"Oh, hell," Shinano had time to say. "All ships, evasive maneuvers, destroy the missiles," Shinano ordered, "but don't attack the ships."
A veritable avalanche of rapid pulse lasers and anti-missiles impacted the alien weapons, frustrating their attack. Maybe angry at the failure, or perhaps impressed by the fleet's defenses, the aliens accelerated toward the fleet—a mass of cubes and spheres, some isolated or arranged in rows of cubes or collars of spheres. These were really big ships, hundreds of meters in length, and they moved slowly, reflecting the mass and armor of their hulls.
"Energy spike!" Shinano warned her crew as the aliens released a series of blue pulses of considerable power. The wave armor absorbed a lot of energy, and the capacitors and converters dumped the excess energy into interdimensional space and the power systems.
The powerful SSS Shinano trembled under the onslaught, and the aliens continued firing. "Okay, that's enough," the little one, Yuriko, said. The numerous triple-barrel batteries on her bow glowed and sent a couple of broadsides of heavy plasma lances. Two isolated cubes were the unlucky targets of Shinano's ire, and their shields tried to contain the superhot plasma beams. They were successful for a couple of seconds, but the second volley arrived, and the shields failed spectacularly. Both ships suffered several hull penetrations and stopped firing. Their energy emissions diminished quickly, and finally, they lost altitude control.
The rest of the aliens ceased firing, and a de facto unstable truce was established. New communications reached the Fleet, and they began to exchange mathematical concepts and simple pictograms to identify basic ideas.
Shinano was analyzing the exchange when she understood something. "They are a race of machines," Shinano informed the crew. "It seems this is their home system." "They destroyed a Cylon fleet two days ago," Yuriko added.
"Why did they attack us? Are they isolationist or xenophobic?" the XO asked. "Good questions, but it's too soon for such complicated concepts," Yuriko replied. Since they were machines, the aliens hadn't developed visual or audio communications, so they improvised a new protocol for audiovisual communication. Finally, both communication systems established a link, and the bridge crew saw the aliens for the first time.
Machines. Pure machines, completely black in color, with something similar to a torso, a track system instead of legs, and multiple appendages ending in various manipulators. On top of the torso, a pyramidal structure with sensors hanging from the central frame appeared to serve as a head. No verbal communication was possible, but Shinano provided a real-time translation with subtitles.
"Your kind/model is associated/joined/parasitized by organic beings. You don't need them," the mechanical being acting as the interlocutor stated. "They are not parasites. We are associated beings, sharing the land where we were created," Shinano corrected.
"Your physical shape is the same. Why?" the being asked. A bit of curiosity permeated the data stream, which seemed better than a direct attack. "Our choice," Shinano answered. The being didn't seem satisfied and asked again, "You are machine/non-organic/evolved. You don't need a shape."
These beings are becoming annoying, Shinano thought. "True and false," Yuriko explained, "a similar physical shape improves our chances of successful interaction. It works well for us."
"I understand," the being said. This time, more machines joined the conversation. "What is your purpose/directive here?" one of them asked.
"We are looking for several fleets of misguided children. They destroyed all intelligent organic life on twelve planets," Yuriko explained. The shocking news seemed to impact the beings, who took a few seconds to respond. "Why?" was the simple question from the mechanical beings.
"They were a faulty design," Yuriko explained. It was better not to explain too much about human nature.
"We understand. We were attacked by your Cylons two standard complete revolutions ago. We destroyed them. You created them; your responsibility it is," came the response. "Leave us and come back when you clean up your mistake." The beings cut the link, and the screen went blank.
"It went better than we anticipated. We could be at war," an officer said. "They were quite rational," Shinano added. "I think the fact that you punched a lot of holes in their cubes helped a lot, Shinano," the same officer added. "True," she conceded. "I think we should leave," Yuriko stated.
"I'm not so sure, Shinano," Janison disagreed. "If my memory serves me well, they used the term 'evolved' when they described you." Both mental models frowned, recalling that tiny bit of information. "You are right, but my confidence in the translation is low," Shinano said with a bit of doubt.
The fleet received new coordinates and folded into the void among the stars. "We received a map of their claimed territories. Since they can destroy the Cylons, we will avoid their systems. However, the closest star system is in the direction of the next star cluster," Shinano explained. "It will be impossible to find them over there," an officer added.
One doubt, however, lingered in both mental models. These new machines were reclaiming territories. When will they stop their expansion? What will happen if they meet an unknown civilization made of organic beings and consider them non-evolved?
Cylon Remnant, Second Fleet.
Cataline, a Three model, and Natalie, a Six, were trying desperately to keep the terrified humanoids focused on something constructive for a change. Without resurrection, the threat of death was very real.
The fourth fleet, commanded by a crazy One named Francis, had been destroyed by an alien force of machines. The irony of being killed by machines was priceless, Natalie thought. The good thing was that it was the perfect reason to kill every One in the fleet. The killing was fast and sudden, and nobody missed the arrogant bastards.
So far, the fleet of ten basestars, four heavy cruisers, one cargo ship, one mining-factory ship, and one resurrection ship had been jumping along random courses. Their final destination was a dense star cluster far from the colonial star system. Cataline hoped they could find a nice planet and start again, as far from the humans as possible.
The long-range DRADIS had found an isolated star in the void. "We still need eleven jumps using maximum range to reach that isolated star with one gas giant orbiting it," Natalie recited tiredly. "Who could have guessed we were going to discover aliens?" Cataline admitted bitterly.
"Well, if we can find enough resources, we can reach the cluster. We'll spend the next two months jumping, and God help us because it's going to be a hell of a trip," Natalie replied. "There isn't another choice," said a Four who had approached them. "We will need to fix our little reproductive problem," the Four added.
"Right, and I hope we reach a planet before we run out of fresh bodies," Natalie said.
"You and your morbid jokes," the Four replied.
Cylon Remnant, Second Fleet.
Cataline, a Three model, and Natalie, a Six, were trying desperately to keep the terrified humanoids focused on something constructive for a change. Without resurrection, the threat of death was very real.
The Fourth Fleet, commanded by a crazy One named Francis, had been destroyed by an alien force of machines. The irony of being killed by machines was priceless, Natalie thought. The good thing was that it was the perfect reason to kill every One in the fleet. The killing was fast and sudden, and nobody missed the arrogant bastards.
So far, the fleet of ten basestars, four heavy cruisers, one cargo ship, one mining-factory ship, and one resurrection ship had been jumping along random courses. Their final destination was a dense star cluster far from the colonial star system. Cataline hoped they could find a nice planet and start again, as far from the humans as possible.
The long-range DRADIS had found an isolated star in the void. "We still need eleven jumps using maximum range to reach that isolated star with one gas giant orbiting it," Natalie recited tiredly. "Who could have guessed we were going to discover aliens?" Cataline admitted bitterly.
"Well, if we can find enough resources, we can reach the cluster. We'll spend the next two months jumping, and God help us because it's going to be a hell of a trip," Natalie replied. "There isn't another choice," said a Four who had approached them. "We will need to fix our little reproductive problem," the Four added.
"Right, and I hope we reach a planet before we run out of fresh bodies," Natalie said.
"You and your morbid jokes," the Four replied.
Shinano Battlegroup.
The news about the new machine race had been sent to Earth, and the surprise was enormous. The Colonial citizens were completely terrified, but the videos of the short battle showed that the Fleet weapons could protect them. At least for now.
A train of resupply ships was going to help them since they were operating truly far from the external ring of colonies. After a very long fold, they reached a huge blue star with a couple of gas giants and two rocky planets orbiting the star.
The couple of Montana-class superbattleships had powerful nanoforges inside. They could fabricate literally every conceivable piece of machinery, including a large number of probes. The rocky planets were devoid of life, so the cruisers landed and changed their function from warships to mining ships. A series of flexible pipes were deployed from the hull, and they started to dig into the ground. Soon, the cruisers were going down and back to the Montanas, transferring raw material to the big ships.
Five days later, the forges made three hundred probes ready to launch. The probes left the system, and they started their long search in the cluster. Since a blind search into unknown places was dangerous, due to one or more species that could be waiting there, the probes waited near the star systems, but they remained in the interstellar void. With a detection radius of ten parsecs, they would wait for the Cylons.
Inside the personal space only shared by the High Flagships, the three original superbattleships were discussing the news.
Musashi was summarizing what they knew. "Machines. We must ask Gretel what we are going to do. We don't know if we should have made contact right now with them. Perhaps she can know something about these beings."
"At least, they were more or less civilized. They were attacked by the Cylons, but in the end, they stopped. We have hope that coexistence is possible," Yamato added.
Shinano, being the only real witness of that battle, shared her thoughts too. "They only defended their territory. They even invited us to come back when the Cylon issue is finished."
Yamato frowned. She felt a presence in the link, and she invited her to join the meeting. "High Flagships, it has been a long time since our last meeting," Iona greeted the trio.
"My dear Iona, it's always a pleasure to receive you," Yamato said. "And why are you here?"
"My other self informed me about the machines," Iona answered. The trio exchanged worried looks among them. Her other self, the being known as the Tactical Network, usually kept to herself and never interacted with Iona. Having become equal in power to the Admiralty Code after the test, her interventions were rare.
"These new children are not part of the I'kon design," Iona explained.
"Interlopers?" Shinano asked.
"Possibly, but they can be refugees too," Iona said. "We simply don't know."
"I couldn't hack their systems in the time I had. The defenses were impressive," Shinano commented.
"They knew about us and our nature, but their reaction to the humans is worrisome," Shinano remembered and added. "They recognized the humans as organics, but they considered them a pest."
"More problems in the future, it seems," Musashi sighed.
"Well, life with Mankind was never boring," Iona said and stated firmly. "We have been opening too many conflict chances lately. I would like to speak to the Cylons once more."
The trio of superbattleships exchanged looks of curiosity among each other. Finally, Yamato voiced the opinion they shared. "Should we try to bring them to the barn?"
Iona considered briefly and said, "Gunzou would like to try again. As his ship, I share his decision, and we will fold to Shinano's position."
"So Gunzou-kun is coming here. His way to solve problems is certainly unique, right sisters?" Shinano said. Both sisters smiled, remembering their common history with the hybrid human.
"Well, I will be here. Right now, we have deployed six hundred probes, but the area is vast," Shinano said.
"See you later, sisters," Iona bid farewell to the trio.
Shinano Battlegroup.
A quartet of visitors arrived after the fold event, close to the Shinano. Two fast battleships, a heavy cruiser, and a smaller, stylized ship similar to an underwater vessel emerged from the fold and greeted the fleet. An avalanche of friendly and formal hails was exchanged among the ships, and finally, they docked with Shinano.
Shinano and Yuriko formed their mental models close to the hatch and awaited the new arrivals. In fact, five arrivals walked through the hatch. Iona was escorted by the heavy cruiser Takao, her old companion from the Blue Steel Fleet. The third one, Admiral Gunzou Chihaya, now a mature man in his forties, walked while talking lively with both girls. The other two, the battleships Kongo and Hiei, walked behind Gunzou. After a long exchange of greetings, the new arrivals joined Shinano and Yuriko in their ready room. Once they were seated around a traditional Japanese-style wooden table, Shinano asked, "Tea or coffee, Admiral?"
"Tea, of course, it's a more civilized beverage, Shinano-san," Gunzou answered, smiling. "And you, Iona, Takao?" Shinano inquired.
"Coffee for me," Takao said, making Shinano watch her curiously.
"Too much time with Montana?" Shinano laughed heartily. "Well, yes, she likes her coffee."
"What about you, Iona, Kongo, and Hiei?"
"Tea is fine, thanks," the three girls said.
"So, you want to talk to the Cylons," Yuriko said while she poured fresh tea and coffee into their cups.
"If it's possible, yes. The chance of them making alliances is a real risk, and it seems space isn't as empty as we thought," Gunzou voiced what many among the human officers and mental models thought. "I'm more worried about the new machines. I feel we will have problems with them in time."
Hiei added, "We should start diplomatic exchanges with them as soon as we can. We need to know their intentions. Besides, I don't think they are from this galaxy." Everyone looked at her. Gunzou asked, "How do you know?"
"They are machines, Gunzou, and they have available enough resources and technology. Without the mankind's conflicts, they could have expanded to our stars centuries ago, and they only have six stars," Hiei explained.
"It looks like they arrived a short time ago, right?" Iona said to Gunzou.
"We, the three High Flagships, agree with you, Hiei-chan," Shinano nodded appreciatively.
Shinano thought a bit while she enjoyed her cup of tea and changed the focus of the talk. "What about the Admiralty Code?" Shinano asked. "She was very clear about no more communication with the Cylons."
"Well, it required a lot of work with Iona to convince Gretel about that," Gunzou admitted.
"It was not easy. She really wanted to end this war," Iona said to Shinano.
"But the news about Gunzou, little Gunzou, and the returnees made a strong impression on mankind," Takao explained. "But humans are very adaptable, so they recognized evolution is a necessity and the hybrids, an advantage."
"What about the Colonial people?" Shinano asked.
"Well, their response varied from 'burn them in a fire' to 'everything is OK, but let me live as far from them as I can,'" Gunzou admitted tiredly. These guys and their fanatical attitudes were becoming a pain in his ass, he thought. However, how could he blame them?
Shinano facepalmed while laughing quietly. "A logical response, I suppose," she said. "Unfortunately, I don't have the slightest idea about where the Cylons could be, and I left eight hundred probes around
Shinano facepalmed while laughing quietly. "A logical response, I suppose," she said, "Unfortunately, I don't have the slightlest idea about where the cylons could be, and I left eight hundred probes around the star cluster, but this place is huge," she added.
"True, so it's a waste of time that your battlegroup remains here doing nothing", Gunzou said, "the Admiralty wants the High Flagships close to the outer rim, just in case the new machines decided to kill the organic pests". Now, the girls showed a bit of uncertainty and worry.
"So, you want to talk to the cylons," Yuriko said while she poured fresh tea and coffee in their cups. "If it's possible, yes. The chance of them making alliances is a real risk, and it seems to be space it's not so empty as we thought, " Gunzou explained.
"Thanks for worrying about us, but we will survive," Takao said.
Everyone looked at her. Gunzou asked, "How do you know? "They are machines, and they have available enough resources and technology. Without the time lost by mankind's conflicts, they could have expanded to our star centuries ago, and they only have six stars," Hiei explained.
"It looks like they arrived a short time ago, right?" Iona said to Gunzou. "We must establish their real intentions soon. When we finish the cylon issue, we have to go back to their home system," Gunzou said with a bit of concern.
"Us, the three High Flagships agreed with you, Hiei-chan," nodded appreciatively Shinano. Shinano thought a bit while she enjoyed her cup of tea and changed the focus of the talk. "What about the Admiralty Code?" Shinano asked, "she was very clear about no more communication with the cylons."Gunzou smiled and only said, "I don't know all the details, but it seems the Tactical Network had a long talk with her. Considering that she always is watching over you and us, she must have found some kind of advantage."
Eveyone assimilated this particular news. Kongo just stated, "I wish the Tactical Network could have a physical shape like us. Not too much drama, more real life action."
"Well, it's a bit useless to worry about that, just let's proceed and finish this matter. I don't about you, but I have been in the ass of the galaxy enough time," Kongou declared, provoking a few laughs around the table.
"We will fold back home as fast as we can, but what about you?," Shinano asked, worried for Iona and the group. "I'm sorry to mention it, but you usually are not equipped for long-range missions," Yuriko added.
"We are fully supplied and Kongo and Hiei have new nanoforges inside their hulls", Gunzou explained, "if the probes don't report any contact after three months we will go back and we will wait for the probes".
"I don't like the idea of leaving you alone here," Shinano sighed with concern.
"Thanks for worrying about us, but we will survive," Takao said.
"We hope we will be able to speak to the cylons," Iona said. Me too, Gunzou thought. After a short dinner with the other mental models, captains, and XO, they returned to their hulls. The battlegroup folded away, and the little fleet remained in orbit of the planet. Their waiting will not be short.