by Ivan Kal
This placed it in perfect position, as most movements through the empire had to go through Waypoint. It also had two way connection to two other systems, Warpath and Sanctuary. Travel time through a trans-lane also wasn’t bound by distance, meaning that sometimes the travel time for a shorter lane was longer than that through a longer lane. Travel time from Warpath to Sanctuary which was some sixty light years away was about thirty seven hours, counting the travel in normal space through Waypoint, from the Warpath’s trans-station to the Sanctuary’s.
A few minutes after Adrian’s ship entered the Warpath system, they arrived to their destination. Adrian watched on the holo, as his ship approached three big asteroids tethered to each other by massive cables, and held in orbits around each other by gravity generators. The three asteroids together made up Warpath’s only city, and they didn’t have names exactly, they were more like different districts of one city. Forge district, where most of Warpath’s production facilities were, Residential district where all of their living quarters, shops, and entertainment centers were, and the Warrior district where all of their training and learning centers were.
Adrian’s ship made way towards the Residential district. As they approached the asteroid, Adrian could see weapons platforms on the surface, and also many hatches that lead inside. Adrian’s ship made way to one of the bigger hatches, and as they neared it started to open, and they entered a large hangar. It wasn’t as large as the largest hangars that Warpath had, which were in Forge district, but it could easily hold three ships that were the same size as Adrian’s, which was a small transport ship, about eighty meters long and forty wide.
As his pilot docked the ship, Adrian got up from his chair and made way to the docking hatch, his two wolions and two guards following close behind him. They stepped into a mass of people, everyone running around doing their tasks. As they noticed Adrian they stopped what they were doing and gave Adrian a shallow bow with their heads, a bow that indicated respect. Adrian returned their bows with a nod.
Then they passed through several corridors and hallways, until they finally reached a passageway that led them into the living area. They were greeted with blue sky, clouds and sunlight. All were artificial of course, except the clouds which while man made where functional. The area was one big underground dome, filled with buildings, streets, plant life, and people. The area even had its own weather and day-night cycle. The other two districts, the other asteroids didn’t have anything like this dome, at least not on this scale, but then their functions were different. The Forge district was where their industry was, and the Warrior district was designed for training and learning, Residential district was where people lived and relaxed.
Adrian turned to his guards who were in the process of removing their helmets. It wasn’t like he needed the protection, he was more than capable of defending himself, and with Akash or Sora always near him Adrian doubted that anyone could get close enough to harm him. Especially since the wolions would know if anyone wanted to, as they were empaths. But the guard was a sign of stature, and as such was necessary, at least outside of Warpath. But here it was redundant, Warpath’s security was excellent, and their recruiting checks were thorough. It was unlikely that anyone would pass through, if there even was anyone who would want to harm him. The Empire was stable, people were content, well aside from some in the Terran clan, but as their progeny grows up even that will disappear.
“I’ll see you tomorrow at the tournament.” Adrian said, looking at the two women.
Meifeng raised her eyebrows, “You’ll come to watch this year?” She asked grinning.
“I think that I will compete this year.” Adrian responded with a smile.
Meifeng’s grin froze on her face, and Clara’s mouth hung open.
“You.” Clara said pointing at him, “Will compete?” She asked.
“Yes, I need to show the people that I am still the best.” Adrian said.
Meifeng looked uncomfortable, “Uh… Boss, the last time you were in the tournament was ten years ago. That is a lot of time, and you haven’t really been focusing on training in that time…”
Adrian looked at her still smiling. He understood what she wanted to say. “You think that I would allow myself to fall behind those I lead? There is a reason as to why I am the Clan Leader.” Adrian said.
“I don’t doubt that you are strong, or that you deserve to lead, but you have a lot of responsibilities, while others are free to focus on improving themselves.” Meifeng said.
Adrian shook his head, “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He said, and started walking, leaving his two guards dumbfounded.
“You are finally going to address those rumors?” Iris asked.
“The Empire might go to war, I need my people to be sure that I am the right person to lead them. I created Warpath’s ideals fully knowing that someday someone better than me might take my place. Only those who prove themselves worthy may lead.” Adrian said.
“Good, your gifts are going to waste if you don’t use them.” Iris said.
Adrian reached his apartment and sent his passcode to the security system via his implant, as he walked up to the doors they opened to let him in. Once inside, the first thing he did was to get food for Akash and Sora, and then called his second in command and arranged to meet with him at the Forge a bit later. He then made his way to the bathroom to take a shower.
Once the water hit his head, his thoughts drifted to the fact that his quarters were empty. Adrian was fifty nine years old or one hundred and nineteen if one counted the time he spent in stasis on their trip to Sanctuary. And he, like every member of the empire looked like he was in his mid-twenties. And yet he still didn’t have anyone to share his life with, apart from the two wolions. Ever since Bethany married, he just didn’t connect with anyone on a level where he would feel comfortable letting them into his life.
He did have dalliances that lasted for a night, sometimes several, but nothing serious. There was no one who captivated him the way Bethany had. He wanted something real, a partner with whom he could share his very long life with. He looked at Seo-yun and Tomas and envied them their connection. The two of them were both powerful and accomplished people. They each had their own separate lives, but still, they loved each other. They shared a life. And sometimes Adrian thought that he would never find anything like that.
He sighed and turned off the water, getting out of the cabin and grabbing a towel to dry himself. He hated those new steam drying posts, and preferred to use good old fashioned fabric. He went into his room and dressed, he had a few more minutes before he had to meat Isani at the Forge.
***
An hour later Adrian walked into a meeting room at Forge’s main shipbuilding facility with Sora following behind him, inside he was greeted by Isani, his second in command and best friend. Isani had a tail and pale gray skin like all Nel. He also had only one name, that which was given to him at birth. He used to have a surname which designated his purpose in Nel society. But all Nel who joined the Empire renounced those names. Some took surnames for themselves, while others chose to go only by one name. And in this day and age, it wasn’t really necessary to have more than one name, every person had an implant which had a unique signature, serving as a form of identification.
“So, what happened?” Isani asked as soon as Adrian sat at the table, then reaching to pet Sora as she walked over to him.
Adrian quirked his eyebrow and made a Nel gesture with his hand signaling puzzlement, “What makes you think that something happened? Can’t I catch up with a friend?”
Isani snorted in a very human way, “You called to meet with me immediately after you arrived. You haven’t done that during all the time I know you. Meaning something happened.”
Adrian nodded grimly, “Yes, something happened. Sowir are gathering forces for an attack on Nelus.”
“They finally decided to finish what they started…” Isani said quietly.
“Yes.” Adrian said.
“I assume that the Emperor has a plan?”
“There is a preliminary plan, yes. It involves attacking their territory while their forces are otherwise engaged.”
Isani closed his eyes, “We will leave Nelus to fend for itself?” He asked, pain evident in his voice.
“That depends.” Adrian said. Isani opened his eyes and looked at Adrian hopefully. Even with everything that happened between Nelus and Nuva, Isani still cared about what happened to the Nel home world.
“Depends on what?” Isani asked.
“On whether or not we can make our fleet fully operational before Nelus falls.” Adrian said, and then proceeded to tell him the plan.
Isani’s eyes widened and he stared at Adrian. “That, will be difficult. Assuming that everything goes according to plan, we would still be taking ships with completely untested technologies into battle. If we even manage to get the technologies to work, that is.”
“And how is that any different from what we did thirty years ago? We took new, and untested ships against the Sowir.” Adrian responded.
“Yes, but those ships were based on technologies and principles that your race used for hundreds of years. What we are trying to do now is mostly new, even with all the simulations we are doing we can’t be sure how any of the new technologies will behave in combat.”
“I know, that is why we need to start testing now. Sanctuary will provide us with anything we need in order to finish the ships as fast as we can.” Adrian said, “And we can’t allow ourselves to fail Isani, because if we do Nelus will fall.”
Isani sighed. “Well, I guess that it is fortunate that we have achieved the means to complete stage one yesterday.” He said.
“We did? Why didn’t you send me a report?” Adrian asked, already feeling excited. They had struggled to achieve stage one for around ten years, the point where they had finished the hulls of all ships. Their progress was very lopsided, some ships had their hulls completed years ago, while others were just frames and carrying beams. They had focused on other things while they researched technologies, so most ships already had power sources installed and cables run throughout the ship, some ships more than others, depending on what else they needed to do.
“There was no point, you were scheduled to return today anyway.”
“Right.” Adrian answered, “Tell me.”
“It’s better if I show you.” Isani said, and with that the three of them started towards the shipyards. They passed through four corridors until they reached their destination. Adrian approached the massive windows and looked at the vast cavern. The cavern was two hundred kilometers deep, and some two hundred across, and it was filled with activity, shuttles moving from one side to the other, from the massive tunnel leading outside and to it. Its walls were covered in docking ports, elevators, and twelve large assembly docks.
Ten of the assembly docks were filled with ships in different stages of completion. From Adrian’s vantage point they looked small, but he knew that they were massive, each more than a kilometer and half long. Each completely different from the others, unique, each part built specifically for a single ship. There were no mass produced parts, every single one was built separately for a purpose.
Adrian watched them in the distance, as small figures moved about doing the work, here and there he would see a metallic construct moving about – manufacturing robots. Slowly Adrian turned back to Isani and the two made way to the elevator that will take them three levels up. They rode in silence until they reached the main deck, then they walked a few minutes more to the development lab.
Inside the room was brightly lit, with hundreds of holo prompts and screens hanging in the air, with dozens of people moving around or sitting at their stations and working. No one noticed the new arrivals, but as Isani and Adrian moved through the room people started to take notice. No one stopped what they were doing, they just acknowledged the presence of their leader with a nod. Isani led Adrian and Sora through a door at the end of the room, and then into a testing lab. There were four people inside looking through a view-glass at a plate of overlapping silver metal plates while a small laser beam was firing on it. The view glass was filtering most of the bright light from the reaction, so they could watch without burning their eyes.
Adrian watched as the light shut off and the four people started gathering and studying the data. Before they could really get into it Isani cleared his throat and the four turned to look at them. When they recognized them all bowed their heads slightly, and the Nel woman who was obviously in charge stepped towards them.
“Clan Leader, to what do we owe the pleasure?” She asked respectfully. Adrian smiled, he had spent enough time around scientists and researchers to know that they hated being interrupted and watched over. He even had a few be downright disrespectful and condescending when he asked them a question. Chief Lasani on the other hand was always respectful and cordial, even though her choice of words might not always make that apparent, but Adrian could feel her emotions through Sora and Akash and knew she was sincere. She always took the time to explain to Adrian anything he was interested in. He liked that about her.
“Chief.” Adrian nodded back, “I hear that you finally managed to reproduce the Ra’a’zani hull plates?”
Lasani glanced at Isani then behind her at her coworkers before responding. “Well… we did, in part.” She said.
Adrian raised an eyebrow, “In part? What do you mean?”
“Reverse engineering something isn’t as simple as scanning a piece and unlocking its secrets. We had to learn and develop completely new concepts and technology.” Lasani said distractedly, almost as she was saying it to herself and not Adrian.
Adrian felt the side of his mouth quirk up, “I am aware chief, we recovered pieces of Ra’a’zani ship a long time ago. I have never pressured you about results, I am not criticizing you.”
Lasani’s eyes locked with Adrian’s and focused. She watched him for a long second and then he felt her relax. “I’m sorry Clan Leader, it’s just that sometimes it can be very frustrating, having something in front of you that you can’t explain and yet you know that it works.”
She shook her head, and continued. “Right, where was I… Yes, we have been able to learn a lot from the Ra’a’zani hull pieces, and from the footage that the Monarch and the other surviving ships took. Scans of the Ra’a’zani hull had revealed that it was a composite of a metal-nonmetal alloy and a ceramic like material, with a kind of circuitry imbedded inside it. We don’t really know how the circuitry works, but we know the effect, it somehow allows for a sort of matter compression, that is what we believe allowed the Ra’a’zani ship to basically change hull modes, the rippling effect that our ships documented when the Ra’a’zani ship’s weapons raised from inside the ship. It also makes the hull virtually invulnerable to laser and particle beam fire of a certain magnitude – similar to our hull coating, only much more effective. We have tested and found the level at which the shimmering field of the Ra’a’zani hull loses its effectiveness, our current laser and particle weapons would be able to inflict damage to the Ra’a’zani hulls although the shimmer would still dissipate about half of the strength. The truth is that even now we haven’t been able to identify all the materials used to make the hull. The only thing that we have identified are titanium, carbon and a small amounts of risuminum – a metal that we have discovered just twenty years ago.”
Adrian narrowed his eyes, “But I thought that you managed to replicate the process? Create the same hull as what the Ra’a’zani have?” Adrian said glancing at Isani who kept his face expressionless. Sometimes Adrian really hated how Nel could do that, erase any trace of emotion from their face, even more infuriating was that he could feel his smugness through Sora.
“No, we haven’t been able to replicate the Ra’a’zani hull. It’s not like that technology is beyond us, it is just that we don’t know the ingredients, we could eventually crack the problem. But I wouldn’t recommend
focusing on it, there are so many paths that our shipbuilding technology can follow that it is pointless of us to focus on that one, particularly when we know that some of our weapons proved very effective against it.” Lasani said, “What we have managed to do is replicate the abilities of the Ra’a’zani hull using our own materials and technology.”
Impressed, Adrian brought his left hand to his temple then down to his chest and turned his palm outward in a Nel gesture, telling her to elaborate. Lasani smiled softly at Adrian’s use of her people’s mannerism, most of the Nel in the Empire spoke English or what was now simply called standard, but a lot of Nel words and gestures had been incorporated into the standard over the years.
“Our version of their concepts is a bit different, as you well know we still haven’t been able to manage matter compression on such large scale.” Lasani said, referring to the lower scale mater compression that Clan Warpath’s military R&D was attempting to use in their battle suit and armor development.
“But we did manage to recreate the shimmering field. Ours is working on a slightly different concept, we have no internalized circuitry to handle the field creation in the material itself, but rather specialized nanobots that move through the coils that are connecting field emitters, and they can be added to the bottom of the hull walls, which means that we can add the field to any kind of hull. Our field is a bit stronger, about forty percent, but it also requires a lot more power. Our hull is more durable, able to withstand a lot more punishment and is more heavily based on metal alloy of risuminum and steel and as few ceramic as possible, that is why we chose to name the material ri-steel. Basically, it is superior in all areas except the mater compression.”