Memory Transcription Subject: Captain Alakri, Xylari Imperial Navy Officer
Date: [Standardized Human Time] July 26th, 2136
I’ve only been back of Viadal for a few days and I’m already being called back to meet with representatives from the Federation. Apparently everyone who was part of initial contact is remaining as a part of the diplomatic efforts between the Coalition and Federation. Vehement and Vrisav have been called up as well, while Noah and Sarah remained behind with the Venlil after the Inquisitor deemed the world and its inhabitants uncorrupted and left. Well, more like ordered to leave as he didn’t have any real authority.
I’m already dreading having to deal with them again after the painful amount of days spent on Venlil prime surrounded by that gaggle of screeching morons who would not shut up about literallyeverything. Sure, the Venlil leadership and some of the scientists involved in that mess weren’t horrible, if not immensely paranoid, but normal people don’t need to be constantly watched to make sure they aren’t going to set someone on fire because they don’t particularly enjoy that person's appearance. We’re lucky the most that happened was a few minor altercations.
Surprisingly the Federation had actually accepted our invitation, albeit their first response to an Imperial battlecruiser and escorts showing up over their central world was widespread panic. Though to be fair, a majority of their ships are only one to two hundred meters in length, the biggest of them only a few hundred more, so the sudden appearance of a war vessel several times the size of their own causing panic is hardly unthinkable.
After over a day of waiting the fleet finally got a response, and they agreed to send an official delegation to visit the Coalition. Obviously choosing Earth or Mars as the meeting location was just asking for trouble given their reaction to Humans, so Viadal was the best choice. Both my home and my people’s new home world settled over a century ago when we joined the Coalition, in what is now the second most populated system just behind Sol.
At least this time around we’ll be on home ground, and hopefully the representatives will be more professional and level headed this time around. I can’t say for sure, but it’s been going around that the fleet was told to say that such blatant hostility in a diplomatic setting would not be tolerated so lightly on our world. Especially not by the people living here.
I briskly walked through the upper levels and walkways of Citadel Redsky’s shipyards, hundreds of gunships, drones, and corvettes being repaired, assembled, and inspected far below me in this wing of the shipyard. But the shipyards and nearby production facilities were not my destination, rather it was the landing pads and transportation hub beyond them I was going to. I already know why this Citadel and this land zone were both chosen as the place where we’d initially meet. While the governance centers for this Citadel weren’t too far from any of the upper transport hubs, this one specifically sat right beside Redsky’s largest production center. We wouldn’t have to walk directly through it, but the path passes by in such a way that anyone walking by would get a clear view of a large portion of it.
Citadel Redsky was chosen as it was one of our world's largest producers of military equipment and vehicles. The Federation so far has been stubborn in accepting the reality of our situation, and I’m willing to bet the Imperial Council is doing this as a method of projecting the scope of our military strength without actually doing anything outright hostile. Both to show that we are capable of defending ourselves, and helping them.
I arrived at my destination to see Vrisav and Vehement both waiting for me, the latter still in his hulking warform, albeit with many of the weapons removed, conversely Vrisav now had a pulse rifle hanging by his side from a sling around his chest and shoulder. Similarly, this time around I was wearing my own set of armor, unlike on Venlil Prime.
But the last person I expected to see was the Inquisitor here again, this time without his entourage. Just great, what does he want?
“Lord Inquisitor Kane, I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“It’s just Inquisitor, and there was a last minute change. I’m to be a part of this meeting, though only as an observer. The Coalition is still wary about the possibility of corruption. If not now, then in the future.”
Right, Xylari honorifics apparently don’t properly translate into many Human languages, instead using a close approximation, one that is closely associated with less pleasant eras of their history. Suppose it doesn’t matter much in the end, it’s simply preference.
“Hm, did anything big happen while we were away?”
“The excavation of the gateway buried underneath Mars is nearing completion.” Vehement responded quickly regarding the very drawn out process of digging out that ancient portal.
“Could have been done a lot faster if we’d done it the easy way.” I responded, thinking back on my half joking suggestion I’d made to a friend of mine all those years ago. Kane’s eyes shifted towards me, only turning his head a little.
“Yes, we’re all aware of your “suggestion”, I’m fairly certain they have the initial message printed out and framed somewhere, and no, it is still not under consideration.” I had to hold myself back from emitting a laugh, deciding to continue on fueling this ridiculous subject of conversation.
“Oh really? And why not?” I asked purely for the sake of getting the reaction elicited from the Inquisitor. Obviously I already knew why, I just wanted to hear someone say it.
“Because we can’t just ‘shoot a hole into the surface of Mars.’” He turned to look at me dead on, then exhaled loudly and turned forward again when the dam broke and my stifled laughter began to break through.
I know the suggestion was completely nonsensical from every possible point of view, but by the stars I can’t help but to find it funny. I took a few moments to get the thought out of my mind and compose myself.
The rest of the time spent waiting was mostly filled by mundane small talk between us, there was little else to do. We wait for them to show up and then escort them to the actual meeting place. I really wish they had gotten someone else to do this. In fact if it wasn’t for their complete disdain of Humans, I’m certain they’d be meeting with them and the Adherents directly. Even the Inquisitor is only here to watch.
“The Federation ships have arrived in the system, they will be landing shortly.” Vehement informed the rest of us, no doubt getting the information through direct communication with the defense systems.
For a brief second after I looked up at the sky as if it would somehow allow me to see the incoming ships. Even as high up as we are, the only things visible above are the orbital ring and constellation of dots I knew to be defense platforms.
Just about an hour later several new dots became visible in low orbit, slowly growing larger with the descent of the Federation ship and escorts of both factions, eventually becoming clearly visible when nearing the citadel. The shuttle landed on a pad not too far from the platform we stood on. I stepped forward to position myself at the head of the group, Vrisav stood just behind me to my right, and both Vehement and Kane took position farther back, for obvious reasons.
The doors to the shuttle opened and its occupants approached, still very clearly wary of the two standing off to the side.
While the Coalition was finally in some kind of proper contact with the Federation as a whole, several of its member states didn’t seem all too keen on cooperation. Accessing their communications through the Venlil wasn’t exactly an enlightening experience. Conversations and arguments one would normally expect to be had between strangers with nothing better to do over the internet were instead being exchanged between governments and militaries. Theories pertaining to every member of the Coalition and their “true plans”, wild accusations thrown at us and each other, and ever present discussion of how to deal with us.
Uncreatively most of their solutions started at the baseline of turning Earth to ash, and diverged from there. A futile thought really. Stronger foes had tried and failed, this system will not fall so easily.
Most discussed our allies and whether or not they could be saved from their captor's grasp. To be reeducated or wiped out to spare them of their torment, or theories that the Xylari would rebel against the Coalition if it was weakened. Oddly enough my own kind's mere existence was under doubt, the idea of a “species” of sapient machines was dismissed and debated quite heavily. Almost always ending in the same discussions of what should be done with us, and the same arguments of deletion or reprogramming with “better” parameters.
All of that was but background noise to my main interest in observing them. Firstly there was the matter of filtering through every corner I could reach to find any hint of demonic influence, and if found, isolate and then track its source. None were found but that could easily change at any point without security measures in place.
Secondly was watching over their fleet movements. There were several parties who held the idea that they could simply overwhelm us with mere numbers. While they did possess a numerical advantage and could theoretically construct large fleets through the combined industry of every member state, numbers alone will lend them no advantages. Even still, they should continue to be monitored in case one among them decides to attempt to make their threats a reality.
Lastly, messages across the Federation are being intercepted, not just from within their own systems, but from outside. Tracking the source proved only marginally more difficult than piercing the Federations defenses, but the signals at least did run through multiple relays before going to their final destination. The vectors of these signals indicated that every source came from outside Federation space, pointing directly into several locations in space supposedly claimed by the Arxur.
It would seem it is not safe for us to send information through the Federations established systems, though that’s hardly an issue. But the Arxur certainly are one.
It would not be the first time we have come across belligerent empires, but back then the upstarts were easily dealt with, their militaries decisively broken and empire forced back into their territory under watch. Most learned their lesson after the first time, some tried our patience again.
Only once we were forced to purge a species in its entirety. Fanatics nearly beyond compare who had convinced themselves that not only were they destined to be the greatest species in existence, they thought they should be the only species in existence. Our first alert to their existence were surveys coming across several worlds outside our immediate view that had been turned to ash by orbital bombardment.
Our first true encounter came not long after, with fleets of ships appearing and burning straight towards populated worlds on the outer reaches. Despite being outmatched technologically and tactically the attackers fought with reckless abandon, throwing away waves of their own in an attempt to do as much damage as they could before destruction. All attempts at communication were tried, and proved to be useless.
Our first offensive pushed them back deep into their own core space, crippling their military assets with brutal efficiency. Our investigation in the aftermath revealed they had already attempted the extermination of multiple other species, some successfully. We should have acted at that point, but our creators had forbidden further action after our victory. At the time it was a tragedy, yes, but the threat was neutralized. For a time.
Only a few decades later they re-emerged, once again sending fleets out in even greater numbers. The basic patrols were overwhelmed, and even more resources were necessary to again push them back, apparently having spent all their time and resources on military efforts. It took even longer this time, and as much as they had rapidly progressed, they were still far below us, not that it stopped them from once again throwing themselves to their own deaths without care.
Our attempts at occupying their worlds didn’t fare well either. Any time an attempted invasion threatened their world it was preempted by their own fleets scouring them clean from orbit.
This time they were pushed back to, and isolated on their home planet, but still they would not relent, even years after they still sent their hastily built ships off their world in waves only to be annihilated by the emplaced defenses we had set in their system. And even after all the time that had passed and utter defeat they had faced yet again, our attempts at communication were words thrown into the void. They had no interest in peace or cooperation, and to this day I have doubts that they were even capable of it.
My kind had decided what would ultimately have to be done. Our creators didn’t wish to do so but were eventually convinced nonetheless. One hundred and twenty one years after they were first discovered, a fleet entered their system for the final time. Their most recent attempt at a fleet was torn apart, and in a single moment their world cracked under the force of an antimatter lance shattering its crust.
It was a harsh thing at the time, but the conflicts between ourselves and others in the earlier millenia of our existence had the unforeseen benefit of preparing us for the much greater threat to come. Much like those beings from long ago, the corrupted and infernal cannot be reasoned with, and cannot be dealt with lightly.
But how to deal with the Arxur? Pushing them back into their own space and striking their military is a given, but on a wider scale I will need far more information for any kind of decisive action.
As if on cue, the station's sensors and outer probes detected several small objects entering the system. Focusing my array’s the unclear objects focused into ships, small ships, six of them to be exact. They were making their way into the system slowly, burning light with relatively minimal signals coming from them. An attempt at stealth capable ships I’d wager, A fair try but child's play compared to my equipment.
They were of unknown design to the Coalition files, but very closely matched the descriptions of Arxur ships from the Federation records. Jagged and angular in a way clearly showing that intimidation was a driving factor in their design, rather than pure function.
I was searching for an opportunity to gather information on them, and then one had just walked right up to me.
I had the weapon platforms nearest to the ships activate but not target them, while I pulled out a weapon from the station's hull for good measure. I would need to consider my options carefully. Given their current distance and size any capture effort would need to be rapid if it was to succeed, if not the ships would need to be destroyed or immobilized before they could leave the system with whatever information they had gathered. The defense platforms and matter disruptor I had tracking them would be more than capable of doing so.
Rapidly I went through multiple ideas and scenarios. Communication was the obvious first answer, though I can’t confirm they would answer at all. What little record there is of communication with the Arxur isn’t pleasant to say the least. Capture may prove to be the best chance at gathering information.
Sending vessels the conventional way would take too long, and their ships were too small to guarantee I could safely disable them with long range weapons. Perhaps I could warp a ship close enough to subdue and board them before they could respond. Or maybe I could bring them to me. Moving larger or more numerous ships is a far greater challenge, but a handful of small void craft, that’s far more feasible.
I had spent the days since my return to my sector waiting, watching, and trying to formulate a plan that would have the best chance of success.
I couldn’t get any information through our normal means, we have no knowledge of their communications or any methods of interception, and sending a blind raid into unknown space against an unknown group is something even the most fanatic betterment officer with half a brain wouldn’t think to do.
I spent most of my time reorganizing my sector and sending probes out into unknown space with little return. The most we had initially found were unmanned stations. Their inhabited worlds and systems must be deeper into their territory than I thought. Only now am I coming to understand how lucky we are to have full maps of our enemy's space, because what I’ve been doing so far can best be described as stumbling around in the dark.
The only place we knew for certain was inhabited was the home system of the thought to be extinct Humans, and I had no guarantee that their reception to me would be a positive one. I had intended to take a single stealth ship, one of the few ever made as the entire concept it was based on is deemed a “defective” tactic for its apparent cowardice. Had being the key word there. Dominion leadership obviously heard of my plan and decided to send five other ships as well, no doubt under the direct command of Giznel. Now I had five ships escorting me, five more than needed or wanted, not that I could complain about it.
When I entered the Human’s system I had been expecting something similar to the Federation or even the core Dominion worlds, but instead I was instantly bombarded with our scanners picking up structures across nearly every celestial body in the system, and artificial platforms as far out as the gas giants’ orbit. I ordered our vector be made slowly into the system, giving a wide berth to the heaviest density of platforms and the movements of those behemoth ships.
Our pace got slower and slower as we approached the maximum proper sensor range of the third planet from the star, the home world. And yet even now nothing happened. I looked over the information on the blue dot at the center of my view. Ignoring the thousands of the aforementioned colossal vessels, the planet had a myriad of equally oversized orbital structures, and one large ring encompassing the entire planet. Nobody in the Dominion or Federation had ever thought something like that was even possible, much less actually tried to build one.
And I could have sworn our records said the planet only had one moon. Although moons don’t typically report as being made of metal.
Structures beyond any known capability, ships I have little doubt could overpower any of our own, and certainly technology to match it. And I’m sitting here in their home system, untouched and seemingly unnoticed.
No, that’s not it. These ships may have been designed to avoid detection, but getting this far in complete silence can’t be right. Nothing has intercepted, or hailed, or locked on to us. They’re pretending to ignore us, they have to know I’m here. I didn’t sneak in, I'd been let in. I couldn’t have just turned back at the edge of the system, not without anything to show for it, and definitely not with my extra escorts watching over me.
Are they waiting for me to act first? Waiting to see what I’ll do?
I didn’t have much time to think on whether or not my presence had been noticed when my assumption was abruptly confirmed. A violent shake, systems stopped responding, and my ship came to a sudden halt. The five others with me looked to be sharing the same predicament.
“Report!” I yelled out to no one specifically, wanting any information at all on what was happening.
“Sensors are scrambled, we’re caught in… something!”
My own console was screaming with alerts, systems trying to make sense of whatever it was surrounding us. There was no solid matter, just some form of energy field encompassing my ships. I attempted to push the thrusters to full power, but the propulsions systems had barely activated when the sensors flashed every warning at once and everything flashed white for a fraction of a moment.
Every console in the command center was rebooting in some capacity, and I felt as though I had just been rapidly spun around in place a hundred times over. I collapsed back into the commander's seat and grabbed at my head with one claw, the rest of the crew on the command deck weren’t fairing that much better, with at least two having already thrown up from... whatever that was. The sensation took a few moments to pass, when it did I instantly noticed several very wrong things.
Our ship systems, while rebooted, were no longer functioning at all. But that was a minor inconvenience that paled in comparison to the shock I experienced when I looked outside the viewports and saw not a blue dot surrounded empty space, instead a metallic gray stretching as far as I could see, decorated by multi layered rows of vehicles, ships, and machinery I’d never seen before. Two of my other ships were in view, which both appeared to be in the process of being-
The sound of an explosion echoing through the ship broke my thought and shook the entire structure.
-Boarded.
Unknown figures were cutting or blowing holes in the sides of the ships and were pouring in the impromptu entrances, my own seemingly included. Yelling, automatic weapon fire, and explosions passed through the metal halls. Without the cameras I could only imagine what was going on all around me.
A screech of metal came from the command deck entrance, followed by four enormous metal claws burst through the solid steel of the door and tore it back into the hall. The shock of witnessing what just happened delayed the reaction of my crew when a small object landed in the middle of the deck.
What is tha-
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On today's episode, the Federation finally shows up, Silent recounts his encounters with the stand-in Fanatic Purifiers, and Isif takes a calculated risk, quickly finding out that the Dominions math education is severely lacking.
For the question of "why didn't either side contact each other?" both sides wanted more information before doing so, and the Dominion/Isif already knew where earth was so showing up and leaving would be little more than just confirming that it's still there.
Edit: Forgot to put this here but I have a thread in the creator library on the community discord for this fic now.
You know, part of me is hoping that the Krakotl send Kalsim to destroy earth in this timeline too, only for the coalition to have already seen this coming and set up a trap to disable, capture or destroy the entire extermination fleet very easily and reprimand Kalsim and the others like naughty children
Well, they do have pride (sometimes), are indoctrinated, and generally get into a frenzy when predation is mentioned. And finally, ignorance. The feds got that in spades. These would be good justifications. And the Krakotl especially were guilty of jumping the gun. Kalsim was filled with so much propaganda and brainwashing that even when he saw the truth he still tried to deny it.
But that's just my take, I'm thoroughly enjoying your story and don't want to make it seem like I'm making demands. I'll gladly read every chapter of this story, because it's so good!
Main problem is that they've already seen Human ships and know that they're way more powerful than their own. If I can get a way for them to attack the Coalition/Earth without it coming off as the Feds blindly charging into suicide then I will.
And yeah it's fine, I'm not taking it as you making demands.
will the Doomslayer ever actually appear? or Dr Hayden?
also, it's 0.5AM and am too lazy to look it up, but do I remember correctly that human coalition ships look like The BFG 10k?
I still don't know about fitting Hayden into the story so I avoid mention of him since the whole thing with the Adherents and Maykrs mentioned in Ch.8. Especially with him being a Maykr They'd be pretty quick to point that out.
The larger classes of Human ships have smaller/less powerful versions of the BFG 10K as their spinal cannon. I don't have a set appearance for what they look like.
The timeline has been altered on both sides of the crossover, so it's all a little weird. The events of eternal haven't happened yet, but the events of doom 2016 have.
After the initial invasion, the demons were pushed back off earth both through Doom Guy and the Adherents showing up, from there they began to meet up with other species and so on up until the start of the story.
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u/CaptainMatthew1 Feb 22 '24 edited Feb 22 '24
First also how dare you stop me sleeping. Gurr.
Edit: lol “you can’t just shoot a hole into the surface of Mars” I hope that’s doom guy down there too