of destruction spares the native floral life present, resulting in essentially a depopulation of the planet and making it free for the taking.
The God-killer
This weapon, or what we assume is a weapon, was discovered amidst the nuclear ravaged wastelands of the planet GLIESE-581 that once held a early space age-era pre-FTL species. Surviving records state that GLIESE-581 once held multiple nation-states that were in a perpetual Cold War with each other from the onset of trans-planetary communications. This was until it was discovered that one of the nation-states was creating some sort of device that would "end hostilities once and for all." The idea of this device was so threatening that the other nation-states immediately launched a nuclear strike upon them, which was returned in kind, leading to the extinction of the species. Surviving records indicate that the device eliminated the very concept of belief in the selected group, thereby eliminating the concept of hostility. Attempts to reverse engineer this device has been unsuccessful.
"Nice reading, huh?" A voice brought the farseer from her reading, causing her to look and see Julie standing next to a wall-sized window, holographic sheet in hand. "It's fascinating to witness humanity's boundless ingenuity and ambition."
Elathana rolled her eyes. "I see humanity in this universe is still war-like," she said with a sigh. "Is peace such a foreign concept to mankind?" Julie shrugged at that.
"So long as an enemy exists, there will always be war until they cease to be." Julie released her sheet. "Or cease to be an enemy. All empires must safeguard their interests, and war is simply the most effective means of doing so."
The farseer sighed at that. "I assume then that your kind is like that as well?"
Julie laughed. "But of course. Although we're much better than before the Great Unification, I'll give you that."
"The Great Unification?"
The admiral nodded. "The name for the war for the unification of the Hesukari people. Much like how humanity had its War for Societal Unification, or the Era of Blood as they call it, we had our unifying conflict that spanned around a human decade."
The farseer, long having stopped listening, opted to look out of the window at the nightscape below, various holographic banners and other displays looking back at her. Most of them were ordinary and uninteresting, having words in the human language that she couldn't understand or even bothered to understand. Armed personnel patrolled the streets, the lights of their armor illuminating the ground slightly. More gunshots rang out in the distance, coupled with the sounds of motorized vehicles and sirens, along with the shouts of a crowd.
"I wouldn't expect the capital of humanity to have such violence," the farseer noted, breaking the silence. "But then again, I'd expect that from humans, not even having the decency to spare their own capital from such barbarism."
Julie merely glanced up from another holographic sheet that she was reading.
"It's a recent crime wave, it's affecting two sectors now," she said with a sigh. "One is responsible for raw resources, the other one the capitol sector. Don't be saddened over this, no one innocent will be harmed. All of the gunshots you hear are for the criminals and other wastes of life that society is better off without. I swear, people don't know what gratitude is anymore."
"Will we be affected at all?" The farseer asked with noticeable concern.
"If Earth's Planetary Guard detachment are competent, which they are, they should contain the violence to that sector," Julie replied while twirling a strand of her raven-black hair. "We should be fine though."
An explosion sounded in the distance as more gunshots filled the air. This caused the admiral to actually raise her head from her sheet.
"Oh damn, must be a rowdy group," she said to herself before going back to reading. Elathana for her part just looked out of the window, seeing more armored vehicles and rotor-bladed aircraft rushing towards the source of the gunfire while security officers patrolled the streets surrounding the City, with some of the holograms on various buildings switching their displays from colorful, celebratory images to a solid red backdrop with large white text.
"注意：宵禁将在一小时四十五分钟后举行。违规者将在视线下被捕. (ATTENTION: CURFEW IS IN ONE HOUR AND FOURTY FIVE MINUTES.VIOLATORS WILL BE ARRESTED ON SIGHT.)"
She looked back to the admiral. "When are you taking me and Caennyl back to our reality?"
"Whenever Victor comes out of his coma," the admiral replied as she handed a holographic sheet titled Lessons In Civility - A Human Perspective to the farseer, to which she waved her off. Flashes of gunfire lit up the darkness, the bloom of another explosion following suit. As Julie was reading her sheet and Elathana was observing the outside, a man dressed in a sharp suit and a metallic collar with four glowing stripes came up to them.
"Good evening my ladies," he began with a genuine smile. "Do you require any refreshments?"
The farseer barely gave him a glance while the admiral gave him a warm smile.
"Yes, servant, I'd like an ice tea with lemon," she said sweetly. "My guest here doesn't want anything."
The servant nodded before walking off. After they were gone, Elathana looked at her.
"Who was that?" She asked.
"Oh, just a slave," Julie replied with a wave of her hand. "I wouldn't worry to much, they're scared of me and are probably terrified of you." She laughed as she said the last part. Noticing her guest's unease, the admiral spoke again.
"If you need to relax, I recommend heading to the Animus Tree Gardens, since even for non-psions, the presence of the trees is very comforting," she said while exchanging her holographic sheet for another one. "Curious things, those trees."
After a while, the servant/slave came back with Julie's drink. As she took it, however, they spoke up.
"Ma'am, I must inform you that a curfew has been enacted," they began carefully. "It starts in an hour and a half. As such, you and your guest should head to your rooms soon."
The admiral took a sip of her drink while the farseer continued to look out of the window, an armored vehicle dropping off a squad of soldiers that began patrolling the area.
"Anything else?" Julie asked, now looking into the eyes of the slave.
"The Imperator has declared that all who breaks curfew will be immediately demoted and imprisoned."
"Noted, now leave us." The slave nodded quickly and walked away. Julie then looked at the farseer as she drank. "Well let's get going then, I'm not looking to be fired."
With that, the admiral and the farseer left the Archive, the sound of distant gunfire and sirens filling the air.
翠林市 (Jade Forest City,) 新云南(New Yunnan,) 07/06/2545
Elsewhere, a man with jet-black hair is standing in front of a wall-sized window, looking out at the bustling city below. He was on the fiftieth floor and although it wasn't the tallest building in the capital, that honor went to the primary administration complex, it was more than tall enough to suit his purposes. A Manticore helicopter flew past, its rotors breaking the silence of the night.
Looking beyond the sprawling cityscape, past all the vehicles and people going about their business, the man saw the main wall separating the rainforest from the city itself. Despite the Technocracy's extensive presence on the planet, it was deemed too expensive and time-consuming to have extermination squads patrol 24/7 through the dense foliage to hunt the native predators. Sighing, the man turned around and inspected his office. It was nothing special, having been painted a comforting sterile white and having only a desk, three chairs, and a few half-full bookcases with a few potted flora samples. He looked and fixed a black-and-red nameplate that was placed on the edge of the table.
Yi Qi, CEO, Kronos Defense Solutions
He chuckled at that, finding the irony in the title funny. Yi was originally a proud member of the Technocracy, having served his mandatory conscription period with the Planetary Guard with pride. After his time, he decided to take his skills to the private sector and started a mercenary/private defense company to generate more income and to see more of the galaxy than his home planet of New Hainan, one of many forge worlds of humanity. The going was good for a time, with his mercenary squads being brought out by various empires and private individuals, but when an unfortunate incident resulted in the death of a high-ranking Technocracy official, the Technocracy responded by holding Yi accountable for their death and arrested his entire family for "crimes against humanity," causing him to be even more disillusioned towards the Technocracy and their ideals. Despite the resentment he felt, Yi never truly cut ties with the Technocracy, as they supplied all of his weaponry and equipment, but he was working on becoming self-sufficient so that he didn't need to remain loyal to the Technocracy.
Deciding to return those memories to where they belonged, Yi decided to fill out some forms on his holographic computer that were mostly new contracts from customers who wanted to hire out the services of his group. A holoscreen to his left projected news headlines into the corner of his vision. They were mostly mundane things, consisting mainly of economic reports, the latest technological advancements, even interviews from some admirals and generals, along with reports on the summer equinox festival that was to be held on Earth. There was one section that caught his attention, though. It detailed a surge in crime not only on the planet, but throughout the entire sector as well as the capital sector. It was mostly mundane - a strike there, a riot there, vandalism sprinkled throughout - but the sheer amounts of reports coming in made it somewhat concerning as the feed showed the disheveled sector governors describing how they need reinforcements to combat this crime wave. They were even considering martial law. The only pattern authorities could find in these incidents was that eight crimes occurred on various planets on the eighth hour of every day.
Outside, distant gunshots indicated that the Manticore was engaging such rioters, who were the members of the group he was a part of. It was a revolutionary group, or so he had been told, and the first step in their goal in a free and just society. Or so he had been told.
Good, Yi thought as he smiled to himself. This means that everything is going to plan.
A ding from the elevator caused him to quickly turn it off as his gaze focused on the opening elevator doors, to which a woman in blue and purple robes stepped out, the leader of the group.
Oh, great, Yi thought to himself as 1st Apostle Lisa Han slowly walked out of the elevator and towards his desk. He was the armorer and supplier of the group, and she was his "boss" of sorts, although a more appropriate term would be "master," as she had hired (coerced) him into cooperating with her goals. Originally, he wanted nothing to do with her, not wanting to shackle himself to an individual again. As the two talked, however, he slowly became enthralled with the idea of overthrowing the Technocracy and establishing a more fair political entity, and so eventually, he agreed to work with her. That, as well as her threat to unleash "forces beyond his comprehension" was so absurd that he was afraid to say no.
"So?" Lisa began, her voice carrying an ethereal property to it. More gunshots sounded outside. "When's the next weapons shipment? We're behind schedule."
Yi leaned back in his hover chair with a sigh. The audacity for her to claim that they were behind schedule was not lost on him, especially when all arms shipments were being redirected to support suppression efforts. "You're killing me here, ma'am," he said while rubbing his temples. "If our little revolution is to succeed, we can't draw too much attention to ourselves. What do you think would happen if I suddenly put out an order that's three times as big as my yearly expenses? On top of the chaos that our followers are causing."
"You said yourself that you had some rudimentary production facilities."
"Oh sure, the ones you've commandeered and pushed passed the limit of? Look, as impressive as they are, they aren't designed for that level of operation, much less the amounts you're asking for." More gunshots and the commotion of a crowd was sounded.
"You have operatives working for various clients in the galaxy, get them to steal some equipment from their jobs."
The CEO groaned and rubbed his face. "Face it, ma'am, if we're to succeed, we have to take things slow or else our revolution is dead in the water."
There was an awkward silence for a while before the apostle spoke again.
"How's it going on the recruitment front?" She asked. "Surely you aren't that incompetent."
Yi glared at her but held his tongue as sirens wailed in the distance. "It's going very well, too well."
"Elaborate."
He sighed. "We're getting so many recruits that my training facilities are lacking the room to fit them all. Couple that with our arms situation, and well..." Yi scratched at the symbol on the back of his left hand. It was a curious thing - a circle with seven arrows shooting out from the center, the symbol of their cause. He didn't know what it meant, nor did he care.
Lisa nodded. "That is indeed a problem. Do you have a plan to handle it?"
"Depends. What level of training do you expect?"
"I expect complete loyalty, I do not care whether they can use a gun or not."
"Then why not only give guns and firearms training to three out of fifteen recruits? That way we can both increase the influx of recruits and stretch out our supplies that much further. Plus, I have a surplus of melee-based weaponry, which are respectable in their own right."
"And why was I not informed about this surplus?"
"They were mostly used for ceremonial purposes, but I suppose that tradition can be adapted to our needs."
"Is the Technocracy concerned at all about the influx of new recruits?"
Yi scoffed. "Not remotely. For one, nearly all of them are some type of 'divergent thinker' or some other accusation that they made up decades ago. They should've been imprisoned or even executed, but I offered them a chance at freedom, a way to make their own story."
"Good. From now on, only the most promising recruits shall have the right to hold firearms. The rest will make do with melee weapons."
"As you wish, apostle."
With that, Lisa turned on her heel and returned to the elevator, leaving the CEO with his thoughts and the chaos going on in the streets.
Lisa sighed as descended the building, the thought of her acolyte's delays annoying her to no end. Every day, it seems like something was going wrong or someone had an excuse on why they were failing in her task. Already, the Technocracy's suppression forces were trying to keep this "crime wave" a secret, only letting important and relevant information through to the public, and if she wanted her cause to get off the ground, they would have to accelerate things.
Suddenly, the elevator's lights suddenly switched off along with its motors as the car ground to a sudden halt, yanking the acolyte from her thoughts. Looking around, she saw nothing of concern and felt embarrassed as she was getting concerned over absolutely nothing. That was, until a blue and purple fog began to swirl and converge near one of the corners, forming a vaguely humanoid shape, with five eyes where its head should've been. Lisa stood straight at the sight and flattened her expression, not wanting to express weakness before the Whisperers, her master, and the one who gave her these gifts.
"Mortal," the Whisperer's signature cacophony of voices said, the words reverberating off the walls of the elevator car. "We grow impatient. Why haven't you acted yet?"
"Forgive me, masters," Lisa said, annoyance evident in her tone. "My acolyte has been... less than cooperative with supplying necessary arms for our cause." The sound of blowing wind surrounded her.
"This was not what we agreed upon," a voice replied, tone anxious.
"You are letting opportunity slip from your grasp!" Another voice, a feminine one, cried in anguish.
The apostle swiped it away with her mutated arm. "You gave me this power, I'll repay you in kind eventually."
"When, mortal?" Another voice asked, mimicking her late father. "We have been watching for some time now and you have not done anything of praise."
"I told you, I need more time," Lisa hissed through clenched teeth.
"And time you shall have. Just be aware of your end of the bargain."
With that, Lisa swatted away the figure in front of her, causing it to dissipate and the elevator to move again. She sighed, it was almost the same as if she was still working for the Technocracy, with people wanting the most results in the quickest way possible. At least now she could actually talk back to her superiors. Straightening herself and smoothing out her robes, the acolyte stood in silence as she descended deeper into the planet.
After a few more moments, the apostle stepped out of the elevator and onto a walkway that overlooked a hanger-like complex below which was packed full of tanks, APCs, fighters, and other mechanized units, all provided by the Technocracy themselves under the cover of supplying Yi's mercenary outfit. Lisa smiled at the thought; the irony of her rival supplying their efforts proved to be a great source of humor to the apostle. She looked down at her followers working on various vehicles with her eighteen eyes - one of many gifts provided by the Whisperers - and pondered about their plans. Her cult, the Shadows of Infinity, was already swelling in numbers, and recruitment was no issue since her followers came primarily from two sources; those who were disillusioned with the Technocracy, like Yi was, and those who were practicing spiritual beliefs in secret, like many of her inner circle.
The former was easy enough to find, as although many living in the Technocracy are more than happy with their lot in life, happily working jobs and living out their lives in comfort and peace, there were always some who despise the restrictive lifestyle, and either sought to depose the Imperator and bring about a more equal ruling system or to just sow chaos at any opportunity. Recruiting them was child's play, as all she or her other acolytes needed to do was whisper sweet promises to them, and they would agree almost instantly. However, this meant that Lisa and her other acolytes had to hide their various mutations from these recruits, as in their minds, they were part of some underground revolutionary front, not a cult dedicated to the beyond.
The latter, meanwhile, were much fewer in number, as the very concept of religion had all but vanished from the minds of humanity due to a combination of Technocracy indoctrination, mass purges in the early years, and simple forgetfulness. Despite all the suppression, however, some groups still practiced the ancient beliefs of humanity, although they were small in number, possessing no more than two dozen members. Converting them was simple enough since all the cult needed to do was to twist their faith into one that worships the Whisperers.
Footsteps from behind her forced Lisa out of her thoughts. Closing all of her eyes except her two human ones and hiding her tentacled left arm behind her back, she turned and saw her chief engineer walking briskly towards her.
"Progress?" The apostle asked, trying to hide her voice's ethereal quality from the unknowing cultist. "We are behind schedule, on all fronts."
"We're updating our mechanized units to your specifications, ma'am," the engineer replied, their face bearing the symbol of the Shadows; seven arrows coming out of a circle - the same one on the back of Yi's left hand.
"And yet only a fifth are up to standards," Lisa observed, her voice betraying her disappointment. She turned her back on the engineer, bringing her arms in front of her. "Tell me, engineer, can we overthrow the Technocracy's grasp over us at this rate?"
Avoiding the question, the engineer's tone took a nervous and slightly annoyed tone. "Look ma'am, we're walking on a tightrope here. You both want us to hurry and to be careful; we can only do one of the two reasonably." They stepped closer to the apostle. "Also, your insistence on having one of your lieutenants 'bless' the vehicles isn't exactly speeding up our work."
"The actions of my lieutenants are essential to our success, as is your competency in carrying out your tasks." Lisa looked over her shoulder at the engineer. "We all have a part to play in order to bring about our new and free age."
The apostle then turned to face the complex and brought her arms in front of her. "Continue with the upgrades, prioritize the vehicles that are the closest to meeting my standards. Do not bother me until you are done."
The engineer nodded and walked off. After a few more moments of doing nothing but observing, Lisa decided to head for her next destination, somewhere that only her most devoted followers knew about. The trip didn't take long, barely lasting five minutes, and for all intents and purposes, it served as valuable alone time for the apostle as she formulated her next plans. Once she reached her destination, the doors slid open in front of her, revealing what was essentially a glorified testing chamber. Despite appearances, Lisa was still a scientist at heart, and her actions were as much an experiment as it was worship to her patron entity. Ever since she returned from the Illiad citadel and the incident that occurred there, she was obsessed with the forces from beyond this reality. While most of the survivors either retired, remained at their posts, or were institutionalized, Lisa managed to both retain her sanity (somewhat) and become the head of the recently formed Imperial Department of Psionic Affairs to further her interest into the ether beyond.
The inside of the room itself was brightly lit and had a series of symbols on the floor along with a device that was set up on the floor, four tower-like structures surrounding the base. Five other people were also present; four in blue and purple robes, and one unfortunate victim who was gagged, bound, and placed in the center of the symbols and the device.
"1st Apostle," one of the robed figures spoke. "We're all eagerly waiting for your arrival. Everything has been prepared as per your request." A dozen tentacles emerged from one of their sleeves, as similar mutations were present in every attendant, save for the one in the center of the symbols. These were her closest subordinates and, with the exception of Yi, were all heavily mutated in some way, shape, and form. As such, they rarely interacted with the rest of the cult. "The Binary Converter's activity is nominal so far," another figure said while gesturing toward the device with a tentacled arm.
Lisa looked at the poor fool kneeling in the center of the Converter who looked at her with pleading, tear-filled eyes.
"Who's this?" She asked while caressing the poor person's face with her tentacles arm.
"Some fool that our believers kidnapped. They won't be missed," one of the acolytes replied, voice gravelly. "They found them poking where they shouldn't have. Bad luck on their part."
"Indeed, let's begin," Lisa replied as another one of her acolytes handed over a book, or tome as she called it, which she opened to a specific page and began to recite the words on it. Immediately, the symbols surrounding the Converter began to glow as the lights in the room flickered, the victim in the center of the converter trembling in panic. A purple and blue glow emerged from the symbols, followed by similarly colored gas that spewed from the vents that surrounded the victim as they began to scream out due to reality within the Converter beginning to tear open. Otherworldly voices poured through the opening as well, their tone panicked and enraged, but mostly confused as to what was happening.
At the same time, one of the acolytes pulled a lever that caused the Converter's pillars to glow bright green as the gas was gathered and forced into a tube-like structure that contained a metallic sphere at the end of it. The sphere began to glow a bright blue as the gas was being drawn into it, a whirring sound coming from it as it was being filled. Eventually, the screams from the victim stopped as Lisa finished reciting the text from the book, along with the gas that was present, which cleared to reveal that the victim had vanished, leaving only the blue glowing sphere at the end of the tube. The apostle then took it and raised it above her head.
"This," she said as her acolytes kneeled in reverence. "Is our salvation. Our gift to our masters. This will allow their ethereal servants to last for lifetimes, no, eternity within our reality, as weapons to use as we wish." Lisa looked around the room. "We will tear the foundations of humanity out, and in its place, we will install a new society, one of choices and enlightenment!"
Silence was her only reply as her acolytes merely kneeled in reverence towards the object in her hands.
War room, the Forbidden City, Earth,07/06/2545
"The South American Agricultural Zone is reporting increasing unrest activity."
"The New Hanzhou sector governor is reporting that 12% of their planets have some form of unrest."
"The Planetary Guard is deploying to the North American Production Zone now."
"Additional reinforcements are on standby in orbit, sir."
"Sir, detecting massive psionic storms over some of the worlds with unrest."
The words from various advisors caused Imperator Yang's rage and tiredness to flare, every update testing his patience. The normally disciplined and orderly War Room where galaxy-spanning conflicts were planned and guided from had devolved into a chaotic mess with generals ordering contingents of Planetary Guard soldiers to various areas, advisors giving real-time updates, and AIs scanning every planet in the Technocracy for signs of unrest. Below them, hundreds of thousands of troops were rushing to their dropships or armored vehicles, ready to deploy on a moment's notice. The Imperator for his part kept cool under pressure as did his generals who circled the console, their nanite infusions providing a much needed mental stability boost.
"Status report," Yang said to his generals.
"Martial law has been enacted on 83% on all affected planets, sir," one of the five generals replied. "The Punitive Corps are on standby to assist local Planetary Guard forces as we speak."
"Any updates from the governors of the affected planets?"
"Most are hiding within their safe rooms, or have evacuated to orbital stations or rings. However..." another general filtered the hologram so that only the red planets were visible. "The governors of these planets are either dead or missing, sir."
"Estimated time of arrival for the replacements?"
"Unknown, sir, the psionic storms are preventing all ships from approaching, and those who do..." the general tapped some buttons that caused the hologram to add a purple haze over the red planets. "Are never heard from again."
The Imperator rubbed his face with his hand before looking at the general. "How many troops are under your command?"
"Half a million, why do you ask, sir?"
"Take them and land on New Anhui, we must secure our mineral supply."
"...sir, New Anhui currently has one of those psionic storms over it. All travel within is impossible."
Yang looked at the general with narrow eyes. "Let me reiterate, general, since you clearly don't understand the gravity of the situation."
"I fully understand-"
"Our empire's lifeblood is our alloy production. To produce alloys we need minerals. We cannot afford to lose control of a single mining world for a single minute. Do you understand, general?"
They slowly nodded, understanding the implication. The general then slowly walked out of the room, likely towards his own demise. As they left, Yang looked at his remaining generals who looked at him with slight concern.
"He's not coming back, is he?" Asked a general who had a holosheet in their hands.
"Most likely not," he admitted. "But we need those minerals. Our empire must not be allowed to stagnate." The other generals sighed in acceptance.
The Imperator then refocused his attention to the holographic display. It showed entire Technocracy and was cycling through every planet and coloring them in severity of any disorder present, yellow being general disruption and red being mass chaos. So far, eight planets were colored red and fifteen were colored yellow, including Earth itself. Yang sighed, the only expression of discontent he allowed himself. He knew deep down that this was not merely a "crime wave," but rather a potential rebellion in the making, he could see the signs already. The dark spots underneath his eyes were growing by the hour as his emotions threatened to boil over. Never in his five hundred years of rule had he ever experienced such ungratefulness. This was not only a blow to humanity's unity but also the species' image in the galactic community. What would the other star empires think if they learned that humanity can't keep its citizens in line? Sure, Mary and the Galactic Hesukar Regime would be understanding of his predicament and would likely provide assistance as the Technocracy did for them multiple times, but even she would likely berate him for being too lenient towards his population.
The screaming of his daughter, Princess Cordelia Yang, drew his attention away from the screen and his thoughts. The Imperator then saw his Cordelia screaming at a group of three Planetary Guard generals about how they were lazy, useless bastards and how it was their fault that this wave of unrest occurred. He understood why she was like this, she was the head of the Imperial Internal Security Division, the organization dedicated to preventing this very scenario from occurring. He also understood the value of level heads, though.
"Cordelia," he said, with no response other than her enraged screaming.
"Cordelia!" He said louder this time, to which she also didn't respond. The two Home Guard members present activated their shock spears and began to move in, but Yang stopped them with a raised hand.
"CORDELIA!" Yang finally shouted, causing the entire room, including his daughter, to look at him. She was a total mess in every sense of the word, her hair was rough and unkempt, the dark spots under her eyes were larger than her father's, and her eyes were bloodshot, hinting at her exhaustion. Even her military uniform that was colored in the imperial black and yellow with various medals attached did little to improve her image.
"Father, these men-" she got out before Yang silenced her with a raised hand. The princess sounded like she was on the verge of tears.
"Enough," the Imperator asserted. "These men are doing the best they can, and they are dismissed," he said to the Planetary Guard generals who scrambled out of the room. Cordelia meanwhile took slow, shaky steps towards the center console, the other individuals in the room wisely giving her ample space. The princess placed both hands on the console as the two Punitive Corps generals rightfully backed away.
"Over five hundred years you've ruled," she began as the beeps of the AIs identifying more unrest on planets sounded.
"You've been alive for four hundred and thirty of them," Yang reminded her.
"We have the most advanced technology in the galaxy, the finest troops, the grandest fleets," Cordelia ranted as the console displayed the chaos unfolding in certain sectors of the Earth. "You have the hearts and love of our species, me and my division have access to the most advanced enforcement methods available." She arched her back downwards a little, as if her arms were struggling to hold her weight.
"How could we let this happen?" The princess asked herself before spinning to face her father, face contorted in anguish and rage. "HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?!"
The Imperator, unaffected by her daughter's outburst, simply continued to observe the holographic display in front of him. "I didn't let anything happen," he replied in a cold tone. "The ungrateful masses that caused this were responsible. Humans are fickle things, and it's only natural for some... divergents to crop up."
Cordelia let out a shaky sigh, her stress levels still through the roof. "So what will you do? What now?" She threw her hands up, smacking a passing clerk in the process. "Almost half of our food production is in that sector! We'll starve!"
Yang clenched his fists and jaw for a moment before releasing them. He tapped a few buttons that caused the hologram to show the locations of every battlegroup available.
"They will have one last chance to stop and beg for forgiveness. You must be both strict and compassionate, my dear daughter, for humanity is like our children and our dynasty their parents. As for the issue of food..." the Imperator tapped a button, causing the hologram to project a model of the Earth with various green splotches scattered about. "These ancient hydroponic centers should tide us over as well as supplying the sector until the ungrateful fools pipe down."
"And if they do not?" Cordelia asked her father. "What if they continue to resist?"
The Imperator gave his daughter a look that told her all she needed to know. Looking back at the display one last time, the princess headed for the exit.
"Cordelia," Yang said, causing her to stop and look at him. "I am making you the acting governor of Earth and the capital sector. Use whatever is necessary to crush this rebellion."
She only gave a slow nod as she left the room. As the princess walked, the various servants and maids employed by the Dynasty rightfully rushed out of the way, with her taking her frustration out on some poor ones who weren't fast enough. Once she got to her room, a surprisingly humble one for a princess, she immediately collapsed face first on the bed and bawled her eyes out.
Information Data Logs:
Colony Ships: Whether it's a burgeoning star empire looking to expand its borders, or a well-established one looking for yet another forge world because their monthly alloy income dipped slightly below a comforting level, one cannot consider a planet claimed so long as one hasn't landed citizens on it. Although the colony ships of the Technocracy have received uncountable internal upgrades, the base frame and shape of the ships have not changed since their inception during the turn of the 23rd century. Essentially, it is a small city that can house roughly half a million individuals of any organic, synthetic, or lithoid life form with expectingly limited but high-quality food and entertainment for relatively short transit (less than ten years,) but any colonists would have to be put in cryogenic stasis for any longer periods. Upon reaching a planet, it'll land with all of its cargo, its structure unfolding and converting into a minor city with tents surrounding it that acted like suburbs complete with anti-air defenses (due to an unfortunate incident on an arid planet where airborne predators destroyed the colony before an armed response could arrive,) and the reactor of the colony ship becoming a source of main power for the fledgling colony, although some colonists must bear the responsibility of acting as guards against the local fauna until they are either driven away, culled, or more permanent solutions are established.
Imperial Colonial Affairs Department (I.C.A.D.): As humanity expanded our borders throughout the stars, it was inevitable that the need for bureaucracy would expand as well. The role of governing humanity's holdings on distant worlds falls upon the Imperial Colonial Affairs Department, whose men, women, and alien members work tirelessly and thanklessly to organize, designate, and plan out future colonies and place governors to command either a planet or sector. The I.C.A.D. is also responsible for the management and governance of new colonies, with representatives acting as temporary governors until sufficient infrastructure is built and appropriate personnel arrive. They also have a "paramilitary" division consisting of colonists trained in military tactics but are not members of the military themselves, and are used in various ways, from providing local security for new colonies to hunting and culling hostile fauna from a new colony site. Their logo, the Technocracy symbol surrounded by an Asian dragon, is a metaphor for both the Technocracy and humanity; large, bloodthirsty, powerful, and wanting for more, and more, and MORE.
Guzheng-class Troop Carrier: While standard warships can carry up to hundreds of thousands of troops, for any period of extended warfare, such numbers are insufficient, especially for the Technocracy's method of warfare that involves landing as much troops as possible on a planet. As such, in the late 23rd century, the Technocracy commissioned a specialized troop carrier to more effectively ferry the forces of the Punitive Corps to and from battles, the result of which being the Guzheng-class. About the same size as a cruiser, the Guzheng is equipped with specialized barracks and hangars that give it a capacity of a staggering five million soldiers, or half a million armored units. When deploying to battle, every soldier on board rushes to a Guzheng's many hangars to board their dropships for immediate deployment. Unfortunately, to accommodate this amount of capacity, offensive capabilities are removed entirely, and its defenses are the bare minimum for survival, necessitating an armed escort at all times.
Phiranna Nanites: Within the arsenal of the world's Technocracy lies a weapon so devastating, so merciless, that its mere mention strikes fear into the hearts of any who oppose the Technocracy, and humanity is not afraid to use it against all who oppose their might. Overclocking the innate self-replicating component of all nanites, the Phiranna is named after their animal counterparts for a reason, as a 100 mg vial of Phiranna nanites can completely consume an adult human in fifteen seconds. Upon contact with organic matter, the molecule-sized machines consume and reproduce at a terrifyingly fast rate, exponentially increasing their numbers and lethality. A typical Phiranna bombardment involves two battleships, or other suitable vessels, loaded with missiles equipped with Phiranna warheads that are positioned at the north and south poles of the targeted planet. The missiles detonate in the atmosphere, appearing as massive black clouds to the unfortunate population below. After a few seconds of calibration and target acquisition, the nanite swarms descend on the doomed population and consume them, akin to a locust swarm devouring a field of food crops. The effects are reportedly excruciating. To add insult to injury, the Phirannas can be pre-programmed to target specific genetic structures, devouring one species while completely ignoring others. After the nanites have had their fill, they reform into missiles to be recovered and reloaded for the next extermination.
Imperial Admiralty: Throughout history, the command of various naval assets was relegated to those who had high skill level, social status, influence, or all three, with the best results coming from those who had genuine levels of charisma, strategic planning, and tactical knowledge, and not from sycophants or those coming from rich families. Such is the responsibility of the Imperial Admiralty, as they are charged with scouring the massive amount of Punitive Corps soldiers for the best candidates to lead humanity's battlegroups across the stars. Although one can apply to become an admiral, it is more common for an individual to be selected randomly by the Imperial Armed Forces. After selection or acceptance, the individual undergoes a series of tests, written, physical, and mental, that test and mold them into the perfect leader, ready for deployment. The Admiralty is the unofficial official designation for the collection of the various admirals in the Technocracy, acting both as an organizational division and as a private club of sorts, bound by the collective interest to better the Technocracy, her allies, and the greater good of humanity, being shining examples for others. Once an Earth year, or on special occasions, every admiral in the Technocracy gathers in the Forbidden City on Earth to talk and share war stories, battle tactics, and other matters, as well as form new relationships, despite having some emotions removed due to their nanite infusions. Although there exists a set of guidelines for all admirals to follow, each admiral is given free rein to command their battlegroups however they wish, as one admiral can lead their battlegroup as the very definition of organized. At the same time, another may barely be better than a roaming band of pirates. However, two constants are present amongst the diverse roster of the Admiralty; they are all capable of truly supernatural feats, even for nanite-infused individuals, and all of them are considered some form of war criminal by some of the galaxy's empires.
Dangerous Thought: Although the term was first used during the Qin Dynasty to describe beliefs and actions that were not in line with Imperial law, the term has seen a resurgence in use during the late 21st century, with the definition waxing and waning throughout the years. In the 26th century, the term "Dangerous Thought" was used to describe the worship and following of spiritual deities, defacing and/or denouncing the act of innovation or progress, antithetical to Technocracy society, and more recently, unauthorized communion or discussion about the nature of the Shroud. Per the Dangerous Thought Protection Act of 2067, any discovery of Dangerous Thought Thought is met with severe prejudice. Punishes range severely, from social meetings and therapy to full body immolation. Despite all aspects of Dangerous Thought having been destroyed long ago, the Imperial Department of Historical Preservation keeps and displays examples of humanity's various religions, all of which are defunct in the 26th century, including artifacts, paintings, manuscripts, and texts, although in a heavily censored and sanitized format. Examples of Dangerous Thought include, but are not limited to: relics, symbols, documents, art depicting deities, the practice of deity worship, holy scriptures, Luddite beliefs, "conspiracy theories," the harboring of any individual possessing any of the above, or any item, action, or belief as detailed in the Dangerous Thought Protection Act of 2067.
Administrators: The job of overseeing a new colony is not a task fit for anyone, as relying on individuals with random beliefs and ideals to govern a new colony would only spell disaster. Instead, the Technocracy employs dedicated administrators who run the colony until dedicated staff can arrive to relieve them. During the voyage, they act as normal colonists to avoid suspicion, whether they're walking around the ship itself during short trips or placed in cryogenic pods for longer ones. Once the ship has landed at its destination, the administrator heads to the bridge of the colony ship, whose crew members have joined the normal colonists at this point, and begins converting it into an administrative complex that can receive and transmit orders and data to and from the colony. It is from here that an administrator is tasked with distributing resources, maintaining order, and fulfilling quota by any means available. Once a colony is at a suitable size and economic level, dedicated governors will replace the administrator, who'll either join the colony properly or be reassigned to a new colony.
Animus Trees: Originally discovered on the rogue planet GALS-453, Arborea psionica, or as it is commonly known, the Animus Tree, is a species of naturally psionic trees that have a presence to the Shroud, albeit a weak one, that has been genetically modified by humanity to provide a soothing sensation. Discovered amidst the ruins of a once-prosperous renaissance-level civilization, the Animus Trees' bioluminescent teal glow lit up the cloud-covered skies of the rogue world, drawing in field scientists from miles away. When they didn't return for some time, search parties discovered the lot of them in a coma below the trees, surrounded by grass that shared the same bioluminescent glow as the trees themselves. As a medical evacuation flight took the scientists away, the search party discovered "documents" (religious scripture was the more appropriate term) that detailed the usage of these particular trees in various rituals of this long-extinct race. Samples were taken and sent to Earth for testing, wherein they were modified to provide compatibility for human brainwaves and to provide a comforting sensation to all who stand in their proximity or who sit below them, with some people reporting a relaxing voice speaking to them in their minds. As a result of this, the Imperator deemed it appropriate for at least one tree to be present on every warship and a dozen to be present in every building, with the Forbidden Palace having the densest concentration of the trees, a full garden being dedicated to these psionic florae. While the baseline Animus tree causes hallucinations, nightmares, psychotic breakdowns, or even comas if prolonged exposure occurs, the Technocracy modified genus causes calming and soothing effects instead.
Binary Converter: Discovered within a bombed out complex in the ruins of Jade Forest City, the epicenter of the largest uprising in recent history, this device is a perversion of the Technocracy's organic-to-synthetic mind transfer device. Apparently, the misbegotten fools had reverse engineered one of those devices into this abomination and had used this to summon beings from the Shroud and use them in place of an AI core in synthetic bodies as a form of "demon host." Of course, such a thing as "demons" should be disregarded immediately and the proposer imprisoned.
NOTE: "Daemons do exist. They're real, they hate us, and under the right circumstances, they're a highly valuable asset." - [REDACTED] O'Conner, Telepath
DAIemon:
NOTE: Intercepted Shadows of Infinity communications, 14/06/25
To all holy animators,
It is well documented that the ethereal servants of our master cannot exist long outside of the sacred Shroud, as although their destructive potential is unmatched compared with mortal weaponry, they can only last for a limited time when in realspace. As such, the Apostle has deemed it essential to create new synthetic bodies for our master's servants so that they may exist indefinitely within our reality and bring about the new dawn of humanity.
Although many of you question how one can fuse a daemon within a synthetic body, the answer is quite rudimentary. Via the Binary Converter, the daemon is transformed from a being of the Shroud into a being made of code while maintaining its personality. This new AI, this DAIemon, will be installed into a synthetic version of its original body, one that you will be tasked with creating for as long as necessary.
It is our sacred duty to help bring upon a new age of knowledge and understanding to the rest of humanity, and should they resist, then they shall burn.
- 1st Apostle Lisa Han
PS: A list of DAIemon models is as follows:
- BL8D-LTR
- DM-3TTE
Addendum: According to our telepaths, there is a notable increase in Shroud activity, but nothing to warrant concern.