The years had ticked on quickly in the GCI, as they always did, with Marcus quickly becoming two years older. He had made use of his new research, ordering the construction of a Power Distribution Hub on The Creator’s World with Raw Materials he had purchased on the market.
He had also designated the planet as a War Foundry. Marcus had learned that colonies, unlike the capital world, could be designated for specific uses. Designating the planet as a War Foundry gave a small boost in Heavy Compound production, which was perfect because he intended to ram it full of Industrial Zones in the near future to massively increase his Heavy Compound output and thereby amp up the building of new fleets.
Other than that, the past few years, despite his nasty correspondence with his star elven neighbours, passed by quietly. He had concerned himself with building, and the fleet now stood at 16 corvettes.
He was also waiting for Claric’s research on the clones and the Xaelith to progress. But then, on this day, an event notification regarding the primitive aliens caught Marcus’s attention.
ASTEROID APPROACHING SARRITH 4
The Orbital Monitoring Facility orbiting Sarrith 4 has detected a Class-4 Asteroid on an incoming trajectory with the planet. Unless immediate action is taken, it will crash on Sarrith 4’s northern hemisphere with enough force to cause an extinction-level event.
Our mission of passive observation would usually prohibit intervention, but many of our scientists have argued for an exception in this case. To do nothing would mean condemning the Xaelith civilization on Sarrith 4 to certain death.
A difficult situation.
Claric was looking out for him, he could see, considering their last conversation. I need the Xaelith, Marcus thought, knowing just maybe that primitive race held the key to extending his own life in this universe. This decision did not even have to be taken to the government, and Claric clearly didn’t think so either, as they were already arguing for intervention, and Marcus agreed.
Shifting his omnipresent view over to the Sarrith system, Marcus saw a small rocky blip slowly moving through space. Underneath it, there was a red bar.
“Athira,” Marcus said, “can we use our fleet to destroy that asteroid before it reaches Sarrith 4?” He gathered that’s why it had a red bar under it, as though it was some kind of adversary or enemy vessel. It is. That asteroid is currently my worst enemy. It threatens to destroy the very world that could extend my life, that could save me from death…
Lest I die and live forever.
“Yes,” the AI replied. “Simply engage the asteroid with your fleet as you would enemy vessels.”
Marcus didn’t waste a moment. He clicked over to the Lysandros system, the star system right next to Eryndal, where all of his ships were stationed to guard against a possible star elven attack. But now they had a more pressing mission.
He selected his fleet, the full 16 corvettes, and clicked back over to the Sarrith system, where he commanded the ships to engage the asteroid.
Zooming in, he could now see it was quite a monster, especially when he looked at it in proportion to the other planets in the system. A big, bumpy rock hurtling through space. It was funny, from his view, it looked to be moving at a snail's pace in real time, but of course, the thing was probably rocketing, covering about twenty miles per second.
Still, his ships were fast as well.
Little did those Xaelith people know, as they toiled beneath the clouds on their fields using primitive iron tools, that far beyond the heavens above them, Nepturan ships raced above their planet to save them from a cataclysm that they could not possibly imagine.
It seems today I am their god, too, he thought with a smirk.
The Nepturan fleet reached Sarrith after some ninety standard days, coming through the hyperlane, and beamed across the system to meet the asteroid hurtling toward Sarrith 4. It was still a comfortable distance away from making contact with the planet before being engaged by the fleet.
The corvettes launched their torpedoes in unison, the projectiles crashing against the rock with devastating explosions, while the rest of the guns on each ship battered the thick asteroid with a barrage of artillery fire. They whizzed around it, taking strange formations to hit the rock in as many weak points as possible.
The red bar beneath the asteroid shrunk as it tumbled toward Sarrith 4. Then, the asteroid blew up in a dusty space cloud. The corvettes returned to formation, and hundreds of millions of ignorant lifeforms had been saved from doom.
Marcus felt a small satisfaction in that as he looked upon the greyish, green world of Sarrith 4. I just saved them… I saved all those little people down there, and they have no idea what I did. They will never thank me nor give me praise. They may very well curse me if they figure out I’m watching them, yet they all have a future because of me.
He would smile and cheer to the clones who would inevitably congratulate him for such an act, pretending like he hadn’t done it for his own selfish reasons. But still, a good deed was a good deed, was it not?
He hadn’t noticed immediately, but as the time dilation was dialled up during the one-sided combat, Marcus noticed it had actually taken one standard month to blow that asteroid up. Jesus… It really put into perspective just how massive that thing was. He wondered what it would have looked like down there, on that planet, if that thing had actually landed. What it would feel like. He could only imagine something like a gargantuan earthquake followed by a firestorm that would put Earth’s entire nuclear arsenal to shame.
And it was just a big rock.
Then, another notification:
ASTEROID NEUTRALIZED
The Asteroid that was on a collision course with Sarrith 4 has been destroyed by the Nepturan navy before it could hit the planet. Whatever fragments of the asteroid that reached the planet quickly burned up as they entered its atmosphere, resulting in no casualties to the Xaelith population.
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The end result must have been a spectacular meteor shower in the sky for the barbaric aliens who have no idea just how close they came to extinction…
When Marcus clicked the button to dismiss the notification, he saw something that made his day. The ejected matter from the asteroid, now scattered in the space around Sarrith 4, provided Raw Materials to Neptura’s stockpile to the tune of 1500. A whopping figure, which Marcus already knew how to put to use.
Jesus! He was even more glad he chose to destroy that asteroid now. Immediately going to The Creator’s World, he ordered the construction of a Urban Zone and an Industrial Zone and then upgraded the dismantled Ark Ship—which had still been serving as the administrative capital of the planet—to a Provincial Headquarters, which would encourage further job growth and all the material benefits that came with.
Speeding along from there, more research had been completed in the industrial sector, which now allowed for the construction of a Ore Processing Facility, a building which provided more mining jobs and boosted Raw Materials production. He made a note to construct one of those on the colony.
Amongst the new research options available, only one caught his eye as the most crucial for the development of his navy to the point where the others weren’t worth considering.
Void Piercers - This technology allowed for the construction of a new type of ship to add to his naval fleet: a Frigate. Handy for destroying corvettes. It also provided upgrades for his existing ships, including enhanced combat algorithms to increase their damage output. Without hesitation, he clicked it, eager to add Frigates to his arsenal.
That’ll do those star elves in.
He then built another Farming Zone on the colony in anticipation for his growing army.
And it hadn’t come too soon. As time zoomed on ahead, and his fleet swelled from 16 ships to 18, with additional armies atop of that, he found his Food production rapidly decreasing.
But the worst news of the day came in the form of yet another notification.
EXTERNAL SOVEREIGNTY DISPUTE OVER OUR SYSTEM
Though we have claimed it first, The Aeluyn Covenant has outrageously laid claim to the Sarrith System!
#
“The military warned this would happen!” Kestral Varn snapped, abandoning all his soldier’s discipline and military courtesy. “Those star elves want to use the Xaelith as a proxy against us, and now they will try to take the system from us!”
The sun beamed bright through the large observation glass behind the throne, casting a metallic gleam across the holo table at which the High Council convened. The light was only broken by the shadow of the throne.
Ironsides gave a slow nod. “It’s a valid concern. While we may be relatively new to interstellar politics, it's not out of the realm of possibility that lesser civilizations could be used as weapons to destabilize a regime. The question is how far are they willing to go? Could these elves have snuck their agents onto Sarrith 4 already? Or could these claims be nothing more than posturing? Your excellency, we have been stalling them as instructed regarding their abducted prisoner, but their patience is wearing thin.”
Claric shook his head. “Our orbital monitoring post would have detected any significant technological advancements. Such rapid development will not go unnoticed for long, I assure you. Our probes watch them night and day.”
“Be that as it may.” Marcus leaned forward on his throne, elbows resting on his legs. “These territorial claims are concerning. Obviously, it is a threatening message, but it also gives them an excuse for war. They are preparing to fight us.”
Den cleared his throat, yanking down on his naval tunic to straighten it. “Then we are ready, your excellency. Our fleet is far stronger now than it was in our first engagement. I am confident that this time around we will have the edge against these xenos.”
Claric stuck his hand up to speak, rather meekly, but he managed to secure everyone’s attention. “Your excellency, ministers. I know my opinions in military matters tend to be out of place, but may I suggest stalling for more time if possible?”
Varn turned to him with a look of venom, his eyes narrowed. “This is a military issue, labcoat. We cannot afford to waste time on your theories now while the enemy entrenches themselves. We are being threatened, and we must obliterate them.”
The scientist did not react to the jab, perhaps emboldened by Marcus’s favour, but merely folded his hands. “I know you are eager to wage your wars amongst the stars, as you have been taught, but would it not be wise to consider all options first? We don’t even know the strength of our adversaries. Nor have you even heard what I have to say.”
Varn didn’t hesitate. “War is imminent, the Grand Archon even said so himself. It’s only a question of when. I propose we occupy Sarrith 4 now and show these elves we are ready to defend it to the death.”
Den nodded in agreement. “A preemptive strike could prevent a more devastating, drawn out war down the line.”
“Or we wait.” Claric inclined his head slightly.
The War Minister scoffed. “Wait for what, exactly? For them to strike first and seize our star systems?”
Claric then turned his gaze to Marcus. “For a weapon far greater than any fleet, for something far greater than a single star system.”
The ministers seemed lost for words, each stealing a glance at the other as no one really knew what to say to that. It sounded quite ominous.
“We’ve been making strides in understanding the clone genome,” he continued, “as the Grand Archon is well aware. Your excellency, you once asked me if it was possible to reverse what makes our clones such effective soldiers. My colleagues and I now believe we can do more than that. It may be possible to enhance them.”
“This is why the scientific caste holds too much influence.” Varn frowned as though a dark cloud reigned over his face. “You fill the Archon’s head with all these fanciful notions, yet what in these years under the Archon’s leadership has ever been achieved by you labcoats? You just simply ask us to wait for eternity until your research bears fruit.”
Claric, for the first time, looked at the War Minister directly. “And if it does bear fruit, general? We could create a force beyond anything the Covenant could ever hope to match. A new generation, billions of enhanced clone soldiers, more effective and disciplined than they already are. That is worth far more than any fleet.”
“Enough,” Marcus snapped. The table went still. He turned to Varn first. “Your concerns are valid, general. The Covenant is playing a game we can no longer afford to ignore.” Then to Claric. “And you believe your research could give us the edge over them?”
Clarid nodded. “I do. But we need more time, just a little more, I assure you, your excellency. We are on the verge of a breakthrough.”
Marcus exhaled slowly, weighing the decisions in his mind. What’s a couple more years? “Fine. We will stall them for now. See to it, Ironsides. Varn, have the command center in the Lysandros system shorn up with extra defences. Defence platforms, guns, everything. I’ll have it all paid for. At least then, should these elves attack us, we may be able to bog them down a bit for Claric’s research.”
Varn sighed. “As you wish, your excellency. But I believe you are gambling with fate and with Neptura. Few men win when they wager against destiny.”
“I will keep that in mind, Varn. Thank you.” Marcus stood. “That will be all, gentlemen. In the meantime, I will continue building up our fleet with the highest priority. Claric, walk with me.”
“Glory to Neptura!” they all said in unison.
The scientist fell into step beside him after the ministers left the chamber. There was more to be discussed in private.
