- - -
POV: Thor.
As the communication from President Arriston ended, I immediately called for a meeting of the High Council.
The Covenant. They were an… interesting group. Religious societies were always the most difficult to communicate with.
My transporter activated, and I once more found myself at my seat on the council. The Chief Archon spoke, as I was the last to arrive. "You have more information?"
"I have received a report of The Covenant's existence in one of the Milky Way's satellite galaxies."
The room was quiet for several moments. Freyr responded. "Do we have any way to confirm this?"
"We have no information about this galaxy. Our only choice is to send a ship to investigate."
On the other side of the Chief Archon, Penegal spoke. "We do not have the ships to spare. The only vessels that are not currently quarantined are yours. We cannot risk spreading the replicators further."
The Chief Archon nodded. "We cannot risk sending any ships. It will have to wait until the replicators are no longer a threat."
The chief archon quickly moved on from the subject. "How are our efforts to reverse engineer the ion weaponry?"
Freyr took over now. "The initial prototype has been completed. Initial tests have performed excellently. The replicators are incapable of adapting."
The Chief Archon nodded. "What of the attempt to bypass the subspace interference caused by these… HPGs?"
Assir, at the far end of the table, was the one to reply this time. "Nothing. We could not produce a counter capable of allowing our vessels to enter areas affected by this device."
The Chief Archon nodded. "What about the requested modifications?"
Assir replied once more, "We have identified the subspace frequency that is used by the Goa'uld. Modifications show that Goa'uld vessels will be significantly slowed if travelling within 15 light years, and destroyed when going within 10 light years."
The Chief Archon nodded. "Deploy them to the worlds of the Protected Planet's Treaty."
Assir disappeared in a flash. He turned to me next. "What of the preparations for the activation of the Dakara Device and the retrieval of the android known as Reese?"
I nodded. "We have 20% of the Stargates in place. It will be several weeks before we can guarantee the destruction of the replicators."
I stopped to pull up the information about Reese. "She was retrieved, and her codebase has been dissected. We discovered several base commands that would allow her to deactivate any replicators she controlled, but they would normally be adapted out of their own codebase within seven to nine days. While examining the code was certainly interesting, the replicators that we fight have adapted to so much new technology that they are effectively two unrelated entities."
The Chief Archon nodded. "And what of the android herself?"
"We have removed her ability to make new replicators and the mental suppressors included with her code base. Once she is reactivated, her mind will be free to grow as a normal human."
"Good. You are free to awaken her. Proceed as planned with the Stargate dispersal. I believe that is all?" The Chief Archon swivelled his head around as he looked between the others at the table.
Freyr was the one to respond. "Once the replicators have been defeated, we will need new warships. I have prepared several plans. There are several classes of smaller vessels such as cruisers, but also battleships and even a couple of titans."
I knew what was coming; staring dully at Freyr, I replied. "I assume these ship designs just happen to originate from Sinclair's mind?"
The others seemed to realize what was going on as well. Freyr, of course, being Freyr, did not care. "I took… inspiration."
He sent us all several blueprints. The first few were effectively just copies of Sinclair's designs that had been modified slightly to accommodate Asgard technologies, but there was also a collection of original designs.
Despite my annoyance at Freyr's attempted theft, I could not deny that all the vessels were beautiful. I let out a harsh sigh. "The Bilskirnir has only been in service for 50,000 years. It is too early to replace them."
Freyr raised an eyebrow. "You disagree with your assessment in only 100 years. The last thousand years has seen the single greatest period of technological advancement the Asgard have ever experienced. While it is earlier than normal to replace a mainstay warship, the Bilskirnir can no longer handle retrofits of new systems. We need new vessels."
With a slightly defeated sigh, I nodded, agreeing with his motion, as did everyone else.
The Chief Archon nodded once more. "Then we are adjourned."
- - -
POV: James Cromwell. Three weeks after the arrival of Slightly Overweight.
"Jump confirmed. Arrival is expected within 90 seconds." All the vessels in the area confirmed that they were well clear of the area where the jump field formed. While the crew of the Manassas would feel as if the jump had happened instantly, those of us waiting for the ship to arrive would have to wait for a period. For the Manassas, that was between 90 and 120 seconds.
The Cobalt Eye was jumping with the Manassas, so it would take approximately the same amount.
As the seconds passed, slowly but surely, with a bright flash, the SLS Manassas and the SLS Cobalt Eye both appeared exactly where they were expected, at the zenith of the Dendred System.
It had been a rather long journey, but now they were here. I looked out at the two ships from the copilot's seat of one of the Tel'tak. The radio crackled to life. "This is the SLS Manassas and SLS Cobalt Eye. Where do you want us?"
The radio crackled to life, this time from the BSG Daedalus. "You're clear to burn for Dendred. We'll follow you in."
"Understood." The Manassas and the Cobalt Eye both began to reorient themselves. The Deimos and Daedalus would both join the Manassas and Cobalt Eye in performing a normal burn towards Dendred, though both the Colonial and Cylon ship would go at a fraction of their normal speed because of the decision to maintain formation during the return.
All four ships had taken on board extra crew members, mostly new recruits, but it had also been decided to swap some of the crew members to allow the various formerly independent militaries to learn from each other.
I watched as all four vessels entered formation and began the one-G burn towards Dendred. The radio crackled once more. "Return trip is underway. All other active vessels are ordered to return to Dendred."
My transport pilot turned towards me for confirmation, and I nodded. With a whoosh, the blue whirlpool of hyperspace opened for just a brief second, and then we were back in realspace in orbit of Dendred. "Take us to the station."
The pilot just nodded once, and I sat back down and waited. After a few minutes, we approached a massive metal scaffold. At the center of the structure was a metal cylinder, the station's main pressure vessel. The initial plans for the station had been scrapped when Arthur suggested using the station as a test bed for capital ship scale jump spinners.
With that in mind, the center of the pressure vessel had been hollowed out so that the jump spinners could be replaced in a worst-case scenario.
Splayed outwards from the center of the station were a collection of twelve massive ribcage-like structures. Four of them had been finished to their full 1.2 kilometer length. The rest was still under construction.
The Dendredan steelworks had been working at full force for weeks straight to produce the amount of steel necessary. The Tel'tak slowly and carefully pulled up to one of the airlocks and carefully docked.
The primary advantage of jump spinners was that they required very little heavy material. It was mostly just simple conducting wire and permanent magnets.
That wasn't to mean the machinery wasn't complex, but the raw materials needed and techniques for constructing it were not very high tech, unlike the germanium-based KF-drive cores of the Inner Sphere.
- - -
POV: Arthur Sinclair. One week later.
The jump spinners floated in space. They had been easy, if expensive, to assemble. The much more difficult part of the project had been building the subspace field initiator. The entire project had only been completed due to the help of Slightly Overweight.
It was only with his help that we had been able to fabricate many of the more delicate components involved with the field initiator. It wasn't a long-term solution, but we only needed a single device, rather than a production line. That would come much later.
So, with the initial tests completed, it was time to begin the first proper test. A short-range jump. From the North to the South Pole of Dendred.
The entire team watched from a distance as the drive spun up, and with a burst of light, it was gone. About twenty seconds passed before the confirmation came in. I let out a sigh of relief. There were still a lot of tests to do, but with any luck (and with Slightly Overweight's help), we wouldn't have to worry
- - -
Two days later.
The Manassas, the Cobalt Eye, the Daedalus, and the Deimos all pulled into their prepared drydock. There were plans to retrofit all four ships.
The Manassas and the Cobalt Eye were both going to be test beds for modifying Inner Sphere vessels. First would be the installation of Colonial grav plating within both ships. The second would be a minor modification that would allow for the KF-drive to jump within the gravity well of most planets. This modification would still require removing the drive core, so we decided to just go with a full overhaul, which led to the third modification; we would be replacing a lot more of the internals with naquadah-based components.
Once this round of replacements had been completed, we expected the minimum safe charge time to be down to 35 hours. To reduce it any further, we would have to replace the entire titanium-germanium alloy drive core. Doing that would entail a complete overhaul of the entire FTL system.
The overhauls of the Deimos and Phobos were much less drastic. Both vessels would be retrofitted with Goa'uld and Star League technology. While certainly not as extensive as a full drive core removal, they would still take a few months at the very least.
Both would be several month long projects. We would be strapped for personnel if it weren't for the fact that the first group of junior engineers had finally completed basic training, and just as we needed them.
In total, there were about 1500 newly trained engineers. Each of them potentially seconds away from causing permanent damage to vital systems, on irreplaceable technology.
That several months was likely even longer with all the safety precautions we would take to ensure they didn't break anything.
If everything went according to plan, by the time the retrofits were completed, Dendred would be fully evacuated. In the meantime, we had even more work to complete.
- - -
Three Weeks Later.
With a deep breath, I took my stance again. It was early in the morning. On the other side of the arena, Yren smiled at me. "Come on, Arthur. You're being sloppy today."
I groaned and put up my fists once more; Yren did the same. We closed the distance, and just as I was about to start with a cross, the Celestial Forge popped into the back of my mind.
Choose a perk:
1: Bonesinger (Warhammer 40K - Craftworld Eldar Jumpchain, 400 Points)
- Description:
Dear child, the Eldar do not simply build their wondrous technology. Instead, they rely on the power of song to shape their creations into being. This is a very demanding process, which requires a unique mix of artistic and scientific knowledge. Most importantly of all, a strong mind is necessary for this process. Bonesingers sing a psychic song, and its melodies form a psychoactive material from the warp itself, called Wraithbone. This lightweight material is stronger than titanium but is far more flexible and weighs less. Additionally you can psychically grow crystals that are the basis of their laser & lance technology. You have the knowledge and ability to sing any Eldar technology and any technology you know into being and more than that, eons of experience in doing so. Even so, the more complex an item is, the more time it takes to create said item. A whole choir of Bonesingers is required to create large and complex items such as starships and Eldar Titans unless you are willing to sing alone for years. With enough time, perhaps, you could even sing forth a brand-new Craftworld but how and where would you acquire that much time? Even an Eldar is not immortal.
2: Moon Tech (Okami, 400 Points)
- Description:
While you aren't granted a full understanding of everything the Moon Tribe could do, you've been blessed with the basics, including the method to make the metal used in their constructions, and an intuitive understanding of the way the machinery functions. For the most part, the inner workings are mostly a mystery, though what is known is that they can run infinitely on their power source and are controlled by the spirit or divine power of the user. Examples of the greatest of their technology includes Yami's nearly unbreakable transforming robot body, a machine that generates freezing blizzards, and spaceships. Lesser works include most non-divine creations in the item section. This talent could quickly grow into so much more if you could only get your hands on enough Moon Tribe relics to experiment with or an expert to learn from. Indeed, this is all promised to you by Yami, along with dark power unending and rule in Nippon if only you swear fealty to him and devote yourself to his goal. After all, he has already granted you so much, and without even demanding your loyalty. As a bonus, Yami will even throw in the right to manifest his markings on your body. In appearance, they're simply a blue mirror of the celestial markings worn by Brush Gods. Try not to show it off to those few who've dealt with him before, as none will hesitate in slaying an agent of Yami. I'll leave the choice up to you.
3: Machine Madness (Dragon Ball GT, 400 Points)
- Description:
So much of the universe relies on Ki to grant them power or natural biological abilities. Why pursue scientific perfection when you're already able to claim to be perfect? Why NOT pursue scientific perfection? Despite the lack of need, you buried yourself into science and found ways to use technology to match mysticism. So long as you have a good understanding of how a supernatural effect or technique or ability works, you are able to replicate it through technology, creating a device or being capable of performing that effect or technique or ability. The method, resources, cost and so on may change to fit the new medium but the ultimate result will be as if you had used that magical spell yourself...just through the lens of beautiful, beautiful science.
Any of these perks would be amazing to have. Machine Madness would allow me to apply any supernatural effects I knew; heck, it might even allow me to recreate the effects of the Sarcophagus.
I didn't know what to think about Moon Tech. The few pieces of technology it listed were all interesting, but not all that interesting. The part about gaining access to Yami, however, was not something I was quite willing to accept.
That just left the last perk; Bonesinger. If I wasn't reading it wrong, it seemed like it included basic psychic abilities. Frankly, I didn't know enough of the Aeldari to say what they would do to me if they learned that a human knew the secret of creating wraithbone.
All of this passed through my head just in time for me to suddenly notice Yren's fist approaching my face.