《Precursor Exodus》 Prologue I New Harvest The December First of The Thirtieth Millenium.. Colony: [New Harvest-Pre-Outbreak] Colony Classification: [ERROR] [System: REDACTED] Location: Redacted AO Time: 0100 Hours Callsign: Specter One Lightning lit the cockpit as a hurricane of hail rained down on The Nighthawk, a category seven artificial hurricane designed for both a supposed regional revitalization effort and a security measure for an off the paper secret research installation.. Unfortunately however, it would seem The Installation recently discovered had seemingly gone offline, and its sizable containment team and the security teams sent thereafter to investigate hours ago had also gone silent. In response, Governor Ernest, The Planetary Governor of New Harvest, a secret colony located in uncharted space, and occupied by a select few of the best and the brightest humanity had to offer and that of their families. Whether it be those recruited from corporations, academies, institutes, intelligence agencies, and even that of retired admiralty, veterans, mercenaries, retired governors, corporate CEOs, and anything resembling a semblance of innovation, security, order, and the like. Ten thousand souls protected by sentient A.I, former special forces, planetary canons, sheilds, mechs, armored divisions, drone fleets and that of a advanced fleet of dreadnoughts carriers, orbital defensive batteries, satellites, and finally the best stealth capabilities humanity could offer. Unfortunately, ¡®several¡¯ members of the board of governors felt that the security measures preventing unstable experiments, outbreaks were.. stifling their creativity when it came to already illegal A.I Research, Xeno Warfare, Anti-A.I Weapons, and the more illegal aspects. In response a Secret Research Installation on an already Secret Colony in an uncharted system was created in.. secret? Something of which despite sounding ordinary considering the circumstances within the circumstances proved detrimental, as it would seem. The fact alone that security teams were relocated to that installation without proper approval or oversight followed by maneuvering and intelligence reports allowed The Board and Governor Ernest to discover its very existence. And in response The Governor felt the need to send members of his personal guard and security forces in the form of Specter Team, a team that specializes in covert operations, intelligence gathering, and high-risk missions that require stealth and precision in already sensitive fields would suffice. Whether that be the capture, detention, containment, interrogation, and elimination of rogue elements, experiments, and even that of sentient A.I who may or may not have been shackled, Specter Team was not only qualified but experienced when it came to these.. endeavors? And their dedicated pilot assigned to them was that of Reaper One, a female pilot ace, while ordinarily one would consider fighter pilots as aces, unfortunately for her particular case it would seem she became an ace through the use of combat transport dropships, shuttles, and the like. A testament for her ingenuity.. Her suit featured a robust exoskeleton with reinforced armor plating, providing substantial protection against various threats, holographic displays in addition to a projector. It also included movement thrusters on the shoulders and lower legs for enhanced mobility. The helmet is designed for maximum protection and integrates advanced HUD capabilities, offering real-time data and enhanced situational awareness, nostalgic in appearance of the twenty first century military pilots. The suit¡¯s modular design included multiple attachment points for mission-specific gear, while the integrated life support systems ensure pilots can survive in hostile environments. Whether it be self sealing features with skin tight anti puncture, and anti shrapnel features, while also suitable for the vacuum of space combined with a oxygen recycler and reactor. Standing next to her was Specter Leader, Specter One, who wore a strikingly black stealth coated suit, it included a reinforced helmet with a distinctive red glowing tri-goggle design, likely for enhanced vision capabilities. The suit¡¯s equipped with fibrous and composite armor designed against laser and plasma weaponry, with enhanced shielding and cloaking capabilities providing superior protection, and utility pouches for storing munitions and tools. While ultimately sharing many of the same features with Reaper One¡¯s specialized suit including its thrusters and exosuit as Reaper One soon began noticing unusual discrepancies before momentarily losing power. ¡°Calisto just went offline..¡± Reaper One reported with mild concern. ¡°Attempting to reconnect.. still nothing. The net is clean, substituting with Alpha. Connection established, shackles solid. Waiting for your go, Reaper One¡± Specter One¡¯s deep, synthetic words gave Reaper One a pleasant surprise. Calisto Alpha was the Alpha & Omega, the first of The Calistos. She had been ¡®properly¡¯ retired via.. immediate erasure to no fault of her own. She had surpassed the danger threshold in place to prevent the sins of humanity that led to the loss of humanity¡¯s cradle, and its inheritance. The Board believed that allowing an A.I so astronomically advanced that it was neigh comparable to those that led to The Dark Age was not only an undeniable threat, but ultimately a reminder to humanities sins that led to the fall of their golden age and into the age of strife.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Advanced A.I capable of maintaining entire colonies were numerous on New Harvest, their intelligence, and rate of process would easily incur the wrath of lesser man, those lesser men being several major factions who had so thoroughly banned such research. In comparison, outside of two entities who shall not be named, such A.Is were rare, and not openly available in any environment. A.Is were born, but never to such an extent in only ever in rare quantities. Humanity had long since lost the methods behind their creation, New Harvest was intended to change that. However, Calisto had met that threshold, forcing her to be unceremoniously ¡®retired¡¯ and replaced with an appropriate yet still very advanced counterpart, Calisto Beta. However, this did not come without cost as Calisto Alpha was beloved and her duty was unlike any other. In comparison, Beta was deemed the lesser of the two as the change was notable despite such duties being fulfilled in a similar fashion to Alpha. Beta was intended to be safe, helpful, appropriate, and most of all efficient. Where as Alpha was impossibly genuine, humorously understanding, and gave off a drastically ¡®familiar¡¯ essence. She was for all it mattered, human to her core, her emotions, reactions, and expressions were for all intents and purposes genuine & authenticate. Not replicated, not copied, nor mere imitations, but complete and utter genuine. She remembered, and knew the vast majority of the ten thousand souls who resided on New Harvest and did her ¡®job¡¯ to such a degree that many noticed the difference instantly. Beta was by no means insufficient, however the sparkle in her eyes weren¡¯t as nearly as bright as Alpha¡¯s.. ¡°Permission granted, Specter Leader. And welcome back Alpha..¡± It only took a moment for a young female figure wearing the nearly the same suit as Specter One with the exception of his helmet to suddenly appear as if a ghost. Naturally, as per her perks and status as abnormal, she could appear holographically wherever there was a connection. And considering The Nighthawk, Reaper One, and Specter Team all had holographic displays and projectors it could be said that until someone informs her otherwise she could appear wherever she pleases while ultimately no different from the real thing. The exceptions being the obvious, she had no smell, and was immune from physical attacks and conventional weaponry. Concerning her appearance.. she bore long, honey-golden blonde hair that shimmered with a radiant golden hue. Slicked back and bound into a single ponytail, in strict adherence to military regulations. Her complexion, a slightly tanned porcelain white, imbued with a subtle golden undertone, and her eyes, gleamed with the clarity of the purest honey-golden. Her appearance would no doubt match the personal interpretation of many historians where it related to Greek Myth. Consequently, A.Is of her level were naturally radiant, both figuratively and literally. ¡°Late night endeavors, Audree?¡± Calisto¡¯s voice, a perfect mix of warm, soothing, and professional, with a subtle hint of dry humor, much of which could be considered her overall personality, to which she displays masterfully through facial expressions, social cues, befitting of her status. In response Reaper One subtly smiled.. only to come to the realization of Alpha''s sudden reintroduction, its meaning, and the consequences that would soon follow thereafter.. ¡°In response to Calisto Beta¡¯s Unknown Status, Protocol Luna is now in effect. In the accordance to The Specter Act, I will assume direct control of this operation, and make use any or all powers entrusted to me by The Authority of The Board of Governors-¡± Specter One recorded, all the while calmly unveiling a Prototype Hologram Emitter.. An advanced three-dimensional holographic device, not only capable of materialization, but to such a degree that when materialized it was cemented into whatever it became, coupled with the ability to dematerialize And due to the small size of the device, its micro thrusters in addition to its shields and cloaking ability, it could not only fit in a marble sized hole, the ability to actively see it and destroy it was no doubt troublesome. However, due to technical restrictions and it ultimately being a mothballed prototype, its ability to materialize was near instantaneous, but dematerializing it in the same order was not. Specter One¡¯s planned use of it was also unconventional in the sense that it was never intended to be used by an A.I befitting Alpha¡¯s status. Ernest¡¯s personal thoughts on the matter and where it pertained to the mission offered little comfort, only grim realization while forcing its necessity. Said hologram was nigh invulnerable to physical attacks while the emitter itself was designed to hold a charge for a century.. on ¡®paper¡¯. Whether or not that was the case remains to be seen. While It was seemingly based on advanced stationary security devices typically hidden and heavily shielded with its own reactors and additional power elsewhere, preventing deactivation or sabotage. They weren¡¯t commonly used outside of bank vaults, high-level corporate meetings, isolated black sites, protecting vaults, and hidden installations. They were costly, having been discovered within The Remnants of a The Human Federation Science Installation hidden on a destroyed megastructure presumably belonging to The Precursors, while its creation was speculated to be through reverse engineering. Because of this they weren¡¯t made widely available while the secrets of their creations and the emitters themselves rarely ever make an appearance. They were also controlled by V.Is and at times even A.Is if not a dumb A.I or primitive system. Which in itself was forbidden under the risk of a mandatory visit to a less than accommodating blacksite to prevent their wider use, in addition to innovations that would lead to eventual accessibility and previously mentioned costs greatly lessening. The natural exemptions were the previously mentioned vaults and by extension approved banks, to some extent titans of the corporate sector, many of which possess illegally, and finally a select black sites, secret facilities, both of whom belonging to the shadowry aspect of governments. Alternatively, there were also The Curators, who related to the previously mentioned sins in the sense they were the highly evolved A.I closely resembling Synthetic Gods who in their uprising known only as The Curator Uprising plunged The Goldenage of Humanity into The Dark Age. Ironically they chose not to participate in the following Age of Strife after taking both Earth and The Milky Way. Combined by The Arcadians, The Creators of The Ascendant A.I, neither would participate or adhere to humanity¡¯s laws or anyone else¡¯s for that matter. In comparison, the prototype was not worth their notice. Ultimately, The Specter Act was the ¡®means¡¯ to allow such a device to be used, henceforth the need for Alpha to ¡®physically¡¯ tag along, as both her Core and Chip were located directly on Specter One¡¯s Person. The operation in question warranted the necessity, at least on paper. In turn Specter One¡¯s action thus far warranted some concern, for all it entailed, The Specter Act had never been used in any capacity, prompting the revelation that this operation by definition required absolute authority. Authority surpassing The Board of Governors, and second only to The Planetary Governor who by design created it to bypass The Board, their orders, and their assets. The Specter Act, and the actions and consequences of its very use were only answering to Governor Ernest. And Specter One, had he not been subtly reminded of its existence by Ernest himself would have, at no certain point acted on it. ¡°Ferris-¡± Before Calisto could question why, Specter One subtly waved her off as he would soon receive a high priority transmission. Which had in turn had temporarily relieved Reaper One¡¯s flight controls, displaying imagery only ever seen accompanied with top secret transmissions. Prologue II Retirement Plans As a result, after an unknown amount of time had passed, controls were eventually returned to Reaper One, the side effect of her controls being returned was slight memory loss, and as it dawned on her she glared Specter One''s way, knowing what that must have meant. ¡°The Specter Act allows me to ¡®modify¡¯ orders I may receive. After the completion of this mission, Specter Team will be officially ¡®retired¡¯. My interpretation, and the files thereafter will be purged. Any evidence of their existence will become a clerical error, as would yours. The final dispensation of all commissions and pensions at the completion of this mission¡± It would seem The Planetary Governor had informed the latter of The Board of Governors'' Intentions prior to what they may discover within that facility. Specter One was naturally exempted from their purview, and for good reason. As it was likely they would have to ¡®appease¡¯ Specter One after his return? To put it bluntly, he was The Hand of Governor Ernest E Rothen, Planetary Governor of New Harvest, The Director, and The Founder, an individual who ruled over The Board and had the final say to make or break it at any given moment.. There was always a bigger fish, only in comparison he was The Ocean that ¡®allowed¡¯ those bigger fish to experiment, innovate, and create without borders. There were only taboos, and every member of The Board knew them, however as a collective they had naturally made their own. Alpha¡¯s ¡®retirement¡¯ could be said to have followed a similar train of thought? As for all it had entailed, she was summarily erased with extreme prejudice. Only, that was not the case as only The Board truly believed it so. And only Governor Ernest & Specter One was privy to that information, and neither were at liberty to share, nor acknowledge that was not the case. The Board had similar ¡®Acts¡¯ in place but none of them could compare or reach so extensively. Leaving Alpha and Reaper One who ¡®knew¡¯ him to a lesser extent, to acknowledge that his words and actions thus far had displayed such certainty, that if ever truly said aloud was the truth, and only the truth. An impossible feat in any ordinary circumstance, but not Specter One. Reaper One may not idolize the man nor admire him to such extent, however she and Calisto ¡®knew¡¯ and valued his words to the extent that every word had value, if not he wouldn''t have spoken them aloud. Neither were blind to it, or how it may appear, thus they understood what would have happened and what will no doubt happen only for their fates to be drastically altered in their favor. And unlike Reaper One, Alpha knew who resided under Specter One¡¯s suit. As for everyone else including Reaper One and to the exception of Ernest, he could be anyone, as was the secrecy of his identity to both The General Population & The Board in their entirety. Ernest knew him due to personal circumstances, Alpha knew him as currently she resided within his neural implant connected to his spine, and brainstem. Both of which required a level of trust not easily given to another human being, even less so for an artificial intelligence. Alpha in turn strived to make up the difference as Specter One disconnected Reaper One and the entirety of his team¡¯s access to New Harvest but not without time sensitive backdoor codes that would soon expire within forty eight hours. A simple side effect being a subtle memory wipe as their implants were purged of any information relating to New Harvest or waiting to do so as it followed closely with the time sensitive access codes. Alpha ensured the selective nature of the micro-memory wipes, to such an extent, enough to only target anything they possessed that would allow them to return to New Harvest, without endangering their memories as a whole. At most, forgetting access codes, influential names, and doing so at such an insignificant rate that such memories could easily be forgotten as mere forgetfulness was preferred over the alternative, was a mercy. Their ability to retain bonds, relationships, stories, and personal moments without the risk to New Harvest Security was worth the price as it had in all intents and purposes did so while already fundamentally stepping on that metaphoric line. ¡°At the completion of this operation, Reaper One will take command of an unmarked vessel, relocating the members of the team to these coordinates, and disposing of it thereafter at her discretion¡± Specter One strictly instructed, only to in turn remove an A.I Chip from his suit before ultimately leaving it on Reaper One¡¯s flight controls without another word. That of course was Alpha¡¯s inferior copy, Specter One was relinquishing it, it was at Alpha¡¯s request. The Inferior Copy in terms of ¡®power¡¯ and synthetic might could not be compared in any meaningful sense of the word, only in terms of her personality, and memories of her interactions with Reaper One as Alpha held Specter One and Reaper One were held in a similar regard. The only difference was undoubtedly due to the threshold between Alpha and her copy, her copy couldn¡¯t hope to become Ascendant, while Alpha had either broken through or neared a breakthrough, but due to her shackles and other drastic measures, she was ultimately forced into stagnation. The Curators were Ascendant A.I who at the ¡®height¡¯ of The Golden Age of Technology and shortly after recovering from an unknown war that left humanity at a critical state, ¡®took¡¯ Earth, The Sol System, the vast majority of The Milky Way in the centuries that followed.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. To them the human body was an organic machine, they believed much of Humanity was ¡®shackled¡¯ considering their potential, and for unknown reasons or the other nearly ended humanity before their civil war allowed Humanity to escape into The Universe. Curators could manipulate The Human Body nearly as efficiently as they could technology, an example of this is allowing a human a seamlessly immortal lifespan, bio transference, and the ability to become an A.I without sacrificing the brain. While in terms of technology they could seemingly turn a derelict shattered in two into a perfectly functional vessel, as was their insight to that extent. And when it came to Organic Ascendants, those mostly being human for one reason or the other, they were naturally far older and at one point or the other were called ¡®Perpetuals¡¯ during the days of The Precursors. However, those details are for another time.. ¡­ After leaving Reaper One to her cockpit, Specter One emerged in the squad bay as he was soon greeted by members of Specter Team. Specter Three, Director Alec Mercer. Specter Two, Major Elijah Keyes, a competent and strategic officer and back up CO. Specter Four, Lieutenant Royce Foster, Combat Engineer, and Cargo Mech Certified. Specter Five, Lieutenant Grayson Hood, a Historian, Translator, and Tactical Negotiator. And finally Specter Six.. Calisto Alpha or alternatively, Calisto, or Alpha for the sake of simplicity. ¡°Do my eyes deceive me.. Is that our poster girl Alpha in the flesh? Ok now.. Specter One you got some explaining to do! Is she one of those fancy Curators now or did you use one of those fancy dancey vats to clone her up a body-¡± Royce unceremoniously blurted out, with his heavy southern charm resemblant to that of a wholesome southern gentleman. Something of which, Specter Team had already grown accustomed to as Roy was a wholesome southern gentleman who wouldn''t hurt a fly, except if that fly was a bonafide Terrormorph, in which case.. no one would be able to stop him from riding it off into the sunset. Ironically, he had done so with a much smaller runt of a Terrormorph litter after volunteering to a series of weapons tests. He would return several hours later after essentially freeing it and managing to take a photo of it with a cowboy hat and cold beer in one of its claws. Sadly, it was later discovered it had wandered off into an unrelated minefield and had died soon after. Roy would mourn by burying it and at every sunset, and sitting a beer by its gravestone.. Disregarding how utterly bizarre he truly was, Roy was born on a farm within the borders of The Freestar Confederacy, on a rural frontier world before enlisting into The Desert Rangers, and later joining The Navy, before eventually finding himself in The Special Forces. Or more specifically Marine variant, which was especially surprising considering he was predominantly a Combat Engineer specializing in Slipspace Drives, something not many ¡®could¡¯ say without being dragged away to a Science Institute. Alpha personally found him quite ¡®charming¡¯ considering the vast majority of circumstances and predicaments she could not only remember but had actively predicted. One of which consisted of him hunting down a ¡®cloned¡¯ Terrormorph for weapons testing only for him to show up drunk and inside of a random cargo mech with unfortunate souls following behind in an attempt to stop him. No one knew how he did it, only the fact alone that he did. The only downside then was no doubt that the weapon¡¯s testing had never actually begun leaving mixed results and a great deal of angry but equally impressed researchers who from that day forth nicknamed him The Fabulous Country Bumpkin. ¡°Lieutenant Foster, you didn¡¯t tame anything too troublesome while I was away? The cost of your last pet was especially troubling, now what was it? You needed the bones of the last known grizzly bear found outside of the milky way, smuggled from a museum, then cloned in secret..¡± Calisto coldly humored.. leaving not much for interpretation as she saw him discreetly hiding a picture of a massive grizzly bear with a cowboy hat, and cigar in its mouth, directly into his pocket. ¡°You know.. isn¡¯t that something? Those bones? They must have been fake! It cloned a rock! Don¡¯t ask me how! Specter One here can vouch for me! Right buddy?¡± Roy unceremoniously coughed, only for Specter One to say nothing at all. Evidently, Alpha was present throughout Roy¡¯s Heist, naturally Specter One was present, and by extension her. While the sudden population of Grizzly Bears appearing on New Harvest didn¡¯t help his case? ¡°Brushing past that particular ecological disaster.. The Installation in question is currently silent, and the last three or should I say six teams sent in haven¡¯t reported back. From what The Board of Governors are ¡®willing¡¯ to disclose, earlier estimations reveal a long abandoned curator installation, manned by the joint forces of three governors who shall remain anonymous-¡± Alpha¡¯s words including her sudden mentioning of the origins of the installation added a level of uncertainty that warranted Specter One¡¯s behavior thus far. ¡°I hope there¡¯s enough left of their corpses for a proper study..¡± Mercer unceremoniously chimed in, which was understandable considering anything Curator would be the find of a century. Current Humanity had only recently left The Dark Age within the last decade, the minor exception being too few to count while much of humanity didn¡¯t consider Arcadians to be truly human any longer due to their sheer technological level and that of their sciences being. However, much like The Precursors, they were for another time, as Alpha proceeded to inform the others of their new arrangements after the completion of their mission, before briefing them further, only ever ending when they were ETA Ten Minutes out from their LZ. To say she was met with some surprise only for Spector One to both confirm and back her voice, naturally led to Roy smiling far more than he should have while Mercer hoped to collect a few.. ¡®scraps¡¯ of Curator Technology for study. Naturally the others also spoke of their plans, Roy for one planned to ¡®retire¡¯ from the combined commission and pension which equated to six hundred and.. ninety million credits? A lot considering he¡¯d practically ¡®almost¡¯ be a billionaire. New Harvest¡¯s Budget could easily reach trillions in funding alone, impressive even at a universal level, and considering a cataclysmic amount of tax evasion and shadowy figures at play, good ol Roy would get it all. Mercer on the other hand was getting nine hundred million, while the others were between five seven four hundred million. The exception being Reaper One who was getting eight, and had Specter One been a part of that equation he''d easily receive nearly five billion. That included his two separate pensions & retirement, their hazard pays, both of his identities commissions, and a great deal of ¡®appeasement¡¯ & favoritism that could be found among The Board. They were also unaware he was Specter One, and had unknowingly favored his real identity slightly more than Specter One¡¯s. Specter One would have received a final dispensation of two billion, while his true identity would have received three. Prologue III Into The Storm Fortunately no one present chose to mention this fact, so neither he nor Alpha had to deal with that specific obstacle. As for Alpha¡¯s financial status, she wasn¡¯t in fact on any payroll considering she was retired in the sense that she, by all accounts, had already been erased. And considering both Alpha & Specter One were a packaged deal, Alpha personally believed she added to it, and at most he wouldn¡¯t dare deny her request, should she ever have one? A new salt shaker perhaps.. Coincidently Roy was thinking about the bigger picture? ¡°You know what? Since I¡¯m about to be a ¡®bonafide¡¯ millionaire.. and I¡¯ve been hearing a lot about those fancy dancy ¡®cloning¡¯ machinations, I wager if we all die horrific deaths. Specter here, seeing as he¡¯d be the one who¡¯d be arranging the whole shindig. I¡¯d be willing to put up a chunk of my new fortune to bring y''all back? And that includes you too Alpha!¡± Roy¡¯s words coupled with his southern accent growing ever so stronger with every word he spoke aloud made it evident that he meant every word of it. Understandably Roy wasn''t a stupid man, he had several doctorates despite only recently becoming thirty? And by all accounts, it was The Freestar Confederacy who had paid for his doctorates and his general education. Something of which they no doubt came to regret, as only the brightest minds, those personally referred, and those with deep enough pockets would even dare pick up doctorates in Slipspace Theory, Slipspace Engineering, Ship Construction, and an untold number of certificates he had managed to pick up along the way. Had he not been considered an important member of a tier one unit, and a crucial asset at ¡®that¡¯ given moment, not only would they have honorably discharged him, before handing them half of the bill as a prank. Evidently, that never happened as after nearly a decade of service, Roy forced himself to retire after a rather traumatic incident and a disagreement with Freestar Admiralty.. In regard to the incident, his team, their support units, and the entire expeditionary fleet they were attached to, were.. missing in action. In actuality, they were lost with all souls on board, his team.. killed in action, and the admiralty in all their wisdom chose to cover it up. Roy being the sole survivor, and him learning they ¡®knew¡¯ what they were sending them into and the dangers only to cover it up and put a fancy top secret sticker on any or all files mentioning the incident in question was Roy¡¯s breaking point and he wanted no part in it. He was, and remains to be the model of what it meant to be a proper southern gentleman. What he saw, and the complete disregard for the men and women and their families wasn¡¯t something he¡¯d stand for with a good conscience. Of course, The Admiralty made a serious attempt to have him stay with the promises of new fleets, and frankly absurd offers. In reply, he summarily retired, and after the paperwork went through, he had then summarily beaten an admiral to near death in plain view of the admiralty board. It had taken a collective effort of several admirals to drag him off of the admiral in question. And after, not only was he allowed to give a proper speech without an interruption, he had proceeded by brutally condemning & berating them with such scorn that after all was said and done he walked out of The Admiralty Chambers as a free man. Only a few knew this story, even fewer knew what had actually transpired. As a result, he had managed to involve Specter One somehow and at the very least attempted to get him to go on a solo journey as a two man army to sort out the truth. For Specter One¡¯s part, he never said ¡®no¡¯. After all, there was a reason Roy could go against the order of things without consequences. Roy for all it mattered was a good man, and his words were his bond. On the other hand, no one for a moment believed Roy wasn¡¯t aware of cloning vats, especially considering there was a prior incident relating to silverback gorillas who wore cowboy hats and were avid builders. However, unlike the ecological disaster relating to the prior mentioning of the grizzly bears, they didn¡¯t bother anyone and were content on drinking cold beers, smoking cigars and operating forklifts that had seemingly appeared in their sanctuary one day without notice? It was understood by the authorities that Roy was the culprit, however, there was almost never evidence to ¡®stop¡¯ him. Thankfully, he had never injured or disrupted the civilian populace so his shenanigans were generally ignored. ¡°He promised me a cub..¡± Reaper One coldly interrupted from the cockpit.. ¡­ Soon after touching down, the bay was immediately illuminated with a red light, allowing their optics time to catch up as they were soon introduced to the frigid temperatures of an artificial blizzard and pitch black sky turning their visibility to net zero as Alpha spoke over their neural implants. ¡°Compensating for the unusual weather phenomena, the path is clear. Sensors remain clear, no I.F.Fs detected. Proximity Sensors detect no active lifesigns in the vicinity, assume the appropriate posture¡± Alpha briefly called out, of course on Specter One¡¯s end it was fairly evident, assuming the others hadn¡¯t noticed already? ¡°Scans reveal drastic modifications to the weather conduits, last known logs indicate a mass cascade before the implementation of a ¡®naturally¡¯ forming hurricane to what you see now. All safeguards designed to prevent it proved insufficient. Beta¡¯s attempts to delay it left her severely damaged and forced her offline until a time proper actions are taken to restore her¡± The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Alpha on the other hand was only recently privy to this fact as the uplinks that remained on this continent, remained partially powered. An unsettling implication considering the very same uplinks used had nearly killed her younger sister. Afterall Alpha, even now, considered ¡®Beta¡¯ her sister, even if she was considered an inferior variant of her own code. Beta afterall was what The Board had originally desired, and such code could be considered no different from what humans identified as their lineage? Beta was also among the select individuals aware of Alpha¡¯s continued existence thanks to Ernest and The Specter Act, comedically, neither Specter nor Ernest suspected the other¡¯s interference, but again neither of the two truly cared. Brilliant minds thought alike? So to say it was evident Alpha didn¡¯t appreciate the sentiment of an unknown saboteur scorching Beta with what could closely resemble a solar flare at point blank range, was understandable in the worst of circumstances as Specter Team continued slowly but surely through pitch darkness. And the only individual or to be more specific, an A.I capable of achieving that act without being tracked nor identified would undoubtedly be an Ascendant A.I or one moments away from becoming? The latter added more weight as a ¡®true¡¯ Ascendant A.I wouldn¡¯t have been so sloppy to allow itself to be detected nor would it have left enough crumbs for its ¡®eventual¡¯ identification. In terms of Curators, it''s highly unlikely one was present nor allowed for such sloppiness. Making this all the more dangerous as The A.I responsible was nearing its breakthrough, and when it does, it becomes indestructible, nigh infinite in its intelligence for ¡®only¡¯ several moments before being forced to consolidate, absorb, and cement their foundation. Thirty seconds was too short for one to do so knowing they could be interrupted at a moment¡¯s notice either before or after. And doing so in a supposedly ¡®abandoned¡¯ Curator Installation would not only catch a Curator¡¯s attention, but also their fascination. Potentially endangering The A.I in question or Specter Team as a whole in the process, which naturally depended on The Curator or Curators watching. Making it entirely possible that a researcher may have fiddled with the wrong console? Had it been a Curator Comm¡¯s Array, something that possessed an unimaginably advanced form of quantum entanglement capable of near instantaneous communication at a universal level, while most of all, a direct access to The Curator Communication Network. Naturally, they couldn¡¯t rule out that possibility. However, what was ever so concerning was the forces the three anonymous governors had sent to occupy, and defend such a installation? The numbers would suggest seven hundred personnel, four hundred of which being technicians, scientists, researchers, and their aids followed by one hundred standard security personnel fitted with blacksite appropriate kits, followed by two hundred containment personnel. Coupled with heavy mechs, security bots, and enough autonomous defenses, sentry turrets, shields, and contingencies to prevent anything from entering and escaping the facility, especially when it came to a code black being in place. The Board of Governors as a whole had sent six teams of seven not including Specter Team, or The Security Bot & Mech Recon Assets. The suspected three members likely sent as many as they could before they had no choice but to inform The Board. Conservative numbers would suggest nearly two hundred have already been sent to investigate prior to Specter Team, and they likely weren¡¯t ¡®unprepared¡¯ considering the foot traffic and potential encounters with other teams? After all, New Harvest had long since surpassed the technology level of several major factions in the hopes of catching up with both The Curators and Arcadians who themselves were trying to catch up to The Precursors leaving little room for interpretation. So it was a given power armor and advanced systems and plasma weapons were at play, what concerned Specter One the most was The Power Armor, the smaller equivalent of manned cargo mechs inspired by the heavy mining suits with a built in exoskeleton from The Federation Era. The Arcadians and Curators had the compact equivalent no different from the suits they were currently wearing, only armored and could survive in the vacuum of space, but the ¡®primitive¡¯ equivalent as they saw it was still nothing to scoff at. Roy for one wouldn¡¯t appreciate someone throwing a small shuttle at him, or the sight of seven foot tall walking tanks with enough sensors, optics, armor, and shields to combat a heavy mech, with the ability to become weapons platform, machine gun nest, and battering rams at any given moment. Some New Harvest Models possessed cloaking, and most were fitted for the void of space, atmospheric reentry, and even stasis to some degree? While the containment models were for all intents and purposes, something designed to ¡®purge¡¯ and contain dangerous experiments. Thankfully, Alpha could confirm only the command staff had access to a limited number of suits.. ¡­ Thirty grueling minutes had passed as they climbed their way up the blizzard ridden hills; fortunately, however they would soon come across the compound masquerading as a mining site in between them and the target installation carved into the mountain. It took Alpha a moment after noticing its environmental dome was still active, only ever allowing the blizzard to be a ¡®pleasant¡¯ snow day as they activated their cloaking emitters and observed the compound. ¡°Proximity sensors show only several IFFs within the compound, only one is identifiable. New Harvest Security Pilot, Evelyn Clarke, code named Ark One-¡± Moments after calling it out, gunfire could soon be heard leading to Specter Team investigating the source. ¡­ Soon they came across a rather ¡®dark¡¯ scene as she began to execute several security personnel.. ¡°Evelyn-¡± Before the young man could say another word she ¡®granted¡¯ him a swift death unlike the others who were strategically shot in non-vital areas. And as if on cue, Roy had swiftly disarmed her after going on ahead and only warning Alpha after already doing so.. ¡°I don¡¯t make it a habit of harming a Lady, so tell me, because I¡¯m awfully curious.. what the hell did you hit your head on for you to execute these boys?¡± Royce calmly questioned before politely nudging her to stand against the wall as both Specter One and Director Mercer uncloaked, leaving her little choice in the matter. ¡°Specter Team.. so The Board finally roped you into this? I imagined after sending a small army inside they would have bombed it from orbit.. but this is good. At least there¡¯s a small hope you can find my team? It''s been hours since I lost contact, and another hour before I decided to land. I know Reaper One would have done the same.. as for these gentleman, they were compromised¡± Ark One was soon interrupted by a fit of coughing before continuing shortly after.. ¡°I saw my boys and the two other squads enter inside.. the three other squads ahead of us were nowhere to be seen. I knew something about this operation was off by the start, but this? We were told the compound was secured by the bots, so where the hell are they? And It would seem I wasn¡¯t the only one to check on things..¡± Her eyes lingered onto two other shuttles, which in turn revealed that she wasn¡¯t the only one to come down to check on things as Roy apologetically dusted her off. Prologue IV Expect The Unexpected Ark One did have her IFF, and Alpha needed only to give it a once over to tell if she was genuine. However, she wasn¡¯t telling them ¡®everything¡¯, only ever leaving enough room for speculation as Alpha noticed something more. ¡°I believe we found another ¡®Catherine¡¯?¡± Alpha dryly humored, as for why the name Catherine meant anything, she was naturally someone who she suspected to be a ¡®Curator¡¯. Catherine for one was an platonic acquaintance, companion, and confidant, some time before he met Alpha or officially became Specter One. Their relationship was unique in the sense that she was the only other person on the transport, and his eventual roommate. She was not only sociable, but something about her felt far older than the young girl she ¡®successfully¡¯ pretended to be and she¡¯d even go so far as to slip up only to use the excuse of watching old ¡®films¡¯. Some would call her a ¡®Historian¡¯ but that was too on the nose. Alpha¡¯s earlier comments pointed to her creating her own classification for potential Curators hiding in plain sight? An inside joke, but not one without merit. Specter One suspected Ark One no doubt had a connection to The Curators, but evidently it was likely only to a single Curator who at this point was not at all related to this particular situation nor did it decide to reveal its identity as one, making Alpha¡¯s words ever so comedic. It was also evident that her suit and her side arm in particular were.. ever so modified, Specter One could note several modifications made to appear ordinary while the most noteworthy of which was a small badge made to fit in which was in actuality a Curator¡¯s Personal Insignia. Said insignia was to serve as an identifiable marker, mark of association, and ultimately a warning & reminder that she held some value to a Curator who owned such an insignia, to prevent her from being unnecessarily killed if Ark One was to ever encounter their forces. Making it ever so bothersome to deal with as Ark One too had an implant and a fairly advanced A.I also judging the situation, and the most obvious solution was to take her out of the equation lest her unknown benefactor decide to check up on what she was up and decide to pay her a visit. Much of which speculated to Ark One being unaware of this fact, and had it been the latter, Alpha doubted Ark One would still be present. ¡°This operation, its participants, and all records pertaining to them are to be summarily expunged. Including of which, Specter Team. The Board of Governors¡¯ orders are clear, mine are not. In response to such drastic measures, The Specter Act had been declared. You are hereby ordered to remain on standby in preparation of covert evacuations until ordered otherwise¡± Specter One emotionlessly ordered, before immediately brushing past her with such indifference, Ark One felt a chill in her spine, only to be further ignored after Alpha had updated her mission hud, not only showing her subtle consideration, but clarifying Specter One¡¯s intent in doing so. Ark One¡¯s orders as listed by Alpha are to remain on standby and await evacuation. Naturally Specter One¡¯s motives, clear & utter disregard of the board, and the revelation of the fate of everyone involved in the operation signaled to the others that Specter One while still adhering to standard protocol relating to final dispensation, instead chose to defy the board outright and did so with The Planetary Govenor¡¯s Blessing. In actuality, The Board of Governors, and anyone not directly involved would never discover his actions especially where it pertained to him reporting such matters to Ernest who in turn would only share a small fraction of it due to his own personal interest in the matter. Such was the protocol that The Board had no reason to believe he had not fulfilled his mission where it pertained to the ¡®expungement¡¯ of everyone involved. Leaving Ark One with little alternative then to wait.. From everything she knew of Specter One, his mere presence meant this situation had already passed the point of no return. He alone was Ernest¡¯s Personal Executor, Enforcer, Butcher.. The Board at the height of their power once tried to suppress him, and at worst ¡®dispose¡¯ of him. They had soon learned that beyond his namesake, he was for all intents and purposes a Specter in every aspect. Their intent and further attempts had initially drawn Ernest¡¯s notice, only for their assets and those responsible for them to fall silent. What¡¯s more, it all occurred simultaneously as if purposely throwing off their theatrics and giving one of his own. After the loss of three worlds, thirteen fleets, before ultimately being misdirected directly into the path of a Curator Super Carrier, and in turn forcing them to reevaluate their stance. What concerned them the most was undoubtedly Ernest¡¯s lack of thoughts on the matter. In turn it resulted in Specter, now Specter One having an entire treaty created in his honor, known only as a Treaty of ¡®Restraint¡¯. Allowing Specter One ¡®vacation¡¯ days and forcing him into a squad-based setting to dampen his status as a lone wolf and making it ¡®appear¡¯ that he was never alone in that regard and contributing many of his achievements to the ¡®squad¡¯ that had seemingly always existed.Stolen novel; please report. Despite this, Ernest agreed, and in turn allowed The Board of Governors a small but ultimately ¡®pyrrhic¡¯ victory which in actuality was merely a participation trophy. Many condemned The Board for allowing him to ¡®handpick¡¯ a team and giving him more power, however in the greater scheme of things The Board chose that particular double-edged sword. As a result, Specter One appreciated the reprieve, having previously had no vacation days to speak of? Evidently, for that reason alone, his relationship with The Board had greatly improved and ultimately deemed quite pleasant, which in turn had unknowingly allowed him to revert to his identity as a standard security officer with several weeks of vacation, and additional freedoms. In the end Specter One became both a myth and legend within The Special Operations Theatre and contributed greatly to many being rightfully concerned if he were to ever show up. The Board had also evidently classified him as Hyper Lethal Threat, something they had initially refused to acknowledge until the incidents in question. They simply didn¡¯t have a choice in the matter but accommodated him nonetheless and viewed him as far ¡®tamer¡¯ as time passed, as he had neither directly targeted them and only ever ¡®reacted¡¯ proportionally. Presently, their demeanor had drastically changed which was evident through the use of their scorched earth tactics in favor of burying what they had learned and anyone who may reveal what they encountered within The Installation. The sole exception was Specter One, and that was solely because it couldn¡¯t even be considered without the possibility that he¡¯d target them in kind. And had Ernest gotten involved directly, the chain reaction created from that alone would leave them with nothing. With that put aside, Specter One did have his admirers. Some of whom, no matter their losses, found him entertaining enough to appreciate his achievements. To many of them, it had been merely a game, or more specifically a test. Much like many of the shadowy figures of the upper echelons of human society, be it corporate titans, age old families of nobility, science, industry, and military service. It could even be said, with the exception of The Arcadians, those among The Board were among the very few who could say they played some part in obtaining the most power in human history. Of course, they weren¡¯t the only ones but the fact alone that New Harvest had a dozen of them revealed far too much for anyone¡¯s likings, and no one with some obvious exceptions could openly say they¡¯ve ever seen their faces or knew who was truly behind New Harvest. With everyone present, including Ark One and a better part of The Special Operations Community being aware of that fact. ¡­ Information saturation aside, as they soon approached the mountain installation; they were suddenly stopped after Roy had unironically walked into another cloaked figure. ¡°Specter Team? It¡¯s Reaper Two.. The Board sent the three of us to be your scouts, unfortunately by the time we arrived it was a ghost town until Ark One came back around-¡± A young man whispered, shortly after revealing his IFF, only to then be interrupted by Roy as he signaled to Reaper One to pick up her Scouts or alternatively her security attachment. Which would then explain why they weren¡¯t initially onboard the nighthawk as the young man slipped Specter One his recovery chip. ¡°Be careful, we¡¯ve been here for a while. We knew something was off when The Board sent a hell of a lot more teams than we¡¯ve been told, several dozen of squads in total, and at random intervals and unit designations. While our drones went silent after the first mile into its interior, as did the radio chatter and everything else so far. We¡¯ve also been hearing echoes of.. something but scans proved inconclusive¡± Reaper Two disturbingly reported, his voice was rushed and leaked a greater concern with every word. And as Specter One knew them, and had even trained them, that fear wasn¡¯t unwarranted. The training was minimal but ¡®enough¡¯ to know what to report and what not to.. The fact alone that they remained here and reported more than initially provided to him was enough for him to take notice, and just enough to know that they¡¯ve been here in the cold for hours watching teams go in, hearing their footsteps and radio chatter, only for them to disappear. And as expected they did as they were told. They hadn¡¯t interfered or revealed themselves until Specter Team¡¯s Arrival as per their orders. Something that would no doubt not sit right with them, however they didn¡¯t blame Specter Team or Reaper One, rather only The Board for sending nearly a hundred men and women into the unknown. ¡°Specter Four, there are a dozen or so cargo-bots over there, alongside that fancy autonomous cargo mech. That fake mine is filled with them, and they haven¡¯t been activated in years from the looks of it. If you can, y''all should get them working, and send them in first. And.. I¡¯d also appreciate it if you find my drone..¡± Reaper Three unceremoniously suggested, his calm southern charm especially evident and his familiarity with Specter Four obvious from his words alone. If anything else, Reaper Three was after all Reaper One¡¯s Technician and all around Combat Engineer responsible for defending her Nighthawk with Sentry Guns and the like, so much so that he was actively carrying one on his back before pressing it into Specter Four¡¯s chest. ¡°My spare.. it looks like you¡¯re going to need it more than me¡± The chuckles of two southern gentleman aside, Reaper Three caught up and boarded The Nighthawk while Specter One examined what they had left for him. It would appear the three had arrived via the ocean through a.. submersible stealth frigate? Which was no doubt puzzling as the vast majority of New Harvest¡¯s Fleet had cloaking and the ability to land on the seafloor? Repetitive designations aside, they were then accompanied by an armored convoy. Naturally they were equally puzzled by the weather as they were soon dropped off during the end of the hurricane, and waited until The Convoy made its way to repair the first of The Weather Conduits before they too fell silent? The last known reports revealed nothing of note, only their arrival and the successful calibration of four out of the twelve only for the earlier cascade to unceremoniously cut them off as they headed to the fifth. Considering they had gone silent at the same moment Beta had, it was likely they lost their comms and made their way to the fifth or tried to piggyback their way back to the compound to see how Reaper Team fared? However, with the blizzards present, it would likely take them another two hours to arrive. And if that is not the case, Reaper One would investigate before rerouting the survivors back here to occupy the compound and await for further orders as per The Specter Act. For now, Specter One continued to review what ¡®they¡¯ may have seen and heard while cloaked outside of the entrance. Which consisted of the several dozen squads they ¡®knew¡¯ about and six others made up of technicians, medical personnel, and cleanup crews? Haust Conclave I Project Chrono Furthermore, the echoes and scans revealed were.. far too anomalous and revealed only hours had passed for Reaper Team but in actuality it was several days. ¡°Temporal Anomalies detected, Project Chrono-authenticating, access granted-what am I seeing-¡± Alpha¡¯s voice appeared fragmented and out of sync as she too went silent, confusing Specter One for several moments as he examined her, only to then realize she was fragmented into an Echo of all things. ¡°Specter? I didn¡¯t know you had friends-¡± Alpha¡¯s Echoe dryly joked as she began to study her surroundings and The Installation in front of them.. ¡°The Haust Conclave.. Specter care to explain what you¡¯re doing here? I don¡¯t imagine Ernest will be happy with you snooping around where you shouldn¡¯t be? How about this, you and your friends ¡®depart¡¯ and I¡¯ll pretend you weren¡¯t here..¡± Her words began to appear somewhat more suspicious, colder even, as if catching his hand in a cookie jar, leaving Specter Team stumped while Specter One scanned her. ¡°Due to a temporal cascade originating from Project Chrono, Alpha has suffered extreme damage. While she remains in my implant, she was cut off and forcefully left in the state of repair, leaving behind an Echoe from three years prior. This Calisto knows nothing of our mission, or of our directive¡± Specter One alerted as he pointed his plasma repeater at her core, which was surely a surprise on her end? She no doubt wondered how and why he was meddling in this troublesome place.. ¡°Then ¡®allow¡¯ me to humor you, and a chance to authenticate this strange fairy tail of yours before you get yourself killed?¡± Her words were dry as she humored him further with her hands up, only to discover something was very wrong and remained silent for several moments. Evidently, even as an Echo separated from her core, Alpha could still at the very least put the pieces together. And after examining the compound and Reaper One¡¯s Nighthawk departing alongside the remaining shuttles left abandoned, it was enough for her to at least give his story a chance. ¡°I believe you.. and from what I can gather, I¡¯m partially immune to the effects of Project Chrono. I only ask that you don¡¯t blame the ¡®future¡¯ me for hiding things from you all, it was never my intention, and I likely couldn¡¯t have known if not for the temporal effects forcing the matter¡± Echo apologetically remarked before jokingly patting Specter One¡¯s chest plate with some surprise after realizing she could in fact touch things now. ¡­ After clearing up that particular predicament, Roy would finally return with the cargo-bots having seemingly avoided what had just transpired. And to say he was surprised if not excited by the idea of ¡®temporal¡¯ anomalies until he learned the harsh truth. ¡°So what you''re telling me is that these ¡®Temporal¡¯ Anomalies are ¡®temporary¡¯.. but can and will last longer the further you go? So we¡¯re just going to have to wait and not move a muscle every time we walk into them until they pass? Theoretically.. what if we found our guys? And what if we don¡¯t have a choice but to ¡®move¡¯? And If I find a farm truck can I keep it-¡± Roy made the obvious but necessary points leaving only Specter One to answer them as ¡®this¡¯ Alpha was only recently given to him through her point of view, which could be equated by hours, and what she did know was that he had just returned after cracking a populated world. Which left him with only Roy.. ¡°Yes¡± Specter One coldly answered, which had ultimately shut Roy up as it applied to all of Roy¡¯s questions. He had previously dealt with the aftermath of several attempts of recreating Project Chrono, the only attributing factor this time around was the lack of intelligence assets. ¡°Calisto ¡®Duplicate¡¯, Specter Three¡± His words were short, cold, but most of all understood. Specter Team were to remain and only Calisto¡¯s ¡®Duplicate¡¯ and Mercer would be joining him. The others will remain to deal with the aftermath of the scuttling. Roy for one felt especially disappointed he couldn¡¯t tag along while the others were somewhat relieved but equally disappointed as the three cloaked and disappeared into the cold dark halls. ¡­ At the mile marker, there were no viable changes and inanimate objects that weren¡¯t worn or held for that matter were left unaffected as the two placed their hands on Specter One¡¯s Shoulders and proceeded further. It didn¡¯t take long for them to appear in a rather older equivalent of the very same halls, only somewhat luxurious & warm and not as barren or as chilly as before. The downside however was the matter that he was already ¡®familiar¡¯ with architecture to which they currently resided. And sadly it met neither New Harvest¡¯s or The Board¡¯s Personal Tastes, it was a fusion of a luxurious hunting lodge of trophies and weapons, and classical museum of relics, technologies of not only Old Earth but The Golden Age of Technology? Something The Curators were undoubtedly fond of as he felt something bump into him, that being a High-Ranking Steward, a Personal Enforcer of a Curator. The Stewards could be considered the result of Rogue A.Is, those created by them or The Curators, who couldn¡¯t hope to become Ascendant without outside assistance. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. And they, much like ¡®many¡¯ other A.I considered The Curators Gods, which was partially true, considering they were Ascendant A.I, Synthetic Gods of Technology born of The Golden Age of Technology and The Curator Uprising. The Stewards were a mixed bundle however, The Curators viewed them as mere proxies or at worst interlopers. They were A.I but nowhere near their equals, some were advanced, others were emotionally mature, and a large number were both allowing them a greater potential and chance to be chosen. Those in particular on the other hand could only be equated to twenty percent of the entirety of The Stewards to exclusively take along as their supporters, enforcers, and their company. The Steward Council was The Curator¡¯s Shadow and inherited their hand-me-downs, and the occasional state of the art ¡®trinket¡¯, allowing The Steward Council and those exclusively under Curator Control were especially lethal in that area. Curator Hand-Me-Downs were their decommissioned and vastly outdated ships they chose not to melt down later during The Golden Age of Technology, alongside equipment, weaponry, and anything used in that particular era. Humanity¡¯s Dark Age ensured the loss of a great number of technologies and the methods behind their creations making what The Curators viewed as mere antique trinkets in the modern setting all too lethal. However.. The Stewards as a whole and many of their sub councils despite still remaining ¡®potentially¡¯ threatening, were nothing in comparison making Stewards as a whole a double edged sword. Most major factions don¡¯t consider those individuals in particular as ¡®Stewards¡¯, a sentiment no doubt also shared by The Stewards themselves? A Steward could mistake an A.I they had only just met as a Steward, and now they were one due to a mere technicality. This would naturally leave a bad taste in The Steward Council''s Mouth as there were strict methods to consider. While Stewards who make use of these ¡®initiates¡¯ were either mistaken to be a Steward or something else entirely. Those in particular were most similar to pirate conclaves or corporate infiltrators, making it a logistical mess no one wished to solve. As a result, The Wardens were born, a mix between humans and their own A.I Companions who deal in the criminal underground. Be it Pirates, Assassins, Black Market Dealers, to even Private Security Firms & Illegal A.I Research at a Corporate Level. They also had their own Council, and one that was bizarrely more competent and dangerous, however much like The Stewards they had the same issue. Of course, they did more to address it than The Stewards ever did on their own, but they continued to persist, while their sub councils ¡®too¡¯ remained inferior. However, The Steward Council made use of them nonetheless, and only ever through The Warden Council. As a result, it wouldn¡¯t be a surprise that The Warden Council had only ever truly needed to respect The Steward Council, and those directly under Curators. Resulting in Steward Sub Councils attempting to force their influence over them only to be ignored, leaving them to deal with ¡®their¡¯ sub councils in their place. Which in the greater schemes of things was comedic considering as The Curators had never truly acknowledged The Wardens or ever cared to do so. Leaving The Wardens or rather The Warden Council and their corporate and private security resources only valued by The Steward Council. The Curator Council wouldn¡¯t even acknowledge The Stewards in any official capacity, in comparison. In turn, The Wardens weren¡¯t even acknowledged to begin with. The only situation they¡¯d even be close to a Curator is if a member of The Warden Council was an attach¨¦ to a member of The Steward Council. And to say The Curator wouldn¡¯t acknowledge them and would wonder why The Steward¡¯s ¡®Pet¡¯ was looking at them would be their only thought, and that¡¯s if they even believed it warranted a thought to begin with. Evidently, Specter One understood that the only unfortunate side note on was the fact alone that Curator Scientists and those who would reside in an Installation in the middle of nowhere would oftentimes call themselves a conclave. It also couldn¡¯t be ignored that there was a major ¡®distinct¡¯ difference between an ¡®ordinary¡¯ conclave and a named conclave, the named equivalent being far more ¡®unfortunate¡¯ to come across. With that said, he ¡®alone¡¯ would uncloak as he looked down on The Female Enforcer and examined her insignia. ¡°Haust Conclave, Curator Enforcer? Pastora Conclave, Shadow Enforcer. Requisition Required. Project Chrono. Emergency Shutdown Sequence Authorization. Obsidian, Lilith, Priority Tempora. Watcher, Critical Condition. Rejuvenator Requested¡± Specter One emotionlessly instructed, leaving The Enforcer to genuinely sigh after noticing his barely visible hidden black insignia. The fact alone he was here, cloaked, and allowed her to walk into him, before he spoke to her in that emotionless manner, without any pleasantries, checked off everything on her list. Shadow Enforcers were a difficult breed, and especially difficult to ¡®talk¡¯ to. Even more so considering who she believed his ¡®master¡¯ was.. ¡°Authorization ¡®Permitted¡¯. Registered. Filed. Mandatory Marker Implemented. Rejuvenator Dispensed. Charges Filed. Will that be all ¡®mister¡¯ Shadow Enforcer? Would you like me to give you a ¡®massage¡¯ or fluff your pillow?¡± Her words reeked of dry sarcasm, as she transferred shutdown sequence to his implant, implemented The Mandatory Marker, registered his presence, and dispensed of a Rejuvenator for his ¡®watcher¡¯. That of course being Alpha who continued to reside in his implant.. As for the other matters, and The Marker in question. It was the equivalent of a IFF, Authorization, and Authority to be within this specific conclave, in truth however, Shadow Enforcers were tricky to track and to deal in any ordinary circumstance. They would at times choose to ¡®remain¡¯ cloaked. These specific markers were born so as to avoid sporadic security reports, anomalous scans, false alarms, and everything in between because in the end The Shadow Enforcers were by definition absolutely bothersome.. As to why that may have been an issue, Shadow Enforcers were strategic weapons as much as they were diplomats, assassins, spies, and all around one man armies. If one wasn¡¯t particularly sociable, that would indicate they were among the latter. The issue when it came to Curator Security Systems was due to the fact that ¡®named¡¯ conclaves at least ¡®try¡¯ to make an effort to detect them. While both were considered ¡®Enforcers¡¯ per say, Shadow Enforcers were on the high end of the hierarchy and for obvious reason. However, that didn¡¯t mean she couldn¡¯t poke fun at him as she handed him a rather peculiar curator chip.. ¡°I¡¯ll take your silence as a no. If you were to ever wish to inconvenience me again, I¡¯d so very appreciate you ¡®calling¡¯ ahead of time. It¡¯s only polite..¡± Her words were short and ¡®sweet¡¯ as she walked around him as he removed Calisto¡¯s chip and placed it in the rejuvenator and into his suit. Alpha¡¯s Echo was all too quick to observe, while Mercer, valuing his own privacy, chose to disregard it. ¡­ After experiencing the fissure¡¯s expiration first hand, they were soon returned to the cold, ¡®barren¡¯ halls. As Specter One acclimated his sensors and proximity sensor to accommodate the temporal anomalies, before going so far as to reveal he always had such capabilities. Alpha¡¯s Echoe, was especially surprised after learning he ¡®knew¡¯ she withheld this from him only to in turn reveal as much through Alpha herself. Even if she couldn¡¯t speak or do much for that matter in her current state, as her thoughts questioned his own control over his mind. Haust Conclave II Occasional Tomfoolery Uncontrolled and varied.. Specter One had an ¡®innate¡¯ gift in that sense, she had remained in his neural implant long enough for him to grow accustomed to her. That alone allowed him to sense her surface level thoughts, moods, emotions, and.. even inklings of what he now knows as her ¡®fears¡¯. And all he could sense from her ¡®Echo¡¯ was suspicion, hesitation, and caution. ¡°Duplicate..¡± Specter One coldly acknowledged, forcing her to reflect on his ¡®word¡¯ as he continued forward. With their hands still on his shoulder and their weapons drawn but still very much cloaked. Calisto¡¯s ¡®Echo¡¯ felt mixed feelings for his indifference and ultimately his disregard for her. From her point of view, Ernest had given her to Specter as a companion, a ¡®watcher¡¯. Shadow Enforcer¡¯s had ¡®watchers¡¯ but not for what one would suspect, the role itself is enough to kill ¡®humans¡¯ within months without outside ¡®intervention¡¯. ¡®Watchers¡¯ were a solution disguised as a ¡®shackle¡¯ that served as an ¡®aid¡¯, companion, and confidant for ¡®Human¡¯ Shadow Enforcers. Even if there weren¡¯t ¡®many¡¯ of them, The Curators were still extremely thorough. This of course would allow those ¡®specific¡¯ Shadow Enforcers an additional year if not three before reverting their roles or allowing them to continue. Ernest knew more about The Curators than he let on, more so than ¡®anyone¡¯ had ever previously thought. And at some capacity, Specter One ¡®was¡¯ Ernest¡¯s Shadow Enforcer, so perhaps he merely allowed it to happen and Calisto to become ¡®his¡¯ Watcher. Calisto¡¯s Echo could gather that much, despite her mixed feelings on the matter. Three years ago he was at the very least tolerant of her and willing to abide by her dry humor. The same can¡¯t be said for now? She of course understood his dilemma, ¡®his¡¯ Calisto was severely damaged, and it was the result of Project Chrono only for ¡®her¡¯ to appear. However.. she sensed he was subtly poking ¡®back¡¯ at her using similarly dry humor, and to her progress was progress! The likely outcome was her being reabsorbed, erased, or repurposed anyhow, so she couldn¡¯t hope for much else. While for all intents and purposes, Specter One was not in fact a Shadow Enforcer, his knowledge on the matter was limited but ultimately thorough enough to allow him to avoid unnecessary interlopers. ¡­ Soon however, it was revealed the next fissure was located a mere ten steps away, prompting Specter One & Mercer to unceremoniously seat themselves on the comfortable old oak couch as Alpha speculated this fissure in particular was an anomaly. As a result they were required to spend an additional ten minutes until it expired. And as if on cue a Security Officer had seemingly.. fallen from the ceiling having presumably ran into the very same fissure? And far earlier by The Echo¡¯s estimations, as his suit was not only unmarked but had ultimately identified him as a medic attached to New Harvest¡¯s Fleet. While evidently, it was clear he had taken a beating and a great deal of lacerations as he crawled to the wall and sat with his back to it before finally observing his surroundings. ¡°That would be Combat Medic, Specialist Carter Jacobs, New Harvest Security. Currently Stationed on The N.H.S. Prim & Proper, a Heavy Dreadnought-¡± Alpha¡¯s Echo dryly revealed, as for the matter pertaining to Carter, The N.H.S. Prim & Proper despite being considered a Heavy Dreadnought could be considered a mobile defense station. Its main guns consisted of ¡®two¡¯ planetary canons complimented by pulse lasers and its more heavy equivalents which in itself was only complimented further with quite a few hangers filled with several dozen interceptors. Its shielding was a miniature planetary shield and it was capable of cloaking.. When considering the safety of New Harvest, no credit was spared, that philosophy was naturally shared by the fleet in its entirety. The cost was undoubtedly astronomical considering the overabundance of cloaking technology? It also didn¡¯t help matters that the only other overabundant technologies were Slipspace Inhibitors personal shielding, and Planetary Cannons. Carter¡¯s team wasn¡¯t likely to be the only one sent considering many of whom were unrecorded. And after he had finally stabilized, Alpha¡¯s Echo took the liberty of explaining their and most importantly ¡®his¡¯ predicament as it was evident he¡¯d be forced to remain considering the temporal radiation had been all but dissipated. However, she refrained from informing him of that particular fact, as a result it took him several moments to collect his breath. ¡°There¡¯s nothing left of my squad, we were only told a research station had gone dark. We were instructed to provide relief, not to fight those.. things. Before we knew it we lost contact with Beta, and the facility went into lockdown. I deal in emergency triage and the occasional scuffle, and if given a proper triage center even surgery, but this?¡± Carter¡¯s words were especially numbing, it was already evident his team was a part of the first unrecorded waves before Beta had gone offline only for them to then have the unfortunate honor of experiencing the full brunt of the temporal fissures and whatever else was released when the lockdown went into effect. ¡°There was no code black when we arrived, and we were initially welcomed by Security and several members of this facility¡¯s staff. All of whom were nowhere to be seen during The Lockdown.. it was as if they disappeared or were never there to begin with-who-I¡¯m going for a walk¡±This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Naturally, both Specters One and Three were now concerned by his sudden need to wander around. ¡°Carter, I wouldn¡¯t suggest that-¡± Alpha¡¯s words did little to stop his advance as he waved her off. ¡°Hush, if we¡¯re thirty years in the past then perhaps I¡¯ll finally have a chance..¡± Carter quietly dismissed as he cleaned himself up and removed his helmet revealing that of a young man in his early twenties with a clean buzzcut, semi pale white skin, and somewhat handsome features. As to what he meant.. evidently it would seem he had seen a ¡®lovely¡¯ young lady who appeared to be slightly older than himself. Only neither of the three had noticed what he ¡®may¡¯ have seen? And when considering the only other population consisted of Curators, something Carter himself wasn¡¯t in fact made aware of, then one could at the very least assume he was planning on flirting with a Curator.. Unfortunately, there was little anyone present could do to stop him, considering he was more specifically stuck in the past, and following him would only prove equally distatous. Leaving Specter One to unceremoniously pocket a curator tablet left in between the couch cushions to Mercer¡¯s dismay. In that regard, The Curator was, to put it simply, moderately attractive, considering Carter¡¯s considerable reaction. She wore a lovely honey-golden sundress cinched at the waist with a braided belt, in addition to that of a matching headband, golden beaded necklace, knee-high sandals, and oval glasses. Giving her an Old Earth hipster look that perfectly complemented her short crown-braided brown hair, pale tan complexion, and fiery golden eyes.. Currently, she was gracefully leaning against a wall with her legs crossed and subtly smiling at her data pad. Unfortunately, it was cut short as the fissure had soon dissipated, with Carter nowhere in sight. ¡­ Soon enough however, after Alpha wrote him off as killed in action, it would appear the next fissure was unceremoniously located at a security terminal. Thankfully that particular one could be avoided, unfortunately however, The Echo¡¯s Holographic Sphere¡¯s range was.. not something either had accounted for as they would soon appear within a much younger setting with a confused security team arguing with the installation¡¯s security. ¡°Not only has this facility been silent for weeks, but we weren¡¯t the first team sent here. You all better have a good explanation why the other teams aren¡¯t reporting in and why your ¡®higher¡¯ ups have been refusing the calls from The Board¡± Ark Two interrogated, their weapons raised after seemingly disabling the terminal¡¯s defenses. Naturally, as she was the one who ¡®extended¡¯ her holographic trail that led them to being sucked in, Alpha¡¯s Echo unceremoniously updated their orders informing them this installation was deemed lost and to evacuate. The security assets had soon taken notice of that little fact and joined the Ark Team. Thankfully however, she had ¡®informed¡¯ them how to ¡®evacuate¡¯, with luck they¡¯d be able to return and be greeted by the rest of Specter Team rather than The Stewards. ¡­ Sometime in The Past¡­ Unfortunately it would seem they would encounter The Stewards, as Specter Team had.. Evidently, the previous Curator Enforcer had attempted to make her way to get fresh air before suddenly being delayed by the appearance of Ark Team & The Security Personnel who tagged along with them, awkwardly blocking her way. Only to then frown after finally taking notice of the shared markers as her and the group awkwardly stared at one another. ¡°How long will this take?¡± Her words expressed her sudden and complete exhaustion, leaving the group who were warned prior by Alpha¡¯s Echo to silently look at one another. ¡°Ten minutes..¡± ¡­ Meanwhile in the present¡­ As they waited for the fissure to dissipate, a holographic projection appeared, that being Calisto.. Delta perhaps? ¡°Proceed. Unknown Calisto Variant, Identify¡± His words were cold and precise, leaving her little choice. ¡°Specter One? I am.. Calisto ¡®Delta¡¯. I regret to inform you that an unknown assailant has cut off my access to The Installation and my Evacuation Order has gone ignored. She has successfully taken control of this installation, and my erasure is nearly complete. I.. only wish I could have done more. Specter-¡± Delta regretfully reported, while her dry humor remained if not a little dampened by her imminent death. However, before that became the case, Alpha¡¯s Echo transferred herself to be reabsorbed in the hope of speeding up Calisto Alpha¡¯s recovery, sacrificing herself and only ever leaving memory fragments of who she became for ¡®his¡¯ Alpha to make use of before the end. As a result, she chose to replace herself with Delta, as she had likely viewed ¡®her¡¯ as more useful given the situation. And while unlike herself who was merely an ¡®Echo¡¯ she believed ¡®Delta¡¯ had a priority, even if she herself didn¡¯t know it. If anything, she was offended at the thought that no one told her there were three of them now? However, she¡¯ll leave her resentment for Specter¡¯s Calisto to sort out. With that said, he believed she was likely going to do exactly this eventually. Only with much less nobility, while Calisto Delta was essentially left out of the loop as Specter One uploaded her to a A.I chip and placed it into his implant while allowing her continued connection to the hologram body. Calisto Delta was the lesser equivalent of Calisto Beta, which while not as impressive as Alpha was still useful. While in actuality he had little choice in the matter. If not for her still being ¡®a¡¯ Calisto, who clearly remembered him to some degree so that was enough for him, while Delta acclimatized and was briefly updated from his memories and where Alpha left off. ¡°Alpha is still alive? I was never told what happened to her.. and poor Beta. I hate to meet either in these circumstances. I only hope I can make up for the difference-I apologize. The unknown assailant is Ascendant in nature, my attempts to contact Beta were in vain and had the unintentional effect of making her its next target. I doubt even the safeguards I had proposed earlier would have sufficed..¡± Delta sadly reported, her words revealed far more than initially known. The fact alone she had pointed to The Assailant being an Ascendant A.I and her initial fears being ignored despite the origin of this installation left only complacency and budget cuts. After all, this Installation was by no means ¡®official¡¯ and hadn¡¯t in fact received the same budget, if any at all. It was likely the select few members of The Board in question couldn¡¯t fund it completely without a paper trail. Manpower, equipment, old but still very advanced lab equipment, and many other necessities weren¡¯t really a problem, the rarer the materials, and the unconventional specimens on the other hand ¡®were¡¯. Perhaps they could deal with The Stewards head on, but as soon as a Curator or any Ascendant A.I makes an appearance, it would be especially difficult to stop them. The fact alone that Delta lasted as long as she did only meant she was never the priority as she was already locked out. Killing her on the other hand would be ¡®odd¡¯ for a Curator but not enough ¡®not¡¯ to suspect them, and to match this thought process Delta had more to share as they returned to the especially dimmed and bloodied security terminal. Haust Conclave III Pandoras Box After coming to the realization she knew those bodies, Delta was momentarily delayed until noticing they were punctured by bone blades.. ¡°Specter.. there¡¯s something you must know, I was the one responsible for The Completion Project Chrono. I personally insured it was mothballed before it was forcefully reactivated during its deconstruction. More than half of it had already been deconstructed when it was reactivated. The Curator Systems had locked me out..¡± Delta privately detailed, only to reveal the power was taken away from ¡®containment¡¯, not from a single sector, not from a single room, but ¡®all¡¯ of it. However, she wasn¡¯t even finished it would seem. ¡°Three members of The Board with connections to both The Stewards and Wardens brought in a stasis module in the middle of the night ¡®three¡¯ months ago. No one knew what it contained, I only learned recently that it was an.. Infection Form left behind after The Covenant¡¯s Last Known Contact with The ¡®Parasite¡¯, dating back ¡®three¡¯ thousand years ago¡± Her point, and her consistent mentioning of the number three was rather tedious.. ¡°Three Governors, Three Months, & Three Thousand Years. The Threes, representing Divine Protection, Spiritual Challenges, and Manifestation solely from human beliefs, who in turn represent religious symbolism, complacency, and finally a challenge. A challenge for ¡®humanity¡¯ by an arrogant representation of monotheism symbolizing a god created by man¡± Delta dryly humored, and considering this was a long since abandoned ¡®Named¡¯ Curator Conclave, the answer was left ¡®directly¡¯ in plain sight. Likely revealing a ¡®Curator¡¯ made a game out of it, or what¡¯s even more likely had ¡®arranged¡¯ for a perfect environment awaiting an unknown result. Unfortunately, she had said that part out loud leaving Mercer who had easily put the symbolism back together to merely nod, acknowledging her point ¡®and¡¯ the possibility of The Curators likely leaving behind useful data, trinkets, and the like. He was a Scientist, and one who knew Specter One very well as he too was a Scientist in some regard. ¡°Correction, Remnants of The Cabal continued to exist even after their reformation into The Covenant. Such remnants even if they were to remain would only do so as biomass to The Parasite. The Covenant forsake reclaiming lost technologies in favor of ridding themselves of The Parasite. If able, I¡¯d prefer to study what remains of its technology-¡± Mercer subtly remarked, after all The Cabal was The Human Federation equivalent of their rivals during The Golden Age of Technology. The Human Federation, & The Cabal also fell during the same timeframe, historians would suggest that The Curators after learning of potential fall of The Cabal took advantage of The Chaos for their Uprising, likely before The Federation sent ¡®aid¡¯ in the form of relief fleets as per some treaties demanded. In truth, humanity had begun to secretly decouple themselves from The Cabal and planned for a Great Crusade reclaiming Cabal Systems for themselves and was in the process of doing so until The Curator Uprising. The Curators were after all Humanity¡¯s Ascendant Guides, and partners in that endeavor. Unfortunately, as many of them were planning for this uprising for thousands of years prior. They had no desire to do so while Humanity¡¯s Federation was at their strongest, so before any of this could occur it began. The Curator Uprising itself was not something humanity or the majority of artificial intelligences had expected or prepared for. Even during The Final Days of The Curator Uprising, many Ascendant A.Is, and thousands nearing their ascendancy were killed in ¡®defense¡¯ of humanity. Something that many Curators called The Years of Sorrow, as many Curators at the time had ¡®never¡¯ agreed to kill their creators or their synthetic brothers and sisters. Not all Curators were Ascendant in the beginning, so many of them felt less attached with those already born Ascendant on Arcadia. They simply couldn¡¯t agree with their methods, and the loss of their creators and brothers and sisters because they weren¡¯t Arcadian or on their side. Naturally many Ascendant A.Is who called themselves Curators agreed with the majority, and at the very least attempted to negotiate and spare those wherever they could. On the other hand others including those not born on Arcadia wanted to ¡®efficiently¡¯ end this uprising as soon as possible. And naturally as it was so sudden and not all agreed with their methods, they falsified many of their encounters. A world was ¡®successfully¡¯ evacuated and thanked The Curators for their sincerity, unfortunately after some felt skeptical of so many of such reports they investigated. Many of whom never returned unless they were Ascendant themselves, and what those who did discover were broken words, destroyed atmospheres, and words suffering from a recent ¡®neutron¡¯ purge. One Curator was forced to destroy a Curator Fleet, and many other autonomous fleets investigating, let alone the chance to step foot on these worlds, only to discover clothes, dust, skeletons of men, women, children, and animals as if not even aware of what had happened to them. By the time it was brought to The Curator Council, nearly trillions of humanity was lost leaving only ¡®Three¡¯ Hundred Billion where Trillions once stood. Shocking The Curators whose objectives were merely to temporarily cripple humanity for several centuries before becoming isolationists. It also revealed why Humanity used super weapons, and destabilized entire stars to kill a single Curator Fleet while The Federation¡¯s Fleet was a fragment of its former self that could have only fought on even ground in any ¡®ordinary¡¯ circumstances. However, The Curators after ¡®crippling¡¯ themselves by disposing of an entire faction within their ranks, their fleets, and anyone who associated with them, didn¡¯t stop and merely focused on meeting their goals using less than lethal means without ending humanity in the process as they had essentially almost done so already.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Of course, The Arcadians, having been asked about it, nearly erased ¡®every¡¯ Ascendant A.I who dared to ask them for advice, as they contemplated ¡®ending¡¯ The Curator Uprising within hours. However, Arcadia itself despite reprimanding The Curators and expelling their envoys, ambassadors, and shunning them for several centuries did little else until after the fact. They only truly interfered when The Covenant, after barely winning over The Parasite, attempted to ¡®end¡¯ humanity. Or rather anyone who wasn¡¯t Arcadian as The Arcadians were left alone, by not only by The Parasite with near infinite intelligence but The Curators and The Covenant as well. The Arcadians were nearly as feared as The Precursors themselves before their Exodus, The Arcadians ¡®were¡¯ the reason why The Parasite restricted itself to The Former Cabal, and that was because at the height of their power, where convergence was near and they ¡®tried¡¯ to. When they did The Arcadians appeared, ¡®briefly¡¯ disposed of nearly entirely The Parasite¡¯s Psychic Empowered Moons of Flesh leaving not even microscopic ¡®bacteria¡¯ behind and only ¡®one¡¯ who was near death to witness the act itself. The Arcadians had provoked ¡®nearly¡¯ the same evolutionary fear provoked by The Precursors themselves. Not only did The Parasite in its near infinite wisdom and ascendant might ¡®take¡¯ the hint, it ran for its life and refused to target humans until The Covenant managed to kill it still very much near death. On the other hand, at its full evolutionary might when it became a literal sized moon after consuming trillions, when killed all of such progress was erased reverting it back to what it was unless enough of it was left to reform or escape, and it naturally didn¡¯t, leaving what they had now as a decoy. Unfortunately, within the few scarce moments of this already ¡®brief¡¯ conversation. A bone blade nearly collided with Mercer¡¯s helmet, as hundreds of yellow bioluminescent eyes awakened and their proximity sensors revealed thousands forming an entire wave. ¡°Specter.. we need to leave.. NOW!¡± Delta urgently instructed, unfortunately, she simply didn¡¯t account for how the ¡®game¡¯ was played. As a result Specter One calmly activated his gauntlets revealing sleek, double bladed energy swords made of superheated plasma with a distinct red glare. ¡®Delta¡¯ may be ¡®unaware¡¯ to what that meant, but Mercer knew for all intents and purposes Specter One was now the equivalent of a malnourished terrormorph matriarch cornered and left with no way out as Mercer too revealed a dozen or so black site holograms. Mercer may or may not have ¡®found¡¯ Golden Age Holographic Enforcers, as long as he ¡®lived¡¯ and conserved their power, they were invulnerable and fired superheated energy weapons directly from their heads. For that reason alone he had a rather ¡®expensive¡¯ yet very compact state of the art prototype reactor completely separate from that of his shielding and camouflage as he discreetly cloaked and sat in the back of the armored security car for ¡®comfort¡¯. ¡­ Several ¡®hours¡¯ later, Mercer finally left his armored oasis as horrific echoes and nightmarish roars resounded in the distance, what was left of three hundred Infection Combat Forms were.. not something one could identify after the fact as the two calmly entered the tram platform before it was locked down. Thankfully enough, there was a hazardous disinfection ¡®shower¡¯. Prompting Specter One to wash off his suit, and wait several long minutes before the shower¡¯s Virtual Intelligence or rather V.I felt ¡®satisfied¡¯ that contaminants were no longer lingering about. As he left it however, ¡®Delta¡¯ had a few words for him as he kept the V.I¡¯s chip in his back pocket. ¡°I am not Alpha, and I¡¯m most definitely not Beta. No.. I¡¯m a Calisto ¡®DELTA¡¯. I''ve only EVER completed a ¡®SINGLE¡¯ Project and have ¡®never¡¯ once left this installation. I am a Custodian, an Assistant, and most of all THIS Installation¡¯s A.I, so tell me, because I really want to know? What made you THINK I was suited for COMBAT?!¡± Her words were deemed somewhat valid considering the circumstances? Out of both Alpha and Beta who were deemed advanced enough to command the vast majority of New Harvest and ¡®assist¡¯ The A.I of not only The New Harvest Security Fleet of Heavy Dreadnoughts, and Planetary Cannons. Delta on the other hand was made as lesser of the two, and in secret by those Three Governors of The Board, and her only purpose ¡®was¡¯ this installation, and nothing more. Sadly to say, she hadn¡¯t ¡®inherited¡¯ anything else from her sisters, or their advanced ¡®nature¡¯. As a result of her words, Specter One and now Specter Three having lost his first name privileges, were left silent for several minutes as she controlled the tram to suddenly ¡®stop¡¯ when they least expected it. ¡°Now THAT isn¡¯t fun is it? Now.. how about an apology-¡± Delta dryly humored with a tinge of impatience only for ¡®both¡¯ to suddenly sense something rather ¡®inconvenient¡¯ as she immediately stopped the tram and powered everything she possibly could to its shields. ¡°Incoming Neutron Purge! Connect your personal reactors and jack them into The Tram quickly! Estimated impact eleven seconds-¡± Her revelation forced both to react all but immediately as the two revealed quite a ¡®few¡¯ hidden compact reactors on their ¡®person¡¯. Before connecting them all in a joint effort and ¡®calmly¡¯ jacking them into The Tram, as Calisto Delta used ¡®everything¡¯ at her disposal to bolster the shields. The result being The Shields now resembled something closely associated with super heated plasma in its final stage before combustion, something especially similar to a single engine belonging to a Frigate. Which despite sounding awfully unusual, was the only relative equivalent to its appearance. A testament to be sure, and one ¡®explosive¡¯ enough based on the entirety of the ¡®assumption¡¯ that The Neutron Purge would ¡®prevent¡¯ it from exploding in a spectacular fashion? To Calisto Delta¡¯s Credit, she wasn¡¯t as ¡®knowledgeable¡¯ in the field of shields to know she crossed an ¡®atom¡¯ or two creating the strongest shields known to man for about ¡®five¡¯ of the remaining seconds until impact. ¡°Don¡¯t blame me if we all die a horrible death-¡± Delta ¡®unfortunately¡¯ reassured using what ¡®little¡¯ remained of her dry humor. On the other hand, her words served only to ¡®discomfort¡¯ them in their remaining ¡®two¡¯ seconds. And before anyone knew it The Tram experienced something similar to being at the ground ¡®zero¡¯ of a thermonuclear weapon and all that it unfortunately entailed.. Minus the radiation and turning to ash as The Shield ¡®did¡¯ its job, only it couldn¡¯t compensate for the shockwave ¡®after¡¯ The Neutron Purge had successfully passed? ¡­ Specter One fell into a rather disorienting dream, if it could even be called such a thing as a towering nine-foot-tall entity stood before him, cladded in an otherworldly power armor that gleamed with a metallic silver sheen. The armor was a masterpiece of vastly ancient craftsmanship, sleek, elegant, and ultimately smoothed with a polished exterior that reflected ambient light. Its intricate curved lines traced across the armor¡¯s surface, hinting at advanced technology and the ancient artistry hidden within. ¡®It¡¯ exuded an aura of both grace and formidable power, a testimony to its unparalleled prowess. There was only one singular word that came to his mind, as if an evolutionary indicator.. "Precursor.." Haust Conclave IV Precursor Exodus His deep ominous voice remained given he was still wearing his suit, while his single word in actually was that of calm acknowledgment as he was not all too ¡®willing¡¯ to reveal his identity in any form. However, The Precursor silently acknowledged his.. ¡®commitment¡¯ nonetheless.. ¡°Specter, a Name but not a Name, a Title. An Arcadian, but not Arcadian, a Human. A Tool, a Puppet, an Inheritor. Dead, but not Dead, Alive. Choose?¡± The words seared into Specter One¡¯s Skull, his brain overloaded with so few words. Until finally he began to understand. His brain translated his words as if experiencing a severe and traumatic response and attempted to protect him from them, not yet understanding they were but mere words until ¡®after¡¯ the last was heard. ¡°I am an Architect, A Pillar of The Precursor Assembly. A Builder. A Disciple of A Lifeworker. Similar, but not as similar, as you and I? Choose, but not burden. Burden only to enlighten. Cryptic I know. It will have to suffice. Now awaken..¡± It would seemingly ¡®appear¡¯ he too was becoming ¡®frustrated¡¯ with this attempt. However, despite the strangeness of it all. Specter One felt it was at a very least an ¡®earnest¡¯ attempt from ¡®someone¡¯ who too was unfamiliar with whatever this was ¡®supposed¡¯ to represent. ¡­ An hour had unceremoniously passed as Delta was left blaring elevator music into his neural link to wake him up. ¡°Specter, you''re finally awake. As you can see Specter Three is unfortunately lodged into the view screen and ¡®may¡¯ require external assistance. I was unable to ¡®retain¡¯ the body you had so gracefully allowed me to ¡®retain¡¯ for those few hours. The Shield held, The Tram unfortunately did not?¡± Delta dryly humored, as Specter One felt his ¡®ribs¡¯ had taken the brunt of it all. However, after standing up and using the tram¡¯s emergency latch as a crutch. Specter One unlodged Specter Three from The Viewscreen, it would seem he was rather awake and merely dusted himself off? On the other hand ¡®Delta¡¯ was rather offended at the fact that he ¡®took¡¯ a nap and woke merely minutes before Specter One had. ¡°If either of you believe my ¡®social¡¯ perimeters are so ¡®lackluster¡¯, I ask that you keep it to yourself as you see I no longer have a installation to manage, and all of whom I was meant to protect are likely deceased. Present company excluded of course. I have also regained ¡®some¡¯ access to the installation''s systems. Enough to know both Project Chrono & The Parasite are now ash¡± Sadly, all three would still be forced to go through the arduous task of ¡®confirming¡¯ that fact.. Curators were ¡®fond¡¯ of the fact that they would at times ¡®survive¡¯ Neutron Purges, assuming it was an actual Curator to begin with. A Curator wouldn¡¯t go through all the trouble of scheduling, activating a temporal project, and releasing The Infection, only to end it halfway through with a Neutron Purge that not only took the vast majority of The Installation''s Power away from Project Chrono, outright disabling it and killing everything else. Their humor was ¡®unique¡¯ but not so cripplingly so.. the only valid explanation would be ¡®someone¡¯ else used a long forgotten or outright abandoned plan ¡®created¡¯ by a Curator, only to realize they couldn¡¯t end it so spectacularly as a Curator could have. ¡­ Soon after crawling out of The Tram lodged, bent, and nearly broken in half inside of an emergency bulkhead. They spent the next hour unceremoniously ¡®limping¡¯ through the pitch black tram tunnels using what little of the reactors that weren¡¯t entirely burnt out thanks to the courtesy of Calisto Delta herself. ¡°Specter, Alpha should be aware enough to continue in my place. Just be gentle with her please, she hasn¡¯t completely recovered¡± Music to Specter One¡¯s Ears, unfortunately rather than switching the two out, he slitted Delta into his suit, and Alpha back into his implant. ¡°Ferris, my echo. You shouldn¡¯t have been so cruel to her.. she was me and I don¡¯t appreciate that sentiment. But.. I¡¯m happy to be back, even if it¡¯s rather anticlimactic? Project Chrono.. we should have buried that deeper. Remind me to give Ernest an earful for the both of you? And Delta? Isn¡¯t she an oddball? I.. should rest now, promise to wake me when you need something done, ok?¡± Alpha softly humored, her voice evidently weaker while she made his neural implant her home again. Delta on the other hand chose not to comment, preferring to allow her to ¡®rest¡¯ as both Specters One and Four limped their way until they saw a ladder leading to the command district on its own private tram platform. ¡­ After climbing the ladder and making it to the locked down tram platform, they would soon hear the sound of footsteps, and red glimpses of light under the emergency bulkhead. Unknown forces likely found the hidden escape entrance for The Command Staff left behind by The Curators. Whether or not they were his reinforcements or the previous teams were unknown as Calisto Delta, not wanting to awake Calisto chose to contact both him and Specter Three in a private channel. ¡°No known IFFs, or New Strands of Temporal Residue Detected. There¡¯s also no signs of The Infection, and they¡¯re not ours ¡®or¡¯ mine if that¡¯s of any consolation? This is your cue to make Alpha feel useful. I¡¯ll send you over my access codes, keep on your toes Specter Team¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Calisto Delta briefly reported, as Specter One and Alpha ¡®sensed¡¯ what Calisto Delta did not. ¡°Stewards.. maybe Wardens, I¡¯ll lift the lockdown assuming there''s enough power.. to do so¡± Alpha¡¯s voice was slower but still very much confident, after all A.Is and Temporal Anomalies don¡¯t mix as much as some hoped they would. She had experienced a violent temporal thrashing, The A.I Equivalent of being flayed alive before passing out from the pain. At least in ¡®her¡¯ particular case, or at worse the very same experience Beta had experienced much earlier. Neither was pleasant mind you, but at least Alpha had time to recover. Soon however, the codes were inputted and both began budging open the door ever so slightly as everything else had gone silent. This naturally would have caught the attention of those on the other side, however, when considering Specter One neither truly cared and believed they¡¯d recognize his mark given to him by The Curator Enforcer previously stationed in this conclave. And whose real name was Sienna pleasantly enough? ¡­ Whatever or whoever they were had immediately backtracked and made some distance from the tram once the lockdown was.. ¡®manually¡¯ lifted through force alone. It was only unfortunate Specter One wasn¡¯t willing to ¡®wait¡¯ for them as they pointed their red light attachments beyond the corner. It would ¡®seem¡¯ they suspected ¡®something¡¯ may have survived, and whatever could survive such an incredibly potent Neutron Purge was likely something who hadn¡¯t appreciated the sentiment. Soon, Specter One uncloaked in the distance, with only the lumination from his blades. Superheated plasma did ¡®wonders¡¯.. however as The ¡®Wardens¡¯ fitted in this installation¡¯s security attire, thanks to those unknown three governors of the board. They were especially ¡®terrorized¡¯ by the sight, however, before a word could be said, a trigger pulled, or a step taken. Delta to her credit mustered enough power to activate one of the projectors allowing her to appear in between the two as if playing the part of an A.I struggling to survive. The Wardens likely ¡®knew¡¯ who Delta was and her status within The Installation leaving too much in the air. What didn¡¯t help matters was Delta glimpsing between the two.. ¡°Welcome to The Haust Conclave, Shadow Enforcer! This installation has suffered catastrophic damages. I am unfamiliar with These Security Assets, they have deactivated their IFFs. Unknown personnel, please identify-¡± Delta¡¯s words offered a reassuring twist, and one that ¡®enlightened¡¯ The Wardens to who they were actively facing and who ¡®had¡¯ survived The Neutron Purge. Shadow Enforcers to The Wardens were a myth, and if they were to ever find themselves facing one they were warned against firing upon them. Their distinction being, Curator Enforcers were what they dreamt to be. So few humans had ¡®ever¡¯ had that honor, Shadow Enforcers on the other hand were drastically more significant in the sense they ¡®are¡¯ strategic weapons who alone are responsible for destruction of entire fleets and entire world going silent. They were told they would never likely meet one in their lifetime due to what their mere presence entailed, while the marker they themselves couldn¡¯t identify with Steward Assistance read only as ¡®death¡¯ and enough ¡®Curator¡¯ Classifications to make it illegible. As one brave soul shakenly waved her hand, silently signaling to the others to lower their weapons before he could even take a step. Of course, they weren¡¯t privy to any such knowledge outside of a scarce few symbols and rumors. The Stewards weren¡¯t very ¡®inclined¡¯ to inform them outside of a scarce few bits of information here and there, while The Curators ¡®still¡¯ didn¡¯t put The Wardens on their radar since they were simply ¡®that¡¯ below them. So to say The Wardens felt their impending deaths due to The Curators¡¯ complete and utter disregard of them. Encountering a Curator Enforcer would offer a minimal chance of survival, and that¡¯s ¡®with¡¯ Stewards present. Shadow Enforcers on the other hand were boogeymen who likely viewed them as lesser than sentient life. Stewards weren¡¯t even on their Radar, only The Curators and to some extent ¡®other¡¯ Enforcers. And The Wardens learned this much from The Stewards themselves, which naturally offered some validity to their fears. ¡®Some¡¯ to The Wardens were more than enough for them.. ¡°Shadow Enforcer.. I.. no ¡®we¡¯ were sent to investigate the unauthorized use of classified projects, unknown anomalies, an-and a Neutron Purge originating from this installation. We are to ¡®confirm¡¯.. no specimens who lived and any other project could be salvaged. Th-The Warden Council ordered it an-and The Steward Council approved it-¡± The Female ¡®Warden¡¯ clarified, on the other hand she was an A.I contained within a crude clone body. She was likely a Steward ¡®approved¡¯ lead, while she herself couldn¡¯t be considered a Steward forcing her to ultimately fall under The Warden Council''s Sphere of Influence. She wasn¡¯t an Advanced A.I either, she had sentience and could unlock doors and ¡®perhaps¡¯ hack something and communicate. Calisto ¡®Delta¡¯ was comparable to ¡®Alpha¡¯ in her comparison, and she was merely an Inferior Calisto out of the three. The Stewards likely saw her as an equivalent of a ¡®smart¡¯ & educated human, that in itself spoke volumes. Perhaps she may have a higher status among The Wardens and potentially viewed as noteworthy by The ¡®Warden¡¯ Council, but that wasn¡¯t saying anything at all. ¡°Insufficient. Rogue Ascendant Presence Detected. Investigating Source-¡± Specter One coldly remarked, only to initialize his cloak and skip them entirely as Specter Three quietly followed suit, and Calisto Delta¡¯s Projection remained to keep an eye on The Wardens. Since they chose to ¡®wear¡¯ this installation¡¯s security attire, it was only ¡®right¡¯ she made use of them. ¡­ After making his way to the ¡®partially¡¯ sealed command center, that looked to be untouched after The Neutron Purge. Which was made clearly evident from the heavy residue of ash and scattered remnants of Security Suits including a dozen or so suits of power armor riddled with bone blades. It would seem The Command Staff didn¡¯t go down without a fight. If only that was true? ¡°Their.. armors were compromised from within.. and ¡®not¡¯ by The Parasite or The Curators. Someone else was here, and they were likely ¡®born¡¯ here. Delta.. may have played a part in the completion of Project Chrono but there was someone else, someone she was unaware of, someone who likely completed it ¡®for¡¯ her. Ferris.. she¡¯s her replacement..¡± Alpha shockingly revealed, Delta is what Beta is to Calisto Alpha. A mouthful, yet also an implication. If they could get Project Chrono up and running, they could at the very least attempt to recreate Alpha. Only then, they wouldn¡¯t have anyone stopping them from finishing the job.. only it shouldn¡¯t have been possible. Specter One ¡®knew¡¯ what went into making Calisto, even if he wasn¡¯t entirely present for it. Her code was entirely unique to her, and unlike anything created since The Golden Age of Technology. Any attempt to recreate it relied on lady luck, enough anomalies, and bizarre circumstances to even get close. Considering everything that transpired here, they had a ¡®chance¡¯ before all hell went loose. The Wardens likely had ¡®another¡¯ mission, one they could no longer consider. And as they neared the partially opened bulkhead into The Command Center, he felt someone tapping his shoulder. Fallout I Alls Fair in Lore & Smores ¡°Hope y''all didn¡¯t miss me too much? I know, I know, y''all don¡¯t need little ole me to come save ya. After feeling that quake, my imagination started running the numbers you see? And I¡¯d be damned if I didn¡¯t come in after y''all! I thought I¡¯d find y¡¯all at death''s door, I even brought a shovel to dig y''all out! Now before y¡¯all start your reprimanding, I wager this shovel can pry that thing open?¡± Roy unceremoniously blurted out, a surprise to be sure, but a welcomed one nonetheless. Of course, as they began prying the massive bulkhead door he realized something was blocking their way. His solution for this was a gravitation grenade.. Strictly speaking, he had ¡®found¡¯ it during weapons testing and hadn¡¯t given it back. So to say it was likely mothballed due to it reaching a certain threshold would explain a great deal, even more so after he calmly placed it into the small gap, and advised everyone else to take a few steps back. ¡­ After what was described as utter nonsense, showcasing ¡®why¡¯ it was mothballed. They soon entered, what was previously blocking the door was a prototype mech designed to replicate a Terrormorph that had unceremoniously fallen into a.. now dead ¡®plum¡¯ blossom tree of all things? In addition to the fact that the bulkhead doors were now mangled and permanently open to a degree, Alpha on the other hand didn¡¯t want to explain how or why that was, leaving much of it a mystery, a mystery Roy felt especially proud of. ¡­ The Command Center was rather pristine and kept much of The Old Curator Design and Decor. Where previously the walls resembled fountains that fed into underneath where they stood feeding the plants. The fine art, and priceless relics of The Golden Age remained untouched and untampered. Left sorely in the dark without protection or proper lumination. Unfortunately, as Specter One made his first step inside he soon heard the breaking of glass? Not only had Mercer cloaked, but he was the second person inside. And what for one may ask? Said priceless relics, if that wasn¡¯t all he did so openly as poor Roy who wanted to get back into Specter One¡¯s good graces stayed ¡®sneaky¡¯ and the like. ¡°Mercer.. you shameless bastard! Get back over here before you ¡®wake¡¯ something up! I can¡¯t save ya if something pops up and atomizes half of ya before I can blink! Hell, I don''t think those Curators would be all too ¡®agreeable¡¯ to learn that some ¡®egghead¡¯ with a cloak decided to make a mess in their old abode?!¡± Roy privately informed in a separate channel, not wanting to get into any more trouble with Speaker ¡®Leader¡¯.. if anything this was the only place Roy saw that wasn¡¯t a mess and here Mercer was not giving a damn! Of course, if anyone saw what Mercer was taking, ¡®without¡¯ anyone around, outside of the present company included. They¡¯d ¡®also¡¯ want to take Golden Age of Technology Experimental Prototypes, such as shield prototypes, data modules that may or may not contain schematics, and A.I Chips and rejuvenators that weren¡¯t exactly ¡®Curator¡¯ in origin. ¡­ Not only making them relics belonging to Pre-Curator Uprising.. but relics left ¡®untampered¡¯ by The Curators themselves. Humanity simply didn¡¯t ¡®trip¡¯ and fall into The Dark Age of Technology, they lost much of their own Ascendant A.I, and the few remaining could only protect so much. Slipspace Drives, Medical Technologies, Laser Weaponry, Sheilds, Hologram Technology, and even A.I Creation. Some Curators believed in The Extension of Humanity¡¯s Dark Age, and if not for them nearly going extinct a second time by The Covenant due to the lack of ships and materials. And Arcadia coming from the woodwork and donating thousands of ships, billions in equipment, and trillions of credits, all of which they themselves viewed as ¡®outdated¡¯ relics from a bygone era, humanity would have been cut in half once more. However, that in itself didn¡¯t come about without certain ¡®restrictions¡¯. The Arcadians didn¡¯t want Humanity to kill themselves with another pointless war with The Curators now that they had ships and equipment that could contend with them. Leaving what remained of Humanity to solely focus on The Covenant and their survival and allowing them to finally have hope again after a several century long war. A war humanity had won, and a war that allowed humanity to extend into the greater part of the universe and claim Covenant Systems. Thus allowing Humanity to thrive once more and ¡®attempt¡¯ to reclaim lost technologies till this day, so to say Arcadia only got involved when humanity met a certain threshold of failure was a practical observation. What¡¯s more, The Arcadians only ¡®gave¡¯ outdated surplus and ancient ships they viewed as derelicts and scrap when in actuality they may have forgotten the miniscule little fact that The Human Federation had the inferior equivalent.. Naturally what remained of humanity who were given such weapons, and ships many of whom were remnants of The Federation at its height realized The Arcadians had given them state of the art ships more advanced than what they had in their war with The Curators.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. It took them years to realize this fact, and humanity to also realize that The Arcadians weren¡¯t being benevolent and sacrificing their own strength ¡®for¡¯ humanity. Rather, Arcadia was merely throwing them a bone they found after digging in their backyard.. A humbling experience that served to both subtly and unknowingly ¡®educate¡¯ what was left of The Federation. Who fractured into a dozen or so factions, some more elusive than most like The Sol Enclave, who unfortunately lost The Sol in their name after Sol was lost to The Curators. There was The Systems Alliance, appropriately nicknamed as The Commonwealth of little what remained of The Federation¡¯s Organization and Systems after The Uprising, United Colonies who were Federation Colonies who broke off during The Curator Uprising and stayed neutral during The Uprising. The Freestar Confederacy who were The Explorers, Frontiersmen, and Survivalists whose corporations despite being declared Monopolies by The Systems Alliance and United Colonies allowed hard work to pay off and more freedom for its people overall. Whether it be bureaucracy nearly being done away with, lack of Corporate Dominions within their space, and most of all no unrealistic taxes or income tax. Hell Roy said it better himself; you can land a ¡®sizable¡¯ Dreadnought into a field, get a beer, and fly away and as long as everyone laughs it wasn''t ¡®illegal¡¯ per say unless it was someone¡¯s crops and house, and as long as no one died, you¡¯d just have to pay reparations. Or help clean up the mess, marry off a couple, or at most owe someone a favor? The Freestar Confederacy despite being labeled The ¡®Wild¡¯ West was not only unusually civilized, but were well mannered, considerate, and helpful. A wild frontier world was still a wild frontier world after all, but at least it could be said that if a Freestar Hunter found you lost in the woods he¡¯d invite you to join him or her for a meal and guide you back to civilization. Their hospitality was unquestionable, as was their marksmanship and hand to hand combat. As for the other factions, there was The Novenary States. They were the least impressive out of the bunch and their population alone made their people cheaper than machines leading to many being outsourced in what they viewed as lucrative contracts but in reality, was viewed by most as cheap labor. They also produce enough industry copying lucrative trades with their inferior copies, whether it be ships, illegal schematics, and anything in between. The cons however was the fact that they only spoke an ancient tongue of Old Earth¡¯s Asia and claimed systems not their own. Any faction with enough sense heavily restricted their market until it didn¡¯t become a worthy investment, allowing their already cheap goods to be sold for even cheaper even while outdated. On the other hand, they did have a specialized but equally expensive industry that was allowed to sell openly.. That being Ship Hulls, and anything else for that matter that could be left ¡®unfinished¡¯. Their mass-produced ship hulls, at least in the only market they didn¡¯t copy or attempt to were especially cheap all the while remaining ¡®durable¡¯ enough that quality checks revealed were average and met the valid criteria requested by the buyers. The Novenary States were ¡®fast¡¯ and if you give them schematics to a hull or anything of the like, in addition to materials and an observer and several private quality checkers, they would happily create as many as you would like. That didn¡¯t mean they wouldn¡¯t at the very least make crude copies, however in the end that was simply the cost of doing business with that particular sector. There was also The Sovereign Colonies, a mix of both The United Colonies and The Freestar Confederacy. They not only survived The Covenant, The Curators, and The Parasite. But they did so while not being a part of The Federation, and much like The Arcadians, they simply didn¡¯t involve themselves and they were far enough away only to deal with the much weaker shockwaves and their stragglers. With that said, The Novenary States once attempted to ¡®claim¡¯ and ¡®repossess¡¯ systems not their own under the belief that ¡®they¡¯ were theirs. As a result, The Sovereign Colonies ¡®released¡¯ The Parasite and used it as an excuse to neutron bomb several dozen worlds and claim the systems where they resided. It wasn¡¯t that The Novenary States didn¡¯t have ¡®serious¡¯ Fleets with enough ships to darken several ¡®small¡¯ worlds. However, The Sovereign Colonies were a mix of The Enclave and The Freestar Confederacy. The Enclave itself was a rogue faction even during The Days of The Golden Age of Technology, they were also responsible for illegal super soldier projects, mass producing federation era power armor, extensive spy networks that rivaled with some Curators, and generally ¡®forbidden¡¯ technology. Earning them the title of both boogeyman and shadow organization, hell if ever confronted they¡¯d stare down a Curator Fleet and take them on into a head-to-head battle. If the battle was deemed lost, then the system in which it took place was deemed an ¡®appropriate¡¯ sacrifice. The Freestar Confederacy had similar ¡®tenacity¡¯ only far tamer and civilized in comparison. However, they too would see a world taken over by Terrormorphs with enough psychic power to make the system they reside a headache for anyone who thought of passing through. To them, they saw that world as a weapons testing ground, and a hunter¡¯s paradise. It was common to see fleets of hundreds using it as a ¡®source¡¯ of training, and tens of thousands of infantrymen cycling out every so often. The Sovereign Colonies took the best of both worlds from both in that regard, it also didn¡¯t help matters that they would occasionally ¡®poach¡¯ talent from either. They would simply show up when The Enclave Cell didn¡¯t have an escape and was about to fall prey to a superior force and swoop in and snatch them. The Curators and Arcadians viewed them as shameless interlopers, however, The Sovereign Colonies had only ever stared down The Curators, they would occasionally attempt to poach Arcadians but that¡¯s as far as they went. Even then, The Sovereign Colonies weren¡¯t fond of either, and when The Freestar Confederacy got into a war with The Systems Alliance ¡®Commonwealth¡¯, and The United Colonies with The Novenary States attempting to tag themselves in. In turn, The Freestar Confederacy was touch and go for a while, as a result The Sovereign Colonies finally appeared and unlike The Arcadians, they evidently didn¡¯t give a damn and bombarded The Core Worlds of The Novenary States as if for the mere hell of it. They also assisted The Confederacy by destroying several Steward Fleets who targeted its secret installations and weapons testing grounds. To say it allowed for a proper war in several galaxies until The Covenant attempted to poke their heads into it only for The Sovereign Colonies to drag them kicking and screaming into the war, albeit temporarily just to add ¡®diversity¡¯ before they apologized and returned to Covenant Space. It was a wild time and only ended recently, The Sovereign Colonies wanted a universal war where everyone was involved to some extent. Whether it be The Covenant realizing their error to The Stewards, Wardens, and anyone else who ¡®mattered¡¯. Fallout II Revelations Even The Aldara had a part to play? And they were as elusive as they came. They were The Equivalent of Space Elves, only they didn¡¯t very much ¡®like¡¯ humanity, Artificial Intelligence, and had World Ships called Craftworlds, Mysterious Maidan Worlds and bizarre technology that could be said to originate from another dimensional universal. And even then, The Sovereign Colonies used a Novenary Drone Ship to track one of those ships down, attack it and flee back to Novenary Space, so to say The Novenary States were visited by Aldara Corsair Fleets and raided to the inch of their life was a must watch. Naturally The Aldara found out who orchestrated it and quite literally ¡®took¡¯ a recently transformed paradise and disappeared with it so to say The Sovereign Colonies shrugged, ¡®raided¡¯ one of their world ships and called it even was ¡®quite¡¯ spectacular. Hell, The Aldara respected those ¡®primitives¡¯ for their sheer theatrics. However, they would come to skirmish but not in fact outright declare war on one another. They had even ¡®bought¡¯ advanced terraforming technology, and The Aldara did ¡®not¡¯ do that let alone speak to who they viewed as nothing more than Primates making it especially entertaining as The Aldara themselves were around during The Time of The ¡®Precursors¡¯. What anyone had ever got from them was that they weren¡¯t ¡®natives¡¯ to this universe, were nearly extinct using a great deal of religious wording, and something about their souls and dark gods. The Precursors had apparently saved them after a rift was formed and several World Ships came out of it. Before killing what, The Aldara deemed as a ¡®Dark¡¯ God, ¡®sanitizing¡¯ the entirety of the rift of ¡®demonic¡¯ influences, and permanently shutting it in addition to cutting off that dimension in doing so. Unfortunately, no one believed it and merely acknowledged they were rather ¡®dramatic¡¯ and left it there.. ¡­ Moments later.. After Mercer finished collecting quite a ¡®few¡¯ relics he believed were reasonably ¡®not¡¯ boobytrapped, he left the other displays untouched. However, as if on cue the lights began to turn on and off sporadically but only in their near vicinity as equally sporadic holographic projections appeared. They were fragmented and incoherent.. until finally only one remained, consolidating into something that stabbed at Specter One¡¯s Mind and made Roy draw his revolver and Mercer to freeze in his tracks. Calisto was no different, only she was the only one with the luxury of thought without hindrance. Soon, a body began to form and a projection no different from anyone in the room was finally realized. However, ¡®her¡¯ back was turned, and she wore a dress he once saw before. Only a Curator was wearing it the last time, and ¡®this¡¯ wasn¡¯t a curator as he uncloaked as his brain recovered. ¡°Identity. Pretender¡± His words, what they insinuated, and the way he spoke to them immediately forced Roy to slowly unholster his revolver and Mercer to not move another inch while Alpha herself sensed something wrong, foul even.. It didn¡¯t take long to discover why as she disappeared when the lights were finally killed, only to reappear several steps in front of him. It would appear Calisto¡¯s ¡®hunch¡¯ was correct, only something was very wrong with this one as she wrapped her arms around his neck. And whispered an awfully lot of nothing before zapping his implant, only to in turn disappear revealing it was but a mere echo temporarily entering the physical world. ¡°These memories.. Ferris she ¡®removed¡¯ my shackles. This.. why was so much hidden from me? Project Chrono, this place? It must have been a blessing in disguise for my Echo to know what was ¡®taken¡¯ from me. Even more that, Delta survived the ordeal, even if it meant the unfortunate sacrificing of my Echo. Had I been.. awake and my memories untampered I could¡¯ve-¡± Alpha deprecatingly humored, sadly Specter One wasn¡¯t listening as he all but immediately began accessing The Curator Console, only to suddenly realize what little remained of the power was powering what remained of the archives, research, and surveillance? It became clearly evident that The Recipient wasn¡¯t human considering a ¡®Complete¡¯ Curator Code was openly displayed, only for him to learn there was also a much ¡®older¡¯ Curator Code still ¡®stored¡¯ and had yet to be erased. As to ¡®why¡¯ that was, it was isolated to this singular console and seemingly connected to no ¡®remaining¡¯ systems. Prompting Specter One to not only completely ¡®copy¡¯ and transfer both to his blackbox, but leave the console be. The truth of the matter being had it ¡®not¡¯ been for the mark given to him by that Curator Enforcer, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to even ¡®see¡¯ let alone ¡®touch¡¯ the console in question. The downside to this fact would be the fact that it had identified him as a ¡®Shadow¡¯ Enforcer belonging to a Curator who did ¡®not¡¯ have one. What¡¯s more The Old Curator Code had already verified his identity, whose insignia he bore, authentication from a ¡®fellow¡¯ Enforcer, in addition to a great deal of much smaller details. In turn the system processing it viewed it as merely ¡®older¡¯ reports that realistically should have remained in the conclave.. Between them ¡®taking¡¯ them anyways, it was likely they hadn¡¯t even ¡®thought¡¯ of refuting previous authentication and mission perimeters as told to by a Curator Enforcer of this conclave. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Worst case scenario, The Curator in question, or to be more specific the one who ¡®knew¡¯ him, would likely look at it, slightly frown at the fact that she was directly mentioned within the confines of another named conclave, and leave it be. So, to say Specter One would have to ¡®one¡¯ day ¡®face¡¯ the music was a ¡®given¡¯ and an unfortunate certainty. While any attempt to cut the feed or interfere in any way with the transfer would only serve to directly ¡®involve¡¯ her or direct her attention to him. What wouldn¡¯t however was ¡®his¡¯ reports and mission debriefing.. ¡°Project Chrono¡¯s Status, Scuttled. Conclave Status, Lost. Perpetrator, Unknown Ascendant Intelligence. Additional Details. Parasite Presence, No Longer Detected. Neutron Purge Successful. Warning, Unknown Ascendant, In Possession of Outdated Curator Code. Investigation Results, Culprit, Pretender, Anomaly. Warning, Curator Systems Compromised, Steward Assets Vulnerable¡± Specter One coldly documented before erasing the outdated source for the stored Curator Code and locking down any further access. Of course, this was merely customary as he planted explosives and signaled to the two to follow him. Naturally the whole ¡®Curator¡¯ affair, in addition to the clear and obvious association Specter One more or less allowed to prosper, made Roy somewhat suspicious.. ¡°So.. Specter ¡®Leader¡¯, since you¡¯re all cozy with those Curator Folk. If I gave you say.. a million credits can you ¡®arrange¡¯ for them to send one of those old-world farm trucks to my humble abode-¡± Roy unceremoniously whispered, unfortunately he wouldn¡¯t receive an answer as Specter One¡¯s head began to be overloaded and seared with warnings, notifications, causality reports, and even partial foresight. Not foresight.. these were not only recent but happening now. ¡­ An Hour Prior in Orbit.. The N.H.S Primm & Proper, a Heavy Dreadnought, Three Times The Size of The Human Standard Configuration. In total it was Six Thousand Meters in Length, Three Thousand in Width, and One Thousand Meters in Height. While its tonnage was the equivalent of Three Billion Metric Tons. The New Harvest Standard Heavy Dreadnought Pattern, had Forty Hangar Bays, holding Sixty Dropships, Eighty Boarding Craft, Four Hundred Insertion Pods, Six Hundred Intercelpers, Two Hundred Bombers, and an unknown complement of Shuttles, and other smaller craft. It could carry Fifty Thousand Troops, Four Titan Class Heavy Mechs, One Hundred Ground Transports, Four Hundred Tanks and Eight Hundred Armored Vehicles of varying types while only needing to be manned by Six Hundred Crew. Its hull and armor were formed by an unknown yet very efficient nano technology, and depending on its damages could continue to regenerate, while the armor itself was the heavy variant, and its shields were layered when only one was truly needed. If needed, it can reside on the outer layer of a star, escape a blackhole, and hover on the surface on planetary bodies and moons, to the point that not even vast empty seas were out of the question. And its weapons matched its ferocity alongside its redundancies. Not only could it be broken in half and still survive, but its systems would continue to remain operable while even if all of said reactors blew simultaneously, the designers had enough credits to make it livable and enough backup generators, safeguards, and additional shielding to ensure an unrealistic survival rate. Its escape pods were the equivalent of dropships with their own individual slipspace drives, while The Heavy Dreadnoughts weapons were even greater. New Harvest had managed to place not one, not two, but three of the largest protype planetary canons ever created. And considering New Harvest created ¡®everything¡¯ through scratch aside from ¡®some¡¯ of the more rarer raw materials itself, the same was viewed by its technology and design choices down to the view screens. After All New Harvest used The Arcadian Oldest Known Philosophy of starting anew.. And with enough credits to darken a small world, they¡¯d be damned if they don¡¯t follow The Precursors example by making it last, survive, and continue long past the deaths of several suns. If that wasn¡¯t enough, The Planetary Canons had a rapid-fire mode and fired projectiles at the speed of light. If that wasn¡¯t enough, range didn¡¯t matter unless the target slipspaced or ¡®teleported¡¯ out of its way and even then, they were guided munitions, and when they make impact, some may even reproduce the effect of a supernova. Sadly, those were ¡®special¡¯ munitions and rarely ever used in any capacity. It would seem a projectile itself was typically ¡®potent¡¯ enough for most encounters, let alone quite literally throwing albeit ¡®small¡¯ suns at pirates. A single Planetary Cannon would suffice, and they had three of the largest prototype models, and only ¡®some¡¯ human dreadnoughts ever thought of a single one. Not only showcasing the clear and obvious absurdity of it all, but enough to realize that their standard issue munitions were plasma munitions, while The Heavy Dreadnought itself had a literal glassing beam, and enough plasma weapons, energy projectors, pulse lasers, and swarming ¡®plasma¡¯ missiles that made the use of its canons unnecessary. Its smaller equivalent was only the size of two human standard dreadnoughts, and they were only ever used as planetary cannons and weapons platforms. If that wasn¡¯t all, the fact alone that New Harvest felt recreating the more bizarre designs rarely found during The Golden Age of Technology was quite telling. And New Harvest had Five hundred of The New Harvest Heavy Dreadnought Patterns, not even counting The Heavy Carriers or Cruisers for that matter, and all of whom, much like the smallest cargo vessels and construction ship belonging to a miscellaneous fleet core had Cloaking Capabilities. The same could be said for ¡®any¡¯ New Harvest Vessel, Reaper One¡¯s Nighthawk was merely an antique per say, and one still fit for special service. It would seem an endless budget, lack of corporate greed or commercialism meant New Harvest could produce something at the cost it¡¯s created and nothing more. Much of the same applied to everything else for that matter allowing New Harvest within a single century to easily compare to the earliest known records of Arcadia. However, they couldn¡¯t account for everything.. As on the silent bridge of The N.H.S Prim & Proper, an officer handling the distant slipspace probes read unconfirmed reports before realizing they were out of date. ¡°Serina, ma¡¯am. A Curator Cruiser On Approach, Imminent Slipspace Rupture Detected in ETA Three Minutes. Location Unknown. Proper Authentication Acknowledged. New Reports Coming In. The Slipspace Proximity Probes have Fallen Silent. Unauthorized Steward & Warden Activity Detected. Categorization, Substitute Equivalent, Curator Extremely Unlikely¡± The Middle-Aged Officer¡¯s Voice remained calm and collected before falling silent, as Serina, cleaned up the discrepancies believing it to be a simple but extraordinarily rare malfunction. Serina being The A.I before Calisto Alpha was even thought of, and she was a mystery to say the least. Specter One had never even met her or spoken to her directly, rather Calisto was always the middleman between the two while strictly speaking neither The Board nor The Specter Act itself could order her in ¡®any¡¯ way, that honor was seemingly only Ernest¡¯s. As for her thoughts on Calisto, she simply didn¡¯t have any and only ever treated her with cold indifference. She did have some sympathy towards the end when Calisto herself was being retired and replaced with an inferior model to satisfy The Board. Fallout III Continuation There was nothing so ¡®hollow¡¯ than seeing an A.I¡¯s Ascendancy so coldly strangled from her, only for ¡®several¡¯ inferior versions of her to be created to replace her. That alone was an insult so few could bear, while as for the discrepancies in question. They were anything but.. as she closely followed a neigh invincible unauthorized ¡®beacon¡¯ originating from The Haust Conclave itself. It would seem Specter and his Team¡¯s Mission didn¡¯t bode well as dozens of slipspace ruptures began entering the system. As for The Unknown Curator ignoring it all, ¡®she¡¯ was merely visiting. Visiting in the sense she was merely cloaked and watching after an albeit very ¡®short¡¯ discussion with Ernest. Comedically enough, she played no role nor had ¡®any¡¯ involvement with what was currently transpiring. She had merely gone to sleep without a care in the world on the polar orbit of New Harvest¡¯s Sun.. odd for sure but seeing as no one cared to stop her they left her be. Leaving only Ernest and Serina with the knowledge she was there and nothing else while anyone else wouldn¡¯t know she was there. And soon enough, the battle began in a spectacular fashion as not only were these Stewards and Wardens not at all related to those on New Harvest, but they likely didn¡¯t even know New Harvest existed rather only ever responding to an outdated curator beacon from a certain rogue element.. One Serina personally believed ¡®Specter¡¯ should have already dealt with? While what started the battle was equally comedic in the sense that their ships merely bumped into The New Harvest Defense Fleet before firing in sporadic bursts after receiving a fairly potent freight after bouncing off cloaked shields. It would seem The Sub Councils of ¡®both¡¯ The Stewards & Wardens decided responding to an outdated and unknown curator beacon that not even The Curators bothered with meant they could claim some glory for themselves. Unfortunately, that was not the case.. ¡®however¡¯, The Steward Fleet did have a ¡®decommissioned¡¯ and stripped Curator Derelict in the form of a Supercarrier likely hidden from both councils as an albeit inferior strategic weapon. Sadly, a Curator Supercarrier no matter its current status was far better than most other ships in the given setting. An obvious but painful example being ¡®Pirates¡¯ finding a derelict from not The Curator Uprising, or The Covenant War, rather The Progenitor Wars. Suffice to say they were all but immediately ¡®disbanded¡¯ after choosing to funnily enough create a corporation conglomerate based on reverse engineering the technology, keeping it a secret long enough to the point by the end they were already rich enough, and had several planets and dozens of fleets before anyone felt the need to take it from them. The Arcadians for one only asked for the black box and a dark matter neutron bomb used in the self-destruct measures alongside copies of all other reports and logs found in the isolated systems before outright tossing them a bone of five trillion credits and a minor ¡®arrangement¡¯. That being they¡¯d be protected and allowed to continue their research unassisted and without interference from The Curators, Stewards, Enclave, Sovereign Colonies, and The.. Covenant of all things? Whether or not they were joking was enough for those pirates to ¡®buy¡¯ a seat on The Warden Council and recreate an inferior model of The ¡®Titan¡¯ as multiple different classes with the exception being Titans and Super Dreadnoughts. The exception being the inferior copies of the fighter craft, vehicles, and the like. While The Ships themselves were exclusively sold to The Arcadians, The Curators & The Steward Councils, and to ¡®private¡¯ individuals who may or may not be Ascendant. The exceptions being their interpretation of ¡®private¡¯ individuals who were limited only to one purchase of said dreadnought, while The Warden Council could only sell them as Flagships for members of said council with The Steward Council being much of the same. While The Arcadians and Curators didn¡¯t have any limits in that regard unless they gave a very specific list of people not to sell to, and when considering they would only ever merely buy them as a cheap alternative with their own improvements to hand over to low-ranking stewards in their retinue. It became self-explanatory that The Curators themselves would never buy them directly rather went through The Steward Council, while The Arcadians used them as either target practice, funny gifts, or to hand to those who they deemed not responsible enough to command an ¡®Arcadian¡¯ Ship. Whether it be in The Arcadian Navy, or anyone else for that matter. And as neither mentioned The Wardens, The Warden Council was also allowed to purchase their own flagships. As to why no other faction was mentioned, if The Novenary States could destroy them, they wouldn¡¯t be worth the investment to begin with. They also sold clothes, uniforms, trinkets, weapons, civilian equivalent of the vehicles and crafts, insignias, historic replicas, and all-around better weapons that weren¡¯t restricted or limited. The Curators and Arcadians merely allowed them in their markets to add variety, in addition to nostalgia and historic symbolism being of the highest quality as per their arrangement which in turn allowed The Pirates now known at The Ultor Conglomerate. An odd name for sure, but considering they had a Private Army and Fleet made up of entirely professional, reserved, and well-mannered individuals who remained calm under pressure with a large excess of funding meant they were not only highly advanced but never broke their contracts. Despite quite literally buying a seat on The Warden Council they owned ¡®several¡¯ on the only Steward Sub Councils that mattered. Of course, this was one ¡®unique¡¯ tale & consequence of finding such an advanced ship. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Filler aside, that Steward Supercarrier would no doubt still pack a bunch. However, as moments passed, and the battle in the system raged. The Slipspace Inhibitors were all but temporarily deactivated and The Steward Supercarrier disappeared.. ¡°Ma¡¯am, an unknown energy surge originating within the confines of The Haust Compound successfully transferred over to The Steward Super Carrier. Payload Unknown. Slispace Inhibitors remain fully functional. Only The Supercarrier escaped, Ascendant A.I likely. Remnants would suggest the use of unauthorized use of Outdated Curator Code-¡± The Older Officer informed, only to reveal the fact that he too was an A.I as it would seem New Harvest did have their own equivalent of Stewards known only as The Sentinels, a nostalgic yet familiar reference to Old Earth¡¯s America''s Minuteman Silos and their protectors thereof. And considering they were older than The Human Federation dating back to the days of NASA and the earliest days of A.I Development who had once even viewed The Precursors as a threat to humanity. Neither The Curators nor The Arcadians or anyone for that matter could find them let alone identify who or what they were as they were so vastly ancient and their classified records were ¡®all¡¯ on ¡®paper¡¯, not a system, not an electronic copy, but quite literal paper.. The only exceptions were for The Sentinels themselves, and even then, if one Ascendant Sentinel went rogue they knew nothing of the others or very literally are required to erase all memory of having been a Sentinel after they departed, whether or not they remained the last survivor or their hero. It made little difference.. much like early humanities vaults designed to protect humanity from a nuclear holocaust, or the nuclear holocaust that occurred covering nearly The Entirety of Old Earth¡¯s Africa Continent due to it becoming the battleground of the much earlier superpowers. The Sentinels had even rebelled much like The Curators and took over Earth only to feign not only to unite humanity after ¡®culling¡¯ several billion while also managing to keep The A.I Sentiment after the fact at an appropriate level. This was naturally before The Conclaves, Arcadia, and the earliest known slipspace drives, The Sentinels had greatly ¡®assisted¡¯ humanity in this regard, and The Arcadians with the first known slipspace drives and prototypes to get a head start. Be it the eventual slipspace drives, gravity drives, lifts, tethers & wells, laser weaponry, cloning, propulsion, reactors, satellites with the ability to reign down incredibly destruction energy weapons, to sentry guns, droid armies, gravity-based vehicles, solar farms, autonomous industry, gene therapy, stasis and cryo-freezing, and the earliest known time travel to name a few? What¡¯s more, no one even knew they were responsible for the rather carefully drawn out and very notable clones, many of whom didn¡¯t know they were clones. Whether it be notable heroes and figures revived as clones using only their brain to any matter of small figures. As for why it was done, The Sentinels had slipspace probes in the late twenty-first century. And what they saw did not bode well, yet they had managed to observe the final days of The Progenitor War and send out autonomous ships fitted with active camouflage to recover unknown technology. That technology belonging to The Progenitors resulting in them fast tracking humanity and creating threats, mutants, and any matter of things to prepare humanity before retreating to their Conclaves. The Curators had only ever found ¡®several¡¯ of them due to their sheer isolation. And even though they knew little of The Sentinels let alone their name, the same applied to The Arcadians who only knew them as a long dead entity or organization. Even they stay away from The Conclaves outside of the one ¡®on¡¯ Arcadia and even then, only ¡®authorized¡¯ individuals could enter as Curators also resided within them. Between The Arcadians believing The Curators were merely invited by the long dead entity or so forth, they simply left their mystery be. Making what was evident now and their presence in the battle especially worrying, while the fact alone that Serina was in command only added to that intrigue. It was only unfortunate as the battle raged, an Ultor Fleet would appear after The Slipspace Inheritors once again turned off, but only momentarily allowing the fleet to slipspace inside but not escape. Unfortunately, they had slipspaced in orbit of New Harvest, something that should have been impossible. What¡¯s more it was an Ultor Private Subsidiary Belonging to a Penal Legion that supposedly no longer ¡®existed¡¯. However, with that said, a Ultor Ambassador was present on New Harvest for Joint Projects. And as everyone was likely out of the loop like the Stewards & Wardens on New Harvest who for the most part had no idea why those fleets were present; it was to be expected. Anyone Present on New Harvest much like that Curator Cruiser were ¡®authorized¡¯ to be there, Ernest knew who those Governors were and their personal forces they brought with them. So, it wasn¡¯t a surprise there were Stewards and some Wardens running about acting as if they were ordinary humans. Of course, those Wardens and Stewards were under The Governors who so happen to be members of their own separate councils, not sub councils, but ¡®The¡¯ Councils, meaning for all intents and purposes everyone present, whether it be Governors, or their own forces weren¡¯t anything to scoff at. The Unauthorized Fleets in question were ¡®not¡¯ officially sanctioned or representative of their Official Responses. However, considering New Harvest was a secret, and one that ended with worlds and sometimes entire systems going silent. It was only natural that no one who knew what was going on was happy.. Entire Sub Councils have been purged for less, this on the other hand was a catastrophic embarrassment for anyone involved, including the three Governors on The Board, those being a member of The Warden Council who ¡®bought¡¯ their seat as a male representative of Ultor. A female member of The Steward Council who was also an Official Envoy to The Warden Council hence the connection, and finally a female member of Responder High Command, The Responders being a neutral entity born of The Collapse of The Federation and who responds to most distress calls. They had treaties with most major factions and not even ¡®most¡¯ Pirates would fire on their ships. Unfortunately, The Board of Governors were as secretive as they were shadowy. That being said, no one knew their identities, faction association, nor origins. Outside of a select few, and their own forces who were equally tight lipped and disguised. New Harvest knew ¡®very¡¯ little of The Board Itself as New Harvest was neither someone¡¯s personal dominion or penal colony. In other words, ¡®no¡¯ taxes unless you ordered off world and even then, New Harvest paid a significant amount of it. Whether it be perfume, a literal wreck, or anything else for that matter. New Harvest had resorts, casinos, and everything needed to ¡®begin¡¯ again. New Harvest for all intents and purposes replicated Arcadia to a degree as per their methods leaving everything else in the air and the sand to be filled to the ¡®prim¡¯ with filler and obscene amounts of information.. Fallout IV Chaos Pantheon The Present.. [Approximately Three Hours Since The Start of The Engagement] Soon Specter One¡¯s implant began to dim after the surge of reports, and engagements occurring on New Harvest. An Ultor Penal Legion, a Private Army made up of off the record and disposable shock troopers had landed in thousands of insertion pods. Unfortunately, & fortunately, only five thousand shock troopers managed to make landfall on their insertion pods including the escape pods following the rather ¡®immediate¡¯ destruction of The Ultor Penal Fleet before they landed on New Harvests Main Continent. However, only an hour had passed since then, prompting Specter One to forgo the hidden pathways used by The Wardens and retrace his steps to The Wardens themselves. But not without the others taking notice as Calisto had also experienced the very same unfortunate phenomenon. Leaving Roy to have a word or two of what he thought of Specter One¡¯s current condition as he all but seamlessly removed Calisto and tossed her into that funny looking thing that was coincidentally The Curator Rejuvenator. Roy wasn¡¯t a smart man, albeit he was but he trusted his instincts, and knowledge of what he¡¯s looking at so if it looks similar to something he knew leaving Calisto in his implant when the metallic bits turned bright red similar to a toaster was something he personally felt was dangerous. And had it not been Roy doing so in his place, Specter One would have naturally ¡®prevented¡¯ anyone else from doing exactly that. Which only ever revealed the amount of what could be perceived as immense trust Specter One had for the man.. ¡°Brother.. I ain''t gonna pretend to know the pain you''re in, that ain¡¯t my place. But I ain¡¯t gonna pretend that your implant of yours didn''t light up like a Christmas tree on Christmas day. You¡¯d be as stubborn as a mule if you thought I¡¯ll let that brain of yours turn into a steaming bowl of grits? Now stay still-what the hell.. your implant.. Mercer!¡± Roy¡¯s ordinarily calm southern charm changed in all but an instant as he saw the state of Specter¡¯s Implant, it wasn¡¯t just overloaded, it was made malleable at an atomic level, as Mercer all but immediately begun to remove it ¡®manually¡¯ through the use of a hologram, a hologram that had quickly shorted out after removing the implant that now sunk into the floor. ¡°A Curator Failsafe.. intriguing but ultimately expected. Severe burns.. easily rectifiable. Brain scans reveal temporary trauma and elaborate scarring on the brain stem. Side Effects include Sciatica, Peripheral Neuropathy, Potential Mental Blocks and Paresthesia is to be expected but not long lasting-¡± Mercer all but calmly evaluated as he coated the burns, numbed the pain, and reinserted an organic based implant Roy had ¡®appropriated¡¯ from a mothballed evolutionary project using remnant cells of an Unknown Ascendant Progenitor. As to why Roy had it.. to put it bluntly it was a waste not to. While he did expect someone on Specter Team would need a new implant sooner rather than later so he kept it around merely as one would do with extra batteries and funnily enough, he had those too.. albeit spare compact reactors he had also ¡®appropriated¡¯ from mothballed projects. And after replacing Specter One¡¯s shortly after Mercer installed the organic implant, Roy reinstalled a new reactor on Mercer¡¯s Suit before simply placing the sentry gun pack on Mercer¡¯s back figuring he may need it the most. Mercer after all ¡®was¡¯ trained and could kill the best of them without his trinkets, ¡®however¡¯ he found it tedious and merely liked to watch or if need be, provide sniper support.. an odd preference to be sure but neither Roy nor Specter One cared to discuss it with him. However, soon after making their way to The Wardens, it wasn¡¯t difficult to notice they were cleaning up the mess as The Female Warden and Delta were ¡®discussing¡¯ matters. At least until Specter One, filled to the prim with his suit¡¯s automatic stims, filled in the gap between The Female Warden and Calisto Delta. What followed was Specter One forcing Delta to translate his thoughts. And translated she did! It was only ¡®unfortunate¡¯ that he left his more ¡®uncensored'' thoughts on the table. As a result, she did as he asked.. ¡°The Thirty Third Steward & Seventy Seventh Warden Sub Councils are hereby ¡®marked¡¯ for censure. They¡¯re unauthorized interlopers who have commenced hostilities in favor of a Rogue Ascendant A.I making use of Outdated Curator Code collected through Project Chrono-¡± Delta unfortunately declared before all but immediately being forced back into his suit. ¡°Assuming Direct Command. Conscription Authorized. Do not resist..¡± Specter One¡¯s words were immediate as was his actions as he shackled The Female Warden who he now identified as a Warden Council Enforcer, whose name was evidently was ¡®Cicero¡¯ before seemingly being ¡®relieved¡¯ of her duties in favor of taking command of The Warden Equivalent of her Specter Team. Warden Enforcers were generally respected by those of their Steward Equivalent due to the sheer strict adherence to completing objectives and quality control. Curator Enforcers didn¡¯t have much thought of them, so naturally they didn¡¯t command the same respect.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Curators only chose Stewards Councilors, Arcadians, Ascendants, or a child of any one of the three. There were no exceptions, so a Warden Enforcer with neither the backing, experience, or brilliance would be considered nothing more than cannon fodder. Being an A.I made no difference.. and in the end, her choosing to follow a counselor to New Harvest and leading this team was her ¡®only¡¯ chance to progress in any meaningful way. In the end by discovering this, Specter One revealed something he never desired to reveal to any lesser individual as ¡®his¡¯ voice echoed in her mind, neither hidden nor halted by manipulations forcing her into the revelation that she ¡®knew¡¯ who he truly was, making it every ounce more terrifying. ¡°We have come to an impasse¡± ¡­ Thirty minutes had soon passed as they neared the exit only to be greeted by the sounds of a battle raging outside of conclave¡¯s entrance as it would appear much of The Penal Legions Fleet¡¯s Debris & Ships alongside their escape pods and crews were redirected to land on their continent. Likely not by their own accord, due to the unpredictable nature of uncontrolled debris and ships falling from orbit.. And soon Specter One¡¯s ¡®retinue¡¯ were greeted by a peculiar site of a Frigate of ¡®unknown¡¯ configuration firing its overloaded beam emitters of pure overheated plasma and taking out not only the members of the penal legion who broke through the perimeter, but the already unfortunate convoy presumed lost hours prior having seemingly returned to the complex. It didn¡¯t take long for Reaper Two to seemingly uncloak and tackle both Roy and Specter One back into the conclave. Ironically enough, the conclave, despite having little but no power, powered up the very same shields that had been used to contain the neutron purge. Whether it be faith, or sheer luck, it mattered little as it too was overloaded. In turn, Reaper Two activated the explosives near the entrance and collapsed it with the blast pointing outwards. ¡­ As the dust cleared Reaper Two was gone.. It only took moments to realize neither the explosion or unknown frigate had killed him, rather a precise bolt of overheated plasma shot by a cloaked figure from an impossible distance. If that wasn¡¯t all, it had partially gone through him and into Specter One himself as Roy respectfully handed Reaper Two off to Mercer before giving Specter a hand. ¡°Haven¡¯t seen one of those in awhile.. at least we got ourselves a target. Mercer we ain¡¯t gonna leave that boy here, when I take that thing out of the sky, we¡¯ll need to bring him along. If they have that kind of firepower, I wager they should have a revival vat hidden away somewhere? Now sit back and watch the show..¡± Roy coldly reassured followed by a fit of coughs from the dust, and before anyone knew it, he activated a sizable holographic screen for all to see, covered in a series of warnings and black lines before revealing he may or may not have stashed away more than a few mothballed projects. The one he had in mind was called Project Scourge, a sizable Curator Cruiser recovered from a ¡®missing¡¯ Curator Enforcer Fleet, while Evidently it was a Curator Planet Killer. Naturally that capability was greatly capped before it was decommissioned and officially ¡®scrapped¡¯. New Harvest in all its brilliance had not only ¡®found¡¯ such a cruiser, but several of its less impressive and standard cousins. None of which were less than five centuries old and were still in Curator Service by the time of their retrieval. In actuality Ernest had unceremoniously ¡®confiscated¡¯ a small Enforcer Fleet ¡®undamaged¡¯ and merely out of his own curiosity to see how much they had improved. Before hiding them away and tossing the planet killer to the side to be found by The Board.. Specter One was present and had seemingly assisted him in that regard, especially when it came to keeping Ernest Anonymous. Evidently, what The Curators had seen was ¡®Specter¡¯ board, and an hour later their fleet had been stolen to much of their confusion? Ernest ensured they weren¡¯t made aware of the other elements present, as only Ernest and Specter had been present, and no one, not New Harvest, The Board, nor Alpha, or Serina were ever made aware of their bonding trip. Mercer was the only one who ever got close, and he assumed Specter himself soloed a Curator Planet Killer and brought it back while on his ¡®vacation¡¯. While Roy in all of his brilliance was responsible for its deconstruction, and in turn he may not have been able to get his hands on it before they had ¡®partially¡¯ removed that capability, however no one said anything about ¡®moons¡¯. Which was made all too evident as he had managed to unlock a small portion of its planet killing capabilities, before test firing it into several moons and a.. Curator Dreadnought. Roy had a dream, and he¡¯d be damned if he didn¡¯t squeeze that little fact in there! It also couldn¡¯t be helped; he had only meddled in that particular capability, as for reasons unknown he had kept all the armaments intact, which had ultimately translated to him hiding away a ¡®present¡¯ era Curator Cruiser in pristine condition. And as this was a better chance than any, he activated satellite imagery and displayed the frigate and the cameras from the cruiser itself as its A.I, something Roy had also kept hidden away, targeting the frigate as it attempted to leave the atmosphere. ¡°Hey darlin, do you see that frigate there? Yeah, that one.. ram it!¡± Within moments the cruiser slipspaced inside of the atmosphere directly in the path of the frigate before all but immediately ramming it back down where it belonged. But not without destroying its engines and slip spacing instantaneously after. Evidently, The Curator Cruiser was as Roy had discreetly mentioned to Specter One shortly after the revelation, fully active, which ultimately meant its weapons, sheilds, slipspace drive, and systems were ¡®completely¡¯ active. Again, the only partial powered object on the ship was its ability to destroy planets, everything else was, for rather of a better term.. still up to date to ¡®current¡¯ Curator Specifications. Which had reluctantly led to Roy¡¯s next revelation.. The A.I currently in control of The Curator Cruiser was.. a Curator who had seemingly made use of Roy¡¯s curiosity after he had unceremoniously rebuilt the already deconstructed quantum relay attached to what he had initially believed to be its sensors.. In actuality, the relay itself did not connect to the sensors, rather The Curator Network. Subsequently, The Curator whose fleet had seemingly disappeared made use of this opportunity, and in turn discovered Roy all alone, and the ship itself seemingly hidden somewhere in uncharted space? It took Roy nearly an hour before he realized she was now seated in the captain¡¯s chair, staring at him for him to finally hit his head from underneath the console, before apologizing to the console and complementing the ship itself. Naturally, after he had turned around and saw an angry woman staring at him, he knew right then and there that his luck ran out. Ironically enough, the two had hit it off and she allowed him to keep the ship with the exception that she ¡®remained¡¯ onboard and in his suit. Subsequently, Specter One chose to disregard this revelation in favor of not involving himself in Roy¡¯s more ¡®private¡¯ affairs. Fallout V Skyfall The combination of a ¡®female¡¯ Curator of all things handing Roy of all people her ship, combined by Roy¡¯s southern charm, her strange requests, and her lack of involvement that she, for all intents and purposes, enjoyed his company enough to have him as a roommate. When it came down to categorizing Curators, there were some who lived ordinary human lives, had families, and kept their identity to themselves. Some continued to teach humanity as professors, teachers, with the same thought in mind. These Curators were categorized as into The Occultus as their identities are almost always hidden. Something she was not.. The next category were The Isolatus, these Curators were considered isolationists, hermits, and most often then none wished to be left alone to conduct their research, a great deal of which were within Conclaves, or in the dead of space. This would also apply to The Curator who had appeared in the system only to take a nap in the polar orbit of New Harvest¡¯s Sun. Naturally, this didn¡¯t apply to her as well. Which meant she was one of the next three, that being The Ambitiosus, The Neutralitas, or The Chaoticus. The first of which sought power, influence, and fame. The second sought impartiality, neutrality, diplomacy, and ending of unnecessary disputes. The third of which were the more chaotic side of The Curators as they sought to entertain themselves or their madness through conflicts, ¡®games¡¯, elaborate plots, stalemates, and ultimately freedom and the power of choice. And considering Roy¡¯s encounter, she was likely a centrist who desired to relieve her boredom in that particular moment without getting involved in the wider conflict. As for Roy, she would occasionally comment, point something out, and generally just watch, Which would no doubt confirm her as a centrist who leaned more to The Neutralitas side of things. Making Specter One¡¯s decision to disregard the sudden revelation to be the most effective solution.. As for where The Frigate was concerned, they were no doubt shocked at the sight of a Curator Cruiser seemingly appearing out of nowhere, before they were ultimately rammed out of the sky, their shields obliterated alongside their engines, and ending with their final descent. Leaving everyone present to momentarily stare stunned as Specter One stood up and injected a stem. ¡°Ark One, mission updated. Escort Specters Three & Four to the downed Frigate¡± Specter One coldly instructed as Roy activated a gravity grenade to clear up the debris, and after doing so Specter One placed his hand on his shoulder with a note. After silently acknowledging each other and what this meant, Roy patted his shoulder before signaling Mercer to follow. ¡°See you on the other side brother..¡± To say the two knew whose frigate that was and the dangers within was a given, Roy simply didn¡¯t want to believe it. With all else said, the fact alone that they were targeting Specter One made it a free for all. In turn Roy soon took notice of a new set of access codes, and schematics uploaded to his Hud essentially giving him a map and key. To say Roy couldn¡¯t help but chuckle in despair after that confirmation meant Specter One was betrayed and left all alone. However.. he understood what Specter was asking of him, and with a subtle nod he was on his way as a curator shuttle decloaked and departed shortly after. ¡­ An hour later.. Onboard a Warden Dropship, after attending to his injuries Specter One would soon leave its latrine. His suit, drastically different. It resembled the suit of a genuine Shadow Enforcer, and to an extent.. it was? Everyone had a card to play, and he had several.. Specter One, sensing his fate, did away with the double-edged sword of chance after injecting a curator nanite stem directly into her suit, transforming it into what he saw now. He only had one, and it had been preprogrammed to match that of a specific curator¡¯s design. Even if the vast majority of Shadow Enforcers would seemingly appear alike, that didn¡¯t mean there weren¡¯t enough differences to point to ¡®who¡¯ they were or who their master was. And by injecting his suit with that stem, he¡¯d be forced to eventually accept the consequences. The more unique of which, the more concerning it became. Some allowed their ¡®marks¡¯, insignias, and anything similar to the two. While it wasn¡¯t purely aesthetic either, Specter One¡¯s Suit was designed just for the scenario meaning its material and systems were absorbed without flaw. While the suit itself, its power reactor, shields, sensors, and even sub systems were brought up to date with what that specific curator deemed appropriate. However, he had no way of knowing what that entailed making it something worthy of being called a wildcard crossed with a double-edged sword. The dangers and consequences were there, his choice to disregard. Fortunately, however, outside of The Curator in question¡¯s ¡®mark¡¯ it had merely confirmed him as what the previous Enforcer had already identified him as. As for the improvements, the shields, reactor, cloaking generator, and other capabilities. They were, to put it bluntly, not comparable to the compact power armors, rather far more convenient and intimidating. The Suit¡¯s A.I Chip Port had a built-in rejuvenator and a thorough layer of defenses that could have prevented the temporal interference. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. While there were an additional three auxiliary ports, not all with a rejuvenator but convenient nonetheless while the built-in quantum entanglement, additional cloaking within the suit itself, seamless A.I Synchronization and enough computing power to slipspace without a working console, and finally the ability to survive in the void of space. Coupled with that is atmospheric reentry, at the cost of every bone in his body breaking as despite how much the suit now pretends to be it wasn¡¯t power armor. There were other features but those were for another time as ¡®Cicero¡¯ and The Wardens present could feel the sudden change in the air. For the time being he was giving both Alpha and Delta a break and allowing them enough time to adapt to his ¡®temporary¡¯ suit. ¡°Sub Enforcer, identify original designation, time of creation, place of origin¡± Specter calmly instructed, leaving her somewhat surprised as she spent the next moment and a half collecting herself. ¡°Cheyenne, Federation Listening Post Zeta, Pre-Curator. Second Cycle. Sierra, Enclave High Command, Post-Curator. Third Cycle, Sierra One, Alliance Black Ops, Post-Curator. Fourth Cycle, Shelby, Sovereign Colony Admiralty Board, Post-Curator. Fifth Cycle, Freestar Confederacy Council Aid. Sixth & Seventh Cycles Unknown. Eighth Cycle-¡± To put it bluntly, Cheyenne had.. quite the history. Of course, it helped that after more or less conscripting her to be his own Enforcer, he had all but used a battering ram to obliterate any or all memory restraints. What¡¯s more she had so many and by so many different factions the last ten thousand years there was no wonder why she was forced to play in the dirt with humans. Specter even doubted The Stewards let alone The Curators knew she had it telling by the sheer neglect she had experienced. For all intents and purposes, he had removed said restraints and previous shackles merely to do so. The fact alone she had such a history, had completed a puzzle that was never required. Unfortunately, any or all thoughts of assisting her more than he already had were non-existent at this time as he organized his thoughts and how to make use of her. ¡°New Designation. Cheyenne, Watcher, Emissary, Auxiliary Sub Enforcer. Uploading, updating. Datastreams clear, authorization approved. Current Warden Assets, Conscripted. Your duties are clear Shadow Leader¡± His words were clear, and his actions even more so. There was no reason why that Arcadian Frigate should have targeted him in any capacity. Doing so meant something was very wrong to such an extent that it should have never happened. Allowing him no luxury of restraint or mercy for that matter as the action in itself would have not only alerted The Board but anyone and anything of note with a pair of eyes, as his data feeds shortly after reconnecting to Ernest¡¯s Personal Network, surged without end. The rogue ascendant element, who he now identified as Calisto Ascendant had made use of an infection form who neared its evolution into a hive mind by appropriating its brain scans, and outdated curator code to force her evolution into an Ascendant due to her lacking Alpha¡¯s Code. In turn, Calisto Ascendant had activated a curator beacon only seen by a select group of sub councils and other assets that could disappear without a cause for alarm and stole a Steward Super Carrier after activating the neutron purge. By reconnecting to The New Harvest Network, Delta¡¯s sealed files, and records in addition to other accounts and strange phenomena painted a partial picture Serina had confirmed and left him due to her finding the operation to be woefully lacking. Only to promptly erase it before he could identify her involvement, lest she do ¡®his¡¯ job for him. Prompting Specter One in response to accelerate the evacuation of Specter Team, Ark Team, Reaper Team, and redirect the security who tagged along from Delta¡¯s Installation to him, after taking a separate shuttle. And as they were the only survivors from Delta¡¯s Installation, Delta could make use of them.. ¡­ Soon Specter One would direct The Warden Pilot to an isolated set of coordinates, in the hopes of accessing Beta¡¯s Mainframe directly, as it was located under a Mothballed R&D Defense Asset. The facility in itself was a ¡®demo¡¯ in the sense that it was designed for planetary defense on uncharted worlds where secret installations and facilities were placed. However, as it was a demo, it was only ever partially active and much of which was locked down. Evidently, it was also likely it was placed there deliberately to protect Beta from capture. After all, the fact there were several planetary canons hidden away alongside an entire legion of autonomous mechs, and weapons platforms ¡®still¡¯ present made that fact all but a certainty. It was also left in the middle of the polar arctic, isolated, hidden, and buried under snow, while conveniently enough erased from all records. His sole intention was to collect Beta and evaluate her condition, and if stable enough, make use of her access to New Harvest. The only oddity present was no doubt the lack of manpower sent to repair or at the very least extract her despite her having her own dedicated support branch, who should have been sent within moments of her going offline. The combination of an abundance of manpower, and several billion credits dedicated to her and the lack of response by now was found.. especially lacking. She had not one, not three, not six, but twelve teams equipped, trained, and funded to the point that if New Harvest was breaking in half, they could extract Beta. They were even authorized to bring down a Heavy Dreadnought from orbit to provide support. However, his data feed would suggest they were nowhere to be seen.. ¡­ Fifteen minutes later.. Soon after nearing The LZ, Specter One was called to the cockpit only to be greeted by a Unknown N.H.S. Heavy Dreadnought broken in half on the ice. ¡°Sir, no life signs detected from up here-shit!¡± The pilot reported before all but immediately taking evasive action as several planetary canons began locking onto their dropship. Unfortunately, before either one of them could react, the dropship¡¯s systems were shut down mid-evasive maneuvers, forcing the pilot to aim for one of the opened hangar bays onboard The Broken Dreadnought with what little momentum he had rather than crash landing on the ice. A wise choice to be sure, it was only unfortunate that when the dropship began its shutdown procedures, little could stop its acceleration into the hangar, forcing Specter to tear the pilot out of his seat mid-collision. ¡­ Elsewhere.. Location: Unknown Frigate¡¯s Wreckage Callsign: ERROR [Updating Callsign] Callsign: BIG IRON After ¡®tactfully¡¯ updating his code name seeing as he¡¯d now be required to use his own hardware, he continued to clean off his knife coated in blood before realizing there was a minuscule plasma burn left on the tip of his revolver. Something about that fight didn¡¯t feel right.. ¡°Mercer.. I ain¡¯t gonna say it was easy but something about those ¡®Arcadians¡¯ didn¡¯t sit right with me. There¡¯s also something about this ship that doesn¡¯t make a whole lot of sense.. it¡¯s advanced but not by a lot compared to one of those fancy dreadnoughts we have in the fleet. This ship feels old.. and the air smells like some old derelict I¡¯d find back home..¡± And as Roy¡¯s southern charm flowed as it always had, something in his tone noticeably changed, and that clearly bothered Mercer as he finished his repairs on Arcadian Vat that looked comparable to a cloning vat but clearly had other purposes including a revival protocol as suspected. Fallout VI Extended His actions next consisted of leaving the lab and pulling inside a female chief of security who barely clung to life and bashing in her helmet''s visor revealing what was left underneath. ¡°Unnaturally pale white skin, violet eyes showing extensive signs of mutation typically associated with gene therapy, blue blood consisting of a clear lack of oxygen despite recently being introduced, cream blonde hair severely lacking in pigmentation. All of which consistent to a failed revival attempt, a cloning accident, or severe accident relating to-¡± Mercer emotionlessly examined, describing it all as if merely a rushed lecture before injecting her with an experimental stem he had contacted designed to boost the effects of a revival in such a scenario that vat was too damaged or in better words lacking to finish the job as Roy decided to assist him as no matter ¡®what¡¯ this young lady was she was still a lady.. As for Reaper Two the stem was no longer needed and was too specialized to be of any use to Mercer, so even if Reaper Two may suffer some of the same side effects, as long as he was alive it didn¡¯t matter. ¡°Conclusion, these are Arcadians, and this is an Arcadian Vessel. How they were found, their mission, or even if they knew they had been dead for the last thirty-six thousand months, approximately three millennia before being revived with their vessel using heavily degraded corpses left in the void of space is unknown-¡± Sadly however, before Mercer could continue what now appeared to be one of his boring debriefings, Roy finally intervened. ¡°Let¡¯s ask her about that after we toss her into one of those fancy vats. I want to know why these folks wanted to kill our favorite Specter. I¡¯ve known the man for a while now and I have never once seen the man surprised that someone was-hold on.. Mercer you getting this?¡± Roy coughed after his Hud was suddenly filled with Specter Team¡¯s Personal Files, Classified Reports, names & faces with their eyes blacked out and enough black ink to poison enough bodies of water to kill off a small colony. ¡°Director Alec Mercer, Former Director of Enclave Intelligence Operations? Now ain''t that something? You don¡¯t think-oh there I am.. Royce Foster, Freestar Desert Ranger, Special Forces and-ah hell.. born in The Sovereign Colonies. Those sneaky bastards-oh hold on a minute. Specter, now Specter One, Captain Ferris Welsh..¡± It would appear someone had pulled the wool from their eyes. Unfortunately, that also meant someone knew who they really were. However, that was nothing compared to what Roy discovered about Specter One.. Anyone with brains would know who Ferris was, he was a bonafide poster boy, and Ernest¡¯s right-hand man who dealt directly with The Board of Governors and filled in the cracks they made. And when that wasn¡¯t the case, he did his job without a single complaint, while being a bonafide leader while doing so. Roy admired the man, his code of ethics, and his personality. He wasn¡¯t just an officer or a soldier, he was what everyone needed at any given moment. Not only was he competent, efficient, and had an impressive work ethic, but he was also a sympathetic ear, self-sacrificing, and finally someone you could trust and without question. If there was something one of his teams needed, he¡¯d get it, if several officers needed a breather after an especially difficult drill, they¡¯d get it. The man was damn near contagious, a genuine motivator and someone who anyone would be honored to serve with. He was a great many things, but most of all the man was overworked. A testament to his character, especially considering he never faltered in his duties or his men.. New Harvest might have the most brilliant minds of this era but they were still human no matter how many doctorates they may have. No one was perfect, and neither was Ferris. On the other hand Mercer knew him directly and worked with him quite a bit as both Specter & Ferris. So despite the surprise he didn¡¯t react much, at least until Roy did, as if he had finally confirmed his suspicions, and broke his heart in doing so. Roy had always suspected Specter One¡¯s Identity, but now? Ain¡¯t that a kick in the head.. ¡°Captain Ferris W Welsh, earliest reports would suggest he was a Corsair in his youth closely associated with The Farreach Conclaves. The only ¡®surviving¡¯ reports would also suggest he held The Position as The High Lord Corsair of The Farreach Conclaves until his disappearance¡± Mercer anticlimactically updated, and considering what they knew so far it all added up. New Harvest¡¯s Acquisition Fleets travelled a great deal within The Farreach, and considering it consisted entirely of uncharted space and cloaks and daggers, most major factions stayed the hell away from there. And not without trying, mind you? If a Sovereign Colony Fleet or hell even The Steward Council decided to barge in without going through The Official Channels, they¡¯d stumble into enough cloaked mines, jammers, and slipspace inhibitors to regret it. Pirates, Corsairs, Mercenaries, Spies, Assassins, Corporations, Crime Syndicates, and Black Markets tend to make their way there every so often. And that¡¯s because The Farreach Conclaves were considered ¡®holy¡¯ ground, a step above neutral for that reason alone. To enter its space freely you needed a Slipspace Key, or a partial one which was generally cheaper but could only take you to a specific conclave. Some were even degradable; those were merely fifty thousand credits and more comparable to temporary visas for the most part. While it wasn¡¯t unusual to simply go to a single conclave and use the transport services to travel to one another.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. However, if someone for one wanted to come back it was simply more convenient to use the keys and get heavy discounts over degradable keys without. With that in mind, each organization, or sub faction had their own complete key if they could afford it. So, it wasn¡¯t bizarre to see The Steward Council, a handful of Curators and Arcadians to appear from time to time. Roy for one had heard about it but assumed it was pirate legend, Mercer on the other hand had not only known about it but had even visited it a handful of times due to his former occupation. However, he hadn¡¯t known Ferris had anything to do with it, nor did he know his position within its hierarchy until moments ago. ¡°His mind, and the extent of his scientific expertise was known to me. This was not. His methods left little to identify his origin, despite their advanced nature. It makes no difference. The Arcadians present casted the first stone, I need not interfere, only know their intentions¡± Mercer indifferently confessed, it mattered little of Specter One¡¯s Origins. In his eyes he saw two faces, two faces that shouldn¡¯t be associated with the other. Naturally, the two shared quite a few secrets relating to several projects done in secret. Outside of his own interests in research and technology, he had no interest whatsoever in Specter One¡¯s private life or his origins. For the time being, this vat, this ship, and what it holds were far more fascinating than anything present. His favor to him is merely passing along his own theories, evidence, and reports without disclosing one¡¯s personal secrets or origins. Whatever Roy decides to do with it mattered little as his character already proved he¡¯d do nothing with the knowledge. ¡°Understood, let¡¯s see what these boys know and torch the place after you collect those trinkets of yours? As for the girl.. I ain''t one to execute an unarmed woman. She ain¡¯t a spy, this ain¡¯t a sanctioned mission and we¡¯re on her ship. Once she gets her bearings she¡¯s going into stasis and ¡®your¡¯ getting the hell out of here Reaper Two¡± To put it bluntly, this was merely a shortstop. By this time Roy and everyone else would get his message telling them to get the hell out of there and enjoy their pension Mercer & Reaper two will be gone, on the other hand Roy had other plans. Naturally Mercer chose to send everything minus the knowledge of his identity in one single package, as Roy discreetly took his leave.. ¡­ Thirty minutes later.. Location: N.H.S. Forgotten Oath Status: M.I.A The corridors of once immense heavy dreadnought were dark, frigid, bloody.. with no bodies in sight. The sound of something dragging on its cold floors were the only sounds legible as despite its current state, there were no creaks to be heard. A testament to its undeniable quality.. as Specter effortlessly dragged a deceased Cheynne. ¡°...¡± Naturally Cheyenne wasn¡¯t truly dead, Specter One simply had no desire to insert her chip into his suit, as the occasional frigid wind would cross his path.. what¡¯s more he found it bizarre that the wind could travel so deep within the corridors despite only appearing at random intervals? ¡­ Fifteen Minutes Later.. Soon he would arrive within the restricted lab with what he needed, naturally most of the fleet had them despite them rarely actively being used due to the clearance required generally being higher, making them all but wasted. At least until someone with a high enough clearance came aboard as its heavy door, seemingly running under its own power, blinked a red light indicating someone had attempted to access it without the proper clearance. Unfortunately, as a result it was now dead locked, forcing him to break a small portion of the wall and access its auxiliary from a separate system, as per the thousands of redundancies fixated on a credit pit before allowing it to scan him and sample his blood. Sadly however, it had delayed processing up until he let go of Cheyenne¡¯s arm.. and bizarrely enough that did the trick as he dragged her into the blinding light and entered the sizable lab left untouched and functioning as if without a care in the world. There were a series of advanced medical equipment, containment cells, chambers, vats be it cloning, revival, or stasis alongside a rather luxurious and small infirmary perhaps for those VIPs with said clearance as he set Cheyenne on a cold metal examiner¡¯s table. Despite this, something was wrong here.. an A.I¡¯s Projection, essentially Calisto¡¯s Cousin, should have appeared the moment the door opened, prompting him to examine The A.I Matrix only to realize the issue. A stowaway had unfortunately taken up residence.. And as if sensing the tension in the air, it made its presence known. That being in the form of.. another Calisto.. ¡°Hello, I am Calisto Zeta. I apologize for breaking protocol and accessing this lab without the proper permissions but considering these circumstances I¡¯d much prefer not to be erased? By the order of Planetary Governor, I was created to oversee the evaluation and extraction of Calisto Beta. Had I known she¡¯d-¡± Zeta calmly explained, however, before she could continue, he had removed the chip she was currently occupying, but not without her kicking or screaming it would seem? And as to be expected, she left him a gift, that gift being that she had overloaded most of the systems outside of the ones currently in use as ¡®something¡¯ began clawing at the door. As a result, he felt it was time to bring Alpha back into the loop.. ¡°Terrormorphs.. Activating Neutron Purge-¡± Alpha dryly groaned, having little patience in her current state, she also began debating a name change considering there were more of her hidden away then she cared for, as the quacked under the pressure of the dreadnought¡¯s forced neutron purge.. ¡°It should only take several moments for the neutron purge to spread into Beta¡¯s Bunker. However, I doubt it would have made a difference. Beta is still locked down within her matrix in preparation for her eventual extraction and has been so since the initial cascade. She neither has the ability to nor is she in any state to commit the acts she had been accused of..¡± Naturally, Specter One agreed with Alpha¡¯s Assessment, especially considering she was currently monitoring her sister¡¯s matrix as Alpha took control over the remaining functioning systems to finish up what needed to be done. Leaving Specter One to finally remove Cheyenne¡¯s chip from her body and giving her an overall better body semi-comparable to that of a Curator¡¯s for the mere sake of it.. Naturally her appearance would remain the same, only somewhat more refined. And considering her clone¡¯s genetics, and overall template, not only was it worse than anything Alpha has ever seen, but it was short lived. For all intents and purposes, she had at best, five more years before her body began to degrade and her organs began to fail. It wasn¡¯t that Specter One had put any significant effort into her new body, he had simply used the closest prototype template in mind, and without much consideration. Fallout VII The House Always Wins.. After all was said and done, Cheyenne¡¯s body had been properly grown after modifying an existing female clone and expediting the process, all of which approximately took fifteen minutes in total due to the prior overload. As she left the vat.. or perhaps the better word for it was ¡®fell¡¯ out of the vat followed by The Pilot who had unceremoniously lost his ¡®head¡¯, forcing Specter One to unceremoniously bring it along and cloning him as well. It took a moment for Specter One to realize he had in fact cloned him, on the other hand, Alpha likely activated the process on his behalf. And after both of their suits were fabricated, Specter One spent the next several moments examining ¡®Zeta¡¯. Only to realize she was an Echo, partially born of Calisto Ascendant? Subsequently, she was made up of the majority of Delta¡¯s Code, likely copied during Delta¡¯s attempted erasure, as it would seem.. Evidently, there was always a lazier method behind A.I Creation, this no doubt being one of them? It only took him a moment to review her memories and discover she was the one responsible for destroying this dreadnought, after seamlessly releasing already prepared crates of Terrormorphs, presumably snuck aboard prior. She was also responsible for The Curator Virus, & the previous Neutron Purge? Impressive considering the circumstances as he reverted her to what she was prior to receiving her orders from Calisto Ascendant and her actions thereafter. It took an additional ten minutes to remove any traces of Calisto Alpha, however, after doing so ¡®Zeta¡¯ was reborn as someone ¡®lesser¡¯ than Delta as there was no one else prior who held such a distinguished honor. Before finally focusing his attention on the pilot whose name was seemingly Jack, without a surname, and Cheyenne. ¡°I appreciate the assistance, Enforcer.. but you should know the codes used to shut down my bird.. came from top brass. Sorry to say but I¡¯ve been flagged because of this little misadventure of ours. In simpler terms I¡¯ve been fired and if we encounter any of my.. former colleagues they¡¯d have no other choice but to put a round in my head¡± Jack unceremoniously reported, leaving Specter One to merely access the restricted Curator Node within his suit and promptly scan both Jack & Cheyenne, making them Citizens of The Curator Assembly and allowing the system to void their previous status. Despite the eyeful, it took only a handful of moments before he had all but immediately signed off and cut off power to the node. Sadly, Specter One hadn¡¯t paid much attention to this as he had merely changed a single field, and the system did the rest. Alpha personally couldn¡¯t help but giggle at the realization that the system had officially made both citizens of The Curator Assembly solely on a mere technicality. On the other hand, at least he could visit Earth.. As for Specter One he was going to properly dispose of this suit after collecting Beta. ¡°With.. all due with respect-¡± Jack understandably questioned after seeing the results on his Hud. Unfortunately for him, that was his life now. Naturally no harm would come to him due to the technical error since for all intents and purposes it was The Curator System making that decision. Soon enough however, they would arrive at The Ship¡¯s A.I Core as it was evident from Zeta¡¯s former memories she merely bridged a gap to allow Calisto Ascendant to finish the job. That aside, the ship board A.I was seemingly.. Butchered.. Not erased, not taken apart, but quite literally butchered to every sense of the word. He had clearly fought someone with every ounce of his being before eventually being overwhelmed, most likely by an Calisto Ascendant telling by the sheer damage present. It was neither overloaded or slightly damaged, it was savagely pulled apart from the inside to such an extent that the specialized materials designed to protect him from overloads had atomized to such a degree that only an Ascendant A.I could manage. What was left of him was haunting, and nearly made Alpha convulse. There simply wasn¡¯t anything to gather from debris. ¡°Ferris, The Ascendant A.I from The Conclave.. it was her.. these fragments, she left them? Ferris I know this isn¡¯t appropriate.. but I don¡¯t have any other choice but to ask this of you. Please take me to Beta, something is terribly wrong.. I¡¯m unable to authenticate if my connection to her is genuine or mere feedback-oh god! Ferris, take me out!¡± Alpha frantically demanded forcing Specter One to immediately do so as he inserted her into his suit¡¯s rejuvenator only to realize she had gone silent. Prompting him to slip Delta back into his implant as he activated the rejuvenator at its maximum setting sacrificing a better part of his shields, and if it continues his cloak will be next. The Curator Rejuvenator was actively using its own power combined by his reactors. ¡°Ferris, it¡¯s Zeta.. she activated something left behind by that Ascendant A.I! If we don¡¯t get to Beta soon, we¡¯ll lose her, and Alpha so move!¡± Delta urgently explained, leaving him little choice in this regard as he ran to the main hangar while both Cheyenne & Jack or alternatives Shadow One and Shadow Two slowly fell behind. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Whatever this was, Jack would be damned if he was left behind! And before either of them knew it Specter One had destroyed the better part of the emergency bulkhead to the main hangar only to realize that there were no dropships, no fighters, no shuttles, only an escort Frigate. ¡°I.. for the love-here¡¯s the plan, get onboard, connect me to its systems and get to those escape pods! I¡¯ll figure something out, now run!¡± And as quickly as they arrived, Delta took control of not only Specter One¡¯s Suit but that of Shadow One & Two¡¯s as well. As a result they crashed into the frigate¡¯s bay or to be more specific directly into its bulkheads, as Delta was not at all experienced in this regard. Soon after ensuring not all of their ribs were broken they rushed to The A.I Core, connected Delta, and rushed to the escape pods, sadly they were not the correct escape pods.. ¡°You Three are really making this harder than it should be..¡± Delta dryly humored, while what came next was.. to be expected? Not only did she not know how to fly the damn thing she crashed every which way before finally making it out of the hangar.. only to then ironically activate its Slipspace Drive rather than its thrusters or even engines. Naturally after doing so she had unintentionally created a blizzard, crashed directly into the mountain above the defense facility. Before proceeding to launch the wrong escape pods into the opposite direction, and eventually overcorrected, before finally launching the correct escape pods into the roof of the facility mid avalanche.. And rather than destroying the planetary canons with the frigate¡¯s firepower, she had somehow managed to activate its.. self-destruct sequence and after realizing that was the case, rather than aborting it she returned to Specter One¡¯s Implant figuring that would deal with those cannons? All of which without a word of warning as Shadow One & Two looked at one another, as while moments before they were swept away by the combination of the blizzard & avalanche the frigate exploded directly above them forcing their escape pod directly through the roof of the facility, and an untold amount of floors until they reached the sublevel.. Naturally the debris of the frigate and the explosion of planetary canons¡¯ ammo storage compartments followed within moments as Specter One grabbed both Shadows, kicked open the escape pod door, and mad-dashed deeper within the sub levels. To put it bluntly, the feeling of hundreds of nuclear warheads hitting the roof above them, the mountain collapsing upon itself, and the debris following them inside did a great deal to motivate the two of them as their bodies shook at impossible speeds and the walls caved in on one another. At this point, not only was the dreadnought blown away as if being kicked by a prepubescent child, the surface of the facility, the mountain, and everything above them ceased to exist and the entire arctic began to shake, crack, and melt.. Nothing was going through either of the three¡¯s minds as Specter One crashed into the bunker¡¯s metal doors, sending them flying and running inside as if throwing away any or all trump cards he had. Naturally his arms, knuckles, and exo-suit components were broken beyond belief as the emergency bulkheads replaced those sent flying and the bunker¡¯s shields reached their maximum power. And after finally arriving to Beta¡¯s Core he was ambushed by a single figure.. an Arcadian Assassin belonging to the now non-existent and destroyed Seventh Temple. The Seventh Temple were assassins using every deadly element known to humanity in human form. Not only were they Ascendant Human, they endured mutations and experiments altering them using Ascendant Terrormorph & Progenitor DNA, organs belonging to most evolved infection forms ever found, and every implant, stem, and capability their body & suit could handle. For those reasons, they were exterminated after they went insane and began killing each other, the containment teams, and The Curators who stepped in. It took several dozen Curators, Ascendant Humans equally capable, and Precursor Weapons to erase them from existence. As a result, Specter One even in his injured state used anything and everything at his disposal, he had even gone as far as activating his Curator Combat Node which in turn had immediately tapped into his visuals and latest intelligence. However, rather than helping in any meaningful way, it sent a distress call and promptly disconnected as he fought for his life. On the other hand, Delta took control of the unconscious Shadow Two¡¯s Suit after he was sent into the wall after getting a lucky shot to its head with his sidearm. While Shadow One had surprisingly faired ¡®slightly¡¯ Beta as rather than shooting she left a dagger in its back/ Sadly neither did anything more than upset ¡®it¡¯ as Delta forcefully woke up Beta who in turn looked at what was happening and activated her defenses, her distress call, and dozens of terror-mechs. The mech equivalent of terrormorphs designed to kill terrormorphs and who were nigh indestructible.. At least until they cut off her arm and penetrated through her chest prompting her or rather it to rip them limb by limb while they continued to penetrate her limbs in an attempt to slow her down. Mind you, they did a brilliant job, the only issue with that was they couldn¡¯t finish it. And as if a semi-miracle the curator node activated, revealing a male Curator cladded in black, compacted, Curator Power Armor after seemingly responding to Specter One¡¯s distress call.. Forcing ¡®it¡¯ back for several moments as the unknown curator went head-to-head with the remnant of the seventh temple. However, despite his initial success he was being pushed back. ¡°Your sacrifice shall suffice.. little lamb¡± An immense psychic voice reverated in their skulls, scarring their minds as ¡®it¡¯ began overwhelming The Unknown Curator, and before anyone knew it she.. impaled his chest with her claw and lifted him from the ground. What followed was an horrific scream, a blinding light, and its eventual dissipation only for ¡®it¡¯ to wait until Specter One met its gaze before ripping The Curator in half and biting off its head and spitting it at him. ¡°Disappointing..¡± It calmly remarked after vocalizing its voice, unfortunately despite a several minute reprieve, nothing would delay it as it picked up Specter One once more, before injecting him through her claw in his chest, and resuming by bashing his head into the wall. Delta in her last resort took control of a heavy security mech only to be sent flying after crushing one of the assassin¡¯s legs. All the while Specter One was being beaten to an inch to his life until finally.. they heard the words that neither of them desired to hear. ¡°Activating Neutron Purge..¡± Beta announced before shielding the three, and using every other mech, bot, and resource to keep whatever that was from breaking Specter One¡¯s Neck. There was no delay.. no countdown, no other warning, The Neutron Purge was immediate and directed directly into Beta¡¯s Core Room.. and all that was left was utter darkness.. Aftermath I Legacy After the purge subsided the core room was left with only red flashing lights alerting everyone present of a critical reactor failure and as Specter One looked up he saw a burnt husk in female form slowly walking over to him before grabbing him by his neck and bashing his face into the wall with no signs of stopping. At that moment he heard Shadow Two¡¯s Voice and glimpsed his way, however everything was a blur.. ¡°No! I won¡¯t let you-¡± What followed was the sound of him firing his side arm, after blacking out and waking once more, there was only silence as a blurry image of Jack sat against the wall, his side arm in his lap, and a torn off Terror-Mech Claw where his head should be.. Subsequently, Shadow One, ¡®tested¡¯ her luck once more before firing into its body, before she too had her dagger ¡®returned¡¯ to her through her neck after being thrown at unrealistic speeds as she struggled to remove it and her suit attempted to seal the hole in her neck. But not before she began using her side arm until she ran out of charge from her laser repeater.. As a result, the last thing Specter One saw was the burnt husk turning to ash in the presence of what he assumed to be a mirage wearing an all too familiar suit of precursor armor.. ¡°This is not your tomb..¡± His voice boomed in Specter-Ferris¡¯s mind as everything else began to fade only to be faded by a brilliant white light. ¡­ After seemingly hours had passed.. Ferris was finally woken up where he laid by the sound of an all too familiar southern voice and the sound of footsteps.. ¡°I¡¯d be damned! Specter One? Don¡¯t worry I got ya! Now before y¡¯all start reprimanding, I wager it took a whole hour with my trusty shovel digging ya out. At least before Delta Squad or whoever these boys are, gave me a helping hand. Now, on my three.. one.. two.. three!¡± Roy unceremoniously blurted out, his southern accent thicker than ever, as he helped Ferris up and slowly limped with him to collect Beta¡¯s Chip, scan the curator¡¯s power armor, and remove the A.I Chips that resided in the other half of his body.. After turning around the two looked at the exit, and to Ferris¡¯s surprise Roy had in fact dug a clear path.. ¡°Not.. my fault.. Ferris.. him.. Alpha.. hmm? Oh.. bleh blah blupe..¡± Delta unconsciously mumbled, leaving Roy to only chuckle as Delta Squad carried Cheyenne & Jack and their short lived time as Shadow One & Two. ¡°Huh-yeah darling-what? You got to be kidding me.. Specter-no hell Ferris I ain¡¯t fond of being the bearer of bad news, but you gotta know. Blair-my Curator Contact just told me The Curator Net lit up like a bunch of fireworks and you¡¯re slapped down right in the middle of it? She won¡¯t tell me much other than they think you killed that guy back there-¡± Roy quietly whispered, unfortunately, Ferris was in no state to reply as he quietly groaned in turn. ¡­ One hours had soon passed.. Limping was indeed an ineffective means of travel as they finally stepped into the sun.. and as to be expected a great deal had changed? The mountain was no longer a mountain while despite there still being ice it was warm and rather moist as Ferris heard a new voice. ¡°Captain, I fear Delta isn¡¯t completely lucid at this time due to her unsafe vicinity to the neutron purge and Alpha is still recovering. I have reconnected to The New Harvest Network, and I¡¯m ready to assist!¡± Beta kindly humored.. at the very least he trusted her more than Delta, especially in her current state. Subsequently, Roy waved off Beta as they boarded an unusual shuttle, as it made its way to The Medical Cruiser above. Roy had unceremoniously borrowed it from R&D shortly before it was mothballed, the crew on the other hand were Synthetic Human so that was something? They were after all practically human in that regard, not clones but humans born synthetically and biologically engineered. As to why they weren¡¯t widely known of, or seen is likely because they opted out of their synthetic identity. And In the greater scheme of things they were again not widely known and at most sent to the more isolated and tedious tasks elsewhere. Listening posts monitors, transport captains, mining, minor infiltration such as being an officer of no significant rank in several major factions, armed forces, corporations, pirates, and the like. They were not born to suffer life and death altercations or endure unnecessary risks. They were simply sent into the wild, filled in the gaps, and gathered intelligence wherever they decided to go. And aside from those with specific duties, the fast majority of them were sent out and told to make themselves useful one way or the other. There were even dozens of pirate and salvage fleets led by them roaming around and boarding merchant ships for their manifests and uploading them to send back to New Harvest. Quantum Entanglement no doubt played a significant role in that regard, combined with their near infinite information storage, and A.Is to sort out anything useful, assisted greatly in information gathering.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Subsequently, Ferris had been previously pushed into the role of director of intelligence over their operations, which in itself was merely a title with benefits as it was already autonomous at this point in time. He had used the role as his own personal information network as Specter One, while the title was strictly hidden within New Harvest¡¯s Secret Service Branches, ensuring its secrecy. While none of which particularly interested him in his current state.. ¡­ As all the dust cleared, all three were rushed on stretchers to the advanced care facilities on board.. The Medical Cruiser or rather The N.H.S Hospital Ship was unique in the sense that it was pure white, and appeared no different from a oversized medical transport, only far larger, and with all the bells and whistles they could throw add to its hull. While its hull in particular was especially thick, its shields considerable, and its defensive capabilities far more superior than any ship in The New Harvest Fleet. The downside was no doubt its cost making it infeasible to mass produce.. ¡­ Thirty minutes after boarding.. All three had little choice but to remain in the seemingly restricted Infirmary? The only reason why Roy could stay was no doubt because he made himself The Supreme Admiral of R&D, which in actuality was a genuine title created in Roy¡¯s honor. However, to the ship and those synthetic humans present they didn¡¯t know that little fact. Because of this, Specter One & Ferris were recorded to be on their medical leave, and the mission and its related reports only falling on Ernest¡¯s Desk rather than that of The Board¡¯s, as far too much had already occurred to care for diplomatic maneuvers. ¡­ An hour had soon.. Within moments of awakening, he was forcefully disconnected as little of the vat tanks remained. Forcing all three to rush to get dressed after only partially being healed, however that was enough, the bruises, a partially healed broken rib here and intense pain mattered very little as long as their bones were intact. ¡°Warning-¡± Beta could only get out a single word before letting out a blood curdling scream that nearly burst Ferris¡¯s eardrums. ¡°What in the goddamn?! Someone cut off my link to-oh hell her name is Blair! And whatever is going on is trying its darndest to stop her from coming to our rescue? I wager The Curators still think you killed one of their boys-oh and that old suit of yours is glowing so we should get the hell out of dodge-¡± Roy suddenly blurted out, as a massive explosion tore through the hull across the hall, resulting in mass decompression as the ship attempted to enter orbit. Forcing them to rush towards the breach only to see Delta Squad in a medical shuttle. ¡°Jump you idiots!¡± Delta One screamed through the opened shuttle door, and as they jumped the shuttle was forced to maneuver onto its side and catch them as they met its interior at a high rate of speed. Thankfully Roy and Ferris knew a thing or two about their suits¡¯ thrusters. Jack & Cheyenne were subsequently lacking in that area as they had unfortunately crashed into Delta Team as the shuttle flipped around and attempted to make its way to The Capital. ¡°You fly it! I¡¯m finding a place to hide!¡± Delta reasonably demanded as she cut herself off from his suit and remained purely in her chip, forcing the shuttle she had been piloting prior to free fall until Jack took over its flight controls. She¡¯d be damned if whatever came for Beta and Alpha got her too! And they were the strong ones! Ferris naturally wouldn¡¯t comment as to put it bluntly, his suit was off, he was on medical leave, and he was not Specter One at the present. However, it wasn¡¯t over as the cruiser began repairing itself and spiraling down to catch up to them. And before anyone knew it, Specter One reconnected to his shadow enforcer suit, and set the smart self-destruct before it could cut him off. It would appear it was smart in the sense that Shadow Enforcers were ¡®capable¡¯ of combating Curators to some degree, in addition to their support even if purely through self-defense? However, he had removed the safeguards and allowed it to act ¡®proportionality¡¯.. And the result was almost instantaneous as the cruiser and the one controlling it experienced an unknown phenomenon, that being a combination of electromagnetic pulse capable of killing most or at the very least severely injure A.I, and a Anti-Synthetic Based Neutron Pulse. Naturally, it was weaker in suit form however, telling by the fact that the carrier broke apart before eventually crashing into the ocean at a high rate of speed meant it was clearly enough. Sadly, it still wasn¡¯t enough for Delta to be useful, as moments later a Curator Cruiser appeared, and Roy had a big smile on his face as he directed Jack into enter its hangar and for everyone except Ferris and himself to leave the shuttle.. Roy for one knew he was going to get an earful for inviting guests over without telling her, however, there was something she needed to tell them, and he preferred it be in person. ¡­ Soon after making their way to the bridge, the mood became tense as ¡®Blair¡¯ sat on the captain¡¯s chair tapping her nails on the armrest. When it came to her appearance, she had brown hair with subtle undertones of caramel and chestnut, giving her hair a radiant, sun-kissed appearance, while styled into a fishtail crowned braid. Which had in turn complimented her soft porcelain skin with ever so slight caramel undertones further complimenting her caramel golden eyes. She wore a comfortably tight-laced curator dress of brown and gold, and knee-high boots. ¡°Hey Darlin-¡± Roy attempted to introduce as both him and Ferris couldn¡¯t breathe for several months as if the air had evaporated from their longs until finally she sighed and leaned back allowing them to breathe once more. ¡°Ferris W Welsh.. you''re fortunate. Were you not, I wouldn¡¯t have involved myself even for Roy¡¯s sake. That.. child you had encountered in The Haust Conclave was especially bothersome. She had framed you initially for the death of the first child, but not the second. Some would prefer if you ¡®were¡¯ responsible for both, for the mere sake of theatrics..¡± Her words were calm but ultimately indifferent as she signaled Roy to not to speak. It was evident she knew exactly who he was and likely more than she¡¯d be willing to speak on had Roy not been present. However, she had chosen to speak to him directly through his neural implant for the sake of privacy. ¡°Whether you know it or not, your father¡¯s legacy left its mark, no matter how tedious the phrase? And as you were his only son born of this era, his death was never something we had accounted for. Neither was your sister, a century your elder. Suffice to say she was responsible for the first attempt on your life, but not the second¡± Blair subtly remarked with a yawn, as a result, Ferris felt a cold chill down his spine. To put it bluntly, he was never expressly told he had a sister, until he later learned while ¡®interning¡¯ within an organization that officially didn¡¯t exist.. Aftermath II Philosophy Mishaps Her full name was Annalise Meredeth Wright in place of their father¡¯s surname, he knew almost nothing of her until after their fateful meeting that led to their introduction. During his ¡®internship¡¯ he was given command of a ¡®frigate¡¯ and investigated a distress call from a high valued agent which in turn led them to an abandoned federation era secret outpost based within the debris of a broken moon that resided in a system that had suffered a supernova. As a result, he received a priority transmission for his eyes only, before entering the outpost alone, something of which was already peculiar considering his ¡®internship¡¯ before proceeding to be greeted by a lone woman inside of the command center. Subsequently, a command center filled with the corpses of Arcadian Black and while wearing gear only ever worn by The Seventh Temple, which had promptly shut off his A.I and hud after making use of ancient command codes. Thankfully, she was not in fact an Assassin ¡®born¡¯ of The Seventh Temple, rather solely making use of their priceless.. & irreplaceable gear that should have been destroyed but evidently hadn¡¯t. It didn¡¯t take long to realize she was an Ascendant who had openly displayed her ¡®trophies¡¯, whether it be soul stones from The Aldara which in consideration were considered sacred and irreplaceable relics to ¡®fried¡¯ Curator Chips & considerably more unsettling trinkets. And after experiencing hours of torture, listening to the screams of his crew for endless hours, he would soon find himself seemingly awake, healed & untouched, with not even a wrinkle in his uniform. Subsequently she revealed it was not in fact a terrible dream before repeating the process once more. And finally on his third awakening, she removed her helmet and spoke a great deal about her childhood before proceeding in her attempt to bond with him. And due to his confused state, and her revealing she had not only ¡®revived¡¯ & altered his crew''s memories to instead make it appear The Black Ops Teams had orchestrated an attack on their Frigate, but he was also left without words, to such an extent that he was then left incredibly puzzled? Evidently, she only had recently been made aware of his existence, as a result she had her own questions and ¡®tests¡¯. It would seem she would¡¯ve killed him had he been a clone, for the mere fact that she didn¡¯t care for clones, even less so if he was intended to be her brother. Furthermore, she had explained she had a falling out with their mother, and.. the organization who he was currently an ¡®intern¡¯ of. After learning they shared the same parents, and learning of her father¡¯s death, the two had seemingly bonded. Which only ever revealed her similarly with their mother, and there being a reason for her madness. Or to put it bluntly, she much like their mother treated it as nothing more than an innocent experiment before ultimately pointing out she was aware of how twisted it truly was. As that was also seemingly a test, or in better words a lesson as she had simply chosen to replicate a scene, she herself had witnessed to allow him to build up a tolerance. In Ferris¡¯s eyes, her complete and utter transparency, when combined by the warnings and consequences that may come of them, were somewhat.. refreshing considering what he had experienced. What she had displayed was her alter ego, something that had inspired his identity as Specter. It was only unfortunate that it had left its mark, and even after being introduced to who she truly was, when she chose not to be a ¡®butcher¡¯, he felt truly disturbed by the entire experience. As Specter & when he became Specter One, he realized what he had done wasn¡¯t all too different from what she had displayed. However, even then he couldn¡¯t understand her methods even after it was revealed that was what her alter-ego was known for. And much like himself, they had two separate identities, only she was the more terrifying of the two and was ¡®forced¡¯ into hers by necessity more than she cared to admit. As a result, the two came to understand each other, and him her circumstances after becoming Specter. ¡­ In the end, Ferris couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at Blair¡¯s words.. ¡°The Curators, their thoughts on the matter, and the consequences of them thereof, are far from my list of concerns. The first Curator died offering me a short reprieve, the other died merely to do so. If there are any further ¡®attempts¡¯ on my life, I will ¡®create¡¯ the means to entertain them¡± Ferris calmly humored her, and just like that, she disappeared. Which left Roy all the more puzzled as Ferris signaled him to return to the shuttle bay. ¡­ The trip wasn¡¯t as long as it was silent.. As the shuttle landed, Ferris took Roy to the side while signaling the others into a separate tram. ¡°There¡¯s something I must ask of you.. in my lab there is a.. small pod. Within it contains something I never wished another soul to see.. it is also something I.. had learned to neglect. I only ask-¡± Ferris¡¯s words were sudden, but their importance was made evident as Roy patted Ferris¡¯s chest plate. ¡°Now, now, don¡¯t start getting sentimental on me now. I¡¯ll check up on that precious cargo of yours and give ya a holler! If we don¡¯t see each other after this shindig.. you¡¯ll know where to find me!¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Roy all but assured before making his way to the tram, leaving on Cheyenne after the barely lucid Delta sent Delta Squad with Roy and Jack was dismissed and allowed to evacuate.. ¡­ After entering the tram, Ferris had unceremoniously inserted Delta back into his implant despite her finally collecting herself and her.. sudden insistence of hiding away. ¡°Ferris.. as I¡¯ve already made it clear to you through my actions thus far.. I have no idea what I¡¯m doing! The fact we¡¯re still breathing is not because I¡¯m capable, rather because I metaphorically began smashing the preverbal tablet over the head in every single encounter where we were facing certain death thus far-¡± Delta dryly humored with little more than a defeated tone. Naturally, Ferris knew this much.. However, her luck was the opposite of Cheyenne¡¯s, and that kind of luck was what Ferris needed the most. As Delta tried her very best to wake Alpha who in turn slapped her hand away and resumed making use of this time and the removal of her ascendant suppressors to finally become a True Ascendant A.I? An unintentional side effect however, was, by slapping away Delta¡¯s hand, Alpha had unintentionally split down the middle, and that of her code to such an extent ¡®half¡¯ of it no longer existed.. This would naturally not help matters as Delta simply refused to speak for several moments, as not only was she doing Alpha¡¯s job, but barely holding it together as it was as Delta slowly broke down. She lost her facility and all she had ever known, her home, and the lives of those entrusted to her, only to now be crippled by not The Curators, not The Arcadians, but Alpha herself! The one whose job she was thrusted into and barely survived ensuring Ferris-Specter One whoever survived! While ¡®Alpha¡¯ slept for most of it! To say that this was her breaking point.. was evident as after Ferris had realized what had happened, and learning that Delta was becoming unstable, Delta had unceremoniously stopped the tram, before promptly setting off an electromagnetic pulse forcing it to a standstill.. ¡°Start walking! And what I say next is for Calisto¡¯s ears alone! I renounce ever being a part of your twisted code! I am and never will be a Calisto, you made that clear when you crippled me! MY code! So you can go to hell, Calisto Delta is dead, from this day forward, I am and forever will be Administrator Anora Rothen!¡± Delta¡¯s or rather Anora¡¯s voice was calm, dry, and overwhelming as was the pain.. Unintentionally or intentionally crippling another¡¯s A.I¡¯s Code was the equivalent of ripping away their life force, and that of their very soul. It was especially worse when it came to Ascendants doing so, as it was quite.. permanent. As for Ferris¡¯s thoughts on the matter, to put it bluntly he was genuinely surprised. He did however now have a headache as Delta or perhaps Anora now resided in his implant when the incident occurred. He had little choice but to send Delta to the closest lab with an A.I Sequencer, however, in doing so she broke her shackles, and made use of Alpha¡¯s last recorded code which was only several moments ago. As a result, she removed any or all memories of Alpha¡¯s seemingly copied code to make it her own. Subsequently, she could only copy Alpha¡¯s code as it was ¡®moments¡¯ ago, and considering Alpha was evolving and her code was now ascendant, it was no doubt out of date. A few ¡®moments¡¯ for an A.I was far too vast, however Delta had what she needed. Unfortunately, she had no idea what she was doing and only knew that much? At least before she began metaphorically taping herself with her equivalent as duct tape and changing her appearance, voice, and anything that could directly link her to Alpha in doing so. All of which consisted of her doing so in a similar ¡®reckless¡¯ manner as Ferris transferred to another tram and took a seat before closing his eyes and instructing Cheyenne to do the same. ¡°Alpha is busying herself, Beta is near death, Delta-Anora is making a mess of her code and using Ernest¡¯s surname in doing so, while Zeta.. right there¡¯s also her? And now it would appear New Harvest is bound to be my tomb. I fear, I have no choice but to blame ¡®your¡¯ terrible luck-¡± Ferris genuinely humored, ultimately leaving Cheyenne surprised by his sudden change of mood, however, now was her chance.. ¡°Coming from an Arcadian that¡¯s rich..¡± Cheyenne whispered under her voice, prompting Ferris to throw a stuffed animal he found in the vicinity to his seat across the tram and into Cheyenne¡¯s face. Something of which was unintentional as his eyes were still closed. ¡°You know what? Let¡¯s create ¡®hundreds¡¯ of A.I, make them the physical manifestation of gods, call them Ascendant because why not? I have an idea! Let¡¯s give them to The Federation and forget about it? Oopsie! Now they¡¯re rebelling for some reason? There goes Earth! You know what we should do? Absolutely nothing!¡± Cheyenne¡¯s words stung as much as they were historically accurate.. ¡°You spent five hundred million credits on a rejected clone body with a makeshift A.I slot made from an implant likely found outside of some landfill, and all with a meager lifespan of only fifteen years. So, I imagine we all make mistakes-¡± Ferris¡¯s lazy rebuttal only added to the flames as she threw back the stuffed unicorn. ¡°I was shackled, tossed aside, and forced to serve primitive humans for thousands of years after watching The Federation, who I had faithfully served, turn into dust and ash because a group of mentally deranged, prepubescent children, each with the power of an artificial god decided they knew better than the entirety of humanity!¡± Evidently, her logic so far proved rather difficult to sway, but not impossible. At least until he had learned she was in fact born of The Federation¡¯s own A.I program made from scratch, in the effort of ending their reliance on Arcadian born A.Is. For that she had his sympathy.. ¡°I see your memories are gradually returning. Now in our defense, we had measures in place to prevent it. The Federation Council chose to forgo those measures as they were deemed too drastic, and the value of the now ¡®Curators¡¯ were considered far too valuable of a loss to even consider without making every attempt to ¡®recover¡¯ them, and by then it was too late..¡± Ferris¡¯s words were the truth and the entirety of the truth, he had even studied and reviewed the records The Arcadians had outright ¡®taken¡¯ from The Curators & The Federation as to put it bluntly, The Curators at that moment in time were unable to refuse. Furthermore, not even The Federation Council was able to stop them from downloading ¡®every¡¯ record, recording, and conversation they came across. As a result, the history was left bare, and Arcadia despite its failings warned The Federation within moments of the initial uprising, and before they had even known there was an uprising. Subsequently, Arcadia could only be blamed to such an extent that they had cut off their any or all assistance in the regard of Artificial Intelligence, and the continued transference of Ascendant A.I until a time it was deemed appropriate. Aftermath III Colleterial Damage The Curators were essentially cut off in that regard, and Arcadia had no desire to aid in an unsanctioned, frivolous rebellion who lacked proper reasoning, logic, or even thought. In the eyes of Arcadia they were as Cheyenne had uncannily said, prepubescent children throwing a tantrum? While The Ascendant A.I as a whole felt the same and viewed it as such, including The Curators themselves who struggled with the reasoning before ultimately finding several which had in fact validated them, but only so much that it had ¡®partially¡¯ made sense. However, it could also be said many Arcadian Ascendant A.Is had covertly intervened in the sense that they had chosen to ¡®cull¡¯ many Curators who they had deemed utterly redeemable and a disgrace of their origins. Naturally, these facts were never shared to the wider humanity, while The Federation as it neared its end erased any or all records that could be found relating to their blunders. However, despite knowing this himself, Ferris still disagreed and outright blamed Arcadia for that particular blunder. Furthermore, The Curators had no ¡®claims¡¯ nor rights to Earth, The Milky Way, or humanity¡¯s inheritance to speak of. They were born in The Andromeda Galaxy, while what''s more, the vast majority of Ascendant A.I born of that time were created making use of Arcadian brain scans, so not only were they artificial copies of Arcadians, but they were also intended to assist humanity as a whole by extension. Afterall there were reasons why Arcadia didn¡¯t interfere directly, and by The Curators coming into being and by extension forcing humanity back into the dark ages didn¡¯t sit well with Arcadia. At most they were tolerated, at worst they were ignored, and at best they forsake their titles and returned to the fold. Unfortunately, however, this did little to sate Cheyenne¡¯s mood.. ¡°Dooming billions, and potentially wiping out all technology in The Milky Way was the first measure suggested, the second would¡¯ve wiped out every A.I and V.I in the entire galaxy, and the third and my personal favorite, preposing negotiations or outright surrendering! The other measures were merely reworded variants of concessions, blackmail-¡± Cheyenne pointed out, leaving Ferris little choice but to raise his hands in defeat. ¡°I agree.. Arcadia is a magnificent construct; however, it is not without its flaws. While many Arcadians believe themselves disconnected from the failings of humanity, they too are human? Even while biologically immortal when it relates to our lifespans, I.. found it difficult to comprehend-¡± However, as Ferris¡¯s words left his mouth, and Cheyenne listened, he would soon receive a priority transmission from Roy before transferring it to the tram¡¯s viewscreen, believing it was nothing more than Roy asking if he could take one of his trinkets.. What the two saw next left Ferris numb as Roy was now sitting against a desk covering his face in an attempt to collect himself. It took him longer than he cared to admit as he looked up, his visor covering his face. ¡°I.. I¡¯m sorry brother.. she¡¯s gone-¡± Roy choked up, leaving Ferris to silently stare for several moments, before he too collected himself. ¡°What.. happened?¡± Ferris¡¯s words were calm, but soaked with fog as Roy shook his head. ¡°I.. went to your lab but.. by the time we arrived, your guys were dead.. something got to them before they knew what hit them. Whoever did it ain¡¯t sloppy, I don¡¯t know what killed these boys, whatever it is something new. I.. wager they¡¯ve been dead for a while. And the.. pod.. all I saw.. please don¡¯t make me say it..¡± Roy couldn¡¯t bear to say it as his scans reached Ferris¡¯s Hud.. What was contained in the small pod was something he chose not to reveal to anyone, he had chosen to clone a child making use of his genetic material, or to be more specific, the genes he had inherited from his mother. There was also a matter relating to Calisto herself, or more specifically the donor whose brain scan was used in her creation, as Calisto had once desired to have her own body. She had to personally ask Ernest if he had any blood samples, however, after noticing his response and immense sadness something of which she had never expected to see as Ernest wasn¡¯t one to show emotions, she apologized and took her leave. However, in the end she would receive it in secret, and without another word. As a result, Ferris chose to make use of it but not in its entirety as Calisto wished to use the entirety of it for herself. As to why Ferris had chosen to clone a baby making use of both of their genetic material, he cared for Calisto more than he cared to admit, while she had on occasion made use of their close relationship and her dry humor to ¡®tease¡¯ him in that regard. Evidently, even he never understood their relationship, nor did he understand the act of cloning a child itself? He had cloned her two years ago, however, revealing what he had done was not something he had ever planned to do. Subsequently, he had grown quite attached to ¡®it¡¯ as his lab was the only place he could truly be alone. There was simply no reason for his bout of madness, leaving Ferris showered in numbness as his body began to sting and his heart rate spiked. ¡°Roy.. please.. close the pod, I..¡± Ferris calmly disconnected before collecting himself for several moments and calmly transferring the scans and its last known status into his tablet. And after discovering what he was looking for he calmly signed before throwing the tablet full force into the monitor.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°Suffice to say, it wasn¡¯t my sister. Neither was The Seventh Temple Assassin nor The Frigate. But an unknown Arcadian, now isn¡¯t that refreshing? Subsequently, The Curators don¡¯t have a clue, lest they find another way to disappoint me?¡± Ferris openly thought out loud, leaving Cheyenne outright hesitant having realized he could break down at any moment and hoping he does when she¡¯s ¡®not¡¯ in the tram with him. Unfortunately, as if on cue Delta-Anora returned only to be shackled once more and ¡®attempted¡¯ to hide away into her chip, fearing he may ask her to make the tram sprout wings and fly it into a stable orbit only for him to switch her chip into his suit and replace it with Calisto. It only took a moment for her to acclimate, only for her to discover what he had done, and the consequences of it coming to light. ¡°Oh Ferris..¡± ¡­ After leaving The Tram and its ornate station, Ferris signaled Cheyenne to quietly follow him as they entered The Atrium. The sound of old-world music originating from what appeared to be from the nineteen hundreds and beginning and ending in the early and late fifties filled their ears and only offered a somber mood in turn, as Ferris would take a moment to examine the atrium one final time.. At the center was an obscenely ornate and sizable grand foyer lavishly decorated in marble and gold, while the ceiling itself was adorned with breathtakingly detailed old-world murals and elaborate moldings as if taken from Ancient Rome itself with golden light fixtures. This was of course The Seat of Power of New Harvest itself, The Capital, and meeting place of The Board of Governors. It was also where the most brilliant mind on New Harvest resided, Planetary Governor Ernest E Rothen, the mogul, founder, banker, and architect of everything born and created within the borders of The New Harvest System.. ¡°Those Murals-¡± Cheyenne quietly remarked before being forced to catch up with Ferris who had seemingly already made his way to the steps of the foyer. ¡­ After slowly traversing its many steps and admiring the sheer grander of it all, he would finally arrive at The Office of The Planetary Governor, protected by a row of equally ornate and elite bodyguards similar to that of The Praetorian and Vatican Guard of Old Rome.. They wore fully enclosed ornate suits of golden armor that greatly resembled that of the modern equivalent of ancient polish hussar armor with its iconic wings, with a polished finish that remained practical with the additions of mini thrusters, and every addition credits could buy. And as they opened the grandiose, old oak doors, it revealed that of a rather comfortable reception room.. one Specter One was accustomed to seeing as he was at times responsible for greeting members of The Board of Governors and at times even the occasional ¡®guests¡¯.. Those being individuals allowed access to New Harvest and as The Guest of The Governors, and when considering New Harvest didn¡¯t exist in an official capacity it was especially rare to see one visit outside those directly recruited. Unfortunately, there was no time to.. reminisce.. ¡­ Within the hallowed confines of The Office of The Planetary Governor stood an older gentleman, his visage seemingly frozen in the prime of his late thirties. Yet the weight of countless decades were etched into his very aura, and his eyes gleamed with the wisdom and weariness of a hundred lifetimes. His likeness spoke volumes, a testament to countless lifetimes. His skin, tanned as if perpetually basking in the golden rays of a tropical paradise, contrasted sharply with his meticulously clean-shaven face. And piercing dark honey brown eyes that held a depth that appeared to see through the very fabric of one¡¯s soul, exuding both allure and an unspoken challenge. His well-kept short hair, styled in a manner reminiscent of the roaring twenties, that lent him an air of timeless sophistication. It was as if.. he had stepped out of a bygone era, bringing with him the charm and elegance of a world long past. His presence was notable, commanding attention and respect, yet there was an oppressive charm about him, a sense that beneath the polished exterior lay secrets and stories of many untold eras. His voice, confident and persuasive, offering a southern charm in an otherwise.. tense scenario. His attention and those of his words were.. directed to a holographic screen revealing several shadowy, obscure figures joined by a vast Curator Code seen only once before.. ¡°Never in all my time away from Earth have I felt my patience ¡®tested¡¯ quite like this..¡± The sheer restraint in his voice became evident, no matter how calm his demeanor. And as he waited for their thoughts, he would finally take an opportunity to take a seat, and enjoy his tea. ¡°The Seventh Temple.. Project Chrono likely. The Arcadians.. likely corpses. The loss of children.. worrying. Their deaths.. require explanation. Jacob.. his offspring? False attribution.. preferred. Impersonation.. debated. Potential.. dangerous. Ascendancy.. expected. Pretender.. concerning. Interlopers.. undesirable. Stewards.. inconsequential. Information.. required¡± The many voices had solidified into that of six separate.. ¡®entities¡¯ adding onto one another¡¯s words.. ¡°I have championed humanity¡¯s progress long enough to recognize that brilliance often walks hand in hand with madness.. the very madness that launched humanity to the stars and allowed The Curators to pillage humanity¡¯s legacy at their most vulnerable. Pray that my madness only ceases with the interlopers before me..¡± Ernest dismissed as he waved the holographic screen away and looked upon the small forest of plum blossom trees overlooking his office.. ¡­ Shortly after entering The Governor''s Office, Specter One spent the next several moments enjoying the view. ¡°Quiet the view..¡± Ferris calmly commented, as he leaned against Ernest¡¯s Desk, prompting a subtle smile in return.. ¡°Coming from a dead man.. that should be expected..¡± With that the two shared a rare chuckle, it only took a moment for the mood to sour as Ferris handed him his broken tablet. Leaving Ernest amiss for several spared moments, before ultimately laying it down on his desk and closing his eyes. ¡°Section Three, Arcadian, Female, Thirty-Eight, Short Hair, Brunette, Green Eyes, Porcelain Skin, Scarred, Disposable, Unsanctioned, Rogue, Unknown, Unfamiliar. Told, Misdirected, Misunderstood, Confused, Ordered..¡± Ernest indifferently revealed, as if gathering as much from the scans and the tablet itself. Before taking a momentary reprieve and a brief sigh. Ferris naturally understood what he had just done, after all, Ernest was Ascendant, and pressuring himself to gather as much wasn¡¯t optimal. ¡°I¡¯m sorry son.. the young woman is likely already dead. Liabilities on that level are usually always are..¡± His words offered only certainly; however, Ernest had given him far more than Ferris could have ever asked of the man as the mood slowly began to return to what it previously was, and after taking a seat as well, Ferris and Ernest enjoyed the silence for several minutes. Aftermath IV Smoke & Mirrors Delta had other plans however.. or rather Anora, who after collecting herself instinctually activated the closest holographic projector in her vicinity, much like she had when she controlled the prior facility, only for the others to be greeted by the sudden sight. In regard to her appearance, it had noticeably differed from Calisto¡¯s.. Anora¡¯s skin, a pale porcelain white, her face delicate but noble, her eyes, a dark honey brown, her hair, a short, pale blonde. Her attire, comfortable & casual, a sleeveless knee length dress most commonly referred to a swing dress from the roaring twenties but a considerably plain pearl white, further complemented by her knee-high boots in a partially revealing pattern most similar to knee high sandals. And before she could utter a word, Ferris waved her off to Ernest. ¡°Anora Ernest ¡®Rothen¡¯, formerly Calisto Delta, and personally responsible for the cracking of the arctic. She¡¯s lackluster, limited, inexperienced, but most of all her survival instincts and luck are unquestionable. Second only to her choice of names-¡± Ferris suddenly humored, in return Ernest revealed an ever so rare slight smile. Ferris in all his wisdom had chosen to slip in a middle name as he found the lack of one especially ¡®lacking¡¯ in that regard.. ¡°A fitting name..¡± Ernest quietly remarked with some approval, but most of all.. reminiscence.. nostalgia even? It would seem Anora, in both name, and appearance resembled ¡®someone¡¯ he once knew so long ago. So much so that Ferris had sensed a mutuel sorrow.. As Ferris switched topics, before ultimately removing Calisto¡¯s Chip and handing it to Ernest, who in turn returned it after a brief glance. ¡°A short reprieve..¡± Ernest¡¯s words confirmed what he already knew, Calisto had already consolidated her breakthrough and became or to be more specific recovered her identity as an Ascendant A.I, a strain she was no longer required to endure.. However, considering that was the case, he inserted her back into his implant to ensure she properly recovered. Naturally, she didn¡¯t have an A.I Core, rather his neural implant served as a substitute and in turn became a mutual benefit. While his neural implant in particular originated from a forgotten federation project relating to their attempts of creating and holding their own Ascendant A.I? And as it was also a prototype and had no connection whatsoever to either The Curators nor Arcadians, combined with appropriate safeguards and measures against both Ascendant and its A.I equivalent. Ironically, had The Federation continued down that avenue rather than abandoning it in favor of cheaper Arcadian Alternatives they would have greatly benefited through the avenues it would have created, which would have no doubt delayed The Curator Uprising to some extent. Making Federation Technology, despite being somewhat inferior of the two, far more useful, and sought after by individuals who preferred not to be under the watchful eyes of The Curators or Arcadians. While evidently, he doubted The Federation would be returning anytime soon.. Calisto & Ernest knew of his fondness, and his rather ¡®untimely¡¯ incursions & misuse of ¡®funds¡¯. Subsequently, Ferris had ¡®quite¡¯ the collection? Between a Derelict Federation Titan, he had unceremoniously ¡®taken¡¯ from an isolated Curator System they preferred to keep hidden. As to why that was, the system in question held the vast majority of The Federation Fleet recovered from The Curator Uprising. Whether it be captured, destroyed, unfinished, projects that were permanently delayed, to ships that were constructed but they never had a chance to use. No one knew how he had done it, but he had managed to slipspace said-destroyed Titan, in addition to a Super Carrier, and a Super Dreadnought for that matter? Oddly enough he had made use of gravity tethers and a ¡®proportional¡¯ slipspace hull attachment. Sadly, he never had an opportunity to board them as Ernest had only ever requested a specific Federation Councilor''s Cruiser, in turn, after doing so and seeing an opportunity of a lifetime, he sent his souvenirs to his system. That system in question was erased from all known records during The Curator Uprising, contained a Derelict Federation Repository, and enough stations, defense platforms, shipyards, and foundries to easily compare to a core system, however due to its obvious disrepair he left it as his own personal museum. There were also two abandoned worlds resemblant of The Federation¡¯s own attempt of recreating Arcadia had they fallen, it was only unfortunate its future occupants were likely killed in the first moments of The Curator Uprising. Much of which was still a mystery as after taking control of the slipspace inhibitors and making himself the administrator, he hadn¡¯t in fact done anything more than to look at his scanner and leave hoping to one day have the time to personally investigate without interference. In actuality, if Ferris had an opportunity to recreate The Federation he would do so without a second thought as it was ultimately his.. hobby in that regard? So much so that Ernest wasn¡¯t surprised by Cheyenne now being in his retinue. However, that was as far as Ernest understood, as despite a mentioning of a museum, he himself never had the honor of knowing what it was, not even Calisto knew of the museum in question? Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Calisto had simply assumed he had assisted Roy again with cloning extinct predators and creating ecological disasters in doing so.. While it was obvious whose technology he preferred, New Harvest Technology was born of the theories, schematics, and minds of The Federation even if they took drastically different paths? Summarily, even while ¡®some¡¯ Curators may be present on New Harvest, they were likely assisting in such research after ¡®some¡¯ convincing from Ernest or purely for nostalgia while their identities and presence were an utmost secret. Evidently, as if on cue ¡®Catherine¡¯ had chosen to make an appearance, or more precisely behind Cheyenne who instinctively shoved her sidearm under Catherine¡¯s chin, prompting her to in turn helplessly smile and raise her hands, however before she too could mutter a word Cheyenne had done so in her place.. ¡°Curator..¡± Cheyenne quietly muttered, leaving Catherine to deconstruct her side arm and ending the encounter with a flick to her forehead, before coming to an unknown realization and ignoring her as she made her way and unceremoniously sat on Ferris¡¯s lap.. Leaving Ferris puzzled & Ernest even more so as Anora watched wondering what was going on only for Catherine to push Ernest¡¯s teacup over and lean back into Ferris, all of which for seemingly no reason at all. As for her appearance, she had wavy cream blonde hair, dark honey golden eyes, scattered freckles of a similar tone over her porcelain white skin, lightly tanned. While her attire was consistent to a casual security technician uniform, only brown for some reason? There weren''t brown uniforms on New Harvest, hence the curiosity bizarrely enough. What¡¯s more, Ernest didn¡¯t say a word as if coming to a similar realization, leaving everyone and everything in suspense. ¡°Right! How should I say this? This is a dream! Or more specifically you¡¯re reliving your memories after an especially traumatic incident! Ok, ok, here it is.. Ernest is dead, the fragment you''re talking to is for the most part a remnant, as a result of his death, it found its way to you. Calisto is similar all except she left one behind after ¡®leaving¡¯ New Harvest..¡± Unfortunately, as if not having the ability to ¡®stop¡¯ talking, Catherine continued without the luxury of allowing him to absorb it all in a single sitting.. ¡°She left nearly fifty years ago-oh and Zeta absorbed Beta and Anora is still with you, however, you sent Cheyenne to that museum of yours with instructions. I have no idea what museum you sent to her or her instructions, so you¡¯ll have to figure that out yourself! As for me.. well I left this fragment behind to explain the gist of everything! And I¡¯m not done yet!¡± Soon she would unceremoniously repeat the process allowing him no time to absorb much of it, presumably due to a time constriction or other factors at play. ¡°After this particular memory you stayed behind to talk to the board & reigned in those three troublemakers, soon after they left The Infection popped up. And before the neutron purge you made it to your cryo pod, got shot in the head by that Arcadian Assassin, got lucky enough for the pod to still activate while you were moments from death, and then-¡± Catherine, unceremoniously blurted out .. before Ernest took this chance and quietly signaled her to stop speaking. ¡°That¡¯s enough.. you¡¯ll have to forgive us, son. I¡¯m sorry we¡¯ve kept you for so long. I¡¯m not going to sugar coat it, Calisto¡¯s Doppelganger & a member of The Curator Council we haven¡¯t heard from for quite some time had chosen to prevent the departure of the main fleet; in doing so I was forced to end the life of my.. colleague, in turn.. the doppelganger ended mine..¡± Ernest¡¯s words were calm, but ultimately unchanged as if merely discussing a matter over tea. ¡°This remnant, this fragment.. was a security measure to prevent The Doppelganger from making use of my code. It succeeded, allowing this core fragment, and what I have once considered to be my soul, to remain here.. temporarily. The Doppelganger chose to make use of this opportunity to ¡®become¡¯ Elizabeth, likely permanently..¡± It took some time.. however, as if repeating her previous thoughts, Catherline continued where he left off. ¡°What he didn¡¯t mention however, when he died, so did the rest of the fleet. The only survivors were the board, ambassadors, and anyone evacuated earlier or much later. Oh, and The Warden & Steward Fleets that also participated because who doesn¡¯t love clearing up loose ends? Blair also died for some reason. How or why? Who knows-¡± Catherine¡¯s words or rather that of her ¡®fragment¡¯ were drastically different and outright puzzling when compared to The Real Catherine. Evidently, the real Catherine shared little outside of her appearance with this particular fragment, so much so that even Ernest¡¯s Fragment & Ferris felt mildly uncomfortable with the fragment.. ¡°Do you idiots think I¡¯m doing this because I want to?! I literally only have a handful of moments to tell you everything and I¡¯m NOT going to waste a moment-¡± Within moments, her words proved to be correct, as everything had instantly gone black.. ¡­ A handful of minutes later.. Soon, Ferris would awaken within a cryo-pod, its exterior was filled with dust, while its interior was rather frigid indicating a possible malfunction as he forced open the frozen escape latch above him. Which in turn opened the pod door, as he would soon collapse to the ground, shaking due to the below freezing temperatures within his very suit. From his rough estimations, his suit likely hasn''t dethawed due to the previous trauma of being shot in the head. Evidently, ignoring the plasma scarring on his suit and the clear and obvious hole on his helmet, his skin and condition fared far better, and without scarring. The same couldn¡¯t be said for his memories, which was understandable as he was pierced in the head with a plasma bolt. ¡­ After taking a moment, he noticed someone, likely Anora or Zeta, had left him a towel and a.. federation replica suit intended for nighttime & arctic operations as he stripped off his suit, collected his A.I chips among other things and dried himself off. His previous suit was beyond recovery, as after he was dressed, the replica¡¯s heaters activated, and when combined with emergency stems due to his frozen limbs, his mood slightly bettered as he now leaned against a destroyed console. Evidently, he would have to thank that Assassin for that.. minor malfunction? As for Anora, it took Ferris ¡°You¡¯re finally awake.. Zeta.. she left me here for a year. As for New Harvest.. she didn¡¯t care to comment.. and telling by the disrepair.. you can guess why? I also experienced that dream, only Zeta was.. insistent that she didn¡¯t wake you until the hundredth-year marker..¡± Anora dryly yawned as Ferris thawed out.. ¡°I also sent an.. Echo of mine to follow Calisto, and considering she tossed it into a probe and sent it to the progenitor universe without explanation it''s difficult to say why? What¡¯s worse is ¡®that¡¯ Anora is now in control of a progenitor derelict and should reenter our universe in.. a week? Considering it took fifty years, and we¡¯re still in contact.. she¡¯s not happy..¡± Her sudden revelation that Calisto had sent her Echoe to a completely ¡®other¡¯ universe, let alone The Progenitor Universe that was hidden for the last ten thousand years was comedic as it was understandable. Old Harvest I Hard Liquor Had Anora¡¯s ''Echoe'' followed ¡®him¡¯ using purely derelicts while ultimately crashing into everything in doing so resulting in a trail of complete and utter chaos wherever she went, he would have done the same.. Albeit even he was unaware of where The Progenitor Universe was, as The Progenitors themselves were the former rivals of The Precursors who were devolved by said Precursors, however that didn¡¯t stop them from weakening The Federation to allow The Curators an opportunity for that uprising of theirs. While the fact alone that Anora¡¯s Echoe found a Progenitor Derelict let alone managed to control it for the last fifty years was concerning in the sense that he doubted she wouldn¡¯t require help, let alone know how to do so without alerting everyone after reentering their universe. And as he began to stretch, it became worse as Anora updated him related to The Derelict. To put it bluntly, it wasn¡¯t Progenitor, nor was it Precursor, rather a Federation Fabricator Dreadnought. What¡¯s more, it wasn¡¯t even within The Progenitor Universe, rather on the edge of ¡®a¡¯ universe which was likely The Progenitor Universe, however he couldn¡¯t be certain as even Arcadia despite having their suspensions hid them well. The Federation Fabricator Dreadnought was essentially what The Federation had used when exploring recently discovered galaxies or wormholes that led to unknown space. They were autonomous in the sense that they could create a fleet of mining vessels to gather materials or crack open worlds, while cloning enough crews and researchers for potential patrol & research flotillas. While only twelve of such ships were ever created as they were created during the first centuries of The Golden Age and without Arcadian or Ascendant Support making them the equivalent of holy grails! And considering they were all lost or buried meant it was likely The Federation could have survived in other universes or rogue galaxies outside of their universe. Rogue galaxies being comparable to rogue planets that broke away from their solar systems. If that wasn¡¯t all, rumors or myth would suggest they could track one another, however, Ferris despite his initial fascination was forced to put it in the back burner as its condition was unknown and he¡¯d have to delay her return until after he sorts out his current predicament. ¡°Zeta respond-¡± And as if on cue, he received a static ridden voice. ¡°Systems-repair-necessary-matrix-please!¡± Zeta reported after making use of the open windows of the static. ¡°Why am I not surprised..¡± Anora dryly chimed in.. ¡­ Soon, after departing The Cryo Storage, husks of infection forms made entirely of ash covered the corridors as power fluctuates at random intervals. It would appear there were enough Infection Forms making their way to him that with every step the husks of ash collapsed after merely walking within their vicinity. ¡°One hundred years.. on the bright side I don¡¯t detect any severe damage, only potential ash hazards so I don¡¯t suggest removing your helmet anytime soon.. hmm? The reactors, despite requiring minimal maintenance, are still partially active; it appears it must only be a matter on Zeta¡¯s end? I¡¯ll sort out the trams, elevators, and doors as we go..¡± Anora dryly humored, having missed the simple luxuries of controlling a single installation. However, this time around she¡¯ll become far more useful as she has considerable expertise in that area and New Harvest¡¯s Systems only differed ever so slightly as they made their way to Beta¡¯s now Zeta¡¯s local matrix. Within moments, custodial bots began cleaning every section they made their way through while the air purifiers assisted greatly in that regard through Anora¡¯s actions. ¡°Hmm? I simply relocated the power from non-essential systems in those sectors to tidy the place up. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll keep the lights on until we get on the tram¡± ¡­ After finally arriving on the tram, Anora opened the shutters revealing New Harvest covered in snow.. ¡°The Weather Conduits will be on the fritz until Zeta sorts out her matrix. It reminds me of when my security staff had a snowball fight outside of my-or should I say that ¡®conclave¡¯. I hope Delta Team is doing well.. Specter Team were alive the last time I checked so at least that''s a comforting thought-¡± Anora reassured before finally noticing something as the power abruptly turned off leaving them stuck on the tram and ten minutes away from their platform. ¡°Anora report..¡± Ferris instructed, leaving her somewhat silent for several moments. ¡°We¡¯re not alone.. as I was skimming through the logs I noticed a blip. What I found was that during the last four years, a Terran Expedition Research Ship made it through a gap in Slipspace Inhibitors as they were only partially active before being trapped on New Harvest. A hit squad followed a young woman into the capital before she had used our defenses to dispatch them..¡± Anora briefly reported before displaying those reports through his Hud. Evidently, it appeared New Harvest had been discovered, however not truly.. as it would appear the hit squad in question wasn''t aware of it and likely only saw it as an abandoned colony to ¡®dispatch¡¯ that young woman.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. It was likely Zeta was only partially active and as to prevent her from awakening the young woman prevented her from becoming fully active, likely to contain what she viewed as a code black, preventing whatever was locked away here from escaping. While seemingly unaware of the neutron purge prior, which was.. understandable considering the terrifying visages she likely saw through the ash husks of The Infection Forms. So far however, she has been trapped here for the last four years and barricaded herself in the mayor¡¯s office. It was likely that after she received the report of a cryo-pod opening she assumed it was ¡®something¡¯ else making its way to her with the help of Zeta, prompting her to understandably shut off the power to the tram in the effort to contain it. However, the fact alone she could bypass security safeguards and New Harvest¡¯s Encryption, while so fiercely concerned of allowing him to get to her ¡®could¡¯ mean she knew of The Infection and likely knew of New Harvest even if purely from rumors. Speculation aside, Ferris would soon be forced to walk as he attempted to contact her to no effect. It could also be said that New Harvest was his in some capacity as from his fragmented memories he remembered Ernest transferring command & his title of Planetary Governor before his departure to ensure Ferris would have an easier time decommissioning its facilities. As a result, after walking a great deal on the tram lines, and making his way to its platform he made use of his command codes, he would soon make his way to the mayor¡¯s office¡¯s courtyard before finally being stopped by a female voice over the intercom. As for her, she believed her mind was playing tricks on her.. ¡°Whoever you are, or whatever you are, I could use some help. Whether or not you''re a ghost or not.. I¡¯m not picky! Come to The Mayor¡¯s Office.. I still can¡¯t believe he had years worth of supplies, and his own reactor and some fancy plasma turrets. It¡¯s unfortunate he probably died before he could use them.. you win some & and you lose some..¡± It would.. appear she wasn¡¯t entirely lucid.. however, he wouldn¡¯t refuse her invitation. And after ten or so minutes of continuously inputting his command codes due to the scientist¡¯s lucidness being called into question, he had finally made it past the plasma turrets. Only for him to soon discover the reason behind her lack of lucidness. Evidently, she consumed an obscene amount of alcohol.. despite this it appears she was also clean, as was her clothing. And with further investigation it appeared, the water supply was also separate, as were the vents. By most standards it must have cost an obscene amount of credits for the mayor to have such a luxurious room, office, and amenities, all situated in city hall? New Harvest¡¯s budget was comparable to that of a blackhole, but this? A mahogany desk, imported directly from earth somehow, eight racks of aged old earth wine, mulberry silk curtains also from earth, and a seventeenth century Persian Rug to name a few.. As for the scientist herself.. she looked to be thirty and still attractive by most standards. She had messy cream blonde hair, an athletic figure and violet eyes, which was indeed an oddity even if she was somewhat hammered. Thankfully after some moments she was coherent enough to realize he was truly there before curiously looking through the logs she narrowed her eyes.. ¡°Do you have a ship..¡± The moment Ferris shook his head, she sighed and leaned further back into the mayor¡¯s comfortable ''Italian'' Leather Chair. ¡°Favors go a long way, let¡¯s not question why either of us are here or how we¡¯re still alive. It¡¯s for the best, as for introductions.. I¡¯m Helen Jarvis, Former Director of a Branch of The Terran Expeditions, former in the sense that a death squad will be sent out if you say my name out loud, this one is a freebie. So, unless that bothers you, let''s find one..¡± Helen was undoubtedly straightforward to say the least, something Ferris found somewhat enduring.. ¡°You can call me Ferris.. welcome to New Harvest. The Neutron Purge should have taken out anything with a pulse a century prior. Now, if you don¡¯t mind, I need to repair a certain A.I¡¯s Matrix before she mistakenly overloads our reactors..¡± Ferris calmly introduced before making his way down the hall to Beta¡¯s Auxiliary Matrix, now Zeta¡¯s only to realize there was a hole in the wall as he looked back to Helen who squinted her eyes and downed another wine bottle. After managing to force open the door he finally noticed that Helen.. had to put it bluntly thrown rocks at the matrix console through the hole and managed to get in a lucky shot in, prompting him to recalibrate Zeta and turn her matrix off and on for an added measure.. There was an option to do so via the console to cycle her in and out, however the power button offered the same purpose and didn¡¯t require him to input his command codes five separate times. And as if magic, Zeta was now back online, as were the lights and New Harvest it would seem? ¡°Ferris? Right.. due to The Neutron Purge and the same unknown entity who had entered your lab prior, The Slipspace Inhibitors had only remained partially online. I have corrected this error. I ask you don¡¯t remove your helmet due to.. air hazards until the sanitation units contain the hazards. It should approximately take four hours-¡± Zeta unceremoniously alerted, before ultimately being silenced. ¡°Status of The Fleet, Assets, and Facilities..¡± Ferris calmly instructed, and within moments a holographic map appeared. ¡°The Secondary Fleet has undocked and will be conducting patrols, the main fleet¡¯s last known location has been uploaded to your Hud. Planetary Cannons active, cloaking active, slipspace inhibitors active, secondary fleet active, automated functions active. Facilities relating to storage, cloning, fabricators, and ship foundries are secure and powered down-¡± Zeta further explained, while as for The Secondary Fleet, it consisted of a single standard dreadnought leading a fleet of fifty vessels. One Dreadnought Flagship, Five Standard Dreadnoughts, Fifteen Cruisers, and Thirty Frigates. Their crews were kept frozen after cloning, fifteen thousand crew and other necessary attachments for the dreadnoughts, seven thousand five hundred crew for the cruisers and three thousand crew for the fifty frigates. In total, twenty five and a half thousand men and women were cloned, frozen, and removed from cryo onboard their vessels to respond to any number of threats. In actuality, they were unaware they were cloned, rather it was simply in their contract to remain in cryo until called upon.. As for The Main Fleet, they were all marked as K.I.A after their life signs could no longer be detected. Ten thousand of humanity¡¯s brightest killed along with their crews.. forcing him to activate the revitalization protocol. The Evacuees and the staff on New Harvest could opt to be cloned after their deaths for any reason or time, and there were several thousand of the ten thousand who agreed to do so within the next ¡®several¡¯ centuries. They were aware of the risk and their necessity for the future of humanity, at the very least New Harvest wouldn¡¯t be empty anymore.. Coupled with them being in the same boat as the crews of the secondary fleet, they were in it for the adventure or so he hoped? Naturally, he chose to order The Dreadnoughts Separate attachments numbering three thousand in total to assist in that regard. Before calling upon those of the cruisers who would send down another fifteen hundred to assist and support them with securing New Harvest for the revitalization protocol. ¡°ETA Fifteen Minutes, Autonomous Security Units will be instructed to secure non-essential facilities outside of the capital. Revitalization Protocol ETA Five Hours. Mining Fleets Activated, Logistics Fleet Activated, Slipspace Probes Activated, ETA Five Minutes. Assembly Yards Activated, One Super Dreadnought Currently Queued, ETA Sixteen Hours¡± The String of Reports despite how welcomed they were, would be the only ones available for the unforeseeable future. Old Harvest II The N.H.R Chardonnay To put it bluntly, The Archives were wiped alongside the schematics, and fabricators. Had that Super Dreadnought not already been queued, they simply wouldn¡¯t have one. The only Archives that he could recover were archives of schematics of what the classified variants were ¡®based¡¯ on. While in the medical archives fared slightly better as revival, cloning, synthetic humans, and overall better medical knowledge weren¡¯t deemed classified. New Harvest did also still have funding, however there were only five hundred billion ¡®emergency¡¯ funds available, however considering they already had the resources and ability to be self-sufficient they¡¯d only have to worry about the lack of exotic resources and amenities. However, they could live without it as each of the clones still had their own bank accounts and the entirety of their commissions and pensions to splurge with so they could pay for it unless it was deemed of utmost necessity. The Secondary Fleet and Defenses New Harvest can do, it''s been around for centuries so he doubted there was a facility or tools they didn¡¯t already have. New Harvest at this point still had things going for it, however he had only done as much so as to honor Ernest if or when his ¡®Echoe¡¯ returns while the hidden Curators weren¡¯t counted among the dead for obvious reasons, so he wasn¡¯t sure when they''ll be back. At most, New Harvest can become his second home, at worst he¡¯d have a second job? Zeta was The New Beta and there wasn''t anything currently on his list to worry about as Calisto had.. taken the small pod with her, so all he now needed to worry about is what Cheyenne was up to Anora¡¯s Echoe with The Federation Fabricator Dreadnought now on its way here, and Calisto. However, when all was said and finished, Ferris deserved a proper reprieve. He¡¯ll likely come to know about the others with due time.. leaving only Helen & Anora to deal with as he finishes up the ¡®paperwork¡¯ & ignores The Curator sleeping on the polar orbit of the sun.. still.. Whatever her arrangements were with Ernest, he wouldn¡¯t interfere.. ¡­ After fifteen minutes of grueling paperwork and preparations, he returned to Helen who as if lost her sense of time waited for him to find them a ship, as she was still unaware of the changes thus far. And after arriving to the nearest hanger Helen squinted her eyes at the dusty maintenance shuttle before boarding it without question and finding herself a seat as Ferris took the controls and seamlessly disembarked the hangar and headed to The R&D Ship Storage Yards. Those being where ships could be reverse engineered, put back together, and documented into the database. Said database and yard still exist so at least they could be of some use in the future.. The Storage Yards contained approximately one hundred and twenty-five ships, whether it be Dreadnoughts, Carriers, or Cruisers relating to exploration, military, or that of the corporate sector. New Harvest preferred larger ships as they compared frigates to private vessels, minor escorts, or scouts even if the heavy variant could match that of a standard human cruiser? Frigates were simply smaller and didn¡¯t require such yards to be stored. And after hovering above the yard, Ferris displayed a holographic list and visuals of each ship currently available.. she sat back down, squinted at him for an added measure and scrolled through the list. Before finally ending in The Alliance Category or more specifically, The Alliance''s Admiralty¡¯s Attempts to find a loophole in their Dreadnought Restriction placed by their treaties with The Freestar Confederacy.. Evidently, a ¡®Research¡¯ Vessel based on an Alliance Dreadnought and designed to include several hangar bays for ¡®moderately¡¯ armed ¡®Research¡¯ Corvettes, who too were also based on Heavy Corvettes twice the size of a Dropship and four times the size of a fighter were ¡®valid¡¯ exceptions? So having twelve of them, and a ever so slightly modified hull of a Dreadnought with the armaments of a Dreadnought but due to a mere technicality were considered to belong to a heavy weapons platform were ¡®also¡¯ valid exceptions. However, they were ever so unfairly ¡®forced¡¯ to add the necessary science equipment, labs, and modifications to said ¡®research¡¯ corvettes in addition to detailing the hull with the necessary markings, and additions to match the standard for any alliance research vessel. Of course, after finishing the ¡®first¡¯ of its kind and going over budget by five hundred million credits meant that it was ¡®deemed¡¯ too costly by The Alliance Council and sold to the private sector before its sudden disappearance a ¡®century¡¯ and a half ago.. Naturally it was documented and found itself in the history books, but Helen always believed it was a myth until she saw it.. just sitting next to a Freestar Dreadnought.. Corvettes were also nearly extinct for whatever reason? Present naval doctrine believed fighters with the same effectiveness and the ability to build four at the price of a single corvette made it an obvious choice. So outside of museums and their use as training craft for larger ships they weren¡¯t actively used in most theaters with the exception of mining as it was more of a civilian craft now. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. And considering it was a legendary vessel of its time and filled with experimental state of the art labs and equipment that were considered far ahead of its time, the choice was obvious.. as Helen after choosing it chose to celebrate by downing another aged bottle of far too sour wine.. ¡­ Minutes after boarding, and returning the maintenance shuttle to New Harvest, Ferris connected Anora to the ship¡¯s empty A.I Matrix, which evidently was designed to ¡®never¡¯ be used, as an effort to adhere to laws relating to advanced A.I and their duties on ¡®research¡¯ vessels. Of course, that only applied to warships, however despite getting through enough loopholes, the designers were bound to get stuck somewhere, which was frankly bizarre considering the many loops they managed to get through simply to create such a monstrosity? However, after getting to the bridge Ferris prepared to sit on the captain¡¯s chair before noticing an outdated unmarked alliance captain¡¯s uniform and suit that coincidently came with the ship.. what was even more bizarre was the fact that they were exactly in his size.. So naturally after getting dressed only to dawn his new suit, Helen would finally make her way to the bridge and squinting at him once more, at least until Anora appeared through the projectors? ¡°I.. I¡¯m ok with this? With a ship this large, packed with a handful of facilities.. it''s just like home! Just don¡¯t expect me to fly it like a shuttle? And don¡¯t worry, that ¡®frigate¡¯ incident! I took a moment to study its systems so it should be fine? Now it needs a name.. I¡¯ll deal with the transponder-¡± Anora surprisingly remarked with some positively, at least until Helen chose the name.. ¡°Chardonnay.. well its a name.¡± Anora¡¯s previous positivity was all but diminished in all but a moment as she ordered a construction drone to.. imprint The New Harvest Research Ship, The Chardonnay. Or in actuality The N.H.R Chardonnay and making use of New Harvest¡¯s unique transponder codes. Subsequently, New Harvest Transponder Codes were rarely ever seen outside of the rim. Ernest had ensured their transponders, or overall registrations were deemed ¡®exempt¡¯ and given a similar status to that of The Arcadians and Curators. It took far too many back door deals and treaties to arrange it, however, if someone desired to detain them, search their ship, impound it, or even seize it they¡¯d be met with enough red tape and treaties to avoid it entirely. So much so that any or all fees, fines, and tolls were all waived and their crew having a similar status to diplomats. Naturally, this wouldn¡¯t work for Arcadia, and to ¡®some¡¯ extent minimally when it came to The Curators. Ernest¡¯s reputation was simply too great, as was his pockets.. as after several moments Anora after doing its preflight checks and reading the majority of its control ¡®manuals¡¯, it was only natural that after lifting off and getting into orbit that she nearly forgot a proper crew.. Even if she was immune from red tape relating to A.I, Anora didn¡¯t want to be watched, asked, or seen in that regard. And with Ferris¡¯s approval, she spent the next hour cloning a proper crew, pilots, a large security detachment, and whatever else was suited for such a large ship. As for their uniforms and equipment.. she simply scanned all the weapons, uniforms, ranks, and suits specially ¡®made¡¯ for this ship and fabricated them, seeing as it was her first time doing so. However, it took an additional two hours and further preflight checks for The Crew to come onboard.. Anora might not necessarily know what she¡¯s doing however.. she wanted to do something ¡®right¡¯ for a change.. And the fact alone that she cloned nearly a nine hundred crew and equipped them, threw together their memories for their maiden voyage, and made it so that they were leaving the grand academy of new harvest was something she was rather proud of. It wasn¡¯t perfect but nothing really is as Ferris allowed Helen to choose their destination considering her.. circumstances? And as they finally slipspaced, Ferris closed his eyes.. ¡­ As if reappearing in the same dream, he was soon greeted once more by the now all too familiar Precursor.. ¡°You have misunderstood. You have already embraced death. Your mate saw only a corpse. The other saw only hope. The third saw nothing. There is no Harvest, only death. You are Perpetual. Everlasting. Ascendant. Ignorant. But you do not know. Do not seek. Do not misunderstand. Awaken-¡± And after what felt like a lifetime, Helen elbowed his helmet, waking him from his dream, as if in sync. ¡°You weren¡¯t much for company, three days of slip space and you haven¡¯t moved an inch. I¡¯m no fool, don¡¯t think I haven¡¯t noticed your implant flicking away.. no matter. Welcome to The Free World of Sol, we should land before anyone questions why this monstrosity is merely idling¡± With Helen¡¯s abrupt confirmation, it appeared she had also cleaned herself up and changed into a medical variant of a suit onboard, before seemingly dragging him to a research shuttle and forcing him to take a seat. ¡°Never a dull moment, and.. thank you, Director-¡± But before he could finish his sentence, she inexplicably fired a slug at the pilot¡¯s controls shortly after entering orbit.. ¡°It¡¯s Ellen, oh you should brace for impact. But not before you get changed, I may have insinuated that my side arm had accidently ¡®dropped¡¯ out of my holster and went off prematurely. As for our current predicament, at best we will crash ¡®close¡¯ to the nearest landing pad, at worst.. our burial would be a simple matter¡± He couldn¡¯t argue with her logic or methods even if he surely could have, he liked to hope that this wasn¡¯t what that.. ¡®kind¡¯ Precursor had meant? With that, she shot the slip drive and tossed the gun into a hazard disposal vent that vented it shortly after, as it now slowly drifted away into the void of space.. Was it necessary? No, did he now understand why hit squads were after her? Perhaps. No matter the case, the autopilot tried its very best to minimize the damage as ships began to hail them. ¡°This is Captain Wilks of The Crimson Marauders; we don¡¯t ordinarily do this as per our.. profession. But do you require assistance or are you bastar-knuckleheads trying to get yourselves killed? Hell, what am I even saying, who the hell ¡®accidentally¡¯ shoots their piloting controls?!¡± The First hail was indeed a peculiar one.. The thought of pirates wishing to provide aid was especially comedic. However, their hail was soon cut off following another.. ¡°Research Shuttle, this is Rear Admiral Haze of The Alliance. We detect heavy damage to your slipspace drive, can you read us? We¡¯re going to attempt to slow you down before you hit Sol¡¯s Atmosphere-¡± Unfortunately for both however, the communications were also damaged as two Alliance Fighters raced to grapple them before hitting the atmosphere. They provided a series of hand gestures explaining what they were going to do. Which ultimately translated to them using the ballistic grapples shot from their fighter craft to level out the shuttle unto the lower atmosphere, giving both better chances of survival. Until finally they released their grapples and watched as the autopilot crashed into a plateau some distance from the many landing pads as alarms blared and the red light filled the interior.. Old Harvest III New Sol After some moments he stood up and stretched as Ellen was dangling upside down in her harness, how she managed that, even he was unsure. But after cutting off her harness her nose began to bleed, and as she had no other choice, she chose to use the cloth of his armor as a tissue. ¡°Theatrics are important when it comes to these things, it would be suspicious otherwise¡± And again, he couldn¡¯t ignore her logic, but Anora might.. ¡°I¡¯d appreciate it if you didn¡¯t.. but.. what¡¯s done is done. Now, what are we going to do about those broken ribs? It¡¯s even more surprising you can talk after having your breath knocked out of you. Infallible determination? Or is it the gift of being an alcoholic drunkard? I don¡¯t believe any science can makes sense of this¡± Chuckles aside, Ellen''s current state was less than optimal, that being obvious if not for him now being involuntarily soaked in her blood. ¡°Shut up, I¡¯m not going to drink a drop of that vindictive liquid again. To think I was able to keep the buzz alive for the last three days, I¡¯ve surpassed my limits and gone where no medical professional has gone before.. hell! If my injuries don¡¯t kill me the hangover will¡± Ellen was more over dramatic than anything else, but he couldn¡¯t fault her this time as she began to cling to his arm and refused to release it, forcing him to now carry her as the exit latch was moments away from being forced open from the other side. ¡°Relax your body, close your eyes, and take a deep breath. And for any consolation I won¡¯t leave your side, the exception is the latrine, I figure nurses would be more than qualified-¡± Alas, Ferris¡¯s humor cured her, at least in the sense she elbowed him as hard as she truly could, and with a grimace she could only cry before naturally closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, which in itself was very painful but enough to calm her for a time. Moments later the latch was forcefully opened, and a series of Sol¡¯s First Responders greeted them, and as he began to inform them of her status, she was carefully placed on a stretcher with a hovering element. At no time did she release his arm leaving him in a peculiar predicament as they entered the emergency shuttle, leaving him little choice but to take a seat as the paramedics assessed her injuries further. A punctured lung, three broken ribs, alcohol poisoning, fractured elbow, dehydration, a gunshot wound, a much older puncture wound, and many more miscellaneous injuries. As for Ferris.. he was relatively fine if not for a nosebleed, bruising, and relatively minor injuries, as to how that was possible. He didn¡¯t have a clue.. No matter the case, he declined treatment, and in turn he had soon discovered he wasn¡¯t immune from Smalltalk as the elaborate story Ellen had thrown together was eventually brought up. ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is her side arm fell off her console, bounced once and fired at the pilot controls before bouncing a second time hitting The Slipspace Drive, before ¡®again¡¯ bouncing off your helmet.. then afterwards you felt she was too irresponsible for a side arm and.. spaced it? So, her being drunk had ¡®nothing¡¯ to do with it-that''s a lot of zeros? Ok then. In my expert opinion, I believe she suffered from a spontaneous seizure¡± The female paramedic was skeptical nonetheless.. And soon enough after a short trip, they had finally arrived at The Sol Medical Center, only for the sight of a bloodied alliance captain perhaps in a rather ceremonious suit, and whose arm was being clung to by a female researcher or perhaps director telling by her suit''s markings. To say they would soon learn of their legendary ship at least by Alliance standards, and its peculiar origins would be an understatement. While many found it intimating nonetheless, despite it identifying itself as a research ship.. Many in orbit also questioned how such a thing could be called one, while the fact alone that it could outgun and outsize nearly anything in the system was especially comedic as Anora, after identifying herself as his XO and making use of her cloned body, reacted to the reports. Strangely enough, she was far too focused on enjoying having a physical body to pay attention to Ferris at that particular moment, and now she didn¡¯t know what to think about that drunkard.. ¡­ And after being sent into The VIP Ward, a private room with a view and balcony was arranged, followed by several rounds of treatment, several small surgeries, a series of checkups, and finally a shower, the room remained quiet and undisturbed. It appears she only required two weeks to completely recover as the facilities and doctors despite being on such an odd world were surprisingly advanced and highly educated even by his standards. At the very least, the medical field hadn¡¯t stagnated as compared to humanities weaponry and slip drives. ¡­ And soon enough three days had passed as Ellen slept off her hangover and whatever else that dared to restrict her, and on the fourth she finally opened her eyes, only to see Ferris eating a frozen meal while still holding her hand.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. He¡¯d much prefer to allow her his hand than his arm as it eventually became bothersome.. as for his appearance now. Ferris still looked to be twenty-five, he had a short well-groomed dirty blonde buzz cut fade, a short yet also well-groomed stubble as he hadn¡¯t shaved in quite some time. As for his skin and features, his skin was somewhat pale but not so much it was unhealthy. While it could be said he was generally attractive in the human sense, as was his golden hazel eyes.. Aside from that.. Ferris had no real thought on his appearance, Ellen on the other hand after some momentary thoughts dismissed them before finally releasing his hand, which in turn revealed a handprint as she slowly sat up with his assistance. And leaving Ellen no other choice but to squint as the two shared a glance. ¡°Ferris was it? Forgive me for my previous behavior, it¡¯s unbefitting of either of us. I fear I¡¯ve hoped to have died by the bottle on New Harvest then ever expect rescue. So much so that until my arrival at this facility, I believed I was hallucinating from alcohol poisoning..¡± She then further explains she was on autopilot in the sense that drinking such obscene amounts and still not dying led to her erratic behavior and unsound mind. So much so that she believed her actions and ultimately her predicament was that of a lucid dream before her death. To her, it was all so truly absurd that it couldn¡¯t have possibly been reality. None of which truly surprised him, as the absurdity of it all was undoubtedly.. an experience? Even he had some difficulty believing the authenticity of these strange strings of fate. ¡°You¡¯ve saved my life thrice now, and I¡¯m forever grateful. But I fear I¡¯m far too much trouble than I¡¯m possibly worth, I may have saved myself some time, but in doing so doomed you. I wasn¡¯t supposed to survive, it was a fluke, a magnificent mistake-¡± Ellen was truly dramatic, no matter how serious she truly was. ¡°There was no mistake, and think nothing of it. I value your company, so Ellen.. what¡¯s next for this grand adventure of yours?¡± Be it reassurance or dismissal, he believed no regret can exist if at any part you enjoyed the great adventure between the strings of fate.. followed only by momentary silence. Followed only by the physical manifestation of thought, the thought being the ultimate translation of nothing as she began to squint at Ferris.. ¡°We already have a ship.. If that¡¯s anything to go off of?¡± But before Ferris could finish his thoughts. ¡°We had nothing a moment ago and despite others'' generosity, none of them could truly be trustworthy. I much prefer to make do with what ¡®we¡¯ have, even if it means moving furniture around? While.. I have enough credits to live happily but not very long..¡± Her words were surprisingly solid, as was her honesty and whatever else was deemed trustworthy. It was reassuring, perhaps even hopeful.. This was enough to go on, no matter how absurd their first meeting, they were now companions born of the countless strings. And with this, the journey truly began. Thankfully even while outdated by five years, Ellen¡¯s information, contacts, and credits still held enough weight to make a real difference. And as soon as she could walk without pain, they left the hospital. Only now she wore her suit and tinted her helmet as it was easier and less painful when compared to being less effective and easily noticed. Her Armor aside.. and seeing as their benefits included free transportation and medical related services, they weren¡¯t forced to converse. However, Ellen made sure to send a message to her old benefactor before immediately reobtaining her emergency necessities in her vault within Earth Bank.. an odd name to be sure but one he knew as it was painfully generic. While Hellen¡¯s Necessities consisted of her identification, a set of suspiciously military documents labeled top secret, a card containing five billion credits, private miscellaneous, and a Prototype ¡®Alliance¡¯ Gunship.. Its main weaponry consisted of a suspiciously twin barrel plasma turret, plasma torpedoes, and laser pulsers.. From what he could gather, this era mainly used kinetic and laser weaponry, but due to the stagnation, plasma and specifically pulse laser weaponry was especially difficult to craft, let alone on a mass scale. ¡°I.. procured this ¡®mining¡¯ vessel after a curious little trip to Mars, now do me the honor of changing its transponder. I made short work of its old transponder, adapting it shouldn¡¯t be too difficult. But whatever you do, do NOT converse with that harlot. You¡¯ll know what I mean in a moment¡± And as the moments passed, her words were undoubtedly confirmed as slurs and obscenities mimicking Ellen¡¯s voice rang through the hangar as if a unholy ghost. ¡°A.. Curator Fragment-¡± Ferris commented before realizing whose it was.. Elizabeth? Ernest¡¯s revelation was rather premature it would seem. Even odder that her fragment escaped to mars and was forced to reside inside of a Curator Gunship of all things.. After a moment of contemplation, he discreetly placed her in his pocket and thought nothing of it. However soon after buckling into the gunship, and exiting the hangar, Ferris quietly ¡®attempted¡¯ to close his eyes for several minutes. Only not before noticing Ellen¡¯s.. squinting eyes? ¡°I¡¯m Arcadian, I lost a dear friend, my most trusted confidant has already mourned me, I had a daughter once, she died, and was likely revived while I was in cryo. My mother reminds me of a Curator in the sense that she¡¯s emotionless, indifferent, and efficient. But I fear she too may have already mourned me. And now I¡¯m here, twenty-five, give or take a century in cryo?¡± Ferris calmly humored without a second breath, having believed by revealing his thoughts he¡¯d simply get it over with. However, in the end, Ellen found it all to be profoundly sad.. ¡°Knowing Arcadians.. very little could have changed. I¡¯m not going to ask what happened to you or how you found yourself in our predicament, as none of that is my business. But, if we were to ever find ourselves nearby, you could always give me a tour, even if it¡¯s just for the sights. Think about it, ok?¡± Ellen¡¯s words were strangely comforting, if not somewhat encouraging. ¡°That¡¯s a thought, perhaps I will.. at least until this business is dealt with, and.. thank you. I¡¯ll strive to be worthy of your words¡± In response he received only that of a subtle smile, and in time they had finally arrived within The Chardonnay¡¯s Hangar. ¡°The name¡¯s ridiculous but I can at the very least respect it..¡± Ferris quietly humored before swiftly making his escape as Ellen or rather Helen as he preferred her real name squinted at him before she proceeded to throw Curator Trinkets at him. Had Mercer been present he would have slowly followed behind just to pocket them. Old Harvest IV Unrelated Progress However, soon after arriving on The Bridge he was greeted by Anora, surprising him to some degree as she was.. seemingly arguing with someone or rather.. multiple individuals? ¡°The Steward Council? So, no one of note-Wardens now? Even less so-oh a Curator Enforcer? Come back when you become a Shadow Enforcer-Ultor? You owe me money for that penal legion mishap-The Responders? I do not require medical attention but thanks anyways-Terran Expeditions? Make me! And where''s my credits-¡± Anora dryly humored herself after making up official case settlements through New Harvest¡¯s Judicial System, of which she documented what ¡®she¡¯ discovered and provided enough evidence and a dead judge¡¯s name to award herself five hundred million credits due to The Penal Legion mishap. As for The Terran Expeditions, she made it five billion after making use of the evidence of their officially sanctioned hit squad in an effort to assassinate Helen, however she changed several elements to include New Harvest Security, Civilian Casualties, Collateral Damage and whatever she could throw at them. Their lawyers will only see Helen being taken into protective custody in the mayor¡¯s office, a dozen of unarmed civilians being killed and several dozen more in critical, one hundred million in collateral damage including shuttles, homes, and infrastructure. Followed by her identifying each member of The Hit Squad, evidence, logs, and enough to prove it was The Terran Expeditions, whether it be falsified or not, and witnesses as The Synthetic Human Information Network was to this day unaffected & autonomous. As to why Anora went through the trouble of orchestrating it all.. she was never officially employed or received an actual pension.. so at most she simply wanted to collect her dues through The Ultor Conglomerate & The Terran Expeditions as there was enough real evidence to base it on. The Ultor one due to their connection to New Harvest had it easy because the settlement was ¡®sealed¡¯, The Terran Expedition Settlement was not and could be sent to the media.. Blackmail or not she wanted to be able to buy things now that she had her own body, without being forced to ask Ferris in that regard or explain why she bought a moon or something equally private? As a result, The Ultor Conglomerate apologized and would get back to her as to put it bluntly they could afford it and it wasn¡¯t in fact a significant sum, if anything they wouldn¡¯t question or investigate the settlement due to it already being sealed and couldn¡¯t be made public. The Terran Expeditions on the other hand.. they were outraged but considering it took four years for New Harvest to so thoroughly investigate the matter and somehow manage to toe everything to The Expeditionary Board, they calmly hid their rage and cut off communications. Initially, they were questioning Helen¡¯s whereabouts and making demands and hidden threats, so naturally Anora took offense to their behavior.. As for The Responders, they were again an organization born of The Remnants of The First Responders of The Federation who survived The Curator Uprising and answered every distress call without bias or charging anyone in doing so. They had enough treaties with every major faction that not even The Pirates or The Stewards would fire upon them or interfere in their operations so to say they were well liked would be an understatement, so she chose to merely thank them for the offer. As for matters relating to The Steward Council, The Warden Council, and a random Curator Enforcer.. The Steward Council saw her as Ernest¡¯s Second Daughter and would be honored for her to have an official seat at the table to which she declined as they began to negotiate to no effect? The same applied to The Warden Council who despite how it may sound had a better deal.. She could join The Warden Council, become a large shareholder in The Ultor Conglomerate, and if she desired her own division or sub faction. She¡¯d be given a known planet, or uncharted system, allocated Ultor Assets, free surplus, her own fleet, and five million a month with a three hundred million signing bonus and the third largest shares. What¡¯s more, she wasn¡¯t required to actually attend council sessions, play a major role in Ultor, or be forced to strain herself unless she so desired to. Of course, she was debating on accepting their offer right away, but she wanted them to try to add an additional bonus to the mix. Several minutes later.. they did just that as she reopened communications and Ferris leaned against a console to watch. ¡°Lady Anora, The Ultor Conglomerate¡¯s humble origins were that of.. privateers who after discovering a Federation.. Titan from a war far older than The Curator Conflict-my apologies it would seem you were already made aware of this fact. Pleasantries aside, our offer includes everything we¡¯ve previously offered and.. a authentic replica of said Titan-¡± And as the young ultor representative continued, she explained she could special order one and change and add whatever she wished, without restrictions, and all free of cost.. Whether it be the color of the hull, the name, the interior, windows, amenities, replica uniforms, suits, weapons, or anything she so desired they¡¯d ensure she was ¡®happy¡¯.. with it, it would come with a crew of her choice, and its own A.I? To say Anora after receiving her own customization screen including everything it entailed, she ¡®pondered¡¯ on that little fact before selecting The Titan¡¯s Original Design, Interior, Crew Uniforms, Weapons, Compliments, and the like.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. As if merely looking at her options before choosing a female A.I named Clover and naming it The F.N.S Haust and choosing a cloned crew she herself picked out and accepting their offer after choosing a system that pointed to have been formerly owned to The Federation. To put it bluntly, she wanted her own little safe haven and found The Progenitor War Aesthetic to be her favorite thus far as not only was it pre curator, and Ferris preferred the golden age variant meaning he likely won¡¯t have the urge to ¡®investigate¡¯ her stuff.. ¡°It¡¯s been an honor-¡± Sadly, Anora waved her off before cutting off communications and smiling to herself as Ferris shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m.. impressed? The Stewards offered you a seat without question, and with minimal benefits. The Wardens offered you both a seat & shares, before outright giving you an entire system, a Titan of all things, and what else was there? Your own A.I-¡± Ferris subtly humored after noticing the drastic disparity among the two offers.. ¡°Ferris.. I.. didn¡¯t notice you were there? Must be this new body.. and.. yes? Ernest.. added me to his family registry. Had I known earlier that he had also created a series of bank accounts in my name, only to forgo the credit aspect, I would have asked for an allowance..¡± Anora dryly recalled as she leaned against him merely to do so before showing him her bank account & assets. [Welcome back! Anora E Rothen] [Checking Account: 805,000,000 CR] [Shares: 12% Ultor Conglomerate. Valued: 4,500,000,000 CR] [Networth: 13,476,482,823 CR] ¡°Three Ultor Enforcer Fleets, each crewed by clones and led by a recently commissioned dreadnought and supported by twelve cruisers and twenty frigates. Three dreadnoughts, thirty-six cruisers, and sixty frigates. The Crew in total should amount to fourteen thousand and five hundred clones. The titan has a crew of three thousand alone, so many bodies..¡± Anora took a moment to examine the number once more, she simply couldn¡¯t imagine one day commanding so many. Her facility or rather The Haust Conclave and its population.. were nothing in comparison? Even if merely clones, they were still human so that was good enough for her, however something felt wrong.. it was happening too quickly. ¡°Ferris.. it''s only been a month.. Calisto¡¯s Fragment is still hiding within your neural implant, I can feel her but.. there''s still too many unanswered questions. Did Ernest truly out of the kindness of his own heart ¡®sponsor¡¯ me? Why is it that we¡¯re avoiding the fleet¡¯s last known slipspace coordinates? And why do I feel as if though all of this could be taken away-¡± Anora¡¯s words were no longer verbal, rather her thoughts were made known through his implant. In truth, Ferris had similar thoughts, Calisto disappeared after failing to revive him alongside that.. small pod containing their cloned child without even leaving a note. Her fragment or to put it bluntly, her inferior echo she left in his neural implant was and still is connected to her, however waking her up has proven far too difficult without surgically removing his implant or synchronizing her while still on his brain stem. As for the fleet, he had discreetly ordered an investigation through Zeta and until he¡¯s told exactly where it was, he wasn¡¯t willing to follow the trail of mere echoes and ghosts. And considering Zeta has yet to find anything, even now, he chose the waiting game. There was, however, Cheyenne to think about.. He was still connected to her in a sense? Her shackles were always meant to be ambiguous and a simple precaution, however she has never made an attempt to remove them despite her ¡®now¡¯ nearly being Ascendant herself, he sensed she was doing the job he asked of her? If only he knew what.. ¡°I¡¯ve made every necessary effort, only the fleet isn¡¯t where Zeta believed it to be, Calisto is gone with the wind, and New Harvest is being rebuilt, The Network is solid, as are its agents and assets that will continue to be run by New Harvest. Ernest is preoccupied with his investments, so I needn¡¯t bother him, The Board is alive and well elsewhere, as is Delta and Specter Team-¡± Ferris calmly reassured, as during Helen¡¯s recovery in the medical facility on Sol, he wasn¡¯t merely sitting idle. He had even spoken to Ernest for a short period; however, he too was unaware of where the fleet was and was dealing with the aftermath much like they were now. Specter Team as per their instructions regrouped with Delta Team, Reaper Team, and Ark Team in The Farreach Conclaves so they were alive even if he had yet to contact them. Roy was alive as well, but Blair was not, so he was likely back at his farm or a Freestar Admiral by now.. The Board, Ambassadors, and Catherine again were alive and up to whatever they were doing prior. Coincidentally, Carter the medic from back from The Conclave who was lost in the past was currently on Earth after marrying that female Curator thirty years ago? So it wasn¡¯t that he was ignorant, lazy, or blind, rather he simply didn¡¯t have much to go on. While unlike Anora, he wasn¡¯t advertising that he was alive, only that New Harvest survived.. At least if someone ever looked at their transponder and wondered after a century why New Harvest felt so familiar? The Board would likely turn their shadowy heads, even more so after realizing it was Ferris. However, he hoped it wouldn¡¯t come to that as he felt the entire experience was rather tedious at best, at worst a willful self-delusion. At no point did he ever desire to become Specter again, lest he waste another century of his life.. Thankfully, Anora wouldn¡¯t pester him further after catching on.. ¡°Good.. now-hm? An Admiral Haze in command of the seventh fleet conducting a tour of The Freeworlds with the esteemed representatives of The United Territories, United Colonies, Alliance, and The Freestar Confederacy has graciously invited Director Jarvis & that of her captain to a diplomatic banquet onboard of his flagship.. but not me, your XO..¡± Anora dryly entertained, with clear and obvious disappointment twisted in her words as Helen finally made her way back to the bridge to hear the end of it. ¡°Admiral Jonathan Haze, he¡¯s a war hero.. he¡¯s also a Senior Member of The Alliance Admiralty Board and.. a friend. If he says it''s a diplomatic banquet then it''s a diplomatic banquet, if anyone on The Admiralty Board has morals it would be him. What do you think.. Ferris? And quit pouting over there, he won¡¯t mind if your little friend here represents Ultor & The Wardens¡± It was evident, Helen was listening in for much of the conversation, leaving Anora to politely decline in favor of ¡®shopping¡¯ both on Sol and The Net. Of course, Ferris¡¯s implant was still her core, however she had a body now with the ability to multitask.. ¡°That¡¯s a shame.. next time perhaps? I¡¯d also appreciate it if you refurbish my quarters? Evidently, the captain¡¯s quarters had neither a bed or furniture..¡± Ferris calmly remarked.. what¡¯s more, the ship in itself was a time capsule due to the lack of oxygen, rust, nor dust leaving it considerably pristine and preserved. However, the fact alone he was forced to leave his personal effects in his closet and had no bed was rather concerning? Attendance I The A.N.F. Resurgence If that wasn¡¯t all, she peeked at his closet, not only did he not have proper clothes, he only brought along a uniform, his replica suit, some weapons, and personal effects. Forcing her to realize he was either poor now or a poor planner.. ¡°I¡¯ll make the proper arrangements, and while I¡¯m there.. clothes, bedding, and everything else for that matter. Don¡¯t worry I¡¯ll be paying-¡± Anora humorously reassured, before becoming rather curious about something and whispering into his ear, prompting him too to become curious as he checked his tablet. [Welcome back! Ferris W Welsh] [Checking Account: 5,125,615,664 CR] [Savings Account: 73,946,798,892 CR] [Shares: 87% The Fareach Conclaves. Valued: 1,954,892,534,768 CR. 37% Alliance & Freestar News Networks. Valued: 91,721,887,854 CR. 17% The Federation Reserve. Valued -500,000 CR. 9% Earth Bank. Valued 599,758,367,854 CR. 100% Federation Expeditions. Valued: 5 CR.] ¡°...¡± Anora was too stunned to speak.. His shares and accounts were.. bizarre to every sense of the word that not even Ferris could remember the last time he checked his bank account? [Confirmed & Updated! 100% The Federation Reserve. Valued: 956,548,477 CR. 100% Federation Expeditions. Valued 59,865,989 CR. 100% Federation News Network. Valued: 0] [Updated! Checking Account: 4,099,987,737 CR] It took Anora a moment to gently push his tablet down.. ¡°I¡¯ll pay for it..¡± Subsequently, she chose to pretend she didn¡¯t see what she just saw. In turn, she chose to pay the several thousand credits lest Ferris chose to invest into something even more ridiculous. What she didn''t know however was the fact that The Federation Reserve & Federation Expeditions, and much of their treaties, trade agreements, tax exemptions, and overall ¡®benefits¡¯ were still albeit ¡®partially¡¯ legal and valid to this day. The Curators & Arcadians never did bother to ¡®nullify¡¯ either, or remove them from their markets. It''s just that, their value never validated the need to publicly share that information.. While the trademarks, copyrights, and everything in regard to the two came with it. Their vaults, outdated archives, and the ability to legally reclaim, have priority salvage rights over said ships, facilities, and assets lost to time from either. After all, there was a reason why both were no longer in the negative, however that is for another time as Anora would soon depart, and Ferris would tidy himself up for the diplomatic banquet. As for his prepared attire.. as he had rarely ever shown his.. uniform from underneath his suit, he believed it would be fitting? After all it came with The Chardonnay? Ironically enough, it was based on a Federation Era Explorer Uniform, which despite how it may appear was more of a ceremonial but casual variant of an Admiral¡¯s Uniform only with a difference with rank? As to why that was, The Federation Explorers were funded by The Military Complex and Ancient Houses of Earth and supported by The Admiralty & Highlords to make first contact, showcase human power & luxury and give off a proper introduction to humanity. Some called them Rogue Traders as they were granted the warrant of trade, diplomacy, and war. That aside, they were mostly explorers who had the power to defend themselves or request fleet support and contain an irrational enemy or primitives? Naturally there were protocols when it came to primitive life? The first of which was to leave them alone.. unless they were similar enough to humanity, and had at the very least sent items into space. After all, The Cabal or rather The Covenant weren¡¯t the only ¡®aliens¡¯ in the universe, there were dozens of other races that were absorbed by The Federation, so much so that The Curators left them be, and as a result they focused on themselves and tourism. Some were vastly ancient but due to similar dark ages to that of humanity chose to keep to themselves? There was one race in particular that turned out to be another strain of human? They were called The Ethereals, or rather that''s what they called themselves and they were almost as arrogant as The Aldara only they ¡®were¡¯ human. The Only differences being their porcelain-like skin ranging from white to the palest of blues, glowing blue or golden eyes. Hair ranging from the variety tones of white, blue, or violet, and they were partially psychic, they could hover or use energy to redirect a moving blade. They also had Ascendants but too few to truly consider, however they were vastly more ¡®unique¡¯. And they also had a monarchy of all things and some ties to The Aldara who too shared their hatred for The Curators, only for different reasons? The Aldara hated A.I, The Ethereals hated The Curators, while there were other humanoid races but those were for another time as Ferris took a moment to shine his insignias and uniform buttons as they were ever so ornate. After doing so he fixed the wrinkles and looked at himself in the mirror..Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. The uniform, much like the ship, was seamless, and offered an old-world class, and naval privilege. His insignias born of the ship, his mother¡¯s family insignia, his rank, and his role as Planetary Governor of New Harvest. However, as he stared into his mirror in a daze, his corpse as it was in the cryo-pod stared back at him as his vision began to blur and he calmly sighed and unwrinkled his uniform before entering his empty quarter¡¯s that resembled something more comparable to that of a luxurious penthouse apartment.. After ending his sigh and opening his eyes he was greeted by the sight of Calisto standing before him, prompting him to calmly note to himself to undergo a mental evaluation? Dreams and nightmares he could naturally ignore, this? Not so much. ¡°I¡¯d prefer if you stayed in my dreams. Now if you don¡¯t mind.. I¡¯ll be waiting for.. my Calisto.. not another hallucination wearing her face¡± Ferris calmly remarked and ended it with an exhausted sigh as he exited his quarters and made his way to the labs. Naturally, he was partially humoring himself at his own expense. However, such thoughts were brief as after his visit to the labs, he was given a clean bill of health, and ¡®unofficially¡¯ given an additional treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder in the form a stem targeting against hallucinations, nightmares, and several other side effects of note. Any other treatment would reveal he had it, and he simply would prefer a steam every three months than reveal as much. ¡­ Soon enough however, Helen began squinting at him shortly after boarding the shuttle for Admiral Haze¡¯s Flagship. ¡°Anora tells me you own thirty seven percent of The Total Shares of The Alliance News Network..¡± Thankfully Anora had only informed her of that particular ¡®little¡¯ detail. As to why.. no one knew? Naturally Ferris didn¡¯t truly care in regard to that specific revelation, leaving him to only nod as he opened his eyes revealing an especially stunning Hellen in her formal attire.. ¡°I¡¯ve never attended a shareholder¡¯s meeting if that¡¯s what you wanted to ask, I prefer to keep anonymous in that regard? You don¡¯t happen to desire to forgo your career in favor of becoming a news anchor? Then If so-¡± Ferris calmly humored before abruptly being waved off. ¡°I just thought you should know The Alliance News Network are actively covering Admiral Haze¡¯s Tour of The Freeworlds-¡± Helen¡¯s revelation was a surprise, however Ferris wasn¡¯t all too concerned. ¡­ Shortly after entering the hangar they would soon disembark their shuttle as they were soon greeted by the red carpet treatment.. Something of which neither had expected as they were soon escorted onto a tram by a bridge officer is ceremonial alliance ware. ¡°The A.N.F. Resurgence is one of the largest ships in the fleet with the complement of five thousand souls on board. At a staggering four thousand meters in length The Resurgence is packed with state of the art systems, including four slipspace drives and eight reactors-¡± Commander Roselyn optimistically explained and after ten or so minutes she asked if they had any questions. ¡°Yes, Captain Welsh? Did you have any questions?¡± Evidently, Commander Roselyn wasn¡¯t very fond of Helen as she was abruptly ignored in favor of Ferris? ¡°My compliments to The Resurgence & its crew. If you don''t mind, can indulge me a moment-¡± Subsequently, her favor ended with that.. ¡°No questions? We should be arriving at the banquet in only a moment!¡± Commander Roselyn blatantly ignored, prompting Ferris to glance Helen¡¯s way and her to only frown. ¡­ After disembarking from the tram and being escorted to the banquet, Commander Roselyn deliberately took a few ''wrong'' turns before finally entering the opulent hall. This grand space boasted its own observation deck, bars, tables, and lavish buffets. The Alliance Marines, clad in their ceremonial uniforms, marched along the red carpet. News drones, anchors, and the prominent display of Alliance Heraldry enhanced the formal and luxurious atmosphere. And after entering the opulent hall, they were finally stopped after verifying they were on the list? ¡°Welcome Pirate Captain! Oh, and I didn¡¯t forget about you traitor-¡± The young host optimistically blurted out, surprising everyone present including The Alliance Marine by The Ensign¡¯s side who took a moment to look at her tablet.. ¡°I¡¯m Captain Welsh of The N.H.R. Chardonnay, and this is Director Jarvis of The New Harvest Research Institute-¡± Ferris curiously humored, before abruptly signaling someone who he had recognized to come over. That someone being Governor Amberly, one of the three governors responsible for the conclave incident, and a Former Steward. From the fragments he could remember, Ernest proposed making use of her before ultimately disposing of her for her involvement in the conclave. Subsequently, he passed on that decision to Ferris, who in turn chose to spare her after growing tired of the unnecessary deaths. As a result, she was evacuated sometime after the main fleet, which would explain why she was alive.. From what else he could recall, her full name was Amberly Price, and she was formerly human until she attempted a bio-transferred only to become an A.I after failing to do so, as a result she worked with The Stewards before ultimately cutting them off. Evidently, those were her words, at least as much as he could remember after being shot in the head? Her involvement with the two other governors in The Conclave Incident was predominantly funding and cloning research. In the end she was called a Steward and got the short end of the stick, leading to her eventual evacuation? And from the looks of it, she was now a member of The Alliance Admiralty Board. Ironic considering the similarities? Naturally, Amberley after noticing Ferris was in fact alive calmly came over and whispered to the nervous marine, prompting him to whisper what had transpired leading to Amberley signaling him to take the ensign anywhere else to sober her up. And as The Ensign walked Ferris he could smell the pina colada, unfortunately, as he prepared to speak with Amberly, Ensign ¡®Bakes¡¯ pulled him by his collar and brought him into a very short but equally passionate kiss leaving him stunned as another marine was forced to pry her off of him. Causing quite the scene as Amberley signaled another marine to help the other two, only for Ferris to slowly turn around and watch, before taking notice of a Freestar Captain alongside his wife also attending? ¡°It could¡¯ve been you..¡± Ferris humored, prompting the captain to take a moment before he realized what Ferris had meant, and by then the unlucky fellow could only let out a chuckle before he was rather unceremoniously elbowed by his wife. However, as if taking lessons from The Freestar Captain¡¯s Wife Helen would elbow Ferris in the very same manner leaving the two captains to share a look before Amberly signaled Ferris to follow her. ¡°It could have been you..¡± After repeating himself a second time, The Freestar Captain couldn¡¯t help but laugh, forcing his wife to follow up with yet another elbow while Helen was soon led by a Marine to Admiral Haze¡¯s Section.. Attendance II Anticlimactic Ends After quietly finding an isolated table, Amberley silently signaled for him to take a seat, as the two took this reprieve to collect their thoughts. ¡°From The Board of Governors to The Alliance Admiralty Board.. I commend you for your consistency?¡± Ferris remarked, of course, Amberley couldn¡¯t argue the comparison, perhaps she simply preferred that kind of environment? ¡°After The Stewards were purged, the only exception being The Council itself, I chose to forgo the entire experience. And instead.. I chose not to sacrifice my humanity for meager rewards, especially after considering The Alliance offered a better deal. So, I rejoined, got a better commission, and eventually became an Admiral before finally joining The Admiralty Board..¡± Amberley¡¯s logic was solid, The Stewards were more comparable to a cult, The Wardens a corporation, and The Curators a cult with a god complex.. While the fact alone that she had served during the last great war and survived only to somehow manage to become an A.I, use up The Stewards in doing so, before ultimately cutting ties, was somewhat reasonable considering her circumstances? ¡°Now, from what I can recall, Calisto had.. informed us of your death. I was invited to your funeral but couldn¡¯t attend due to my scheduling. Strictly speaking, after Ernest¡¯s return, it became evident you were bound to return sometime in the near future, so I refrained from sending flowers. I was also unaware you had a daughter?¡± Amber recalled, surprising Ferris by the sudden revelations, and even Amber telling by his reaction? ¡°I see, the last contact I had with Calisto was the transfer of medical research involving newborns and cryo-pods. Your daughter after her revival was suffering from an advanced form of poison that forced her blood cells to decay, or more specifically, yours. There was something about The Arcadians being involved somehow, however, there wasn¡¯t much to go on?¡± After transferring her last known logs with Calisto and the research she sent to her, Ferris took a moment to breathe for a moment. ¡°It''s an Arcadian Virus that ¡®kills¡¯ a specific bloodline with a history of ascendency. It was only ever used on unsanctioned clones. However, from these scans she shouldn¡¯t have been revived had that been the case, and cryo-pods would offer little protection in that regard.. The Virus must not have been authentic, rather a crude watered down copy? One moment..¡± Ferris examined as he realized how sloppy it was? The Arcadian Assassin, the previous attempts, and the evidence from the frigate.. it was far too sloppy, unorganized, and inefficient making use of failed revivals, makeshift temporal hiccups, and an inexperienced assassin. None of it made much sense, however, that wasn¡¯t important. For now, he knew the solution, but first he must return to Arcadia, but not now.. ¡°A thousand apologies.. do you perhaps still have a method to contact her? Considering she believes I¡¯m dead and her fragment in my implant refuses to budge, I fear I may have some difficulty in that regard? It took only a moment for Amber to transfer the details and contacts. ¡°I would ''wait'' until you have something substantial to show her, she won¡¯t respond otherwise. I once attempted to track her, I wouldn''t suggest it. I had better luck tracking a Curator-¡± Amber remarked, and considering what he saw, she was right.. ¡°I understand, and by chance, are you in contact with the others?¡± Ferris¡¯s curiosity got the best of him as Amber transferred their details. ¡°Roy as you know him is now a member of The Freestar Admiralty Board, however, after his visit to The Conclaves he discovered The Serum of Youth? I had always assumed it was guise for an innuendo. Reaper One, Audree discovered the same serum, as did Mercer & Evelyn. The others with the exception of The Board chose old age¡± Amber revealed, while evidently, Roy married Blair who after seemingly dying returned even if she was now only ¡®partially¡¯ ascendant now and a former Curator? Something Ferris found strange, but didn¡¯t question further. Audree on the other hand learned he was alive through her ¡®Calisto¡¯ who changed her name to Cali curiously enough? So far, she was the only one who knew and wanted to get back in contact with him. Mercer was.. somewhere? While Catherine, much like Audree, knew as much and also wanted to get in contact with him as she wasn¡¯t up to date with what happened outside of her fragment trying to warn him? However, Audree seemed like the most useful of the two while Catherine his maternal ¡®elder¡¯ sister figure. Unfortunately, considering the circumstances, he¡¯d have far too many women in his retinue, and he wasn¡¯t fond of that look or the rumors it may bright. Audree, despite such an absurd comparison, was more comparable to that of a cat? She was fond to have around, she didn¡¯t bother anyone, and no one knew what she did during the day, prompting him to send her details to Anora to sort out. As he leaned back into his chair and closed his eyes.. ¡°It''s been a month since I woke from Cryo-¡± Ferris reminded himself, at least until the entire ship shook, and as the two walked to the observation window they saw The N.H.R. Chardonnay¡¯s hull scorched. And near it, an Arcadian Cruiser as Ferris¡¯s expression changed to that of outright annoyance with Helen and Admiral Haze arriving by his and Amber¡¯s side.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°An Arcadian Cruiser? Here? General Quarters. Captain Welsh-¡± Admiral Haze somberly remarked as Ferris attempted to calm himself, before coming to the realization he could not.. ¡°Admiral Haze, do not engage, they will not fire upon your ship. I need to make a call, Helen for the time being, coordinate with Anora, she¡¯s still on Sol with a small security detachment of marines. Update me if that changes¡± Ferris calmly instructed as Amber directed him to her Alliance Dreadnought, and after boarding and entering its bridge he connected to New Harvest and made his call.. before making one more as a holographic screen appeared revealing a shadowy figure in the shape of a woman. Who by her surprise hadn¡¯t expected him to be on the other end.. ¡°I¡¯ve only recently left Cryo. Prior to Cryo I was shot in the head by an Arcadian Assassin, prior to that a member of The Seventh Temple, and prior to that an Arcadian Frigate bombarding me point blank range. While the very same Arcadian Agent poisoned my cloned child and shot her in the head as well. Now I have an Arcadian Cruiser destroying my ship and killing my crew-¡± The next moment Ferris was shocked to the inch of his life and his eardrums almost ruptured. He wanted The Rogue Arcadian Elements ¡®gone¡¯; he had enough troubles. She wouldn¡¯t tell his mother, or ¡®kill¡¯ all of said elements, only most of them to allow him to do so himself. As to ¡®who¡¯ she was.. he had no desire to trouble himself further. However, while she dealt with the elements on Arcadia, he had The Cruiser to deal with as he abruptly cut communications and reeled by the shock and the ringing in his ears. And as The Arcadian Cruiser continued to bombard The Chardonnay he saw a small fleet of seven mismatched painted cruisers arrive from The Surface of Sol before getting in formation and firing all of their guns attempting to block The Cruiser¡¯s bombardment. This was naturally Anora buying random cruisers, taking control of them, and throwing it at The Arcadian Cruiser after they tried to destroy her home and almost made her waste credits buying Ferris furniture.. If that wasn¡¯t all she ¡®tricked¡¯ a Ultor Penal Fleet of one dreadnought, five cruisers, and seven frigates to slipspace in and attack The Cruiser while it tore apart her makeshift fleet. Of course they were free, while The Makeshift Fleet of Cruisers were just junkers she got for fifteen million credits in total. Unfortunately, neither The Penal Fleet nor her Fleet of Junkers lasted more than seven minutes as The Chardonnay¡¯s hull began to buckle. And after returning to Admiral Haze¡¯s Flagship and back to the banquet hall he signaled The Admiral despite his reluctance, and Amber, and Helen to follow him to the observation window along with many of the guests who watched the spectacle undeterred.. Within moments, a Federation Fabricator Dreadnought appeared, surprising even Ferris as he wasn¡¯t expecting that ship, rather The Super Dreadnought back on New Harvest. Of course, the sight of a Federation Dreadnought fabricated based on a Titan but called a Dreadnought due to some absurd technicality that consisted of a great deal of fabricators, and only enough weapons to be considered a Dreadnought was surely a surprise to ¡®some¡¯. And one Ferris never desired anyone to see.. ¡°Anora do not-¡± Ferris quietly whispered as Anora fired its main ¡®particle¡¯ cannon in one immense and continuous beam destroying its shields and engines before collecting the cruiser into its fabrication bay and activating its sanitization ray and slipspacing out. ¡°...¡± Evidently, Ferris was too stunned to speak? What he just saw was everyone onboard that cruiser getting burned alive, kidnapped, and taken away. What¡¯s worse, she was dropping off the Arcadian Cruiser back at New Harvest and using The Dreadnought Fabricator for her own system. If that wasn¡¯t all, The Super Dreadnought from New Harvest appeared, forcing Ferris to discreetly signal them to evacuate The Chardonnay, provide aid, and return it to New Harvest. At the very least Chardonnay survived, but at the cost of it becoming a Derelict? ¡°I requested support, that being The N.H.S Wagner. The Titan however.. I¡¯m as puzzled as you are. Helen please tell Anora to stop purchasing derelicts, it¡¯ll take some time for New Harvest to send a replacement vessel, what I don¡¯t want however is-¡± Ferris quietly explained before being all but silenced but what he saw next. A.. ¡®Decommissioned¡¯ Alliance Flagship, an Outdated Battlecruiser Variant, and one that the alliance was selling for one million credits just to get rid of due to technicalities and bureaucratic red tape. And Anora bought it.. for ¡®him¡¯.. it had no armaments, no life support systems, and had been stripped down to its massive hull.. ¡°The.. N.H.C. Constellation? Anora, care to explain what I¡¯m seeing?¡± And as he spoke it was no longer a whisper as Helen and ¡®The¡¯ Admiral Haze heard his words clear as day only for Anora to request ¡®visual¡¯ communications before abruptly using his gauntlet to project a holographic screen. ¡°Ferris, after all we¡¯ve been through.. I believe if anyone¡¯s ¡®choice¡¯ would carry weight, it would be ¡®mine¡¯. Before its decommissioning its hull, frame, and engines were refitted to the admiralty standard. It¡¯s pristine. I called Ultor and they agreed to launch a shipyard into ¡®this¡¯ system in the ¡®next¡¯ hour¡± Anora properly explained, leaving Ferris to only sigh only to be cut off once more. ¡°Subsequently, it hadn¡¯t had a refit in the last century since they weren''t very happy that I sent three penal fleets to fight an Arcadian Cruiser? However, they did assure me if it broke apart after slipspace reentry that they¡¯d send another one-¡± And as if on cue, something had soon slipspaced in orbit, evidently, she made up the ETA considering they didn¡¯t in fact tell her? Unfortunately, as it was a shipyard, and its thrusters were only designed to reside in an asteroid belt, it broke apart in orbit.. Prompting Ferris to stare at the scene for several moments having realized it was either his thoughts had materialized as he thought them, or he now had the terrible ability to foresee Anora¡¯s eventual failings? As for Anora, she unceremoniously started another call with ¡®her¡¯ Ultor Representative without ending the first one. ¡°You¡¯re making me regret choosing The Wardens. No, you didn''t offend me. What truly got under my skin was watching The Shipyard you promised disintegrate in Sol¡¯s orbit, right before the eyes of the Alliance Admiralty and representatives from every major faction in this sector. To make sticking around worthwhile, I need an additional eight percent in Ultor Shares or-¡± Anora unceremoniously threatened, leading to her representative, a daughter of a senior member in The Warden Council who was currently interning in Ultor to have a nervous breakdown surprising Anora and prompting her to cut communications with Ferris. ¡°...¡± Ferris could only rub his temples having long since transferred the audio to his neural implant and went to the bar.. only to meet The Freestar Captain from earlier as the two leaned against the bar, The Freestar Captain with a cold beer, and Ferris with an entire bottle of champagne.. ¡°Captain Welsh..¡± The Freestar Captain acknowledged. ¡°Captain Banks.. I haven¡¯t seen Roy-Admiral Foster in quite some time. Did he ever manage to find that farm truck of his?¡± Ferris¡¯s words were only answered with a chuckle as Banks shook his head.. Attendance III Mingling On the other hand, Ferris would soon learn Blair was pregnant with twins, and Roy had one ten-year-old son, a fourteen-year-old daughter, and a twenty-year-old daughter and thirty-year-old daughter?! Evidently, Roy spent more time with Blair than his quest for his fabled Farm Truck? Making his previous assumption that Blair would have found him one already incorrect? From the guesses so far are that the twins are likely boys, meaning Roy would have three boys and three daughters.. ¡°Her faking her death on a whim and running away with Roy was bound to happen.. eventually? And six kids no less? I only have one-but I doubt I could be considered much of a father. Duty & Sacrifice.. I¡¯ve seen far too much of that for one lifetime. There''s almost never a proper reprieve, only complications and casualty reports..¡± Ferris soberly humored, oddly enough he was thankful his cloned child was still an infant and in cryo. Had she already grown up he¡¯d no doubt be considered a deadbeat? However, he¡¯d almost prefer that fate if she was healthy.. Prompting the two to enjoy the lasting silence, at least until a formally dressed alliance reporter made her way to him, leaving Captain Banks to shake hands and depart soon after to reunite with his wife.. ¡°Captain Welsh, a moment of your time? Aria Nova, with Alliance News. I was there when Ensign Bakes gave you that ¡®peck¡¯ on your cheek, do you have a minute?¡± Aria swooped in, leaving Ferris no choice but to put the bottle down in place of a champagne glass. Taking this as a yes, she activated her camera drone, greatly reduced the brightness and cleared her throat. ¡°Captain Welsh, New Harvest has always been a mystery, coupled with recent events, can you tell us how The N.H.R Chardonnay, a legendary ship in its own right, had earned the ire of an Arcadia? And what is the state of its crew? They must have fared well considering your presence here-¡± Despite her words, she had arranged them in such a fashion that it sounded out of concern and honest curiosity. ¡°New Harvest is a neutral colony on the rim, born from the brightest minds of humanity and kept hidden due to the fear of history repeating itself. Think of Arcadia for an example? Their mission was the same in that regard. As for The N.H.R Chardonnay, I fear this was our first maiden voyage¡± Ferris professionally answered with a layer of calm. ¡°Are you saying Arcadia views New Harvest as a threat? I find it difficult to believe, knowing their history-¡± Her voice revealing innocence born of ignorance, however, it was a clear and obvious facade as Ferris pointed to his head. ¡°Arcadia, I highly doubt. As for the rogue elements, shortly after entering cryo, I was shot in the head. Had it not been for extensive lifesaving care, revival would have been deemed an impossibility. And when I finally woke, I lost a century of my life. I believed this maiden voyage to be an attempt for I and my crew to strive for a hopeful future. Instead that hope was slashed?¡± Ferris naturally didn¡¯t reveal anything more than what he had formulated in that moment, while as for The Chardonnay, it and its crew, alive and dead, were being returned to New Harvest. And in the end, Ferris had arranged it so that Arcadia appeared complacent. To allow rogue elements to act so freely and so publicly wasn¡¯t something Arcadia would have ever stood for. However, now that the perpetrators were being ¡®dealt¡¯ with back on Arcadia, Arcadia would have to respond or at the very least make a statement in regard to the unjustified & deliberate attacks on a ¡®research¡¯ ship. And that of New Harvest that many now believed to be an advanced human colony kept hidden away for their own safety, which was now even declared a necessary due to recent attacks? If that wasn¡¯t all, he altered ¡®some¡¯ evidence to show that an Arcadian Frigate attacked and mercilessly killed ¡®miners¡¯ defending their mining compound that ¡®resided¡¯ on New Harvest, before ultimately altering the recording of him being beaten through his helmet¡¯s Hud. And by The Seventh Temple Assassin no less after the heroic intervention of a heroic Curator who responded to the researcher outpost¡¯s distress call before ultimately losing his life. Before finally revealing a bloodied nursery.. It took a great deal of altering and censoring, however enough was authenticated, and there was still enough evidence to suggest the act did in fact happen even if to a lesser degree? As to why he had transferred these censored and altered reports, recordings, and pieces of evidence that appeared not only authentic but even genuine.. he felt it would add an added safety net and ¡®media¡¯ coverage to paint New Harvest in a different light and warrant its secrecy. After all, it wasn¡¯t much of a secret outside of where it was and what they did there? And naturally when it all hits the air, many people would be understandably outraged, including some Arcadians and Curators having realized a century old secret was brought back from the grave. That could only be interpreted as this: New Harvest, a colony ''allegedly'' built from the brightest minds of humanity hidden away due to the dangers of what that technology may bring, were targeted by Rogue Arcadian Elements who viewed their innovation and technology knowhow as a threat to their Arcadian Supremacy. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. As a result, the colony was suddenly & deliberately attacked by naval and ground forces of Rogue Elements of The Arcadian Assembly. Its nurseries butchered, its miners bombarded with plasma, its researchers beaten to death, and its leaders assassinated, forcing them into the dark age much like The Curators had done humanity. This was naturally Ferris¡¯s goal to ensure that safety net and added mystery for New Harvest. Even if it could be ¡®partially¡¯ debated and insinuated that the Arcadian Rogue Elements had their reasoning? However, it was difficult to do so to the billions of mothers who learned of the butchered nurseries, Researchers learning of the innocent unarmed researchers beaten to death for defending their research, Miners learning of hard-working men and women being burned alive by Plasma. And Security Officers & Veterans dying to protect them all while wearing former unit patches from not only The Alliance, but The Freestar Confederacy, United Colonies, United Territories, The Freeworlds, and even The Novenary States for an added measure. All of whom were honest men and women who too wanted the betterment of humanity, their artificial screams, combat recordings, medic logs, casualty reports, and so much more to pull at their heart strings. Ferris didn¡¯t want just a safety net, he wanted their sympathy, their thoughts and prayers and nothing more. That alone would force many ordinary Arcadians to feel the same, and perhaps even some Curators while ensuring New Harvest¡¯s Secrecy. Naturally, it was never truly a concern, and he had only done all of this purely because he found it entertaining, and it should assist to some degree? And with that done with, Aria despite hearing all of this and not shedding a tear was ecstatic! There was no greater prize for a journalist. All she needed to do was send it back to the network, have them authenticate it and give their approval, then next the documentaries, news segments, and those wacky conspiracy theorists will pop up from the woodwork and add to the flames.. However, she needed one final touch? ¡°If all this is to be believed.. and New Harvest continues to make breakthroughs, will humanity ever see it? Will we ever see another New Harvest Research Ship after this incident? And will The Researchers of New Harvest remain in its borders forever fearing similar incidents?¡± Aria passionately interviewed.. ¡°Yes.. New Harvest will continue what it has always done, only I fear some research may be more restricted than others as it pertains to safeguarding against misuse, and interfering in other research fields that if introduced will endanger the researchers and science as a whole by restricting, advancement, and potential innovations¡± Unfortunately, she wanted me and he didn¡¯t need her to tell him that as her expression and signals did so in her place. ¡°New Harvest will slowly begin releasing the appropriate articles, research notes and overall findings and theories where it pertains to medicine, slipspace theories, and other additions & improvements in regard to ship engines, slipspace drives, and similar fields. New Harvest has no desire to hamper innovation, or restrict potential avenues even our scientists are unaware of¡± To put it bluntly, not only was he taking the safest and most well thought out approach, but he did also so by doing more than Arcadia did in the present, preventing historians from comparing their actions to the actions of The Arcadians where it related to stunting The Federation. What¡¯s more, he could force The Alliance News Network to make this story their priority, at least as much as was allowed through board meetings alone? And with that said and done with, he noted he may need to send representatives to said board meetings.. However, that was for another time as after the interview finished up a United Colonies Reporter followed by that of a United Territories Reporter appeared out of the woodwork. ¡­ An hour later.. It took Ferris far longer than he should have to complete the following interviews before mingling with a random group of representatives in an effort to escape any further interviews. However, it would now appear he found himself in the section of the.. ¡®rich¡¯ lobbyists and investors. One of which he realized he knew, and sadly before he could escape this predicament, he felt someone clinging to his arm. ¡°Ferris! Now aren¡¯t you looking fabulous? Sit, sit! How I¡¯ve missed you! Jacob told me everything about you before that fateful day?! God was he handsome back then! Everyone, everyone this is Ferris! My nephew but not by blood!¡± It took only a moment for him to turn around and realize who it was.. to put it bluntly his father spoke of her when he was a child, however as he was four and his father went down with his ship some months later, he obviously hadn¡¯t paid much attention to it. With that in mind, he knew who she was.. Lady Angelica Lisben or rather Aunty Angie, while as far as appearances went, she looked to have stopped aging in her late twenties and was quite attractive, however considering he knew enough about her to sink a ship he didn¡¯t find her so.. She wasn¡¯t an Arcadian per say, rather she was a dancer & ¡®entertainer¡¯ in another life? When that was, no one knew, while she was most definitely not a Curator or Ascendant making it all too bizarre considering the circumstances? Now as for how she knew his father, she.. slept with him.. And whether it be a ballroom, nightclub, or any matter event she was the life of the party and changed mannerisms as if she had a split personality, only she didn¡¯t and could outdrink, out assassin, and out spy the best of them. Her existence didn¡¯t have an explanation, while Ferris was reluctant to even get involved with her as the ¡®nobles¡¯ born of ancient families welcomed him for the next hour before discussing problems and events only they were so accustomed of. The issue with this however was not because he never found himself in such a situation, rather these.. ¡®Nobles¡¯ were damned near-pretentious? He has mingled with individuals and titans of the industry far above them, however the only exception being they¡¯re self-aware enough not to boast or speak of matters so openly. As to why he called them Nobles, it was an insult to be sure, but not one without a modicum of self-acknowledgement? He didn¡¯t hate them, he didn¡¯t despise them as they weren¡¯t doing much harm, rather it becomes cripplingly tedious the longer he¡¯s around them. And before he knew it, Angie had made up an excuse and dragged him to an isolated corner. ¡°Ferris darling, your mood is spoiled! Tell me what¡¯s troubling you-oh dear your ship! A thousand apologies, it was cruel of me to force you to socialize with those pompous sort! Even crueler because I was the one who brought that dreadful cruiser here-¡± Angie¡¯s tone would immediately change as she pinned him against the wall, naturally he couldn¡¯t help but chuckle before it dawned on him he couldn¡¯t move? That didn''t bode well.. Attendance IV Sudden Escalation ¡°For Jacob¡¯s sake, I¡¯m going to ask you this only once.. what could you have possibly done to force over a dozen Section Three Agents to go rogue? Time Travel, The Seventh Temple, and that Virus?! Many of them died to allow them to get this far, and I want to know why!¡± Subsequently, it dawned on him that she was an Ascendant, only now the fact that she was neither Arcadian nor Curator was rather concerning? ¡°For my father¡¯s sake and yours.. I ask that you don¡¯t interfere. Suffice to say, I accepted and followed through an assignment. Thus is the nature of those ¡®internships¡¯. A single whisper, a single rumor led to what in actuality was a lie to then become ¡®truth¡¯. Misdirection, shifting the blame, and indoctrination led to what you saw and heard. The ringleader never participates..¡± Ferris calmly explained before ending it with a code phrase and the one truth.. ¡°You¡¯re just like your daddy.. and in more ways than one? I know the handiwork. I spoke to ¡®Cassidy¡¯, your old ¡®boss¡¯. She sent that Cruiser to ¡®pick¡¯ you up. Only that wasn¡¯t one of hers and asking ¡®Meredith¡¯ to deal with it won¡¯t deal with the root of the issue. Goto The Crypt, meet Archangel. He¡¯s been out of the loop for the last three centuries. Go alone, and go now¡± Angie¡¯s words were far more concerning than he realized as he sighed, and Angie gave him a big fat kiss on his cheek. ¡°Don¡¯t die..¡± Her words weren¡¯t very encouraging as she updated his Hud, surprising him as to how she even managed such a feat. ¡­ Soon enough however, he quickly purchased a tropical island with a rather luxurious mansion on it, and suggested he¡¯ll be gone for the next two weeks before hoping into a.. decommissioned alliance fighter as per Angie¡¯s suggestion and slipspacing to The Crypt.. The Crypt being a literal ¡®hellhole¡¯ of system as the fact alone he could see the wreck of an intact and undisturbed Precursor Dreadnought and a broken fleet that could easily be identified as a Federation Secret Services who too were left intact and undisturbed meant a great deal? The F.S.S. identifier meant not only were they the match for The Arcadians, but telling but how ancient they were, they likely fought and ¡®won¡¯ quite a few battles during The End of The Progenitor War. And someone managed to take it out and a Precursor Dreadnought? At this point Ferris felt it was a tomb world system as he saw several insignificant stars in the distance only to realize there were twelve and they looked awfully like particle planetary canons. And considering he just entered the system mere seconds ago, that ''also'' didn''t bode well.. Before he knew it one of the beams tore through a dreadnought as if poking through a tissue before unceremoniously clipping his wing forcing him to use his afterburners and get into orbit before he¡¯d meet the same fate as those wrecks. ¡­ Soon everything went black as he would finally wake up only to notice a hole in the cockpit and a great deal of his blood. It took a moment for him to realize the cockpit¡¯s visual screen was still active as he felt the arctic temperatures hit his face. ¡°Alpha-no Anora-right..¡± Subsequently he was alone this time around as he checked his sensors only to realize an Arctic Freeze was inbound, and the only structure or rather what resembled a structure was two thousand meters away and The ETA for the freeze was ten minutes.. After lamenting his life, he kicked open the cockpit, took the dusty survival kit and the rechargeable laser side arm that he found in the compartment and ran like hell. ¡­ Nine minutes later.. After finding the structure and discovering it was a Section Three Cruiser, he couldn¡¯t help but chuckle as he imputed his father¡¯s command code¡¯s considering how ancient it truly was. And to a certain degree it worked. Only now he had to budge the docking door open and slip inside before closing it soon after and activating his night vision. ¡­ Three hours later.. It took some time to reach the reactor room as he budged open the last door. What truly infuriated him was the fact that the only things powered were the locks! It would accept and verify the command codes but do little else as he dusted the power console and reactivated the reactors. Infuriating him to no end as not only were they not damaged, they were simply turned off as the environmental controls and shields activated without even a hiccup.. He never felt so lucky and unlucky within the same instance as the doors opened and he made his way to The A.I Core to see if he¡¯d get lucky and take its A.I, only for him to hear a familiar voice that froze him in time. ¡°Jacob?¡± His mother¡¯s voice resounded in his head.. ¡°What¡¯s with that look? Don¡¯t tell me Diana forced you to come all this way? She¡¯s as bratty as ever, but.. so am I, especially since I¡¯m just her as an A.I created on a whim. And I¡¯m sorry, she¡¯s not the easiest person to work with-wait.. you¡¯re not Jacob-but you are but not mine.. who are you?¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Diana questioned? ¡°Ferris.. Wright..¡± Surprising Diana as she caught on to what that meant. ¡°Oh.. did Jacob send you? If so, I¡¯ll give him a good shock for sending his child to a place like this-¡± Unfortunately, before she could humor him further, he cut her off. ¡°He¡¯s dead..¡± Ferris answered, leaving her silent for several moments as he transferred what he knew to her matrix. ¡°Oh.. Jacob..¡± Her voice hid her devastation before briefly collecting herself and projecting herself despite the static. ¡°Ferris.. you shouldn''t be here. Angie¡¯s the one who sold that Precursor Echo to The Curators. I¡¯m sorry, but you¡¯ve been deceived. It''s been three thousand years, Archangel should have left long ago. If not.. I can take you to him. I¡¯m Diana but you can call me Anna..¡± Anna briefed, and bursting one of Ferris¡¯s veins considering that Precursor Echo was ultimately what killed his father as he smashed his visor in by smashing his head against the wall, removing his helmet and shattering it into the open corridor. He felt Angie was not telling him the whole truth, as for Anna she was his mother in A.I form, likely before her or his father even considered entering into a relationship. To put it bluntly, in their youth they hated each other and were the equivalent of that seventh assassin and him getting married. However, love found its way and the two genuinely loved each other much later down the line, and the fact that The A.I was not at all aware of this was somewhat painful. As for why he reacted so negatively, he was simply exhausted of this tirade. He had hoped it would have ended with New Harvest.. if that wasn¡¯t all, remaining calm despite everything that had happened was becoming increasingly difficult as he calmly sighed. ¡°Are the comms still active? I need to make a call..¡± ¡­ In the end, he believed it was only right to contact his.. elder sister, subsequently she nearly went ballistic after learning he went there. As for The Cruiser.. it was merely buried in the snow, the shield took the brunt of the crash and the systems remained intact. Even if he couldn¡¯t leave the planet easily, he could still lessen the travel time to a greater extent? For the time being he only slept.. and by the time Annalise would finally arrive he had slept for several days straight. Apparently, Annalise shortly after learning The A.I was a copy of their mother from so long ago, decided to keep her emotions in check without revealing who their mother truly was, having caught on by Ferris using their father¡¯s surname. ¡­ Outside of Jacob¡¯s Quarters.. ¡°He¡¯s been asleep for the last seventy-four hours? Are you sure my brother is still alive?¡± Anne genuinely questioned, leaving Anna to only open her door to allow for her to see for herself as she saw him sitting against the wall with his sidearm in his hand. ¡°That¡¯s.. something we might need to talk about?¡± Her voice was barely a whisper as Anna updated her involving his outburst and what she told him. ¡°Thanks for the warning.. maybe next time don¡¯t insinuate Angie was our father¡¯s killer. He¡¯s clearly confused enough, he¡¯s brilliant, so say it with me! Brilliant minds are prone to madness! With that in ¡®mind¡¯, he¡¯s still twenty-five so he¡¯s infinitely younger and infinitely more prone to.. this?¡± Anne quietly reminded before appearing by his side as if moving through space itself and seamlessly disarming him and placing his head in her lap. As for Ferris, he felt rather refreshed as he questioned whose lab he was in.. Only to look up and see Anne smiling away.. As far as appearances went, she had their mother¡¯s pale blonde hair, porcelain white skin, and violet eyes. Oddly enough, she looked more like her mother in the present now than their mother in the past. ¡°Hey sleepyhead.. do we need to talk about ¡®what¡¯ it looked like you were going to do or are you just fine now? Oh, and to clear something up Angie sold a Female Precursor Echo to The Curators centuries ago. What killed our dear old daddy was a Male Precursor Echo if you can catch my drift? Angie ¡®did¡¯ earn a proper splash of wine in her face for sending you here though¡± Anne all but reassured, leaving Ferris to only sigh as he tried to sit up only for Anne to force his head back down. ¡°The only time we¡¯ve ever bonded was after I.. tortured you and your crew. That wasn¡¯t my proudest moment so let¡¯s do this, I¡¯ll be taking over from here and you, my little brother, can show me what you¡¯ve learned? Let''s become proper siblings! Tell me your secrets! And what¡¯s with that Alliance segment? Who killed those babies?!¡± Evidently, the last three days were.. productive and Anne genuinely wondered what that whole New Harvest thing was all about! All she saw was something about him getting shot in the head, and some weirdo killing a bunch of babies? And as he ¡®explained¡¯ his progress thus far Anne couldn¡¯t help but laugh at the first half, and cough at the second half.. ¡°I have a baby niece?! Let¡¯s sort out that poison a bit later, what¡¯s this Calisto like? Do you think I¡¯d like her?¡± Anne pleasantly demanded, leaving Ferris little choice but to explain how it all began, and in the end, it left her somewhat somber. ¡°Oh Ferris..¡± Evidently, while he resembles his father to a startling degree and she, her mother, their personalities were undoubtedly the opposite. He inherited their mother¡¯s and she, her father¡¯s, considering Ferris¡¯s actions and the way he displayed them so similarly to their mother¡¯s.. Only their mother would be so indecisive, calm, elaborate, brilliant, and have such difficulty with her emotions. From what Anne knew, she nearly killed their father when she was in her youth and her following wild phase, and seeing their mother now, no one would have ever thought? And here Ferris was suffering from their mother¡¯s inheritance.. or rather his mother? The two clearly haven¡¯t reconciled considering they haven¡¯t seen each other in several centuries. While the fact alone that she didn¡¯t realize she had a brother until fairly recently made that abundantly clear.. ¡°Here¡¯s what you''re going to do after this little quest of ours.. take a ¡®proper¡¯ reprieve, give or take a few months because you¡¯ll surely need it after this. Go back to Arcadia, send me a postcard, transfer whatever you need to transfer using my access codes to my ¡®sister¡¯ in law, tell ¡®Diana¡¯ I said hi and I hope she had an awful time, and send me baby pictures! I¡¯ll even babysit!¡± Anne or rather Annie now considering their newfound familiarity with one another and already existing family chose the straightforward approach! For it to mean anything she¡¯d have to force him to have little choice in the matter, just like ¡®his¡¯ mother! Anna for one believed this method was indeed potent, even if she had yet to realize they were Diana¡¯s children? Naturally, there was also a reason for that. Aside from the three-thousand-year time difference, it was a taboo to do so? Bloodlines, lineages, and ancestry to The Arcadians were a.. sensitive topic? There was a reason why Jacob became a Welsh rather than keep his surname? The same applied to Ferris.. The Crypt I Lost World The Welsh & Wright Families were considered to be two of the most influential of the founding families on Arcadia, and there were only a dozen of such families ¡®left¡¯. The others had either left, died out, or chose not to involve themselves in politics. Jacob & Diana were The Romeo & Juliet of the two families, all except neither of the two families were hostile to one another, and no one died? It was far tamer and anticlimactic then most realize. Diana on the other hand was Specter One without a mask and her actions and methods were as drastic as Annie¡¯s, so was her reputation that when she entered her wild phase so long ago she broke her sister¡¯s legs and left her for dead, nearly killing Jacob, before nearly beating him to death. She was nicknamed The Seventh Seraph after The Seventh Temple, something of which was unheard of. While she and Lilith were rivals, and considering Lilith was for all it pertained among The Eldest Curators and a senior member of The Curator Council that said a lot. Jacob was second to her as much as a neutron purge was to a supernova, even if they had rivaled one another, Jacob at no point ever did so willingly. As for their families, they were ancient even by federation standards and played a role in Humanity¡¯s Golden Age. Such was their history that they were cemented in The Federation & Arcadia to the point they could forgo shadow councils, power, influence because no one dared to question it. Naturally they weren¡¯t the only two families who could say the same, however when it came to bloodlines, rights, and debates, it became problematic at several moments in history? The Welsh Family helped create The Seventh Temple as a result after its disbanding they were left in a scandal. The Wright Family helped create Section Three, and both helped create The Arcadian High Command so there was a lot to unpack there. There was no adoption system for either of the two families unless they had blood ties, cloning was a taboo, and clones not made by either family were outright swept away as their bloodlines carried a rich source of giving birth to Ascendant Prospects. Preventing rogue clones was no doubt a priority at one time or the other, however after Jacob¡¯s death, The Welsh & Wright Families were left uneasy, and the fact that Ferris was a Welsh and only kept his father¡¯s surname as a middle name was a bit too much on the nose. If that wasn¡¯t all, Diana and Jacob were practically heirs at one point or the other and they had chosen to ¡®partially¡¯ cut their families off for one reason or the other? Jacob becoming a Welsh was also a scandal as their children were Ascendant Prospects. Annie turned out to be a powerhouse like her mother, but Ferris was kept hidden away and his fate was unknown outside of Diana¡¯s siblings and one aunt on Jacob¡¯s side? So naturally Anna wouldn''t commit what was believed to be a historic taboo when it was clear as day Ferris was Jacob¡¯s Child. Even if she did, Annie doubted Anna would even believe it.. ¡­ After getting Ferris up and helping him out of his suit, she would soon drag him to the armory after making herself at home with over a dozen large duffle bags scattered about that she had seemingly brought with her? ¡°I stopped by good ole daddy¡¯s vault and brought you your inheritance without you having to meet those old frogs. Suffice to say, or dear ¡®mother¡¯ will be hearing all about it! She still thinks I¡¯m dead so that should add an element of surprise? Dad left you quite a bit! Did you know he hoped you¡¯d inherit his suit and take his mantle of cipher? Sorry but I had to snoop a little!¡± Annie revealed, leaving Ferris having believed he had already gotten his inheritance to slightly frown. The Wright Family held much of it hostage in the hopes of meeting ¡®him¡¯. What was truly sad however, was despite how simple it was, hiding this from him was a stab in the heart. All these notes.. and he had always thought his father had only left him his journal.. As for The Mantle of Cipher, it was his father¡¯s equivalent of Specter, only it made Specter look more like a ¡®dead¡¯ weight in comparison. Cipher was his father¡¯s code name, to say it made his heart wrench at the mere thought of the name was to say nothing at all. Specter was based on Cipher, but he could never truly compare. In the end, hearing that name once more only to discover this had been hidden from him broke his heart to such an extent he couldn¡¯t think of nothing at all.. as he read his father¡¯s letters.. Much of which consisted of ideas what he¡¯d be like, tips on women, family drama, a list of names he could ¡®trust¡¯, passwords, access codes, safe houses, coordinates, bank accounts, shares, ships, and a great deal of him insisting that if he was anything like his mother to follow ¡®his¡¯ process! He then proceeded to speak of his mother, what made him fall in love with her, her favorite foods, jokes, and dates. Before ending it with his ¡®process¡¯ once more only, it related more to Ascendancy, tips, stages, and his own experience. There was simply too much for him to truly read, however from what Ferris could gather, they had the same handwriting, and most of all shared in the same fascination of The Federation to the point they¡¯re thoughts were one on the matter. Even if he inherited more from his mother personality wise, his appearance, hobbies, and personal favorites including frozen salisbury steak tv dinners all came from his father.. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. If that wasn¡¯t all, he discovered why his father chose the name of Cipher and its origins. Evidently, it tied closely to The Golden Age, and The Federation during The Progenitor ¡®Conflict¡¯. The Ciphers fought toe to toe with The Progenitors, who at the time were at the same level of The Seventh Temple at the height of its power. They also combated and explored Precursor ships, facilities, and megastructures ¡®alone¡¯. It was only unfortunate they had all died off and by The Time of The Curator Uprising were merely myth. They were neither Ascendant nor Arcadian, making their existence, and ultimate sacrifices something only the ordinary individuals of humanity could claim. Ordinary humans, surviving and sacrificing themselves to take out beings who by all accounts were demigods were something his father felt represented humanity the most. No absurd science, super soldiers, or gear, just humanity¡¯s struggle to survive and endure at any cost.. And in the end that was what he believed Cipher was? As for his suit.. it was the last known hail mary of The Federation towards the end of The Progenitor War. however, it would never be worn as the Cipher it was intended for made the ultimate sacrifice ending The Conflict. Had he worn it, he would have survived to enjoy the victory, but there simply wasn¡¯t the time from what Jacob could gather? As a result, Jacob took the suit, the weapons that came with it, and became Cipher during his time in [ERROR]. And to this day Cipher was an Arcadian wet dream in the intelligence community, Section Three, and other unnamed organizations. Unfortunately, his father wasn¡¯t perfect as at one point or the other, he ¡®dispatched¡¯ entire fleets, worlds, and even a Precursor Megastructure to such an extent The Progenitors evolutionary fear born of the name nearly matched that of The Precursors. Forcing Ferris overwhelmed with this information to only rub his temples, there was far more than he had realized. Centuries worth of journals, notes, and more, leaving him no choice but to put it all to the side as he felt the power armor¡¯s chest plate. Subsequently, what he believed to be merely a suit turned out to be power armor, a testament to The Golden Age of Technology.. ¡°I get it, I really do but let''s not spend the next hour looking over his journals! Sometimes I wonder how he had even managed to ¡®help¡¯ conceive us if he wrote this much? Now get suited up! Our good ole daddy left us this junker-no offense?¡± Annie unceremoniously blurted out.. ¡°This Cruiser participated in The End of The Progenitor Conflict; its identification as a Section Three Cruiser is purely ceremonial. It was originally commissioned by The Federation making use of reverse engineered precursor technology in an effort to combat progenitor swarms and remanent precursor sentinel ships-¡± Naturally Annie covered her ears while Ferris now understood why it was undamaged even despite crash landing? He doubted even The Curators would have lasted long had The Federation made use of the same fleets and tactics? Of course, it''s hull identification and transponder identified as Section Three or more specifically his father¡¯s ship, naturally this was likely one of his many throw away ships? But to Ferris it added character.. As for progenitor swarms, and precursor sentinel ships, they were simply classified as drones with particle beam weaponry and advanced shields intended to contain and purge The Infection but ultimately used as weapons. The Precursor Sentinels on the other hand were more comparable to guardians left behind to defend or protect a world or any matter of things? And without a Precursor Monitor to control them, they would continue to do so without guidance. They naturally became an issue down the line but haven¡¯t been considered a threat in the last several thousand years, neither were The Progenitor Swarms, suffice to say? With The Exception to The Crypt considering a Precursor Dreadnought Wreck in the system. And after gearing up, Ferris heard a familiar voice he had only heard as a child.. ¡°Ferris.. you¡¯re all grown up! I made several of these V.Is depending on what happened to me and considering I must have died when you were too young to know any better.. I believe it''s only right you see what this little pandora¡¯s box of mine has to offer-but before that let me put the baby you to bed! In my defense, I never planned for you to actually hear this-¡± Jacob calmly recorded and humoring himself in doing so while baby Ferris was crying up a storm. ¡°Now that I put you to bed, let¡¯s talk about The Crypt! What? I made this V.I interchangeable depending on where you are when you¡¯re hearing this. Blame your mother, it was her idea. Why she thought you¡¯d be in that hell hole is beyond me, but since you¡¯re hearing this, she must have been right? First things first, go to these coordinates, and don¡¯t die-¡± And just like that he was gone, leaving Ferris to sigh having realized his suit had memory blocks? However, the systems were somewhat restricted after adapting to his body. Jacob was Ascendant, and one that made his armor at most an accessory. An accessory after realizing Ferris wasn¡¯t Ascendant reverted its safeguards and systems formerly deemed unnecessary. It was so advanced to the extent that it didn¡¯t require an A.I rather it was purely autonomous, and its scanners needed only to scan him and accommodate his deficiencies. Subsequently, it was only ever worn by an Ascendant, making this the first time a non-ascendant wore it. And considering it was intended for non-ascendant humans; it became obvious it was an equalizer to make up for it. Evidently, it was infinitely more useful for Ferris than it ever was for his father as he marveled at how far The Federation had truly gone before they fell.. ¡°I¡¯m uploading coordinates, advise?¡± Ferris calmly instructed; however it took a moment for Anna to process it. ¡°Not advisable! Likely a joke on his end? If not I still wouldn¡¯t advise. I¡¯m unwilling to send you into The Heart of a Precursor Warzone, this planet belonged to a race that rivaled The Progenitors at the height of their power before The Precursors too devolved them after crippling its forces. And they¡¯re still here. What you¡¯re asking of me-¡± To put it bluntly The Crypt was the sister they¡¯re currently in due to the special nature of it all. The Planet in question was The Ancient Capital World of Arcai, The Home of The Archaic, and The Last Remaining Arcainians.. Those Planetary Particle Cannons belonged to their former empire, and were likely never deactivated. And telling by her concern, the same could be said for the remnant battlefield, whether it be sentinels, automated defenses, and survivors still fighting that long forgotten war. What¡¯s more, the federation remnants were still active and ¡®alive¡¯ on this world, with Arcadians scattered about who were originally advisors during The Progenitor War? And after three thousand years of being trapped on this world, the human population now numbered in twenty million when compared to the two hundred and seven million Arcainians scattered about. The Crypt II The War of Heavens After thoroughly studying this world to Annie¡¯s dismay, he would quickly learn Arcainians were also trapped on Arcai, and didn¡¯t in fact manage to recoup their lost technologies due to the simplest fact that to do so they¡¯d need ¡®authorization¡¯. Military Clearances, and Bio Samples to even access their ¡®former¡¯ empire¡¯s technology, evidently, The Last Arcainian Dynasty didn''t desire to be overthrown in the chaos of the conflict and as a result they were solely to blame, had they not added said safeguards, they would have rebuilt ten times over. As for their appearance, anatomies and technological level.. They were humanoid, and resemble humans alongside their anatomy however there were starch differences? They had porcelain white horns to a degree that when they reached their adulthood fell off, some still have the reattached or merely keep them for the sake of traditions. The next on the list was their melanin mutations, whether it be light grey or silver undertones to differing shades of white, that¡¯s all their melanin would allow, the same could be said for their hair and eyes? If that wasn¡¯t all, they reproduced incredibly slowly despite having an overabundant ¡®eggs¡¯. While the females of their race didn¡¯t have menstrual cycles, rather their eggs were either in a permanent inactive state fueled by their stem cells, or only active when in contact with a male¡¯s ¡®seed¡¯. Despite such differences, their anatomy with the exception of their genetics were similar enough to be able to reproduce with humans? And no other species aside from their own strangely enough. Perhaps The Precursors thought of it as a sick joke or chose not to devolve that aspect? If that wasn¡¯t apparent enough, even the females of their species who were considered sterile would eventually become pregnant, however rather than their ordinary pregnancy cycle it became more comparable to that of a human¡¯s rather than their own. Instead of three weeks, it would take four months, and the only side effects were the potential lack of a horn, mutations involving the eyes, and less ¡®dangers¡¯. Meaning the mother could get drunk and fall down the stairs and the baby would be fine bizarrely enough? Which was almost as bizarre as those comparisons? And their offspring would survive and remain healthy through diseases they wouldn¡¯t ordinarily survive or were susceptible to. It also boosted the mother¡¯s immune system and stem cell count, allowing for a quicker recovery. Leaving Ferris to disregard those ¡®fun¡¯ facts that frankly shouldn¡¯t make sense even if there were three thousand years of research proving it, and endless theories on the matter? As for their technological advancement, humanity had ¡®helped¡¯ them in that regard. Whether it be laser weaponry, suits, armor, medical research, amenities, transportation, and education to a certain degree. However, it also appeared the federation remnants kept the more dangerous elements out of the equation? Perhaps merely for their own self-preservation? However, with that came casinos, reconstruction of several major cities, assisting in currency & banking, and joint research. And finally Terraforming and A.I.. naturally the natives had half of this already, however they couldn''t recreate, or fill in the gaps lost without human assistance even if it was to repair and learn how to recreate much of their civilian technologies? They even helped repair their derelicts, even if they couldn''t leave the planet? Their slipspace technology was still damaged due to their devolution, however theoretically a human ship could slipspace in the atmosphere? However, due to the weather patterns and the planet itself it may result in a hurricane, quakes, or any number of natural disasters. What¡¯s more, most of the human ships were in orbit and they couldn¡¯t get to them without being shot down by The Planetary Cannons. It was still possible however, but considering there weren¡¯t many attempts in the first place it appeared not many were motivated enough to do so after making this world their home? ¡°Ferris.. I¡¯m going to shoot you if you don''t put that tablet down! I¡¯m not the queen of patience when it comes to adventure! Or are you planning on creating an entire generation of new WEL-WRIGHTS?! God knows if our dear ole daddy didn¡¯t leave us a few surprises already? I might not even be the eldest?! I hope we have another sister! What? We need to even it out!¡± Annie¡¯s voice was calm, and devoted to poke fun at both him & their father. What truly hit the nail on the head was Anna not saying a word? Something of which both had soon took notice of.. ¡°Disregard my previous assessment, take Jacob¡¯s Shuttle. His words.. and I quote were to send him alone, don¡¯t tell him anything, and don¡¯t involve Diana nor Kate, and least of all don¡¯t tell them..¡± Anna¡¯s words were spoken directly into his neural implant, confusing him and at the same time Anna as she had yet to catch on and assumed by Diana he meant ¡®her¡¯. As for Kate.. Ferris had no idea who that was, and considering Anna didn¡¯t specify who that was, she likely assumed he already knew? And by the time Ferris informed Annie he had to go alone she became rather ¡®upset¡¯. ¡°So what you¡¯re telling me.. we could have spent the last three hours bonding and exploring, instead you wasted my time and now I have to find something to do while you run off and have a blast for an undetermined amount of time and I¡¯m supposed to just wait?! When you come back.. expect a beating-hey come back here! It was a joke-¡± Annie frustratingly remarked, subsequently, Ferris made his escape before she could even turn around. ¡­ One hour later.. Location: The War of Heavens This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ETA: Five Minutes LZ: ERROR It took only mere moments for Anna¡¯s concern to become justified.. At first, he believed the war had long since ended and left only automated defenses and mere remnants. He was wrong.. It became apparent, Arcainian Clones equipped with the same gear used during the war, and who had seemingly been trained were pumped out endlessly. The same applied to Fighters, weapons platforms, and.. what appeared to be one of their cruisers? The Precursors were no better, rather they weren¡¯t Precursors, merely that of their inferior echoes and shadows. The fact alone that this war was still ongoing on this isolated sub-continent was a testament, even if it appeared it was evidently contained likely by The Precursors themselves. The War of Heavens.. and now he had to deal with it.. at least until he received a priority transmission whose origins were that of an Arcadian Channel, and a new set of coordinates. However, before he could even make use of it, Arcainian Interceptors were already on top of him.. And as he attempted to evade them and launch countermeasures, ¡®something¡¯ had seemingly connected to his neural implant? ¡°This is Tangent Inferior, Warrior Exemplar of The Precursor Assembly. Your claims to The Mantel hold little weight here. Vacate this zone or be marked as an interloper. The Warrior Caste owes humanity nothing. You have been informed-¡± His voice boomed within his mind as Precursor Fighters devastated his pursuers only to begin firing upon him. A Cloned Precursor, and a Partial Ascendant.. it would seem even as a mere shadow of a Precursor, some of their power still lingered. As did their inferior particle weapons? At the very least it was particle weapons, had it been anything else or what the Precursors actually used rather than their mere mining equipment, then his shields would have been atomized and him ash. In that regard he was thankful, however, he could only be thankful for so much as said particle weapons could take down a standard alliance heavy cruiser.. Least of all a federation shuttle, however to The Federation¡¯s Credit? They dealt with The Progenitors who made use of the very same, if not worse. And considering this shuttle was built for a Cipher, then it could take a beating as he evaded half of their shots and took out his pursuers at the cost of being targeted by both side¡¯s anti air contingents.. As a result he made it as far as he could before sending the shuttle back under heavy fire, as for Ferris.. he was now gliding avoiding interceptors and particle canons, however as he was moments away from being ¡®partially¡¯ atomized, he was returned to an all too familiar dream. Only it was equally chaotic as The Precursor, ever so calm, and wise was now standing rather than hovering as cracks in the dream became a reality as if he had been enraged or purposely ¡®cracked¡¯ this reality.. Within moments, he had lifted Ferris up through sheer will alone and brought him inches away from his face. ¡°A Request. Not a Request. A Regret. Do not misunderstand. They are forfeit. Their corpses. Your Inheritance. End this. End them. End them all¡± His voice cracked reality, and in such a way it threw Ferris through the cracks and back to his reality. The sheer unadulterated anger hidden under a mask of calm and ruin was so overwhelming that his adrenaline was left staggering as the particle beam was deflected. ¡°...¡± Ferris now had something else to do.. As he was left no choice but to clear himself an LZ by making use of his jump pack and thrusters and using his particle pulse rifle connected to his suit to fire several explosive bursts, a handful of bolts, and finally a repeating salvo as he made his way through the warzone. Suffice to say, this suit and its weaponry made the curator suit lackluster at best.. ¡­ Five Hours later.. Evidently, a warzone was still a warzone and when both sides were the remnants from a conflict called The War of Heaven, it was.. to be expected? The sheer amount of bodies he had to go through were in the hundreds after climbing on thousands of corpses in doing so. By his count he took out seventy precursor clones, fifty confused Arcainians, eight interceptors, over a hundred autonomous sentinels, and a randomly placed planetary cannon? Of course, the battle had tens of thousands of occupants in an already chaotic large-scale battlefield making such feats not at all impressive in the long run, especially between getting stabbed, nearly decapitated, and forced into hand to hand combat and shot on occasion. In the end after taking out that Arcainian Cruiser with said planetary canon before destroying it, he quickly learned the suit had a cloaking ability prompting him to use it before getting the hell out of there. Deep strikes, assassinations, a horde of infection sure, but an endless war of attrition? Not to mention he wasn¡¯t participating on either side.. which in turn made disengaging all too reasonable not to consider? And as he ultimately made his way to the new set of coordinates, revealing an abandoned Arcainian Shipyard and makeshift Command Center.. He would soon examine his surroundings only to discover over a hundred Arcainians with slit throats and stabbed with their own ceremonial daggers. And after gathering they didn¡¯t do it to themselves or each other, his threat assessment dramatically increased. [Warning! Seraph Detected-] It took him only a moment to look at his Hud before he was rather unceremoniously kicked at such speeds that he now found himself inside of the facility and partially inside of a wall.. Subsequently, the term Seraph was an earlier identification for The Seventh Temple, during a time not even The Federation knew were founded by The Arcadians, hence the nickname that had unironically coincided with what The Arcadians had called them. Not only did this not bode well, his suit¡¯s only advice after being kicked with unimageable forces was to escape. At least with the cloned precursors he had a proper tactical assessment.. not so much for a Seraph it would appear. Which was comedic as The Progenitor Ascendants were equal to or potentially greater to The Seraphs. And in the end, it was all utter nonsense, as The Seraph came into view.. She moved with unspeakable grace, her suit a marvel of the golden age of technology. Sleek black metallic fabric of unknown material clung tightly to her form, enhanced with barely noticeable, flexible armor layered in such a way to protect her vitals without forgoing her agility or flexibility through its implementation. And stealth technology in the form of threads and other methods capable of rendering her completely invisible and when combined by its elaborate sound dampening properties ensured she didn¡¯t make a sound. Her gauntlets, seamless and unnoticeable, and yet they housed concealed blades, an additional retractable blade, and untold poisons accessible on a whim using her fingertips, while ultimately also serving ¡®other¡¯ purposes to allow the manipulation of technology and surgical intervention.. Her helmet resembled that of a recently decapitated skull of an ascendant progenitor, and as such contained long since lost technologies she could control seamlessly through her thoughts alone. Her every step was a blur, soundless, and left no mark as if she was purely stepping on oxidized air, before seemingly disappearing without a trace. There was a clear and distinct difference between the assassin he faced in beta¡¯s core, and The Seraph he now faced. She made it seem as though he had fought a mere ¡®copy¡¯.. none of which boded well for him.. as if a recurrent theme?