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VoughtVindicator

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"Voynych" The woman answered the call with a flick of her finger. Her Mediterranean accent echoed for a few seconds in the gigantic hall of the arcology completely bereft of any features other than the pyrammidal arrangement of structural pillars that joined up at the roof. Her desk sat in the middle of a little island in a sea of still water that reflected the elegantly dim golden lighting of the arcology.


"Oh, I'm sorry, you've called the wrong number." The winged blonde answered promptly while her attention mostly remained fixed on the complex desk gyroscope she was assembling. "This is data processing, please try contacting him through the front desk." She hung up and returned to her gyroscope. Using rubber gloves and tweezers to keep the fragile construction steady, she soldered an additional ring to the device with a designer soldering iron. Other shiny desk toys lined the edges of the woman's desk, clicking and swaying away until they ran out of momentum and demanded she poke them back into motion. This one was different, however; being made of fine aluminium anceride meant it could not only keep spinning for decades but also power her other desk toys with the minute gravitational waves it generated.


The collection had expanded ever since the Minsin Agreement had been reached; ever since then the arcology's supercomputer had been practically working on the same thing 24/7 and there was very little need for Ariadne to organize the device's schedule. The phone rang again.


"Voynych" She answered once more.


'Listen you unbearable bimbo, I know he's in your building.' The voice of infamous Yamanakako CEO Su Su Sein Myat sounded through the phone, louder than the last time. 'I need you to either put me through to him or explain why my futures desk can't log into Voynych anymore and none of my managers are getting their calls through. I paid for the computer time, goddamit.'


Ariadne was already halfway through the hand gesture of hanging up the phone when she paused, surprised by the complaint. The schedule of Voynych hadn't moved in days, let alone to kick Yamanakako's futures desk off the computing queue as much as Ariadne had wished for it. She raised an eyebrow upon calling up a neuroptic representation of the computer's current load and seeing a very subtle difference. Mr. Debecker's project was in fact taking up 0.17% more computing power than before -an enormous amount, given the facility's capacity- and it had put Yamanakako's trading algorithms on hold until the process was finished.


The other 87.17% of the computer's load had remained static ever since the Minsin Agreements. This section, which dominated the pie chart of processing distribution of Voynych's datacenter, was a black box simply labeled '0x000' which had been ordered by Kornel Schweitzer and Asbjorn Valida themselves a few days in advance of the Minsin Agreement. They'd put Ariadne in charge of this process, trusting nobody other than the former 255th DAMSEL to have the mastery of programming required to assemble such an enormous operation in such short time. As for Ariadne herself, she trusted nobody other than Schweitzer and Valida to give her the kind of challenge that an android such as herself was designed to tackle head-on.

0x000 was the largest single operation that had ever been inputted into the Voynych supercomputer. It was a colossal network of processes and intermeshed AIs all outputting more data in one day than entire human populations generated in years. It was the propaganda arm of the Rangvald Cartel applied to the Nuclean United Federation's independence referendum.


It was the thought of Schweitzer and Valida -the Cartel's cunning strategic advisors- that the size of the Nuclean Ecumene meant that Rangvald could only at best achieve parity with their messaging on a macro level. There was only so much of the public that could be reached by the Cartel's media footprint. But with the help of MAIDEN's glamorous runaway, the Cartel jackals had envisioned a way to completely sidestep this media parity in the battle for the hearts and minds of the United Federation: extreme microtargeting of propaganda.

The Cartel wasn't just going to blanket the airwaves and datasphere of ancnet with explicit calls for people to vote to leave the Ecumene; it was going to build a personal rapport with as many people as possible and switch their vote through direct individualized appeals. There was no use of demographics in the conventional sense, no 'working-class males over the age of 35' as a broad category. Instead, every person who was capable of being reached was classified as a separate target with its own unique sensitivities and given a complex profile of attack vectors for psychological warfare to be carried out. To convert voters was the primary objective, to suppress the inconvertible was the secondary objective.

The interface with the billions of individuals targeted by Voynych was what could be described as a gestalt of fake souls, countless internet profiles and bots that were made to trick the NUF citizens into thinking they had met soulmates, mentors, friends, life coaches and online playmates through ancnet who shared their experiences and interests. Real-time purchasing of ancnet advertising served to further accentuate the advances of these false personas and build their rapport while malware infecting the target's computers and neuroptics was used to gauge their receptiveness from subtle involuntary cues such as eye movements and reply intervals. If the AI judged it was losing the interest of its target as it approached the direct discussion of the "Nuxit" referendum, new arguments and approach vectors would be deployed from a vast database informed by vast statistic models that reduced humanity to numbers.


The word 'Propaganda' had etymologically never meant anything beyond the propagation of ideas. Once synonymous with vast, intense and generalized messaging, it was now being employed by the Schweitzer & Valida Foundation in a way that sought to snipe each heart and mind individually and either flip their vote to 'leave' or make them stay at home. Voynych was the locus of this operation's primary process but the complete network extended far beyond Rangvald's luxury datacenter world, proxied through the Northern Baronies and the Kilian Rhizome to reach its intended audience.


And while the cognitive models that informed the decisionmaking roots of 0x000's mind-bending algorithm came from people who had achieved much more experience in the quantization of the human mind, its specific application through the online companionship and affection of fake bots was Ariadne's point of pride.


"Oh, I'm sorry." Ariadne remarked after seeing the minute uptick in 0x000's memory allocation. "Your tickets have been put on hold, there's currently a priority process going on."


'I am completely uninterested in what is going on in Voynych, I WILL take my complaint to the directorate if you don't provide the services YCAM asked for and my company paid for.' Su Su threatened through the phone. 'We funded Voynych's construction. We will shut it down if you think of shutting us out.'


"Ms. Sein Myat, there is a task already in progress." Ariadne said with as calm a voice as she could manage, knowing her very slow and rather infantilizing speech would get Su Su more upset. "Your ticket has not been dropped, it is still in the queue and will be processed as soon as the current one is done. Mr. Debecker is currently having a meeting with clients. If you want me to rudely interrupt him to ask for a reference number I can do that for you. But that would be pretty inconsiderate, wouldn't it?"


'Do it.' Su Su spat. 'YCAM's futures desk makes 630 billion median, if you don't give me a good reason why they were locked out of their terminals tonight and have it signed by Debecker I will ask for monetary compensation.'


"Understood, have a very pleasa-" Ariadne was hung up on. She put down her soldering iron and stashed all the loose parts of the gyroscope in the box they came in before putting them away. She couldn't be any less interested in Su Su's official complaint if she tried but after so many days of watching the computer simply execute 0x000, any reason to walk out of her office and stretch her limbs was a good reason.


A few steps behind Ariadne's desk was a single-person elevator with a footprint not much larger than a small table, which only just let her step in comfortably with to her huge, black and white wings folded around her body. The elevator closed and traveled downwards through a transluscent tunnel that went right underwater and revealed what was hiding in the still surface. A submarine cavern kilometers across, kilometers deep, so vast in extension that even the distilled water hid its full size. Inky black spheres were submerged in this space, glowing orange from a spiderweb-like pattern of cracks that covered their surface. Submarines, divers and biohybrid sealife swam around the airport-sized orbs of datacenter Voynych whose orbs cast an orange glow on the whole place. Structures of cabling not unlike gorgonian coral fed the orbs with ancerium hyperfuel to maintain the relativistic and quantum processes that powered the calculations of the Cartel's vast calculation machine and maintained weigthlessness over large sections of this underwater arcology.


The elevator traveled down the cliff of this manmade abyssal trench, stopping at a maintenance complex built into the underwater arcology. On the other side of the doors the scene was much more hectic than the oceanic depths of the arcology, a deafening cacophony of fluttering and clicking as a swarm of Philopsyche filled the hangar and almost completely covered every non-radioactive surface in sight. Smaller computing spheres in various states of disassembly were strewn about all over the large hangar at the end of which was a drydock where a submarine was loaded by an overhead crane.


"Queenie!" Ariadne exclaimed.


"Ariadne!" The queen of this hive of small insectoids replied cheerily, fluttering up to the DAMSEL. The bright yellow and very puffy-looking creature mirrored her taller counterpart's movements somewhat as they gestured to greet each other.


"Honey, there's something that has been bugging some of the clients." Ariadne said with a concerned tone, walking along the length of the hangar with the floating philpsyche past the many laboratory crews that assembled more computation codes. Micrometer-thin sheets of silicon were submerged in pools of dawnstone salt, coming out covered in a layer of the precious material before being passed through a photolithography process. "The primary process has been taking up a bit more load than expected and one of the clients got kicked off the queue. I don't remember us authorizing any additional software." She said.


"Oh, darling, that must be Mr. Debecker's program that's taking up the additional memory." Queenie replied. Besides the two computer experts, the production chain moved the dawnstone membranes out of the lithography room with iridiscent engravings now covering their surfaces. Philopsyche clad in hazmat suits monitored for flaws in multiple stations where the sheets were stopped and robotic spiders with legs as thin as nylon fibers crawled over them, soldering nanoscopic connections to devices that kept the dawnstone from sublimating. "It's a cryptographic algorithm, they're trying to break into some Orillian codes."


Once passed through all the stations and properly wired up, the sheets of circuitry were later moved to another clean room where a multitude of robotic spray nozzles covered them in a thin film of exodized resin. They were then sandwiched between two quartz panels and moved to a laser cutting room. The entire process required both electricity and hyperfuel to be fed into the sheets to avoid them disintegrating and as such they had to be constantly be rewired each step of the production process.


"Codebreaking?" Ariadne pondered. "That's unexpected. Honey, would I be asking too much if I wanted to optimize some micro architecture a bit to let in more people have their processes? I'm sure Yamanakako's trading algos can't be too hard on these computers if we streamline a bit."


"Oh, you've got it, queen." Queenie replied with a laugh, tugging on her heavy bejeweled necklace for a bit and waving her large antennae. At the end of the production line, the sheets were assembled into complex polyhedral structures like 3D jigsaw pieces by a combination of gravitic levitation and compressed air nozzles and then welded shut in new orbs. Each shipment of these meter-wide devices was arranged in boxes and then moved to the shipment area where the submarine awaited, bearing the geometric logo of the Hajimari conglomerate on its coning tower.

Radical new production processs were being tried out by the Cartel's most promising upstart Hajimari Keiretsu, seeking to develop new types of computers that utilized heat rather than electricity to store information and taking advantage of the thermal superconductivity of dawnstone. While Hajimari's production line was so far only prototyping computing cores that could use waste heat from the much larger cores submerged underneath the arcology, the endgoal of the nascent corporation was completely refitting Voynych with dawnstone-powered phononic computers.


"I knew I could count on you, honey!" Ariadne replied with a pleased smile, giving Queenie a light hug. "I just need to get to Mr. Debecker now, I must cover my butt legally from the people who got kicked out of the processing queue."


"I'm sure Mr. Debecker will convince them. He's in branch management having a meeting right now." Queenie remarked.


"A meeting? I wasn't aware they were letting people in right now. If that's the case I've got a few people to invite, it's getting awful lonely upstairs."


"Sorry, no visitors allowed until I finish the production run, honey. Mr. Debecker is the exception, apparently it's some extraordinary affair."


"What counts as extraordinary?"


"No idea, something to do with a political crisis going on."


--


Stepan Debecker was no less an inhuman monstrosity under the guise of a human as Kornel Schweitzer and Asbjorn Valida. Like them, his unnatural and lanky human disguise did little to hide that, if anything, the disguise's skeletal proportions made him more unsettling to look at than whatever tentacled creation was contained within. Mr. Debecker was Schweitzer and Valida's man in Voynych and, while the company bosses were off running the campaigns of nationalistic figures at the local level in the Nuclean United Federation, he was the current connection between the Cartel and its subversive Foundation. He and another mysterious construct by the name of Demolder ran the consultancy and foreign relations company, receiving the different jobs and strategic report updates from all over the galaxy, not just the Nuclean United Federation campaign.


Among the reports received was the updates on the warring republics of Ramanunjagar and Sarabhai. The latter had found itself in the back foot, being assailed by a force it couldn't hope to stand up to: Orillia. Rapidly seeing itself unable to deal with the professionally-backed insurgency of RFSM-RN, the Sarabhai Republic's diplomats had gone out on a rush to find someone, anyone, who could help them. In their search for a foreign actor to intervene and balance out the overwhelming military presence, the diplomats of Sarabhai had been in a rush asking everyone who could possibly assist. Among the entities they had consulted was the Yamanakako Military Corporation, presently the galaxy's largest PMC. While YMC had declined the offer, the Rangvald connection had let it known that there was an opportunity to be exploited in the Ramanunjagar-Sarabhai conflict.


The Cartel had no stake whatsoever in the distant lands of the two Republics, which had not yet been invested on in any serious manner due to their instability. What piqued the interest of the Directorate, however, was the intervention of Orillia. Orillia itself was also largely disconnected from the affairs of the Cartel, but the one point of intersection between their interests was in the battle of La Serena fought some time ago. This had pitted Orillia directly against the Cartel’s current geopolitical rival, the Nuclean Ecumene, which meant there was a fertile ground for antagonism to be created and fueled between the two factions.

The previous collapse of the United Federation had largely been due to the massive overinvestment of their armed forces in fighting a conflict elsewhere against the Eosians and, if the Cartel could engineer a situation that echoed that intervention even slightly, they expected their position to be greatly boosted in preparation of the referendum.


All that was needed was a spark. And Mr. Debecker was willing to provide it, calling upon the desperate diplomats of the Sarabhai Republic to meet him in the Voynych datacenter.


“The Foundation lacks the resources to help you directly counteract the recent initiative of the Orillian Free State. We do not possess much in the way of direct action power, as you would expect from a political consultancy group.” Mr. Debecker said, reclining on his seat in a relaxed position with his fingers intertwined as he looked out into the vast expanse of heat exchangers that extended into the cavernous blackness.


“We were recommended to you by Ms. Sein Myat of the Yamanakako Military Corporation.” The Sarabh diplomat said, also looking out the meters-thick panel out into the underwater landscape. “I know there must be a reason for that.”


“The reason is our means.” Debecker said. “Despite the Foundations current unavailability of assets you have indeed come at an opportune time to which we may be able to help you” He continued, the subtle hum of the huge cooling sinks above their heads was ever present, the water having been heated to temperatures by the countless calculations going on around them was cooled through massive heat exchangers, giving the upper areas of the room a foggy icey mist. The crystals shimmering in the room's light.


“I want you to listen very carefully to what I am about to offer, I will not repeat myself. I have a way for you to strike back against the Orillians, to cripple them militarily and politically, but it has to be done stringently and to the absolute letter. Any deviancy of the plan will jeopardize both your nation and this Foundation and is unacceptable, resulting in immediate termination of any contact we have and destruction of all evidence in every aspect. The Foundation will provide your agency with technology from the Nuclean Ecumene, a small sample which will allow you to carry out a precision targeted attack at a precise time, date and position. Again no deviancy is tolerated, everything must be as clockwork” He paused as a small chime echoed from the heat exchangers and the noise from them quieted somewhat. “This attack will seem like an inconsequential bite, but it will draw Orillia into a conflict they cannot win and force them to redeploy assets from the twin Republics region. You will not only be free of their influence but you will watch them be destroyed, to put simply you will win your war in no time. In return, this action will satisfy other Foundation clients and if this goes according to our exact plans we may work again with you in the future, even, if you exceed expectations, lobby for Yamanakako to begin arms deals with you. That is my offer”


“What kind of technology do you mean?” The diplomat asked, shifting in his seat as the submarine carrying the processing cores ventured off from drydock underneath them.


“Weapons.” Debecker replied. “Nuclean weapons, FTL drives as well as electronic warfare systems to make sure to impede recognition of the special operations ship.”


“Where have you gotten those from?”


“We have our means.”


“It seems that you have everything prepared in advance…” The diplomat stopped for a couple moments. “But I can’t help but feel like I still have doubts.”


“I do not.”

La Serena System Outskirts: Orillian 745th Patrol Fleet

Despite the showdown and all but near total wreckage of La Serena at the hands of the Orillians the battle had ended with their defeat and the forces being destroyed in their entirety by colonial forces. Still the invasion was not just to stifle and destroy a historical political and financial rival but also to test Orillias new unmanned fleets being produced en masse out of Istralan. Regardless of the subsequent relations with Natar and the signing of an accord which would prevent Orillia from striking again at the now slowly rebuilding La Serena the Free State had kept watch over the area, patrolling at the edge of the system with small fleets to keep an eye on things and to make a political statement.


The 745th Patrol fleet was no different, made up of only 5 ships being a destroyer and four corvettes it was a small force but one currently joined by two fuel tenders, also unmanned and fully automated. The shoal of vessels coasted in the silent void, their weapons cold but their sensors always watching, keeping an eye on the incoming ships FTLing in and out of the system, forced to take long travel times in further due to the gravity well of the systems black hole. La Serena had been getting back onto its feet, albeit at a crawl and Orillia was there every step to watch them.


Ancerium Hyperfuel flowed through pressurised and reinforced ducts as the two refueling tankers topped the destroyer up, like minnows attached to a larger ship. The fleet AI calculated all of the actions taken carefully, the vessels all being linked to both one another and the Orillian central core back in Istralan. The 745th had been on patrol for roughly 2 weeks, having taken over from the 344th which had been recalled for maintenance and spot checking and so far everything had been in order.


The AI checked its orders, relaying between the ships positional data and status updates, constantly pinging such between the fleet and the link to Istralan. The fleet was according to the AI on the outer edge of the La Serena territory, well outside of the established no fly zone imposed by Natar. In actuality, that was not the case. Despite the AIs best efforts its navigation systems were being spoofed, as was its connection to Istralan. The fleet was in fact deep inside La Serena territory, ever moving deeper inside which to the AIs complete ignorance had already caused the remaining ships defending the station to take up positions for a possible intercept hours from now. The La Serena defense force didn't need to worry about a potential engagement however, despite the cryptographic breaking and spoofing done thanks to Voynych the AI thought it was totally out of any danger.


That was until 9 ships spontaneously appeared out of FTL, the markers in the Orillian database instantly recognised them as Nuclean Reality Drives, but passive sensor data revealed little as instant jamming was broadcast stopping any visual, IR or other emission confirmation. This caused the AI to hesitate momentarily as it made its decision and tried to send a query to command, only to be met by jamming. In a brief moment both of the fuel tankers detached, accelerating away as one of them was cored briefly by a Placeholder cannon, the ship detonating brightly as its hyperfuel exploded along with the antimatter beamed into its hold. Interdiction went up moments after as the five Orillian ships burned their drives hard and powered weapons, it would be a futile gesture but they would fight like programmed.


Two of the corvettes went down to Mass subtractor arrays before they could get up to a decent speed and another one was already being targeted by plasma torpedoes as the Orillian fleet attempted to return fire, their own missiles launching in response to try and intercept. Conflicting scans of the region the fleet was in and the engagement zone of the enemy ships kept the vessels on the backfoot, and the cryptography had entirely paid off, the automated systems of the Orillians were taken off guard and entirely by surprise by the false data. The second fuel vessel also succumbed within moments as it was destroyed by Lance Missiles but the Orillians had found the mark.


The plasma torpedoes headed for the final corvette were intercepted with laser fire, the energy beams destabilising the plasma containment and causing it to bloom harmlessly. Missiles and railgun shots went out, to be intercepted by phased array lasers and smart chaff, by now the AI was sending calls back to high command, informing them of an attack by the Nucleans on Patrol fleet 745, this call however, got through. But it would be the last call the fleet would make, spatial cannons quickly dismembered the small corvette and crippled the destroyer, which was finally finished off by a barrage of further lance missiles. With the Orillian fleet all but wiped out the mission was completed.


The Sarabhai Central Intelligence Agency had succeeded, the Nuclean equipped vessels which had been retrofitted had not only proved a gigantic success but had just guaranteed Sarabhai Rangvald assistance in the conflict. With the weapons and resources available to the corporations Sarabhai would be easily able to overpower the Orillians who were infringing on their rights and territory, this entire act was one of revenge and it was only to be the start. Orillia would strike back at their perceived aggressors and in turn force themselves into a conflict they could never win, with resources needed for such a fight the intervention in Ramanunjagar and Sarabhai would withdraw. Then they could finally gain victory, and peace.


With 9 more flashes of reality drives the assembled hodge podge of retrofitted vessels FTLed away, leaving not only the La Serena defense forces confused but grateful for the Nucleans quick defense but also Orillian high command with a situation that made them look weak.

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Few players in the galaxy had mastered the waging of proxy war to the same extent as the Republics of Ramanunjagar and Sarabhai. Nations like Capitol and the Union of Worlds had both employed proxies as one tool among many to destroy each other, but the geography of the two Republics made their proxy war an inescapable side of their nature. Sharing over two thirds of their planets with each other, Ramanunjagar and Sarabhai's geopolitical frontline was so vast that clandestine forces had become a fact of life for them. Every social upheaval and internal tension that arose in either Republic was promptly appropriated and used as a point of pressure by the other through agitation and the funding of insurgencies; an eternal cycle of mutually-funded insurgent groups kept both republics in check, sinking too many resources in their own internal problems to gain an upper hand over the other.


Every chapter in the modern history of the two Republics had in some way been co-authored by the other and the latest one was no exception. The rise of wealth inequality and modernization had transformed the ethnic-religious insurgencies waged in both countries since decades and given them a socialist angle; from the ashes of a myriad jihadist local factions came two powerful movements that had taken the republics by storm: the Bhatarist People's War in Ramanunjagar and the Red Front-Seghalist Movement in Sarabhai.

In less than a decade these two large currents of social reform had reignited the civil conflicts of Ramanunjagar and Sarabhai across every province once thought safe from internecine war. They were modern, well-organized and well equipped movements; the product of charismatic martyrs who had only turned their guns against the local government after working over every rift that had plagued the previous generation of guerrilla movements. BPW and RFSM fought against the governments of their respective territories and became the latest avatar through which the Republics sought to undermine each other.


As the Second Ancerious War raged, both republics sought to leverage the conflict through open neutrality and hidden collaboration. Ramanunjagar's Secret Services Intelligence became spies to the higest bidder, selling information about military movements to both APP and AGA. SSI's agents and diplomats made themselves a trusted source of intelligence for the opposing militaries and only when that rapport of confidence was strong enough did they start spiking their reports with false information and begin using their soft power as a weapon. With increasing frequency, SSI's reports of military movements started pointing APP to Sarabhai territory and the targeted Republic found itself increasingly under pressure from invading fleets who sought to destroy the enemy units that were supposedly being sheltered by Sarabhai. In exchange for these intelligence reports, Ramanunjagar's war chests swelled with funds that trickled through the vast frontier and onto the coffers of the Red Front-Seghalist Movement to intensify their actions against the Sarabh government. It did not matter that RFSM was infinitely more hostile to Ramanunjagar’s ideology and people than the actual government of Sarabhai, anyone willing to do Ramanunjagar's dirty work for them would have an ample supply of diverted APP and AGA foreign aid.


The well-calculated burning of SSI's own reputation as a reliable source was executed just in time to put Sarabhai under more pressure than it could bear; Ramanunjagar's geopolitical bet ended up paying off when the Sarabhai interstellar navy began shooting down ships from both APP and AGA to enforce its own neutrality. In a few weeks, Sarabhai’s own interstellar force was devastated by attacks from both powerful coalitions and the Republic was pushed to the brink of disintegration by fierce uprisings from well-funded RFSM cells. Dozens of provinces fell as the Sarabhai government traded territory for time, entrenching its armed forces around its most industrialized areas and leaving the countryside at the mercy of the communists. Yet in this critical time, the Republic of Ramanunjagar that had once pulled the strings also began losing control of the situation.

The Raman SSI had not only lost the trust of APP and AGA’s foreign services and the funds that came with it but their excessive turn to foreign intelligence had deprived their domestic surveillance branch of their best and brightest. The violent anarchy taking place in fallen Sarabh provinces, which Ramanunjagar planned on using as springboards for military action, had instead become a no man’s land through which the Bhatarist People’s War -Ramanunjagar’s own insurgents- moved freely and secured weapons meant for RFSM. Inspired by the victories of Colonel Tamir Seghal’s fanatical followers in Sarabhai and benefitting from the breakdown in social order at the borders, the Red Front of guru Imran Bhatar intensified their attacks on Ramanunjagar’s forces.

From that moment onwards, the Republic of Ramanunjagar would gradually see its geopolitical superiority erode and Sarabhai recover from the brink. The ghosts of previous nationalistic movements had come back to haunt the once-monolithic Red Front; internal divisions exacerbated by assassinations of key leaders gradually caused racial tensions to resurface and split the Red Front along ethnic lines: a splinter group named the Red Front Seghalist Movement-Raman Nation was violently formed by the Raman ethnic minority in Sarabhai. The men and women of RFSM-RN had been just as fiercely anti-government as the main current of the movement but, in the grueling years of civil war that nearly brought about the collapse of the Sarabhai state, they began seeing their Sarabh brothers in arms with suspicion and thinking that they would be the next ones in line for annihilation. RFSM-RN demanded territorial autonomy for Ramans in Sarabhai, bringing an end to the large movement’s unity and giving the government some time to regroup as guerrillas fought each other.


By the end of AW2 Ramanunjagar’s planned land grab of hundreds of disputed territories in Sarabhai never took place, the dream of a “Greater Ramanunjagar” that united all Raman territories in one continguous landmass was shattered. Worse yet, the new government of Sarabhai was stronger than ever and had managed to renormalize relations with the AGA. Scandals and investigations wracked Ramanunjagar as AGA began finding out they had been provided false information during the war and began providing Sarabhai with foreign aid to rebuild their stellar navy.

All too eager to give their opponents a taste of their own medicine, the government of Sarabhai invested most of the foreign aid into a flood of weapons and materiel to the Bhatarist People’s War. The Republic of Sarabhai consolidated its territories and began a counter-attack that stretched for two years, taking back many of the provinces once ruled by the RFSM and putting additional pressure on the insurgent group.


The highly demoralized RFSM, which had come close to completely toppling the Sarabhai Republic at the height of the war, was a shadow of itself now that funds from Ramanunjagar dried up. The organized army-style actions and seizing of cities of years past became untenable and RFSM gradually turned once again to terrorism and massacres. As RFSM’s unifying “old guard” of commanders died or were captured, opportunists and warlords began taking their place. These local leaders mobilized the old ethnic tensions and directed the widespread resentment of RFSM’s depleted ranks against the rebels of RFSM-RN. It was because of them, they argued, that the civil war had been lost, more so than because of any government effort. If the Republic of Sarabhai was to ever fall and a new social order was to be created, the demagogues argued, RFSM-RN would have to be removed as well as the source of its supporters.


As long as Ramans lived in Sarabhai, there could be no victory.

Tanakol System: Disputed Sarabhai/Ramanunjagar Space

“Izi what do you see?”


“Ligma”


“What?”


“Ligma balls hahahaha” the other man frowned and stood up to the makeshift firing step. The ruins of the building where they set up on making a perfect ramshackle MG position.


“Go fuck yourself this isnt time for games” He grated, peering through the small vision gap between the rubble and down the barrel of the weapon they both crewed. Beyond was the blasted and broken no man's land, little more than the remains of a civilian park which denoted open ground between the two sides. Only 300 meters away was a blown out apartment block, and Aaenga knew the enemy would be staring right back at him. Izi merely smiled and stepped back.


“Chill dude, the RFSM aint gonna be moving tonight” the young man's chirpy voice angered Aaenga, he hated the boy in every conceivable way. He was everything that Aaenga disliked about the changing of the times, before it had been the old guard, the true men who had taken up arms to defend their homeland. Now it was new and young men who cared more about ancnet trends than fighting a proper conflict, half of them even sold their bodies out sometimes to let others online fight, it disgusted him. The nation of Sarabhai deserved better, as did all those who had died defending the people of the country for the past few years against the RFSM. Aaenga grunted and kept watch, he had seen plenty of engagements and he wasn't taking any chances.


The city of Bouthan was but one of the major conflict points, the whole of Tanakol was alight as were other worlds, but Tanakol was the focus. The Sarabhai Armed forces, Aaenga and Izis unit included, had rolled into the city 3 days ago. Word had spread of atrocities and mass killings of Ramans and the armed forces in their drive to rid the region of the RFSM had responded quickly to the claims. If they were true it would spell disaster for everyone involved, ethnic purging could bring the entire political stage to an explosive climax.


As such the entire situation was on a knife edge, and while the RFSM had only somewhat pulled out of the city no evidence of the genocides had been found. Yet.


“Hey old man you know we have others on watch too right?” Izi called up, opening up a can of Palm Rhyshida meat with which to heat up on the stove. Aaenga shook his head.


“I don't like taking my eyes off the enemy,” he replied. Izi sighed, before placing the can on the stove to cook.


“Gonna be hard to take a shit then aye? Come on foods up” Izi smiled. Aaenga started to turn away after a moment before looking back up. Izi raised an eyebrow.


“Whats up?”


“Movement” Aaenga, picked up the MG and used the sight, prompting Izi to looked agitated, caught between the food and a potential enemy attack. He finally made his choice, placing the tin off the stove before rushing up to take a look.


“What is it?” He asked, Aaenga didn't reply but pointed out to the left. Izi followed his eye line to a series of embankments and trench positions all dug out weeks ago by the RFSM forces, behind them was another open area which had been at one point used as a staging ground before Sarabhai snipers put an end to that. He watched as there was quite a lot of movement. RFSM insurgents, denoted by small flashes of red on their clothing, were dragging things out into the open and hoisting them up onto wooden stakes… Were they trying to make a statement?


“I can't get a clear view,” Izi remarked.


“Bastards. Those bastards” Aaenga was trembling in rage.


“What is it? What are they doing?”


“They are putting Ramans on stakes, those are civilians. They have butchered civilians…” Aaenga was livid, the claims had not only been right, but now the RFSM was doing it to show them, to make a statement. This was the natural evolution of everything the two peoples had been through, it was the end of the line and yet the beginning of a chapter far worse than Aaenga could imagine. This was ethnic cleansing.


“There will be blood for this,” Izi growled.

Nagargaon System: Ramanunjagar Capital

“32 thousand dead and that's just the numbers we have available! This is totally unacceptable, who the hell authorized RFSM to conduct these operations or undertake ethnic cleansing! Already I've got reports coming in of RFSM-RN forces slaughtering Sarabhs on their own autonomous zone! This has turned into a political and social nightmare!”


The whole of the room was quiet as Prime Minister Euphemi laid out the bad news. Only hours ago word had come in of mass killings conducted in Sarabhai territory by the Ramanunjagar backed RFSM, no order had been given, no agreements made and no plans for such a written up. In response the RFSM-RN forces in their own autonomous territory had done the same against the Ramans, leading to BPW insurgents now conducting ethnic killings of Ramans in Sarahb territories. Sarahb and Raman ethnic families were being pulled out of their homes and shot en masse to make a statement. Scenes of horror permeated this section of the anc net as atrocities were committed by all groups and had since been condemned by both governments. Still people cried out for blood on both sides while quiet orders had gone out by both governments to try and curb the atrocities committed by the two proxies which were government backed. The worst part was, the Ramanunjagar government directly bankrolled the RFSM, and that meant that all leads now pointed to them being at fault.


“Prime Minister the situation is bleak but our forces have undergone renewed atta-” The women cut him off.


“And what? The fact that this has occurred means that we have ties to mass ethnic killings, what the hell do you think the AGA will do when they hear about this? Let alone our few trade partners and even our own people! Our own fucking proxy has been killing our ethnic population, if they find out all of us are dead, quite literally.” She was standing at the large table, her cabinet rather submissively keeping quiet and not provoking her ire. She sat down and pinched her nose.


“Tell the air forces to go in there and stamp out RFSM once and for all, and I want covered military units to be inserted to support the RFSM-RN. Do you understand? Keep this as quiet and as discreet as possible, I want their leaders dragged off and I want our military commanders to be pulling the strings now from new puppets, hopefully this way we can stop the atrocities and also stop the inevitable collapse of our government and everything else. Put the fleet on standby as well and raise conditions to alert level 2. I wont tolerate any surprise strikes, we have to try to de-escalate this while we can but be ready for anything.” Her cabinet responded with nods and echoes of ‘Yes ma’am’. This was going to be a long day.

Celebranskt System: Orillian Capital

“Quite simply I believe this to be the best course of action”


“Intervening? An interesting take considering that both nations have had ties to the colonials. You wish to put our forces on the line and jeopardize the plan being put in motion?” The reply came calmly and collectively. Takar Oran merely nodded.


“I do. I feel that the actions of us using our unmanned forces to act as a peacekeeper in the Ramanunjagar and Sarabhai ethnic conflict would be a huge boon to our outward galactic image and help us undermine AGA peacekeeping authority. Given that Sarabhai is using AGA funds to funnel into the BPW in order to genocide Ramans I think this is a golden opportunity to work against them.”


The other individuals in the room murmured to themselves. They were the ruling body of Orillia, the Statist Council, made up of generals, admirals, Civil Leaders and Political powerhouses; they had been the ones to overthrow the previous regime. The room from within which they worked and conducted themselves was dark and dimly lit, but despite it being hard to see Takar knew each and every one of the faces which looked to him through the dark.


“Are we sure that Ramans own actions are what has caused this? They are far from at fault” One voice called out, Oniot one of the industrial magistrates.


“Technically Sarahbais assasinations put the cleansing radicals into power of the RFSM. In their attempt to behead the organisation they in fact wiped out the state leashed moderates and instead caused a rapid rise to power of fundementalist radicals. They are the ones responsible, also done with the AGAs own war funds. Already as we speak Ramanunjagar air forces are bombing RFSM targets in Sarabhai, it's only a matter of time before Sarabhai responds in kind and the situation escalates beyond what we can control. I need your decision and I need it now”


There was some more murmuring before one by one staves were bashed into the floor, each one denoted a vote of yes. The noises came rhythmically, those tones which were met with silence was a no vote. Takar counted 3 no votes out of 28, himself and Madam Yrillix not counted. He would keep an eye on those who voted no later, no doubt others in the council would too.


“I thank you for your vote of confidence. The 4th and 7th Rapid strike fleets supplemented by the 65th and 98th Ground Revolutionaries will be deployed for peacekeeping efforts at once.” He bowed, before striding out of the room.


This was everything he needed.

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I want to make another sci fi tank sprite but I don't know what to do, what are some good gimmicks for fictional tanks?
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Who watches this crap?
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UNCS Guardian
Union of Worlds exploration vessel


The bridge of the Guardian was on edge. Once again the Union was jumping into an unknown scenario and a new system. Even with the war going on ships were diverted to exploration. Evidence of communication signals and other signs associated with a sentient race never encountered before had warranted high command to send a small fleet to check it out. But he remained cautious; the last thing he wanted was for it to be an Immortal Empire trap. Casen was glued to the view screen. It was only a minute to slipstream translation to the target and he gripped his chair slightly. He was one of the newer captains and this could possibly be his very first contact scenario.

An alert chimed of imminent translation and in a few seconds the sight of slip space was once again filled with stars.

“Sir I’m reading multiple contacts including numerous ships and stations in system” The sensor operator called out “it also shows inhabitants on the planets too. Unknown configuration... this is a race we have never seen before” Casen nodded nervously then hit the broadcast button on his chair.

"This is Captain Casen of the Union of Worlds. I come in peace. To whom am I speaking?" He merely waited for the reply.

Vast swathes of a gas-like ghostly substance expanded in all directions around the Guardian, encroaching most of the system like gigantic clouds of various shades of grey and yellow. These almost-transparent gigantic entities that spanned planetary distances moved in directions unlike any regular nebula, seemingly unaffected by gravity and the passing of planets, mixing and floating around one another calmly, slowly.

As soon as the Guardian emitted its transmission they visibly began swirling rapidly, agitated by stormy turbulence and wracked by lightning bolts as they began collapsing in on themselves at an incredible rate, almost equalling the speed of light. The mysterious clouds went from spanning whole orbits to spanning only 800m in length, coalescing so suddenly it almost seemed like a black hole was about to be spawned. What came out was something completely different: three large but extremely spindly, delicate-looking vessels adorned with lengthy spikes, their hulls reflecting a muted silvery hues.

Casen stood up "All hands, be ready. Tell our escorts to not fire unless fired upon but be ready for any sudden moves" The comms officer nodded and sent the message to the small fleet. 4 escorts and numerous corvettes closed into a tight defensive formation. Casen turned again to the communications officer.

"Send a visual message to those ships" The man nodded and Casen walked onto the holopad. He bowed and then began.

"Greetings. We are a peaceful nation called the Union of Worlds. We are here to peacefully negotiate between our nations and help bring prosperity to us both. Together we can accomplish great things. Casen out"

The message reached the ships and Casen watched the view screen for their next moves, hoping they would heed his peaceful wishes.

One of the ships softly flickered, sending a powerful signal to Casen's ship. Not a regular radio signal, but a strange wave-energy signal that exhibited impossible simultaneous polarities and a non-local source. The enigmatic signal scrambled most of the quantum systems in a wide radius, contaminating them with information.

What was carried in the signal was the reply, simultaneously in all combinations of structure possible so that at least one matched the Union's language and informatics language. It was also video, but the video was a scrambled, flashing mess without rhyme or reason, with geometric shapes morphing, fusing and intersecting like strobes.

It seemed like it was already speaking, and Casen's crew had only gotten a fragment carrying strange words.

"......Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the void; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret phase; believe it not.  For as the electrons coming out of the primordial flash and shineth even unto us; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be....."

Casen raised an eyebrow. "Sorry sir, this is just a fragment. Their technology and language seems to be very advanced. I can try and isolate their specific frequency that translated to us so we can hear them right"

"Do it" Casen nodded. The man spent a few minutes thoroughly manipulating and fine-tuning the communications systems of the ship from the vantage point of his control station. A chime sounded the man nodded to Casen. The captain once again made a message.

"To whom am I speaking? Your last transmission was fragmented please respond" At least this time their response would be a lot clearer though not perfect, the captain thought.

The signal finally stabilized, going from a chaotic incoherent flashing cacophony to a strange effigy-like icon, two circles of different sizes being crossed by a long line, with words below written in an unknown language that escaped attempts at translation.

"...You appear to be Homo sapiens and, as such, you do not contaminate our hallowed orbits and we offer you our most humble greetings in the name of the Holy Syntagma. Yet for as strongly as our willpower is inclined, dearest homologue, we cannot recognize your faces as those of a kindred soul’s. Tell us, then, Most Honoured Unknown, from where do you come?"

Casen tried to ignore the obviously religious overtones of the synthetic voice transcript not letting it get in the way of the negotiations. "We hail from a different Universe.” He said. “We have come here to explore and seek new allies in different realms. We are the Union of Worlds. If we are desecrating your holy ground we can move to another place we can negotiate if you so wish?" He said trying to keep the conversation on an unthreatening tone. He didn’t want war, nor did he want to fight whoever he was meeting.

A couple more of the unknowns, spiky ships materialized in different positions, slightly larger than the first ones, and continued on various paths. Each one was heralded by the repeated swirling and cyclonic collapsing of its transparent aether.

"Need not worry. The human species offers no desecration to these lands, please find hospice in our most humble monument to the Son of Man, this is our consecrated system of Oionos"

Casen relaxed slightly. "Thank you friends. We shall stay for a short period. We hope to negotiate a non-aggression pact or possibly an alliance depending on your stance. However I think it best for us to learn more about each other’s empires before any important negotiations are carried out, so let me introduce mine. The Union doesn’t just contain humans; we have many races including machines, so I believe we can find common ground. We shall follow you to your place of choosing. Please lead the way. And thank you." Casen signalled the fleet to follow the ships and told them to stand down. He made a sigh of relief at least this hadn’t degenerated into shootout.

Somewhat puzzlingly, the ships didn't turn back and led them but instead dissolved back into the enormous clouds, which then started flowing like a river that intersected the orbit of a planet.

The whole system was a carefully-organized structure, like a giant piece of clockwork. Huge lotus-like space stations spanning multiple kilometres yet almost devoid of solidity floated in every lagrangian point of every planet and moon, sending powerful microwave beams down to ships and planets. Casen could tell, even from the distant point of his ship, that the rocky planets of the system had been extremely terraformed; gardens dotted with lakes and crossed by gigantic canals covered entire continental areas, peacefully and lonesomely enjoying the sunshine of a carefully-controlled planetary weather. Smooth shapes of often abstract sculpture and massive decorated domes were what was left of entire mountain ranges. Clusters of stations orbited around the blue star, carrying out what appeared to be industrial work.

Despite the intense space presence, there was not a single city or structured settlement in the entire system. It was as if gardens, carefully trimmed recreation areas and serene waters was all there was to the entire worlds.

"Please accept our most sincere apologies when we say we do not believe your alliances or treaties concern us, dear guests, as we are not interested in the multiple haggles of the unhinged human species"

Casen nodded. "As you wish. We implore you to be careful, however. There is a war going on and neutral parties are often dragged into it. We shall stay a while and try to learn more about you. However as I said the Union is of many species all are welcome in or empire" Casen stepped down from his holographic transmitter.

"Tell command what we have found. We stay here for 2 days and learn as much as we can and try to convince them otherwise" Casen went back onto the holopad "Where and what do you wish us to do while we are here? Are you interested in sharing history and information?"

"Please make your way to our humble foyer, where a deeper sharing of information will be possible."
The transmission replied, as the ships moved towards the "foyer": one of the rocky planets in the system's habitability zone, criss-crossed with gigantic canals and gardens as were the others.

"As you wish." Casen nodded to the helmsman who moved out. The small Union fleet maneuvered towards the planet in a low orbit course. Once there Casen left the bridge and made his way to the hangar ready to go down to the planet below. He entered the shuttle along with 10 of his honour guard. He once again waited for a reply before take-off on the comms system.

"Feel welcome in the surface; we have a small yet highly regarded and noble welcome committee waiting for you." The transmission said, and forwarded some coordinates.

Casen nodded "Thank you for your gracious offer." Casen then signalled the pilot to take off.

With the coordinates locked the engines powered up and the shuttle flew out of the hangar. Entering the upper atmosphere in a few minutes, the heat of re-entry rocking the shuttle as Casen looked around at the men around him in ceremonial combat armour. Finally the shuttle entered the atmosphere and made its way to the facility below.

The shuttle came to a halt in a fairly deserted part of the planet, a giant ornamented plaza that covered the area of a large city, inhabited by nothing but multiple parallel lines of small statues, several floating cylinders with an unknown function that prodded the ground with an articulated appendage, and bloodless globs of flesh strewn about in random locations. The statues were mostly of human figures, animals and combinations thereof, some of them incomplete or mutilated, some parts simply floating in place. Several seemed too real to be statues, too immobile to be animals.

Pink clouds floated calmly against the unusually dark blue afternoon sky of the planet, doing so in organized lines.

In the middle of a circular grassy expanse, a woman wearing black and crimson robes, as well as multiple long collars, stood silently. Around her were four disturbing creatures, human-like bodies with cybernetic limbs that missed all the bones and most of the muscle, sustained by a robotic framework and looking like they had been turned inside-out, human and unknown organs openly visible on their bodies. The strange creatures also wore the same robes and jewellery, their heads replaced by rectangular bony plates with a single triangular hole.

The shuttle came down to rest at one end of the Plaza, its ramp came down to reveal Casen in his bright blue captain uniform, the men behind him wore normal Union combat armour and carrier plasma auto rifles across their chests, they fanned out into two lines each facing each other in front of the shuttle door as Casen walked down the centre towards the strange looking people.

He was slightly off put by their appearance though he wasn’t afraid. He had seen far worse... he instantly dismissed the thoughts of the Draken war from his mind and saluted by banging his fist on his chest.

"Greetings I am Casen of the Union, to whom may I be speaking?" He said with a smile not devoid of professionalism.

"Greetings, most honoured guest." The woman said in a softer voice but in the exact same enunciation as the transmission from the ships. "My name is Zrz.”

She was a relatively tall yet normal-looking human woman, slender and with freckles all over her face. A single lock of hair fell over her face, the rest of her hair was curly and combed backwards. She bowed softly. "I have blissfully received from my holiest benefactors the infinitely honourable task of being your guide in the name of our civilization."

"I am honoured to meet you, and very honoured for you to let us see your grounds as well as talk with us, I wish for good relations between us." Casen bowed. He was a little uneasy but happy they were good enough to listen to him. "If there is a place where you wish us to discuss matters please lead the way, if it’s alright with you I will have 2 guards accompany me. Merely as a precaution, of course."

Upon saying that, the grotesque creatures quickly brought their own weaponry to bear in almost the blink of an eye: long-barreled prism-shaped laser rifles stored in their robes and covered in bile. Zrs however made them stand down, raising her hand with a gentle smile. Her demiorganic bodyguards assimilated the weaponry back into plastic-metallic bulges in their biomechanical bodies.

"Come with me, I can show you around, all of your guards and all of your weaponry are welcome, trust is an important virtue to our functioning."

"Thank you, I have to admit I’m not used to this sort of... architecture, but it’s very impressive." Casen smiled as they started walking, looking around.

"Like the architecture of our forefathers, it reflects our systems of values" She walked ahead, stepping over the grass as she made her way between the amorphous, contorted statues. "Of which I am but a humble servant. As are all humans on this world and many others... like my brothers and sisters, vowels are not allowed in my name, because I myself am just a symbol in the holiest of holy books. You see, we live much differently than you in here..."

"I can see that very clearly." Casen said merely surprised, he couldn’t understand religious notions at all, though just because he had found his truth didn’t mean they hadn’t found theirs... "So…" He said "May I ask are your people’s origins?"

"In our curious yesterday we had the superstition –as your civilization does now- that between every morning and every twilight, facts occured that were a shame to ignore. Our planet was populated by collective spectres... the United Nations, the Silent Weapons Comittee, the stock market and the internet. Almost nobody knew the history of these platonic entities, but everyone knew the most infinitesimal trivialities about their congresses and relations.”

She softly caressed one of the statues with the tip of her fingers.

“Everything was read for the sake of oblivion” Zrz continued. “because it only took a few hours for new trivialities to erase memories of the old. Of all the functions, that of the politician was doubtlessly the most public. An ambassador, minister or CEO was a sort of cripple that required to be transported in large and noisy vehicles, surrounded by bikers and grenadiers.

Images and letters were more real than things. Only what was published was true. Esse est percipi was the beggining, the middle and the end of our curious concept of the world. People were naive, they believed that merchandise was good because so said its fabricator. Robbery was frequent, though nobody ignored that the posession of money gave no happiness or tranquility."

Her bodyguards accompanied silently, except for the somewhat disgusting sound of their gurgling breathing.

"On that day a great milieu of turning minds slowly shudders to life.” She mentioned, walking away from the statue. “The sun shone where it didn't before. Paradigms began to shift - imperceptibly at first, but then all at once skyscrapers and nations receded back into the earth, their occupants pouring into the streets like water and then flowing into nearby pubs and revival houses. Somewhere, in a city, our greatest minds gave birth to an artificial intelligence with an unique mutation - the gift of sentience. AIs soon vied with mankind for control of the plateau of dominance..."

Change arrived with the Evensong War. The deathless one-day war that ended all wars. Flags began to roll up and descend their poles. The night was filled with the sound of pounding drums and the light of millions of candles on the streets. Flowers bloomed from wreckage as a new species rose from the pits of what had once been our evolutionary dead-end. The Son of Man came dancing in, the door flung wide open by our frenzied, booted rutting."

“What happened with the governments and politicians you mentioned?” Casen asked, a bit confused and wishing she’d explain a bit more slowly. She seemed to talk as if he already knew the events, not bothering to explain in deeper detail. It was as if, for her, knowledge of what she was explaining was intuitive.

“Tradition says they gradually fell into disuse. They called for elections, declared wars, imposed taxes, confiscated riches, signed arrest warrants and pretended to impose censorship but nobody in the planet obeyed them. The media stopped publishing their collaborations and their effigies. Politicians had to find honest jobs; some became good comedians or good witch-doctors. Of course reality was no doubt more complex than my humbly short version.”

Casen raised an eyebrow. This was all rather strange to him, then again the Union had its fair share of weird and wonderful species as well as allies, The Skia and Tenebrae being some of the weirdest though no less honourable.

"Seems like a massive occasion, sounds like the moment of ascendancy for your people, unification is a great thing. When our Emperor Myric united the peoples of the Union he did so to create a better tomorrow, He got rid of notions of decadence and greed, as well as difference and inequality. Those in the Union are equal, and we all now live towards the same goal. Peace and unification. This is what we seek with all nations, including yours." Casen said remembering with a heavy air of reverence the time he had stood on Forona alongside the Emperors troops forging a new way of life.

"We have long given up on the pretences to ascension; that were most certainly admirable." She looked around to the landscape. A few small aircraft silently floated in the distance. It made Casen notice how thorough the silence was, it was a hollowing, wicked silence. "We could never escape from a here and a now. This is not to say we have given up on change. For instance we are no longer born; we no longer build cities or have leaders. We are created artificially, fully endowed of purpose and brilliance, we learn, we serve and then we choose to die. Nobody is excluded; I myself, too, will one day face oblivion, with my heart full of gratitude to our divine benefactors for giving me life and then death."

Casen flinched. He didn’t say anything, any personal conflict could jeopardise the relations between these two empires. However he was not happy with that sentence... Any being controlled by another was inherently wrong in the Unions eyes, however it wasn’t in the Unions interests to step into others empire affairs, only when one party asked for help and was being repressed, These... Humans or whatever they were seemed to be happy with their methods and for now that was good enough.

"So what is your purpose here? Did you find this galaxy or did your people come here for exploration?" Casen asked.

"Our purpose is spreading our way of life, expanding and creating something beyond ourselves..." She made her way across an extremely shallow, flat creek that hardly reached up to her bare ankles, along which many lotii floated down. "We are just the Ancerious missionaries, willing to develop all the poor lost souls of this galaxy."

Casen again wondered "Does this mean you are trying to convert all those in this galaxy? Or only those who wish to be converted?" Casen asked; he knew this question was going to be the big one.

"That depends more on the others than it does on us." She said with a smile, crouching down on the creek and gently taking one of the flowers in her hands. "In a long enough time, everyone will be fit to accept our way. Our principles are self-defending."

"Does this mean you will seek to convert the Union?" Casen asked, he was now growing uneasy if these people wanted to convert the Union it would only lead to one sad factor... war.

The Union bowed to no other race or religion, they respected those who did have a religion but would never bow, especially if forced. Many had tried before... and each time much blood was spilled. Casen closed his eyes and let out a breath of stress.

"Your 'Union' does seem to be a near perfect reflection of an order that is in peril of collapsing. True to say it craves to collapse. Any symmetry with appearance of order seems to mesmerize your citizens. How can you not submit to the Syntagma, the elaborate and vast evidence of an ordered intellect?" She came out on the other side of the creek which traversed the plaza in a geometrical fractal pattern. "If you allow me to say so with all due respect, my dearest guest."

Casen sighed "I suppose there is no way in your sight that we can coexist together? We do not bow to another, no matter what. We have found our truth in the Universe. We do not seek to try to be subverted by another" Casen said trying to change their minds.

"Our beliefs are not a matter of universal truth. We believe nobody can achieve such and that the idea shows signs of a lack of evolution." She said, one of the aircraft flying wide circles around them at high altitude. "But nevertheless the Syntagma is as wise as it is benevolent, and consider violence a most crass and counterproductive form of proselytism. As such you can rest easy, very little blood has been shed in the name of our religion."

"Then is it possible for us to co-exist? The Union would happily live alongside your masters in peace; we seek no war or fighting. Only that peace reigns" Casen said, he was hoping they would see the benefit in peace rather than war.

"Of course. Besides, conversion to the Syntagma is not a matter of simple imposition." Zrz kept guiding them through the gardens. "It's not just a religion for men but also a religion for mountains, rivers, biospheres, asteroids and nebula as you can see by the extremely organized nature of our worlds. To simply and blindly convert the masses does not fit within our canon. Eons ago you were prepared, eons to come maybe you or others will be too."

"Well it is of great delight that I say I am glad that we could avoid confrontation. And I must apologise for us being 'unfit' as you would say. However, I must ask what stance would you be willing to take towards us? If you would like us to leave you alone and remain neutral that can be arranged however I feel a non-aggression pact would be of mutual benefit to us both" Casen said with a bow, smiling. Thank the Emperor that was avoided...

"As I said before, political matters concern us not. We are above all humans, we live our lives in full expression of what that means; metaphysical matters and treaties are not within our jurisdictions but rather those of our demiorganic and most highly revered axiomatic AI benefactors." She mentioned, turning towards Casen with a natural look. "Although the fact that you mentioned your own people are in a war might explain your interest for treaties."

"I’m afraid it does” Casen sighed “Though we are usually like this out of war, as we seek peace above all things. This was has merely intensified it.

We are fighting to stop oppression and the conquest of an evil empire. The Immortal Empire, they attacked one of our allies out of nowhere and without provocation, they killed innocent men women and children and scorched everything their armies trampled upon. That was when our people decided months later to help our allies after careful consideration. Now we are fighting alongside them to preserve peace and stop the chaos"

"If your own troops are willing to die over a piece of paper and the abstract notion of a distant, external suffering perhaps they crave death above all things." She said with an analytic look to her of cold, intellectual curiosity. "May I ask you about this Immortal Empire you speak of? Are they that different from your Union, commander?"

"Our troops accept the risk of dying in honour of our brotherhood with a fellow empire, they have done the same for us in the past.” Casen corrected with an air of authority, annoyed at the jab against his brothers in arms, which was enough for Zrz’s demiorganic bodyguards to tense up, a tension that was reflected in Casen’s own honor guard. “As for the Immortal Empire, they believe in oppression of all they find, they conquer other nations and subdue them by military means. While we try to negotiate and live alongside those of other nature the Immortal Empire merely shoot first and ask questions later. The Union and the Immortal Empire are very different from each other..."
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