Chapter 12: Chapter Eleven Orbital Strip Mining, and Reconfigurations

Melia was relaxing in one of the ship’s recently restored recreational lounges. The past few days had been mostly uneventful. The other scientists on board had been... very excited when the ship let them into a new section a couple of days ago. A section of old labs that had recently been repaired. Well to be more accurate, the hull damage responsible for them being sealed off had been repaired. The labs were still in disarray, but the scientists had been ecstatic to go in there. There wasn’t much of anything left from the ancient Solean projects that had been ongoing in those labs, and much of the equipment was broken. Some of it was working though. The ship however was more than willing to let them in there for her own reasons. A few unlucky scientists had already ended up on a table being probed.

At the moment, Melia had found an interesting book in the ship’s database and was enjoying it. The book’s author presented a few interesting theories on the rise of the Solean people and their later supremacy over much of the known universe. The author attributed both to the nomadic past of the Solean race. She made a very compelling argument about how their wanderlust and nomadic tendencies had driven them into repeated contact with foreign cultures. Claiming that these repeated contacts, skirmishes, and conflicts with completely alien cultures had exposed them to a far greater number of new ideas, and technologies than more sedentary races. Centuries of this had forced them to rapidly develop their own advanced technologies to survive, and these technologies formed the arsenal upon which their empire would later be founded. Most of the key technologies of the Solean arsenal could in fact be traced all the way back to the nomadic era. Early versions of their iconic PPBs, hellfire plasma cannons, and drone weapons could all be traced back to the nomadic era. Solean cloaking devices were also first developed in that era. Although Solean shields were an exception, while some forms of starship shields were developed in that era. The kind used in Megumi’s era evolved from a shield archetype developed after the founding of the Empire.

The book was reaching a really interesting passage when the projectors suddenly came on. An image of the Constellation was projected, albeit without the hull damage. Megumi appeared next to her. “I’d like you to familiarize yourself with this.”

She mentally willed the projected book page to close, and looked over the hologram in the center of the room, “Are these your schematics?”

Megumi smiled, “Close enough. Actually, I plan on reconfiguring most of my modules, and armament. Large sections need to be completely rebuilt anyway. For example, I am entirely missing decks one through four, and my main bridge is simply gone. I need to do a rebuild in any case, because of that. Since I am not expecting combat with Darkation fleets, I figured a reconfiguration was in order. At the moment, I am carrying a significant number of Hellfire plasma cannon batteries, far more than I would ordinarily need. I plan to reduce those in favor of a larger complement of drone weapons. They will likely be better suited to any future engagements anyway.”

Melia was already familiar with the Hellfire Plasma cannon, having read about it previously. It fired a superheated compressed plasma projectile, about the size of a small fist, contained within a decaying multi-spatial flux field that collapsed milliseconds after contact with dense matter (like the hull of a ship) or with an energy screen. It would also collapse on its own when the round reached maximum range. The collapse of the field always had explosive results. The weapon was renowned for having a very high rate of fire, and good accuracy. The rounds were also fairly powerful, and the explosive release of the plasma could be taken advantage of to act in the same capacity as a primitive flak screen would have been used. This can be done by manipulating the decay of the flux field. Thereby allowing the balls of plasma to be detonated in the path of enemy torpedoes and light spacecraft. Factors that played into them being used heavily by Solean warships against the Darkations, combined with Drone Carriers and Cruisers they could wipe out hordes of swarming Darkation bioships. If Megumi had been alone and not part of a battlegroup chances were she would have been carrying more drones in the first place. Her batteries of hellfires were only intended for use on ships that got too close to the battlegroup, while her heavier guns took out the bigger ships in an opposing fleet. Not to mention most battleships would have remained fairly close to the drone cruisers to protect said cruisers, hence the heavy battery of hellfires.

“Switching to a more traditional configuration then, I take it.”

Megumi shrugged, “Not quite. I’m going for configuration E-19. Not one often used by the fleet. E-19 tries to combine the best advantages of a battleship with a drone carrier. I will be sacrificing most of my tertiary batteries, a couple auxiliary SIF generators, two sub engines, and several ruined compartments to support a complement of nearly 1.8 billion drones. Most of which will be either Swarm or Impactor Missile type. I will be carrying a few squadrons of fighter drones though. Changes in the exterior hull will include drone launch ports, recovery bays, and maintenance facilities for the new drones.”

“Interesting, I wasn’t aware you could reconfigure yourself. Why chose this one? Why not some other configuration?”

“Well, self-reconfiguration is a natural extension of the ability to self-repair. As for why I chose this one? Well, it was meant for going it alone. E-19 was designed for ships separated from the fleet to use. It provides a nice balance of options but doesn’t excel in any one category. I actually kind of like it in fact. There is a certain appeal to being a jack of all trades.”

“I’ll take your word for that,” Melia replied, and stepped towards the projection of the E-19 configured Constellation. As she started to look over it Megumi mentioned that they were about an hour out from their destination.

---

The Constellation decelerated and dropped to sublight on the edge of the inner system nearly ten minutes’ travel from the planet the ship was interested in. They were not, however, the only visitor to the system. Dead ahead, a small cruiser was locked in deadly combat with a large flying plasma breathing reptile, a dragon. Megumi recognized the breed of star dragon immediately and was able to quickly determine that it was a young female of nesting age. Almost certainly out looking for a nest, and the moon orbiting the world the AI was interested in had a lush environment. Not to mention there were signs of a primitive civilization, it looked perfect for a dragon nest.

The cruiser on the other hand was unfamiliar but far more advanced than anything the Erali or Neku had. The ship was roughly two kilometers long with a bloated-looking design. Her sensors quickly identified its weapon mounts, and shield configuration. It had a decent shield configuration, one strong enough to withstand her subatomic disruptors. Still, it would not hold up long against her weapons, and certainly wasn’t good enough to help with the young dragon it was fighting. The shields were already failing, and the ship had already sustained multiple hull breaches. The cruiser’s advanced positron beam weapons proved to be of little use against the Dragon. Its psionic shields had easily deflected the beams.

Suddenly the Dragon used its breath, and the shields of the cruiser buckled. The stream of plasma burned through the hull, but the cruiser survived... barely. The Dragon flew off towards the moon. Megumi watched it go, as she approached the former site of the battle. Idly she scanned the cruiser as she passed, detecting multiple life signs in an intact section of the ship. The life support system was still running though. Figuring they would be fine for a few hours, she left the ship and continued towards the planets. Megumi figured she would get the mining done, start reconfiguring, and then maybe rescue the surviving aliens. Seeking out the dragon would be something important as well. She didn’t even have to go out of her way to do that.

---

Melia walked into the control room and glanced at the screen. Frowning she asked the seemingly empty room, “What’s with the damaged cruiser floating out there?”

Megumi promptly answered, “I monitored the tail end of a battle on my way in. I don’t know who they were, but they picked a fight with a young female dragon. A dragon that was way too strong for them I might add. Their beam weapons could not even penetrate her Psionic shields.”

“Psionic Shields?”

“Ah, yes. I never did get around to discussing Draconic technology did I? Guess I will now. The first thing you need to keep in mind is that all of the various paths that cultures follow in their development can be generalized into three primary branches. Although cultures tend to explore all of them at least in part at some point in their development. The first and most common is the mechanical science path, cultures on this path focus on developing increasingly complex tools and devices. The Erali and the Neku followed this path, and I myself am partially the result of this path as well.”

“Partially? What do you mean by that?”

“I’ll get to that later. Anyway, the second path is the Organic Science path. Cultures on this path focus on creating biological solutions to accomplish their ends. Bioships are a perfect example of this path. Organic starships are powerful too, and cultures on this path are definitely worth respecting. Everyone eventually dabbles with this kind of science, and the Soleans were no exception. They created biomechanoids, and sentient weapons using knowledge of this path

The final path is the path of the mind, the path of magic. Many cultures dabble in this path, but it is very hard to get started on this path. Those cultures that do progress down this path end up being very powerful indeed. My builders, the Soleans, may have started on the Mechanical path, but they went very far down this path as well. Eventually learning how to teach machines to use magic. I mentioned earlier that I was partially of the mechanical path, well I am actually a culmination of elements from all three paths, but mainly of the first and third.”

“Magic? Not a word I expected to hear.”

“Well, our definition is somewhat different from the equivalent Erali word. By our definition magic is the power to bend reality to your will. A definition that perfectly applies to something called Transcendent Psionics. Transcendents, or mages as they are often called, have highly advanced minds, and can channel esoteric energies to produce powerful effects. These energies follow their own rules, but just about anything is possible. Assuming you can meet the cost. Psionic Shields are the magic path’s version of energy shields. A mage or a dragon would channel a psionic energy form, such as Makaiju, into a dense energy barrier around themselves. This barrier acts just like a normal energy shield absorbing energy up to its capacity before failing. Some of this energy is radiated away, and the shield can regenerate. How effective the shield is, depends on the spell used to form it.

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“Dragons, as I said, rely on more mystical technologies, and they learned very well how to use Transcendent Psionics. They have naturally powerful abilities, but in their long lives they teach their children many things. Things that can make them more dangerous than most starships. Few races can match a dragon in battle without the aid of something like myself. Solean Elders were among the few that could not only fight a dragon evenly without any weapons or ships, but they would often win.”

Melia frowned, “Wait! What?”

Megumi shifted her hologram, and replied, “The Soleans are part of a group of races commonly called the Immortal races. So are the Dragons. What all the races in this group have in common is that they are naturally inclined to become transcendent psionics. The more powerful a transcendent psionic is in their abilities, the longer they will live. Those who are part of the immortal races tend to be very powerful in their abilities, and absolute terrors on the battlefield. Just one of them can change the course of a war. Building an army of them, however, can prove difficult. A Solean Elder for example takes tens of thousands of years to develop the kind of power they are famed for. On top of that, a Solean takes a long time to mature. The same can be said for dragons. A factor that played into the Soleans seeking ways to mass-produce transcendents for war, especially given that all Darkations are transcendent themselves. Going so far as to create machines with psionic ability in fact. Then of course there were more conventional projects that created things like the Draviri. A race of warriors with a natural tendency towards psionic ability, and more importantly they could grow to maturity far faster than most Immortals. While being able to reach a similar level of power on the battlefield. Although they did have a very deeply set natural warrior mentality. The Terrans endlessly complained about the fact that they refused to wear clothes. The only thing they would ever wear was their armor. It didn’t help much that they looked a lot like the Soleans, who tended to look rather young by Terran standards.

“That is actually a common problem among immortals. To the more mortal races, the immortals tend to look like young teens or children, even when they are actually hundreds of years old. It becomes especially problematic around mortals with certain perversions. In the case of the Soleans they tended to look like young teens to Terrans, and were always on the short side. The average Solean was actually around your height.”

Melia blinked, “Really? I thought the people using this ship must have been taller, the rooms were clearly designed for a taller race. Then again most of the consoles were perfectly placed for us. Even the chairs now that I think about it.”

“I had a mixed crew of Soleans and Terrans. The two races are cousins from the same homeworld. Not that you would know it, the three races of Earth each have very different ideas of the best place to live. The Soleans are not big fans of living on a planet’s surface and tend to live out their long lives in space. The Terrans are practically immune to radiation, in fact they thrive in it and naturally prefer radioactive wastelands to live in. That also plays into why most races in the empire don’t buy ships from them as well. Being immune to radiation, they tend to forget to install radiation shielding on their ships. Then there are the rather reclusive Cavalonians. They like to live underground and tend to avoid contact with other races.”

Melia glanced at the screen and noticed that they were already in orbit, and energy beams were raining down on the planets. It seemed the orbital strip mining had already started. Must be nice being an AI, able to hold a conversation, and do a dozen other things at once. All without even trying. “That is interesting, makes one wonder though. How did such different races evolve from the same planet?”

“Oh, that is quite easy. They all had the same ancestor, Ancient Humans. Who went extinct not long after a war devastated their homeworld. Their scattered descendants however each found their own niche, and not only survived but thrived. Eventually becoming the three races known today.”

“That answer is a bit short.” 

Megumi shrugged, “Well, if you want to know more go read a book on the subject. I’m not here to answer your every question.”

“True enough,” she muttered, as she started to watch the process with more interest. Then after a moment of silence, she asked, “How long is this strip mining process going to take anyway?”

“A few hours. I should be done around dinner time. Then I can get started on a few projects I have been holding off on, due to a lack of materials. I even identified a very useful mineral on this planet. A type of ore that can be converted into Omega, my primary fuel source.”

“I guess that made this stop very worthwhile.”

“Very worthwhile indeed. Anyway, I’ll be needing you to keep your Erali friends out of the biolabs for the next few days. I don’t need any pests interfering with my projects.

“Speaking of projects, there is something I would like to test out with you. My scans of your species, and you in particular show very high psionic potential. It is untapped and underdeveloped. I want to see if I can’t help you unlock it.”

Melia looked over, and with a frown said, “As interesting as that sounds, it isn’t going to require anything weird is it? You won’t need to open up my head and stick strange devices in my brain will you?”

Megumi giggled, “No, it won’t require anything remotely like that. I will have to put you in a special device for about a week though. I’ll let you decide when we can start, but don’t take too long. I’d like to start teaching you basic skills in about a month.”

Melia, now curious, asked, “Basic skills? Teaching me? You can do that?”

Megumi smiled, “I can. As I said earlier the Soleans found ways to give machines Psionic abilities. Although only AI cores of my level or greater can actually use them. That and Biomechaniods, but as machines go they are rather special. They are partially organic afterall, but they still need a Makaiju Emulator to properly channel the needed Esoteric energies.”

“I guess that is one more thing to look forward to, and another item to read up on.”

“Well you will meet some before long. I plan to start growing a few biomechs. Just one of several plans I have in motion. Not that we have time to discuss those. I need you to start moving crew around. I am ready to begin repairs and reconfigurations. Before you ask, I will be informing you before I start on any given section, and give you about fifteen minutes to get everyone out. That should be more than enough time.”

Melia headed to leave the room, and get started. She had to agree, fifteen minutes should be plenty of time. An emergency evacuation was supposed to take three minutes at the most. She had way more time, and wasn’t under pressure thanks to an onboard emergency. Not that she was looking forward to moving people around, but she had signed up for this. The ship was her master, and she had agreed to do things like this for the ship in exchange for nothing more than knowledge. A part of her was already looking forward to learning about Transcendent Psionics, whatever that meant.

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