Starborn Smith [Massive Scifi MultiFusion / Celestial Forge]

[BlazingHyperion]

- - -
POV: Michael Dresden. The next day.

I stepped out of the Stargate, my team right behind me. The first thing I felt was the sheer cold of the outside. The ground was covered in snow. I hadn't felt cold like this in decades. Nekhara was a temperate planet, and even when it snowed, it didn't get this cold.

Luckily, we had all come prepared with thermal clothing.

Before us was a stone pillar. A large, ornate metallic hammer topped it. The surrounding area was covered with a thin layer of snow. Luckily, it wasn't snowing at the moment, though it was overcast.

"Raines. Start checking the DHD." Hana, the team's engineer, quickly turned her attention away from the statue and rushed over to the DHD. She quickly opened ‌the panel underneath the DHD.

The moment she touched the device, a stream of blue energy was emitted from the center of the hammer. It scanned over each of us, spending several long seconds on a person before moving on to the next. As it scanned the last member of my team, it stopped.

Arthur had told us about the device in advance. Had a Goa'uld or a Jaffa appeared, the beam would have teleported them to the labyrinth in the nearby mountains. With that in mind, it had been decided to leave Khavros behind for this expedition.

I turned to my other team members. "Alright. There should be a village somewhere nearby. Start searching for signs of habitation. There should be something in this clearing."

It took barely two minutes before my radio crackled. "I've found a road. Looks like there are horse tracks, and wheel marks." I quickly responded. "Understood. Return to the gate. Looks like Raines needs a few more minutes."

A few minutes passed as everyone returned. Hana finally spoke as she placed everything back into the DHD. "Everything looks good. There's no damage, and there doesn't appear to be any modifications."

Hana stood up and dusted her hands off. Everyone else did the same, and we made our way up the nearby hills to where the tracks had been spotted previously. These quickly led to a very well-maintained gravel road, which seemed to lead further upwards and over to the next valley.

It was at about this time that we spotted the smoke rising in the distance. As we reached the peak of the road, we finally got a good view of where the smoke was coming from. The valley had several simple homes, each of which had several small holes to allow smoke to escape.

Down the road, I could just barely make out five people guarding the entrance to the village. We continued onward, and it wasn't long before the people saw us. "Halt! What brings you to our town?"

I stepped forward once and spoke. "We've come looking for the Hall of Thor's Might."

The townsman looked totally caught off guard before he spoke again. "Why would you come looking for such a place?"

"We wish to speak with Thor and request his aid." I paused for a moment. "We have heard legends that Thor has prepared a trial, and that you must pass the tests within the hall to gain an audience with him."

The townsman seemed taken aback once more. "Wait here while I go get the village head."

I looked at my team members while he did so, but with nothing better to do, we waited. Several minutes passed before a small group of villagers left one home and approached us. All of them were well dressed for the cold. At their head, an older woman who looked like she was in her 60s or 70s led them.

"You come seeking the Hall of Thor's Might?" She asked, seemingly dubious about the claim.

I nodded. "We do. We seek the aid of the gods, and we hope to find it within the hall."

She stared at me suspiciously for several long moments. "My eldest son will lead you to the hall, but you will permit him to leave before you enter."

I raised an eyebrow, but nodded again. "We understand. You have nothing to worry about either way. Thor is not a wrathful god."

She nodded, and a young man stepped forward. "Please follow me."

The sky cleared up a bit as we began our trek into the forest. The path had clearly been walked before, but definitely not often. We walked for almost two hours before a little shrine became visible.

It was very similar in appearance to the pillar by the Stargate, but it was much shorter. As we came around the front, there was a small red gem embedded in the center of the pillar. The boy pointed at it from a distance. "There it is."

I turned to him. "Thank you. Get going; we don't want you caught up in our problems."

He nodded, turned around, and ran off into the forest. I set a timer for thirty minutes, just to be safe, and we approached the hall. I turned to Hana. "Alright, get to work. Just don't touch anything yet."

From her bag, Hana pulled out the familiar diagnostic tool and waved it all over the statue. "Definitely some really advanced technology. The orb in the middle is just a detector of some kind, but the center of the thing is way too dense for the scanner to get a good read on anything."

She continued to scan away, hoping to get a good enough reading of what was going on inside the device, but she clearly wasn't getting anywhere. Finally, my watch started beeping and everyone started standing up. Hana put away the diagnostic tool. "Everyone ready?"

We all spoke in affirmative, and she walked right up to the center of the pillar and touched the red stone. The thing lit up, and moments later I watched as a beam of light ran over all of us.

Without waiting, I pulled my flashlight from my pocket and pointed it at the stone floor of the room we found ourselves in. "Count off."

Everyone began turning on their lights as they all confirmed their positions. In the distance, I watched as another identical pedestal came to life. Before the pedestal, the air rippled like a rainbow, and a Viking with a metal helmet appeared. It spoke, "I am Thor. You are brave to come before me."

I tried to interrupt it. "We have come to make contact with Supreme Commander Thor of the Asgard Fleet."

The hologram continued despite my attempt to interrupt it. "However, only the worthy may witness Thor's might."

With a ripple, the hologram disappeared. I winced. I had hoped that would have been enough to get their attention, but it appeared that we would actually have to complete the trials.

The room shook, and all five of us stood back against the far wall. With a crash, the floor disappeared below the center of the room. I gulped, and Hana spoke. "Sir, I don't remember this being in the file."

I smiled bitterly. "Unfortunately, the only thing that Arthur could remember was that circles were involved."

Through the center of the room was a single long, narrow beam, apparently for us to walk across. "I guess this means we're supposed to cross to the other side."

With a deep groan, I got down on my hands and knees and crawled carefully across. As I reached the other side, I turned around and nodded. "Alright. Everyone across, nice and slow."

Hana was next. With a deep breath, she carefully closed up her bag and made sure it was properly sealed. Then she started crawling. It was as she was halfway across that the room shook, and Hana hung on for dear life.

Luckily, it stopped after just a few seconds, and she quickly and carefully hurried across. The last two members of my team got across with no issue.

We stood on the opposite side of the massive chasm, waiting for something to happen. Then, before our eyes, the floor reappeared as if it had never gone. Once more, the hologram was once more before us. "You have shown true selflessness and bravery. I salute you. Now you must add wisdom to courage. Solve the riddle of the runes, and I will show you my true might."

With a flash of light, we suddenly found ourselves in another room. The wall was covered with Norse runes and geometric symbols. I turned to Hana once more. "Alright. Get to work."

I turned to Sakura on my other side. "Get pictures of the walls." She immediately got to it as well.

In the meantime, I got to work looking up the meaning of the runes. Several of the Claymore's researchers were language nuts and had brought digital copies of several hundred textbooks on extinct languages. They had thrown them into the flexi's translation program, and now the flexis had a (mostly) complete list of all the languages of ancient Terra, included among them was the Old Norse language.

The wall translated into 3, 14, 15, 9. I stared at it blankly for several long seconds. "It can't be that simple."

Hana came over and looked. She blinked at the flexi a few times. "Arthur said that the answer was related to circles. I'd say that's a pretty big coincidence."

There were two other circles in the room. One of them was a wheel drawn on a wall. The other was among a group of geometric shapes. First, we examined the drawn wheel. Though we quickly moved on since the diagnostic tool showed nothing.

But when we came to the circle, it was very odd indeed. After a quick scan, it quickly became clear that there was another sensor behind the circle. I pursed my lips. "Well. Definitely the circle then."

I placed my hand on the circle and watched ‌in amazement as the stone turned into sand and then just slowly fell away. Inside, a red crystal with golden decorations appeared. I stared back at everyone and then touched the crystal.

For several seconds nothing happened, then a light appeared behind us. We all turned back to find the same hologram of the Viking from earlier. With a shimmer, the hologram transformed from a human into a diminutive grey alien, nearly identical in appearance to the greys of 21st century Terra.

"I am the actual one…whom you know as Thor," the Asgard hologram spoke.

I coughed. "Are you still a program, or are you the actual Supreme Commander Thor of the Asgard Fleet?"

The hologram turned its head. "You know my official title. You are not Cimmerian?"

This was the actual Thor, or at least a direct call to him. I nodded. "We are. Has the war against the Replicators begun yet?"

He stared at me blankly for several long seconds. "Yes. We have been attempting to exterminate the self-replicating robotic hive known as the Replicators for approximately 228 of your years."

That was far less time than I had been expecting. We had all been under the impression that the Asgard had pulled out because of the Replicators, but that clearly wasn't the case. Something to consider later.

I nodded. "We have information on a weapon that will allow you to permanently remove the Replicators, but we need you to remove the specific memories from someone's head."

The grey stared at me for several long moments. "We will not search through the memories of someone who is unwilling to have such a search done."

I nodded. "That isn't a problem. The person in question has a lot of memories of stuff that we'd all like to see. We'd just like copies of the memories in question once you've got them out."

I got the distinct impression that the Asgard was annoyed, but he responded quickly this time. "My vessel will arrive at your world in seven hours."

I blinked at him. "What do you…" I was cut off as the beam of blue light shone over all of us and I suddenly stepped out of the Stargate on Kaelastrum. I quickly recovered my balance and stood back up.

Around us, all the soldiers were holding their firearms at the ready, and I could see the newly constructed buildings in the distance. Thor had sent us back to Kaelastrum directly. We hadn't even gone to Cimmeria directly. We had used several intermediary gates before dialing the world.

I grabbed my radio and turned it on. "This is Dresden. Contact with the Asgard confirmed. We…" I thought about what the Asgard, Thor, had said before he returned us. "We might have a slight problem though."

- - -
Author's Note:
YAY! Asgard! Thor is slightly annoyed that his break is being interrupted by some random humans though.
Read up to Chapter #71 on Discord: [ LINK: https://discord.com/invite/dbVKfqYw5T ]

 

[BlazingHyperion]

- - -
POV: Arthur Sinclair.

The very air itself was tense. It hadn't even been two years since Kaelastrum had been selected as a haven, and already an external power had become aware of the world. Everyone was panicking.

Everyone who was aware, anyway. It was decided to keep the imminent arrival of the Asgard a secret. That being said, all twelve raptors were fueled and ready to take off at a moment's notice.

The President had a room prepared for meeting Thor, and we waited. Six hours and fifty minutes passed in a flash when three massive kilometer and a half long warships arrived. They were caught on video by one of the many observation satellites placed into orbit.

Rather than enter orbit, they just began hovering at approximately 300,000 kilometers. We all watched as the cameras relayed the footage. And then suddenly, a flash of light filled the room we were in, and, sitting in his chair, was Thor. "Greetings. I am Supreme Commander Thor of the Asgard Fleet."

Arriston smiled and nodded, though I could still see the sweat pouring off him. "I am Arriston Pyrros, President of the Republic of Kaelastrum."

Thor was silent for several moments. "Whose memories will I be retrieving?"

A silent awkwardness filled the room, and I stepped forward. "That would be me." Before Thor decided to just beam me up to his ship, I continued. "I would like a couple of people to join me."

Thor is silent again for several seconds before he responds. "Very well. Who?"

Elder James and Ma'chello both step forward. I nod towards them before suddenly finding myself sitting on a rather comfortable chair.

The room was dark. A large screen covered one half of the room, with parts along the edge where several strange dark blue… beams (I wasn't exactly sure what they were). The back of the room was red, with strange vertical decorations of some sort.

Thor now stood at my side and before one of the strange terminals that were so common among the Asgard. He spoke as he began moving the stones around. "Bring the information that you wish to transmit to the forefront of your mind."

I furrowed my brow. "Do you want me to start from the beginning, or with the important information?"

There was no hesitation in his voice this time. "The important information first. If it is as valuable as you believe, then we will ‌go from the beginning."

I started thinking about the Dakara Superweapon and was amazed at the ease with which I could access my own memories. It was almost as quick as trying to look through the tech blueprints.

In my head, I could rewatch the entirety of Stargate SG-1 Reckoning parts one through three. As my memory ended. Thor was silent. I turned to look at him.

He seemed to freeze as he looked through the information before he began moving the stones on his console back and forth in quick succession. I waited for him to stop before he turned back to me. "Now, you may begin from the start."

Rewatching an episode in my head took about 20 to 30 seconds, so replaying the entirety of Stargate, including SG-1, Atlantis, Universe, and all the movies, took about three hours.

As we reached the end, Thor was busy constantly moving around the Asgard Stones. "Fascinating. While there is significant inaccuracy, much of this information is correct. This is likely information from an alternate timeline."

I nodded. "There is still a lot of other stuff as well. I know some of it applies, but a lot of it probably won't."

Thor was quiet for a moment as he moved another one of his stones. "You may continue."

Next up were a series of YouTube videos; Tex Talks from the Black Pants Legion and the BattleTech Lore & History series from Sven Van der Plank. Battletech is a massive franchise, and most of my interaction with the story came from fanfiction. That didn't mean I wasn't interested in the lore though, and the kind people on YouTube had hundreds of hours of explainer videos regarding the lore.

After that was the entire Robert D. Moore Battlestar Galactica. I also ran over all the missions and ships that appeared in BSG Deadlock. I reviewed what little I could remember of the original BSG, but I hadn't seen it and didn't know all that much about the show.

From there, we moved on to other subjects, such as the Red King's Stellaris Lore videos, as well as my own recollections of various Stellaris games. Finally, came Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda and what little I knew of Warhammer 40K.

As my last memories of the Warhammer 40K Lexicanium ended, I turned to Thor, who seemed even busier. "Fascinating. I assume you are some sort of reincarnation, then?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Is reincarnation a common occurrence?"

Thor was quiet for a moment as he continued to move the stones around. At first, he had seemed almost standoffish, or as if we were wasting his time. That attitude had disappeared quickly as he had watched Stargate SG-1 alongside me. Of course, Elder James and Ma'chello in the background were just watching what they could, but the information was passing over the screen much faster than they could see.

"It is most frequent among those who have undergone ascension. It is not uncommon for such people to keep their memories even after returning to the sea of souls."

I kinda shrugged. "That was all the information that I know for a fact is relevant, but there is other stuff that I'm not really sure about."

"Continue. We have time." I raised an eyebrow but continued‌.

The hours continued to pass. The Asgard device was so advanced that I could literally count the number of times I had blinked during the entire process. During that time, I had replayed every work of science fiction I could think of. From Star Trek to Babylon 5, from Halo to Mass Effect to even Fallout and Subnautica. Everything I could think of was replayed inside my head and then saved by the Bilskirnir's computers.

As I finished replaying the last of my Fallout playthroughs, I turned to Thor. "I still have some things I need copies of."

He once more moved his stones. "You may begin."

I started with uploading the THOS. What would have taken me weeks of work just typing away at a computer was uploaded in less than a minute. Then I went through all the Inner Sphere technology, then the Goa'uld technology, and on and on. I didn't realize just how much information I had shoved into my brain.

Rewatching all the videos and TV-shows I had seen had taken so long because I had physically experienced all of them. It was more than just the shows themselves that were being uploaded, but the Qualia as well, or so Thor had told me when I asked him about it.

The blueprints were just pure information that my brain could access with ease and thus didn't need to be reinterpreted by the computer.

Then I got to the most… questionable pieces of information. With furrowed brows. I turned to Thor. "The next two things are more sensitive. Just a heads up."

Thor once more moved some stones and spoke. "Proceed."

Neither of the two pieces of code was particularly large. Just rather sensitive. Thor looked up at the display. "Fascinating. These are from the Contingency?"

I nodded. "That's what my memories tell me. I still have one more thing… this one is… well… more complex."

Next up was the Zoe Graystone Memory Engram. I wasn't really sure what to do about this one, but there wasn't much of a reason not to do anything, so I just uploaded it.

I just barely caught Thor freezing for several moments as he stared at the Engram on the screen, but just as quickly turned away and continued working.

As I finished reviewing the last of the blueprints, I nodded. "Alright. That's everything."

I had been on Thor's ship for three days. Every single thing I could think of had been transferred. Every piece of major science fiction. Movies, TV shows, video games, and even the few actual novels that I had read. I had even spent a few hours reviewing the various wiki pages I had seen.

Thor nodded and with a flash of light, I found myself in President Arriston's office. The man almost jumped as we appeared, but he quickly relaxed once he saw me. "Ahh. Arthur. I hope everything went well."

I shrugged and looked at Thor, who replied. "Yes. The Asgard High Council appreciates your decision to initiate contact."

On the president's desk, five Asgard stones appeared. "These contain copies of all the information we have been provided."

Another stone appeared on the table. "This is a communication device. We have already started eradicating the Replicators, but we have other threats that are more dangerous and more pressing than the Goa'uld that we will be busy dealing with once the Replicators have been defeated."

The President shuddered. "What other threats are we talking about?"

Thor was silent for a moment. "The group you know as the Tyranids. They are currently in the middle of invading three separate minor galaxies in the Local Group."

Arriston and I both froze before I suddenly realized that Thor had just said something rather important. "Wait, you've already started? Don't you need the Dakara Device before you can start?"

Thor stared at me blankly for several moments. "Yes."

- - -
POV: Ra. Two days prior. Seven hours after Thor's arrival at Kaelastrum.

I received several dozen notifications from my Kara'kesh, all at the same time. I turned to my display and had it bring up the reports. A frown instantly graced my lips. The ships I had patrolling Dakara had all been destroyed.

I sent an order to dial Dakara immediately. My frown transformed into a snarl at the appearance of almost three dozen Asgard Bilskirnir-class vessels in orbit of Dakara. A ping hit me as the Asgard initiated contact.

On the display, the diminutive appearance of the little grey vermin appeared. How the mighty had fallen. "I am Sif of the Asgard Fleet. We are here to report 17 violations of the Protected Planet's Treaty."

My snarl deepened. "On what basis do you make these accusations!?"

The reply came in the form of various videos of System Lords sending Jaffa onto various worlds. I felt my snarl deepen even further; the useless fools. It seemed I would have to begin a purge. Before I could even respond. "We will take the Dakara Device as reparation."

I froze as its words settled. Before I could even respond, the transmission was ended. Without hesitation, I immediately ordered‌ something to be sent through the Stargate. The weapon that gave me the title of Sun God.

I connected to several other transmitters within the system and watched as a flash of light went off beside the Stargate. I smiled in satisfaction, only to freeze as the light failed to expand as I expected it to. Worse, the Stargate was still connected.

I changed my view and watched as the ball of white energy caught in beams that were projected from the Asgard vessels. I grit my teeth; they had been expecting me to send a Nova Bomb through. Even worse, they had prevented it from detonating fully.

Seconds passed as the explosion simply dissipated into subspace, and I watched on in horror as the ground surrounding the Dakara Device was dug up to reveal a massive device hidden just behind the ground of the main temple.

I had worked so hard to hide the device — the ultimate weapon of the Ancients, capable of eradicating all life in an entire galaxy, if the need arose. Now it was gone, in the hands of those wretched little pests.

There was nothing I could do but watch, my fury bubbling just beneath the surface. As the last of the stone was removed, the entire mountain, which housed the device, lifted from the ground and was towed into space. Just like that, all the Asgard vessels had left.

I growled and turned to Anubis, my Horus guard. "Prepare the men. Now!"

The second major issue appeared when I began dialing the worlds of the Protected Planets Treaty. The Stargates failed to dial. They must have removed the Stargates from those worlds. There was nothing I could do but scream in rage.

- - -
Author's Note:
Well, writing this chapter was a fun one. I had been dreaming about the scene where the Asgard rock up and steal the Dakara Device since like Chapter #5. Being able to write it was a dream.
Read up to Chapter #72 on Discord: [ LINK: https://discord.com/invite/dbVKfqYw5T ]

* In an unrelated note, what should we name a Lost Space Amoeba? Asking for a friend. * BUBBLES!

 

[BlazingHyperion]

- - -
POV: Arthur Sinclair.

Thor was silent for a moment. I gestured for him to continue his previous thought. "A fleet was dispatched to retrieve the Dakara Device immediately upon identifying its location. It took five hours to reach Dakara and retrieve the facility… Ra was not pleased."

I stared blankly at Thor. He refused to elaborate further and instead changed the subject. "We have also chosen to share several other pieces of information. We have recreated the SGC Coordinate Algorithm that was created by Samantha Carter."

He was silent for a moment. "We have also recreated all the… games that you showed in your memories."

I blinked. That was a piece of pleasant news. We would have a lot of fresh entertainment for people to relax with at least. It wasn't particularly useful, but it was a nice gesture. I nodded. "Thank you."

Arriston smiled and nodded. "That is most gracious of you, though I am sorry to say we were hoping for more than that."

Thor answered immediately this time. "We do not have the ships to spare, and we would be breaking the word of the Protected Planets Treaty."

The president raised an eyebrow. "Then what about aid in moving our remaining population from my homeworld?"

Thor lightly shook his head. "The World of Dendred is not in immediate danger."

He was silent for several moments. "I must leave. I am needed to lead our forces against the Replicators."

Arriston nodded. "Well, thank you for your help. You've provided us with a lot."

With a bright flash, Thor was gone. In orbit, the three Asgard Bilskirnir-class vessels all departed.

The Asgard had provided copies of all the meta-knowledge we could ever need. Everyone agreed it was imperative that the information be spread among the higher-ups. Naturally, for the next several months at least, there would be a movie night.

Of course, there would be people looking over every piece of information with a fine-toothed comb as well, but knowing the original material was rather important.

From there, everything returned to normal. I got back to work on the reactor, and now that I could show people the actual blueprints I was basing my own designs on, work moved a lot faster.

Altogether, the project was coming to a close. It looked like it would be a little less than three weeks before we finished the complete design.

First Perk Activated. Complete Blueprint Acquired: Asgard Data Stone. Storage Matrix, Addressing System, External Interface

First Perk Activated. Partial Blueprint Acquired: Asgard Long Range Communication Stone. Subspace Transmitter

- - -
POV: Egeria, 13 Days Later.

I once more stepped through the Stargate and stood before Per'sus. With me this time were Michael Dresden and the rest of the ST01 team. They were considered to be the best of the RoK search teams, and considering the fact that they had contacted the Asgard, I didn't doubt it.

I smiled as we all moved ourselves out of the way of the Stargate as the dialing sequence began once more. "Per'sus. This is Michael Dresden. He is the representative of the Republic of Kaelastrum. He and his team will be my guards for this meeting."

Pre'sus nodded to Michael. "A pleasure." Before he turned back to me. "The Council members are waiting for us. Among them, the only one who is not one of your children is Garshaw of Belote. They do not know who you are."

I nodded to him, and the final chevron engaged. With a whoosh, the gate engaged, and I stepped through the Stargate. I could immediately feel the six Tok'ra standing before me. Just as Per'sus had stated, only one of them was not my child.

I looked at Per'sus and nodded. He seemed to smile lightly, and he spoke as the Stargate disconnected behind us. "It is my honor to introduce Egeria."

For several seconds, the Tok'ra just stared up at me blankly. An older lady with white hair stepped forward. She was hesitant, but she spoke‌. "My Queen?"

I smiled. "Yes, Selmak. It has been far too long for both of us."

The older woman nearly stumbled at my words. She seemed entirely too shocked even to speak. I turned my attention to the one among them who was not my child. Garshaw of Belote, perhaps the single most hunted Goa'uld – former Goa'uld – of all time.

I smiled and reached forward with my hand. "It is an honor to meet someone who has turned away from the Goa'uld of their own accord."

She gently took my hand and shook it in return. "I must say, I am rather surprised to find one such as yourself among the living."

I nodded. "Yes. I doubt you believe I am who I say I am; all will be answered soon, though perhaps it is best if we go somewhere private?" I turned to Per'sus, who nodded.

Per'sus quickly guided me to a room that had been prepared for our meeting, and I began explaining what had happened to me. From discovering Ra's little secret, to being thrown into a stasis jar, and then reawakened.

Selmak let out a deep sigh. "You should not have returned, my queen… It is not safe for you to be here."

I smiled and nodded. "I am aware, and I will aid you in removing the moles who have infiltrated the Tok'ra."

Per'sus smiled and took over for me. "What I tell you now does not leave this room. This is likely the greatest secret of the Goa'uld Queens. When Tawaret was named the Queen of the First Goa'uld Empire, she wished for a way to distinguish her own kin from those of other Queens. She could not modify herself, but she altered her heirs so that they would be capable of distinguishing their own children."

I continued from him. "Nearly all queens alive can sense the presence of their own young."

Per'sus nodded. "Egeria will be confirming that all of her children are who they say they are."

Garshaw raised an eyebrow. "And how do we know you are indeed Egeria?"

Per'sus turned to her with a blank look. "She is who she claims to be."

Garshaw looked back with a raised eyebrow. They stared at each other for a few long moments before she finally just nodded. "I understand."

From there, I began. There were several hundred Tok'ra on base, though apparently this was barely 5% of the Tok'ra still active. There were several thousand more Tok'ra still alive and working in the courts of the various System Lords, and in various other hidden facilities.

It was decided that Garshaw would be the one to show me around, so, for three hours, I walked around the facility. I would spend that time examining each of the Tok'ra in the facility, and I would inform Garshaw of whether one of them was my child. I was surprised by how many I recognized, and how many I didn't.

I was quite impressed with how much they had advanced the crystal tunnel boring technology. It allowed the Tok'ra to build a fortress within days. The structure itself wasn't particularly sturdy, but it could be deconstructed in the same time it took to construct.

As I completed checking the last of the Tok'ra, I spoke to Garshaw. "How many infiltrators were there?"

She smiled bitterly. "Of those who were supposed to be your children, four were not."

I winced. That was far fewer than I had been expecting, but far more than I had been hoping for. Garshaw continued. "We will interrogate them."

I smiled bitterly and nodded. "Tell me, Garshaw, how many of my children do you think have turned against the Tok'ra?"

She raised an eyebrow. "I doubt that any of them would. Ra orders ‌all Tok'ra to be killed on sight. Even those who turn against us. It has been rather… effective at preventing traitors from appearing within our own ranks. I believe only four ever truly chose to truly abandon the Tok'ra."

I let out a hollow smile. "Yes, I suppose that is one piece of good news."

The four suspected infiltrators were all taken aside. A Goa'uld can access the memories of a host, and a host can often recall the memories of a previous symbiote, but for a Goa'uld to access the memories of a previous symbiote through the host is an incredibly arduous task. Copying the mannerisms and speech patterns of a former Goa'uld is easy, but old memories get scrambled and difficult to access.

This is in stark contrast to the original symbiote who, because of its genetic memory, should be capable of perfectly accessing all of its memories.

This led to a relatively simple way of identifying infiltrators. Begin asking them about old missions – when they were in another host – and see how much of it they can remember. Generally, one or two mistakes are understandable, but more than that and the likelihood of an infiltration becomes non-zero. Of course, this sort of process is not quick, and it requires detailed information about prior missions.

The entire questioning process would take at least three days. Of course, since the obvious infiltrators had been identified, it was time to explain what was actually going on. So, as all the Tok'ra on base were gathered, Per'sus introduced me. To say that all hell broke loose would be an understatement.

- - -
POV: Arthur Sinclair. Five days after Egeria left.

Egeria had just sent word. Several infiltrators had been discovered among the Tok'ra. It was mostly the youngest among them, those who hadn't gone on many missions and could be more easily replaced.

Of course, once their status as infiltrators had been confirmed, the Tok'ra immediately began packing up and preparing to leave. It would take them under a week to fully remove their extensive network of tunnels and rooms. I really wanted access to that technology. It would make construction so much easier.

In other news, the expedition team finally reached Baol space. It was expected that finding anything would likely take weeks, if not months, but that was the price of archeology. Just a few Baol relics would be a massive boon in advancing our technology.

All of that was great, but the most pressing thing for me was the imminent first test flight of the JFX program. We had worked for months to get the thing completed. Seeing it now was a sight for sore eyes.

The thing looked very similar to a Fifth generation fighter from Earth. Like the F-22 or the F-35. It had the same sort of bulbous shape, though it was noticeably bigger. The total wingspan of the craft was just under 13 meters, but the wings could fold into the main body using the same general mechanism as the Jaffa helmets. When retracted, the total wingspan was just under 4.5 meters.

The maneuvering thrusters could produce 6 Gs of acceleration on their own, so the ship was also VTOL capable.

Running the length of the vessel was a set of jump spinners ripped almost directly from a Colonial Raptor. We had made some minor modifications, but not all that many. In the ship's rear, stuffed in between the three main gravitic pushers, were a cloak and a hyperdrive taken from one of the disassembled Tel'tak.

This version of the craft didn't have any weapons, though there were several large internal compartments that had room for various self-propelled munitions. There were also plans to replace the hyperdrive or cloak with an internal missile rack, though it was only a possibility for the future, since the ship was still primarily meant as a test bed for integrating the Goa'uld tech.

So, with the final ground tests complete, all the internal systems sealed up, I asked for a test pilot. I was rather unsurprised to get Lieutenant Ruth Mitchell. She entered the hangar and looked straight past me at the fighter. I coughed once, and the lieutenant turned and saluted. "Sir!"

I almost doubled over. The first time the woman had met me, she had totally ignored me. I quickly got over myself and nodded back. "Lieutenant Mitchell."

She nodded, and I continued. "Let me walk you through the vehicle." I gestured towards the pilot's seat. She nodded once, and I walked her over. The inside was modeled similarly to that of the SB-27b Sabre Light Aerospace Fighter that the Lieutenant normally flew. She had no issues understanding how to use the controls.

It was also unfortunately true that Lieutenant Mitchell was as good a pilot as she thought she was, and ¾ of that excellence was preparation. She had already studied and memorized all the internal systems that had been designed months earlier.

Without another word, the Lieutenant powered the vehicle up and slowly, gently rolled the thing out into the midday sun. As soon as confirmation came from Air Traffic Control, the vehicle was floating several feet above the ground. Then, with a final confirmation, the thing shot off, almost faster than my eye could see.

In the back of my mind, a notification popped up.

Special Achievement: Complete your First Original Vehicle Choose a perk: 1: Huragok Ally (Halo - UNSC, 200 Points) - Description: Something of a surprise and most definitely an attention-grabber, a Huragok is supposed to be one of the members of the Covenant Homogeny and has normally been seen only in their presence. Yet Huragok, also known by those in the UNSC as 'Engineers', are primarily pacifistic and dedicate themselves purely to repairing and working on any technology around them. This particular one seems to have gotten lost and ended up deciding to follow you for the sake of making sure your technology was functioning. Aside from melodic whistling sounds that sound slightly similar to Earth whales, Huragoks communicate using either sign language with their tendrils or through text messaging thanks to their penchant of being biological supercomputers. Huragok are highly prized for being able to fix almost anything they touch, and you should expect a lot of questioning if someone spots you with one. 2: Ding! (Girl Genius SB, 200 Points) - Description: Well, this is different. A certain gentleman called Von Neumann would be delighted, at least. You are now the proud master of a full set of Dingbots of your own, or similar clanks or drones, at least. They're all minor sparks in their own rights, and can themselves build more of their kind, even though those don't have the spark. Led by a Prime, they are connected with you on an intrinsic, mental level, being fully capable of building any and all devices or works you can. They get everywhere, performing construction upkeep, salvage and everything else you might need them to. Not even needing blueprints, they seem to draw upon your knowledge directly, using their in-built tools to perform all the things you normally would need to do yourself, making everything you'd like them to... and a lot of them you wouldn't. Don't leave them unsupervised. 3: Soul of the Forge (World of Warcraft, 200 Points) - Description: This spirit that manifests as a small, cyclopean golem made of molten metal and shards, the Soul of the Forge dwells within the workshops and smithies of metalworkers. So long as it is content, all who work within that forge's walls will find their creations blessed: The individual pieces, parts, and techniques required coming together that much easier, and the end result being that much more splendid.' In order for the Soul of the Forge to dwell, one also requires a small kiln to house the spirit. ---

- - -
Author's Note:
Howdy folks! The dreaded day has come, the summer has ended, and my classes have once more begun. From this point forth, you should expect no more than two chapters a week. If I get particularly lucky and a chapter just flows right, I might be able to get a three a week.

Read up to Chapter #75 on Discord: [ LINK: https://discord.com/invite/dbVKfqYw5T ]

If you read the above notice, you will see that you are two chapters behind where you should be (since I try to keep 12 chapters of backlog for people to read on Discord, which means you should be at 63). This is because I have been busy and I have not had the time to get the second round of edits in, so I'm going to try and edit and get those next two chapters out tomorrow and the day after, so you can thankfully expect a chapter tomorrow and the day after.

SomebodyNobody10 on my Discord has also written an absolutely awesome side-chapter which is a crossover with our first more magical setting, the EU4 mod Anbennar.

You can expect that to be posted along with Chapter #77 in like… five weeks at my expected pace, so if you'd like to read that now, join the discord.

Thanks for sticking with me and putting up with my ramblings.

 

[BlazingHyperion]

- - -
POV: Arthur Sinclair. A few hours later.

I took my seat in the conference room. With me were Ma'chello, Elder James, Arktos, and Arriston. Elder James nodded. "Alright, Arthur, tell us about this new perk choice."

I nodded and began reading out the descriptions of each of the three perks. It was Ma'chello who was the first to speak. "I think it's safe to say that the second option is completely unacceptable."

Arktos nodded. "Neither of the other two options are potentially hazardous. The possibility of another Replicator-like swarm is not a pleasant idea."

Arriston nodded. "The Celestial Forge has explicitly stated that leaving such an entity unsupervised would be unwise. It is for the best that you do not take this option."

Elder James nodded and pulled up a flexi. "I think that the best choice would be for the Hurogok. A pacifist dedicated purely to engineering, that is also willing to follow you? They are capable of effectively nano-scale production, and are very good at improving existing technology… on top of that, they can reproduce asexually…"

The Dingbots would have been a better choice, but that was forgetting the genuine possibility of them going rogue. The risk there was just too great.

Arriston pursed his lips. "And what about this… Soul of the Forge? Can you tell us anything about it?"

I shook my head. "I'm afraid not. Judging by the description, it assists blacksmiths; how much it assists engineers, or even automated factories, however, I just can't say."

He was silent for a moment. "Well, I suppose that we've decided then?"

I nodded. "'DING!' is potentially dangerous, and 'Soul of the Forge' might not give us anything at all. 'Hurogok Ally' can probably do a lot of the things that 'Ding!' can, except they won't suddenly start expanding exponentially, and they can assist us with improving our current technology."

Arriston nodded. "Very well. Give me a few hours to get a welcoming party together for this Hurogok, and we'll be able to greet them."

- - -
Two hours later.

A large empty room had been prepared, and now it was just us and a few guards present in case of an emergency.

I closed my eyes and turned my attention to the Celestial Forge, and with a deep breath, I selected Hurogok Ally from the list of choices.

When I opened my eyes, I was unsurprised to find a strange bulbous creature, with several tendrils all over its body, floating before me.

Spoiler: Hurogok

The creature turned in circles, examining its environment. With a deep breath, I carefully stepped forward and spoke to the creature. "Hello?"

The Hurogok immediately stopped spinning and turned to me. A deep whistling noise filled the room. I was completely unable to understand him. Luckily, we had expected the language barrier and had something prepared. I pulled out a flexi and handed it to the Huragok. "This includes a full dictionary of our languages so that you can communicate with us."

It took the flexi from me carefully and started examining it with its tendrils. A small portion of one side seemed to disappear under its examination. I shrugged. "Now we just have to wait and see how long that takes."

Luckily for us, it took barely ten minutes for it to decipher the technology. It handed back the flexi. I took it and read it. "Jaffa?"

I furrowed my brow. "No. I'm human. My name is Arthur."

It was quiet for several moments. "Do you have anything that needs fixing?"

I blinked and turned to Arriston, who stepped forward. "If you're willing to help us, then we'd be more than happy to provide anything you'd like."

It whistled several more times. "I'd like to get to work immediately."

I stared at Arriston and shrugged. He was quiet for a moment before nodding. "We can find something for you to work on. Ma'chello?"

Ma'chello nodded. He seemed to think for a moment before his eyes suddenly lit up. "We have a few old spacecraft that need repair. They haven't been operational in decades, but they'd be a good project to start with."

I raised an eyebrow. "The old Dendredan Shuttles?"

Ma'chello nodded. "We have several that are intact. They just need some basic repairs, and they'll be good to fly again. Just getting the few extra hulls into space would be a massive advantage."

The Hurogok floated up and down, its tentacles squirming as if in excitement. "Excellent."

I shrugged once more. "I'm sorry, but I don't believe you've told us your name."

"I am Slightly Overweight." I almost choked as I read the name. It seemed to bob up and down in confusion as I responded. "Sorry."

I turned back to Ma'chello. "I guess we can show it where he can get to work?"

Arriston nodded. "We should get a small group of engineers together so that they can assist it with its repairs. Arthur, you're currently off a project. Would you be up for this?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Sure. It would be a good experience for me as well."

Slightly Overweight continued to gently bob up and down. "I'd like to begin immediately."

Ma'chello shrugged. "Sure. I'll have one of the storage sites opened up so you can get to work. We have about eight intact vessels, and about 130 wrecks."

It was still early afternoon at the moment, so Arriston quickly ordered several of the people who were formerly working with me on the JFX project to help with the shuttle repair.

Less than an hour later, we were on Dendred, looking at the Pre-Invasion shuttlecraft that I hadn't seen since my first time visiting the world.

This hangar had four fully intact vessels. I quickly touched each of them once.

First Perk Activated. Partial Blueprint Acquired: Ουρανός 2 (Ouranos 2) Ουρανός 2 Chassis, Ουρανός 2 Pressure Chamber, Caelumfabrica Gravitic Pushers, DracoFabrica Naquadah Reactor

I smiled. Time to get to work.

- - -
On Dendred. That evening.

I sat down at the table once more. I rubbed my eyes for a moment as I got my bearings. Elder James raised an eyebrow. "Arthur, are you alright?"

I nodded. "Exhausted. Keeping up with Slightly Overweight has not been easy."

Arriston took a moment to look me over, but he quickly nodded. "Alright Arthur. What can you tell us about this Huragok?"

"Well, he's about as much of a workaholic as I expected." I took a deep breath and stopped rubbing my temples. "He's still working at the moment. I don't even know if he sleeps."

Ma'chello nodded from beside me. He'd joined in with the repairs since he'd grown up around the ships, and being able to see one fly had been a dream of his for decades now. "Trying to keep up is quite stressful. He isn't exactly all that talkative, but he does excellent work. I believe we'll have the first of the space worthy Ouranos-2s within a couple of days."

Arriston seemed to smile slightly. "I've always wanted to see what they look like in flight."

Elder James nodded as well. "The addition of a few more cargo ships will be quite useful."

Ma'chello nodded as well. "It's a good project to get him started. It'll give us a good understanding of his capabilities, and giving him access to the ships doesn't reveal any of our more strategically important technologies."

Arktos raised an eyebrow. "So it is male then?"

I nodded. "Yes. It prefers to be referred to as a male."

Arriston nodded. "So, has he stated anything about what he was doing before he was brought here?"

I shook my head. "The only thing he's… spoken about was working on a Slipspace drive for a ship. Other than that, we've gotten nothing about him."

Arktos raised an eyebrow. "So it has knowledge of this Slipspace that you have told us about?"

I nodded. "That's the only thing I have been able to confirm. He has experience working on the drive of some sort of warship, but he has said nothing further."

Arriston nodded. "Do you think we could ask him what he knows?"

Ma'chello and I both nodded in unison. Arriston turned to me first. "He seemed like he would talk if we asked."

Ma'chello nodded in agreement. Arriston looked between us. "Alright then, let's just ask him."

A few minutes later, Slightly Overweight gently bobbed into the room. Arriston nodded gently towards him. "Thank you for coming. We have several questions for you."

He whistled gently in affirmation. Arriston continued. "Would you please tell us what you were doing before you appeared here?"

Rather than speaking this time, he just touched the flexi and text appeared. "I was making repairs to a Covenant warship. It was damaged in battle, and most of the crew was dead."

I raised an eyebrow. "Damaged? Who were you at war with?"

Slightly Overweight seemed to almost shrug. "The Captain thought they were more humans at first, but they used weapons we'd never seen before. Their ships were all pyramidal, plated with gold. They fired golden balls of plasma that crippled our ships' shields in a single hit. The big ships were destroyed first; the few ships that survived managed to because we pretended to be wreckage. The captain captured many of the enemy. All I know is that they called themselves Jaffa."

We were all stunned for several long moments. We all knew what he had just described. Goa'uld ships. We thought he had been brought from another reality, but had he actually come from this one? I gulped, "Do you think you could point out where you come from if we showed you on a map?"

The reply was ‌a very simple "yes."

Arriston nodded to one guard. "We'll be visiting the datacore. Have the Stargate ready for us, please."

We took a short walk to the Stargate, dialed it, and stepped onto the lead Ha'tak of Ares' fleet, now accelerating into deep space at slower than light speeds. It was traveling at approximately 2% of the speed of light after just a few months of acceleration. The effect of time dilation was still relatively minimal, but it was now measurable with even an analog clock.

We made our way to the ship's datacore, where Arktos quickly turned on the galactic map feature. "Do you recognize this galaxy?"

A negative came as the reply, and Arktos quickly began zooming away from the Milky Way to the surrounding galaxies. Slightly Overweight produced a single rather distinctive whistle. I read aloud from the flexi and Arktos stopped; I'd make sure to remember that particular whistle. It was an important one to know.

He bobbed over to a particular location, one of the Milky Way's satellite galaxies, and pointed at it with a tentacle. Arktos raised an eyebrow and zoomed in. The entire galaxy came into focus. I was surprised at how accurate the readings were. It hit me then. The existence and location of many star systems were too ‌well known to have been mapped from the Milky Way.

Elder James snapped his fingers, seemingly in realization. "Arktos, can you check Ra's most recent records? Specifically, check for locations of newly discovered Stargates."

Arktos raised an eyebrow and did just that. Nearly 300 newly discovered Stargates were shown as being within the galaxy that Slightly Overweight had pointed out. All along the galactic rim closest to the Milky Way.

Arriston became much more serious. "So Ra is active within this galaxy?"

Arktos nodded. "It would seem so. These addresses have only been added within the last decade."

I groaned. "So you're not from another universe then; you're from this one."

Arktos nodded. "I believe it would be ‌best that we contact the Asgard immediately."

Slightly Overweight looked back and forth, confused by the mention of the Asgard.

Arriston nodded. "Yes. I believe that is the best course of action."

We took the Stargate back to Kaelastrum, where Arriston contacted the Asgard and provided them with this newly uncovered information. What the Asgard did with the information was out of our hands, but they were already quite busy. It was unlikely that they'd be able to do anything with this information in the immediate future.

- - -
Author's Note:
I (and hence Arthur) were completely unaware of Dingbots before the writing of this chapter, so they just assumed the worse. Probably for the better that he didn't go for Dingbots, since Sparks seem to be rather horrific.

Read up to Chapter #75 on Discord: [ LINK: https://discord.com/invite/dbVKfqYw5T ]

 

[BlazingHyperion]

- - -
POV: Thor.

As the communication from President Arriston ended, I immediately called for a meeting of the High Council.

The Covenant. They were an… interesting group. Religious societies were always the most difficult to communicate with.

My transporter activated, and I once more found myself at my seat on the council. The Chief Archon spoke, as I was the last to arrive. "You have more information?"

"I have received a report of The Covenant's existence in one of the Milky Way's satellite galaxies."

The room was quiet for several moments. Freyr responded. "Do we have any way to confirm this?"

"We have no information about this galaxy. Our only choice is to send a ship to investigate."

On the other side of the Chief Archon, Penegal spoke. "We do not have the ships to spare. The only vessels that are not currently quarantined are yours. We cannot risk spreading the replicators further."

The Chief Archon nodded. "We cannot risk sending any ships. It will have to wait until the replicators are no longer a threat."

The chief archon quickly moved on from the subject. "How are our efforts to reverse engineer the ion weaponry?"

Freyr took over now. "The initial prototype has been completed. Initial tests have performed excellently. The replicators are incapable of adapting."

The Chief Archon nodded. "What of the attempt to bypass the subspace interference caused by these… HPGs?"

Assir, at the far end of the table, was the one to reply this time. "Nothing. We could not produce a counter capable of allowing our vessels to enter areas affected by this device."

The Chief Archon nodded. "What about the requested modifications?"

Assir replied once more, "We have identified the subspace frequency that is used by the Goa'uld. Modifications show that Goa'uld vessels will be significantly slowed if travelling within 15 light years, and destroyed when going within 10 light years."

The Chief Archon nodded. "Deploy them to the worlds of the Protected Planet's Treaty."

Assir disappeared in a flash. He turned to me next. "What of the preparations for the activation of the Dakara Device and the retrieval of the android known as Reese?"

I nodded. "We have 20% of the Stargates in place. It will be several weeks before we can guarantee the destruction of the replicators."

I stopped to pull up the information about Reese. "She was retrieved, and her codebase has been dissected. We discovered several base commands that would allow her to deactivate any replicators she controlled, but they would normally be adapted out of their own codebase within seven to nine days. While examining the code was certainly interesting, the replicators that we fight have adapted to so much new technology that they are effectively two unrelated entities."

The Chief Archon nodded. "And what of the android herself?"

"We have removed her ability to make new replicators and the mental suppressors included with her code base. Once she is reactivated, her mind will be free to grow as a normal human."

"Good. You are free to awaken her. Proceed as planned with the Stargate dispersal. I believe that is all?" The Chief Archon swivelled his head around as he looked between the others at the table.

Freyr was the one to respond. "Once the replicators have been defeated, we will need new warships. I have prepared several plans. There are several classes of smaller vessels such as cruisers, but also battleships and even a couple of titans."

I knew what was coming; staring dully at Freyr, I replied. "I assume these ship designs just happen to originate from Sinclair's mind?"

The others seemed to realize what was going on as well. Freyr, of course, being Freyr, did not care. "I took… inspiration."

He sent us all several blueprints. The first few were effectively just copies of Sinclair's designs that had been modified slightly to accommodate ‌Asgard technologies, but there was also a collection of original designs.

Despite my annoyance at Freyr's attempted theft, I could not deny that all the vessels were beautiful. I let out a harsh sigh. "The Bilskirnir has only been in service for 50,000 years. It is too early to replace them."

Freyr raised an eyebrow. "You disagree with your assessment in only 100 years. The last thousand years has seen the single greatest period of technological advancement the Asgard have ever experienced. While it is earlier than normal to replace a mainstay warship, the Bilskirnir can no longer handle retrofits of new systems. We need new vessels."

With a slightly defeated sigh, I nodded, agreeing with his motion, as did everyone else.

The Chief Archon nodded once more. "Then we are adjourned."

- - -
POV: James Cromwell. Three weeks after the arrival of Slightly Overweight.

"Jump confirmed. Arrival is expected within 90 seconds." All the vessels in the area confirmed that they were well clear of the area where the jump field formed. While the crew of the Manassas would feel as if the jump had happened instantly, those of us waiting for the ship to arrive would have to wait for a period. For the Manassas, that was between 90 and 120 seconds.

The Cobalt Eye was jumping with the Manassas, so it would take approximately the same amount.

As the seconds passed, slowly but surely, with a bright flash, the SLS Manassas and the SLS Cobalt Eye both appeared exactly where they were expected, at the zenith of the Dendred System.

It had been a rather long journey, but now they were here. I looked out at the two ships from the copilot's seat of one of the Tel'tak. The radio crackled to life. "This is the SLS Manassas and SLS Cobalt Eye. Where do you want us?"

The radio crackled to life, this time from the BSG Daedalus. "You're clear to burn for Dendred. We'll follow you in."

"Understood." The Manassas and the Cobalt Eye both began to reorient themselves. The Deimos and Daedalus would both join the Manassas and Cobalt Eye in performing a normal burn towards Dendred, though both the Colonial and Cylon ship would go at a fraction of their normal speed because of the decision to maintain formation during the return.

All four ships had taken on board extra crew members, mostly new recruits, but it had also been decided to swap some of the crew members to allow the various formerly independent militaries to learn from each other.

I watched as all four vessels entered formation and began the one-G burn towards Dendred. The radio crackled once more. "Return trip is underway. All other active vessels are ‌ordered to return to Dendred."

My transport pilot turned towards me for confirmation, and I nodded. With a whoosh, the blue whirlpool of hyperspace opened for just a brief second, and then we were back in realspace in orbit of Dendred. "Take us to the station."

The pilot just nodded once, and I sat back down and waited. After a few minutes, we approached a massive metal scaffold. At the center of the structure was a metal cylinder, the station's main pressure vessel. The initial plans for the station had been scrapped when Arthur suggested using the station as a test bed for capital ship scale jump spinners.

With that in mind, the center of the pressure vessel had been hollowed out so that the jump spinners could be replaced in a worst-case scenario.

Splayed outwards from the center of the station were a collection of twelve massive ribcage-like structures. Four of them had been finished to their full 1.2 kilometer length. The rest was still under construction.

The Dendredan steelworks had been working at full force for weeks straight to produce the amount of steel necessary. The Tel'tak slowly and carefully pulled up to one of the airlocks and carefully docked.

The primary advantage of jump spinners was that they required very little heavy material. It was mostly just simple conducting wire and permanent magnets.

That wasn't to mean the machinery wasn't complex, but the raw materials needed and techniques for constructing it were not very high tech, unlike the germanium-based KF-drive cores of the Inner Sphere.

- - -
POV: Arthur Sinclair. One week later.

The jump spinners floated in space. They had been easy, if expensive, to assemble. The much more difficult part of the project had been building the subspace field initiator. The entire project had only been completed due to the help of Slightly Overweight.

It was only with his help that we had been able to fabricate many of the more delicate components involved with the field initiator. It wasn't a long-term solution, but we only needed a single device, rather than a production line. That would come much later.

So, with the initial tests completed, it was time to begin the first proper test. A short-range jump. From the North to the South Pole of Dendred.

The entire team watched from a distance as the drive spun up, and with a burst of light, it was gone. About twenty seconds passed before the confirmation came in. I let out a sigh of relief. There were still a lot of tests to do, but with any luck (and with Slightly Overweight's help), we wouldn't have to worry

- - -
Two days later.

The Manassas, the Cobalt Eye, the Daedalus, and the Deimos all pulled into their prepared drydock. There were plans to retrofit all four ships.

The Manassas and the Cobalt Eye were both going to be test beds for modifying Inner Sphere vessels. First would be the installation of Colonial grav plating within both ships. The second would be a minor modification that would allow for the KF-drive to jump within the gravity well of most planets. This modification would still require removing the drive core, so we decided to just go with a full overhaul, which led to the third modification; we would be replacing a lot more of the internals with naquadah-based components.

Once this round of replacements had been completed, we expected the minimum safe charge time to be down to 35 hours. To reduce it any further, we would have to replace the entire titanium-germanium alloy drive core. Doing that would entail a complete overhaul of the entire FTL system.

The overhauls of the Deimos and Phobos were much less drastic. Both vessels would be retrofitted with Goa'uld and Star League technology. While certainly not as extensive as a full drive core removal, they would still take a few months at the very least.

Both would be several month long projects. We would be strapped for personnel if it weren't for the fact that the first group of junior engineers had finally completed basic training, and just as we needed them.

In total, there were about 1500 newly trained engineers. Each of them potentially seconds away from causing permanent damage to vital systems, on irreplaceable technology.

That several months was likely even longer with all the safety precautions we would take to ensure they didn't break anything.

If everything went according to plan, by the time the retrofits were completed, Dendred would be fully evacuated. In the meantime, we had even more work to complete.

- - -
Three Weeks Later.

With a deep breath, I took my stance again. It was early in the morning. On the other side of the arena, Yren smiled at me. "Come on, Arthur. You're being sloppy today."

I groaned and put up my fists once more; Yren did the same. We closed the distance, and just as I was about to start with a cross, the Celestial Forge popped into the back of my mind.

Choose a perk: 1: Bonesinger (Warhammer 40K - Craftworld Eldar Jumpchain, 400 Points) - Description: Dear child, the Eldar do not simply build their wondrous technology. Instead, they rely on the power of song to shape their creations into being. This is a very demanding process, which requires a unique mix of artistic and scientific knowledge. Most importantly of all, a strong mind is necessary for this process. Bonesingers sing a psychic song, and its melodies form a psychoactive material from the warp itself, called Wraithbone. This lightweight material is stronger than titanium but is far more flexible and weighs less. Additionally you can psychically grow crystals that are the basis of their laser & lance technology. You have the knowledge and ability to sing any Eldar technology and any technology you know into being and more than that, eons of experience in doing so. Even so, the more complex an item is, the more time it takes to create said item. A whole choir of Bonesingers is required to create large and complex items such as starships and Eldar Titans unless you are willing to sing alone for years. With enough time, perhaps, you could even sing forth a brand-new Craftworld but how and where would you acquire that much time? Even an Eldar is not immortal. 2: Moon Tech (Okami, 400 Points) - Description: While you aren't granted a full understanding of everything the Moon Tribe could do, you've been blessed with the basics, including the method to make the metal used in their constructions, and an intuitive understanding of the way the machinery functions. For the most part, the inner workings are mostly a mystery, though what is known is that they can run infinitely on their power source and are controlled by the spirit or divine power of the user. Examples of the greatest of their technology includes Yami's nearly unbreakable transforming robot body, a machine that generates freezing blizzards, and spaceships. Lesser works include most non-divine creations in the item section. This talent could quickly grow into so much more if you could only get your hands on enough Moon Tribe relics to experiment with or an expert to learn from. Indeed, this is all promised to you by Yami, along with dark power unending and rule in Nippon if only you swear fealty to him and devote yourself to his goal. After all, he has already granted you so much, and without even demanding your loyalty. As a bonus, Yami will even throw in the right to manifest his markings on your body. In appearance, they're simply a blue mirror of the celestial markings worn by Brush Gods. Try not to show it off to those few who've dealt with him before, as none will hesitate in slaying an agent of Yami. I'll leave the choice up to you. 3: Machine Madness (Dragon Ball GT, 400 Points) - Description: So much of the universe relies on Ki to grant them power or natural biological abilities. Why pursue scientific perfection when you're already able to claim to be perfect? Why NOT pursue scientific perfection? Despite the lack of need, you buried yourself into science and found ways to use technology to match mysticism. So long as you have a good understanding of how a supernatural effect or technique or ability works, you are able to replicate it through technology, creating a device or being capable of performing that effect or technique or ability. The method, resources, cost and so on may change to fit the new medium but the ultimate result will be as if you had used that magical spell yourself...just through the lens of beautiful, beautiful science.

Any of these perks would be amazing to have. Machine Madness would allow me to apply any supernatural effects I knew; heck, it might even allow me to recreate the effects of the Sarcophagus.

I didn't know what to think about Moon Tech. The few pieces of technology it listed were all interesting, but not all that interesting. The part about gaining access to Yami, however, was not something I was quite willing to accept.

That just left the last perk; Bonesinger. If I wasn't reading it wrong, it seemed like it included basic psychic abilities. Frankly, I didn't know enough of the Aeldari to say what they would do to me if they learned that a human knew the secret of creating wraithbone.

All of this passed through my head just in time for me to suddenly notice Yren's fist approaching my face.

- - -
Author's Note:
Another perk. Want to know what gets chosen, then join the Discord. Lol.

Read up to Chapter #75: [ LINK: https://discord.com/invite/dbVKfqYw5T ]

 

[BlazingHyperion]

- - -
POV: Arthur Sinclair.

I once more poked at my nose, only to wince as the cartilage shifted under my ministration. I returned my hand to my side as I followed Elder James into the room. Inside, Arriston and Arktos were waiting.

Ma'chello was busy working on other projects. He had begun research into growing Goa'uld crystals, since he was the second most familiar with their technology. As such, he had decided against joining.

I once more took my seat. Arriston nodded to me. "Alright, Arthur, what do you have?"

I nodded and began explaining the three perks that I could choose from. The room was quiet for several moments. Arriston nodded. "Arthur, tell us your thoughts."

I pursed my lips. "The perk I know the most about is Bonesinger. The technology that the Aeldari have available is extensive. All of it is based on wraithbone, a material that is probably among the strongest substances in existence. The perk seems to hint that it will include some psionic abilities. The biggest issue with this one is how the Aeldari will react to the secrets of their technology being known to someone who isn't an Aeldari."

Everyone frowned, but no one had any rebuttals. I continued. "Frankly, I know nothing about this Okami. The technology it offers is… well, the unbreakable robot body sounds good on paper, but mechs would be effectively indestructible to someone in the Iron Age. No. The real issue here is this… Yami. Taking this perk will probably either summon this being or give him an entrance into this universe. I think, for that alone, I want to disqualify this option."

The others all nodded, a round of agreement going up. Just like that, the perk was disqualified. "This one is appealing. The ability to recreate supernatural phenomena with pure science would be… amazing. The issue is that I don't know ‌any purely supernatural phenomena. All the more mystical lantean based techs – the Stargate's wards and the sarcophagus – are closer to magitech. I don't know how well this perk would apply to those. Even if I could apply the theory behind the wards, what would we use it for? We have yet to detect any form of demonic entity. It's clear that something happened to the Warp Gods to cause them to disappear, so that just leaves enhancements to the sarcophagus at the moment."

I stopped to take a breath. "So, we have two options. Access to an entirely new realm of technology, with a possible but low potential for danger, or we gamble. We get essentially nothing at first, but a lot of potential options in the future."

The room was silent for several moments. Elder James nodded. "Alright. I'll vote for Bonesinger. I hate to say it, but the telepathic abilities are too good to pass up. Anything past that is just a bonus."

Arktos nodded along. "Especially if this Comstar truly exists, you will need a method to guarantee that anyone we bring back to Kaelastrum isn't an infiltrator; else we would have to push for much more drastic action on that front."

Arriston nodded as well, clearly in agreement. I looked around once more. "Alright. I get the feeling that this will be a pretty drastic change. I should probably do this at a hospital."

We took a quick walk down to the hospital, where several people had been asked to wait. Lieutenant Moretti was among them, along with several Dendredan doctors. They had me lie down on a medical bed. I selected the bonesinger perk and immediately passed out.

- - -
All across the galaxy, for the first time in nearly nine-and-a-half million years, since Tzeentch was dragged kicking and screaming into the Deep Warp and the Sea of Souls calmed, Aeldari Farseers, across the aging remnants of the Aeldari Empire, awakened.

As far as the Aeldari themselves could tell, who awakened was totally random, but it didn't last for long. As one collective, ten thousand spoke as one. "A stranger to our blood, but a keeper of our Ways, shall save the Aeldari from the long night."

Then, as one, they all perished. Their souls, already damaged by the loss of the Warp Gods, shattered, each of them giving their lives. The rest remained in slumber, hoping one day to be healed of their losses.

- - -
POV: Arthur Sinclair.

I awoke with a groan. Everything hurt. I slowly opened my heavily crusted eyes to find Lieutenant Moretti standing over me. "Arthur, how do you feel?"

A second groan escaped my lips as I tried to speak. It took me just a moment to get a hold of myself and reply. "Like I got run over… multiple times."

The doctor nodded lightly. "Well, frankly, I have no idea what happened to you. You've been lying in this bed for a week, and during that entire time your eyes, nose, and ears have all been bleeding. You've lost enough blood to kill you about a dozen times over. From the few times I could get X-rays, it looks like your brain has expanded by about 20%, and your skull has grown slightly to accommodate the changes as well."

She was silent for a moment. "I don't know what you did, but I'd say you should be glad it didn't kill you."

All I could do was let out a sigh. "Not really like I have much of a choice in this case. I needed to pick something."

The doctor just raised an eyebrow but said nothing further on the subject. "The President wanted to see you. He'll be here in a few minutes."

It was after the doctor had left the room, and everything was quiet, that I finally noticed a buzzing. At first I thought it was the lights, or maybe something in a nearby room, but as I listened, it quickly became clear that it wasn't. It was a cacophony of whispers. I couldn't focus on any single thought, but it was there, in the background of my mind. It definitely hadn't been there before.

I just lay there, listening to the whispers. I didn't even notice the President and Elder James entering the room until the Elder spoke to me. "Arthur, are you okay?"

I quickly blinked my eyes a few times. I looked between the two of them and nodded. "Yeah, I'm alright. It seems like telepathy is definitely kicking in."

Arriston raised an eyebrow. "Can you read my mind?"

I stared at him hard for several long moments. The whispers seemed to get louder for just a moment, but they were still too indistinct to be understandable. "No. There's something there, but I can't tell what's being said yet."

The two looked at each other. "Alright. What about the included knowledge?"

I blanked out for a moment as I thought about it. The knowledge had been sitting there at the back of my mind, just waiting for me to peek at it for it to come forward. For a second I was overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of technology, but I gave it a moment to pass.

The obvious stuff was the small things. Aeldari infantry weapons, such as the Sunrifle – though I was surprised to see the Heat Lance there as well, something I now knew was a device used most commonly by the Dark Eldar – were the first things I saw. Then there were the large-scale Starcannons – very similar in principle to the Goa'uld Staff Weapons, though much more powerful.

Then there were the vehicles I could make. Smaller fighter craft, but also ‌other things; walkers such as the Wraithlord. Finally, I felt my mind settle on the warships; from escorts like the Shadowhunter, to Aeldari battleships, though I was also rather surprised to find Dark Eldar warships along with the normal Aeldari vessels.

Above even the battleships, the knowledge and experience of creating Craftworlds. That was much stranger since it wasn't a single class of ship, but a general term, but if I had enough time I could make one.

Finally, my attention turned to the last of my new memories; the Isitha Kasra. It was a musical instrument, sure, but it also allowed ‌Bonesingers to communicate with wraithbone with much greater ease. They could only be made by Boneseers, and I had a feeling that I would need one.

I opened my eyes and nodded. "There is a lot… actually, I think I have more than the description seemed to suggest. There is a lot of Dark Eldar technology as well."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Elder, I'm going to try to make some wraithbone."

The two looked at each other before looking back at me. Arriston nodded. "Alright. If you think you're up for it."

I nodded and closed my eyes. With my new memories, I knew that the singing was sort of optional. The Warp energy reacted to emotions, and songs were just about the easiest way to push that emotion into the Warp. A sufficiently experienced Bonesinger could just force their emotions into the wraithbone to form it.

Although I was fairly confident I could make some wraithbone without the song, it would be much easier with it. With a deep breath, I brought my hands together and started singing. It was an Aeldari tune, something that had come along with my new memories. It was a fairly simple song about growth. Nothing complex.

I repeated the song a few times, only stopping when someone shook me. I looked up to see Dr. Moretti standing over me. "Your food. You need to eat."

I blinked a few times. "Ohhh. Thank you." I looked back around the room to find no one but myself and the doctor. "Where did the President and Elder James go?"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow as I took the first spoonful of soup. "They left a few hours ago. You were to remain undisturbed."

"You've been humming away for the last eight hours." I froze for just the briefest of moments.

"Incredible. I thought it had only been a few minutes." I looked down into my lap. Lying there were three cubic inches of wraithbone. I picked it up to find it was incredibly light, but it didn't seem to warp no matter what I tried. Hopefully, wraithbone would live up to all it claimed to be capable of.

I smiled brightly. Bonesinger had been an excellent perk, as far as choices went.

- - -
I was discharged from the hospital seven days later and was immediately moved off the space station project. Most of the station had already been designed. Strictly speaking, I wasn't needed, though I still planned to go in and look everything over every couple of days.

Experimentation with the new perk began immediately. I could produce approximately two kilograms of wraithbone a day, but that was only if I focused on nothing but making the material itself.

Attempts to make more complex shapes and patterns ran into issues immediately. I was still a human, despite what my new memories showed me. Most of the techniques that were meant for use by an Aeldari just didn't work. There were some things I couldn't do no matter how hard I tried, and other things had more unpleasant side effects. The most annoying of these was the headaches, though I also just blacked out sometimes.

Apparently, my soul was not the same as that of an Aeldari. The perk had changed my soul just enough to use the most basic of Bonesinger techniques, but for the more advanced ones I would have to change them to work for a psychically active human.

As a start with the experiments, I began by making different forms of wraithbone. The base form of wraithbone is a perfectly rigid material, so it was useless unless I sang it into its initial form from the very start.

The very first test we performed was whether I could produce wraithbone sand. As it turned out, yes, I could. In fact, the finer the sand, the more easily I could produce it. It took me almost two weeks of experimenting, but I figured out how to produce atomic-scale wraithbone.

When producing sand at this scale, I could create almost 50 kilograms a day, twenty-five times as much as with just hardened wraithbone. The main issue was containing the material. At that scale, wraithbone acts like a liquid, so several large tubs are needed for storing it.

This was just the start of the experiments. Initial attempts to anneal this wraithbone variant with iron produced a form of steel that was ten times harder than endosteel. One kilogram of wraithbone dust could produce a little more than a ton of this wraithsteel as Ma'chello had dubbed it.

There had also been attempts to combine it with all the heavy elements we had access to. All in all, Wraithbone was turning out to be a wonder material.

- - -
Author's Note:
Thanks to AmosTrask, and simianpower for proofreading and editing.

There we go. A proper, OP perk. I could see the third option being better long term, but this one is better in both the short and medium term. Also provides some fun story opportunities with the Aeldari.

Read up to Chapter #76 on Discord: [ LINK: https://discord.com/invite/dbVKfqYw5T ]

 

[BlazingHyperion]

- - -
POV: Arthur Sinclair.

The air was tense. The fleet heading for the Inner Sphere had made its last stop before reaching what is expected to be a habitable world.

At first, it was planned to go straight to Terra. The plan was quickly changed upon discovering what HPGs do to subspace. Instead, the ship would head for the edge of Draconis Combine space, to the Epsilon Pegasus system.

Records of the system had been discovered on board the Claymore. It had been a Terran Hegemony research outpost, even before the creation of the Star League. During the Star League, the world had gotten an orbital JumpShip yard, and several DropShip repair bays.

It was only as I was going through my memories with the help of the Asgard that I realized I had heard of the world in my past life, and luckily, I had read the sarna.net page for the Epsilon Pegasus system.

If my memory was correct, then the system was abandoned until 3023, when it was rediscovered by Comstar. Considering that the Cobalt Eye's calculations showed it would still be some time in the 30th century — at least 20 years before the discovery of Epsilon Pegasus — the system would be the ideal position for a forward operating base for entering the Inner Sphere.

In more unpleasant news, as the fleet had entered the area within approximately two thousand light years of Terra, there had been a measurable decrease in the fleet's speed. It was barely a few fractions of a percent, but it was an unfortunate sign that our fears about the effects of the HPG network were likely true.

The good news was that this decrease in speed would give ample warning of when a vessel was getting too close to an active HPG.

So, the last few days slowly ticked by, with the fleet providing constant updates through the Goa'uld communication orbs. As the last few hours passed, there were still no signs of any form of HPG use near or within the system.

As the days turned into hours and the hours into minutes, the critical decision makers all made their way into the newly constructed situation room. At the center was a massive holotable, which had been connected up to the communication orb so that everyone could see what came through on the sensors.

Everyone watched on in silence as the fleet exited hyperspace in orbit of the fourth world in the Epsilon Pegasus system; the world of Columbus. All the vessels immediately cloaked and began scanning the world.

It was only after half an hour of searching that the facility was identified. It sat on the edge of a crater, on one of the world's two northern continents. The facility showed serious signs of overgrowth. From orbit, everything appeared intact, so a pair of Tel'tak entered the atmosphere to scout from close range.

On the ground, there were no signs of any habitation whatsoever. The facility was surrounded by plant life that had been left untouched for at least several hundred years. Signs of sweeping wildfires that had killed all the plant life on the plains the facility was in, though it clearly had resulted in no actual damage to the primary structures; the Department of Mega Engineering built things to last.

So, after doing an initial sweep of the site and finding nothing but empty buildings, the fleet came down. The landing strip was still completely intact, despite at least a couple centuries of disuse, so landing was no issue.

The various search teams got out and began a more thorough inspection. The facility was large. It would be easily capable of housing a few thousand personnel. In the meantime, one of the 30 Stargates that had been picked up during the trip from Mycena was brought out and installed on the ground. The DHD was placed alongside the gate, and the first wave of personnel started going through.

Over the next couple of hours, every single room, hallway and corridor was mapped extensively. It was only when the facility had been fully mapped a full day later, including the Outpost Castle, a smaller variant of Castle Brian — named for Brian Cameron, the 6th Director-General of the Terran Hegemony — that sat underneath the facility, that I was finally given the okay to head over. Going with me was Major Novak, whose security code was required to unlock the Memory Core.

So, as I stepped out of the Stargate and stepped, for the first time, onto a Star League world, I was surprised that I didn't feel all that different. The Stargate had been placed just near the entrance to the facility rather than inside to prevent the Stargate from damaging the structure.

With approval from President Arriston and Elder James and with a pair of guards in tow, I began examining the various large-scale constructs. I started at the pair of DropShip service depots.

The base clearly had not been a small one. There were two service depots, each of which could hold four DropShips for ‌a total of eight, not to mention the hangar that could hold another dozen more.

First Perk Activated. Partial Blueprint Acquired: SLDF Dropship Service Depot (DSD) DSD Gantry System, Dropship Relocation System,

Both the gantry and the series of moving platforms that constituted the relocation system were something else. The gantry could lift a DropShip that weighed up to 40,000 tons with little issue (assuming it was attached correctly). Meanwhile, the relocation system was a series of moving pads placed on rails. The pads would act as landing platforms for the DropShips, and could then hurry them into either the nearby DSD or one of the empty hangars.

With the first of the interesting facilities examined, next on the list was the BattleMech repair facility. While I had been rather surprised to find the structure here, that was more so because it wasn't mentioned on the Sarna page. It was, however, mentioned in the Claymore's records.

First Perk Activated. Partial Blueprint Acquired: SLDF BattleMech Repair Facility (BRF) COMCore Computer

Now this… was interesting. The COMCore was an advanced scheduling and help computer, basically a very simple AI. It could, through basic scans, get a basic understanding of how badly damaged a BattleMech was, figure out how long it would take to make sufficient repairs, and then inform crews to speed up the repair times.

Technically speaking, it was a very advanced virtual intelligence. It held a lot of similarities to the Cobalt Eye's AI, and had clearly been a part of the inspiration behind the ship's creation.

I hadn't heard of the technology before; I would have to ask the major about it when I got the chance.

Other than the dilapidated nearby town that had sadly burned down more than a century prior, the last remaining structure on the surface of the world was a massive DoME research complex.

The building had four levels, and there were another four of them below the ground. Columbus was the primary Terran Hegemony and then SLDF research outpost for the spinward Deep Periphery. It was used as a stopping-off point for a lot of expeditions. When one expedition returned, it would bring biological samples from newly surveyed worlds.

This facility had state-of-the art biological laboratories, everything from virology to botany. The third and fourth basement labs were a collection of massive indoor greenhouses (though the living material had unfortunately perished already).

First Perk Activated. Partial Blueprint Acquired: Columbus Research Lab. Floor Plan

So, with the last of the surviving ground-level facilities visited, it was time to visit the last remaining structure on the planet. On the side of the nearby crater was a door. It had been among the first things opened up when the fleet had arrived, and the extensive tunnel network had been the primary time sink when ensuring that the world was safe.

The entrance to the world's Outpost Castle. The original Castles were absolutely massive underground fortresses that could easily safely house entire armies, from everything up to and including orbital bombardment.

While only a few hundred were truly confirmed to exist, there were actually hundreds more of them hidden just about anywhere you could imagine. The Terran Hegemony had gotten very good at building the structures in the territory of the other Star League member states, and most of them remained hidden even centuries after their construction.

The Outpost Castles were much smaller, but still very well hidden and just as well fortified as their larger counterparts.

Waiting for me at the entrance was a member of the Manassas' marine complement, standing alongside a small wheeled vehicle. He saluted once. "Sir. The major told me to escort you down to the Command and Control Bunker."

"Thank you. I appreciate your help." The marine nodded for me to enter the vehicle. My guards and I did so, and we began the drive down into the tunnels. The Outpost clearly had power, since the overhead lights were all on, so I could watch the absolutely massive tunnel fly past.

While the place definitely needed cleaning – dust and soot covered the floor and the walls – I couldn't find any damage whatsoever to the structure itself.

The driver took us through several tunnels, and past several very large but empty warehouses. It was a good thirty minutes of driving before we arrived at a pair of massive doors. Half a dozen vehicles were parked, with Marines standing at attention before the facility.

I got out of the vehicle, and the moment my foot touched the ground, a notification went off inside my head.

First Perk Activated. Partial Blueprint Acquired: Outpost Castle. Command and Control Bunker (Columbus)

I stopped for a second to look over the information in my head before thanking the Marine for the ride over. He nodded back, and I made my way to the main entrance. I passed the marines, who all seemed to stand even straighter as I passed.

The inside of the bunker was heavily fortified and rather confusing to navigate. It was only with the help of the floor plans that had been added to my brain that I could navigate through the tight corridors and to the command center. There, I found two dozen people, the Major among them, all of them staring into terminals.

The Major turned to me and nodded as I entered. "Arthur. What's the state of the aboveground facilities?"

I shrugged. "It looks like the Service Depot will just require some minor repairs, same with the BattleMech Repair Facility. What about on your end?"

The Major shrugged. "We have full access, but the facility has been cleared out. Looks like this was one of the sites that got looted during Operation EXODUS."

I shrugged. "Ahh well. We still have a fully operational Outpost Brian, and the Research Facility on the surface is about as advanced as you're going to get from the Star League. Now, is there any chance I can help with going through these records?"

The Major smiled and gestured to one of the open terminals. I took a seat and got to work.

The facility had modest star maps for the Spinward Deep Periphery. While searching through the records, we also found reference to a seed vault up at the planet's North Pole that was supposed to have samples of every single plant that had been brought to the world since it was founded. That would be something worth checking out.

While we were searching through the Outpost's records, we had also confirmed that there was a set of three Jumpship Drydocks, each large enough to hold even a Monolith Class Jumpship, and one of them capable of holding even WarShips; the Star League Exploration Command's SLS Pioneer — a modified Avatar-Class Heavy Cruiser — had apparently been stationed at Columbus for several years, and its arrival had necessitated the addition of the WarShip repair yard.

The dry dock had been hidden inside the core of Columbus' small moon, and the Tel'tak had failed to detect its existence until a more in-depth scan of the moon was completed. With access to the Outpost Brian on the world's surface, we commanded the hidden entrance to open up.

The inside of the facility was just as empty as the warehouses on the planet, but all the infrastructure was intact, and frankly, in even better condition than the structures on the planet.

All of this was great, but there was one piece of information that was available within the Outpost Castles computer systems. Today's date: the fifth of April, 2977.

- - -
Author's Note:
Welcome to the Inner Sphere… sort of… not quite yet.
Read up to Chapter #77 on Discord: [ LINK: https://discord.com/invite/dbVKfqYw5T ]

 

[BlazingHyperion]

- - -
POV: Arthur Sinclair.

I watched ‌as the third XJF carefully hovered through the Stargate. So far, we had constructed 12 of the fighters, though we only had three cloaking devices to install at the moment, and we weren't quite ready to start mass-disassembling Tel'taks to get the parts. The ship would depart for the closest known Draconis Combine system; Cabanatuan.

In the meantime, several other ships were heading out in search of the Járnfolk, a collective of several worlds that fled from the Rasalhague area in the 26th century. They had access to JumpShips and were a relatively advanced society, but, as far as I was aware, they had little to no actual JumpShip production capability.

They also had contact with the telephone company (the hidden society that ruled the Inner Sphere), so we would have to be careful about what we showed them.

Of course, those ships wouldn't be leaving for at least a month. We were planning on making immediate upgrades to the orbital space station, and that involved shipping over a lot of steel from Dendred and Voragine, and we needed the ships in order to maneuver the massive metal scaffolding in orbit.

So, I watched on in silence as all three of the prototype fighter craft were carefully placed into the hangar bay of the Al'kesh. Then, with a whoosh, the ship was up and away. Cabanatuan was 190 light years away. It would take the ship two days to reach the world. Probably longer since its speed would decrease exponentially as it got closer to an HPG.

- - -
POV: Michael Dresden.

The Al'kesh exited hyperspace in orbit of Cabanatuan III. Even during the Star League, the world hadn't been large. The records showed that the world had a single site for all orbital traffic. The ship immediately cloaked, and we began scanning. It was only after about three hours that we finally found what was supposed to have once been the port.

It was an irradiated crater even now, hundreds of years later. Scans suggested that a few dozen thermonuclear weapons had been dropped on the site; why someone would do that to a backwater world like this was beyond me. After relaying this information back to command, we continued to search. After a full day, we failed to find anything but ancient signs of habitation.

Rather than checking nearby worlds, it was decided that we would travel directly to Bjarred, a prefecture capital within the Pesht Military District. I didn't know whether to be relieved or annoyed that the hyperspace interference increased as we approached the world.

It was at a distance of 15 light-years from Bjarred that we finally pulled out of hyperspace. The Jump Fighters would make the trip from here, though it certainly wouldn't be a comfortable trip for the pilot.

The colonial drive could only make jumps of a quarter light-year at a time, and with a recharge period of 15 minutes, it would take fifteen hours to reach the star system. They would lie low on the world for a few days (hopefully without attracting the attention of local authorities).

During this time, they would try to get history textbooks, entertainment, and technology. A lot of it likely wouldn't be purchasable through normal means, so they carried reprints of SLDF manuals, which Arthur had stated had some value in the Inner Sphere, as well as bars of pure Germanium - Specially manufactured boxes had allowed the metal to be safely transported during a jump.

If everything went well, they would spend a couple of days on the world and then rendezvous with us once they had gotten everything they needed.

- - -
POV: Arthur Sinclair.

Standing across from me, on the other side of the boxing ring, was Rory McLeod. He was my father's second in command and one of the Special Forces operatives who worked with him during the Amaris Civil War.

When he was revived, he had joined the academy as a combat instructor. That's why I was here; today, he was my training partner.

Rory didn't look like much; he wasn't particularly tall, his brown hair and brown eyes would have seen him blend into most crowds.

That wasn't to say anything about his combat ability. Rory was among the most highly decorated Special Forces soldiers that the Terran Hegemony had ever produced.

Part of that was due to his being active during a time of significant strife and unrest – well before and during the Amaris Civil War– but the fact that he had survived despite all that was not insignificant in showing his abilities.

With a quick nod, we both started circling. I stared at Rory intently. While the exercise and the practice that came with this sort of training are excellent, there is a separate point to this.

For weeks now, I had been trying to use my newly acquired telepathy to read other people's minds, and I had been progressing slowly. That was until I recognized something. During combat, a professional would focus their entire mind on a single thing.

That realization had led to something rather interesting; if I focused, I could detect when an enemy was planning on throwing an attack at me. Because of how the human mind worked, those sorts of decisions were usually made well before the body started acting on them.

With just a single month of practice, I could now regularly detect not only when someone was about to throw a punch, but what type of punch it was going to be.

This came with the fortunate, or rather, unfortunate side effect that I could now defeat any opponent I went up against. Sure, if I were in combat, it would be great, but it felt almost like cheating when I knew that someone was going to do something before they themselves did.

It was still an ability I was doing my best to improve. Half my sparring time was spent practicing without the telepathic aid, and the other half was spent with it. My next goal was to identify where an opponent was planning to attack.

Suddenly, Rory came at me with a jab straight to the face. I blocked it and stepped to the side, just out of the way of his hook, all the while returning the jab. Through sheer skill and reflexes, he stepped out of the way.

Rory was one of the few who could actually defend themselves when I was reading his intentions; it made him the perfect training partner.

With the hour coming to a close, I called an end to the training session.

As I was on my way to my workshop, I was rather surprised to find myself called over to a meeting with Elder James, Ma'chello, and Orion Valc: a member of the Daedalus' marine complement, and their representative in the RoK.

As I entered the room, and Elder James nodded to me once. "Arthur, take a seat, please."

There was a rather somber atmosphere within the room as I entered. Elder James was the one to begin. "Arthur, we‌ need to move you off of ship design and into military development."

I blinked a few times. "Alright. What did you have in mind?"

Elder James continued. "A lot of our plans for the Inner Sphere require covert operations. There is no piece of technology better for that than the Ashrak Cloak. We need to use the technology safely and regularly."

He stopped to let me think for a moment. I had already considered the concept, and I had a pretty good idea about what to do. "It's doable, but it won't just be an arm attachment anymore. The person using it will need full body armor. The easiest way would be to make modifications to the Nighthawk's armor. Replace it with wraithsteel and naquadah alloy plates, and upgrade the power source. If I have Slightly Overweight's help, I can do a full upgrade of the entire chassis while I'm at it."

Elder James nodded‌. "That's great, but that's just the start of what we need. We need more infantry equipment. We have all this advanced naquadah-based technology, and a supply of the material. What we really need is a new primary infantry weapon to replace the Mauser, as well as a new sidearm. We need something with the range and firepower of the Mauser, the capacity of a Ma'tok Staff, and a weight that makes it usable by most soldiers. If possible, it should also have the stun capability of the Zat."

The more I heard, the further back I sat. I tapped the table a few times as I thought. "Sir, frankly, I don't think I can get you what you want. Right now we can't even produce the focusing rubies of the Mauser, let alone the type of crystals we'd need for Goa'uld energy weapons."

Ma'chello asked, "Were you not aware? I had a breakthrough in the crystal growth chambers. Construction of an initial prototype is already underway. It will be a couple of months before it is ready, but we should be capable of producing very basic Goa'uld crystals when the time comes."

I was speechless for several long moments before coughing. "What sort of crystals are we talking about?"

Ma'chello sighed dramatically. "Only the most basic focusing crystals, unfortunately; only those that are used in the Zat'Nik'Tel. "

My good mood dropped a bit, but only slightly. "That's more than enough. I can modify the Zat crystal to work as a laser focuser. We could have energy weapons with much higher intensity for little to no increase in energy cost."

Ma'chello chuckled. "It'll still be a few months before the device is completed… let's just say that growing Goa'uld crystals is not a simple process. I'm lucky I got to spend so much time talking with Egeria before she left."

I shrugged and turned back to Elder James. "Yes, in that case, new standard infantry weapons would be more than doable."

Orion nodded once as my excited muttering ended. "If we're going to be including cloaking fields in the power armor to begin with, then would it be possible to include some sort of gravity pack with the suit to allow it to maneuver in a zero-G environment?"

I blinked at him. "Easily…" I took a moment to think before continuing. "We could use some of the miniaturized Gravitic Pushers. The thing wouldn't be capable of taking off on a planet, but it should have no issue producing an excellent acceleration in space."

Elder James nodded. "Good. In that case, Arthur, I need you to put together a presentation for Arriston."

I blanked out as I stared at him for several long moments. Everyone stood up, and the Elder patted me once on my shoulder as I was on my way out.

I groaned and made my way back to my workshop. I was the first member of my team to arrive. With a crack of my knuckles, I sat down and got to work on creating a set of initial design models for a prototype pistol.

An unintended side effect of my fourth perk was that I frequently lost track of time; I constantly got lost in my work. I had even added an automated shut-down to my computer so that I would actually stop when my day ended. Today, I was interrupted by Slightly Overweight placing one of his tentacles on my shoulder.

It took me a few seconds to turn my eyes away from my screen and up towards the blue, snail-like structure that was Slightly Overweight's head.

I blinked a few times in confusion. Slightly Overweight wasn't usually the one to pull me out of my work. "Sorry. Did you need something?"

It was quiet for a few moments before it began to whistle. It had taken five months, but I was finally starting to understand the very basics of the Huragok language. Nonetheless, I grabbed my translation flexi and read what Slightly Overweight was saying. "I plan to create another Huragok."

I blinked a few more times. Well, it was time to take this to Arriston.

- - -
Author's Note:
Thanks to AmosTrask and simianpower for editing and proofreading.

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