2200-2210
The Americ's Mystery
Kyrillos X, the Decadent (*3rd March, 2158) might have mostly been known for his excesses. But like his Marshal, he was popular amongst the people. General consensus was that instead of oppressing anyone, he'd rather throw an extravagant orgy. A hungover Kyrillos was often spotted at the gates of the St. Helena Monastery in the Caucasus, asking for Sister Sergia... jokes abound that the Empire was actually ruled by a nun. It would be more surprising if it wasn't what the regular succession had envisioned.
In any case, Takumi Fujita, the man entrusted with the Liuvigoto's expedition to Alpha Centauri, began his survey of the planets in the system with no problem at all. The latest innovations made the Liuvigoto the Noble a vessel able to withstand the dangers of space – be it radiation or hyperlanetravel – with ease, and the Philippos Makrelogos, named after the captain of the expedition which made the first world circumnavigation (in 1584) was soon built with the same blueprints.
While it didn't take long for the public to lose interest in Fujita's daily reports (to the joy of many, always headed by a haiku), it was vigorously renewed the 1st November 2200:
Finding a debris field
who knows what we shall find here
was it the Americ's end?
Speculation ran wild as Fujita's team scanned the vast field of debris. The 9th September 2201, he finally made his report. No, it wasn't the Americ. What he discovered was the first clearly alien artefact – an atomic clock of uncertain age. According to the crew, in 42 years and 3 days... something would happen.
That was dangerously close. In the vastness of space, in the neighbouring system of Sol, there was a clock that counted down to a date that was, in galactic terms, an instant away. Whoever left it there... did they use the hyperlanes? How long ago did they deposit the clock – or was it thrown out in whatever created the debris field? That also enforces the question – did they visit Earth? In any case, it was something Kyrillos could approach in his usual way. It was clearly not a weapon. So just jot the date down somewhere. No need to do anything else.
The second moment of hope in Fujita's expedition came the 20th November 2201, as the team surveyed the moon Alpha Centauri IIa. Something moved there. Did the Americ crash down on this molten planet?Jokers with dark humour quickly pointed out that perhaps it was Theudis XIV rather than regent Maria who deserved the epithet of “the Molten”. A video of Kyrillos' reaction to this joke – let's remember that it concerns his father – became widely memed as he erupted in endless laughter. As someone who was quick to share the latest joke about himself, the High Emperor's preference for self-deprecating and gallows humour earned him a few sympathy points. But again, hopes of finding the lost monarch's expedition were unfounded – it was a geothermal installation, likely left by the people who created the atomic clock, which caused the movement on the planet.
The Americ's final destination would remain a mystery.
Aliens
On Audaric's suggestion, Kyrillos X had named Zopahua Yupanqui captain of the Philippos Makrelogos. People who were quick to condemn space exploration as merely an expansion of Gothic power in order to end up overwhelming the other peoples of Earth were to be proven entirely wrong, with an Incan scientist leading a ship named after a Byzantine explorer. And where Fujita merely found a clock, Yupanqui's discovery was of a far greater scale – the 9th September 2201, his team unearthed a sort of holographic library on Minelauva I.
Despite being over a million years old, the contents of the library were obviously built to last, preserved despite or rather thanks to the ceaseless lava flow around it. Something that couldn't be said about most of Earth's architecture, if any. What would still stand a million years from now? Either way, the “Irassian Concordat”, six-limbed mammalians, apparently ruled this part of the galaxy, before being wiped out by a plague. Did these beings leave the artefacts found in the Alpha Centauri system?
Or were their creators still around?
The Decadent declared that humanity should assume the worst. Not just that some kind of sentient, million-year-old killer virus could wipe them out; luckily, only the Makrelogos team had been in the library. If the creators of Alpha Centauri's objects were just a hyperlane away from Earth, who knows if they hadn't already made contact before. Perhaps they had even meddled in history – the early deaths of Leon the Absolute and Theudis the Stone in the late 18th /early 19th century, militaristic Gothic emperors who were poised to conquer the world, come to mind. Or those of of Jean the Sun Emperor of Francia and Kyrillos the Radiant in the 17th century, setting the stage for the Melting War. Huh. The Molten. That's where the circle of this discovery is closed.
The Decadent declared that humanity should assume the worst. Not just that some kind of sentient, million-year-old killer virus could wipe them out; luckily, only the Makrelogos team had been in the library. If the creators of Alpha Centauri's objects were just a hyperlane away from Earth, who knows if they hadn't already made contact before. Perhaps they had even meddled in history – the early deaths of Leon the Absolute and Theudis the Stone in the late 18th /early 19th century, militaristic Gothic emperors who were poised to conquer the world, come to mind. Or those of of Jean the Sun Emperor of Francia and Kyrillos the Radiant in the 17th century, setting the stage for the Melting War. Huh. The Molten. That's where the circle of this discovery is closed.
Seeing humanity leave the solar system must be threatening for these aliens. Should any extraterrestrial life be met close to Earth, it would therefore be met with force.
To put it in popular terms, Kyrillos made an Audaric a few hyperlanes from Earth to any alien.
First Contact
An Audaric that was swiftly crossed, as mere six years after reaching a different star system, the Liuvigoto's sensors found an obviously artificial vessel moving through space around Barnard's Star.
While the Liuvigoto was protected by the vastness of space in the system, the Marshal assumed command of the fleet and set off with Sword, Lance, Spear, Axe and Bow to fend off the threat. The thing retreated swiftly. Was it just a scout?
Audaric set off in pursuit, and found humanity's fears confirmed in the Sirius system – there was an alien base. The 21st April 2206, humanity's first space battle began. The base was armed and ready against the five corvettes, and the fire ceased only after the Axe and the Lance were destroyed. The Marshal's forces had prevailed, but whatever had defended the station, their remains couldn't be studied as the damage to the station spaced them, disappearing without a trace. Only the station itself might have offered some second-hand knowledge about its builders – but with all the air gone, there wasn't much knowledge to be gained, other than that the alien – if of a humanoid build – had to be around 3m tall to operate the commands.
While the Liuvigoto was protected by the vastness of space in the system, the Marshal assumed command of the fleet and set off with Sword, Lance, Spear, Axe and Bow to fend off the threat. The thing retreated swiftly. Was it just a scout?
Audaric set off in pursuit, and found humanity's fears confirmed in the Sirius system – there was an alien base. The 21st April 2206, humanity's first space battle began. The base was armed and ready against the five corvettes, and the fire ceased only after the Axe and the Lance were destroyed. The Marshal's forces had prevailed, but whatever had defended the station, their remains couldn't be studied as the damage to the station spaced them, disappearing without a trace. Only the station itself might have offered some second-hand knowledge about its builders – but with all the air gone, there wasn't much knowledge to be gained, other than that the alien – if of a humanoid build – had to be around 3m tall to operate the commands.
These builders were stronger than feared, likely with more experience in spaceflight. Fujita's daily message from the 19th May 2206, during the exploration of Barnard's Star, was cut off by the image of what might best be approximately called a unit of rock dragons blasting their way into the ship.The crew of the Liuvigoto was captured without the feed being cut – revealing the ensuing butchery as the unfortunate scientists were vivisected, fully aware.
An attempt to do onto the boulder dragons what they had done onto Fujita and his crew ended in complete disaster as it coincided with their counterattack on the Sirius base, with the small unit wiped out by a fleet of at least 17 corvettes.
An attempt to do onto the boulder dragons what they had done onto Fujita and his crew ended in complete disaster as it coincided with their counterattack on the Sirius base, with the small unit wiped out by a fleet of at least 17 corvettes.
Soon after, the lithoids – for they were apparently really a rock-based lifeform – sent a message through the wrecked Liuvigoto the Noble's comm system. They had managed to translate Gothic into their language and devised a technology to transfer their words – rather a hum of a wavelength inaudible to humans, which may be felt more than heard – into comprehensible, gleeful gloating.Apparently, they were some sort of robber merchant corporation, calling themselves the “Evarite Manufacturing”. Hostilities would cease – for now at least, until humanity was fully evaluated. The debt accrued by the destruction of the Sirius station was considered repaid with the Liuvigoto.
The Empire's worst fears weren't entirely realized, but it wasn't far away. The Evarites clearly had spent more time spacefaring and held greater resources. The fleet seen moving to Sirius alone counted 17 ships against the Empire's remaining 3.
Still, there was hope. Audaric had managed to disable the Sirius station and gained valuable insight doing so, confirming that the rock dragons' advantage in weapons technology – if there was any – wasn't that great. With a confirmed alien threat and not just theoretical danger, the military would be assigned more resources.
The Marshal planned to fortify Barnard's Star and build up the fleet. The assault on Sirius taught valuable lessons concerning space battle, and a station, with no need for a hyperdrive, could be equipped with heavier weapons. If the Evarites truly were some kind of robber corp, then they would try to move cost-efficiently and do the bare minimum they needed to win – and that was the Empire's greatest advantage.
And there was no greater drive to innovate than an existential threat. While humanity may still not stand fully united behind the Empire, not being alone in the galaxy ignited the desire of coming out top – both as a means to protect oneself and of exerting influence over the aliens, whose treatment of Fujita and his crew made them easy to hate.
It also had a clear effect on the Decadent. Suddenly, the High Emperor was no longer the unchallenged master of humanity's fate – either he had to take a guiding role, or the people and the military would soon clamour for Audaric, or at least Crown Prince Liuva, to take the throne. Kyrillos X chose the former. The unceasing stream of party guests and drugs into the Imperial Palace... ceased. His visits to his sister, now Mother Sergia, decreased as he began to truly rule himself.
It also had a clear effect on the Decadent. Suddenly, the High Emperor was no longer the unchallenged master of humanity's fate – either he had to take a guiding role, or the people and the military would soon clamour for Audaric, or at least Crown Prince Liuva, to take the throne. Kyrillos X chose the former. The unceasing stream of party guests and drugs into the Imperial Palace... ceased. His visits to his sister, now Mother Sergia, decreased as he began to truly rule himself.
The Decadent was sobering up, and now appeared perpetually annoyed as he addressed the world. He had many reasons to hat the aliens. The Liuvigoto and her crew. Their smug message. Perhaps historical revanchism. The clear threat they posed. But if not for his people, then at least he intended to make the Evarites pay for a headache which could be the stuff of legends. He made a comparison with the early Gothic history – faced with far superior raiding neighbours, it was Gothia which prevailed. Humanity shall do so again – only this time, without the backing of a crusade.
Chertans' Shadow
The Empire's leadership suddenly found itself fully backed in its foreign policy – basically as soon as it returned into existence – by even the most disgruntled parts. The Evarites literally had hearts of stone, and the short reprieve earned as they established communications must be some kind of ritual mocking before moving in for the annihilation of the enemy. Who knows, perhaps the shareholders of the Manufacturers need the reprieve to capitalize on their stocks. To comprehend the aliens, at least that swiftly, was a lost cause. They already laid claim to the solar system.
When Yupanqui discovered a vault on Ferragon I, containing the scans of a lost alien species' brains, no chances would be taken. If the aliens bet on finding a kind soul who might give them a new body after their planet had been rendered inhospitable by meteorite impacts, then they had read too many fairy tales. The Makrelogos' crew was instructed to bring the databanks somewhere they could set them on fire.
And so the Gothic history of genocide was carried to space. Against the already dead. With the full approval of all peoples of Earth.
The data-aliens' discovery even awoke a new fear. They weren't more advanced than humanity, for then they could have sought a new home amongst the stars. Yet they had still managed to create something that might theoretically offer them a second chance at life.
The data-aliens' discovery even awoke a new fear. They weren't more advanced than humanity, for then they could have sought a new home amongst the stars. Yet they had still managed to create something that might theoretically offer them a second chance at life.
Then what about Roderic Chertans, Earth's most reviled man? The one who many believed was already some kind of AI at the end of his transmissions? Surely with Miracle's resources, if there was someone whose brain functions have been scanned enough for some kind of resurrection... it would be him. Miracle's headquarters were never officially found, either.
What a depressing thought it was that if humanity would disappear, then its worst criminal might be the only one with a future. Somewhere, sometime. In any case, the data-aliens were a welcome fodder for conspiracy theorists.
Gigantomania
The next discoveries once again proved how small and insignificant one might feel in the vastness of space. And how young human civilization was.
The 2nd April 2210, Alexandra Chimar, lead of the newest science ship, the Adrianos Americ II, reached a structure bigger than the Sol station itself. The design of the structure shared quite a few similarities to Kelant's comms tech – and indeed, it was most likely capable of bending space to allow instantaneous travel to a fixed endpoint. A wormhole generator, a gateway of sorts. Even active! … But it lacked a key. Without the key, no vessel would be able to pass through. At least the destination could be determined – a star cluster swiftly named the “L-Cluster”, with L for, you guessed it, “locked”, for no hyperlane seemed to reach that region beyond the Milky Way, so the sole access point would be the gateway.
Not long after, another gateway was discovered – but that one inactive, and likely connected to other such structures within the galaxy.
Chimar's first noteworthy discovery was soon dwarfed, quite literally, by the next surprise waiting for the Makrelogos. Entering the Uprfarvis system, sensors picked up a great amount of debris spread across vast distances. Perhaps the site of an old battle? Indeed.
The 2nd April 2210, Alexandra Chimar, lead of the newest science ship, the Adrianos Americ II, reached a structure bigger than the Sol station itself. The design of the structure shared quite a few similarities to Kelant's comms tech – and indeed, it was most likely capable of bending space to allow instantaneous travel to a fixed endpoint. A wormhole generator, a gateway of sorts. Even active! … But it lacked a key. Without the key, no vessel would be able to pass through. At least the destination could be determined – a star cluster swiftly named the “L-Cluster”, with L for, you guessed it, “locked”, for no hyperlane seemed to reach that region beyond the Milky Way, so the sole access point would be the gateway.
Not long after, another gateway was discovered – but that one inactive, and likely connected to other such structures within the galaxy.
Chimar's first noteworthy discovery was soon dwarfed, quite literally, by the next surprise waiting for the Makrelogos. Entering the Uprfarvis system, sensors picked up a great amount of debris spread across vast distances. Perhaps the site of an old battle? Indeed.
But a battle with a foe that was still there. Some kind of moon-sized... living being was feeding on Uprfarvis' gas giants. Apparently, that monster was quite territorial and either impervious to most weapon fire, quick to regenerate, or both. Being comparable to what Yupanqui had named the “tiyanki”, incredible ship-sized yet placid creatures, this must have been the mother of all tiyanki – only far more aggressive and truly enormous.
While the military dreamt of somehow controlling the beast and to sic it on the Evarites, the evidence in Uprfarvis' orbit pointed towards that not being a good idea. The doubts of the Makrelogos and its crew won out in the end, as no matter the moral justification, their service – alive – was deemed more useful than the high risk of a senseless sacrifice.
Kyrillos compared the Tiyanki Matriarch to himself. A peaceful being just doing its own thing, be it grazing on gas giants or partying – but when provoked, it is supremely dangerous.
The Evarite Manufacturers would feel the wrath of humanity.
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