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They had already performed two jumps and they were drawing closer to their target system. The information Nox had stolen had given them a rough destination, but the problem was that those maps had only given them a large area of no man's land where their destination could likely be found. The issue wasn't that Nox couldn't access more-precise maps, but the fact that the group resisting AI development didn't have accurate maps of the area in question. Or at least the sad excuse of a computer system that had controlled most of the station’s systems didn’t have them.

“So couldn’t we have gone through the nav computers of the ships that were in that system if their ECM-systems are so dreadful?” Xiaoli asked with a bit of frustration.

“I tried. Those computers are inaccessible due to the fact that they are only connected to their engines by a damn cable and nothing else. It’s impossible for me to hack a closed system like that without actually getting someone on site to help me get access. They know they are at a clear disadvantage when it comes to electronic security, so they’ve developed other ways to protect certain information and critical systems. They’re very archaic protections, but sometimes there’s strength in simplicity. It seems navigational data is highly valuable in this galaxy. It’s valuable everywhere, but in this galaxy that seems especially true. Part of that is because of the beacons. The beacons automatically repair and improve any ships that approach them, and in return, they help maintain the beacons. They don't fully understand how and why the beacons work, so they're leery about moving them, so keeping their locations a secret seems to be a high priority." Nox explained. Even despite her advanced status, there were some things that even she couldn't work around.

"There also seems to be a religious aspect to the whole thing," Amaterasu added, as she was also going through some of the files Nox had stolen. While Nox focused on the more essential files, Amaterasu and Nochehuatl went through some of the more esoteric stuff that was more in their field of expertise. They had even sent some sociology related files to Miyo.

“They worship the beacons?” Xiaoli asked in shock. She was never all that into religious beliefs, and neither were the Cybrans in general. The Cybrans had their own beliefs, but those were not really religious in nature.

“Well, not the beacons per se. More what the beacons represent. The whole thing is quite complicated and convoluted. They revere those that created the beacons and many other wonders that have made life possible. That would obviously be the Dhar, although they don’t name the Dhar specifically. They’re just called the ‘Revered Ones’. Ok, so far so good. We Illum also hold high reverence for the Dhar, and it is a fact that without them, and especially the terraformed worlds they left behind, life would be much more difficult. Here's where things get a bit off the rails though. Apparently, more information about the Dhar survived in this galaxy, and they’re viewed as actual religious figures. There are even cults and schools of faith for some specific Dhar who have left behind recordings or data in various forms, and thus can be identified. The stories are of course highly embellished and countless years of tradition and addendum have piled on to make a convoluted mess. There are also high-ranking religious figures that specialize in, shall we say interpreting the will and teachings of the Revered Ones. Incidentally, those ships that we saw that resembled ours? Yeah, those belong to these Speakers as they’re called.” Amaterasu explained.

“Wait. So if we run into any members of the other group, the ones that want to become synthetic life-forms, they’re all going to assume we are some lost and confused official of the church, and as such think of us as a great target for attack?” Xiaoli noticed an obvious issue.

"Essentially, yes," Amaterasu confirmed with a nod.

"Well, that's certainly not going to complicate things. At all.” Xiaoli scoffed sarcastically.

"Hopefully we won't stick around long enough for that to matter," Selendil stated firmly. "Is the next jump ready?"

They had taken some time to let their jump system recover, just so they could jump again if they ran into trouble. They also had to run some calculations about their next destination. “We’re good to go.” Nox assured them.

“Good. Make it happen.” Selendil ordered, and the jump window once again surrounded their ship and they arrived at their destination.

They had been expecting another empty system, but that’s not what they found. The system was still quite barren, but it also held a few dozen ships and an undeniable military base. For a few seconds, it seemed like the ships in the system would not react to their presence, but then they all turned towards the Enduring Symphony and the closest ship opened fire straight away. One of the smallest ships quickly prepared to phase out of the system to bring the news somewhere.

"Well, I guess that rules out the diplomatic solution," Dee commented with a cheery voice.

"Moonshadow would've been so disappointed," Amaterasu muttered mostly to herself. Her voice had a slight tone of resignation. For some reason, she was now the voice of reason on the ship. A role she wasn't all that suited for.

“I’m guessing we just found the pro-AI faction?” Selendil asked almost rhetorically.

“So it would seem. Their ships don’t have any obvious markings, but your guess seems likely. That or we found a pirate base. I am however happy to report that we’re in the right system according to my calculations. The second planet from the central star that is currently on the other side of the system is the one we’re looking for.” Nox reported.

Green beams of energy that looked a little like lightning strikes hit the shields of the Enduring Symphony. “Huh.” Nox made a sound as if something interesting had just happened. “They’re using gauss weaponry.”

“You’re going to have to explain that one. We use that term for a type of coilgun and I’m pretty sure that’s not what you meant.” Xiaoli pointed out.

“Why would you use a term like that when you already have terms like railgun, mass driver, and the obvious coilgun for the same concept?” Nox retorted. “Anyway, we use the term to designate a type of exotic and fairly powerful energy weapon. They shear apart atomic bonds and strip their target down to nothing molecule by molecule. It’s not the most effective type of weaponry out there, but it does have the benefit of being effective against pretty much anything. Even a pistol of this type could damage the armor of a dreadnought, albeit only very little. That said, strap enough of these things on a ship or make them heavy enough and you’re pretty much set no matter your target. You could call them the jack-of-all-trades weapon, though that would sell their effectiveness short a bit. They’re actually quite effective.”

“Oh, I’m familiar with the theory!” Nochehuatl said excitedly. “We tested out these kinds of weapons a few years back! They can be terrifically effective but they’re also a real pain to operate. Even microscopic faults in the building of the weapon and its component systems can cause the whole thing to explode and kill the user at the same time.”

"That's all very interesting, but they're shooting at my ship at the moment," Selendil commented. "Return their greeting in kind, but since we have no interest in destroying them, just disable their ships."

“Returning fire.” Nox acknowledged the command and deadly but accurate fire quickly disabled the approaching vessels. Despite this being a military outpost, the facilities looked newly constructed, and the ships present seemed quite small and mostly served a dual purpose as construction and picket ships. There were clear signs that the entire base was still under construction in several places.

"Leave their base alone and jump us to our target. We don't need to scratch the paint job on their new base, which they’ll likely abandon as soon as we leave.” Selendil said mercifully.

“Will do.” Nox replied and they were soon on the orbit of another fairly standard planet terraformed by the Dhar. This one was covered in heavy vegetation though. It would’ve been fair to describe the world as a jungle planet, and the whole place was filled with lifeforms that had become standard for such worlds. The world could’ve been a rather decent colonization target if it wasn’t for the irregular weather patterns obvious all the way from orbit.

“This might be a bit more challenging than the last one," Nochehuatl commented. "The whole place is completely overgrown and teeming with life. In addition, there are weird crystal formations all over the planet that are interfering with our scans. They're natural formations, but quite rare all things considered. It's also something like a monsoon season and there are large storms all over the place." Finding an artificial facility on a barren planet was quite a bit simpler than doing the same on a planet like this.

“That’s probably why the planet was chosen in the first place.” Amaterasu pointed out the obvious. The species that had hidden the Void beings for study had wanted to keep their research a secret after all.

“Why would the Dhar terraform a planet like this in the first place?” Dee asked curiously.

"Well, the odds are that the crystals existed before we arrived and we picked the planet because it seemed interesting. The world has likely also experienced quite a bit of ecological drift since we first terraformed it, so it's not in the state we made it into anymore. It was likely a temporary science outpost and when the study was completed, the science team took away all their equipment.” Selendil speculated. The problem with having a long-living species like the Dhar that had very few worthy opponents was that they often did things out of sheer boredom and whim.

"This might take a while," Nochehuatl confirmed after the initial scans. "The facility has apparently been buried by time. I'm going to have to perform deeper scans."

"Let me try if I can narrow things down," Selendil stated and closed her eyes and lifted her hand towards the planet below them. She reached out with her mind, trying to either sense the presence of Void energy or a facility like they had encountered before. Her initial attempt didn't find anything, which didn't shock her as the being she was looking for was supposed to be weakened to the extent of being almost dead, and it was likely the facility was shielded against most psionic scans to keep it hidden from a random Dhar passing by. Such protections could be bypassed with effort, but there was a simpler way. This time she didn’t focus on what she could sense, but instead on what she couldn’t. The absence of something could be just as telling.

“There. Focus your scans on that area.” She pointed towards the southern tip of one of the continents.

“Roger.” Nochehuatl nodded. He had learned to trust Selendil’s senses after all. It took only a couple of minutes before he got a hit. “I think I found it. The place is covered with detritus, and it’s actually buried under a mountain.”

“An underground lab. Always a classic.” Xiaoli joked.

“I’ll take care of this one personally.” Selendil nodded and teleported to the planet below. She was immediately belted by powerful winds and rain as a storm raged around her.

In the meantime, the others just looked on with resigned expressions on the bridge as she once again disappeared. “She does that a lot, doesn’t she?” Dee asked.

"Oh yes," Amaterasu responded emphatically. "It's quite annoying as we can't easily follow her."

“Well, at least I can.” Dee declared and a small portal shaped like an oval opened in front of her. She stepped through and arrived right next to Selendil, who had noticed her arrival. “You do realize that your crew finds it extremely annoying that you keep disappearing like that, right? Not that I’m one to judge as I’m not the most cooperative person either, but…”

“I…do realize it. I just didn’t really care before. Partially that’s because they’ll be safe on the ship and I can get things done faster on my own, but…” Selendil made a small shrugging motion. Her interest in the feelings of the crew had also started at nearly non-existent. That interest had grown over time, but old habits were hard to shake.

“I get that. The difference in ability between you and them is too large, so they'll be more of a hindrance. However, in the long term, it's not a good idea. They won't be able to develop if they don't get involved. You have enough leeway to keep them safe even if things get dangerous. At least as long as you don't take them into something that is just stupidly dangerous." Dee brought up another perspective. She wasn’t an expert on the subject either, so she was simply mentioning things she had heard from friends.

Selendil’s tails made a motion that signified her conceding the point. “I know you’re right. I haven’t been the best of leaders for them. I've been too lost in my own issues. Hopefully, that's something that will now start to change.”

“Just as long as you’re aware of the issue. There’s plenty of time to fix things. Besides, I know this one is special, considering it’s the last of the Void beings.” Dee smiled a bit to soften things. “Now let’s get this mountain out of the way and dig out the facility.”

A horde of invisible hands took a hold of the mountain, digging into the stone as if the material was offering no resistance. Then the hands all pulled up at the same time and the entire mountain was lifted into the air. Then Dee made a small tossing motion and the whole thing flew into the sea that was nearby, creating a small ecological disaster in the process. “That’s…one way of doing it.” Selendil commented diplomatically.

“Whatever. Let’s just get this done.” Dee waved the whole issue away.

------

“We’re getting company.” Nox reported at the same time on the bridge. As she spoke, hundreds of ships started phasing into the system. “That was quick. Their reinforcements must have been very close.”

“Uh, guys, I think they might care a bit more about this whole thing than we thought.” Xiaoli voiced what all of them were thinking. “Either this system is a lot more important than we assumed, or they’re still confusing us with these Speakers and really want us dead.”

“Selendil, we might have some trouble brewing.” Amaterasu pressed a button to send a message to the Keeper on the planet below.

The response took several seconds longer than they had expected, and the contents were completely different. “You can deal with the issue as you see fit.”

“Say what now?” Xiaoli asked in shock. “I think we were just given carte blanche to deal with this, but surely I misheard that.”

“You did not mishear.” Selendil voice came once again, sounding somewhat amused.

“Ok, how many ways can we blow them up?” Xiaoli suddenly asked with a wide grin.

“Xiaoli, we might want to try something a bit more diplomatic first.” Amaterasu pointed out.

“We could, but where’s the fun in that?” Xiaoli argued back very reasonably.

The ships that had all surged towards them suddenly seemed to come to a halt. “So while you guys were bickering, I think I may have helped resolve the issue.” Nox stated smugly. In fact, the look on her face was very smug indeed.

“What did you do?” Amaterasu asked wearily.

“Well, it’s more about what they did. Their AIs tried to access my systems almost as if doing something out of habit. Imagine their shock when they ran into an AI more powerful than them.” Nox explained.

“So that could be both good and bad. Good if they take that as us not actually being what they thought we were because we use an AI. Bad if they still think we are these Speakers, but that we are actually cheating by having an AI of our own and going against our own doctrine.” Lilly pointed out.

“Huh. That’s…yeah, I didn’t think of it like that.” Nox admitted.

"They're hailing us," Nochehuatl announced.

"Bring them up," Amaterasu commanded.

They were greeted by a rather creepy combination of three beings. One of them looked like a well-decorated skeleton made of some black metal and green light, while the other two seemed like cyborgs in the process of turning into similar beings. "This is Nemesor Kultan to the unidentified ship. State your business immediately or you will be fired upon.” The skeletal being demanded.

“This is Amaterasu of Enduring Symphony. We are here to destroy an old facility left behind by one of our treacherous servants in ages past. If you interfere, we will no longer show mercy and your ships will be destroyed. If you keep out of our way, you will be allowed to live.” Amaterasu was completely winging it and decided that it might be advantageous to take a very hard line with these particular beings. It was her innate sense as an empress that told her that showing any weakness or softness would come back to hurt them.

“Bold words for someone outnumbered over two hundred to one.” One of the cyborgs pointed out. This was a sort of power play in itself. The leader of the other side didn’t make the remark personally, so it could be said that he wasn’t questioning Amaterasu’s words. Only his underling was, and the underling could be punished if necessary.

“Numbers are not a replacement for power. It is a source of constant consternation that our opponents cannot correlate their inferiority with their inevitable defeat. It would seem lack of perception is as eternal as war itself.” Amaterasu assumed a very lofty attitude of looking down on the entire universe.

“Tell me Amaterasu of Enduring Symphony, why does your ship appear like the ones the fanatics of the Theocracy use for their Speakers?” The Nemesor asked.

“Why would I care about the feeble attempts at mimicry of lesser beings? They have likely found some images or footage of our ships and have decided to imitate their betters. We do not encourage it, but we do not stop it either. It is a form of flattery after all. You’ll have to ask them.” She replied coldly.

This reply seemed to satisfy the Nemesor who nodded his metallic skull that had an impressive pair of horns made of some golden colored metal. "Incidentally, we have some of the images as well. You do not look like the beings that the fanatics are trying to imitate."

“I would be worried if I did. The master of this ship is on the planet below. She is the one you’re thinking of. I don’t think I have to tell you where on the planet she is.” Amaterasu smiled a bit. The aftereffects of an entire mountain getting tossed aside were still being seen on the planet’s surface below.

“Amaterasu of Enduring Symphony, it has been a pleasure.” The Nemesor nodded and the connection was cut. He had gotten the answers he needed and dared to ask for.

“Where did that come from?” Xiaoli demanded to know as soon as the feed was cut.

“I don’t know. I just felt it was appropriate. Seemed to work at least.” Amaterasu replied while releasing a long sigh.

“Well, at least the ships are moving away from us.” Nox reported.