The Black

Admiral Basalar Karmarin stepped out onto the bridge of His flag.

UGN Protectorate was the assault carrier in the heart of the Naval Armada that consisted of 4 Frigates, 6 plasma beam armed screening cruisers and 10 Frontier Brigs. Protectorate herself could bare her talons as well. She carried 150 void fighter Mk7s each armed with two laser cannons and a plasma launcher about the nose of their needle-like 14-meter fuselage. Long thin wings extended from the back half of their fuselage. The wings leading edge starting just behind the cockpit with the trailing edge returning to the fuselage just in front of the three main sub light drives. These wings, although large enough in surface area were long and thin, incapable of atmospheric flight. They served the combined purpose of moving maneuvering thrusters out on a lever arm to aid in maneuverability, and to collect solar energy to help their power cores in running ship functions at higher electrical loads. These fighters were to survive by maneuverability, and all weight was shaved to that end. The MK7’s had no pressurization, no shields, no armor of any kind. All pilot survivability was sacrificed to the alter of performance.

Admiral Karmarin despised jumping into a system blind, but the Inquisititorum had been…. Cagey with what they claimed they knew as of late.

“We are within a day, admiral. Permission to send codes?” the sailor at the Navigations station reported.

“Very well, let’s play their game Ensign. You may transmit.” Admiral Karmarin spoke in Galactic Common, Protectorate was a mixed crew of Thermian, Lycan and Kawmari… after the beginning of intervention by the Tetrarchy in the Delmar system, they had continued their open displeasure by summarily investigating a large portion of the Thermian naval command structure. Heads rolled, some literally, as illegal experimentation and apprehension dating back fifty years was “uncovered” and “dealt with”… The shakeup was so severe that Admiral Karmarin represented the first non-Thermian Admiral of the Navy in over 200 years, but Karmarin suspected that his previous station’s proximity to Delmar contributed heavily to his recent elevation.

To that end, he was almost universally despised by the Thermian’s left in the navy, but most individuals were smart enough to keep their heads down and respect the office. He stepped up to the chair next to the Captain and sat down. The captain, another new development, was a muscle-bound mountain of a Lycan man with short trimmed fur. He casually looked up from his holoscreens and tilted his head on intrigue.

“Admiral?” His species' deep growling, rumbling pronunciations, enhanced by the man’s stature and build, bled into his GC.

“Captain Drawrcan Wraurgth, what do you make of our destination.” Admiral Karmarin asked, shaking out his feathers slightly in a more relaxed manner for his Kawmari heritage.

“This reeks of a trap… unless our mission is truly diplomatic relations, Making this jump was a mistake.” Drawrcan counter after a moment.

“I tend to agree, I want these next orders to spread to the captains quietly. I want all our power banks charged and shields active before we drop into Signus…” The Admiral paused as Drawrcan’s eyes widened, “but, and this is important, I do not want our weapons cleared for action, and I want our Fire control scanners on standby, I want to be ready for an ambush, without actually triggering a response.”

The two stared at each other for a long moment.

“This is a diplomatic mission,” the massive wolf man took a long slow inhale through his nose, not even bothering to hide it from his admiral, “You know more than you are… than you can tell me.”

The Kawrmari admiral clicked his massive beak together in an expression of amusement and contemplation, “I see I have chosen my flag captain well. Yes, there is more. No, I cannot disclose at this time.”

“Understood Admiral, I’ll get on those orders presently.” the captain turned back to his screens.

“Excellent” The Admiral stood smoothed his feathers to a more professional air and returned to his ready room.

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Admiral Gwen was currently profusely thanking the inventor of espresso as she sat in the conference room opposite the captains, who were arrayed in hologram form. A few of them appeared to have enjoyed ‘homecoming’ a little more than others.

Rear Admiral Gregory Burgoyne was among the holograms. The signal that the UGN fleet was to arrive just after mid-day local time had seen him and Captain Margaretti transfer fully over to Olympus in preparation for their arrival.

“We don’t have much time, I’m calling this conference to personally inform you of a new development from Sol R&D combined with LEAP. Simply put gentleman our brilliant Captain Bjorn Johansson has cracked the code.. Commodore Mackenzie” she glanced at her nephew, “Gave us FTL, however, it appears that Captain Johansson has given us the Galaxy. The navigational routines are in your systems already gentlemen, but the short and curlies are this. We no longer need to jump between beacons.”

Several gasps were heard from both Delmar and Human commanders at this.

“Simply put” Gwen continued, silencing the murmurs, “Johansson had a hunch that you do one need two beacons to jump, you merely need two sets of coordinates. Meaning gentleman, if we can see three or more beacons, we can triangulate any coordinates we need.”

This time the commotion was louder as orders sounded off and captains began looking to their navigational crew for confirmation. 6 minutes went by before Gwen interrupted the quieting din, “The calculations will take longer, but it is confirmed. All of you have trained together for months. I trust your combat skills, take the time to learn this. We will most likely not need it here, but we WILL be using this technique as standard. There is more, and a formal in person meeting is to happen, after we deal with the Unity Admiral. Gwen out”

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Mac was now the commodore of First Fleet, and as such he got to choose his flag ship. He was sitting in Concord with Lyrian as they floated silently above and behind the USN Galveston. Mac had not been dumb enough to permanently make Concord his Flag, but until he had perfected fleet combat from a bridge, Mac was able to see the battlefield and command better from the cockpit.

His ship was up to the task, her upgraded sensor and data link packages made her the perfect hub of combat awareness, and Mac was highly trained in not being seen while observing a fleet battle.

*5 minutes until they get here* lyrians mind brushed up against his.

First fleet, and Third fleet were on the front lines for this, flanking Port Royal about either side of the station at 100,000km from the beacon. the station and her supporting armada were data-linked and in full active sensor mode with Shield Wall activated. Three Eros escorted by Second and fifth fleet’s flag with Rear Admiral Burgoyne aboard, were arrayed in the asteroid field on the Star side the station 50,000km at a 45 degree crossfire angle in full stealth. They were supported by the totality of Ninth fleet.

The Jump point near the beacon and the UGN armada dropped into existence inside Delmar space.

————————————————————

Alarms immediately began to blare around Admiral Karmarin as his fleet dropped into the Signus system.

What looked like two separate fleets flanking a massive space station stood directly in his fleet of 21 ships path. Each of the fleets before him had 1 of the same ships that sank two frigates on the Lycan system, and two destoyer sized ships that he did not recognize. 2 Delmar heavy cruisers and 2 Delmar destroyers filled out each formation and there was an energy field just in front of those fleets that spread across their collective bows as they took on a nose first battle line position. ‘16 to my 21… but those big bastards could be a problem’ his mind clicked off before he remembered his mission and overrode his training

“Maintain orders, open a Hale” he ordered. “Keep our guns cold! If there is to be war, let them start it!” He barked as his orders were carried out.

Moments later the hologram generator shimmered into the form of a dapper Delmar in uniform slightly leaning on a cane with one hand and a Laz pistol on his opposite hip. A chocolate brown almost void skinned Human stood in a respectful manor just behind and to one side and a very tall grey hairs imposing specimen of a human female stood next to the Delmar.

Karmarin noticed the scars and the eye of the Delmar, and his eyes narrowed in recognition reading the Delmar insignia on the man’s chest, “Commander Silu I presume. The slayer of the pirate assassin now commands a space station, I see.”

“Admiral Karmarin, it has been a long time. Welcome to the Delmar system.” Silu said slowly, “Do we fly, or die this day, Admiral?” Silu stated formally in Galactic common.

‘You remember, Well played’ “We fly Commander. I come to speak to the humans in peace, but one must always prepare for war. As you have as well.”

“Very well admiral, we will escort your fleet to Port Royals mooring field. I’m sure you want to avoid docking for security purposes.” Silu nodded to someone off-screen.

Admiral Karmarin was about to dissuade Silu from sending his ships out until a new set of 26 ships drive signatures sent his tactical officer into a quick panic as they revealed themselves in the asteroid field. These three new fleets took up escort positions but did not have their weapons or fire controls powered. “I look forward to our meeting, Admiral Karmarin out.”

“By the void,” his flag captain whispered, “they could take this whole sector and half of the next before we could do anything about it…”

“So it would seem. Shut down the shields and weapons; they won’t do us any good anyway, keep our sensors active. I want to record everything.” The Admiral ordered.

“Consider it done, we are the closest any UGN ship has gotten to a human one and survived to share data. This will be a gold mine.” the Flag captain responded before turning to carry out the orders.

———————————

“Weren’t admirals of the unity supposed to be Thermians?” Ambassador Gwen asked quizzically toward Silu, “and how do you know this one.”

“This admiral was a captain when I met him. But that’s a long story. He was a good man then, one of the few non-Thermian naval officers I ever met. Kawmari are incredibly intelligent. We should be in for interesting times.” Silu shrugged.

First and third fleet resumed their original positions of loose protection around Port Royal. Mac and Clint were summoned to the station itself to sit in on the talks as a second and third brain. Lyrian stayed with Mac until they landed in a hanger, then gave him a peck and wandered off to find Ami and Silu’s wife to do some shopping.

Mac and Clint made it to the shuttle bay just in time to meet the UGN Admirals shuttle.

Mac had seen one of these avian species on He’rth station. He whistled slightly as the Admiral stepped out of his shuttle and spread his wings.

A fully grown Kawmari male measured around 2.5 meters from bill to tail feathers, with a full-grown wingspan of almost 5 meters. Their wings were set into quadruple shoulder joints, two on each shoulder, and shared these with a pair of feathered arms of about a meter in length with 4 fingered articulating talons in place of hands. Their 2-meter-long legs were black and featherless much like a stork species of terra. Admiral Kamarin revealed that gender Dimorphism was also present in this species. Kawmari females tended to have light colored long, narrow refined herring like bills, while male’s bills were large powerful almost shoebill in shape. Their towering stature was a paradox to their weight. Being a flighted avian species, a full grown male Kawmari weighted a mere 20 kg; with their bulk mostly made up of flight, protective, and insulating feathers.

“Admiral Kamarin Welcome to Port Royal.” Silu greeted the towering mass of off-white feathers topped with piercing grey eyes, “Allow me to introduce Ambassador Gwen Mackenzie Trenton of Sol. She also holds the Title of Admiral and wields the might of Sol in this part of the galaxy.”

“Admiral and Ambassador hmm,” Karmarin mused, “Well met. The gambit at the beacon was yours I take it?”

“It was a Group Effort. I know my ships, Commander Silu knows the ‘terrain’ as it were.” Ambassador Gwen offered. “Shall we retire to the conference room?”

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Admiral Kamarin stepped into the conference room to find a selection of food and drink. It was Modest, yet adequate. They had accounted for his species aquatic taste in protein with fish-based dishes, as well as fruits and roughage.

“All Three of our species are Omnivores, Admiral. Everything should be in order.” Silu stated as they sat down.

“Thank you, I do tire of pomp, but our little stand-off has left me with an appetite. It’s not often an Admiral of the Unity is put on his back foot. I found it refreshing.” Kamarin settled into his chair folding his wings over the backrest for space.

“A necessity I’m afraid. Humanity has had very little positive interaction with UGN forces to date. I hope to change that with this visit.” Admiral Gwen stated, taking her seat as well with Silu taking a third.

“Yes, the… Rot… your encounters with our forces exposed was… surprising… It is part of the reason I am here. If we may indulge in business for the moment” Karmarin waited as the other two nodded, “Simply put, the Unity is terrified of Humanity. You are a mystery shrouded in Death and Turmoil to most citizens. This was sadly fanned by the former Admiralty and the science division, in an effort to… examine a specimen, a practice most of us thought abolished almost a millennia ago.”

“It was a reason for our apprehension. Our Initial report from Unity space carried that information.” Ambassador Gwen stated, “Our first Human to contact another species, James Mackenzie, had to be wed to a Delmar woman to protect himself from such an attempt.”

“Mackenzie, he shares a name with yourself?” Karmarin noted.

“My blood nephew, luckily the two already cared a great deal for each other and are Thriving.” The ambassador finished.

“I see. Well, I hope that that horrible practice of specimen acquisition is over, sadly I doubt it is. Humanity is off the list however, your capacity for death and destruction have made that so at a minimum. It is for the best.” Karmarin. “I would stay on the station for the night, with your blessing, I would have trusted members of my crew do so as well. Part of my mission here is to assess the truth that is Humanity.”

“I’m sure that can be arranged. This is a joint-built station, and I see no problem with you or any of your crew who wish for R and R to come aboard” The ambassador stated.

“Indeed, it is agreed” Silu stated, “Is there anything else before we retire to see to those shore leaves.”

Karmarin nodded solemnly, “I need.. to speak to Ambassador Gwen.. alone”

Silu and Gwen shared a look and Gwen nodded imperceptibly as the silence fell on the room.

“Certainly, I’ll go see to your lodgings for the night” Silu stood with practiced calm and left the room.

“Well, this is certainly unexpected… Color me intrigued Admiral.” Gwen’s eyes watched the Admiral as he slowly moved a hand to a small pouch and withdrew a puck from it.

“It is safe, it is a privacy device. If you have not been recording our meeting from the start you are a fool.” He activated it and a slight background of static crackled momentarily before stabilizing. “Admiral, I am here on more than just Unity business… I am the personal agent of the Tetrarchy in this matter. They wish to meet face to face. No games, no measure of intrigue or subterfuge. They wish to see… ‘how humanity has progressed’. ” Gwens eyes widened as he spoke the last part in English.

“Admiral, you have my attention. I must ask why. Our only interaction was over the viewer screen. We only know that “humanity is known” to them.” Gwen said slowly.

“I have been told that you will be very skeptical. I suspect I know why, but I will convey the message I have been sent to deliver….” The UGN admiral switched to English one final time, “24June1947, Arnold was wrong, we were doing 1,950 miles per hour.”

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Captain Yasushi awoke to a Com’s request coming from his computer. He rose slowly, allowing the fog to clear away to calm focus before reaching over and tapping to receive the request. “Go for Morino” he grumbled.

“Captain... It’s the Expedition lead… He is headed back to the Excelsior; He will be here in 45minutes. He says it’s urgent.

Yasushi groaned, “I’ll be there, conference2. Morino out.”

Silas Burke was one of the Original Martian Teraformers and surveyors. At 74 He had forgotten more about how planets work than most ever learned. It had taken 3 jumps to find their first habitable planet. It was a forest world. Burke had been testing the world for short term habitation since they had cleared the atmosphere as breathable. Yasushi had begun the preparations for sending down the rest of the Research team the afternoon before today...

Captain Yasushi stepped into the conference room to meet a very somber and shaken Burke, “Silas… Mind telling me what is going on?”

“Certainly captain. But I feel I need to show you as well.” The shaken man put his backpack on the table and withdrew a wrapped package. He carefully unwrapped it to reveal a weathered Humanoid skull. The room gasped as one before going deadly silent.

“Silas, what did you find” Yasushi’s voice was firm, breaking the Tera former out of his haunted stare at the skull.

“We found a Civilization, Captain… a murdered civilization…” Burk said softly.

“Silas” Captain Yasushi walked over and sat the shaken man down into a chair and waved everyone else into a seat before taking one, not at the head, but next to the man who had become a friend over this voyage, “Start from the beginning. Take your time.”

“Yasu… Captain, we started out like we planned, we brought extra spelunking gear and rock climbing due to the hilly and tumultuous terrain on the planet. We were exploring a valley when Sven decided we should check out a peak. It was a wonder to us why a temperate world could have peaks so high that did not have frozen precipitation on them year-round. We packed up and began the hike up the nearest mountain. The weather cooled but did not require extra clothing until we were near the peak. Marley was the first one to spot something. She found a rock… with a marking on it.. It.. It was porcelain Captain. We started finding artifacts higher up the mountain we climbed... the more we found.” Burke to a shaky breath.

“I sent Sven and another crew by shuttle to a the top of another mountain. They found more… items that required machining… ruins of steel reinforced concrete structures… then this...” the haunted man pointed at the skull “We found that in a half-destroyed metal casket… They were Technologically progressed… but only to the level of our 1930’s.. not enough to… to…” Burke started to shake, staring at his hands.

“Silas, I need to know what they were not advanced enough for.” The captain clamped a hand on his shoulder reassuringly.

“I had a Hunch Yasu… I took out a carbon dating kit and an exotic elements kit... I went back down into the valley and took several samples… Yasu… Those are not valleys... they are craters… all of them. I had teams duplicate the tests in several different sites… The soil and plant life shows signs of biologically adapted and repaired Antimatter degradation in the Flora and Fauna DNA…” Burk looked up at his Captain, “You know how long it takes for that to happen… These people... they were murdered by antimatter weapons, weapons they could not have possibly produced themselves, almost 4000 years ago…”