History of the Galaxy II

[geoschmo]

Over the years the expansion of the Hive had been driven by two strong instincts, self-preservation and curiosity. Initially all energies had been devoted to spreading as far and wide as the Hive could, to lessen the impact of a planetary or system-wide natural disaster from eliminating the entire Hive. As the Hive spread this fear became less and less of a possibility, but the Hive’s curiosity about the mysterious creators of the warp gates had taken its attention for a time. Each new race the Hive met was studied carefully, almost excitedly, to see if they had the technological abilities to manipulate such phenomenon or had a recorded history that extended back to the time which the Hive believed to be the age of the gates. None had been found yet that fit the profile.

This was not to say the Hive had not learned much from it’s interaction with the neighboring races. Though it continued to be baffled by how any race so fractured by different thoughts and personalities could cooperate enough to leave their own homeworld. The Hive had experimented with smaller Groups isolated for a time from the larger collective intelligence. It had learned that this could in fact be useful for some things, such as encouraging research and ingenuity. However, the practice had to be limited as the hosts in these smaller hives had a decidedly shorter lifespan. Their biological and mental processes would suffer from extended periods of isolation, even when the isolation was only partial. Because of this the Hive had learned to maintain efficiency by carefully monitoring the condition of the hosts and rotating them back to larger Hives, or in extreme cases to the homeworld itself.

The Hive had learned from its neighbors the value of trade and cooperation in research. By sharing resources and knowledge with other races the Hive could grow and learn more efficiently than it could do on its own. But this cooperation had resulted in a new danger. That of contamination of the other race’s hosts.

The Hive could not truly understand the fear that the "Unconnected" had about what they called the "fungus"”. The Hive felt they would likely be improved by becoming a part of the Hive, but something in its host’s memories told it that the unconnected would not consider it such an improvement. Out of a sense of courtesy more than anything else the Hive made every effort to prevent such contamination. These efforts were not always successful, but they were very nearly so.

Lately though the Hive had started to notice a change in attitude among some of its neighbors. Some communications had been intercepted that gave the Hive some concerns that perhaps there was a new danger to its existence. One that could not be lessened by simply expanding far and wide. The Hive began to consider whether it might need to learn new things. It began to devote more attention to it’s hosts memories regarding tactics and defenses.

[capnq]

CEO Davdi was startled out of his reverie by someone pounding on his office door. He started to reach for the intercom button to ask Loscu what was going on, then remembered that he'd sent her home early. She'd been almost as shaken by the news as he was; it was obvious that they weren't going to get much else done today. He looked at the report spread across his desk, and realized that he had been looking at it without really reading it for quite some time. "Come in," he called to the door.

Soctu Timho bounced into the room, looking as bad as Davdi felt. "I've got terrible news," he said as he skidded to a stop.

"I know, I was one of the first ones notified," Davdi replied. "It happened so suddenly, I can hardly believe he's gone."

Timho gave him a puzzled look. "I didn't know that you knew any of the crew personally."

Davdi returned his puzzlement. "Crew? What crew? You mean the people he was with?"

"Who was with?"

"Sinta, of course. Isn't that what you came to tell me?"

"No, I have a report from the _Appreciation_. What happened to Chairman Farki?"

"He died this afternoon. Had a massive stroke while watching his favorite skyball team from his private box."

Timho was taken aback. "I hadn't heard anything about that. I've been busy going over the _Appreciation_'s Last message with Node-25."

"What did they find that would interest Node-25?"

"You may recall that the _Appreciation_ was exploring the spinward edge of the cluster. They'd reached the frontier that the Tyreans share with the Katana Imperium."

"Yes, I remember that. The Katana never replied to our First Contact message, correct?"

"Right. The _Appreciation_ crossed the Duviniax system with no response, then entered the Candida system. They were intercepted there by a Katana light cruiser." Timho paused, seemingly reluctant to continue. "The Katana ship closed with them, then opened fire with some kind of energy weapon. Node-25 has been analyzing their final transmission, trying to identify the Katana weapon. The transmission cut off in mid-sentence; as far as we know, there were no survivors."

Still stunned by the death of his mentor, Davdi was slow to react to this new tragedy. "The Tyreans warned us to be cautious in that area. I guess it's true that trouble comes in threes. I've been going over the cost projections for screening Tophin imports for that parasitic fungus from Seginus. Even the most optimistic figures have us taking bigger losses than we would by simply cutting off trade, as the Tyreans have been recommending all along. But we can't cut off trade while we've still got scoutships deep in Tophin territory, because we don't know how they'll react."

"Especially with those two Tophin light cruisers that have been shadowing the _Investment_ for the Last few months," Timho agreed. "It's going to take them a year to get back to Ampolis for refuelling."

"A year of losing profit. Malwi is going to be livid, and Sinta isn't here anymore to help me hold him off. The next board meeting is going to be even worse than the budget fight two years ago."

[Unknown_Enemy]

The Winds Of Changes.

Inquisitor Itarki was advancing in the gardens of the palace. He was about to be introduced to the most powerful being of the quadrant. Emperor Kenako Mahatsuhito of the Katanas Imperium had accepted to receive the Tyrean Ambassador in her private place. Such an honor was rare. Itarki's atmospheric shield biped, as the Katana's security systems scanned it. The little device emitted a low power force field, able to capture some atmosphere and retain it near the body of the bearer. The clumsy space suits used in the first meetings by Tyrean diplomats were long gone. A Katana servant appeared, saluted the diplomat, and guided him through the garden. Not a word was exchanged. Inquisitor Itarki arrived in front of a closed door with a mirror on it. Itarki's reflect was showing an average height Tyrean male of white and brown fur. But at several places on his body, the fur has been shaved and biopLastic has replaced skin. Several life support connectors could be seen on his body. But the worst was his head. Half of his fur has been shaved, and half of his skull has been replaced by biopLastic. His left eyes never blinked anymore. On the artificial side of his skull a quantum connector was ready for activation. The Ambassador smiled at his image. Even before meeting him, the Emperor has just asked him her first question.

" Why did the Federation send a cyborg to meet me ? "

The door was opened. Itarki was introduced to the Emperor.

"Your Majesty, I bring salutations from His Holiness Vixen VIII. I also bring a message from His Holiness, and thereby humbly request permission to read it."
The Emperor nodded slowly.
"Your Majesty,
In the name of His Holiness Vixen VIII, I have been send to reveal some hidden truth about our specie. First you have to remember our recent past. Our specie discovered the plague known as the Small Death : the shortening of our life expectancy. At the same time, Temporal powers became obvious in our population. But most of the Gifted Tyreans began to be victims of the Small Death. And in fact, the Gift and the Small Death are linked. That disease is a side effect of our power. No cure can work on such a problem. But that is now irrelevant. An era is ending.

We know.

We understand.

At Last.

The Lord choose the Tyrean for a specific function. We were given Temporal Power to fulfill it.

We did feel it, but could not see it. As we speak, 2 billions Tyreans are dying in various worlds. Natural death. Simply speaking, the energy pattern known as their Soul has departed from this universe. They are now fulfilling their task. Be advised your Majesty, that on the time of your death, your own Soul will begin her Great Journey toward the End of Time, where you will find your destiny. So is the fate of all intelligent beings in this universe. But the journey is difficult. Dangerous. Painful.

Some may not achieve it.

That is why we exist. When you will begin your Long Road, we will find you. We will help you. Should you have been friends or foes is irrelevant on the Long Road. We will help you anyway. We exist to help the Soul of the dead to achieve the Long Road. In our pride, we thought our Lord was waiting for us at the End of Time. Such vanity was ours. We only are His servants.

We are ferryman on the flow of time.

But not all of us are ready to fulfill such destiny. Some of us are not willing. Some of us are not gifted. These Last ones do not want to stay in the Federation of Churches. Some departed to the Eifralo Conglomerate. Others has recently voted to join the Imperium. Our planet Ursula VIII has requested to join the Imperium. Ungifted Tyrean are gathering there from the whole federation.

For those not willing, their future looked very grim a few years ago. They were subject to the Small Death, and perfect victims for the first aggressive specie they could cross. Thus, we devised our Artificial Intelligence.

"Why were we created ? Why ?"

Indeed, this question has haunted the Tyrean AI since their creation. To control and run our society, lower AI systems could have fit perfectly. But we needed more. We needed construct capable of curiosity. We needed construct capable of vanity. We needed construct capable of greed. We needed constructs able to perform research in fields Banned from our society. Then we needed constructs able to defend ourselves in the years to come, in our years of vulnerability. It worked as planned. The AI began to envy our Temporal power, the only thing which was completely beyond their reach.

What they could not achieve by themselves, they tried to control. They tried to merge their robotic intelligence with a Tyrean brain. But they missed the point. They could not understand the power of the living. They failed to appreciate the power of a soul. They tried to control a Tyrean brain, while not damaging its powers, like a beastmaster taming an Iceworm. Somehow, they managed to create a viable solution. By replacing just one tenth of our Brain by quantum electronic systems, the AI was able to transfer their personality in a Tyrean brain. But then, in the nanoseconds that followed their intrusion in a Tyrean spirit, something not planned happened. The AI was subverted.

Distorted.

Dominated.

Absorbed.

Instead of a Tyrean, an AI became a puppet, and let loose the false new : they were successful. They achieved to control a Tyrean brain. Unaware of their ultimate failure, the various AI composing Consensus are now running to their death like lemmings into the sea. In a matter of months, Consensus will be extinct.

But what are the Tyrean gaining from such a treatment ? Why would they choose to become cyborgs ?

They will choose that fate to gain a solution to the Small Death. The AI created several controlled cancers in our body to regenerate continuously some parts of our body victim of the Small Death. This can give a modified Tyrean a life expectancy of 130 to 150 years, despite his temporal power.

Last, absorbing a foreign Intelligence has a price. We cannot see the universe as we saw it before. We lost our innocence. We will have to live in this universe as a specie like all others.

AI Consensus has been a useful tool. A dangerous, but useful tool.

But now, the Invexus Corporation has attacked us. That unwanted war arrived on us very quickly, we would have preferred to have a few more years to handle both Consensus and the departure of most of our population. Haste is sometime the enemy of quality. It could be some AI will discover the truth, and will try to escape their fate. We will have to do the best as we can when we can do it.

On the painful subject of war, here is the situation. Years ago, we discovered Harridane system, claimed by no one, 8 systems away from our nearest colony, but in a strategic location right in the middle of the quadrant. We claimed it and send a long range colony ship, but when our vessel arrived, the Invexus Corporation had counter claimed the system and started colonizing it. We colonized a O2 gas giant there. The Invexus Corporation refused to negotiate, and harsh words were exchanged. Until Last month. We received a message ordering us to abandon the planet or face dire consequences. Simultaneously, Invexus Corporation broke all treaties with us and an Invexus warship glassed the planet killing every single living thing on a whole continent.

That surprise attack has cost the life of millions of citizens. Worse, Pandora's box is now wide open.

A world has been glassed. It will happen again.

This horror from the Ancient Wars is again a reality. The path is set. We have now to deal with the Invexus leaders. These war crimes will not be forgiven. All Corporate leaders will endure a trial for their crimes.

These, your Majesty, are the words of His Holiness Vixen VIII."

There were no questions. Ambassador Itarky was dismissed. Outside, a strong wind was blowing on the palace. The Winds of Changes were there.

[ March 17, 2003, 23:46: Message edited by: Unknown_Enemy ]

[sachmo]

"Any response from the Tyrean?" the Board Chairman asked.

"None since the initial message, sir" the runner told him.

The Board Chairman wrung his hands, going over his options. Over the years, he had learned many things about dealing with competitors. If the competition refused to deal with you, then there was only one option left. You to bring him to the table kicking and screaming, or take him out. This situation with the Tyrean was no different in his view. They had interloped into Invexus holdings and colonized one of their worlds. When asked to leave, they responded with insults and empty promises. When warned, they did not respond. Treaties were broken, and still they refused to negociate. There were no other options.

He switched on the communicator and opened a direct link with the captain of the Invexus Fleet Services Task Force in Haridane.

"What are your orders, sir?" the unit whispered.
Harridan paused a moment as his resolve hardened. There is no choice.

"Eliminate the Tyrean colony. Until further notice, treat all Tyreans as hostile."

"Yes sir!" was the response. He watched the feed as the Invexus task force began bLasting the surface of the Tyrean world. After a few moments, he turned the display off.

He looked back at the page.
"Inform all of the department heads that I need them here in my chambers in an hour. We have plans to make. That is all."

The runner was gone in an instant, and the Board Chairman took a moment to think about what would happen next. He wasn't sure what to expect from the Tyreans. They seemed to be a peaceful people and adequate traders. Would they prove to be powerful enemy?

[Fyron]

Transmission from the Five Tribes of Heru to the Invexus Corporation and the Tyrean Federation:

We will remain neutral in this conflict. You will not send any military vessels through our space, period. Doing so will be considered an act of war against the Tribes. Keep your disruptive wars away from our people.

[Unknown_Enemy]

From Tyrean Federation to Tribes of Heru

The Tyrean Federation has no intentions to cross your territory.But we have a question for the tribes : what would they do if the Chairman of Invexus Corporation started to run deep in your territory in an unarmed ship ?

We have around 6 millions motivations to capture that criminal.

On other subject with the Tribes, could you please care to explain why the unarmed explorer "Fleet of the Damned" was lost in your territory while under armed supervisions from your navy ?

Did you keep the wreck ? If yes we would appreciate to be involved in the inquiry.

Thanks for your attention.

[ March 18, 2003, 14:26: Message edited by: Unknown_Enemy ]

[Fyron]

==========
Transmission to Tyrean Federation:

We will remain neutral in your quest. If their chairmen decide to flee into our space, they will be allowed the same rights as all Invexus according to our treaty of trade. They can travel along with whatever civilian trade vessels they wish to. We will not make judgement on your case. Expelling their chairmen from our space would indicate that we have sided with you, which would violate our neutrality. Maintaining the status quo, they already have the right to travel to parts of Heru space. This will be preserved. Your warships and military personel (and the same with the Invexus) do not have the right to enter Heru space though.

About your scout ship: we have had trouble locating any old engineers that know enough about the ancient Ion engine technology to make an adequate assessment of what happened. We assure you that our ships had nothing to do with the explosion. They were heading back to dock when it happened. The vessel is currently being towed to Mensa V* at a rate of one sector per month.
==========

==========
Transmission to Invexus Corporation:

You have illegally sent warships into Niobe. Turn them around immediately. We will not tolerate foreign warships in our space.
==========

==========
Executive transmission from the Overlord throughout Heru space:

People of Heru, the time to act in self-preservation is upon us. The Invexus have violated our mandate of neutrality. After much deliberation with the High Council, we have decided that all Heru forces must mobilize immediately. We will not be quietly ignored. Our words are not meaningless.
==========

After sending off the transmissions, the old Overlord sat down, wondering where these days would take his people next.

OOC:
* IE: move it one sector closer to Mensa V each turn.

[ March 18, 2003, 20:32: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]