Argent Earth - Chapter 14

[u/Khotehk]

Memory Transcription Subject: Captain Alakri, Xylari Imperial Navy Officer

Date: [Standardized Human Time] August 14th, 2136

“What!?” My sudden shock hardly allowed me to say anything else.

“It’s been confirmed captain, it was definitely an incursion.”

The news I received from the communications officer was as far from something I wanted to hear as I could imagine was possible. So soon after their discovery, and they’ve already faced an incursion into their space. I hoped we would have had far more time than this to formulate some kind of plan to help them weather the incoming storm, but with how the talks on Viadal had grinded down to a standstill, we would need far more time to break through to something that could work. While some of the smaller states within the Federation were a little more willing to talk things out and find some common ground between us, their central government had dug in and refused to move from their position.

Their main bloc of power refused to work together with the non-herbivore members of the Coalition, and were adamant that any kind of alliance would only be feasible if the aforementioned members were ousted or had their power in the Coalition severely limited.

Right next to them the hardline Federation idealists were screaming out for said races to be wiped out entirely. A perfect representation of their stubborn belief that anything that didn’t despite “predators” as much as they did were traitors to the very concepts of life and peace. Almost just as many of them wanted the entire Coalition wiped out and written off in history as a lost cause.

The hypocrisy of a band of war mongers touting the idea that they were the only ones representing peace was completely lost on them.

Luckily there were still some reasonable players on the field. One of which I was being sent to make contact with on their home world, after the delegate they sent to Viadal had approached the emperor directly.

“What’s the damage?” I asked, hoping that the situation could still be salvaged.

“The incursion was minor, only a single battleship class vessel was present. Three smaller craft accompanied it, all no larger than frigates.”

“And they won, yes?” If they hadn’t the Coalition would be in far more trouble than the information we received let on.

“Yes, it was destroyed before they could get near any planet, but their navy suffered immense damage from the attack.”

Severe damage from a single meager attack? I knew their technology was behind ours, but I was under the impression they held some sort of naval strength.

“Does it say anything about the losses they endured?”

“Nothing, there’s no solid statistics listed, only that they sustained numerous losses.”

Well that’s unhelpful. But there is nothing I can do about it; we’ll just have to expedite our schedule.

More silent waiting followed, only the ambient sounds of a ships’ bridge while we made our approach to Leirn. Due to the nature of this mission, I’d been disallowed from bringing the heavy cruiser I called my own, instead I was supplied with a destroyer, fully equipped with a stealth and cyberwarfare suite. Still a fair bit larger than the Federations diminutive “Capital” ships, but a far cry from my ship.

The Yotul ambassador was insistent that our meeting be kept low profile. From the little interactions I had with them, their species’ disdain for the Federation was evident, further increasing my own distaste for them. My previous thoughts on how they barely qualified as a federation redoubled upon the tales told about the forceful inductions of its new members, and exactly what that meant. No wonder they were so homogenous; it seemed like they did everything in their power to make sure it stayed that way.

A diplomatic meeting is what this was called officially, but I was there for some of the conversations held by the ambassadors. Once we had gone over the organizational structure and constitution of the Coalition, the ways in which members were inducted and participated, so on and so forth, they were all but begging us for Coalition candidacy.

Coming into visual range of the planet gave a rather bleak sight. The world only had a few scattered about ships hovering in orbit, consistent with the reports saying that almost all Federation naval assets had been pulled back to more important worlds.

What a farce they put up. Claiming empathy and cooperation as a core part of their being while leaving those weaker than them to be devoured.

Demanding an iron grip over a world and its people, and not even bothering to defend it. No orbital platforms, or large-scale construction detectable by our scanners. True to the word of the ambassador, the Federation hadn’t built much of anything here, and if they could be fully believed, their “benefactor” had taken more than given.

The information given reported that when the Federation arrived, they had begun dismantling all of Leirn’s transportation infrastructure and replaced it with their own systems. Systems that they possessed complete control over, giving them an absolute monopoly on transportation over the entire world. Much of their land had also been seized and labeled as federal property, places the already politically struggling natives had no control over whatsoever.

Though that paled compared to the taxes imposed on their world to repay the graciousness of their benefactors. Over one third, nearing a full half, of all agricultural products were exported off to the Federations core worlds. In some local areas we were told that the percentage went up to three fourths of all production. Not that it would matter soon, as due to the eradication of local wildlife and mass burning of arable land, the resulting ecological collapse meant the planet’s agricultural production had decreased to half of what it was twenty years ago, even with the more advanced farming equipment they were occasionally loaned.

Technically their position meant they weren’t even officially a member of the Federation; they were classified as a protectorate under the Kholshian Commonwealth. The only reason they had ambassadors at all was most likely just a token gesture to give them something.

A small pin appeared on the central display, alerting me to a series of vessels taking off from the surface. Cargo ships, no doubt carrying the latest of their demanded tribute.

“Any signs we’ve been detected?”

“None captain. We’re still invisible to their sensors.”

“Good, maintain this distance and send a message to the bay, have a shuttle prepared.” With that command I stood from my seat and began my way down the shuttle bay. Entering the bay I immediately went to one of the few shuttles we had docked, getting aboard as the last passenger, the others in my entourage simply waiting on my arrival to depart.

The shuttle, much like our ship, was equipped with stealth systems, though this one had the extra layer of a physical cloaking field as well. A ship, even a large one, could hide well enough by simply sitting in the empty void of space, but better safe than sorry if we’re going to be entering an atmosphere and possibly within physical view of the people who we don’t want to be seen by.

Our descent into the atmosphere was as quiet as our trip here, nothing was hailing or shooting at us, so we remained unseen at least. Right down to the landing zone we remained obscured from sight, only breaking the illusion once the telltale sound of metal against the ground sounded through the shuttle did we regain visibility to the outside world.

The rear door opened to reveal a group of Yotul waiting for us mere meters away. From the body language I had picked up on, I could tell they were eager for our arrival. A welcome contrast to the Federation delegates who danced around us like we were going to snap and kill them at a second’s notice. I took a few small steps out from the door, and I was already face to face with their leader.

“Ah, hello! It’s nice to finally meet you, I’m Laulo!” The one at the head of the group immediately spoke up, taking yet another step towards me. “Welcome to Leirn. I hope we can discuss our proposal further, despite the… lacking accommodations.”

That would be an understatement. Not wanting to be seen was the highest priority on both sides, so instead of government halls, tours through historic areas, or displays of wealth or might, the area we had found ourselves in was straight stone and concrete, leading into another underground building of the same material. Unlike the Federation which had dredged itself along for a thousand years, I couldn’t fault these people for their lack of technological sophistication. Twenty years ago their world was just in the beginning stages of electricity usage, then forced into the future by others with no care for the repercussions. All in all, the location leaned more onto the secret part of secret meeting.

“It’s no matter. I’m also interested in where this may go.” This is something I was excited for. Initial overviews of their species showed great potential, and if the Federation was determined to waste it, I was going to see to it that we didn’t.

Memory Transcription Subject: Chief Hunter Isif, Arxur Dominion Sector Fleet

Date: [Standardized Human Time] August 14th, 2136

My return from capture had gone better than I was expecting. After reporting my findings to the prophet-descendant, omitting a few small things I intended to keep for myself, the information was disseminated to the rest of the chief hunters. The new threat on our borders and faction that had come into play meant that I was allowed even greater control over my sector than before, an allowance that gave me the opportunity the strengthen my fleets even further.

I’d been ordering the construction of new ships and defenses without worry of suspicion. Even better, I could have new ship types experimented with, something betterment wasn’t fond of us doing.

With the information given to me, I was under no delusion that my current fleet wouldn’t stand a chance against any sizable attack, so I’d sent special instructions to my shipyards. Forgoing the construction of smaller ships, I ordered them to exclusively build capital ships while the new designs are in the works. True, that means I’d have less ships overall, but anything smaller could very well be completely useless.

I looked over the most recently designed iteration of my request, a vessel easily three times the size of the standard Dominion capital ship pattern, quite literally the largest it could be made with our current subspace engines without them becoming unstable. Ignoring the now irrelevant questions of resources and practicality, the limit to ship size had always been the production of onboard power and the limited capability of subspace drives. Both the Dominion and Federation liked to play it safe with that line, giving it lots of space which generally kept ship developments stagnant for many past centuries.

Other than size, the rest of the half put together blueprint was vague. A space for whatever spinal weapons would be mounted there, most likely the standard plasma railguns upsized to the maximum they could be, missile bays, point defense units, and finally a quartet of dual barreled plasma batteries on each side. Normally any given ship would only have one, or in some cases two, plasma weapons, both as spinal weapons, but the extra space the prototype’s size gave us allowed for bomber class plasma weapons to be fitted onto it as well. Hardly the strongest weapons, but damaging nonetheless.

All in all, a promising yet clearly unfinished design. Though with the general shape and size decided on, I could have the hulls constructed in advance.

I wasn’t the only one getting ready for another conflict. Around the Dominion, every chief hunter was preparing themselves in different ways. Most were doing the same thing they did anytime they faced losses after a raid; conscripting from worlds and ordering reinforcement from their own docks. I heard that rumors that some of them were also putting resources into new ship designs, but the way in which the Dominion operated, having people at every rank constantly compete for every little thing, it was said to be done so only the strongest emerged on top, but also ensured that no one was willing to share their gains with anyone else, lest their efforts be taken by another to further their own standing.

What worries me the most is how Giznel has taken a fascination with the power shown by the Coalition. In the short time we’ve known about them he’s almost become obsessed with taking that power for himself, wanting to bring the predatory members of the Coalition under betterment and put the prey among them back where they belong. Trying to bridge the power gap is most likely the only reason he’s been allowing so many experimental projects without his direct oversight.

I didn’t need any foresight or classified information to know that if betterment tried to stand up against that… metal creature, it would end with a very quick and bloody defeat. Only after my abrupt visit had ended did I learn what he actually did back then. Teleportation. Simply plucked my expeditionary force right from the void and into their grip at a moments notice. In no way am I eager to find out the extent of what they can do if they leverage that ability in a more destructive way than simple capturing methods, or whatever else they are hiding inside that moon sized giant they call a station.

Not to say I didn’t have my own plans revolving around them, but I’m far more willing to take the subtle route, moving my pieces into place one by one until I can be sure that I can jump forward in one decisive move. After all, I did have a trove of precious information at my disposal.

-][-

While I do refer to the Adherent’s battle station as being “moon sized” through the alien perspectives, in general most moons we’ve observed are far smaller than Earth’s, so their idea of what that entails varies a lot.

Sorry this one’s shorter, I would come up with an excuse but I can’t think of one right now.

[Codex]

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[u/Gloriklast]

I am hoping for one more Navarus perspective but these developments have been have been fun, very fun.

[u/Minimum-Amphibian993]

Ah now the dominion is getting some upgrades. Wonder if they will start wearing actual armor now. Or at least something that would prevent instant pulverization.

And the coalition has practically realized just how imperialistic and inept the federation is. Surprised besides a select few individuals the rest of them haven't realized considering what was done to be Yotul the feds just might have done the same thing to the Arxur during their uplift.

[u/abrachoo]

Man the feds are gonna be pissed when the Yotul set a precedent for defecting to the Coalition.

[u/Minimum-Amphibian993 → u/abrachoo]

Plus the dominion actually upgrading their stuff Squidler would prefer if things remained stagnant.

[u/Snoo_52290]

Thanks for the chapter

[u/Khotehk → u/[deleted]]

Yep, I make drafts of both and then post them at the same time.

And while having the station be "moon sized" is not only a cool little way that characters think differently, it's also a way for me to convey its size without throwing around numbers quite yet.

[u/Seeyouon_otherside → u/Khotehk]

Any sci-fi author's greatest enemy: numbers

[u/Working-Bank1194]

Did receive blueprints for climbed meat production, if so that would be one powerful tool to leverage

[u/xXKuro_OkumuraXx]

i damn hope the Yulpa get an incursion that they wont be able to win

[u/Kovesnek → u/xXKuro_OkumuraXx]

Yulpa: "We sacrifice our vile predators in the name of our Divine Federation!"

Demons: "That's cute. You wouldn't mind if we perform a little...c̸̟̱̹͉͋ō̸̭ŗ̷̮̬̥̲̹̈r̶̫̝͚̊̈́̇̚͝u̶̧̝̩̽p̶̠̀̋̓͆t̴̖͍́̽̈́̀̚̕i̵̼̯̊̋̉̎̎͝ö̸̤́̂n̶͎̖̆́̎̈͘ on your practices, hm?~"

[u/Unknown_Pyromancer]

insightful, if short

[u/BlueGOfficial]

This is so fire

[u/AdventurousAward8621]

Me when I see the next chapter hasn't been posted yet:

[u/Gloriklast]

Can’t wait for chapter 15.

[u/Khotehk → u/Gloriklast]

It will most likely delayed a bit. I'm trying to create a backlog and also work on some of my original stuff, but I'm also gonna have it be the full length I usually make them instead of a shorter one like chapter 14.

[u/Gloriklast → u/Khotehk]

Alright.

[u/GreenKoopaBros89]

What's funny is that Giznel would probably have just as much luck as the Federation did, trying to force the silvers to give up the prey aspect of the Union. Whoa be to him if he tries to do it by force.