935 After Ascension
Notes: Accounts from the journal of Duke Luís de Carvalho (865 A.A. to 1299 A.A.). Reliable source but heavily redacted by imperial historians. Possibility of adulteration as the original work has been lost.
The planet was an angry dust-red ball. It baked in the harsh stare of a blue star, roasting each side as it rotated and sand melted into oceans of magma. But his destination was in orbit around it, a station, an asteroid hollowed out and set spinning, housing millions. Ships congregated near the opening of the axial bore, coming and going in an endless stream, crawling across the system and out into interstellar space.
The armada descended gracefully into a matching orbit. Other ships cleared a space around them, tiny next to the hulking bioships that were too large to dock in the station. Orders had raced out ahead of them at light-speed and Luís beamed a message at the station, “This is Admiral Luís Carvalho, on imperial business. Inform Duke Leto.”
“Admiral,” Duke Leto gave the imperial salute, without bowing. “I welcome you to my domain. I have received the Emperor’s orders. I will supply you with the lithium-6 and the other requirements. The shuttles are already in motion.”
“I appreciate your cooperation, Duke,” he saluted back. “Is this the famed planet?”
“Quite right,” the man chuckled. “Almost fifty percent of the supply of lithium comes from here, by the last estimate. Twenty-two thousand kilos last year.”
“Only that much?” Luís gasped.
“It has been declining year over year, as surface deposits are depleted. Pretty soon we’ll be importing all of it from the Oll.”
“We will not,” Luís growled. “I will make sure of it.”
“Ah, yes… Your not so secret mission,” he waved a hand. “No, no need to explain yourself. I do as the Emperor commands, and more. You and your men are welcome here.”
“I will inform His Majesty of your dedication.”
Resources flowed in a constant stream of shuttles and ships. Lithium, food, water and everything else that had been depleted during their sleep across the void, out toward the border systems.
From here on out, there would be no more safe harbors, no safety net, no backup or retreat. The armada prepared for a full month as the bioships grew fat on nutrients, repairing all the damage from relativistic speed, all the chunks ripped out of their ectoderm by micrometeorites. These monstrosities, these revolting and intimidating ships, they were the key. Not even the Oll were willing to share the secrets of dark matter, of self-repairing hulls impervious to impacts and radiation. So humans did what they do best: improvised. And so the monsters were born.
954 After Ascension
The patrol routes his informant had delivered back in the Capital were quite accurate. Luís had been collecting data, surveillance and rumors for years, piecing together what few crumbs he could find. This was his reward: a narrow corridor in space, zigzagging, rising and dipping, crawling ever deeper into hostile Kiljm territory.
The armada slipped unseen, only the occasional firing of thrusters to adjust course out in the void between stars, where the sensor arrays did not constantly sweep space. He was certain now. This was it.
The star was dim… dying, its glow a deep red turning to brown. It was not on any chart. And most importantly, it was not claimed by the Kiljm: a forgotten world.
As the armada drew into the system they shot out satellites and sensors to sweep the emptiness. Slowly, an image coalesced in his tactical display. No habitable planets, that much was easy to see. Three small rocky worlds, barren and exposed to the vacuum. One gas-giant with double rings and a few dozen moons. But no stations, no settlements or ships: an entire system for the taking.
“Set a course for the innermost planet,” Luís ordered. “We shall claim it for the Empire. The system shall be called… Hope.”
It was more than just an unclaimed dot, more than just resources to feed the forges of the Empire, it was a safe harbor, a waypoint in the void, a launching board to further voyages.
The armada settled into orbit around the planet closest to the sun. Luís waited with the others as the shuttle was loaded. Finally, he took command. The hangar bay’s gate resembled a sphincter with ugly folds of dark flesh puckering. Muscles relaxed and it opened. He flew the shuttle out.
The planet was a dust gray ball, pocketed with impacts and nasty scars, with the creep of ice near the poles. Landing was easy with no atmosphere to contend with. A plume of fine dust rose in a storm around the shuttle as it touched down.
Luís stood at the front of the airlock, wearing his cuirass over the spacesuit, both a blade and a pistol strapped to the waist.
“Who are we?!” he shouted to the marines.
“Earthers, goddamnit!” they chanted back, fists pounding against chests.
“For the First Emperor!” he slammed the button to open the airlock. His boots crunched over the grey dust and pebbles, the horizon rolling away in gentle and dull hills. “I, Admiral Luís Carvalho, claim this system for the Empire, in His name.”
The others came out, carrying between them the padr?o. They set the stone column into the ground, drilling poles further down to anchor it. Luís looked up at it, the metal cross at the top, holding all the secrets. This was more than a claim. It would watch, it would report, and above all it would guide them and all that came after him, a fixed point transmitting at regular intervals, correcting for the inevitable drift of decades long travels. It was the first. Here, now, he grabbed destiny by the neck. He would make his father proud and he would shower glory upon his house, whether that redacted Emperor liked it or not.
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964 After Ascension
There were several stars hidden in that forgotten corridor, that narrow trek of space crawling across the Kiljm’s territories, only a few dozen light-years from the heavily fortified borders of the Oll. The Oll were the most advanced and powerful civilization, and in their mutual hatred of the Kiljm humanity had found an ally with the bright red and clawed monstrosities. To keep the balance of old, when humanity was not yet known, the Kiljm had sided with the Holy Dominion of the Aguraminami, thus locking the galaxy in place, containing humanity inside a tiny Bubble of space with only a few hundred systems to call home. Until that day. Until Luís Carvalho earned his accolades. He found new worlds, planting new padr?es in secret, stretching the borders of the Empire for the first time in centuries. But even he did not expect what he discovered next.
It was a system like any other. A yellow star, a few barren worlds, two gas-giants and a few planetoids. Then the moon completed its orbit around the giant, coming into view. It was clear in seconds that it was inhabited by the constant hum of transmissions bleeding into space.
“Go dark!” Luís shouted over the comms. “All drives off. Beam comms only.”
Acceleration was gone in a flash and his stomach lurched. The lights dimmed as low-power modes activated. The armada drifted dark and cold. Radio waves washed over them.
“Get the AGI working on that,” Luís ordered. “Doesn’t seem like any language we know. Top priority.”
Not wanting to activate the engines and give away their presence they simply drifted past the moon, sensors and telescopes extended as satellites and drones were dropped into orbit.
Data streamed in, sweeping the moon as it rotated, building a full scan. Even from this distance the signs of habitation were clear, dark grey stains amidst expanses of purple forests cut with neat blocks of bright blue and green fields. There were no stations in orbit. No ships. Early industrial, it seemed. The cities glowed at night, so they had electricity at least, probably rudimentary weapons too.
Luís spoke to his two captains, “Jo?o, you stay here, stay dark until I call you. Rodrigo, you do a covert burn into orbit, slow and careful. I will approach directly.”
Nothing reacted to his maneuvers. If they were watching, they would have seen a new star in the sky. If they knew enough to know it for what it was, that remained to be seen.
“We deciphered their language yet?” he asked.
“Yes, Admiral,” one of his technicians replied. “The AGI cracked it, we're analysing the data now, but we can understand it.”
“And?” Luís prodded the nervous sailor.
“As you suspected, Admiral. Their most advanced piece of technology is the radio. We can’t find any evidence of space travel.”
Luís considered for a moment, “Send a message, across all radio frequencies, tell them: The Earther Empire has come to trade. Let’s see how they react.”
The aliens had seen them. Had seen the trail of fire over the sky, had seen the bulging tumorous mass that blocked out the light, tracking the ship with their rudimentary telescopes. The effects were visible from orbit. Armies mobilizing, artillery pieces positioned over buildings, curfews keeping the masses in check. There were two large factions, continent wide domains ruled by some sort of council, as well as a host of smaller nations and city-states. They barraged the sky with questions, promises and threats. It was clear the two larger nations were embroiled in a war, fought over the embers of what remained of another power, now divided into two proxy forces, armies grinding over trenches.
The aliens were quadrupeds, with a thick and white leather skin, dotted with brown spots. Their snaking necks rose from the stubby torso, ending in a large bulbous head with a crown of short horns and a cluster of glittering eyes. This specimen was the representative of the Luminous Collective, the largest nation, and the one that seemed to be losing the war.
“Travelers from the stars,” the representative broadcasted. “We welcome your trade. We will receive your delegation with open arms,” the creature bowed in a strange manner, multijointed legs bending inwards as the neck coiled over itself. “Please, accept our invitation.”
Luís smiled fiercely. It was the perfect opportunity. It was more than he ever hoped to find, a brand new market, one they could flood with cheap things at ridiculous prices, one they could come to rule over given time.
“Assemble the marines,” he ordered. “And prepare the shuttles. Keep weapons aimed at their capital. Alfonso, you have command.”
The shuttles plunged down into the moon and burned into the thick atmosphere before thrusters fired to slow the descent. They landed in a wide open field and fires raced over the crops in an expanding circle.
The marines disembarked first, not even waiting for the ramps as they jumped down with their armor suits, sinking into the ash as they spread out in a perimeter. Luís descended last, wearing his court clothes over the space suit, with a titanium cuirass painted golden, hand resting on his ever-present pistol. As they disembarked, the shuttles rose into the sky, weapons unfurling from the hull as they hovered just above.
The sun was setting when they finally saw the natives approach in rickety automobiles that spewed thick streams of black smoke.
The edifice was a dome of copper at least a few hundred meters in diameter. Inside it was a cavernous space and a central platform ringed with stone pews. The aliens crowded the seats and swarmed the path, jostling against the soldiers just to glance at the humans. Luís’ marines fanned out ahead and the aliens shrunk beneath the implacable stare of the steel soldiers, towering over the aliens, bristling with exposed weapons.
He walked towards the raised stone platform. The Elders bowed in their strange fashion as Luís climbed the broad steps. His marines thumped across the structure in a ring, weapons pointed outward.
“Elders,” Luís let the connected AGI translate his audio and his simulated voice sounded in the endearing alien chirping sounds. “I am Admiral Luís Carvalho, Count of Almeria and Palha?a, envoy of the holy Emperor Paulo.”
One of the aliens stood up and approached, chirping quietly as the others held their bows, “Human, be welcome. The nest accepts you into its fold. You shall have sustenance and water. You shall have the protection–”
“Enough of that,” Luís interrupted. “There is only one thing I require: land. Land to build a feitoria,” the alien tilted his head to the side in a human gesture of confusion. “A factory, a… trading post and embassy. It shall need to be close to here. The outskirts of the capital will be a good place, yes. And trading rights. A treaty will need to be signed, a monopoly for the Empire, you shall not receive any other travelers from the stars, do you understand? We will need to raise a padr?o and our traders shall not pay any taxes, that is not negotiable. Furthermore…”
He laid his demands at their feet.
“Forgive me, Human,” the alien murmured after conferring with his peers. “You ask for much. But there is no giving without receiving.”
“Do you take me for a fool?!” Luís boomed over the chamber. “You are at war, yes? And losing. Your enemy, what are they called again?” before the alien could respond he proceeded. “Does not matter. Give us a target. A city. We shall erase it for you and in return, you shall give me all I ask.”
The capital, as he knew it would be. The only logical choice: decapitation. As a city of millions was swallowed in fire and ash the frontlines collapsed in a single day.
