"That which can be destroyed by the truth, should be." - Sarah Wong, Imperial Science Division, biology department
ITS Dominion residential area, Iliad A, Iliad System
Williams was headed to visit Elathana at her residential quarters, wondering if she was settling down at her temporary home along with wanting to continue their discussion from the recovery room. It had been a day since he and Julie had assisted her in retrieving the artifact that she had almost died for, and William thought that she deserved to know the truth. On the subject of the truth, his construction teams had informed him that the Riftjumper gate would be finished in about two and a half Earth weeks. He was about to knock when the door opened.
"Hello human," Elathana said with an annoyed look.
"Hello Elathana," he said. "I've come to continue our conversation and to check up on you."
"Where's your companion?"
"She's on her ship, busy with who knows what. Anyways, may I enter?"
The pair then entered the quarters.
"So, uh, are you comfortable with your current accommodations?"
"They're fine," she said dismissively.
A few awkward moments passed before Williams sighed.
"Look, you were lucky that you sent the message and we assumed it to be a distress signal. I acted all hopeful and happy towards my crew to distract them from panicking too much," Williams said, tone slightly depressed. "Although my crew may not know or think about it, we're trapped here, for another two weeks and a half anyways."
"I'm sorry, 'trapped here?'" Elathana asked, pretending to be inquisitive, although she knew what he was thinking about, but didn't believe it.
Williams looked around the room before sighing and rubbing his face with both hands. Was he really about to divulge classified information with an alien he has zero connection with? Fuck it, she probably knows everything by reading his thoughts anyways, and if things were recording his words were hidden in this room, he could wipe the recording or eat a court-martial after returning home, as his fame would far overshadow anything he did.
"Yes, Elathana, me and my fleet were sent by our empire, the Technocracy, from our universe into this universe as a forward scouting group for future expansion," Williams explained. "When we found you, we were in uncharted territory, literally. Cut off from any support from the Technocracy, we had no maps, no survey data and no information at all. I acted all confident in front of my crew, even giving a name to this system to celebrate our achievement, but I was relieved beyond belief when we picked up your signal, that we could finally get a chance to glimpse into this universe. Despite our want for you to share everything you know, I assure you, your well-being was our top priority."
"Why didn't you take one of the guardsmen present?"
Willams gave her a weary look.
"You try and talk to those barbarians," he said in a bitter tone. "They are all religious zealots from what I have gathered, I knew the moment I picked up a seal from a corpse. All they know is death and destruction and I say this from personal experience from my previous deployments. If we did take one of their numbers, all we would get is nothing but blind ramblings of their faith and how 'their leader will strike us from existence.' You seemed like a much more sensible and reliable source as you see things as they are. What I'm more concerned with is humanity's reputation in this universe, which I now understand from rescuing you is very negative. I wanted to change that with your species by rescuing you."
"Would you've rescued me if you had information?"
"Of course we would, it's the right thing to do as I told you before. Also, we want first contact with a new alien species to be as positive as possible, even more important when considering humanity's behaviour in this universe. But, I do not know if my empire will share my views on saving every alien we come across. At best, they may try to negotiate for cooperation, at worst, they might ignore your kind completely and focus on expansion. But while they're not here yet, I wanted to make a good impression if the Technocracy decides to pursue further diplomacy with your kind."
"You're not making a good impression by keeping me here," Elathana pointed out. "Also, have you not considered the possibility of me being hostile?"
"I know that, we're trying our best to scout out any potential hyperlanes to get us out of this system for my empire when they get here. If you know an approximate location we can... wait a minute," Williams said as he abruptly left. He returned a couple of moments later with a small device that had a thin needle protruding from a side and a clear vessel attached underneath. "Give me your arm."
"Excuse me?" Elathana asked in an indignant tone while pulling her arm away.
"I need a sample of your blood," Williams casually said. "It's for a prototype device my empire installed on this ship for this expedition, which I had forgotten about due to both my anxiety and my excitement upon meeting a new alien race. It's supposed to take a sample of your genetic signature and somehow, through unknown means, detect all traces of this signature in our distant area. Now come on and give me your arm."
Cautiously, Elathana extended her right arm, to which Williams moved to insert the device.
"Now this won't hurt but it'll feel weird," he said before plunging the needle into her vein. Elathana winced as she felt the device remove her blood and into a transparent vessel. After three seconds, the feeling stopped as Williams removed the device and unscrewed the vessel.
"Now this, Elathana, is your ticket home," Williams said while holding up the vessel of her blood in front of him. "All I have to do is get this to the device and we'll find all traces of your kind in the galaxy." He got up and headed to the door, but before he left, he looked over his shoulder at Elathana.
"Oh, and to answer your question regarding me considering if you were hostile, your recovery room was equipped with nerve gas sprayers. Had I given the order, nozzles would've emerged and sprayed nerve gas after five seconds. You would've died before you even realized it."
With that cheery thought, Williams left to deliver Elathana's blood to the science labs.
ITS Absolution synth barracks/AI hangers
Admiral Conner was inspecting the Absolution's contingent of synthetic troops and AI hunter-killer drones with another Hesukari technician. The Absolution along with the Dominion, the battleships and the cruisers in the fleet were fitted with these as a backup in case of depletion of normal troops, which thankfully hasn't happened yet. They had already finished a large portion of their inspection and were just finishing with the last synthetic trooper.
"...and, done!" The technician said with a grunt while re-attaching some wires. "How are you doing 2324?"
"Fine, much better now since you replaced those wires," it said. While it seems weird that synthetic troopers get numbers as names while other synthetics get normal names, they don't mind.
"Now ma'am, that officially concludes our inspection."
"Finally," Julie said. "I was about to lose my mind."
"Don't skimp on the small stuff ma'am, it could save your life one day."
Julie sighed at that. She looked out of the window of the barracks which oversaw a large hangar where an army of engineers and technicians were performing maintenance and upkeep on the Absolution's contingent of hunter-killer drones. The technician was right, she did have a bad habit of neglecting the basic stuff, which ultimately led to the fleet having minorly weaker defences that were not as impactful, but still performing below the rest of the fleets in the Technocracy. Sighing again, she headed for the bridge to process the results of the Absolution's science labs.
5 minutes later, ITS Absolution bridge
"You fucking what?" Julie asked, bewildered, into the communications.
"Look I know it's a long shot and it's prototype tech, but it's the best shot we have," Williams said on the other end.
"And why was I not informed of this device?"
"I forgot about it, I was busy being excited about being in another universe and being worried about being disconnected from any assets and assistance."
Julie sighed. Williams was always a reckless person, even when they were in training. Their trainers noted that Williams could oversee the small stuff when pursuing a bigger picture and was not above risking both troops, ships and his life when pursuing the enemy.
"How did you even get her blood anyway?"
"I asked nicely. What, you thought I held her down and took it by force?"
"Did you get any results at least?"
"Not yet, it's three-fourths of the way there though. Have your people had any luck with mapping hyperlanes?"
"Yeah, we've mapped three hyperlanes each going to different star systems. I've sent the data to your guys so they can piece it together with their data. All we're waiting for is for your device to spit out a result. How'd it even get on your ship in the first place?"
"The higher-ups installed it on my ship. From what I could gather from various notes, even they don't know how the fuck it works, other than knowing that some scientists ripped the core out of an ancient device from an archeological site on Orpheus IV and inserted it into a modern casing. I assume they planned to use us to test this device in another universe to minimize risk."
"Ugh, the Technocracy needs to test stuff further BEFORE giving us their new toys."
"Take it up with the ISD when we get back, not like they'll care much, but at least your opinion is stated."
A couple of minutes passed before the central console on the bridge beeped.
"Heads up, I have the results of the analysis. Sending them to you now."
Julie walked to the central console which currently depicted a holographic image of the Absolution, its blood-red image floating above the console. She tapped on a screen a few times, causing the image of the Absolution to disappear and be replaced by an image of the galaxy they were in with their current system having a pulsating red dot on top. Three thin lines, hyperlanes, connected to three separate star systems and branched out, fading out after the third linked system. She tapped another screen and small red splotches appeared over the galaxy image.
"What am I looking at?" Julie asked.
"Every major cluster of Elvus sapiens locus vetus in the galaxy."
"I'm sending the closest one," Julie said. "I have a hunch."
"Got it. Hmm... it says its designation is a... 'Craftworld Asheria?' Could this be Elathana's point of origin?"
"Maybe, I mean it's the closest one to us."
"I'll ask Elathana, be back soon."
As Williams went to ask their guest, Julie replaced the image of the galaxy with a holographic image of the Riftjumper gate, along with clocks indicating time in their universe and the universe they were currently in. They displayed the same times, much to her relief. A few moments later, Williams called Julie back.
"Well, count us as the luckiest people ever. She confirmed that yes, this Craftworld Asheria is indeed where she came from."
"Okay then, I'll inform the fleet that we'll be executing multiple hyperspace jumps."
"No, I'll take the Dominion and half of the fleet with me, you and your half provide security for the gate."
"Fine."
Information Data Logs
Profile: Williams, Victor
Age: 45
D.O.B.: 07/03/2499
P.O.B.: Xin Harbin
Known relatives: Williams, Charles (brother, deceased, KIA); Williams, Rachel (sister, deceased); Williams, David (father, deceased); Williams, Rose (mother, deceased)
Gender: Male
Species: Human
Height: 8 feet 5 inches
Current Occupation: Admiral (ITS Dominion, Xi'an Battlegroup)
Former Occupation: Miner, Mining Boss, Imperial Planetary Guard (two terms), Imperial Punitive Corps, Naval Division
Notes: The subject is known to be aggressive in both land and naval combat, having both well-homed senses in ship weapon systems and land-based tactics, he is not one to flee from an engagement if the chances of victory are higher than 12%. The subject is also well-trained in the art of orbital bombardment, ordering and overseeing the destruction of military and civilian targets with a cold and ruthless indifference, often unnerving his crewmates. Unfortunately, the subject is also very reckless and is not afraid to risk troops and ships if it means the destruction of the enemy, often needing his second-in-command to remind him of the odds of success and to order a tactical retreat.
Addendum: The subject possesses a deep and justified hatred of spiritualists, specifically religious zealots, and will even on occasion disregard orders to withdraw due to wanting revenge. This is because he had lost his brother during ship combat with a purifying spiritualist empire and a spiritualist terrorist attack on his home system causing the deaths of his father and sister, his only known relatives. The subject is currently taking courses to combat this behaviour.
Profile: Conner, Juliet
Age: 46
D.O.B.: 05/01/2498
P.O.B.: Xin Harbin
Known Relatives: 5 distant cousins; Conner, Violet (mother); Conner, Halren (father)
Gender: Female
Species: Hesukari
Height: 8 feet 9 inches
Current Occupation: Admiral (ITS Absolution, Xi'an Battlegroup)
Former Occupation: Miner, Administrator, Imperial Planetary Guard (two terms), Imperial Punitive Corps, Naval Division
Notes: The subject possesses a particularly high adaptation level, easily picking up new talents and skills much faster than their peers. For example, the subject learned to disassemble, clean and reassemble a standard IPG rifle within the first week of training and learned basic hand-to-hand combat at age sixteen. The subject also possesses an iron resolve, becoming a skirmisher in the face of the enemy and giving them no quarter while expecting none in return. Unfortunately, this resulted in the subject being neglectful in upkeep, resulting in a slight impact on a ship's shield and armour durability.
Project Farsight: 远见计划 or Project Farsight was an attempt to utilize several presumed Yuht-made devices and repurpose them into use for the Technocracy. Discovered in an archeological site on Orpheus IV, the devices were located in a large room buried fifty feet below the surface along with an unknown language written on the walls. Translation of this language indicated that the devices were supposed to take a sample of a species's genetic material and be able to pinpoint every single instance of the species in the galaxy. As the devices themselves were inoperable but the cores themselves were well preserved, the ISD has taken to extracting the cores of these devices and inserting them into a modern iteration of the devices. One of the devices is currently installed on the ITS Dominion for testing purposes.
Synthetic Troopers: While other empires blanche at the thought of artificial intelligence having the power to decide who lives or dies, the Technocracy has fully embraced AI citizens and they are present in all aspects of Technocracy life. This of course means that AI soldiers are present in both the Planetary Guard and Punitive Corps and are arguably more emotionally colder than their organic peers, but unlike their organic peers, they can easily re-integrate into society as their emotional emulators, which are removed for their service in the military, are re-attached for their civilian lives. They are also the only ones in the military to feasibly use laser-based weaponry as they overheat too quickly for organic soldiers.
Hunter-killer Drones: Although the term "hunter-killer drone" usually describes the enforcement drones of various gestalt consciousness empires, the term has also been adopted for the Technocracy's autonomous kill platforms of various designs. Officially meant for the corralling and culling of hostile fauna on frontier colonies, each design comes with various weapons, from assault rifles and swords to miniguns, cannons, laser cannons and rocket launchers. When asked what fauna would necessitate cannons, laser cannons and rocket launchers, the Technocracy responded with; "uncooperative fauna."