The Secrets' Crusade
- Thread starter Snowfire
- Start date
- Original Sci-Fi
- Location
- Somewhere out there
Not gonna lie... um... as much as Baughn seems to be trolling, uh... I was already thinking about this.
[x] Both
Given that our ship is the single fastest thing in the galaxy at the moment, we have a head start. We should get in and get our answers. And "Both" says it has a good chance of getting us access to the Practice-like phenomena in the area -- if we can crack that, then even if we set off the alarms, we could be VERY well-positioned for dealing with anything that happens. And if we have answers about the Consolat to go hand-in-hand with the ability to tap into their power, that gives us a MASSIVE upper hand in the subsequent discussions and negotiations.
I could be talked into voting for Vega alone instead, leaving Elil on stealth duty, but I feel like this is such an important moment that we really need to be bringing more power to the table.
As an interesting possibility to consider...
[] Write-in: Teamwork Makes the Dream Work. Let's tap back into mechanics we haven't used in a while... Group Trance! Don't just bring in Vega and Elil -- bring together the whole Heartcircle. If we're going to be loud, let's make it count. Link in Amanda's connection to deeper Practice. Link in Mir's dream of Peace to guide the result. Link in Kalilah because she matters to us.
[x] Both
Given that our ship is the single fastest thing in the galaxy at the moment, we have a head start. We should get in and get our answers. And "Both" says it has a good chance of getting us access to the Practice-like phenomena in the area -- if we can crack that, then even if we set off the alarms, we could be VERY well-positioned for dealing with anything that happens. And if we have answers about the Consolat to go hand-in-hand with the ability to tap into their power, that gives us a MASSIVE upper hand in the subsequent discussions and negotiations.
I could be talked into voting for Vega alone instead, leaving Elil on stealth duty, but I feel like this is such an important moment that we really need to be bringing more power to the table.
As an interesting possibility to consider...
[] Write-in: Teamwork Makes the Dream Work. Let's tap back into mechanics we haven't used in a while... Group Trance! Don't just bring in Vega and Elil -- bring together the whole Heartcircle. If we're going to be loud, let's make it count. Link in Amanda's connection to deeper Practice. Link in Mir's dream of Peace to guide the result. Link in Kalilah because she matters to us.
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
I'm trolling Snowfire. That doesn't mean I don't believe what I said--I genuinely believe 'Both' is more interesting.
Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
In the awareness that I may come to regret this...approved. Just note that trying a group trance like this would be heavily focused on restraining any Miracle-scale effects, because Amanda and co. aren't insane.
Unlike a certain 'healing-type writer'.
[X] Elil
Because Baughn's idea of fun tends to be at odds with baryonic reality.
I'm not saying that Baughn is an Eldritch Horror from Beyond Time and Space... but I'm not not saying that, either.
Because Baughn's idea of fun tends to be at odds with baryonic reality.
I'm not saying that Baughn is an Eldritch Horror from Beyond Time and Space... but I'm not not saying that, either.
Dmol8
The Undead Unhinged Lunatic of the Web
- Location
- Belgrade,Serbia
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
No.🤮
To be clear @Snowfire this is not directed at your story post, it is directed at almost everything below it. I'm not voting on this one.
OK let's clarify this since nobody else went hey wait I remember this:
Your surname had been a joke by your parents, grown into a statement of defiance in the years since you'd come fully into your power. You'd returned cities and more from long mourned ashes, and torn back a life from a fate seemingly already written. You were a Potential, a Unisonbound, and known to much of humanity as the Proven Miracle. But beneath all of that, you were still Vega Cant.
And now, here you were. Far beyond your sun's light, or any born of it since humanity had begun the slow stumble towards civilisation, on a memorial to an action taken millions of years ago. It shouldn't have felt so important. And yet, it did.
"Rinel," you raised a hand, your Masque shifting in time with the motion. Overwhelming emotion, a need for space, that was easy to show. "This is…a great deal to absorb."
Your hand flicked towards the images and diagrams that showed an ending to all creation, denied. Part of you, you couldn't deny, wondered if Practice could have stopped it more elegantly. The rest of you never wanted to find out.
Rinel motioned in a Shiplord nod. "I understand. There are rooms next to the galleries, made to give space for contemplation. Would that suit?"
"I- yes," you nodded in return, fatigue and thankfulness sliding up through your Masque this time. Most of it was real, too. Somewhere near the galleries, but not a gallery itself, would be - better to say so. "That would be perfect."
"Some of you still have questions," your host bowed his head towards Mary and Iris, the most obvious of the two. You could feel Mir's burning interest though, his focus and Focus intent on unravelling questions that so far had no answer. But you had your own mission. "Here."
The Shiplord tilted a hand, and a guide-path popped onto your HUD, leading you out of the room. "That will guide you to where you need to go."
"I'd like to go with her," Amanda said, right on cue. Should that idle certainty in predicting your friends concern you? You weren't sure. Two heartbeats later, Elil joined the two of you. Rinel made that same small gesture again, and his Masque took the form of something that was almost a smile.
"It gives me no joy to see you struggle with the weight of our past," he said. "If you require any aid, do not hesitate to ask."
"Thank you." There was no reason not to say it and you were thankful, if not for the reason the Warden must think. But he wasn't entirely wrong, either. The truth of what had almost happened here was a lot to take in, and you couldn't do so without it altering your perception of the Shiplords. You knew Mandy was struggling with that, especially since the revelations of the Third. This was more on the pile. Fortunately, you had other things to focus on right now.
"Of course," Rinel said, before turning his attention back to those remaining. You wasted no time following the virtual guidepath. Fortunately, it wasn't far. The station appeared to have been designed, or at redesigned, with the need for quiet spaces outside of the galleries. Perhaps the other Sorrows had had them too, but they'd never been needed.
These rooms were different to what you'd seen from the Shiplords before, though. The room was one made almost entirely of gentle curves and soothing angles, merging together into a symmetry that would have made your soul stir had it not already been very much awake. A deep, peaceful silence hung in the air, and there was no sign of technological systems anywhere.
:No recorders,: Elil sent a heartbeat after you entered. :And I think it's shielded, too. They thought about what this place was for before they built it.: There was an emotion that was almost gratitude in the Insight Focused's mindtone.
:I can feel it too,: Mandy said, pitched just above a whisper. :It was made to give safety. To let others heal.: Her mental voice sharpened. :Can you follow that back?:
:I believe so,: you replied. There was definitely something here in the room with you. Something that you could feel beneath the physical, but it wasn't just the intent that Elil and Amanda had found.
Finding Harmony: 73
You took a few steps deeper into the room, towards one of the larger seating arrangements. Mandy and Elil came with you, flanking you with their presence. You felt them, power streaming forth from their souls into the links that bound you together as Unisonbound and Heartcircle. Elil was a sharp, clear clarity within the link, cutting across the gentle tsunami of soothing energies that was Amanda.
Falling into your Focus had, over the years, become as simple as taking a step. But it was still a strange feeling, a paradoxical combination of the world sharpening and falling away all at once. It opened the world to you, and in that moment you felt the room around you again, and more than the room. Mandy and Elil weren't wrong; what they'd experienced was true. But they were only parts of the truth of this place, and in your Focus you found much more.
Something had been driven into soulspace around the entire station, woven through its physical structure in ways that you could barely follow. You could see enough, though, to recognise it. It had begun as a nexus of memory, like the one you'd found in the fallen homeworlds of the Hjivin. A singular point, deemed so important by the Shiplords that their very souls had found a way to engrave it into reality.
Yet for all that, it wasn't like the one you'd found at the Third Sorrow. Not at its beginnings and certainly not anymore. What you could see and feel had been carved into existence across millions of years, by trillions of souls, and never once had those actions been deliberate. Before you was something like a surging river of thought and emotion, barely contained by the channels it cut into reality by its tempestuous passage.
You reached up towards those channels of riotous energy, reached up and almost hesitated. You'd reached into the past before; you'd found truth there. But never once into a place as deeply…you struggled to find a word. Sacred? As this one. Mytikas, Skylark, they'd been places known to billions. This was orders of magnitude greater. But you had to try.
Start small, you told yourself. It was good advice. You brushed a handful of metaphysical fingers into one of the channels around you, dipping an edge of yourself into the endless memories within.
Into Waters of Memory: 5
And found yourself, for the second time in your life that you could remember, utterly out of your depth.
Literally.
A torrent of snapshot moments slashed across your fingers like a hurricane of knives, slicing through the skin of your soul with terrifying ease. You reacted on instinct, power surging up through your shared existence, Kagiso solidifying it around your injured fingers to protect them. It barely mattered. The memories didn't stop, and you realised in an instant of clarity that you'd entirely misjudged their speed. You'd approached this as a construct built to be connected to, as every other one you'd ever touched had been.
This had been created by accident, by a set moment that had driven itself deeper into the Shiplord's cultural consciousness than anything you'd ever seen. The metaphysical KT-impact of the Sorrows on humanity was a child's flailing compared to this. You had no reference points, no guidance, only scorching pain. No single soul could exist, let alone find their way, within this storm of ancient sorrow. The only way to survive was to escape, and try as you might, you didn't know if you could do that on your own.
Insight: 73
ega!: The cry came from three different beings, Elil's Unison had always been quieter than most. But that didn't make them idle. Elil's presence lashed out, compressing into a blade of pure will that somehow cut a gap in the tempest around you. It couldn't last, but you hadn't thought making the space was possible to begin with.
:Get us out, Amanda,: he snapped in a voice completely devoid of emotion. His presence flexed, making two more flying cuts to open your safe harbour a few fractions wider. With each stroke came the same reminder: there were no weak links in your Heartcircle, just different strengths. His existence slashed again at empty space, and this time you caught a glimmering of what the man was doing. He was anticipating the flow, something that you, a Harmonial, hadn't been able to do. And he'd known it was only a holding action.
Different strengths, after all. His was exactly what he'd made of himself here. Perfect clarity welded to the will to act on it without pause, if the situation required it. This one had, but he hadn't jumped blindly. He'd made a space, and with it, time.
Mending: 73
And that was all Amanda needed.
Her presence surged down around you, filling the empty space with power that rang with the taste of silver and aquamarine. It was the touch of home, the feeling of safety in a world without pain, and brooked no defiance to its will. For all that, there was no anger in its presence, none of the rage that you had felt from your friend only a handful of times.
The power of perhaps the greatest of all humanity's Potentials reached into the surging river, a solid ward that simply withstood the rushing moment-blades. You felt her hand close on your own through your Masques, the simple connection of skin to skin still a powerful bond. Then you were flying up, away from the channel you'd tried to tap, and back into the world of flesh and blood.
Amanda's Focus wrapped around you as you came, reaching down into the cuts torn through the fingers you'd extended from your soul. The wounds didn't wash away completely at her touch, but the cuts themselves sealed instantly. A moment later they were faded as if made days before, but something told you that was as far as it would go for now. Anything more would need a greater expression of Mandy's Focus, and that could be dangerous here.
You felt her consider it anyway, but reached out first. :I'm alright, Mandy,: you sent. :I'm alright.:
:You almost weren't.: Elil's voice was more human now, the certainty his Focus had given him bleeding quickly away into concern.
:But I am,: you replied gently. :Thanks to you both.:
:Not perfect,: Amanda sighed. You could feel her annoyance, her worry, but also the knowledge that held it back.
:But enough.: You persisted. :And now I know what's there, I can be better prepared.: For a moment, there was silence.
:You can't be serious!: They both snapped. It was an automatic reaction, and the synchronicity of it made you smile.
:I'm afraid I am,: you replied gently. :Because I got something from that experience, no matter how painful it was.: It had only been a moment, a single instant of clarity that Elil had won for you from the overwhelming pressure within the channels of the soulspace construct. But it had given you the beginning of…something.
There was no way to access the memories inside of it safely, you knew that now. Not without expressions of Practice that would be impossible to hide. But if you could examine how they moved and find the shape of the nexus, you could work out where it began. You knew the event, of course. You knew what Rinel had told, the reasons why it had meant so much. But there was context missing. The Shiplords had found the decision made by the Gysian impossible, the idea of choosing to destroy everything something that just hadn't existed in their perspective of the universe.
But why? You asked that question to your companions, and neither could answer.
:It couldn't just be their desire to be good teachers,: you added. There was a bone-deep certainty in that. :That sort of failure wouldn't have created an imprint in soulspace so turbulent that it could have killed me.:
:Going back into that could still kill you,: Elil pointed out, and you couldn't deny it. He was correct, as usual.
:But she has a point,: Amanda's fingers tightened on your own a moment. :I hate the idea of you risking yourself again, Vega. But I think I understand why you want to.:
:I understand why she wants to,: Elil said acidicly. :I even understand that it's within our mission profile, and that we should be far more capable of protecting her from it if she tries again. But that doesn't remove the risk.:
:This entire mission is risks,: you riposted. :And it's not like we've been short on taking them.:
:Even so, your life,: Amanda's words were torn with protective fear. :We need you, Vega.:
:If we want to succeed,: you said calmly, :I think we need this too.:
What do you choose?
[] You have to know. This is not safe, but it might be necessary.
[] Withdraw. You cannot risk your life or the mission so blatantly here.
That was the First Sorrow having such a vortex of memories around it in soulspace that Vega wasn't safe touching it. What do you think is around the soulspace of the Consolat? And would Vega pulling another miracle touch it?
Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
This is almost certainly part of what Amanda and the other sensitive Potentials aboard the Adamant are currently feeling. The echoes of the act that created the Secrets were never going to be small.
- Location
- Somewhere out there
That... actually makes me like the idea BETTER.
[x] Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
See, I can never really figure out what people are trying to convey with pictures like that... some kind of face-blindness or something.
Oh, uh, oops. Well, 'insight' sounds pretty good given what we're hoping to accomplish too.Ah, this is on me I think for my very...um...questionable update pace. Elil is your Heartcircle's Insight Focused. Mir is your Peace-Focused, and kinda...not an analyst
Uh, isn't the irreplaceable weird magic crystal at the heart of our engine starting to crack? Not sure how long we're going to be able to keep pouring on the afterburners here.
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Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
In this particular case? Snarky agreement.
All good! One of my technical people forgot that Lea existed sooo you're fine.
Vote is heavily tilted towards Elil. I'll close this tomorrow morning unless something majorly changes overnight.
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- Location
- Somewhere out there
I never said we could run away. I said we have a head start where we can hopefully act before they can get enough force in-system to stop us.
- Location
- Florida
[X] Elil
I think I prefer playing it safe.
I think I prefer playing it safe.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Gonna go out on a limb and say, given that this is literally THE center of Shiplord psychological bullfuckery, and has been THE place for the oldest, most influential Shiplords to put anything they want in order to 'preserve' it, given literal aeons of nigh-unlimited resources to build any goddamn thing they want any goddamn where they want, and also that it is close enough to the original Shiplord homeworld that they were able to make contact with these guys back when physics worked normally and FTL travel was, I gather, impossible...
I'm gonna guess that this notional post can be summarized as "a lot less jumps than we'd like."
- Location
- Staring into the void
[x] Both
[x] Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
[x] Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
Tayta Malikai
200% Space Whale
- Location
- Australia
[x] Both
Risk it for the biscuit!
Risk it for the biscuit!
Shard
One and Many
- Location
- Malaysia
I would guess 'zero', personally. As in, there's a major naval base here just in case. Thus, no jumps needed.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
I can imagine the Shiplords abstaining from putting an actual fortress or naval station here, specifically, either "out of respect," or because it tends to cause the Shiplords stationed here to have nervous breakdowns because they are not sane about this place and this species.
Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
Given that the Opposition Assessments sidestory piece specifically notes dispatching an expedition to the Origin, the knowledge available to you seems to support this.
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Points of Insight
Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
It took all of an instant to decide. Vega, whilst brilliant, would be too dangerous to your mission goals right now – especially when trying to act at such extreme range. The Consolat homeworld lay at the heart of every one of the Shiplord's Sorrows. It was where the Teel'sanha's hope had failed them, and what they'd died to pass on. You wouldn't, couldn't, risk that.
Elil then, you thought, nodding to yourself. It was the work of moments to pass orders for the Insight Focused to be substituted for by the small working group of Harmonials aboard the Adamant. You'd had a hand in training some of them yourself, and you knew they'd be glad for a chance to actually use their shared talents.
An hour later, Elil began his dive into the flickering weave of power that echoed silently from the Consolat's combined birthplace and grave. If the younger Potential felt intimidated by the challenge, nothing in his darkly-toned face showed it. The rest of your Heartcircle was there, of course, just in case of something going wrong. Mostly it was to help in case the Insight Focused dug too deeply into his focus and risked unleashing a Miracle, something that you might be able to help restrain by spreading the energy out through your shared link.
But it was always possible that something else was waiting, like what had happened to Project Insight in the Nightfalls incident. Their encounter with anti-Uninvolved countermeasures hadn't been a pleasant one, but if it did repeat here Elil would be in the safe hands of two very skilled Menders. Lea, for her part in that duo, looked alert and focused from behind her draping fringe.
All of you felt when Elil began, the tell-tale feeling of a member of your Heartcircle reaching for the core of their existence. His Aegis would've manifested right then if it hadn't already been extended, and you watched intently, wary for even the barest warning of an oncoming Miracle.
Searching for Insight: 64 + 27 (Elil Practice) + 10 (Steel Eyes) - 20 (Extreme Range) = 81 vs 60/90. Key sites for investigation identified.
And yet this time, none came. Thirty minutes of tension passed as Elil's soul flowed out into the world, searching and examining the phenomenon that so intrigued you and every Potential aboard. Then the Insight Focused let out a long, shuddering breath, like a man who'd just completed some vast physical labour, and slumped forward towards the deck.
You and Lea caught him in the same instant, both reaching out with your shared Focus to check your friend for any signs of harm. He was tired, verging on exhausted in fact, but that was the worst of it. He leant against you for all of a minute, letting himself rest as you fed energy back to his weary soul.
"Thanks," he said, finally. His eyes were dark and distant as he looked up, as if still fixed on a place light years distant.
"Of course," you told him.
"It's who we are," Lea agreed.
He smiled briefly, a flash of white teeth, leaning back from you both as he took a cleansing breath. Then he pushed himself up from the deck, two quick steps taking him to the controls for the room's holographic systems. He tapped at it, bringing up an image of the Consolat homeworld, humming slightly as it appeared. Then he started marking locations in a steady hand.
"I didn't get all that much looking around from this far out," he admitted. He sketched a circle around a reserve of seemingly still carefully tended trees in the outskirts of one of an ancient city. "What I did get, however, are these."
"What are they?" Kalilah asked, ever practical.
"They're where we need to go if we want answers." Elil circled another location, this one a towering spire at the centre of an urban sprawl, the streets now choked with flora. "It's hard to explain it properly, but best I can tell these are like anchor points to that vague presence we've all been feeling.
"I can tell that there are more important ones to the set," he added, frustration bleeding into his voice as he circled another site. "An order that was right there, just out of sight, but I couldn't pull it together. There's too little to work with this far out, makes it hard to focus properly. I learned some things from Phoebe before we left, but the Project Insight techniques were designed to work as part of a group. A solo adaptation was never going to be as good."
"You shouldn't beat yourself up," Mir said, the fair-haired man laying a comforting hand on Elil's shoulder. "This is a lot more than what we had to start with, Elil. Narrowing down the search from an entire planet to four sites."
"Five," the Insight Focused correctly idly. He touched a control and the display snapped out to a solar system view. His eyes flickered across the image for a moment before his fingers stabbed out a final time, highlighting a point on one of the gas giant's moons. "And I know, Mir. It's progress. Doesn't stop me wishing it was a little more."
You could all sympathise with that.
"What now, then?" Lea asked, sweeping a grasping hand across the space Elil occupied in her vision. Checking him again, now that a little time had passed. You couldn't begrudge her that; if she hadn't done it, you would've before leaving.
"We wait for Iris to finish collating survey data," you said. It wasn't the most glamorous duty, but there was only so much any of you could do from here. Safely, at least. You flicked a command to the holo, pulling up a progress tracker. Then blinked when nothing appeared.
"Iris?" You said, drawing your daughter's name out. It wasn't, quite, a parental tone.
"I finished whilst you were working with Elil," she replied through the room's projection array. You could all but see the victorious smile behind the words. "Didn't want to bother you until you were definitely done."
"Well, we're done now," you pointed out. "Bridge meeting room?"
"Nah." The door opened to reveal Iris standing there, the exact smile you'd expected right there on her lips. "Felt easier to come to you. And you've already got the system map up, too."
"I suppose we do."
Jane, Mary and Lieutenant Gilsan from Intel followed the embodied AI through the door, which sealed quietly behind them. Seats flowed up from the nanomass that coated the Inviolate Matter bones of the Adamant's construction, transforming the calm meditation area into a meeting room.
"Mandy," Lea said, nodding to Elil. The Insight Focused was still mentally present, moving towards one of the chairs, but even with support from you and Lea he was showing strain. He had a right to be here, of course but he also didn't have to be.
"Elil," you spoke before he reached the chair. "Sure you don't want a break?"
"I don't need-" he started to say, only to check himself as he realised exactly the response that statement would prompt. He thumbed his chin, considering, and swayed a little on the spot. "Ah. I suppose I do. By your leave, Amanda?"
"Of course."
:I can feel the concern,: you sent to Lea as Elil nodded. :Go. Make sure he's alright. I can check in on him later.:
A bright, sunny bubble of warmth fluttered around you, and you felt more than heard her smile.
:Thank you.:
She came to Elil's side, supporting him unobtrusively, and the two left for the Insight Focused's quarters. The rest of your Heartcircle took the seats provided, leaving you the one between Iris and Jane, with Mary on the opposite side of Iris.
"What do we have waiting for us, then?" You asked. Iris opened her mouth, paused a second to receive a nod from Jane, then spoke.
"What we're seeing is a quiet system," your daughter said. Grids and markers bloomed across the system map, noting points of interest as she spoke. "We've identified a sensor net like the ones around the Hearthguard memorials, but none of the intelligence group believe that's all there is here. This is the heart of the Shiplords' traumas, there's no way they'd leave its defence to a standard sensor net."
A point of light flared between the orbital paths of the second and third planets, a station of some sort. "There's an interstellar Lagless array here," Iris continued. "An old one, from the scans, but that's not immediately relevant. Most of the station's cold, but there are enough emissions from the station for it to be considered active.
"On its own that wouldn't be much of a problem. But we're not the only people here." The image blurred for a moment, then snapped into focus on a close-up of the Consolat's homeworld. A marker glowed next to it. A ship of some kind, but not coded as a warship.
"This isn't the only Shiplord craft in the star system," Lieutenant Gilsan said, his tone businesslike. "There are several picket ships, which we expected. But this isn't one of them." He made a gesture and the signature analysis for the craft expanded out to fill the projection.
"First off, it's not a warship." You'd known that, but some of your Heartcircle wouldn't know naval codes as well. "It's big, more than a kilometre in length, but very little of that space seems to have been dedicated to transportation. That together with how it's broadcasting scientific codes makes us think it's here for an archeological survey of some kind. It's possible that the Shiplords keep a ship like this here permanently, but…we don't think so.
"Why not?" Kalilah asked. Her eyes were fixed on the ship with a dangerous intensity.
"There'd be signs of long-term decay, even with Shiplord systems," Gilsan explained. Another gesture highlighted the hull analysis. "This ship? It's seen a shipyard within the last few years. Nothing major, but it went through a maintenance cycle. Now yes, it's possible that a ship like this one is kept here, and they rotate, but…why would they do that? I know, aliens, and best we can tell this system makes them a little crazy.
"And I know it's not exactly professional, but it doesn't feel right. Not from everything we know about the Shiplords, how they act. I think this is here for a reason. Might even be to do with us - humanity, I mean," he added quickly before any of you could truly tense in concern. "Trying to work out a way to understand what we can do."
"It's not impossible," Mary mused. "We know that Potentials are, in some ways, similar to the Uninvolved in how they affect reality. We know that the Consolat created the Secrets, and that this place," she looked at you apologetically. "I can't be certain, but everything I've heard you say about this place Mandy makes it sound like the echoes of a Miracle. Just an impossibly huge one, even by their standards."
"And I, we," you corrected yourself, "haven't exactly been circumspect in our use of Practice when fighting off Shiplord attacks on Sol."
"No," Gilsan said solemnly. "We have not. As I said, I've got no proof of this. Looking at the data, it could be anything. But this feels right, and I've learnt to listen to my instincts."
"Hard to argue with that," Mir muttered under his breath.
"Indeed," you agreed. "That said, we have to accept that we don't know the real reason that ship is here. I'm seeing another marker beside this vessel, one of the picket ships?" Best to move this conversation along for now, going in circles on the matter wouldn't help anyone.
"I-yes, ma'am." Gilsan nodded. "There are two more, one at the system edge and one near the interstellar relay."
"That's going to be annoying," Jane sighed. "I assume that our stealth systems should still function properly, however?"
"They will," Iris said, without a trace of doubt. "We'll want Elil and Vega running them whenever we activate our drive, but the systems were designed to handle this. Getting a shuttle down to the Consolat homeworld will be a challenge, but nothing we can't handle. Vega and Mir got a shuttle down through a Shiplord sensor weave finer than anything we've seen at the Third Sorrow. They can manage this."
You considered that statement for a moment, then nodded. Iris was many things, but she wasn't reckless with the lives of others. If she said this was the case, it was, to the very best of her knowledge.
"What about AI presence?" You asked.
"There doesn't seem to be one," Mary said, after a moment. "We're still analysing system traffic, and there's some truly impressive security there, but it all seems VI-driven. AI systems aren't exactly subtle in their signal patterns."
Iris looked down and you frowned as you saw the touch of guilt in your daughter's eyes. You reached out to Sidra, then through your Unison on pure instinct. You could tell what was going through her mind, and that couldn't stand.
:It's alright to be happy that you don't have to shackle someone like you,: you sent gently. She glanced up, the motion almost a blur. :You're more than doing your part here, love. Please, don't burn yourself thinking that you should be able to do more.:
She seemed to consider that. Then she nodded. Just once, but that would be enough for now. You could talk to her about it later, if she needed it.
"Something to keep an eye on, then," you said out loud. "For all we know, they could have a dormant system guardian, and I'd very much prefer not to alert one to our presence. So we operate under that premise." It would definitely make some of your work harder, but survival was more important.
"I'll pass the word on that now," Jane said, her eyes going distant for a moment. "There. Now all we need is your decision on where you want us to put the Adamant for initial investigations. I can see that Elil has found some points of interest, and that's going to make the first question pretty simple. Do we go to the second planet, or the gas giant system? Our shuttles can make the trip from an orbit between the two, but it's a massive travel lag, and I'm not exactly comfortable with that."
"A fair point," you agreed, breathing out through your nose. "What else?"
"The gas giant's pretty simple, there's no obvious presence there, we can afford to get close to that moon. The Consolat homeworld however? We've options. I don't want us too far away, but if you're worried about our stealth capacity we could hide on one of the near-planet asteroids. Other than that, medium distance or planetary orbit. Most of this is about balancing risk with ease of access."
"I understand." And you did. It wasn't a fun thing to have to choose, but it was also your job. You wouldn't let any minor discomfort slow you down.
Where will the Adamant be placed initially? This will determine available options for your first phase of actions at the Consolat Origin, as well as certain background rolls.
[] The Outer Moon - The only one of Elil's results not on the Consolat homeworld. There are no obvious sensor presences, but going here will also deny you access to the four points of interest on the second planet.
[] The Origin - The Consolat homeworld, and the site of four out of five of the points of interest identified by Elil. There is a Shiplord civilian craft, presumably a research vessel from its codes, in orbit of the planet as well as a single picket ship. If picking the Origin, you must also pick a distance.
-[] High Orbit - Sharing orbital space with Shiplord craft whilst remaining hidden is exactly what you did at the Fifth Sorrow. This will provide immediate access to the sites on the planet below, and minimise time to extraction in the event of detection.
-[] Middle Distance - Take up position a few lightseconds out from the homeworld's orbital path. This option splits the difference of access and risk, favouring neither.
-[] Near Orbit Cluster - Much as the Adamant currently hides in the mass shadow of a comet, hide in the shadow of an asteroid that shares the orbital path of the Consolat homeworld. This will significantly increase the time required to reach the homeworld, but is the safest option if you want to take Elil and Vega with you to secure the landing party.
Elil then, you thought, nodding to yourself. It was the work of moments to pass orders for the Insight Focused to be substituted for by the small working group of Harmonials aboard the Adamant. You'd had a hand in training some of them yourself, and you knew they'd be glad for a chance to actually use their shared talents.
An hour later, Elil began his dive into the flickering weave of power that echoed silently from the Consolat's combined birthplace and grave. If the younger Potential felt intimidated by the challenge, nothing in his darkly-toned face showed it. The rest of your Heartcircle was there, of course, just in case of something going wrong. Mostly it was to help in case the Insight Focused dug too deeply into his focus and risked unleashing a Miracle, something that you might be able to help restrain by spreading the energy out through your shared link.
But it was always possible that something else was waiting, like what had happened to Project Insight in the Nightfalls incident. Their encounter with anti-Uninvolved countermeasures hadn't been a pleasant one, but if it did repeat here Elil would be in the safe hands of two very skilled Menders. Lea, for her part in that duo, looked alert and focused from behind her draping fringe.
All of you felt when Elil began, the tell-tale feeling of a member of your Heartcircle reaching for the core of their existence. His Aegis would've manifested right then if it hadn't already been extended, and you watched intently, wary for even the barest warning of an oncoming Miracle.
Searching for Insight: 64 + 27 (Elil Practice) + 10 (Steel Eyes) - 20 (Extreme Range) = 81 vs 60/90. Key sites for investigation identified.
And yet this time, none came. Thirty minutes of tension passed as Elil's soul flowed out into the world, searching and examining the phenomenon that so intrigued you and every Potential aboard. Then the Insight Focused let out a long, shuddering breath, like a man who'd just completed some vast physical labour, and slumped forward towards the deck.
You and Lea caught him in the same instant, both reaching out with your shared Focus to check your friend for any signs of harm. He was tired, verging on exhausted in fact, but that was the worst of it. He leant against you for all of a minute, letting himself rest as you fed energy back to his weary soul.
"Thanks," he said, finally. His eyes were dark and distant as he looked up, as if still fixed on a place light years distant.
"Of course," you told him.
"It's who we are," Lea agreed.
He smiled briefly, a flash of white teeth, leaning back from you both as he took a cleansing breath. Then he pushed himself up from the deck, two quick steps taking him to the controls for the room's holographic systems. He tapped at it, bringing up an image of the Consolat homeworld, humming slightly as it appeared. Then he started marking locations in a steady hand.
"I didn't get all that much looking around from this far out," he admitted. He sketched a circle around a reserve of seemingly still carefully tended trees in the outskirts of one of an ancient city. "What I did get, however, are these."
"What are they?" Kalilah asked, ever practical.
"They're where we need to go if we want answers." Elil circled another location, this one a towering spire at the centre of an urban sprawl, the streets now choked with flora. "It's hard to explain it properly, but best I can tell these are like anchor points to that vague presence we've all been feeling.
"I can tell that there are more important ones to the set," he added, frustration bleeding into his voice as he circled another site. "An order that was right there, just out of sight, but I couldn't pull it together. There's too little to work with this far out, makes it hard to focus properly. I learned some things from Phoebe before we left, but the Project Insight techniques were designed to work as part of a group. A solo adaptation was never going to be as good."
"You shouldn't beat yourself up," Mir said, the fair-haired man laying a comforting hand on Elil's shoulder. "This is a lot more than what we had to start with, Elil. Narrowing down the search from an entire planet to four sites."
"Five," the Insight Focused correctly idly. He touched a control and the display snapped out to a solar system view. His eyes flickered across the image for a moment before his fingers stabbed out a final time, highlighting a point on one of the gas giant's moons. "And I know, Mir. It's progress. Doesn't stop me wishing it was a little more."
You could all sympathise with that.
"What now, then?" Lea asked, sweeping a grasping hand across the space Elil occupied in her vision. Checking him again, now that a little time had passed. You couldn't begrudge her that; if she hadn't done it, you would've before leaving.
"We wait for Iris to finish collating survey data," you said. It wasn't the most glamorous duty, but there was only so much any of you could do from here. Safely, at least. You flicked a command to the holo, pulling up a progress tracker. Then blinked when nothing appeared.
"Iris?" You said, drawing your daughter's name out. It wasn't, quite, a parental tone.
"I finished whilst you were working with Elil," she replied through the room's projection array. You could all but see the victorious smile behind the words. "Didn't want to bother you until you were definitely done."
"Well, we're done now," you pointed out. "Bridge meeting room?"
"Nah." The door opened to reveal Iris standing there, the exact smile you'd expected right there on her lips. "Felt easier to come to you. And you've already got the system map up, too."
"I suppose we do."
Jane, Mary and Lieutenant Gilsan from Intel followed the embodied AI through the door, which sealed quietly behind them. Seats flowed up from the nanomass that coated the Inviolate Matter bones of the Adamant's construction, transforming the calm meditation area into a meeting room.
"Mandy," Lea said, nodding to Elil. The Insight Focused was still mentally present, moving towards one of the chairs, but even with support from you and Lea he was showing strain. He had a right to be here, of course but he also didn't have to be.
"Elil," you spoke before he reached the chair. "Sure you don't want a break?"
"I don't need-" he started to say, only to check himself as he realised exactly the response that statement would prompt. He thumbed his chin, considering, and swayed a little on the spot. "Ah. I suppose I do. By your leave, Amanda?"
"Of course."
:I can feel the concern,: you sent to Lea as Elil nodded. :Go. Make sure he's alright. I can check in on him later.:
A bright, sunny bubble of warmth fluttered around you, and you felt more than heard her smile.
:Thank you.:
She came to Elil's side, supporting him unobtrusively, and the two left for the Insight Focused's quarters. The rest of your Heartcircle took the seats provided, leaving you the one between Iris and Jane, with Mary on the opposite side of Iris.
"What do we have waiting for us, then?" You asked. Iris opened her mouth, paused a second to receive a nod from Jane, then spoke.
"What we're seeing is a quiet system," your daughter said. Grids and markers bloomed across the system map, noting points of interest as she spoke. "We've identified a sensor net like the ones around the Hearthguard memorials, but none of the intelligence group believe that's all there is here. This is the heart of the Shiplords' traumas, there's no way they'd leave its defence to a standard sensor net."
A point of light flared between the orbital paths of the second and third planets, a station of some sort. "There's an interstellar Lagless array here," Iris continued. "An old one, from the scans, but that's not immediately relevant. Most of the station's cold, but there are enough emissions from the station for it to be considered active.
"On its own that wouldn't be much of a problem. But we're not the only people here." The image blurred for a moment, then snapped into focus on a close-up of the Consolat's homeworld. A marker glowed next to it. A ship of some kind, but not coded as a warship.
"This isn't the only Shiplord craft in the star system," Lieutenant Gilsan said, his tone businesslike. "There are several picket ships, which we expected. But this isn't one of them." He made a gesture and the signature analysis for the craft expanded out to fill the projection.
"First off, it's not a warship." You'd known that, but some of your Heartcircle wouldn't know naval codes as well. "It's big, more than a kilometre in length, but very little of that space seems to have been dedicated to transportation. That together with how it's broadcasting scientific codes makes us think it's here for an archeological survey of some kind. It's possible that the Shiplords keep a ship like this here permanently, but…we don't think so.
"Why not?" Kalilah asked. Her eyes were fixed on the ship with a dangerous intensity.
"There'd be signs of long-term decay, even with Shiplord systems," Gilsan explained. Another gesture highlighted the hull analysis. "This ship? It's seen a shipyard within the last few years. Nothing major, but it went through a maintenance cycle. Now yes, it's possible that a ship like this one is kept here, and they rotate, but…why would they do that? I know, aliens, and best we can tell this system makes them a little crazy.
"And I know it's not exactly professional, but it doesn't feel right. Not from everything we know about the Shiplords, how they act. I think this is here for a reason. Might even be to do with us - humanity, I mean," he added quickly before any of you could truly tense in concern. "Trying to work out a way to understand what we can do."
"It's not impossible," Mary mused. "We know that Potentials are, in some ways, similar to the Uninvolved in how they affect reality. We know that the Consolat created the Secrets, and that this place," she looked at you apologetically. "I can't be certain, but everything I've heard you say about this place Mandy makes it sound like the echoes of a Miracle. Just an impossibly huge one, even by their standards."
"And I, we," you corrected yourself, "haven't exactly been circumspect in our use of Practice when fighting off Shiplord attacks on Sol."
"No," Gilsan said solemnly. "We have not. As I said, I've got no proof of this. Looking at the data, it could be anything. But this feels right, and I've learnt to listen to my instincts."
"Hard to argue with that," Mir muttered under his breath.
"Indeed," you agreed. "That said, we have to accept that we don't know the real reason that ship is here. I'm seeing another marker beside this vessel, one of the picket ships?" Best to move this conversation along for now, going in circles on the matter wouldn't help anyone.
"I-yes, ma'am." Gilsan nodded. "There are two more, one at the system edge and one near the interstellar relay."
"That's going to be annoying," Jane sighed. "I assume that our stealth systems should still function properly, however?"
"They will," Iris said, without a trace of doubt. "We'll want Elil and Vega running them whenever we activate our drive, but the systems were designed to handle this. Getting a shuttle down to the Consolat homeworld will be a challenge, but nothing we can't handle. Vega and Mir got a shuttle down through a Shiplord sensor weave finer than anything we've seen at the Third Sorrow. They can manage this."
You considered that statement for a moment, then nodded. Iris was many things, but she wasn't reckless with the lives of others. If she said this was the case, it was, to the very best of her knowledge.
"What about AI presence?" You asked.
"There doesn't seem to be one," Mary said, after a moment. "We're still analysing system traffic, and there's some truly impressive security there, but it all seems VI-driven. AI systems aren't exactly subtle in their signal patterns."
Iris looked down and you frowned as you saw the touch of guilt in your daughter's eyes. You reached out to Sidra, then through your Unison on pure instinct. You could tell what was going through her mind, and that couldn't stand.
:It's alright to be happy that you don't have to shackle someone like you,: you sent gently. She glanced up, the motion almost a blur. :You're more than doing your part here, love. Please, don't burn yourself thinking that you should be able to do more.:
She seemed to consider that. Then she nodded. Just once, but that would be enough for now. You could talk to her about it later, if she needed it.
"Something to keep an eye on, then," you said out loud. "For all we know, they could have a dormant system guardian, and I'd very much prefer not to alert one to our presence. So we operate under that premise." It would definitely make some of your work harder, but survival was more important.
"I'll pass the word on that now," Jane said, her eyes going distant for a moment. "There. Now all we need is your decision on where you want us to put the Adamant for initial investigations. I can see that Elil has found some points of interest, and that's going to make the first question pretty simple. Do we go to the second planet, or the gas giant system? Our shuttles can make the trip from an orbit between the two, but it's a massive travel lag, and I'm not exactly comfortable with that."
"A fair point," you agreed, breathing out through your nose. "What else?"
"The gas giant's pretty simple, there's no obvious presence there, we can afford to get close to that moon. The Consolat homeworld however? We've options. I don't want us too far away, but if you're worried about our stealth capacity we could hide on one of the near-planet asteroids. Other than that, medium distance or planetary orbit. Most of this is about balancing risk with ease of access."
"I understand." And you did. It wasn't a fun thing to have to choose, but it was also your job. You wouldn't let any minor discomfort slow you down.
Where will the Adamant be placed initially? This will determine available options for your first phase of actions at the Consolat Origin, as well as certain background rolls.
[] The Outer Moon - The only one of Elil's results not on the Consolat homeworld. There are no obvious sensor presences, but going here will also deny you access to the four points of interest on the second planet.
[] The Origin - The Consolat homeworld, and the site of four out of five of the points of interest identified by Elil. There is a Shiplord civilian craft, presumably a research vessel from its codes, in orbit of the planet as well as a single picket ship. If picking the Origin, you must also pick a distance.
-[] High Orbit - Sharing orbital space with Shiplord craft whilst remaining hidden is exactly what you did at the Fifth Sorrow. This will provide immediate access to the sites on the planet below, and minimise time to extraction in the event of detection.
-[] Middle Distance - Take up position a few lightseconds out from the homeworld's orbital path. This option splits the difference of access and risk, favouring neither.
-[] Near Orbit Cluster - Much as the Adamant currently hides in the mass shadow of a comet, hide in the shadow of an asteroid that shares the orbital path of the Consolat homeworld. This will significantly increase the time required to reach the homeworld, but is the safest option if you want to take Elil and Vega with you to secure the landing party.
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Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
Thanks be to @Coda for checking this for me. The end of the next update will involve a mechanical shift as you settle into work at the Origin, drawing inspiration from later turns of PW though with massively reduced time costs. I'm still going to work to maintain a narrative focus, but I also want your time at the Origin to be somewhat more granular, and a mechanical shift seems the best way to handle that. Should I perhaps have done this for the Shiplord Sorrows? It's possible, but there's unfortunately not much I can do about that now.
A minor note: the Adamant could absolutely blast all three of the Shiplord picket ships into very tiny bits without a huge amount of effort. The problem would be preventing them notifying the rest of Shiplord civilisation, and then surviving the resulting avalanche of a military response.
Hope y'all enjoy.
A minor note: the Adamant could absolutely blast all three of the Shiplord picket ships into very tiny bits without a huge amount of effort. The problem would be preventing them notifying the rest of Shiplord civilisation, and then surviving the resulting avalanche of a military response.
Hope y'all enjoy.
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Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
I've been made aware that this update contained an accidental reference [For Betas] regarding breakpoints. Anyone who read the update before this post will have seen it, but it's now gone. In the interests of honesty, the information in that reference was wrong at the time of posting. Please do your best to disregard it.