Orbiting slowly around Elysia Novus were the three great arks, and around these swarmed thousands of smaller ships – passenger shuttles bringing colonists to their temporary home, supply ships stocking the arks with all they would need for their task on their eventual destination and construction craft making last minute modifications to the vast ships. Coming out from the shadow of the planet each ark in term was basked with the sudden and bright gleam from the systems sun.
Senator Arbiel watched this from afar in the relative comfort of his power armour, warmed both by the armours life support systems and a sense of pride and accomplishment. It had certainly not been easy, and the scheme had run into several unforeseen setbacks but now … now it was almost time.
“Exalted Master Arbiel, your presence is requested by Exalted Master Eretiel on the ECN Dawn.” A plebeian’s voice was processed by his armour.
“Acknowledged citizen. I shall be there momentarily.” Abrion continued to look at the scene for a few more seconds before flying towards the central of the three great ships. Shuttles were diverted away from his flight path – it wouldn’t do to collide with a senator after all, and he reached the immediate vicinity of the ship within a minute.
His suited informed him of an incoming transmission which he opened his sensors to, “Senator Arbiel, you can land in dock three.” The voice of Sentor Eretiel, captain of the Dawn, informed him in a functional manner, “I shall meet you there.”
“Affirmed Senator.” Abriel responded and interfaced with the Dawns computer in order to get the exact location. He then gracefully flew around the ship and in through the open doors which closed behind him. Gently landing he approached the figure of Eretiel who was standing near the back with a pair of Seraph’s behind him. Eretiel was not a particularly powerful looking archangel, but his grey hair and worn face was an indication of his widely acknowledged wisdom – one of the reasons he was given this position.
Arbiel began the exciting procedure, and not for the last time thought that the one disadvantage of the Antheodon as far as he could tell was that it was damn hard to get out of. The chest panel slid away and the organic inards of the armour loosened their grip as Arbiel managed to force first his head, then torso (being very careful of his wings) out and finally pulled his legs out in a rather unglamorous fashion leaving him slightly wet and in the nude – and for just a little bit rather embarrassed. He stretched his arms and wings in order to remove the mild crap he always seem to get whenever he removed his armour after a long period of inactivity.
“I took the measure of bringing you some replacement clothes.” Eretiel said dryly, indicating to one of his Seraph who brought forwards a chiton and himation, white with a lining of purple.
“Thank you Eretiel.” Arbiel responded, taking the garments off the Seraph with a nod and putting them on, “What is it that you wished to see me about?”
“Our scouts have returned with detailed information about our future homes. I presumed you would show some interest.” Eretiel responded with a small shrug, “I have gathered the three commanders of the scout groups here and I thought that we might learn something about our destination.” He was as always speaking in his mildly sardonic fashion.
Abriel was mildly irritated he had not been informed earlier. The three senators were meant to be sharing this mission equally, and yet Eretiel seemed to have set himself up as the unofficial over commander. “Have you informed Sheatiel?” He said referring to the third Senator, captain of the Dagian.
“I have. He is spending the day with his husband and says he will watch the proceedings later as long as we record it.”
A further insult; he was the last one to be informed. “Very well, if you could lead the way.” Arbiel said courteously with a small bow.
Eretiel bowed and walked out the room, with the two Seraphim waiting for Arbiel to follow. In the corridor they brought up the rear as the two senators walked through the passage ways with plebeians moving out of their way, bowing, muttering praises and showing other forms of reverence. Eretiel certainly seemed to be enjoying every moment of it, although Arbiel had little time for it at the moment.
“Why don’t you use some form of transport device?” Arbiel asked a little testily.
“Oh it isn’t that far really, and it is important for the helots to see their master. Increases loyalty I think.” Eretiel responded coolly, stopping and indicating that Arbiel should enter a lift-capsule. Arbiel responded by indicating that Eretiel should go in first. This little confrontation lasted a good five seconds before Eretiel gave a very thin little smile and stepped in, followed by Arbiel and finally the two grinning Seraphim.
“Conference room 4.” Eretiel ordered the ship before turning to Arbiel as the capsule began to move, “How are the preparations on your own ship?”
“They are proceeding very well thank you.” Abriel responded a little coldly, “The Itineris will be quite ready by the time we leave.” He paused, “How long have you known about the return of the scouts?”
Eretiel focused on him more intensely, “My dear senator, you know how fast space travel is these days. I was only informed of their returning half an hour ago. I presumed that you would have been informed about their entering the system and would have made your own communication with them.” The words flowed smoothly over his tongue.
“I understand Eretiel, there must have been a communication breakdown.” Of course Arbiel was fairly certain that Eretiel was being obtuse, but needless to say some plebeian was going to be punished for this failure.
The capsule arrived at its destination and the doors slid open. After another duel of body language which lasted a few second Arbiel decided it would only be polite if he went first and stepped out the lift. The air hear seemed to be perfumed, and the décor was more sophisticated. Presumably this area was designed to accommodate patricians, not the lowly plebeians.
Eretiel led the group past a few doors before walking into one, the doors sliding open in front of him. Arbiel quickly followed him, not wishing to seem subservient by way of arriving late – to enforce this he held himself to his full height (considerably greater than that of Eretiel’s) and looking as regal as possible. The room into which he walked was fairly grand – certainly not as grand as his own house, but the marble floor, wood paneled walls and chandelier were certainly impressive while the table which dominated the room was an impressive construction consisting of a polished dark wood (Arbiel was no expert) with patterns died subtly into it. Down the far end of the table sat three patricians who stood up and bowed to the two senators.
Arbiel slipped in before Eretiel could say anything, calmly saying, “Please be seated sirs. I am Senator Arbiel Zerianth, captain of the Itineris.”
The central Elysian spoke first, a rather wiry individual with blond hair and an unusually long nose, “I am captain Catriel of the Fast Attack Frigate Eyes of God, and commander of Scout group A.” He inclined his head before sitting down, maintaining perfect posture.
The Elysain to the left spoke after what he considered was a decent pause. He was a much large archangel, larger even than Arbion, and spoke with a surprisingly high voice, “I am captain Yeritiel of the Fast Attack Frigate Discovery, and commander of Scout group B.” He too sat down stiffly.
Last of all the right Elysian spoke. He was a particularly dashing looking Elysian, not particularly large but obviously handsome and spoke with charismatic ease, “I am Riel, commander of Scout group C and captain of the Fast Attack Frigate Ascension.” He sat down with a sly glance towards his companions – a minor victory to him.
“If you would captains, please tell us of your findings.” Abriel said smoothly, firmly taking over this meeting from Eretiel for now.
Following in the order of introductions it was captain Catriel who spoke first,
“Sir, after leaving the system a week ago Scout group A investigated the star system at 290, 276. I shall leave it to the scientists to give you the technical details and more in depth information if you so require. I have no head for figures but will, with your permission, present my own brief summary with visual aids.” Catriel spoke in a clipped fashion and after placing his datapad on the table looked to Abriel.
In response Abriel waved his hand, “If you would captain.”
The captain nodded and pressed a button on his datapad, a volumetric image forming over the table showing an unfamiliar solar system. He then began to speak “The star of the system is a relatively young one, slight smaller than our own blessed sun, and the system contains ten planets.” The image concentrated on the sun with various figures running down the side of the image describing energy output, size and predicted age before focusing on a small dark brown planet, with data running down the side describing its composition. “The first of these resides in close orbit around the sun. It is a small terrestrial planet and the effort required to establish an operation there, even with modified S18’s would likely not be worthwhile.” The image now moved further out into the solar system and focused on a slightly larger planet which was a patchwork of dark reds and yellows, “The second lies further out, and is a somewhat larger terrestrial planet. It doesn’t seem to be particularly rich in resources.”
As he continued talking the focus of the volumetric projection moved further out into the solar system, to a significantly larger planet which seemed to be composed primarily of black rock under a yellowish atmosphere, partially obscured by thick clouds. “The third is more promising, a significantly larger terrestrial planet, which seems to be composed largely of carbon. An away team reports that it seems to be dominated by black rocks, mountains and gorges of monstrous proportions. A self-contained facility could probably be established there; however the atmosphere is both toxic and acidic. It has a single moon.”
Now the projection focused on a larger planet still, this one looking like a great desert, punctured with numerous small seas and patches of brilliant green in the north and south hemisphere. “The fourth planet is the largest of inner planets, terrestrial and habitable. It is dominated by largely inhospitable deserts, sand around the equator and or rock towards the polls. There are two temperate zones, one in the North, another in the South with weather not unlike Elysia Novus, and covered with forests. The atmosphere has a high oxygen content, and forests seem prone to the occasional fierce forest fires. We did not have time to catalogue the native folio, but we believe the planet was one more hospitable than it is now. Settlement could be made on this planet with relative ease. This planet has three moons which creates a rather complex tidal system.”
The projection again changed, now focusing on a slightly smaller planet which, beneath the thick clouds through which the vision plunged, seemed to be covered mostly with ice, with a path of green around the equator. “This is the last of the inner planets. It is a fair distance away from the systems star and most of the surface is frozen. Most of the surface is cold to the degree where specialist equipment is required to survive, however around the equator the land is warm enough for standard habitation. The plant life seems restricted to various types of moss and lichen and under the ice sensors read considerable resources.”
“The ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ planets are divided by a large and relatively dense asteroid belt around about an AU wide. It contains several million bodies which could be utilised for resources, and several hundred which are large enough to support a space habitat.” The image showed an isolated asteroid with three or four other asteroid in the distance.
“It sixth planet is perhaps the most interesting. It lies outside the asteroid belt and is an enormous solid planet – our sensors read it to have a mass thirteen times that of Elysia Novus. Its size is around about ten times ours, and its surface is bare rock and ice. Although its gravity means that no Elysian could survive there without extreme modification our scans show that this planet has extraordinary deposits of valuable materials. Creating a base there might be difficult, but I believe it should be strongly looked into. The planet has three moons, the third the size of Elysia Novus and a possible candidate for a colony.” The projection showed a huge planet of dark rocks and colossal crags, with a small ring around it and three moons, the largest of which rivalled the size of earth.
“Further out there are three gas giants, similar to those of Veritas. They may prove useful for resources and construction facilities, but we did not have time to run a particularly in depth investigation of the planets.” The projector showed three gas giants in succession, the central one being significantly larger than the other two and having a particularly large ring around it.
“Last of all there is a tiny ice world at the far end of the solar system. It is barely larger than an asteroid and is of little interest to us.” The image of a small, dark, ice covered planet was projected, “And beyond this there is the Kuiper belt and Oort cloud, which are no different from other systems, but could be a potential source of materials. That is my report sir.” The captain inclined his head towards Abriel.
“Very good Captain Catriel, I shall recommend to the senate that your name is given to the main moon of the sixth planet.” Abriel replied smoothly, before turning his attention to the second captain.
The colossal archangel that was Yeritiel stood next, and bowed stiffly before speaking reverently in his strangely high voice, “Senators, my group travelled further into the unknown, to a system to the galactic North-West of Veritas.” He too laid down a data-pad which projected a volumetric image of the position of the system on a star map, “I shall admit that it does not have the same mineral resources as that which my honourable companion encountered, but it has something which I think you shall find interesting.” He paused for a moment as the volumetric image changed to a view of the entire solar-system in which the terrestrial planets were almost invisible.
“The Kepler belt and Oort cloud are uninteresting,” there was a quick image of the colossal cloud of dirty comets spread thinly over the void of space, “and the four gas giants of the system, while large, are relatively dis-interesting save the last. From a material standpoint they contain enormous amounts of Hydrogen and Helium, but nothing more interesting than that. Gas giants 1 and 2 have belts of orbiting matter, but not in high enough quantities to make a mining effort.” Four gas giants of increasing size appeared in volumetric form; three of the four were mundane but the last (and largest) was a great sphere of metallic blue with a great eye of white travelling across the surface, like a great orb of metal floating through space “The gas giant closest to the sun on the other hand is significant from an aesthetic perspective, if not for the material.” Yeritiel paused now and allowed his audience to look at the slowly spinning planet.
“Pleasant certainly,” Arbion said, noting to himself its resemblance to the current Elysian flag, “Tell me captain, are there any moons of interest around these planets?”
“None at all Senator, there are no moons of a meaningful size around any of the planets.”
“That’s rather unusual. Is there any reason why you think that might be captain?”
“None whatsoever Senator, it seems simply to be an unusual system that way. Your permission to continue sir?”
“Granted.”
“Thank you sir.” Yetriel paused to collect his thoughts before continuing, “The truly interesting thing is the third terrestrial planet from their star. If I may say so sir this is a gem of a planet. Its ecosystem is delicate, and yet possess’ enormous variation – with two completely separate evolutionary patterns on the two different continents. One is idyllic, one could say a paradise, with as far as we can tell no natural predators and simply an enormous number of plants and herbivores. The other possess’ savage beauty – a wildly complicated connection of predators and prey. Our away teams only scratched the surface, and it would take months of study to catalogue all of the fauna, not even trying to understand their relationships. What details we have can be better explained by the scientists rather than me sir, and so I shall leave it to them to send you a full report.”
Arbion nodded again, “And the other inner planets captain?”
“Of no significance sir. Hot, dead worlds with too few resources to make a lengthy investigation worthwhile, or a settlement practical.”
“Thank you Captain Yetriel, you have discovered a truly remarkable planet and you shall be remembered for it.” Arbion gave the smallest of bows to Yetriel before carrying on with the third captain.
And now the third, and last, captain stood - the dashing Commander Riel.
"Senators, what I have discovered is not the rich systems which my fellow Captains encountered, and for that I am truely sorry," It was however not sorrow but glee that was in his voice, "I have encoutered a advanced race in the system I was assigned." He paused to let this gather in.
"I could not risk entering the system due to the risk of being detected, but from a few of the communications we managed to listen in to I have observed that the race call themselves the 'Ixari', although their language is not particularly easy to translate, in fact Ixari is one of the few words we have so far managed to translate, and possibly a word which would translate as 'those who sprint forwards'." He shrugged, "And their technology does seem advanced. Some variety of reactionless drive and tachyon technology, beyond that we couldn't detect anything for certain."
"There is a single planet in the system, although we were unable to asertain anything more about. I am sorry about the lack of details my lords, but I hoped that that information I had would be enough. I have left three of my ships there to provide us with as much detail as possible on their movements and to record their communications. May I make a recomendation sir?" He asked Arbion.
"Proceed captain." Arbion responded, very nearly visibly dazed from the information which he had been given. His composure remained pretty much intact however.
"I suggest that we have a Orsis scan the area, they can then provide far greater information about the system."
"We shall take your recomendation into account when we come to our decision on the matter Captain. You have the empire, and my, thanks. You will be remembered for this." Arbion responeded with just a tinge of emotion - gratitude entering his voice.
He then spoke to all of them, engaging in full oratorical mode, "Indeed you all have the Empires gratitude, you have returned with news vastly exceeding our expectations and do not be afraid - you shall be rewarded - both in the material and in the great intangible. Now myself and my Honourable Colleague must go and discuss how we shall act on this information." Arbion nodded with a smile to each of them at turn and then left the room. A flashy move but somewhat useless since he had to wait five minutes outside in the corridor for his 'honourable colleague' to give his own congratulations to captains.
As the two senators began to walk down the halls a conversation sprang up, beginning with Arbion.
“How do you believe that this new information changes our plans?” Arbion asked his fellow senator
“Why quite simply my dear Senator; it would be impractical to send one of our precious arks to a system which is inhabited, at least not one in which the inhabits may be advanced as we, and at least not until they are firmly under our control,” The senator smiled wryly, “Which they will. However we shall send the third ark to the third system, the third which lies under the two uninhabited system. And I believe you should have the honour of both exploring and colonising the system. How much greater will that honour be than we who simply colonize that which has been explored before.”
Arbion was taken aback, although he hid this relatively well. He had been well and truly outmanoeuvred – it would be extremely complicated to remove the task onto one of the other captains. He fumed internally, and yet would try and make the best of it, “Why thank you senator, I am hardly worthy of this superior honour. We shall leave at once.”
“At once?”
“Indeed. Everything should be ready and we have spent far too long – glory awaits and is tired of waiting.”
“So be it. I shall talk with our colleague, I’m certain he’s finished with his partner by now, and we shall leave at the next opportunity.”
Arbion nodded, “I believe I can find my own way back to my armour, if you would grant me flight clearance I would be grateful. It has been a pleasant meeting.” He did not wait for a response but gave a small bow and strode away, recalling his course easily – he didn’t forget much. He navigated the lift network, strode through the crowds (which parted in his way) and upon reaching the shuttle bay stripped of his robes and began the complex procedure of entering his armour by way of the chest.
Once within the armour and again enjoying the feeling of a form beyond his farm Arbion floated towards the doors and as they opened for him flew out, accelerating to the armours full speed back to his own ship. At last things were actually happening.