Notes : Chapters 134 and 135 have been written and added to the queue !
Went to an osteopathe (I don't know what the name is in english). They twisted my body in weird ways and now I feel taller, my spine feel straighter and my back pain is just GONE. So, for once, a doctor's appointment actually solved the problem ! Hurray !
I hope you'll enjoy the chapter !
Chapter 133
Starborn Mountains, Mount Nebula
Crash Site
Sapphiria vaulted out of the minecart, this time without falling, and immediately began to stalk towards the escape pod.
Her thoughts were still swirling. She'd made her excuses, packed what the squishies couldn't use, and left Astralis in a hurry.
She needed time. Time to think.
But before she could slump against her escape pod, there were still things that needed handling.
"Status report." Called out the AI, and Cia's projection appeared. Actually, no, not projection. A full on hologram. Was she practicing in case she had to interact with Kalia?
"Ma'am." Said the simulacrum, saluting. The AI stopped, then forced herself to relax a bit, realizing Cia was simply reacting to her agitation and tension, and reverting back to stiffer military protocol. "I have begun implementing your orders. The production schedule has rearranged. Repairs are in their final phase, and the basic parts for the new mining bots are being made as we speak."
"Excellent." Sapphiria kept her voice calm and soothing, with the ease of long practice. Cia wasn't a squishie that needed to be reassured, but her training as a ship's AI came back regardless. Never be alarmed to anyone but the captain. You're a pillar of the crew, the one present all around them. To them, you are their home, their air, their station and their weapon. You must be their rock to hold onto during the storm, the shield against the tsunami that is the galaxy and its horrors. "You were preparing some options?"
"I have them ready for review now."
"Go ahead."
The simulacrum cleared her throat. Completely uncessary, but she was made to put both squishies and AIs at ease.
"Our options are primarily based on priorities. We can expand our capacity for military manufacturing with dedicated production facilities and chemical synthesizers especially. We can focus on primary material extraction and refining, but this has...significant issues, as the advanced materials refinery and fabricator are both becoming bottlenecks, even with all basic components and armatures being handled by the basic colonial fabricators."
Sapphiria nodded.
"I'd noticed. So the third option, I'm going to guess, is that we start to tech up. Make more advanced manufacturing facilities so we can start to widen the base of that bottleneck?"
"Affirmative. Primary points would be electronics production, second stage materials processing, and basic metamaterial synthesis."
The AI smiled. Not a big smile, and a bit force, but still a smile.
"Not a very hard choice. Electronics are essential to all of our systems and operations." She said. "Second stage materials processing would be good." It would be the first real step towards refining isotopes into useable MOX fuel and building a fission reactor. "And basic metamaterials just aren't worth it right now." That would give her access to the more primitive molecular bonded armor, but more importantly superconductors, military grade electromagnets and laser emitters. Basically, railguns and laser cannons.
All of which were amazing...if you could power them. Which outside of her power armor, she couldn't. It would probably have to come after the second stage materials processing and its fissile fuel.
She gazed at the simulacrum, but interesting Cia didn't ask about the reasoning, and just nodded.
The simulacrum wasn't stupid after all. Just unimaginative. She could understand what the absolute priority should be in this situation, but she was being diligent and dutiful, leaving it to her superior to sort out.
"Understood. I will begin setting up the new schedule. Please note that without metamaterials..."
"I know, no molecular processor cores. But we don't need many of them. The refinery and fabricator should be able to cope."
Her bots used them as their central system node, trying everything else together. But the bulk of the electronics was low grade, easy to replace stuff that controlled stuff like motor functions, sensor inputs, routine communications, all that.
In a way, they were eerily reminiscent of how an AI like herself worked. A central, extremely powerful computer core, tying up a network of bots, fabricators, and other 'vassal' systems like Cia. You could even scale it up to how her carrier group had worked, every lesser vessel tied to the Starprism and its vast computing power.
"Very well. I believe you had some information imparted into you? It seemed to...have caused some distress."
Sapphiria sighed as she reached the pod, and sat down, her back leaning against the hull. It was bizarre to think that it was her. That roughed up little escape pod that crashed through a mountain. She should probably take the time to at least dig it out of its gouge. Put it on a pedestal or something.
TO-DO LIST UPDATED
Right.
The program, at least, managed to distract her for a second and make her roll her eyes.
She settled down, and slipped into her personal simulation, the one where she had collated the runic information, surrounded by images and holograms. Cia followed her without missing a beat.
The AI pulled up the illustration of the Eternal Throne, a faithful reproduction from her eyes and sensors, and began to explain.
The simulacrum sat there, listening.
Finally, Sapphiria finished, and looked at Cia, almost expectantly.
"You should be discussing this with the mage-magistrate." Said the simulacrum.
Sapphiria winced.
"I know. But I needed to...I don't know what I needed."
"You have found important and disturbing information. You first reflex was to retreat and hash it out with trusted officers before taking any other actions, including dispersing it, even to critical personnel."
"Uh..."
Cia smiled slightly.
"Your aunt has the same reaction."
"My-" Sapphiria stopped herself. Wait. She thought her aunt had modified Cia, not...Worked with her. Certainly not enough for the simulacrum to know her.
Cia was supposed to be brand fucking new. Made with the Starprism. Flipped online a few months before formal commissioning, to handle the final stages and help get the ship running. When Sapphiria had first met her, the simulacrum was supposed to have been a couple of weeks old tops, and spent all of that time with the shipyard's AIs, making sure the ship could receive its assigned AI.
Stars damn it Alex. Did you activate her early?
It wasn't often that she used her aunt's nickname, even in the sanctity of her own mind, but this time she did without hesitation.
"Yes." If the simulacrum realized she'd made a faux pas, she didn't show it. "You seem to have inherited a lot from her."
"I inherited a lot from everyone." Though her mother most of all. And given that her aunt had been part of Arcadia's hivemind, albeit leaving it before her ill-fated attempt to subsume humanity by force, they were closer than one might think. "Still, this is...troubling."
"The entire concept of magic is troubling. We had significant evidence of terran forces and technological capabilities having had significant influence. Enough to start, but not complete, a planetary defense center. A throne is remarkably less than that."
"I'm...more worried about why it's a secret. The Throne is shrouded in legends. You'd think someone surviving whatever befell this place would have tried to spread their knowledge around and who they are."
The simulacrum blinked.
"But...you aren't? You have kept your identity secret to all but Kalia, and though you have shared technology, it was only in a limited capacity and enabled by the pod's advanced fabrication capabilities. A survivor from an apocalyptic event would presumably not have the navy's finest systems on hand, built specifically for this scenario."
Sapphiria opened her mouth, then closed it as it finally clicked. That sense of unease resolved itself as she finally put the pieces together, and her face went white.
"Holy shit. Cia?"
"Yes ma'am."
"You're a genius. A terrifying genius. You're absolutely right. Remember when I said that something was keeping the roman aesthetic consistent over the Empire's existence? That's because that was the point." She shook her head. "The Eternal Empire...it's a long term, very long term technological uplift. Exactly like what I'm trying to make, just...slower. Much slower."
*****
"I do not understand." Said Cia, as Sapphiria paced back and forth in the simulation, the floating illustration of the Eternal Throne following her around as it slowly orbited her. "Why would an uplift program be so slow?"
Sapphiria stopped, and grimaced.
"Because whoever started it had no idea how to get to high technologies. Think about it, the average squishie, even squishie engineer, has no clue how primitive tech works. Without something like my escape pod and colonial schematics to start the process at the top, you'd have to make your way slowly. Sure, they might know how to make circuit boards and fusion reactors, but what's the use if the best the locals can smelt is bronze? If you don't know how to make iron, you have to have other people discover it. You know the general direction to go into but not the specifics." She shook her head. "That's just speculation though."
"It does seem to fit available data." The simulacrum paused. "What does it change?"
Sapphiria sighed.
"I don't know. The Thronebreakers apparently destroyed the Imperial Crypts, so we can't ask the Emperors, the people sure to have known what was going on. But I doubt they'd have managed to destroy the bodies of everyone who was in on it. They had to have advisors, people to enact their objectives. Probably some of the Dominions and Hands."
Though, presumably, not the two she'd met and was in a tentative alliance with. Apparently Hero artificers could make power armor here, but someone who was actually trying to bring back high technology would realize pretty damned quickly that her gear wasn't magical and presumably start asking questions immediately.
"Interviewing them will be complicated. They are the enemy's high command structure."
"Then we'll just have to make sure we take them alive...animate, whatever they call it when they still move, when we crush their forces."
What she would do once she got a hold of them though, that was...less certain.
The Bane still needed to be broken. They were a threat to humanity. But this Eternal Empire...
What had happened to it? Who the hell were the Thronebreakers? She'd wondered if they had know about the Throne, but would they have known about the uplift? Tried to prevent it?
"Ma'am?"
Sapphiria shook herself, as she realized she was spacing out.
"Sorry. Just...too many questions, too few answers."
"That has been true since we have landed."
Obscurely, that cheered the AI up. After all, she'd made it this far. She'd slain undead, saved squishies from certain doom, and used fucking magic.
"That's fair." She took a deep breath. "Alright. Let's get to work. Kickstart the scaling up process, then handle the salvage. Afterwards I'll head up with the reinforcements to Astralis and have a talk with Kalia."
"Understood. Let us begin."
*****
The Tribune stopped, and gazed at the landscape.
He hated snow. He'd always hated snow. The peaks surrounding the City of Spires had done nothing for him, and he much preferred the rolling hills of Tasklen or the coastal plains of Maryl.
Still, even he had to admit there was a kind of beauty to it. In the uniform, light reflecting kind.
Some said the snow was a symbol of purity. If that was the case, then it mixing with the dirt, melting and becoming filthy mud was a good metaphor for how intentions met the grim reality of the field.
He had been ordered to go to Starfire Valley, and take command.
The slight problem was the rather sizeable fleet of rebel gunboats and the Amethyst armies in the way. Not even to mention the numerous bands of raiders and other rebel remnants haunting the countryside, the Imperial armies too busy waging war to spare troops to pacify the hinterlands.
Thankfully, every problem had its solution.
Some solutions however, were...less desirable than others.
"My lord." Spoke one of the attendants. Their voices was a raspy sigh, coming from the depth of a cowl, desicated hands emerging from their sleeves. "The Roc is ready."
The Tribune nodded, and looked up at the...creature.
It couldn't rightly be called a bird anymore.
The Empire had only very few airships. The means to manufacture them en masse were only made after the Awakening, as the rebel provinces had to innovate following the loss of the soulless. And airship engineers were the first evacuated out of the areas under threat. Too precious a commodity.
But the Empire had flight. Even during the age of Kallaran, the First Emperor. Dracoliches were the most well known. Dragons, brought back to life by the necromantic arts.
But a Roc? A bird, deliberately mutated in Stoneblood, the Empire's home convergence. Its body turning into something that looked like stone and yet gave it both strength and an even lighter weight. A living gargoyle, light as a feather. Well, compared to its size.
Of course, any monster from a Convergence thirsted for the blood of humanity. Thankfully, once slain and properly raised from the dead, they became most agreeable.
The creature looked at him with unblinking, topaz eyes, and he nodded.
"Then aid me in mounting up, and I shall be on my way."
Time, after all, was of the essence.
Every day spent travelling risked Amethyst awakening something they did not understand and could never hope to control from the depths of the Vestige.