Humans Don't Hibernate [Part 23/?] (Patreon)

The poetry of my current circumstances was not lost on me. Indeed, this entire situation felt as if it had been orchestrated by some higher power, by some unseen machination which had effectively bound the fates of our two species in such a way that not even the cataclysmic force that was the Interlopers, or even the unfeeling and unrelenting passage of time could unbound. It was, for lack of a better term, fate. It was fate that I had been assigned to the monitoring and studying of Earth and by extension a primordial state of humanity. It was fate that I had seen humanity grow into a burgeoning civilization, unbound by the influence and machinations of the Interlopers, free to expand uninhibited throughout the stars. It was also my fate to be saved by a human, not just once, not just twice, but a total of three times now. First by Elijah’s entry into my family’s hibernation vaults, then by Vir’s actions during our direct engagements with the Interlopers, and now… perhaps I’m getting a bit ahead of myself, but humanity has never once faltered in its resolve.

“Captain, I am afraid I can only speak to you as the last of my race, still free from Interloper control.” I began, delving into uncharted territory, running based entirely on assumptions and assertions based on what I’ve seen and heard so far. “In this respect I’m speaking to you in a rather precarious legal position. As I refuse to recognize whatever my kind’s bastardized administration currently is, and as I refuse to recognize the state which I previously belonged to given the nature of the extent of Interloper control. I understand, at least from my experience with Vanaran diplomatic officers, that speaking to an individual not belonging to any state in an official capacity brings with it a lot of legal baggage. I’d just like to be clear on this matter first before we proceed.”

The Captain’s response however was… rather unexpected as he gave a decidedly unexpected grin and a chuckle in response to my worries. “Mr. Daenir, the UN is the last organization to worry itself with those sorts of things.We may have been a lot more fixated on such finer details were in our prime prior to the divergence, but at this point it’d be the pot calling the kettle black if we were to get wrapped up about these sorts of things. Though I’d have to say the Ascendancy is going to have a field day when they realize that first contact was conducted not just once by the UN, but twice now.” The man seemed to be relatively jubilant at that announcement as he then shifted his focus towards more pressing matters. Or rather, Vir started to shift the conversation to one that was more productive to our aims.

“I hate to interrupt this historic occasion, I really do, but I think we still need to clear the air on a few other issues.” He interjected.

“Alright we’re all ears.”

“Why are you hunting down this satellite?” Vir broached, which led to a reply that was decidedly simple and straightforward.

“It’s part of our mission profile. We’re part of the UN’s Long Range Reconnaissance and Intervention forces. The most recent developments in our backlog of studies involves the Hibernation Conduit project, whose promising research was alluded to time and time again, but the actual hard data of which is completely lacking. The only leads we have are on these nomadic satellites. We assumed that the research was for some reason backed up there, or would perhaps lead us to it. It seems as if we were right, in that respect.” The Captain chuckled. “It did lead us to what we were trying to track down. Or rather, it brought it right to us.”

Vir seemed satisfied with that answer as he threw yet another question out there, hungry for answers, and clearly taking this window of opportunity to get on top of the situation. “Your callsign indicates you’re part of the Science Advisory. SA ships aren’t armed, at least, back in my day they weren't. Is there a reason for you using this designation or are all SA ships now armed?”

“You’re right. Prior to the Second Interloper War, SA ships were strictly civilian. However, the war incurred the mobilization and militarization of all space assets within the United Nations. This included any and all civilian ships within the UN’s greater civilian command structure. This fact hasn’t changed, and given the nature of our missions deep into Interloper space, far beyond civilized UN or Ascendancy territory, being armed is just part of the job. In fact, the SA is now very much associated with running independent, long-range, scouting missions on behalf of the UN’s more established forces.”

Vir took a moment to consider his next words carefully. It was clear that most of the pressing questions had been asked, so what was left was to fill in the rest of the gaps.

“What’s the lay of the land? You said that the Ascendancy has most of the Milky Way and the rest of the local cluster galaxies under their belts. Does this mean the UN’s just a breakaway state with few assets or-?”

The Captain interjected before Vir could finish his question, his tone was terse, as if offended by Vir’s statements. “Son, I’m going to stop you right there. I think it’s more important that we get started on getting the Vanaran on board for an advanced check-up. Then we can continue our little chit-chats.”

“No.” Vir responded bluntly.

“Excuse me?”

“With all due respects sir, I want the full picture. No more hindrances, no more sitting in the dark and wondering about what’s out there. I want the full and unimpeded picture. Wouldn’t you want the same if you were in my position?” The AI was adamant on this, and this back and forth had clearly become a lot more heated than what I was expecting. This entire exchange had once again put me in an awkward position, as my heart raced in fear of what this bold attitude could incur.

The Captain’s begrudging sigh of approval however, was something that I half expected now, as it was once again abundantly clear to me that humans and their AI creations really were of an entirely alien social order from what I was used to. Indeed, it really did reaffirm one of the leading AI theories back home… that if an AI were to remain stable and cognizant, they would take up the mental and social characteristics of their creators.

“A full picture huh? Well, here’s a rundown as best as I can provide it.” Another ping echoed throughout the bridge, one that brought with it a holographic projection of the entire local cluster, which was colored in as the Captain spoke. “Out of the 30 galaxies in the local group the United Ascendancy controls 23 galaxies including the Milky Way. The UN controls enclaves within these 23 galaxies, which makes missions out and into Interloper space extremely difficult.” The UA was colored in a sort of turquoise blue, with specks of deeper blue circles and ovals scattered within these territories, illustrating just what the Captain had mentioned. “The interlopers control the entirety of rest of the 7 galaxies, including Andromeda.” The rest of the galaxies were now colored in red, indicating the Interlopers, but it was clear just how small their true extent actually was in comparison to the massive turquoise blue of the United Ascendancy. “We do however have a few extra-galactic bases set up around the borders of both the UA and the Interloper controlled puppet states.” More blue dots emerged, and the extent of the UN’s reach became increasingly clear. Whilst they weren’t a homogeneous mass like the UA was, they still had reach. With their technology being anything to go by, it was clear they had the technological advantage as well.

“So why haven’t you just marched in and dealt with the Interlopers?” I asked, surprising Vir once more, but he nodded in agreement regardless.

“The Interlopers we met had tech that was comparable, if not a bit more advanced than our ship. We managed to deal with them easily enough. Why haven’t you?” Vir added, to which the Captain let out a disappointed sigh of defeat.

“Because we don’t have the numerical abilities to do so. The Interlopers still have entire galaxies’ worth of bodies ready to overwhelm us. And with the UA refusing to intervene, and in fact taking up active measures of preventing our involvement, we really can’t do much but continue slashing away at Interloper influence, and even our efforts haven’t been that effective. We hold just a fraction of the military and industrial capacity that we had at our height. The technological advantage does give us a lot of room to work with, and the tactical advantage in any engagement. But as soon as you move into grand strategy, the numbers just don’t add up.” The Captain’s tone dipped for a moment, as if to emphasize his next point. “Besides, even if we did somehow ignore UA protectionist patrols, and managed to mobilize all forces deep into Interloper space, they still have their ace in the sleeve, the kill button that they threatened us with all those years ago.”

This fact alone sent shivers down my spine as I looked towards Vir with a look of utter terror.

“You mean to say that the hostage situation-”

“It’s much more than just meatshields, Mr. Daenir. It’s a literal kill switch.” The Captain interjected, and spoke purposefully in no uncertain terms. “Trust me, if it wasn’t for this there would’ve been no treaty. The fact of the matter is, they demonstrated to us just how willing they were to go through with this, and just how effective the switch really was… that’s the reason why the UA controls most of the galaxies now… it’s because after the war we moved into formerly occupied territories.”

Vir’s face said it all as he looked on at the galactic map in utter dread.

“By this point you might understand the extent of this bloodshed, Vir. The United Nations, prior to the second war, started out with just the Milky Way and 4 other galaxies under our control after all.”

It was only after this revelation did I stare at the map in complete disbelief. If that was true… then how close did the Vanaran civilization get to complete destruction at the hands of these monsters? My heart wrenched and twisted in place as both Vir and I said nothing, allowing the Captain’s words to echo through the room before finally, something else began to stir. An alarm blared, this time signaling the arrival of another ship as the Captain of the other vessel quickly pinged us once more.

“They found us. Listen, we don’t have much time. They’re generally on the lookout for ships with Grav-Drive engines, something that the interlopers do not possess. I think that should make you invisible to them, and even if it doesn’t… they won’t fire on you. They’re still bound by the cease fire so they’re really just looking for us.” The Captain spoke in a rapid-fire manner as a litany of alarms began blaring on the bridge, indicating to us that the strange futuristic ship was powering up.

“Wait, who? Who are you talking about Captain?” Vir shot back, as the man responded promptly.

“The United Ascendancy.” The man responded, as sensors soon displayed something else entering the system. Something that shouldn’t even be possible. The size and scale of it tripped up multiple errors as it was clear that none of the sensors were capable of reading just what it was. To every single system, what appeared in the far corner of the system was nothing short of a celestial body. It wasn’t a ship, or even a station, nothing of that size had the capability to move, let alone travel between the vast expanses of space. Vir seemed to stand in place as it was clear his mind was at the helm of the ship and its sensors once more. The lack of any correspondence from him meant that this was serious, and just as the last of the errors were cleared, so too would the designation for the recent arrival be placed on screen.

This wasn’t a celestial body or some undetected planetoid.

It was a ship.