Celestial Forge, The Stars Beckon Forth [Mass Effect / Celestial Forge SI]

[TrueGuardian32]

I looked over the news showing the attack on California. They had actually been stopped completely by civs on the beachhead. Pretty insane to me. What surprised me most is that these ships? They were undetectable to my scanners. I wanted them. I wanted to pull them apart and see what makes them tick. I sent a request over to the United State's president. Meanwhile. I focused on the Coalition. China was thriving at this point. All the resources from the conquered nations were flowing towards China. So, the scale tipped. Suddenly I was picking up random nations from Africa into my United Star Front. Almost half of the nations in Africa were now under the umbrella of the United Star Front. There were changes that they had to make of course. Some of these places had legalized slavery and they had to renounce that to become a member. With that my numbers were going and rules were officialized.

"Greetings, Prime Director Gard."

I was startled out of my funk as people walked into the Captain's Area. Looking at the badges on their uniforms I realized, it was the bridge crew. "Captain Larson, welcome to the ship." I replied holding my hand out, he shook it of course. Strong grip. He used to be a farmhand according to the files on him.

"It's good to meet ya sir." He said with a smile.

I grinned back. "Good to see you all as well. You've already met Armistice right?" I got nods in response. "Alright you are taking command of the Highstar for now. I do have some orders to start you off with. I need you to maintain orbit of Earth for now, you can do flight exercises around the moon and planet, but maintain orbit. We could be required to intervene in this conflict at any point. We have to be ready for it." I'm still surprised that the Coalition hadn't attacked anyone under the United Star Front. They must be terrified of the ship in orbit.

"So you are saying… we can take the ship for a joyride?" Their eyes were shining.

I sighed, "I suppose we could use a stress test for it. Yeah, but only after I'm off the ship. I got work I have to do. Yard, collect data from their joyride." I got a affirmative message in return. "Don't crash my first Frigate. Get a hold of things and learn how it works before you do any risky maneuvers."

"Yes Prime Director!"

—

Wang Long grimaced as he removed another target from the board. Another country joined up with the United Star Front. He glared at an image depicting the western ship in orbit. They couldn't take action against the USF till they had the ability to deal with that. They are half a year in this conflict and have only now started to stall. The Coalition had grown immensely due to this.

"The Emperor tried to break out of his chambers last night." One of his informants reported.

Wang Long's grimace did not go away. He hated this peace loving Emperor of his. They could have had the world in their hands long before this David Gard was born if not for past and current Emperors preferring peace. "Keep him out of the public eye. Double the patrols around his chambers." If he had taken action long ago all of Gard's advancements would have been theirs.

"The Shadowlances proved their effectiveness. Now the Americans know we can get to them!" General Li Quang spoke with pride.

Wang Long slammed his hand against the table. "Your actions revealed the Shadowlances to our enemies! Now they know we've been developing weapons to deal with their informational capabilities, and now. We have to deal with the U.S. actually sending their army to attack us directly!" Li Quang's face paled. "Not to mention it has kicked the U.S. into action. Till now they have been sluggish." Wang Long reached out and grabbed a file, sliding it to General Li Quang. On it were the United State's troop movements and military build up. They had been building up before the war even began, and now their war machine was up and running in full force. "General Li Quang, this was your mistake, so you will fix it. Take your army and prevent the U.S. from getting to Asia."

"Yes, Supreme General!" He bowed and left the room. Wang Long looked at the other Generals in the room.

"We can't afford to spread ourselves out further. Stop expanding and start setting up on our new borders. Prepare defenses."

Another General spoke, "What about Russia? Weren't we supposed to attack and take Russia a month ago."

Wang Long glared. "You want to bring that starship down on us? We cannot provoke the USF till we can get rid of their starship."

He looked at the new map. They had spread far, and the Chinese Empire will grow further still if he had anything to say about it. Except it would be under the Wang Dynasty.

 

[TrueGuardian32]

Engineering Officer Jack Doesit looked in wonder as the ship sped around the moon. None of the crew felt anything at all. "Hey, A.I. how is none of us feel the movement the ship is pulling off?"

A green A.I. hologram appeared in view. Everyone was listening. "The artificial gravity field on this ship is powered by several variants of kinesis drives. This means that no matter how much movement the ship experiences, everyone on board will move with it. Just like the rotation of the Earth."

Jack Doesit looked out the viewport to the skies. "I have a question. How much of the ship is held by kinesis drives?"

"Only the gravity field and weapons are held by kinesis drives. However the armor of the ship can be enhanced by activating the kinesis drives underneath. Keeping them in place no matter how much damage they take."

"Good to know. But that isn't what I wanted to know. According to repeated resting things held by kinesis fields display no mass to anything except the kinesis drive. What would happen if all parts of the ship were held by kinesis drives as the thrusters were on. Could we go faster than light." Everyone went silent at the question.

A hologram popped up. This time of David Gard. "Who came up with this idea?"

Armistice pointed at Jack Doesit.

He looked over. "Good job. I am getting testing for the idea up and running. I will let you know if it succeeds."

Jack Doesit spoke. "Do you think it's possible?"

David shook his head. "No. We would need negative mass to do that. At most we could move near light speed faster. It would reduce the cost of acceleration immensely though."

He frowned, saddened. Then David continued. "However when combined with a certain element I know it might be possible to get negative mass. Which would allow for faster than light travel." That got everyone's attention. "Still need to test though cause it's only a guess at this point. But I'll get something going soon."

The hologram disappeared.

The bridge started cheering for Jack Doesit.

—[A/N: I'm switching to narrative POV for this, I can't write this in first person it keeps causing me to stall.]

While the Highstar flew around in orbit the United Star Front nations enjoyed a period of extended peace as the Coalition didn't drag them into the war. But a few days after the first attack on United States soil, the United States finally retaliated.

The United States Navy arrived on the shores of Asia, clearing a way for the army to land. Going straight for China. Blitzing their way forward they set up supply lines and claimed territory as the cut through towards China. The Chinese Navy resisted fiercely, but new kinesis drive weaponry allowed for weapons like railguns to be fielded with minimal issues.

Thousands were dying on both sides. But something was obvious after the first couple of fights. The United States was winning. They had free rein to attack the Coalition, but the Coalition couldn't get at the United States homeland anymore. They didn't have enough stealth boats to get past the U.S. Navy. It turned into a meat grinder as lines started to form reminiscent of World War 2. The Chinese used Coalition forces as walls to protect their own people. Causing Distrust to form with the Nations that had joined the Coalition. It took 4 months before the Coalition members started to have rebellions occur. A good portion of the member nations believed they were being used by the Chinese.

No members of the United Star Front were attacked in the entirety of these actions, despite the fact that Russia had started to build up its army further. The Chinese started to field their own soldiers, revealing their own arms race to the public. They were using a never before seen technology called Accelerant Drives. They were used to make mechs, tanks, and other high tech weapons. They were able to match the Kinesis Drive tech used by the United States in a different way. Instead of allowing the user to pick up things in a sort of stasis, the Accelerant Drives caused everything that passed through the fields they produced to speed up. They used these to make slow moving mechs move incredibly quickly as well as make power armor for their soldiers that doubled their speed. Even their common guns were practically railguns as long as an Accelerant Drive was strapped on.

On the United States side their soldiers fielded Kinesis Suits. Massively increasing their durability and strength. Despite the large backpack on their backs required to power the suits, it was judged as worth it as a single soldier could pick up a Chinese tank and slam it into the ground. Both sides started to see the downside of this war immediately. The cost, everything costs energy. Powerpacks were required for both Accelerant Drives and Kinesis Drives. The cost of that energy was enormous. Both sides were losing billions in this conflict. The Coalition by this point had taken a backseat as they were too battered and broken to continue this war. It was China vs the U.S. The U.S. didn't actually win against the entirety of the Coalition.

What had happened was that the Coalition's wanton expansion and resource plundering hadn't exactly earned favors with the areas they conquered. Militias and rebels popped up, causing the Coalition forces to split as they had to go and defend their conquered areas. Meanwhile they were dealing with protests from their own citizens. Meaning the Coalition's only fighter left was China. The World War was basically over by this point, it was now just a regular war with two super powers going head to head. There were still nukes ready to use. But neither had chosen to use them yet. The war was now a contest of resources, who had the energy to fund their war.

 

[noblej7]

War, war never changes.

Missed a good chance to imitate fallout for a bit here with a great war in 2077. Lol what year is it again?

 

[TrueGuardian32]

War, war never changes.

Missed a good chance to imitate fallout for a bit here with a great war in 2077. Lol what year is it again?

Click to shrink...

We should be approaching 2022, I should check the next roll.

 

[Greed128]

Well.. On the up side, two of the titan countries will be a bit banged up after this...

 

[Jiggling]

Author, thanks for the chapters!

 

[TrueGuardian32]

How in the world am I still not involved in this war?!

I sat in orbit looking down at Earth. The war was basically stalemated at the moment. Both sides revealed tech I really wanted to dig my hands into. Accelerator Drives look amazing! Not to mention the U.S. was using Kinetic Drives in ways I didn't think of. They were stalling out the conflict because the battles cost too much to do constantly. Why in the world is the President not joining the United Star Front. What the hell are they planning.

I sighed as I leaned back in my chair. Pulling out a peanut butter snack bar I chewed as I got up and went to the back. Entering the warehouse. Its about time to roll again. "Hey Celestial Forge. Can you give me my roll now?"

I did not expect a response as I snacked getting into a chair to work on the chemicals and med supplies on the table.

However, to my surprise, [Rolling] appeared in my vision.

The Laws are Mine [600CP]
The laws of such trivial things as physics, biology, chemistry, really any sort of recognized science are mere guidelines to you. You can break an established rule of scientific nature so long as it supports your goals and abilities. Anything from conservation of energy, to the conservation of matter, to the second law of thermodynamics in that entropy increases over time. Just... still... try not dividing by zero. I can't trust what will happen.


I blinked while reading the perk. I could lock in or pass on it. This could be absurdly broken. Hmm. Actually its a bit more balanced than I thought. Requires me to have abilities and knowledge to push it. I locked it in. I am at 130 celestial points right now. Based on past trends that perk will be mine in five years. Maybe less if whatever gives me celestial points increases.

Now then back to my actual project. I know I am close to a breakthrough. I've been working with stem cells and seeing how far I could push them. Shockingly I was able to use what I knew from creating E Fuel in this project to make a stimulant that promoted natural healing, weight loss, and muscle growth. This time. I was going to push that knowledge even further.


I stretched one more time, before diving into my samples.


Time passed, experiment after experiment, test after test, I was in a bit of a fugue state, taking notes. I knew I was close and I wasn't giving in till I broke the barrier. I wasn't working with viruses or something similar, I was focused on the system of a human. Every part of the human body was cells. I could push that further and I knew it.


Finally, on the verge of passing out, I shouted out in glee. "I freakin did it!"

In front of me were several microscopes and samples with a PC automatically taking notes on all changes. I made a serum that boosted everything about the body. The formula and process to create it all written down and recorded. Months of work finally paying off. It wasn't some super virus or gene altering device. It was, however, a super booster.

Not to mention this wasn't a simple drug. It could be taken pretty much on repeat. Theoretically, as long as you keep taking it you could live pretty much indefinitely as it could restore genes that made you healthier, de aging you back to your peak.

The thing is. I knew I could push this further. Grow up with a baby arm that refused to grow with you? I could make a version of this that fixed that. Tired of blurry vision and having to wear glasses at all times? I could fix that for you. I could push this way further. This is just the safest version. I giggled as I glanced at the serum in its vial. I was tempted to take it now. But it would be better to keep it sealed and make more to see if I made a mistake somewhere. But give me a few more days and a new breakthrough in human history would be ready to share.

The funny thing is that I was trying to make the stimpacks from Fallout but I ran down a rabbit hole and ended up with this instead. Its probably better though, it is so much less likely to have side effects. Oh I can finally get rid of the burn marks on my arms from my experiments in trying to figure out fusion!

 

[TrueGuardian32]

I'm on the news again. Well, not personally but I shared what I accomplished a few days after finishing it, and it was doing a ton of good. The booster seemed to cure or alleviate such a wide range of illnesses and diseases that I didn't expect, it could allow a baby to process a cold in a couple minutes instead of risking the child's life. The parents of that one had released a heartfelt thanks in a video. The war was delayed once more as both the Chinese and United States people were scrambling to get some of the booster to the front lines, since it could also heal battle wounds and keep people in the fight. I naturally made a version for myself to strengthen my eyesight. I was already stuck wearing glasses in one life, I'd rather not have to deal with it again in this life.

I was in the warehouse again. Namely to clean up. Since my medical project is practically complete, I'll research it when I am not working on something else. Plus the people on Earth are sure to have some folks that will take the methodology I shared to advance further. Too bad it's not a super human serum. I could probably push it to that point, make V from The Boys or something similar. But that would delay my next project. I need to break FTL, I've got Artificial Gravity, Good Sublight Travel, Fusion Reactors, Powerful Scanning Tech, Strong Weaponry, Deflector Shielding, Life Support, Healing Serum, what else do I need? Eh, I'll ask the net. Heading out to the cockpit I took a seat while pulling out my phone.
Opening the GuardianLife companion app, I went over to the forums and sent a message.

[David Gard, The Director of United Star Front]
[Other than FTL, what else do you think we need tech wise for the space age? I'm figuring out what to work on next.]

I'll check on that in a bit. Meanwhile I'll take a look at the report from Aristical, and... a report from Medical?

I have to speak more with the other A.I.'s. I shouldn't be surprised to get reports from any of the twelve A.I.'s back at base. Adam doesn't count because he is staying near Earth. Medical is complaining that I'm not taking my socialization seriously. They are worried because I keep disappearing for extended periods of time. Do I really spend that much time in the warehouse? Hmm. Maybe I should interact more with the people on the Highstar? Get back into the graces of human contact... I'm sort of dreading it. I've become incredibly anti-social through prolonged isolation by this point. I know that isn't healthy though. Damn. Alright, Aristical what do you have for me, oh. Oh my. He's been hard at work excavating and studying both ruins. I forgot to tell them to wait for people from Earth. Oops. That will cause trouble politically, actually, no I didn't say we wouldn't be looking into them?

Regardless he found a starship on Mars and a decent supply of the element located in the other ruin as well. I have a sub report here from Overwatch, Overwatch is complaining that Aristol is over using the Instancing mode and is causing errors in his own code, Aristol has a total of twenty eight thousand instances and counting. I ran my hands through my head as I leaned back into my chair. Aristol is my Science A.I. meant to do the same thing I'm trying with the others back on Earth. To keep advancing technology forward. Is he making any progress?

Hmm, I can't tell. I'll have to head back to find out. I know what I'll do. I'll take a nap here in orbit, read forum comments in the morning and then head back while leaving an instance of Armistice to monitor the situation and prevent a nuclear apocalypse from possibly occurring. That's a plan, I slid into the cockpit and leaned back turning it into its rest mode as I closed my eyes.

 

[TrueGuardian32]

The forum was incredibly active. I wrote down notes.

I needed Planetary Defense Weapons. That was apparently for sure as it was recommended the most out of all items. In theory, that could be done quite easily, pulling up a designer I made a simple rocket, energy thrusters on bottom, reactor within. It takes a bit to hit the target, but once I figure out the Acceleration Drive that the Chinese are using I can probably use that to make it even stronger. I don't even have to develop the targeting systems for these, they already exist. Simulate… I can fire a rocket from Earth to Space in a minute in a half by combining a launch platform, splitting the round into stages where the bottom falls off to reveal the thruster once it reaches peak height, The sonic boom causes the round to go off course slightly, but a targeting computer in the round would fix that, I would just have to thicken the round. As for a launch platform? I can create a high speed railgun quite easily, the tech is there already I just got to make it viable.

Now when I combine all the tech into these rounds I can make a planetary defence cannon that can fire sixteen rounds every minute. I can make that faster as well. The primary cost once set up would be the ammo. But these would be homing rounds that are the size of a small shuttle, they would hit hard. Hmm, I'll have to keep expanding the idea. I'll let Armistice figure out the rest.

What else we got. Replicator and recycler for bootstrapping? Hmm. I can't do that yet. I can probably make a 3d printer using kinesis drives to make molds out of held gas like I do in Venus's orbit. I'll have to keep researching this, and figure out how to do it. Maybe there is existing technology that I could use? I remember Recycling Plants existed in my previous life, there has to be some here. Maybe I can use what they know and expand on it.

Lasers? I'd rather not go into lasers till later. I've already got good kinetics, I'll make laser sooner or later. Colony Ships? I can work on that, but that would need a fabricator and recycler combo to make things easier as well. Cloning, huh lots of cloning requests. Why would I do that? I mean, I could probably make clones? Probably, but wouldn't it be easier to just make a remote control unit for robot bodies for remote work? If I figure out VR I could have them use it to remotely control a robot synth body. Player Character style. That would mean I'd have to improve robot tech, which isn't a terrible idea, especially with how much robotics has progressed in the last three years.

Stasis for long trips so people don't die on the way to their location. That seems quite important actually. Could be used for medical purposes as well. That seems like an important tech. I'll work on that one too. I should make a list. I'm going to make a list. Oh shuttle to surface? I already have the arrowhead series for that. I should design a Carrier Ship, wait, come on David don't get distracted. What else are they suggesting? FTL Comms. That is incredibly important. I already have really strong life support, I mean the Highstar is capable of supporting thousands of people. Maybe I should start working on a Space Colony for people to try out?

Honestly the highest priority should be a fabricator type thing. Something that can take raw material and spit out what people need. A 3d printer for all components. A factory builder for the factorio type. I need to do some research but I already have a few ideas. I need to make it where a single person could make an entire base on any planet. I could do that. I think.

I organize my priority list.

1. Recycler and Fabricator. I need to make something good enough to use regularly. Make it where you can scrap parts of a ship to make it where it still works if other parts are missing.

2. FTL Comms, No matter what that is a priority. I've got some ideas. Honestly micro-wormholes would probably be the way to go for this. In my head this is a higher priority than actual FTL, .

3. VR. This is important for practice and entertainment. It would allow people to test out equipment and get a hold of things before messing with the real deal.

I'll keep it simple and work towards these three. "Hey Adam?"

"Yes Sir?" The response was instant.

"Can you get all the data you can on current material crafting methods and recycling methods. I need to do some research for the next project."

"Yes Sir."

Alright then. "I'l leave after you get the data, I've got some more work to get done back at the base." There was no response but a few minutes later the shuttle was getting a data upload. Well then. I'm going to play some games while I wait.

—

China, The Imperial Fortress.

Wang Long growled as he walked to the strategy room. The war wasn't going as planned and he wasn't a fool. He knew that total victory looked improbable at this moment.

Walking in he saw the other generals grouped together and whispering to one another. He had to repeat himself in his head. He was no fool. He took the actions he had because he knew they could win. Now, due to the stupidity of the other Generals, their repeated attempts to gain honor by defeating the U.S. Troops had led to them suffering loss after loss till he stepped in and had the army bunker down and defended instead of going head to head with the U.S. Military by repeatedly attacking.

Ideally he could stall the U.S. front, rebuild Coalition forces and get them back into the war. But instead of doing that he had to return here to deal with the other Generals trying to overstep in his absence.

General Li Quang "General Wang Long. Good for you to join us." He realized something was off immediately. Li Quang was disgraced, all the Generals in this room except for him had lost against the U.S.. So why do they look so arrogant?

Not to mention, why was Li Quang in his spot at the head of the Strategic Discussion table. Wang Long reached into his jacket and subtly pressed a button. "I have come because I heard that you were going to do something truly stupid."

Li Quang chuckled. "Stupid? No, the one doing the stupid action is all you. No we are the heroes that ousted a rogue general that killed the Emperor and nuked the U.S."

Long Wang wasn't a fool, he would repeat this a third time in his head. He knew exactly what this was. It was a coup. But his eyes widened slightly anyway. "You didn't."

"You don't need to know regardless." Li Quang replied with a grin. Imperial Soldiers entered the room. "Seize the traitor."

Suddenly the door slammed open. It was one of the people that dealt with battle reports. "Generals! The nukes were stolen into the sky! The United Star Front said they are now interfering in the war as China has attempted to use nuclear weapons!?!" He shouted in a confused and questioning tone. He was about to speak more than his eyes registered the scene in front of him.

Then the scene got a bit more chaotic as soldiers poured in, wearing the emblem of Long Wang's army. Immediately starting a shoot out as the Generals took cover. After taking cover Wang Long pulled out his phone, and opened a certain app. A recording of the previous conversation was uploaded to the United Star Front Forums; he was not going to go down just because these foolish generals wanted to overthrow him.

Then he made a separate call. His agent within the palace answered giving confirmation. The body double he had put into place for the Emperor's protection had been killed. He wasn't going to go down in history as the one that overthrew the Emperor by killing him. No, he had planned to prove to the him that he was a better investment than the United Star Front. All he needed to do was succeed and the Emperor who wanted to retire regardless in order to go back to his debauchery will voluntarily hand him the position of Emperor. Instead he was dealing with schemes and backstabbing, chuckling slightly at the irony, after all, he did it first. "Live and learn." He followed his troops escaping the fight.

 

[vtkun]

thank you for the chapter

 

[Despacitoleo]

Cool chaptet