"Whispers of Destiny" - "Undiscovered Frontier" Season 2 (Multiverse Space Opera Crossover)

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Re: "Whispers of Destiny" - "Undiscovered Frontier" Season 2 (Multiverse Space Opera Crossover)

Post by Shroom Man 777 »

Steve wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2017 11:29 amI haven't decided on one. There are theories in-universe, so to speak, usually that Big Bangs happen all the time, or alternatively that there was one massive Big Bang that started the entire Multiverse, but that it "pulsed" in such a way that a bunch of universes were spawned at different times.
Makes sense. I was thinking of something like that. Differing degrees of time depending on the ebbs and perhaps "dimensional distance" from the epicenter. (This means S0-T5 is closer than other verses! :P )
My listing actually includes a universe that is labeled "18th Century???", and don't forget C1P2, a 19th Century Earth that was officially off-limits until Hawk and his band came along to blow the shit out of them. Hell, even Jarod's world has contact banneed under limitations law.
Ah, but are there situations where they have allies and members in such 'verses that are non-human while the humans there are seen as too primitive and otherwise not ready?

Or do our ship full of Chosen Ones usually bump into the Chosen Species in a specific Chosen Planet that recurs throughout the dimensions unlike other not-Chosen Species and their not-Chosen Worlds? :P
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Re: "Whispers of Destiny" - "Undiscovered Frontier" Season 2 (Multiverse Space Opera Crossover)

Post by Steve »

Hrm. I wouldn't be opposed to having the Alakins from A7R6 (the aforementioned pre-industrial Earth). I don't recall if I stated which universe they came from.
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Re: "Whispers of Destiny" - "Undiscovered Frontier" Season 2 (Multiverse Space Opera Crossover)

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Have them recur in multiple verses? Yeah, have your original alienoids recur. It's infinite probabilities so the universes have gotta have more to them than just infinite variations of COMMANDERADMIRALISSIMO Sergeatenant Shootpistol McDudeman of the United Cosmastrotellar Navarmy Marangerines. Because you'll be in danger of being saturated with very similar forms of sci-fi. It'll be like an Aliens, Starship Trooper film, Avatar, Halo crossover where Jake Sully, Hicks and Rico and Master Chief realize their underwears have interchangeable compatible tactical rails or something. :P

Add a plot twist by making Master Chief secretly A LIZARD or something!

Or some LOTR, Warcraft and Warhammer Fantasy crossover where they are all befuddled at the great mysteries of LOTR - namely the lack of enormous shoulderpads amongst the heroes and villains of the First Age of the Second Age.

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Re: "Whispers of Destiny" - "Undiscovered Frontier" Season 2 (Multiverse Space Opera Crossover)

Post by speaker-to-trolls »

Pretty much any established Sci fi story about modern earthlings encountering aliens could actually do this pretty nicely if you just ignore the humans in the original story. Predator, for instance; you could take the quite reasonable view that an entire civilisation of professional hunters is an absurd idea, and that the guy in the movie was a bored rich dentist doing some illegal poaching on his weekend off, but that the Yuatja are generally a very civilised people :P (I'm aware this contradicts later Predator related stuff but this is your multiverse)
Shroom wrote:Or some LOTR, Warcraft and Warhammer Fantasy crossover where they are all befuddled at the great mysteries of LOTR - namely the lack of enormous shoulderpads amongst the heroes and villains of the First Age of the Second Age.
As long as it's old school Warhammer Fantasy and not this new Sigmarines shit.

No, you're a bitter old dork! :)
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Re: "Whispers of Destiny" - "Undiscovered Frontier" Season 2 (Multiverse Space Opera Crossover)

Post by Shroom Man 777 »

What I mean to say is that a lot of these crossovers are from materials that are kind of referencing or stemming from each other anyway. Hence my tangent about the Heinlein, James Cameron, + derivatives crossover. Or like Babylon 5 and DS9 crossovers. It's fun but at some point you're gonna see how all their similarities are going to... just saturate.

Throw some SAGA there. Have the Alliance mediate between Wreathe and Landfall. Robert talking to PRINCE ROBOT.

Or have the Aurora work with SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO to beat those whatever aliens.

Or have Jarod figure out a way to release GODZILLA and MOTHRA from the Xiliens' control and save this Earth. While Robert and Meridia do kung fu stuff against the aliens who look like bad Final Fantasy rejects. And Don Frye with a samurai sword goes around doing who knows what.

The Koenig escorts TITAN AE and the Aurora has to repel the Drej mothership!

Have Space Conquistadores. Or something. I mean, imagine if instead of cybernetic nanite-injecting horrors or glowy space energy alienoids, Picard and his crew just encountered a million other jumpsuit-wearing Corporatenants in Explorator-class Shipstroyers.

VANDREAD! Robert and Angel have lols because of how this interstellar conflict is actually Gender Relations 101.

GUNDAM!



IDK... I mean the story's already doing well with this. But I guess sometimes my apathy towards standard (US) sci-fi tropes spikes when I ruminate on it, especially when this is one enormous crossover of mostly US sci-fis with their tropes and conventions.
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Re: "Whispers of Destiny" - "Undiscovered Frontier" Season 2 (Multiverse Space Opera Crossover)

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Meridina and Lucy remained outside of the Senate Chamber's southern entrance, listening intently as the shouting within grew. Lucy gave a glance toward Meridina and held back a sigh. Months ago, Meridina had been this figure of supreme, calm confidence in Lucy's life. Now she looked like a monster might jump from the corner at any moment. Much of the quiet confidence had given way to clear worry and doubt, and those were not qualities to people with their abilities.

Whatever she was suffering internally, however, Meridina was still quite skilled, and Lucy could feel her become more alert. Lucy, do you feel that?

Lucy focused for a moment. At first she felt nothing, at least nothing that stood out against the growing emotional agitation coming from the Senate chamber. But as the seconds passed she felt it. Nervousness, tension, but defiant intent mixed within.

And violent thinking. Someone was steeling themselves for imminent killing. Intentional, unrelenting, and brutal killing.

Lucy felt under her uniform jacket and to the space at her waist where her lakesh was hidden.

Meridina's body had tensed. She made no similar movement. But yet, within seconds she was moving. Her hand swept out and energy lashed out. A sharp impact sounded against the far wall. Another thump came from the floor.

Out of nothingness appeared a dark-clad man, Human-lookingg, with a weapon in his arms.

Lucy had her lakesh out and swinging just in time. Her blade moved at the commands of arms that Lucy was not really controlling. Her instinct, her bond with the universe, were guiding her blade to deflect the shots that came roaring out of nothingness. One shot deflected back into the unseen attacker caused a sudden explosion of sparks. A ripple in the air appeared and became another dark-clad figure, with a mean-looking automatic weapon in his hands.

Said figure still had the gun pointing toward Lucy, and indeed was still firing, but Lucy didn't have to hold back his fire for long. Meridina lunged to his side and swung her lakesh in a clean cut at his forearms. The slice lopped his hands and the lower third of his forearms off completely. Crimson blood spurted out and onto the normally-immaculate carpet. The man screamed in pain and shock at the damage.

Lucy looked to their fallen enemies. Both were just starting to stir. Her first thought was to disarm them before they could recover.

And then a sense of immediate danger filled her being. Lucy stopped and tried to focus on it. She felt her power instinctively move her body, turning her to the side.

A lakesh blade swung through the air she had just vacated. A single figure shimmered into view a moment later. Her attacker was a woman, bald, with haunting blue eyes focused entirely on Lucy. Some surprised briefly flickered in them when Lucy brought her lakesh up and nearly cut her along the cheek.

Italarai was stunned at what she saw. The Human had a lakesh. More importantly, she'd trained with it. Italarai wasn't just facing one possible threat now. She would have to eliminate this one too.

With a single movement of her hand, Italarai's power lashed out and slammed into Lucy. Lucy didn't get her defense up in time. The blast of pure energy struck like the blast wave of an explosive, hurtling Lucy through the doors and into the Senate Chamber.

A Senate Chamber in which the earlier shouts of anger were now those of fear and terror.




The gunfire had jolted the Senate's attention with swift and terrible efficiency. Senate President Akreet's calls to order halted as the sound echoed for a moment and stopped. "Sergeant-At-Arms," he said, "contact sec…"

The east and west doors exploded at almost the same moment. Since each door had two security officers watching it, this had the side benefit to the attackers of eliminating four of the security staff, leaving only the two at the south door, the Sergeant-At-Arms himself, and a security man among President Morgan's staffers.

As the explosions were still echoing in their ears, dark-clad figures came in with assault rifles. The lead one coming in from the east raised his weapon to spray the top tier with blue energy bolts. Morgan's people had already pulled him down into cover.

The lead shooter from the west opened up, as did the fellow behind him. The Sergeant-at-Arms was too slow to avoid being hit, taking shots to the right shoulder and arm that brought him down.

Further shots struck Akreet square in the chest. Robert was certain the Alakin was dead before he hit the ground.

King rounded the podium and dashed for the Defense Committee chair. The incoming shots soon moved down toward them. She plowed into Admiral Davies and dragged him to cover. Maran and Gulinev had already secured Minister Hawthorne. The other members of the Committee were taking cover.

So were many of the Senators. But cover wouldn't help those in the lower tier. More gunmen were pouring into the Senate from both east and west, and while fire continued to converge on the President's location and the Party Leaders, the other shooters were firing into the pit.

By this point Robert and Jarod were moving. Jarod moved into cover toward the southern door, the only one not breached, where the armed guards there were already moving up to try and shoot at the incoming shooters. But they only had sidearms available, not rifles. One of their number, a male Dorei, took a blast to the chest and fell down right beside Jarod, dead. Jarod picked up his gun and went back to the corner. When no suppressive fire came Jarod leaned out and lined up his pistol with one of the shooters coming in on the west side. His weapon barked, two shots in succession. One was slightly off and the other struck a shooter in the shoulder, knocking him back into cover.

Robert went into the pit as well. He could feel the attention of a couple of the shooters on him and jumped just as they fired where he was, sending shots that just missed him and hit a desk behind which one of the senators was cowering.

He put everything into the jump, just as Meridina taught him, and it cleared him straight to the second tier. He landed between Akreet and the Sergeant-at-Arms. He sensed nothing from them; they were dead, and there was nothing he could do about that. But he could still save the others.

A cry came from the Senate floor. He looked in time to see Senator Marswell struck again by a shot. She fell to the ground, clearly dead.

Looking to the west, Robert saw the man Jarod shot helped into cover by a compatriot. A third figure, a woman, was tracking him with her gun. He had only moments.

Robert extended a hand toward the Sergeant-at-Arms' fallen body. The pulse pistol he had been carrying zipped through the air and into Robert's hand. He swung it over, diving to the side as he did, and barely evaded the first burst of shots from the dark-suited woman's rifle. He let his instincts, directed by the power within him, take the aim and fire.

The shot nailed the attacker in the throat. She went wide-eyed and gagged as she fell over.

He hit the floor, on his side, and adjusted his gun and aim to the remaining uninjured gunman on the west side. Again he pulled the trigger, squeezing it several times.

Initially his shots were a little off, missing to either side. But as the gunman turned, Robert pulled the trigger one more time. This time, whether it was luck or his abilities finally synching like they should, he got the hit he was looking for, a shot right in the forehead. The figure slumped over beside his wounded friend, the back of his head smoking. "The west door is clear!", Robert shouted. "West is clear, get everyone out!"

The surviving security man beside Jarod heard Robert and shouted the same. "West door, evacuate now!" Jarod nodded in agreement.

As he turned to begin giving covering fire on the east side, the southern door exploded inward. Lucy landed on the ground beside him and rolled until she reached the steps leading down to the lower tier. She grunted and, with effort, picked herself up. There was no mistaking the gleam of the lakesh now in her hand.

She brought it up as a blur zipped past Jarod. Another woman - Italarai - swung her own lakesh toward Lucy's neck. The blow was parried. Lucy grunted and, in a move that was surprising enough the Gersallian never saw it coming, threw her head forward hard enough to smash her forehead into the nose and mouth of her attacker. An audible crunch came and blood gushed from the broken nose that resulted from the impact.

Jarod brought his pistol into place to shoot the woman from behind. Lucy noticed first and sent him a quick mental message, more of a sensation: No. He turned his attention to the gunmen along the eastern door to aid Robert and the last remaining Senate security guard.

Robert was staying behind cover. Bursts of energy flew over his head with enough frequency that he knew it would be impossible to leave cover and not get shot. Mentally he reached out for the others. Meridina?

I am occupied, was her return thought. There are three more attackers attempting to come in by the south entrance. For a moment their connection lapsed. Two now.

Jarod? Lucy?

Busy! That thought was definitely Lucy's, and Robert heard another clang and electric buzz as lakesh blades slammed together.

I'm helping to get the Senators out the west door, Jarod thought. And for the record, I hate telepathic communication.

Robert smirked at that. Be that as it may, I could use some cover fire. He reached out mentally for King and sensed her approaching. Commander King?

Get out of my head! was the sole reply, a powerful thought that actually made Robert's head hurt.

A burst of fire from overhead came from the other side of the room, forcing the other gunmen into cover before they could shoot at Robert again. He heard footsteps thumping on the floor and turned his head to see King rushing up to join him. She'd claimed a weapon from one of the fallen attackers to the west door. Upon closer examination Robert recognized it as a MP-10 Particle Rifle, a common enough model initially built in the Colonial Confederation of D3R1.

With King giving him cover fire, Robert rose over the desk of the dead Sergeant-at-Arms and squeezed off several shots. The gunmen on that door had taken cover at the nearest desks. One started to change cover, with King's weapon literally ripping the desk up, and Robert fired a shot that got the gunman in the leg. A cry echoed in the Senate chamber.

The other two gunmen were trying to shift between suppressing the opposition and shooting at the Senators as they fled. One wild shot did take a Senator in the arm, sending him down his knees. Jarod quickly bolted out of cover and grabbed that Senator, helping him up long enough for two others to grab their colleague and help him along. Over by the west door Senator Sriroj and Admiral Davies were directing the evacuation. Davies had retrieved a weapon from the other fallen gunmen along that side and occasionally squeezed off a shot toward the fighting.

The fight between Lucy and the swordswoman Italarai had moved toward the pit. Lucy was giving ground, using her lakesh defensively and buying time for Meridina to finish off the attackers outside the south doors so they could work together. And it was clear Italarai knew it. Robert felt her surprise and frustration at how well Lucy was fighting. "You've been trained as a swevyra'se," the woman said in a harsh tone. "How?"

"That's my little secret," Lucy retorted, catching another swipe of the blade.

It was at that moment she felt the risk. A shot not just coming for her, but going toward one of the Senators. Lucy backed away from Italarai and then jumped backward, opening the range with Italarai, and using the break from the attack to swing her lakesh to intercept the bolts that came toward her.

Bolts, it would later be said, that would have struck Senator Sriroj directly had they landed.

Indeed, said Senator noticed this and called out thanks, while above them the bolts flew upward and hit the electric chandelier. Sparks flew from blasted lights and rained down upon everyone.

Italarai charged toward Lucy as she moved to adjust. Robert could feel the future of that move with crystal, horrible clarity. Lucy's blade temporarily out of position, an awkward posture to stop the first blow, a fist or foot to knock it away, and then… Lucy would die.

So Robert, with King providing ample cover fire, turned and opened fire on Italarai as she got up to Lucy. Lucy did indeed make the awkward block, but Italarai couldn't take advantage of it. She felt Robert's shots coming and she twisted her blade to reflect them. One pulse deflected, then a second, and the third, deflected right toward the fleeing Senators…

…where it struck Senator Kiang square in the side of the head.

A number of people noticed it. They couldn't help it. And so it was with great shock that the pulse in question did not send her to the ground, dead. It did cause Kiang to stop and falter, yes, but it also caused the entire side of her head to briefly turn amber in color and began to lose shape.

Robert's horror turned to an almost satisfied realization. Kiang was indeed what he thought she was. "Changeling!", he shouted. "Everyone down!"

The shout, and other considerations, caused Senators near where "Kiang" had stumbled to fall back from her as she picked herself up from the ground. A bitter expression crossed the Changeling's face. Her entire body turned into amber and she flowed through the Senators toward the exit. Robert didn't care let the Changeling escape and moved his firearm over to engage her. But she was too fast and he couldn't risk shooting one of the fleeing Senators.

It was King who opened fire. WOM, WOM, WOM, one after the other, shots that nearly hit the Changeling each time and didn't hit a Senator. Robert wondered what she was doing. He almost asked until the feeling within him made him turn and face the other direction again. One of the last gunmen was trying to get a shot at their backs. He went for cover the moment Robert's gun started barking.

The Changeling continued toward the door, but not directly, not with King's shots forcing her to dodge and evade away from the door. Further shots descended around her from the pistol in Jarod's hands. The infiltrator was shapeless, nothing but a flowing mass of amber fluid that evaded their shots. She had been stymied in her immediate escape attempt, so she changed tactics and started moving to the middle platform where Robert and King were. As she rushed them, dodging and weaving around King's shots, the amber began to coalesce. A hiss filled the air as she became an alien serpent of some kind, like a boa constrictor with the agility of a rattlesnake. Crimson scales covered the head, turning into brown and yellow further down the form.

Robert felt the strike coming just in time. He jumped and knocked King over, causing the Changeling's strike to miss. Only after they were down did he realize that the Changeling had wanted him to do that, as she continued on toward the east door.

Ironically enough, it was one of the attacking gunmen who stopped her for the moment. Whether he knew what the Changeling was or not, he opened fire. Particle bolts filled the space in the Changeling's line of advance and forced her back for the moment.

King and Robert wheeled around and opened fire on her. Being fired on from three guns and two directions had pushed the Changeling's evasive abilities to their limits. Several shots grazed the serpentine Changeling. Amber appeared over its scaly body as the hits caused the Changeling to lose form. A couple of direct shots brought it down into a formless amber puddle.

With the common enemy disposed of, Robert and King had to take cover as the gunmen started shooting at them again. Robert heard one calling out in Gersallian and the fire on their position became relentless. The particle blasts were destroying the desks; they had to scramble down to the Secretary of the Senate's desk as those of the Sergeant-at-Arms and the Senate President became so battered they were no longer effective cover. The two gunmen shifted back toward the east door, firing as they went, and soon King and Robert would have no cover unless they fell back to the west side of the platform.

Lucy could sense their danger. She parried another blow from her attacker and twisted her lakesh around to catch the next. This gave her the position to force the wielder toward the Defense Committee table. With an instant to gather her focus, Lucy lashed out with her force powers. Raw, unseen energy sent her foe flying off into the abandoned desks of the middle tier. This gave her the opening to go the distance to the enemy gunmen as they retreated. They saw her coming and turned their particle rifles on her. Lucy's power guided her arms to block the incoming fire with her lakesh blade.

Robert and King slipped out of cover and brought their firearms to bear. Each sighted down on one of the gunmen and pulled their triggers. The pulse and particle fire caught their foes, as did one shot deflected by Lucy, and there was nothing the two gunmen could have done to save themselves at that point.




Italarai got back to her feet in time to see Kanral and the last of his fighters go down. The mission was a failure. This displeased her.

But displeasure could wait. She wasn't done yet. She had only moments with which to escape. Her hand went within her robe to the secret control there and her finger found the button to activate the beacon. She felt a surge of warning go through her as the device activated.

At that moment Meridina whirled into sight. Her lakesh slashed toward Italarai's, a disarming move she could never have stopped.

It never connected.

Italarai materialized in the transport truck down in the Council Hall loading dock. Seqen watched her materialize, and materialize alone. He frowned. "The mission failed?"

"It did," she said simply. "Our window is almost closed."

"Then we should…"

Seqen stood, and the moment he was on his feet Italarai's free arm made a pulling gesture. She yanked him toward her in a burst of her power… just as she brought her lakesh up toward his chest.

Betrayal and shock flashed over his expression as Seqen felt the blade go through his heart. "Why…?", he asked weakly.

"It is better this way," Italarai answered. Sensing he was already mere moments from death, she brought the beacon out and pressed a key along its side. This changed the system it was locked onto. With another press of the button, she was whisked away by a transporter.

She materialized on a space vessel in orbit of Earth. The small personal shuttle had no IU drive, but it did have a solid warp drive for its size, and best of all, a second set of hardwired ID codes that she could use. In just five seconds of transporting she was in the cockpit seat activating her warp drive. The small shuttle shot off toward Proxima Centauri, where a ship would be waiting for her in interstellar space.

Once she was secure, Italarai activated her backup comm line. She sent a single message to Mastrash Goras.

The operation failed to achieve optimal results. Suspect we were manipulated by Changeling from S5T3 Dominion. But it wasn't a total loss. The video from the Senate will make for interesting viewing and may provide opportunity for you.

After that, there was nothing to do but sit and wait for shuttle to arrive at its rendezvous.




The last of the attackers disappeared in a burst of white light a moment before Meridina would have knocked her blade away. She frowned and looked out at the Senate, and most importantly, at the dead bodies around the floor.

The carnage was not as bad as it might have been. Still… all of this death. And all done by her people. Her people! Shame and horror filled Meridina at the thought of it.

This.. this was supposed to be a time of greatness. A time of hope, prophesied by Swenya herself. This was not supposed to have happened.

"Meridina!", Lucy shouted. "A little help?!"

Meridina reacted immediately, jumping down to the main walkway between the middle and lower tier and running over to the east door entrance. Robert and Lucy had their arms up and hands out. Their power was flowing outward, binding the Changeling as she - or he, or it - writhed about on the floor. The amber fluid of the Changeling seemed to be trying to take shape. "We have to hold it," Robert gasped. "We have to keep it in place until security gets here with a container."

"I understand." Meridina raised her arms and added her power to her students'. Together the three held the Changeling in place.

King kept her commandeered assault rifle on the creature. Nearby Admiral Davies and Jarod walked up, weapons raised. "Security across the entire building is down," Davis said. "Someone scrambled all of the systems."

"Someone using Senatorial access codes, I bet," Robert said. He kept his focus on the Changeling while talking; even with Meridina and Lucy helping and doing most of the work in holding the thing down, he didn't want to risk it getting up.

"I doubt they'll be Kiang's," King said. "This entire incident has the feel of a false flag operation."

"Your meaning, Commander?", Davies asked.

"We were manipulated, sir," King said. "And so were the Gersallian radicals who launched this attack."

"We'll see if the evidence backs your theory, Commander," Davies responded harshly. He looked over at Robert and then Meridina and Lucy.

For a moment, real fear struck Robert. Davies had them dead to rights. He could kill them all with a single sweep of the rifle on automatic fire… No! Robert forced the thought down. Davies was paranoid, but he wasn't suicidal. Even he couldn't ignore a Changeling that had been masquerading as a Senator, and if he gunned them down nothing would hold the creature back. He'd read the reports from 33LA. The Changeling would kill him, King, and Jarod in seconds, and that was assuming Jarod didn't gun him down first.

While King and Davies kept the rifles taken from the killed radicals trained on the Changeling, Jarod was busy operating his multidevice. "I'm gaining access to the Council Hall security system," he said. "And I just got a message through to the Aurora. They're relaying my reports straight to Defense Command."

"Who did we lose?", Robert asked. "I saw Senator Akreet go down."

"Djalis, Rawlinson, Marswell…" King's voice was firm, but Robert could feel her own horror at what happened. "I counted at least eight dead Senators."

"Ten," Jarod corrected. "And Councilman Palas didn't make it."

"Dammit," Robert muttered. He looked to Davies, but his biting remark died in his throat. Now wasn't the time. And right now, all he wanted to do was collapse as soon as the Changeling was secured.




Mastrash Goras had called upon all of his discipline to force the surprise to come out when Mastrash Maklir's junior apprentice informed the Council of the news over the interuniversal networks. The attack on the Alliance Senate was on all of the major news sites and networks. Goras waited patiently for confirmation that there was little information as to the extent of it. How many Senators had died, how many got away, and most importantly, if any of Italarai's people had gotten out.

Karesl made it clear he wished to speak. Maklir nodded assent. "I move that the Council adjourn for now," Karesl said, his voice somber. "We must extend official condolences to the Alliance Senate for its losses on this tragic day, and offer the services of our Knights to find those guilty and bring them to Justice."

Ledosh nodded. "I second the motion."

"Let all vote as their swevyra requires," Maklir intoned. The old man registered his vote last, as he always did. It was a unanimous outcome. "Mastrash Ledosh, you will send the message."

"It shall be done at once."

The Council split up and went their separate ways. Karesl stepped up beside Goras. "A terrible tragedy." Karesl shook his head. He could sense Goras' intense thoughts. "Do you think it could be the Dissenters?"

"If so, they have gone too far," Goras insisted. "We should continue to monitor this. We may yet find the opening we need."

"If only it had not come with such bloodshed," Karesl sighed. He nodded to Goras and stepped into his office.

Goras went into his own office. He found Italarai's message waiting for him. Whatever did she mean?, he pondered. It would be hours before they could speak with any security. In the meantime, he would have to monitor communications.

Night was starting to fall when more video reports came. As Italarai reported, it was a failure.

It was only after seeing leaked videos of the fighting in the Senate that Goras realized what Italarai meant… as he watched Italarai duel with a Human woman with dark curly hair. Goras smiled at recognizing Lucilla Lucero, Meridina's student who had turned down the Order… and yet was here dueling with an Order lakesh in her hand.

Oh you foolish girl, he thought. I have you. You have overreached, and now you and your entire cause are mine to crush.




Ship's Log: 10 May 2642; ASV Aurora. Captain Robert Dale recording. The news of the attack on the Senate, and the outing of Senator Kiang as a Changeling infiltrator, have sent shockwaves across the Alliance. That the attack was instigated by Gersallian extremists, the anti-Alliance "Dissenters", has caused a lot of shouting and anger. If not for the unfortunate death of Palas and for Commander Meridina's prominent place in the defense of the Senate, it might have caused irreparable damage to the Gersallians' participation within the Alliance.

Thankfully, with the Changeling a captive and Kiang's systems exposed to scrutiny, Commander King is ready to issue a report to the Senate with Commander Jarod. Commander Meridina, Lieutenant Lucero, and myself have been asked to attend as well.


The damage to the Senate chamber hadn't been fixed. Eleven desks, mostly on the east side of the chamber, were vacant and covered by wreaths. The Council had sent their Sergeant-at-Arms, an Alakin female, to stand in the place of her fallen colleague. The various Senators looked on in quiet dignity, far from the state they had been in when violence had broken out, and all awaited for the new Senate President to call the session to order.

The prior day the Senators had made their vote, and now Senator Sriroj Thiang stood as Akreet's successor. The appointed Senator of the Sol System Republic was as stoic as Robert had usually seen her. Above and behind her, President Morgan was again in place. More of his Security Service guards were flanking him. And the Council Hall security forces had been tripled. There would be no chances taken.

Sriroj looked down at the pit, where the Defense Committee was together. They were short two members. The Council had yet to appoint a delegate to replace the slain Palas, and as Senate President Sriroj would no longer sit on the body, and again no delegate had been appointed yet to replace her. "Minister Hawthorne, the Senate is prepared to hear your findings."

Hawthorne nodded and looked across the table to the witness podium, where King stood with Robert, Jarod, Meridina, and Lucy flanking her. Up in the visitor's gallery the command crews of the Aurora and Koenig were in attendance. "If it pleases the Senate, Commander King has finished her preliminary investigation into this terrible attack." Hawthorne nodded to her. "Please, proceed."

"Yes sir." King looked to her datapad. "My investigation, with the help of the Planetary Criminal Investigation Bureau and the Portland Police Department, has determined that the attackers were Gersallian extremists known as Dissenters. They oppose Gersal's place in the Alliance." King looked up at Sriroj and Morgan. "It appears that they gained entry to the Senate using command codes that were officially assigned to Senator Yantanaran."

Heads started to turn to the tan-skinned Gersallian woman sitting in the upper tier. Her face was pale with disbelief.

"However, evidence recovered from the computers of the Changeling masquerading as Senator Kiang indicate these codes were duplicated." With that King defused the growing tension. "It appears that the Changeling was seeking to instigate a political crisis to split the Alliance over apparent Gersallian government terrorism."

"There is nothing 'apparent' about Gersallian terrorism!", thundered Pensley from his seat. "The wreaths we see here are proof of that." By the time he finished, cries of "Order!" were starting to drown him out.

"Sit down, you are out of order!", ruled Sriroj, and her glare told everyone she would not humor Pensley today. The irate Councilman obeyed.

"Was this Changeling also responsible for the leaking of our plans to the Nazi Reich?", asked Davies.

"It would appear so, sir, yes," King said. "By the Senate's decree, Commander Jarod and I examined the broadcasts sent to the Reich to offer peace. They did indeed have fragmented data parts that, when compiled, provided several of our war plans to the Reich. This includes the proposed raids on their supply lines."

"And the Gersallian involvement in the data theft from Defense Command?", asked Maran.

"Our records from the other day confirm a ninety-nine percent probability that the force-endowed Gersallian who escaped by transporter is the same woman who planted the data hacking device into Defense Command," King stated. "Communication logs indicate this woman and the Changeling had been in contact for at least a month beforehand."

"Do we know who she is?" The question was from Senator Hipathi.

"We do not yet, sir. We merely know she was trained in the arts of the Order of Swenya."

"A good thing we had two defenders with similar training," noted General Gulinev.

"Is there anything else you believe the Committee and the Senate should hear, Commander?", Hawthorne asked.

"Only that our initial concerns about the Gersallian Order of Swenya appear overstated," King answered. "I can't rule out rogue elements in their organization, of course, and I will continue my investigation into the attack with the Committee's blessing. But it is clear that a blanket condemnation of the organization is, at this time, premature. Furthermore, this unprecedented security breach indicates we may need to consider our own organization of such talented individuals to answer to the Alliance Government. It is my recommendation that the Senate and Council launch an investigation of this." King looked to her side before facing Hawthorne again. "I would also say that this tragedy would have been far, far worse if not for the conduct of Captain Dale and his officers. With the security and future of the Alliance at stake, Captain Dale and his people showed impeccable virtue. They acted with intelligence, decisiveness, and valor in support of my investigation. And I needn't point out their conduct during the attack." King nodded her head. "That is all, Minister."

"You may step down." Hawthorne nodded. "Do any on the Committee wish to issue a statement before we vote on Commander King's report?"

Pensley stood. "I will only say that I am mortified that the peace initiative was abused so callously by this outsider, and that I plead with the Committee and the Senate to not let this incident bias them against the possibility of peace."

Robert wouldn't let himself smirk. He was amused to see that General Gulinev had no such scruples, rolling his eyes at Pensley.

"Anyone else?"

Davies stood. "I have a statement," he said. As he did so, he eyed Robert and the others. "While Commander King's recommendation for an Alliance organization of… talented individuals has its merits, we must remember that such powers pose grave threats to the liberties our systems and nations cherish. The powers we have seen would allow these beings to crush us under a tyranny that we might never escape. I would move that aside from looking into our own organization to protect the Government from these threats, we also begin research into ways to suppress these abilities and to deal with those who abuse them. Such a precaution is manifestly necessary to our posterity. Otherwise we are risk from all sorts of organizations, be they the Order of Swenya or the Earth Alliance Psi Corps of E5B1. I ask the Committee and the Senate to please begin considering these measures while we still have time. That is all." Davies sat.

Admiral Maran didn't react to that. But he showed Robert and the others a grin even as he ignored Hawthorne's last request for statements. When none came, the minister turned and looked up to the Senate President. "Senator Sriroj, the Committee has finalized its report into these incidents, and we have nothing further to add."

"Thank you, Defense Minister." Sriroj looked down to the podium. "Commander King, Captain Dale, Commander Jarod, Commander Meridina, Lieutenant Lucero. Please, approach."

Robert wondered what was going on, but he said nothing while joining the others in walking around the pit, up the steps, and to where Sriroj was standing. "It is my position, and that of the Senate, that we have you to thank for our very lives. The citizens of the Alliance can rest easy knowing that they have such valiant defenders standing watch over them. Your courage and commitment saved many lives and thwarted an attack that might have torn the Alliance asunder, and your boldness in the face of an unexpected threat ended the grave risk that the Changeling infiltrator posed." Sriroj looked up to Morgan. "The Alliance President and Stellar Navy may yet reward you in any manner they deem fit, but here and now, the Senate of the United Alliance of Systems awards you the Senate Order of Merit."

The Sergeant-at-Arms stepped up and provided Sriroj with her first case. The medal was a metal disc of silver with the Alliance torch insignia set into the middle. Robert didn't move, didn't dare to, as it was pinned to his chest by the Senate President, who went on to do the same to the others.

As Sriroj did so, applause came from the Senate and from the Gallery. Robert peeked momentarily to see Julia, Angel, and the others clapping with proud grins. His heart felt lightened by it. Despite everything that had happened, the Alliance had been preserved, and the Changeling threat dealt with.

There would be battles in the future, of course, and he knew in his heart they would be vicious and dangerous and painful. But for the moment, that was still in the future, and here in the present, he could smile and enjoy the moment.




Tag




After the ceremony and an attendant dinner, the crews returned to the Aurora. It was clear even on the trip back up that Meridina was not in the festive mood, indeed, that she had been forcing cheer for the benefit of her comrades.

None felt that more acutely than Lucy and Robert. Robert gave Lucy a nod as they all left the shuttle bay, acknowledging her intent to check up on Meridina.

Meridina had been swift in heading to her quarters. By the time Lucy got there she was already inside. Lucy stood at the door and leaned against it. "I'm here if you need me," she said simply.

A moment later, the door opened.

Meridina was sitting alone, staring at the book Lucy had always seen her looking at. The book that contained Swenya's writings. "It wasn't supposed to be this way," Meridina sighed.

"What wasn't?"

"I am lost," Meridina murmured. "I have had such faith in this. Such faith that this was the hour, this the time, but now…"

"Meridina?"

She wasn't supposed to say these things. But Meridina didn't care at the moment. She'd alienated her father for this cause. She'd risked her position in the Order for it. She'd believed that the time had come, that this was the prophesied day that Swenya had promised millennia ago.

But the Alliance wasn't becoming the shield of Light. It was falling into the darkness of fear. Men like Hawthorne and Davies were poisoning it from within, the Dissenters had committed murder to alienate her people from the Alliance, and dark forces from without were constantly battering away at it, causing pain and suffering to increase.

Meridina got up and moved through her living area. Her mind was in turmoil.

Had her father been right? Had she, had Ledosh, been wrong?

Was it all for nothing?

The dark thoughts within her stirred. She felt the cold doubt, the biting fear that none of it had mattered, nothing she had done. That all of her dreams were going to die.

"Meridina, please, talk to me," Lucy urged. She took up a chair and sat beside her teacher. "Whoever these people were… I mean, there are always going to be people who are extremist, and who go too far. But we're not going to let them drive us apart. We've already stopped them once!"

"I thought you were the ones," Meridina murmured, as if nothing Lucy said had registered. "I thought this was the time." The Gersallian, sniffling, stumbled over and landed on the floor beside her couch.

"Meridina, it's not over." Lucy walked over to her and helped her onto the couch. "We'll figure this out."

"Lucy, I am so sorry." Meridina shook her head. "I thought I was making things better, that I was helping you find a potential, but… it was my own ego. I wanted you to be the ones…"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You're supposed to be them," Meridina continued. "You're supposed to be the Dawn Bearers! You're supposed to forge a shield of Light and bring us Hope and Victory! But that's not happening. Everything is going wrong, my people are going mad with fear and anger, and this darkness...it is clawing inside of me, all of the doubt and fear that I… I have never felt like this before! The Goa'uld is gone, the mark should be gone, I should have healed by now! But I haven't! The darkness inside of me is still there and I can't make it leave!" Meridina finished her tirade by breaking down into tears.

It was hard for Lucy to see Meridina like this. Amaunet had been bad enough, and she sensed the confrontation with the "swevyra'kse" while rescuing Jarod had been troublesome in its own right… but now it was like she had been stripped bare of all expectations, all hopes, by seeing her people engage in such pointless killing. Indeed, to see one of her own Order helping in that slaughter.

At this point in time, a despairing fear long buried under layers and layers of mental blocks, conditioning, and sheer willpower was surging through to the surface. Lucy could sense that in her. Meridina had truly become completely, deathly afraid that everything she had done had been for nothing, and everything she had believed had turned out wrong.

"Whatever you're talking about, the darkness isn't going to take you, I promise," Lucy insisted. "I'll help you. Robert will too. We all will. You're one of us, Meridina, you're a part of this family!"

Meridina gave Lucy a sad look. "But I will not be much longer. Everything is ruined now. My errors have seen to that. And I am so, so sorry I didn't tell you before, about what I knew, about what I felt."

Lucy blinked. She couldn't make out what Meridina was talking about. "Is it this 'Dawn Bearer' stuff you talked about? You can tell me, Meridina!"

Meridina shook her head. "It's too late. I can sense it."

"What? How is it too late? What is…"

Meridina stood suddenly, as if she sensed something. She sighed and nodded. "Of course," she murmured. "They know."

Wordlessly, Meridina began to strip her uniform off. Lucy watched in bewilderment as Meridina took a simple sleeveless linen robe of blue and white and pulled it on, covering her down to the ankle. She affixed her lakesh to the linen belt that held the robe in place and walked to the door. "You don't need to see this," Meridina said. "But… I would feel better if you came."

"Where are you going?", Lucy asked.

Meridina did not answer. And Lucy could tell she wouldn't.

But she still followed.




Robert had been about to pull his uniform off, much to the delight of a waiting and smiling Angel, when he received the alert from the bridge. "Sir, there's someone at the starboard airlock. Several people in fact. They're refusing to leave and are demanding to be let aboard." Lieutenant Pacetti sounded as professional as ever.

"Have they identified themselves?", Robert asked.

"No, but they say they must speak to you. And they have government clearances."

Angel was frowning at him over that, although he knew he wasn't the focus of said frown. "Let's find out what's going on," Robert said. Into his multidevice he said, "Tell them I'm on my way, Pacetti."

"Yes sir.."

Together they started the journey to the lift. When they got to it, Julia was already stepping in. "Pacetti called you too?", Robert asked.

"Yeah," she said. "He must think we'll both need to face this. I wonder who it is?"

"Knowing our usual luck?" Robert sighed. "Admiral Davies coming to give us a surprise inspection."

"But we're in repair dock undergoing heavy repairs…" Julia sighed and rolled her eyes. "So yeah, of course."

Once on Deck 10 they made their way to the starboard side of the primary hull. The airlock door was still secure when they got there. An Alakin female, Lieutenant Charrip, was present with a small security detachment. "The airlock officer summoned me, sir," she said. "Just in case."

Robert nodded and stepped up to the airlock door. At that point he knew who was on the other side. He couldn't help but feel the sheer power. "Bridge, ready the emergency airlock security protocol," he said into his multidevice. "If you see anyone force their way onboard, trigger it. Hell, if I don't give you the clearance signal and I start to let them aboard anyway, trigger it."

Pacetti showed no hesitation. He responded immediately with an, "Aye Captain."

Julia gave him a look. "That's a bit excessive."

"After the other day, I'm not taking chances," Robert answered as he opened the airlock door. He stepped into the airlock as the other end opened as well.

Seven figures stepped in. All were in red Gersallian robes, and all wore the same purple body armor Meridina favored. The lead among them was a bald man with tanned skin. He looked at Robert through alert eyes and, Robert could feel, a supremely tuned swevyra/life force. "I am Hajamar, a swevyra'se of Gersal and Knight-Sergeant-At-Arms of the Order of Swenya. My Knights and I have come to seek justice."

"If you're after the crazy lady who got away from the Senate attack, you're wasting your time here," Robert replied.

"That is not our duty," Hajamar answered. "You are Captain Robert Dale?"

"I am."

Hajamar handed him a Gersallian datapad. It held text in Gersallian and an English translation beside it. Robert read over it, but Hajamar made sure to pronounce its contents. "By order of the Council of the Order of Swenya, I have come to arrest the Knight Meridina, daughter of Karesl of the Family of Lumantala."

Robert's jaw dropped in surprise. "...what?", he finally managed.

"Knight Meridina is wanted for treason against the Council and its commands, and of the Code of Swenya," Hajamar continued. "And we will take her into custody, Captain Dale."

"Like hell," Robert snarled. Behind him, Julia and Angel crossed their arms and stepped closer, as if to support him against the long odds. "This is my ship, and a starship of the Alliance Stellar Navy. We don't answer to your Order. If they want Meridina, they can go through the proper channels."

Hajamar narrowed his eyes. "I see she has trained you as well," he said. "Another proof of her treason."

"She's been teaching me control of this power, nothing more," Robert asserted. "Now, I suggest you leave and go through the Admiralty and Defense Command or even the courts, but I'm not handing Meridina over on your say so."

"We won't let the traitor escape us," Hajamar warned.

"Then camp out there for all I care," Robert retorted. "But if you step one foot on my ship, my crew has orders to blow the airlock and seal it behind us. And I know you're powerful, but I wonder if even you people can resist explosive decompression."

Hajamar seemed to consider it. "You are deceiving us," he said. "You would be taken too, as would your officers."

"Yeah," Robert said. "But my crew will probably beam me and my people back before we hit the wall of the drydock. Depending on how fast the safety people respond, well, do you think you'll be that lucky?" He went eye to eye with the Knight, glaring into his brown eyes. "Are you willing to take that chance?"

And he was clearly considering it. Robert could see that. Hajamar and his Knights weren't pushovers, and they knew their thing, and the fact was Robert was more outmatched here than he'd ever been in this sort of situation. Not even being cornered by Fassbinder and his SS at the Gamma Piratus Facility was this bad.

"Please, stop."

Robert turned. Meridina and Lucy were entering the airlock. Lucy looked bewildered, but Meridina had a sort of strange calm, even if it was covering immense doubt and… even despair, Robert thought.

"Knight Meridina," Hajamar said.

"Knight Hajamar." Meridina nodded respectfully to him. She reached to her belt and pulled out her lakesh hilt.

Hajamar's Knights all went for their blades. A chorus of metallic shrieks accompanied the extension of a half dozen lakeshes.

Lucy almost reached for hers, and Angel was clenching her fists for a fight. But Meridina looked to her and shook her head. She looked back to Hajamar and held her right palm up, the hilt laid on the palm. Robert felt her power grip it and levitate the hilt. It moved slowly through the air toward Hajamar.

Hajamar opened his palm. The weapon accelerated, too fast for Robert to intercept it, and landed square in his palm.

Meridina stepped up beside them and looked to the four. "I am honored to have known you all," she said. "Thank you for making me feel as if we were family. I am humbled by your generosity of spirit and your courage. Mi rake sa swevyra iso." She turned back to Hajamar. She put her wrists together and extended them forward. "Knight Hajamar, I surrender myself to the Knights of the Temple. I am ready for judgement."

Hajamar's expression softened. His eyes showed a glimmer of compassion. His reply was a wordless nod. From his own belt came a set of metal shackles.

"You can't do this!", Lucy screamed. She looked to Robert. "Stop them! Stop her!"

Robert swallowed and looked to Lucy, who looked like she was about to cry. "I can't, Lucy," he said. "She's going with them of her own free will."

"There has to be a regulation about this!" Lucy looked to Julia next. "Isn't there? She's an officer of the ship! They can't just march her off!"

"Maybe if we were on active duty, we could order her to not surrender," Julia said. "But we're in drydock, Lucy. The entire crew is in stand down. I mean, if she wanted me to I could fight this…"

By now Hajamar had fixed the shackles to Meridina's ankles as well. Lengths of tritanium chain, starship hull grade, now bound Meridina's limbs to a ring of the same material. The chain rattled as Meridina took her first steps, now standing between the seven Knights in red. She looked back to Lucy with tears in her blue eyes. "Goodbye, Lucy," she said. "You will find your way. I believe in you."

Hajamar gave a blunt, but not hostile, order in Gersallian. Meridina turned away and began to walk in time with her jailers.

Robert could feel Lucy's swevyra crackle with power. She was going to attack. Before she could he grabbed her by the arms. "No!", he hissed. "Not here, not this way!"

"This isn't right!", Lucy shouted. "She didn't do anything wrong! She's the purest, most noble woman I've ever met!"

"Yes, she is," Julia said. "But starting a fight here won't help her. We've got to fight this another way."

"How?", Lucy demanded.

"I don't know yet." Robert looked back down the airlock tube. The far airlock door slid to a shit, cutting off their view of Meridina. "But this isn't over." A look of grim determination crossed his face.

Upon seeing it, the same crossed Lucy's face as well. Angel and Julia both nodded in agreement.

"Meridina is family. And we're going to help her any way we can," Robert vowed.
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"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia

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Re: "Whispers of Destiny" - "Undiscovered Frontier" Season 2 (Multiverse Space Opera Crossover)

Post by Shroom Man 777 »

Meridina's trial should end with trial by combat where Robert has to fight this space knight who removes his helmet to reveal A LIZARD!
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Re: "Whispers of Destiny" - "Undiscovered Frontier" Season 2 (Multiverse Space Opera Crossover)

Post by Steve »

Shroom Man 777 wrote: Wed Feb 01, 2017 1:58 am Meridina's trial should end with trial by combat where Robert has to fight this space knight who removes his helmet to reveal A LIZARD!
It will actually have a trial by combat of sorts... :D

But seriously, Shroom, what is it with you and lizards? :P I already gave you Lizard Chirrut!

Actually, your remarks about wanting to see stuff outside of conventional American sci-fi makes me think you'll enjoy one of the late Season 3 episodes I've got planned. 8-) The sci-fi in question actually originates with Japan, although it is the American version (in fact, it's the latest incarnation of the American version, and is being produced by the same writing and animation teams and studio that did one of my favorite shows of this decade).


It also makes me ponder if you would enjoy The Power of a Name, which is a Dr. Who centric multiverse crossover that I wrote to be more like Dr. Who, just as nUF is inspired by DS9 and B5 (in fact, it's the reason why Season 1 was started in 2013 and not finished until the end of May 2016 - I spent the better part of two years writing TPOAN). IOW, while there is some action elements here and there, I generally maintained doing "Doctor"-y soolutions to issues instead of just straight up action-violence. And I did universes that I frankly will never use in nUF, such as Puella Magi Madoka Magica (which admittedly has been referenced in nUF - the Darglan had the Incubators listed as an Omega level threat), Dresden Files, Discworld, and even the Power Rangers universe (mwahahahahaha). Heck, I even did a short feating Captain Planet and the Planeteers (or "CAPTAIN PLANET!" if you're Robot Chicken Ted Turner).
"A Radical is a man with both feet planted firmly in the air." – Franklin Delano Roosevelt

"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia

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Re: "Whispers of Destiny" - "Undiscovered Frontier" Season 2 (Multiverse Space Opera Crossover)

Post by Shroom Man 777 »

Could you make it more than just flavor of the week though? I mean, if we're talking about universes of infinite probabilities, then more likely than not Robert would be talking to dellow felegates in some cavernous coral cathedral low-grav thing where the presidium of high-ranking grand poobahs is suspended upon some polycrystalline chandelier that has facets that translate and project the various differing vocal frequencies and thought-transmissions of the interspecies committee, received by the various dellow felegates who are englobed in force field spheres containing their natural atmospheres because they are actually beings and creatures of vast and varying compositions and not just some dudes in suits in Portland. :P

Ha, if this Inter-Universal Alliance is truly egalitarian then perhaps the counter-movement of Senators, with Morgan and the Alakin and the others, might use the utter poor showing of Hawthorne and others + the poor security of Portland to successfully motion for a transfer of capital!

THEN the inter-universal capital gets placed in an Alakin world! And woah holy sheeit we see the dellow felegates in some preposterous and preposterously AWESOME structure that looks like the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing combined with one of those ridiculous towers in Dubai but made out of poly-metamaterial that sort of resembles wood. Complete with hardlight holo-constructs around the walls, to shift and accommodate the various preferences and tastes of the visiting dellow felegates!

Have them hire Solarian designer teams - made of posthumanoids, Zigonians and whatnot - who are totally proficient in making non-humanocentric architecture for visitors! :D

Then Hawthorne or some other humanoid from Future Maryland or something will go "no that's too crazy weird alien stuff for our 31st century future interdimensional sensibilities!" :P
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Re: "Whispers of Destiny" - "Undiscovered Frontier" Season 2 (Multiverse Space Opera Crossover)

Post by wellis »

You know I have to ask Shroom, but what exactly of your universe has been nailed down? Other than the Reignfall being some sort of psychic destructo thing that destroyed Earth's & humanity's psi-tech, what stuff in history has been nailed down yet?

I tried reading your thread and it sort of really didn't help there.
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Re: "Whispers of Destiny" - "Undiscovered Frontier" Season 2 (Multiverse Space Opera Crossover)

Post by Shroom Man 777 »

wellis wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2017 2:30 pm You know I have to ask Shroom, but what exactly of your universe has been nailed down? Other than the Reignfall being some sort of psychic destructo thing that destroyed Earth's & humanity's psi-tech, what stuff in history has been nailed down yet?

I tried reading your thread and it sort of really didn't help there.
Sorry, yeah the main thread really can be a disorganized messy and understandably frustrating and obtuse and obscure and inscrutable pile of musings and ramblings and stream of thought stuff.

We have tried to compile certain for-sure facts and pertinent 'verse details with our Master List thread (we compile it in Googel Docs first...).

I don't know if these details help though... I mean a lot of the unsaid in-between details might get lost in translation.
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Re: "Whispers of Destiny" - "Undiscovered Frontier" Season 2 (Multiverse Space Opera Crossover)

Post by Steve »

I'll also point out that putting SOTS in nUF also means I may need to tweak minor things to make it fit the larger storyline. I won't go out of my way to tweak, though, don't worry about that.
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Re: "Whispers of Destiny" - "Undiscovered Frontier" Season 2 (Multiverse Space Opera Crossover)

Post by Shroom Man 777 »

It's perpetually being tweaked though so that's OK :D

And I guess each polity and faction with SOTS is big enough to be OK with degrees of variation. I guess that's also a weakness in that each thing isn't entirely definitive and can self-contradict?
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Re: "Whispers of Destiny" - "Undiscovered Frontier" Season 2 (Multiverse Space Opera Crossover)

Post by Steve »

They'll be as big as I need them to be, really. Which can mean pretty big. Sidney Hank is going to be a Multiversal player, for instance. He's someone that people like Aria T'Loak, the Illusive Man, and the Grand Negus of Ferenginar (and the President of the Allied Systems) will have to treat with respect. That doesn't mean bending over whenever he demands it, but they can't just brush him off with contempt.

As we'll see in 2-14. ;)
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Re: "Whispers of Destiny" - "Undiscovered Frontier" Season 2 (Multiverse Space Opera Crossover)

Post by Shroom Man 777 »

Damn it I was expecting a new post. :D

EDIT:

OH! You know, the Alliance *should* design huge Dune Heighliner-kind of IU-capable cargo/transport vessels for folks in 'verses where their nations are willing to contribute to causes (like killing Nazzies) but due to diplomatic reasons cannot be equipped with IU drives. Pack a buncha cruisers in its voluminous holds... then vwoop IU to the target 'verses forward staging base and gather with the other vessels and get ready to warp/hyperjump in on the action.

Hmmm... either that or detachable external IU systems. IU-tugs! Combat-capable ones but designed primarily to haul in larger non-IU vessels! :D

Of course, if most nations won't agree to fighting in another 'verse without being given IU-drives... then these Heighliners can be for mercenaries who can accept payment in non-IU forms!
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Re: "Whispers of Destiny" - "Undiscovered Frontier" Season 2 (Multiverse Space Opera Crossover)

Post by wellis »

Shroom Man 777 wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2017 7:38 pm It's perpetually being tweaked though so that's OK :D

And I guess each polity and faction with SOTS is big enough to be OK with degrees of variation. I guess that's also a weakness in that each thing isn't entirely definitive and can self-contradict?
Do you have a map or anything? SOTS all takes place in the Milky Way right?
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Re: "Whispers of Destiny" - "Undiscovered Frontier" Season 2 (Multiverse Space Opera Crossover)

Post by Shroom Man 777 »

I guess it's OK to post it here since it's not a tangent and since Steve *will* find use of it...

Perpetually-preliminary map listing a lot of the main actors...
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Re: "Whispers of Destiny" - "Undiscovered Frontier" Season 2 (Multiverse Space Opera Crossover)

Post by wellis »

Nice!

Was Earth located near any of the places on that map? I know the USS was composed of some of its most distant colonies but how distant is "distant" I don't know. Do we even know what type of FTL capabilities are used in the SOTS? Hell might the broken remnants of what was once Earth actually be within one of the territories there? :P

Your stuff here reminds me of this guy's own Stars Without Number scifi setting:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/gmshoe.wor ... tmobile-us

http://spacecockroach.blogspot.com/2014 ... r.html?m=0
http://spacecockroach.blogspot.com/2014 ... i.html?m=0
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Re: "Whispers of Destiny" - "Undiscovered Frontier" Season 2 (Multiverse Space Opera Crossover)

Post by speaker-to-trolls »

In SOTS Earth was lost forever in the psychic cataclysm that brought down its empire, no one knows where it is anymore. Chances are it's around the middle of the Fracture, but the Fracture is very large.

Of course multiversal contact means they could compare star charts with other cosmoi and work out its location.

Another thing about S0T5 which has more immediate impact on the story is that psi-blockers are a pretty well established technology, and two of the most powerful species in this universe, the Bragulans and the Myrrans, are resistant or immune to psychic powers.
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Re: "Whispers of Destiny" - "Undiscovered Frontier" Season 2 (Multiverse Space Opera Crossover)

Post by Shroom Man 777 »

It'd probably be in the middle of the Fracture and at this point its physical existence is moot like that of Atlantis or Mu or Ultima Thule or whatever ancient cities prehistoric man constructed. Maybe there could be a parapsychic anomaly concealing Earth... or the cataclysm was so great that the Earth was literally removed - physically and even to a meta-psionic level. The cataclysm mentally scarred societies spanning who knows how big a chunk of space - definitely thousands of systems. So whatever happened to Earth physically... is gotta be really heavy.
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Re: "Whispers of Destiny" - "Undiscovered Frontier" Season 2 (Multiverse Space Opera Crossover)

Post by Invictus »

I'll just quote relevant extracts from the main thread:
Shroom Man 777 wrote: Wed Jun 24, 2015 5:41 pm Whatever its causes, a disturbance in Aguero space or Omega Point... the Nightmare arises like an evil... destructive version of the Hallowlights... if the Hallows are aurora, then the Nightmare is a world-roasting solar flare. If the Hallow is like a small dustdevil kicking up some dust and some leaves all nicely, then the Nightmare is an F5 tornado - all conjured by oscillations in the cosmopsionic-hyperspatial dimensions, of differing degrees/severity.

And I think that the Hyperspace Nightmare can erase information. Like, not just bio-psionic memory... but also in terms of pure... chronology. Those things never happened! Causality is raped. And this led me to Siege's idea of the Apexai-amnesia. Amnexia. Apexamnesia. Except while I'm not so sure that the Apexai would be silly enough to cause an amnesia crisis by using their memories for fuel, leaving themselves open to a good old Byzonic asskicking (they'd never live it down, the elder races would never stop giving them shit about that!).

But I know who could have made such a colossal fuckup, in regards to destroying memories and pasts! The Earthreign!

Maybe the Earthreign, in desperation as the enemy warfleets crept up on the homeworld and all that, as their outlying colonies' neuromancer controls were overridden (by Samtic contrapsych? who knows!), they created a massive weapon of revengeance by interlinking their remaining neuromancers and their remaining worlds and populations. To channel all the psionic energy, burning all those memories and identities and pasts and information, to cosmo-nuke all their opponents in one go! A wave of destructive, but intelligent and intelligently-guiding thought-energy melting anyone in their Bad Book! Maybe this was the ultimate end game of their neuromancer network, a strategic psionic WMD network!

But well, it was rushed and the neuromancers overloaded and exploded like Federation bridge consoles and so the unchannelled raw psionic-memory-information-pasts just... fucked everyone up. Not just on a contemporary level, but maybe space-time blurred, their near-pasts and their near-futures melted, explaining entire lost centuries. A horrific resonance cascade at the heart of human civilization, causing a fracture, cracks spreading outwards and undermining proximal populations, human or otherwise, everything within blast radius getting space-time-mind-raped.

So yeah, if there was a crossover and the Doctor went into SOTS-past, he'd detect a horrible Time Scar. Something as bad as Gallifrey (before Moffat undid it and made it all fuzzy wuzzy).
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Re: "Whispers of Destiny" - "Undiscovered Frontier" Season 2 (Multiverse Space Opera Crossover)

Post by Steve »

Teaser


Captain Robert Dale Personal Log; 13 May 2642. I have spent the last two days trying to get in touch with Mastrash Ledosh to find out what is going on with the Council of the Order of Swenya, and why they arrested Meridina on charges of "treason". Despite my best efforts, I have been unable to get in contact with him.

The news from Gersal is not good. Reports of Meridina's arrest, and that the charges against her related to her service in the Alliance, have sparked widespread protests between the Dissenters and those in favor of continued membership in the Alliance. The Gersallian government is in turmoil. The Dissenters are demanding a reconsideration of Alliance membership. Meridina's charges are apparently the 'proof' they've needed that the Alliance is corrupting Gersal.

I'm also concerned with Lucy. Since Meridina was arrested she's become… angry. She's taking this harder than I thought she would.


Robert finished writing his log and looked over to his half-eaten lunch. He picked up a ham sandwich and started to wolf it down.

Nearby Angel plopped into a chair. "You know, if we were out there," she said, "at least I'd have tactical watches to take my mind off this."

"I know." Robert rubbed at his forehead. "But we're not. Scotty and the dock manager have virtually taken over the ship for now."

"Except for Little Miss Workaholic, who still can't get out of her office for all the paperwork she insists on doing herself," Angel pointed out, smirking as she did. "You need to make her take a break, Rob."

Robert smiled at that. "I already tried that. Then Jarod got abducted."

"Ugh. This last week has been one non-stop headache." Angel considered her unfinished lunch for a moment. "So, when do we go to Gersal to kick some ass and take names?"

Robert leveled a curious stare at her. "You mean breaking into a secure temple controlled by people who could bat us across the room with a wave of their hand? All to pull out a prisoner who doesn't want to be freed?"

The reply was a frustrated glare at nothing. "And there's nothing anyone can do to stop them?"

"The Gersallian government considers it an internal Order matter," Robert said. "And there's no provisions in the Alliance government for intervening."

"She's an officer of the Stellar Navy, isn't that enough?"

Robert shook his head. "She transmitted her resignation before surrendering. And since this is a private organization passing judgement on one of its members the other authorities can't do anything."

"But we're not going to leave it at that, are we?"

Robert shook his head. "No, we're not. I'm going to go there myself if necessary."

"If you go, I go."

Robert felt a warm feeling in his heart. He didn't think Angel would care so much for this, not when she already detested the influence and time sink that the entire issue was for him. But he could feel her sincerity. Whatever her feelings about Meridina training Robert, Angel considered Meridina a member of the family, and she was ready to raise hell to save her.

"I've got one last card to play on the issue," he said. "But with things so hectic in Portland right now, I can't be sure when I'll get the call." Robert let out a sigh. "I'm also worried about Lucy."

"I didn't realize how close she was to Meridina." Angel picked at a small glob of mashed potato on her plate. "The longer this takes, the more angry she's going to become."

"Which is why I'm hoping the call I'm expecting comes sooner rather than later," Robert said. He took up the last bit of his sandwich. "Until then, all I can do is wait and hope."




In the Aurora gymnasium, heads were turning at the sound of a series of furious punches against a gym bag. Some half-expected to see Angel there, familiar with the tactical officer's affinity for "beat the crap out of something to relieve stress", but they would have been surprised to see Lucy Lucero there as well.

These days she didn't go with the standard exercise wear of shorts and sports bra, or at least she didn't normally. With Meridina it was usually training vests and trousers. But today she wore something that fit the environment better. She wasn't muscular like Angela, she didn't even have Julia's build with defined, if not bulked, muscle. Her arms and stomach were solid and flat, with some slight muscular definition on her exposed belly.

The crew in charge of the gym's equipment had spent a year quietly shoring up their equipment. The joke around the ship was that Angel had destroyed every punching bag not reinforced with tritanium. She hadn't, but the gym staff had toughened them after she had wrecked two.

But those reinforcements were against Human strength. As Lucy's frustration grew that strength tapped onto the power of her life energies, the swevyra that Meridina had taught her to tap. She hit the bag hard enough to break it entirely, causing sand to erupt from the wound. She pulled her fist out and watched the sand fall, giving a frustrated cry in the process. Wordlessly she went for the broom and bucket that the crew had left nearby for such eventualities.

She had just finished the sweeping up when a voice called out, "And I thought Angel could be rough on those things."

Commander Julia Andreys was standing nearby. In contrast to the more conventional workout clothing Lucy had, she was wearing a white martial arts gi with a black belt around the waist. Her long blond hair was the kind of rich color most blondes wished they were. She had pulled it into a bun at the back of her head. "How are you feeling?", she asked.

"I'm upset and angry and trying like hell to hold it back," Lucy answered. "Meridina's done everything they've ever asked her to do. She's stood up for everything they're supposed to believe. And this is how they repay her."

"Maybe there's more to this than we thought," Julia offered.

"They wanted me to leave the Aurora and join their damned Order, you know," Lucy continued. She took the bucket of sand and the broom and put it against the wall. The punching bag was rolled to keep the hole in its surface upward and dragged over to join them. Lucy looked up after doing this and said, "Now I'm glad I said no. These people aren't half as good as Meridina thinks they are."

"That may be part of the problem," Julia murmured. "Robert's trying everything he can. He hopes to have a response to a couple of calls he made by tonight."

"Good." Lucy crossed her arms. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Looking for you. I wanted to help you."

"How?"

Julia grinned. "Well, I can't teach you how to pick things up with your life energy or whatever, but I think I can teach you something to help focus your mind and body. Maybe it'll help you deal with this situation over Meridina. You've heard of t'ai chi?"

"Slowly swinging your arms around."

"Not just that. It's about focus. Learning the movements and how to do them and keeping it all in your head." Julia assumed a starting stance. "And it's a pretty useful martial art. It's about flexibility instead of power." She moved her arms and shifted her posture in an initial movement. "The point is to meet strength with fluidity."

"So, judo?"

"Judo is more about turning an enemy's size against them, this is more 'go with the flow'. Let your enemy punch and kick, but instead of trying to block everything and meet your strength against theirs, you let their strength go to waste. And then, when the moment is right, you strike." Julia made a motion that, if done at a quick speed, would have been an effective counter-attack against a foe. Julia chuckled. "How else do you think I spar with Angel? She's got the advantage in muscle, after all."

"I just figured you made her insanely jealous with that tall, statuesque figure you've got going for you."

Julia laughed at that. "Angel's not the type to feel jealousy over that. She's proud of those muscles. If she had it her way, we'd all be wearing sleeveless uniforms."

Lucy stepped up beside her. Julia kept her gentle smile at noticing that she was assuming the same stance Julia had shifted into. "Okay, let me show you one of the first forms my teacher showed me."

They began. As they worked through the series of moves together, Lucy realized what Julia was talking about, how the precision helped to instill focus even as the movements made her feel limber.

It still didn't keep her from worrying about Meridina, but maybe she wouldn't explode into anger at their continued inability to do anything for her.




The Great Temple of the Order of Swenya had been built as a place of learning and contemplation. It had never been meant to be a jail. But experience had taught those who ran the Order that sometimes, such things would be necessary.

The dungeon of the Temple was buried within the mountain rock under the main structures. There were only a few because there was never any anticipated need for many of them. Swevyra'kse - those who gave into the darkness - were more often killed than captured, and many of those captured were turned over to state authorities for criminal trial. for members of the Order accused of crimes within Order law and rules, confinement was usually house arrest, and punishment much the same.

Now the cells of iron and steel had a single occupant. Meridina was in the plain linen robe she had worn upon her arrest. She sat in the damp cold, far from the sun, with the only sources of light being the electric lights strung along the cavern ceiling. Her trintanium chains kept her locked to the middle of the room, just within range of the toilet and the sleeping pallet. And here she stayed, kept company only by a roving patrol of the Temple Knights and by the feelings in her own heart. The feelings of darkness festering there, of fear and pain and despair.

Meridina had believed so strongly that the time Swenya prophesied was at hand. Now… now she felt doubt. And thanks to Amaunet possessing her, and using her power for darkness, she felt that evil power within her as well.

"It pains me to see you like this."

The voice made her look up. Mastrash Ledosh was standing quietly in front of the cell. "I will tell them I instructed you," he said. "Then your punishment will be reduced."

"No, Mastrash. You did nothing wrong. I did all."

"Meridina, the world is shuddering from this news. A Human, trained as a swevyra'se without the Council's approval. The Senate attack, now this… " Ledosh stopped. He could see that wasn't reaching her. "Captain Dale sends messages almost hourly. I dare not reply right now, not even to warn him to stop. I think he may come here."

"That is his right," Meridina murmured.

"Meridina, we must do something I do not know what Goras has planned, but the meeting is tomorrow…"

"I will face my judgement."

"Even if it means expulsion? Or even worse?"

Meridina's heart quailed at the word "expulsion". Her entire life was devoted to the Order. She had done what she had done in the name of its future health. "I am guilty," she said. "Let the people have me as their sacrifice for this crisis."

"And if your friends come? If they come to defend you?"

"There is little they can do. But…" She lowered her head. "I would feel better if they were here," she confessed. "I feel, even now, that our destinies are intertwined."

"The whispers of destiny can be misheard," Ledosh said. "Please, do not sacrifice yourself needlessly over your interpretation of them."

Meridina did not answer that. She kept her head bowed and focused again on the darkness she felt within, trying to come to grips with it and send it out of her.

Ledosh recognized there was no more to talk about. He bowed his head and departed, leaving Meridina to her thoughts.




Undiscovered Frontier
"Whispers of Destiny"





As soon as Robert got the notification, he summoned Julia, Angela, and Lucy to join him in the bridge-side conference room. This way everyone relevant to the thoughts he had in his mind on the situation were there when Admiral Maran arrived. The dark-haired Gersallian looked no worse than he had a few days prior at the Senate, but Robert could feel his fatigue and worry. "Captain, Commander, Lieutenants." He nodded. "I received your calls. I thought it best to meet you here on the Aurora."

"Thank you, sir. I know your schedule lately has been hectic."

Maran didn't quite sigh at that. "You could say so." Maran took a seat beside Julia, to Robert's left. "The video files from the Senate Chamber have already been spread across the multiversal public networks." He looked to Lucy. "For what it's worth, I'm glad you were trained in the arts, Lieutenant."

"Thank you, sir."

"Unfortunately for Meridina, this has Gersal in an uproar. Meridina training you two as she has been is against long-standing traditions and laws for our people."

"Then why did she do it?", Julia asked.

"I can't tell you." Maran shook his head. "I've known Meridina since she was Mastrash Ledosh's star pupil. She's always been deeply committed to the Order. I don't understand why she would break its rules like that."

"I think I do," Lucy said. When everyone looked toward her, she went on. "Before the Knights came for her, she was talking about something, she was upset over it. Something about how we were supposed to be… " Lucy went through her memories for a moment. "She said we were supposed to be 'the Dawn Bearers'. Something about a shield of Light."

Everyone noticed the surprised look on Maran's face. The Gersallian admiral was clearly thinking about what had been said. "She said those words? Those exact words?", he asked.

Lucy nodded.

After taking several breaths and recovering from surprise, Maran had a look of someone who just had a slight epiphany. "I… I think I can see that point, actually."

"What was she talking about?", Robert asked.

Maran leaned back in his chair. "It is said that before she died, Swenya laid out a vision she had of the future. That the Bearers of the Dawn would come and herald a new age of peace and prosperity." Maran shook his head. "I always thought it was metaphor, or perhaps some half-remembered text that was recovered after the defeat of the Brotherhood of Kohbal twenty-nine centuries ago."

"Meridina believes this," Lucy said. "Or, at least she did. Everything that's happened lately has, well, I think it broke her faith."

"Perhaps. If she thought that you were the Dawn Bearers… then I can understand her conduct. It does make sense."

"This is all well and good, but we're not getting to the real issue," Julia said. "We need a way to get her back. They shouldn't be allowed to keep her locked up."

"The Order has no authority to imprison," Maran said. "They can only hold one of their own for a few days before a trial is necessary. And their sentences are binding only if their charge remains in the Order, and most sentences culminate in expulsion as it is. The only cases where they will act further is if internal corruption is involved."

"You mean if they argue the person has given into their darkness," Lucy said. "Which they might do to Meridina. What happens then?"

"Then they are tested. And if they fail, then the Order has leave of the Interdependency Government to kill the offender."

Lucy paled at that..

"They can actually invoke the death penalty?", Julia asked. The admission shocked her. "But they don't have state authority."

"On this matter, they do," Maran explained. "The Gersallian Knights of the Temple are recognized as having the right and duty to execute those proven to be tainted by darkness." Maran put his hands on the table. "As for getting the Commander back, we have no power to compel her return at the moment. The Order and Interdependency have laws regulating their affairs going back millennia. If the government tried to intervene, then it would cause a fracturing of our entire society that could lead to civil war."

"And if the Alliance Government got involved…"

Maran frowned at that. "The Gersallian people would turn against it. You would see Gersal withdraw from the Alliance. The Dorei might or might not follow suit."

"And other member states that like the Gersallians would be against it," Julia added. "And any state that opposed Alliance Government intervention in their internal affairs."

"But Meridina has rights!", Lucy shouted. "Under the Alliance laws too! We can't just let them kill her!"

"Could we give testimony?", Robert asked.

"Or better yet, deny her resignation," Julia added.

Maran shook his head. "I'm not sure the Order would accept that. At best, if they are only interested in her training of you, then they will expedite her trial and likely expel her. And if they believe Meridina's current problems make her a threat of falling, they'll defy any approach like that on the grounds of protecting others from the threat she poses."

"This is the kind of thing Hawthorne and Davies are waiting for," Robert grumbled. "Having the Navy and the Order butting heads would justify their entire line of argument.

"I agree." Maran nodded. A contemplative look came to him. "But there is another way. Not to get her out of the trial, but to be there to support her, and perhaps to show the Council that the two of you are not a threat."

"What's that?", Angel asked.

"It is permissible for a limited number of close friends to attend such events, by invitation of the Order or of the family," Maran replied. "By being present you could allow Meridina's advocate to call you forth as witnesses. If the rest of the Order observes you and decides you've been taught well, they might be willing to accept a defense of Meridina helping you to establish a Human discipline."

Lucy and Robert looked at each other. They got the gist of what Maran was referring to, and understood what it meant. After a moment they nodded. "We're ready to say that's what we're up to," Robert said.

"It will be not be easy to persuade them," Maran said. "My people try to be tolerant of many things, but we have a long cultural memory. Alternative approaches to swevyra led to the Brotherhood of Kohbal and its horrors. They're still watching the Dorei Orders for corruption and they were formed centuries ago. I expect they will keep a similar eye on you regardless of the trial's outcome."

"Let them. The important thing is helping Meridina."

Lucy nodded. "All we need is a jump and we can fly the Rio Grande there."

"I can arrange that," Maran said. "I'm sending the Drunal to bring Councilman Palas' remains back to his family. They live on Tanatal, but the Drunal will be jumping at Gersal. You can jump with them."

"Sounds good to me," Robert said. "When do they leave?"

"In two hours," Maran said. "And you'll need every minute of your time. Meridina's trial begins tomorrow."

"Let's go pack," Angel said.

Julia nodded. "Jarod and Scotty can oversee the repair work while we're gone."

"Commander, wait." Maran shook his head. "As I said before, the number of who can join the proceedings is limited. Only three may do so."

"So one of us has to stay behind," Lucy said.

"You and Robert must go," Maran answered. "But yes. You can only take one other with you."

Julia and Angel exchanged looks. Each could see the desire, and the intent, in the other. It was Julia who nodded. "Okay. I'll stay then."

"We'll let Meridina know you wanted to go," Robert assured her. "Admiral, may we?"

Maran nodded. "I'm not here as your commanding officer, so there's no need for formality. You needn't have asked… and yes, you may. You'll need the time."

Everyone stood up to head toward the doors. Robert, Lucy, and Angel were heading straight for the lift on the near side of the conference room, Julia was heading toward the far door leading to the bridge. As she got to it, Maran called out, "Commander, a moment?"

She turned. "Yes sir?"

"I would like you to join me at the Fleet Base tomorrow morning," Maran said. "I'll be at the main dock terminal at 1130 hours. Please meet me there. It is important."

Julia's look was carefully neutral. "Yes sir, I will."

Maran nodded and went the other way, leaving Julia to wonder what was going on when she returned to the bridge.




The three met up at the lift. For the moment they were still in uniform, with civilian clothes packed away for when they got to Gersal. "Deck 10," Robert said, and it sped its way to the ordered deck, where they filed out and headed toward the front airlock. Leaving the ship was necessary; with Aurora in drydock, and her main shuttlebay a wreck, they couldn't launch from her at the moment. The Rio Grande and their other surviving craft had been transferred for the moment to the Fleet Base pool, held as reserve craft until the Aurora was ready to depart with them aboard again.

When they came up to the hall leading to the airlock, they stopped.

Between them and the airlock, their comrades were standing lined up, Julia at the head of the line. "They wanted to wish you goodbye," she said. "And good luck."

"Thanks," Robert answered. "I know that all of you wishes you could be with us. We'll tell Meridina for you."

"Bring our lass home, sir," Scotty said. "This is where she belongs."

"She's one of us," Locarno said. Kane nodded in agreement.

"She's family," Jarod said.

"Yeah, and we can't let them take her from us." Caterina hugged her sister closely. Beside her, Violeta was nodding. She'd never seen the command crew together like this before and Cat had insisted she come too.

"We'll be waiting," Leo promised.

"Right. Don't worry, we're bringing her home," Robert promised.

"An' we'll be workin' t' get our lass back in shape while ye're gone."

Robert smiled at that. "I'll hold you to that, Mister Scott. They're telling me we've got at least another five weeks in drydock."

"Won't take more than a month, sir," Scotty pledged. "I'll see t' that."

"We'll see to that," Barnes corrected. Beside him Zack nodded in agreement.

"We'd better get going," Lucy said. "The Drunal is waiting for us."




The Drunal was waiting for them above the North Pole. Lucy brought the Rio Grande in at three quarters impulse. They only had a few minutes to enjoy the sight of the newest Discovery-class starship in the Alliance fleet. She looked every much like her sisters, including the Challenger, who were essentially built like as the Aurora's small cousins. With only two warp nacelles, angled upward, and a smaller hull altogether, it was clearly a different ship, but the layouts of the launch and recovery deck for the small fighter wing aboard, the main shuttle bay, and the proportions of the primary and drive hulls and how they flowed together were evocative of the Aurora herself.

"I wonder if they'll ever build a ship like the Aurora," Angel said from the side seat behind Robert. Technically she could manage the Rio Grande's communications and defensive systems there, if it were necessary..

"Oh, I'm sure they will," Robert replied. He was beside Lucy as the co-pilot, but that effectively meant monitoring everything else while she did the flying. "In time."

Angel nodded. Herr console let off a beep. "The Drunal is preparing to generate a jump point. Five, four…"

"We're in position now," Lucy assured them all.

As soon as Angel reached "One" space split up ahead of them. An emerald-colored vortex opened in space. The Drunal let them go first and Lucy quickly made use of that opening.

After the usual experience of transitioning to another universe, they found themselves in near orbit over Gersal. "I'm asking for landing permission now." After a moment Angel nodded. "We've gotten it. They're vectoring us in to land at Jantarihal Spaceport."

"It's been awhile since we were on Gersal,"' Robert mused.

"Somehow I don't think the reception we get will be the same as we did before," Robert sighed. "Let's put in and get a ride to the Great Temple. I'd like to see Ledosh turn down my calls now."




After Robert and the others had left, everyone dispersed to go back to whatever work they chose to do while the ship was under repair. Zack followed Julia to her office. "What can i do for you Zack?", she asked.

"Well, to put it simply… I need a Chief Engineer on the Koenig."

Julia gave him a concerned look. "Karen?"

"Derbely is going to be out for the next three months. At least." Zack frowned. "It's going to take her that long to heal."

"I see." Julia sighed. "Well, do you have anyone in mind?"

"Tom knows those systems inside and out," Zack said.

"Tom's also helping to get our repairs done," Julia pointed out. "Still, if he's willing to do the temporary transfer, I'll see if Scotty can let him go."

"Thanks," Zack answered. He remained seated in front of her. "How are you doing, by the way?"

"Well, I'm alive," she said. "That's better than some. And I'm…" She thought of the word she wanted to use. "I'm bette rthan I was a ocuple of days ago, how about that?"

"Okay. I just know how you felt about not being at 425TD."

"I had to work through it," she confessed. "And I did."

"Right." More silence filled the room for the moment. "Do you think they can do it?", Zack asked.

"Those three? There's not much they can't do." Julia gave Zack a reassuring smile. "They'll get it done. Don't worry."

"Yeah." Zack nodded. "I know I've got to think positive. I just wish we could all be there. That we could show those robed jerks what we think of them treating Meridina like this."

"Oh, I know the feeling." Julia looked to her computer. "Now I've got to get to work finalizing more leave requests and going over crew replacement."

"Yeah, I've got to do the same," Zack said. "I'll be in my quarters on-ship if you need me."



Admiral Maran's arrangements hadn't stopped with the berth at the spaceport. As soon as Robert and the others secured their things, a Gersallian air-car pulled up. The vehicle was winged near the back, with space for five or six riders aside from the driver. An older man was in the driver's seat, gray-haired and bearded in a way that reminded Robert of some of his grandfather's war buddies that had come during reunions when he was just a child. "Captain Dale and others, yes?", he asked.

Robert nodded. "Here."

"The Admiral asked me to give you a ride," the older man said. "Things in the capital are tense right now. You might not get a ride if people figure you're Alliance."

"We can change out of uniform if it'll help."

"Willing to put away your multidevices? Everyone knows the military model ones."

"Got any good replacements?", Lucy asked.

"Afraid not," was the reply.

"Then it's better that we don't." Lucy looked to Robert. "I've got things set up in case we need an emergency beam-out."

He nodded. "Alright. We'll go in uniform for now, but we should probably change if we meet Meridina's family." Robert looked at the driver. "And you are?"

"I'm Haklir," he answered. "I was a rate in the fleet for ages. I've known the Admiral since he was a ship commander. Man's saved my life a dozen times, easy. I'm one of many who'll come calling if the Admiral gives the call."

"Well, Haklir, I'm Robert, and this is Angel and Lucy." Robert gestured to the others. "I know you're doing this for the Admiral, but thank you anyway."

"You're welcome. Whenever you're ready."

They settled into the vehicle. Haklir drove it out of the hanger area where the Rio Grande would remain. Lucy's multidevice let her remotely close the hanger behind them.

Away from the spaceport, the car gained altitude and joined the thick aerial traffic over the city. Below Robert could see crowded streets. His senses helped him feel what was going on below. He could feel the anger of the crowds. They felt betrayed, angered, by a breaking of the ways that three thousand years of experience had turned into accepted tradition.

"Is everyone joining the protests?", Angel asked.

"A lot of people are, but not all are against you," Haklir said. "Some of them like the Alliance. And they think it's time that we accept not everyone's going to want to use their gifts the way we do." Haklir shook his head. "It's going to be worse tomorrow. The Order's agreed to a request from the Directorate. They're going to allow a holo-broadcast of the entire trial."

"So the entire planet will see it live?"

"The entire planet? The entire Interdependency. The Dorei too, probably. And I wouldn't be surprised if someone put it on the IU network."

"Huh." Angel crossed her arms. "No pressure then, huh?"

The vehicle flew onward, over the tall and majestic curved buildings that were shining like crystals in the light of Gersal's sun and over the pristine green parks outside the city center, bordered by towering residential arcologies. Haklir increased power to the anti-gravity field below the vehicle to increase its altitude, bringing them higher along with the winding road and pathways below. A winding river joined said roads, guiding them up toward the mountains.

It was visible for minutes before they arrived. The Great Temple of the Order was a large circular structure, joined by similar smaller ones. The architecture was like nothing you could see on Earth. The circular buildings had elegant, beautiful designs engraved into their round surfaces. Light colors dominated their color scheme, and the roofs were a nice brownish-red, like stucco in some Human architectural styles.

"The offices for the Council are this way," Haklir said, bringing them toward one of the vehicle parks. "I imagine you'll want to speak to Mastrash Ledosh. Good luck getting in with the way things are right now, but I'll be here reading over some things while you're busy."

"Thank you, Haklir," Robert said.

"You can thank the Admiral when this is over," the old man answered. "Now get going before those red robes get antsy about us."

They climbed out of the vehicle together. Robert gave them both a look that they returned, as if to say "Here we go", before they walked together toward the main door ahead. There were door guards present with weapons already in hand, but not activated. The man and woman, with tanned complexions of similar shade, were clad in the red robes of the Temple Knights. It was the woman who said, "These are the private chambers of the Mastrasham of the Order and are restricted. Do you have business here?" Her eyes narrowed. Robert felt himself being scrutinized and knew they would feel the energy he held within, as they would Lucy. Indeed, the two seemed to be getting a little more tense.

"You can say that." Robert looked to the others, who nodded. "I am Captain Robert Dale of the Alliance, commander of the Alliance Starship Aurora. I've come to see Mastrash Ledosh and to look into the treatment of one of my crew, Commander Meridina."

The two never looked at each other, but Robert could sense they were communicating mentally. "Your presence is not desired, offworlder," the man said. "This is an affair of the Order, not your Alliance."

"I'm not here to intervene as an Alliance officer. I'm here as Meridina's friend and student in the ways of swevyra," he answered. "I believe I have rights under your Code, correct?"

They clearly didn't quite like that either. Finally the woman tilted her head in that way Meridina usually would when accepting a point. "You are correct. I will inform Mastrash Ledosh you have come." The woman closed her eyes.

For seconds nothing happened. Angel gave Robert a pensive look. He could see why. Other red robes, and blue robes, and even a purple robe were all looking their way from around the Temple. They'd made an impression.

The woman's eyes opened. "He is coming to escort you."

"Thank you," Robert said, and he put a diplomatic smile on his face. It never hurt to be diplomatic, after all.
"A Radical is a man with both feet planted firmly in the air." – Franklin Delano Roosevelt

"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia

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Re: "Whispers of Destiny" - "Undiscovered Frontier" Season 2 (Multiverse Space Opera Crossover)

Post by Shroom Man 777 »

I like the little touches you've done with Maran and his small network of loyalists, it's not some spy ring or conspiracy or anything, just people who believe in him because of the good he's done, because he's competent, and like what he does for Robert, he's also shown himself to be loyal to people who are hierarchially "beneath" him, he does his subordinates and even non-subordinates well - though I expect he has his connections because he does have to deal with political realities too.

I also post these replies to act as a placeholder so I can tell which chapters/posts are new. Where my post is, above or below, in relation to the story-Steveposts. Cause if it's all consecutive Steveposts, I'll lose track. :P
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Re: "Whispers of Destiny" - "Undiscovered Frontier" Season 2 (Multiverse Space Opera Crossover)

Post by Steve »

Ledosh said nothing on the way in. It was plain to see from the haggard expression on his clean-shaven face, the worry in his eyes, that the situation was taxing him.

The silence of the trip let the three examine the cream-white halls of the building, the art and calligraphy hanging from the walls, and the general ambience of the Order of Swenya's headquarters. It looked pre-industrial, almost, save for the electrical lighting set into the walls and the ceiling. The floor was fine wood tile with a repeating series of purple-hued carpets laid down, a few feet between each carpet. Doors on either side were marked with engraved tablets. Robert didn't bother using his multidevice to get the translations, they were too busy keeping up with Ledosh.

He brought them to an office near the center of the building and opened the door with a wave of his hand. Inside the waiting area of the office was a blond woman. They recognized her within seconds. "Gina Invieve?", Robert asked.

The humaniform Cylon nodded and smiled. She was wearing her blond hair in a large bun at the back of her head. A blue robe over a cream-white vest and loose pants were her clothing choice, and that made her purpose here obvious. "Meridina told me you had joined the Order," Lucy said.

"Yes." Gina nodded. It was easy to feel the peace within her, mingled with joy. She was as happy as she could be. "I've found a place here that I'd never have anywhere else. Peace."

"Gina is a fine student and apprentice," Ledosh noted. He continued on to the second door.

The inner office had a high, curved desk, an example of fine wood carving. A computer display and flat keyboard were set into the top of it. For Robert it was a reminder that the Order was hardly ignorant of technology, even if a part of him couldn't help but think such technology out of place. Too many movies with warrior monks, he decided.

The thought briefly brought further ones. Painful, but heartwarming, memories of sitting at the family TV and watching kung fu movies with his parents and sister and Julia. Sometimes Zack too, when he was around. He remembered teasing Julia about her martial arts fixation and it coming from all the movies they had been watching (he also remembered the grin on her face after she'd flipped him for the seventh time, proving it wasn't just silly movements). A tear started to form in his eye and Robert pushed it away.

If Ledosh or Gina had felt that brief distraction, they said nothing. Ledosh did not take his desk but approached the wall and stopped. "You've come to help Meridina?", he asked.

"We're here for her."

"I see. She has truly won your loyalty." Ledosh's voice was sad. "If only she would put the blame on me. She should. I have always encouraged her with my views of the times we're in." He sighed. "This is my fault."

"You didn't give us these powers," Lucy said. "And you didn't order her to train us."

"I could have counseled her not to," Ledosh said. "Instead I let her, because I believed. And now it may be for nothing. I fear there is no helping her, and your presence may only serve to further condemn her. It is evident to all that you've been trained in your swevyra, and trained far beyond what simple control training would provide you."

"Admiral Maran suggested that we might persuade the Council that Meridina showed us more to form our own, Human equivalent of the Order," Robert said.

Ledosh's face curled into a half smile. "Maran has always been a thinker. It makes him a great commander. That is, perhaps, the only approach that has a hope of working. But you'll need Meridina's support."

"Can we see her?", Lucy asked.

"She's down in the dungeons right now. Access is restricted to myself and those of my rank only. It is a common procedure."

"To throw someone in the dungeons?", Angel asked, a sarcastic look on her face. "Because I didn't peg your people for doing the dungeons and ye olde torture chamber thing."

"It is more of a jail, I suppose, but the word in Gersallian translates to your 'dungeon' more accurately," Ledosh admitted. "And it's not common for someone accused of the violations Meridina stands accused of. It is, however, common for those we fear have fallen, or may fall, into darkness."

"Right." Lucy breathed out in frustration. "She still hasn't shaken off what Amaunet did to her."

"Correct. And that may condemn her tomorrow. And she seems ready for it. I fear recent events have broken her spirit."

"Then we need to give her hope. Let us see her!", Lucy insisted.

"I cannot," Ledosh insisted. "It would make things worse. Our relations with your Alliance are in jeopardy."

"Meridina's in jeopardy too!"

"Lucy, calm down," Angel insisted. "Remember, we can be there for her."

"The Order will never vote to permit it," Ledosh said. "Even if I were to submit the vote to the Council, Goras and Karesl would crush it given the sentiments right now."

"Then we'll go to the family," Lucy declared.

"You would drag them into this?" Ledosh shook his head. "Her father is against you. Even if her mother and siblings rule for you, that may tear at the foundations of their family."

"It seems to me that if they want us there and he resists, he'll be the one at fault," Lucy said.

"Where can we find the Lumantala?", Robert asked.

Ledosh drew in a breath of exasperation. "You will not accomplish anything by being here," he insisted.

"Maybe, maybe not, but we have to try," Robert insisted. "We'll be respectful of your traditions, we're not here to cause a fuss. But we will support our friend…"

"Our family," Angel insisted.

Ledosh was quiet for several seconds. "Gina, you have seen where they are to go, yes?"

"I have, Mastrash."

"Take them to the Lumantala home, then. I will let Drentiya know you are coming."

A sound came from the inner office. It was a polite knock against the door. Robert opened his senses that way, tried to feel what was there with his energy, and stopped when it felt like he was shining a flashlight against a flood lamp. The two powers there were great, as powerful as Ledosh's if not moreso.

Gina stepped up and opened the door. Two men entered, wearing the same purple robe with blue trim as Ledosh's. Robert and the others recognized one as Mastrash Karesl. Meridina's father, was his thought.

The other was a bald man, with a prominent beard of dark gray color. His dark brown eyes focused on Robert and then on Lucy. Robert thought he felt bewilderment and then a calm, pleased feeling come over the man.

"Mastrash Karesl, Mastrash Goras." Ledosh nodded. "Interesting timing."

"We heard that outsiders from the Alliance had come, and with developed swevyra." Karesl looked them over. "You have come on behalf of Meridina, then?"

"We have," Robert confirmed. "We're here to support her."

A sad look came over the man's face. "Your support may have been better applied at a distance."

"Indeed." The bald man, Goras, looked satisfied at the situation. "You have no place here anyway. No standing. The Council will deny any request by the Alliance to involve itself in our affairs."

'We're not here to do that," Robert said. "We're here as Meridina's comrades and friends to stand with her in her moment of need. Just as she's stood at our side when we've needed it."

"So you say. But what can you offer her, truly? Your presence confirms the charges, undeniable as they already are. Your very presence will appear to our people to be Alliance snooping." Goras shook his head. "The Order Council must maintain its position on these matters. We must prevent even an iota of visible Alliance influence in our proceeding. The answer is no, and will always be no. Meridina will face our justice without you at her side."

"This isn't about justice and you damn well know it," Lucy said. "This is about politics. You're against her because you're against the Alliance."

Goras looked at Lucy with amusement. "Another of her students? Ah.. I see. You were the one with the lakesh. A weapon you are not fit to wield." There was clear heat in his tone on that last sentence. "If you were carrying it now I would strip you of it myself."

Thank God she left it on the Rio, Robert thought.

"Undoubtedly my daughter believed she was doing the right thing in training you," Karesl said. "I only wish she had encouraged you to come to us, and to be accepted into the Order. None of this would be necessary."

"There are other causes in life than the Order," Robert said.

"But none safer for a wielder of the swevyra," Karesl countered. "You are even now risking a fall to darkness. Especially you, Lucilla Lucero." He looked to Lucy, who was clearly angry. "I sense your anger now. Anger inevitably leads to hatred. Hatred is the source of suffering, and the wellspring of darkness. My daughter did you no favors when she failed to compel you to come to us."

"I go where I decide."

"And that is why you will one day need to be hunted down, like any other swevyra'kse," Goras said.

"You know, you don't seem the 'no anger' type yourself, Goras," Angel noted. "I don't have mumbo jumbo mind powers, but I can tell when someone's letting a little too much get to him."

"You mock our ways with every word you speak of them," he retorted.

"If that's what you want to call it." Angel smirked. "So, does this thing with your Order's leadership have anything to do with us being the Bearers of the Dawn?"

Robert felt Ledosh's surge of incredulity. And it was clear that Karesl and Goras were stunned to hear the phrase. "A delusion," Goras finally spat. "A fantasy. One that should not have been shared with you!"

"Meridina didn't tell us anything about it," Angel retorted. "We found that out ourselves. Apparently we might be some prophesied heroes?"

"It is a fiction!", Goras roared. "The Prophecy of the Dawn is nothing but some invention of the merchants looking to capitalize off of reputed writings found after the Fall!"

"Well, hey, if it's a fiction, no need to be angry about it, right?" Angel smirked at him.

"This is a waste of time with needless provocation," Karesl remarked. He looked to Ledosh. "I hope to see you in the morning. These three, I do not. They have no place at the trial."

"Indeed," Goras hissed.

The two men stomped out.

Ledosh sighed and went to his desk, where he slumped into the chair. "I have work to do. Gina, if you would please?"

"I'll go with them," Gina said. Left unspoken was the term and protect them.




Haklir nodded at the extra passenger. Gina provided him the directions for their trip back into Jantarihal and to one of the arcology districts. The return trip was quiet at first, until Robert decided to say, "No, Lucy, we're not going back for your weapon."

Lucy looked over at him, frowning. "What?"

"I felt it in your head," he said. "Hell, I'm sure the entire Order did."

"I don't like being unarmed, especially not around that creep Goras." Lucy frowned. "I wish someone would wipe that smug look off his face."

"Mastrash Goras is one of the best duelists in the Order," Gina said from the front seat. "You wouldn't last more than ten seconds against him unless he let you."

Lucy grunted in reply. But she didn't defy Gina's assessment.

"I don't want to fight Goras, I just want Meridina out of this situation."

"Unfortunately, I'm not sure that's possible," Gina said. "She's… upset a lot of people, and it's bringing all of the recent arguing about the Alliance to the forefront. Ledosh is afraid that if the Council acquitted her, it would cause a civil uprising by the Dissenters."

"You mean a civil war," Angel said.

"It probably wouldn't go that far." But there was something in the way Gina said it that made Robert think that no, it probably would.

Haklir brought them in back to ground level in front of an arcology door. "Here you are," he said. "No need for thanks, like I said, courtesy of the Admiral."

"I understand," Robert said.

"But thanks anyways," Angel added, smiling at the older Gersallian man. "That's just how we roll."

Haklir didn't quite seem to get the reference to "rolling", but he understood enough to smile back with a little nod before driving off.

Gina led them into the arcology. The first floor was a beautiful inside courtyard with sculptures, flowers, and other things that made Robert think of a grand hotel lobby. They went to a lift that brought them to the 12th floor, where they crossed through a garden placed in the middle square-shaped section of the structure. "It's beautiful," Lucy said.

"It's a common thing for arcologies," Gina replied. "The residents work together to keep their gardens and home spaces maintained." She brought them up to a door and triggered the chime.

"Hello?," said a voice from inside via a speaker. A young woman, more of a girl who was probably around the age of seventeen or so by equivalence. "Who is it?"

"Leniraya? I am Gina Invieve, and Mastrash Ledosh asked me to lead these people here."

After a moment the door opened. A woman with short brown hair and the same blue eyes as Meridina stood there, wearing a simple sleeveless ponch-like top garment and what looked like slacks down to her ankles. She looked from Gina to the others. "You're… you're Meridina's crew, aren't you?"

Robert nodded. "I'm Robert Dale."

"Angela Delgado."

"Lucy Lucero."

"Come in," Leniraya said. She led them into an outer room, a parlor for greeting guests. The furnishings were comfortable enough. A number of people emerged from an inner room. One looked like a sister to Leniraya and Meridina, midway between them in age. A young man a little younger than Meridina stood behind her with blond hair. A girl with blond hair and teal-toned eyes stepped up to join Leni, taking her hand casually. "My sister is Gamaya and my brother is Qalkrsl. This is Penrine, my dearest."

An older woman, blond-haired with gray at the temples, came out last. She was dressed in a long dark blue robe and had the same blue eyes as her daughters. She looked to them and nodded. "Hello. I am Drentiya."

"Meridina's mother." Robert nodded. "I'm Robert Dale, this is…"

I know your names, was the telepathic response. Leni shared them with me. Please, come to our family chamber.

The three shared looks. We don't want to impose…

We know you consider Meridina family, Drentiya said mentally. And I feel that belief in your hearts. That makes you Lumantala. Please, come and enjoy a warm meal. Traveling always takes more out of a body and soul than we think.

It was a gentle reminder that Robert hadn't eaten in hours. He felt his stomach gurgle quietly, as if happy at the thought of a meal, and with a quick glance and not from the others he stepped forward to join them.




Dinner was had in a dining room much like a Human family might have, with a round table of what looked and felt like wood. The Gersallian dishes were things none of the eaters had tried before, but while the tastes could be eclectic, they were palatable. More than palatable in some cases.

When the meal was over and they returned to the main family room, Robert said, "That… Leyoomi?"

"Liyume," Leniraya corrected gently.

"He has trouble with Gersallian," Lucy said, an amused grin on ehr face.

Robert shot Lucy an irritated look. "Yes. That. It reminds me of the dumplings my grandmother used to make."

"So you enjoyed it." Drentiya smiled gently at him. I am pleased I gave you that comfort. Please, take a seat."

The seats were low-backed sofas and chairs, with one chaise longue that Drentiya took to. Robert and Angel took one of the two loveseat-like sofas and Lucy a low chair. Leniraya and Penrine took the other loveseat and Gamaya her own chair. "You've come to us because you wish to attend Meridina's trial," Drentiya said.

"We want to be there for her."

"Maybe you shouldn't, though." Leniraya frowned, although not at them. "You are both proof of the charges against her."

"If Meridina were giving us instruction to help form a Human counterpart to the Order, though, wouldn't that be acceptable?"

"Perhaps," Drentiya said. "Sadly this is not about the truth. It is about the politics. Meridina is the lever the Dissenters wish to use to split us from the Alliance. They may succeed, whether or not she is convicted, or even if you are there or not."

"I think they should come with us," said Gamaya. "Once the others on the Council see them, and see that they're not going bad… they'll see Meridina was right to train them. How many might have died if they hadn't been in the Senate?"

"Your father and his friends will fight that."

"I'm sorry," Robert said to her. "We don't mean to be a source of contention in your home. If you think it'll make things better that we leave, we will. We just want to be there to help Meridina in any way we can."

"I know, Robert." Drenitya nodded. "And I am prepared to give you that permission. But first, I want to ask you… what will you do if they rule against her?"

"I'm not sure what we can do." Robert looked to Lucy. "Lucy?"

"If they expel her, we offer her a place with us," Lucy said.

"And if it's more?"

The thought made Robert sick. It made him angry, too. But he could sense this was what Drentiya was concerned with. "If there's nothing we can do, there's nothing we can do," he said.

"And you, Lucy Lucero?" Drentiya turned to her. "You are the strongest evidence in either direction, for my daughter or for my husband. If you appear prone to darkness, Meridina will be held accountable, but if you control your feelings and behave as they would expect you to, it will make her choices seem wise."

Lucy was silent for a moment. She still felt anger, anger at this whole damn crazy world for what they were doing to Meridina, who only wanted to be the best of them that she could be.

But she remembered that cold darkness and wanted nothing to do with it. And she knew what Drentiya meant. For Meridina's sake, she couldn't be angry. She had to sit there, and look at Goras' smug stupid face, and keep a neutral stoic look on her face like Meridina always had and not think about how fun it would be to wipe that smug stupid look off Goras' smug stupid face….

Leniraya giggled. That caused Lucy to look at her with bewilderment before realizing that, like her mother and sister, Leni was a mind-reader. And she's just heard every bit of that thought. A blush came to Lucy's cheeks.

"Yes," Drentiya said. A mirthful little smile crossed the Gersallian matriarch's lips. "You must be that way. Quiet. Calm. This word you use… 'stoic'. You must be that."

"Yeah," Lucy conceded. "I'll do my best."

"No, you will not," Drentiya remarked. There was steel in her quiet tone. "A swevyra'se does not do their best no more than they try. They do."

"Right." Lucy nodded. "I'll be stoic. I will be a rock."

"Good. And thus, you will be with us tomorrow."

Lucy smiled softly. And then the smile turned sarcastic. She looked over at Angel, who seemed more interested in stealing a second to play footsies with Robert, who was grinning amiably at it. "What about her?", she said. "Angel's the hothead."

"What about her? She has no active swevyra. She can call Goras a kenyak and growl that his ears are flapping against his backside, the others will not care so much." A smirk came to Meridina's mother that nearly brought Lucy to giggles. "Most will think her correct."

"What's a kenyak?", asked Robert.

"It's a beast of burden," answered Qalkrsl.

"Oh. Oh." Lucy grinned.

So did Angel. "A jackass," she said. "I get to be the one who calls him a jackass."

"With his head up his ass," Lucy added. "Lucky you."

A round of chuckling and giggling accompanied that. It stopped when everyone heard the door to the residence open.

Barely ten seconds later Mastrash Karesl strode into the family room. He noted the presence of Robert, Angel, and Lucy. A look of anger briefly came to his eyes that was frozen into nothingness by the steady look of Drentiya. It was clear the two were in mental conversation, while their children and guests looked on with patience to see the outcome.

Karesl's face became a stoic mask. "I see." His eyes met his daughters and son. "And you agree? Despite what it might mean for your sister's fate?"

"I do," Gamaya said, insistent. "They're good people. Everyone should see it."

"Meridina is family to them too!" Leniraya met her father's look with confidence. "So they should be a part of this!"

"They're good people, Father." Qalkrsl nodded. "I am for them."

Karesl nodded at their answered. "As a Mastrash of the Order, I am against them being there. As a believer in the Interdependency, I am against it." His look softened. "As family… I am convinced. I have no objection." Karesl looked to them. "I, too, will accept you in joining our family to stand with Meridina tomorrow."

Robert nodded back to him. "Thank you, Mastrash. We will behave accordingly, and do everything we must to help Meridina."

"Do you have somewhere to stay the night?", he asked.

"We were going to head back to the Rio Grande," Robert answered. "It has bunks."

"We have beds," Drentiya said. "And a guest sleeping room."

The three exchanged looks. And they didn't need telepathy to know what their collective response was.

"Thank you, ma'am," Robert said. "We humbly accept."




Given how things were going, Robert shouldn't have been shocked that he started having the nightmares again.

Some of it was the same as always. The Reich captain Lamper, but with strange blue eyes. The cybernetic Turian in the Citadel Council chambers. The girl with the red-and-gold vest and pants brimming with out of control power, her amber eyes solid white with energy. She called out to him as the power coming from within her started to become overwhelming…

Then he saw a temple high in the mountains. It looked Gersallian, but only just, with sharper lines to its structure. A large door barred the entrance and warning signs were engraved into it.

Robert looked around at a circle of people. Twelve in number, under dark hoods, and each sporting a weapon in hand. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but it sounded like an oath of some sort. He looked down at an emblem on the floor, a hexagon shape with a blade emblem fixed inside of it.

There was a howl, in the air, feral and loud. A four-legged creature moved through the shadows. As his eyes tracked it, he could hear two words being whispered faintly. Too faintly, though, as he couldn't make out what they were.

He felt Angel's hand grasp his. He looked over at her. She looked back, her hazel eyes intent on him, and said two words.

"Wake up."

A moment later she repeated those words. And Robert was no longer in the dream. He was in the dark guest sleeping room in the Lumantala home. The spare bed squeaked a little underneath from the stress on its metal frame. Angel was still gripping his hand. "You were dreaming again," she said.

Robert sighed and laid his head back. "How loud did I scream this time?"

"You didn't," she said softly. "You just kept mumbling something over and over. But I couldn't make it out."

"Mmm." Robert felt like twin weights were hanging on his eyelids. He closed his eyes. "I'm sorry for waking you up," he said. "We should get back to sleep."

Angel gave him no argument on that matter.



By the time the two of them settled back into sleep, it was Lucy who couldn't sleep. She sat up and looked around at the dark room. Seeing Robert and Angel were sound asleep, Lucy was careful in going out the door. Her footfalls barely made a sound as she followed her memory of the place out to the greeting room and then to the front door. It wasn't locked and gave her no problems in getting out.

Lucy stepped into the garden area. The flowers planted there had a sweet, soothing fragrance, and with all of the foreboding she felt inside of her, it was welcome. She found a place near the flowers and sat on the ground. She crossed her legs loosely, trying to avoid constricting the blood flow to them, and closed her eyes again. She started to fade away into sleepiness in the field.

Not that she fell asleep. She didn't let herself. She thought of what was to come in theo morning and focused on herself. She would have to control her anger, her feelings, so that Meridina was not punished for them.

A knot of anger was still strong inside of Lucy's heart. Meridina had been a shining knight to her, a brave and selfless fighter who worked to save lives just as the rest of them had. It was painful enough seeing that tarnished by Meridina's lingering doubts and fears from what Amaunet did to her. But now she had been betrayed by her own people. The people who had started a murder spree in the Alliance Senate, and now her own Order was going to strip away everything she'd worked for.

Anger won't solve this, Lucy thought to herself. It's distracting me. I have to let it go. She drew in a breath, then another, and tried to focus on other things.

A noise was the first indication she wasn't alone. She felt the energy draw nearer and knew who had come to join her. "Mastrash Karesl," Lucy said simply. She wouldn't let anger into her words.

Karesl sat down at the next set of plants, putting about six or seven feet between them. He assumed a meditative position as well. "It seems none can sleep tonight."

"I'm betting we have a lot on our mind," she answered.

"Hrm. I can feel your frustration with my people. And the anger you are suppressing."

"Do you blame me? Meridina is everything you should aspire to. Instead you're tearing her down, right after she helped save the Alliance Senate."

"The timing is not something I prefer, yes. But she has grievously violated the Code through your extensive training. That must be addressed."

"She was trying to give us direction with our power."

"She was trying more than that, unfortunately." Karesl sighed. "I suspect she was motivated by the prophecy of the Dawn Bearers. She and Ledosh have been convinced you and your shipmates are the Dawn Bearers of the prophecy. I'm not sure how much she told yo…"

"Nothing," Lucy said. "Just… that she was upset that we might not be."

"So she doubts that too. Hrm. I would be satisfied if not for that being wrapped up in the general doubt she suffers from."

"So you don't like the theory?"

"I have always considered the Prophecy of the Dawn Bearers to be questionable authenticity. It was Ledosh who convinced her we were in those times."

"She didn't say what this prophecy was about."

"There is little point going into detail. It was recorded that Swenya had a vision near the end of her life and wrote upon it. But the veracity has never been confirmed. There are indications that it was Reshan's prophecy and not Swenya's."

"And so all of this is going to happen over a dumb prophecy that may not be true?", Lucy asked.

"No. This goes deeper than that. The future of our people is at stake here. I do not believe the Alliance is our best future. My daughter feels otherwise. Tomorrow, we will see which of our visions plays out." Karesl looked at her intently. "I harbor no ill will toward you, Lucilla. I can sense the genuine virtues in your swevyra. Had you chosen to join the Order, this day may not have come."

"No, it wouldn't have. Because we would have failed at Gamma Piratus, and the Nazis would have interuniversal drives and Darglan technology," Lucy said.

"Perhaps. But regardless, the fight to come has been due to the actions of both sides. May those with the strongest convictions win." Karesl stood up and looked down at her. His voice lost some of its power and became gentle. "And whatever happens… thank you for being here in my daughter's time of need. I will stand against her errors, but I do not want to see her alone, and I do not wish her destroyed."

Without another word, he left.




Underneath the Great Temple, Meridina tossed and turned in her cell. The chains binding her rattled as she moved over and over. Inside her being, her mind, she felt like she would drown. She felt Amaunet inside of her again. She saw the carnage she'd inflicted. She saw her blade cut into Lucy's flesh and bite into her neck.

Lucy!

Meridina woke with a start at that. Her cell was dark and the electrical lighting was barely functional.

Meridina sat up and focused on herself. She felt so much doubt, so much uncertainty, that it was becoming too painful to carry.

This is my fault she thought to herself. "I was so blinded by my desire to be the one to find the Dawn Bearers. Now look at what has happened."

No one answered. Which was to be expected.

If only she didn't have this darkness inside of her. Nothing she had tried had destroyed it. Ignoring it wasn't working. And now it had put her life in jeopardy.

Meridina didn't go back to sleep. She meditated the rest of the night.




After getting up and going through her morning routines Julia headed to the Lookout for breakfast. Her digital reader was in her hand as she enjoyed the waffles and breakfast sausage that Hargert's kitchen staff had prepared for her. Fully half of the crew was now off-loaded, taking leave time or, in some cases, getting re-assigned to other posts. Much of the crew would be off the ship by the end of the week to get the same combination of leave time or "shore" postings to fill the time before they launched again. It was with great pleasure that Julia signed and filed the medical leave approval for Jarod, allowing him to return to New Liberty to see to his family.

"You seem nervous, Commander."

Julia looked up to see Hargert observing her not-so-empty plate. "Usually you are finished before now," he noted.

"Sorry, I'm just... " She sighed. "I'm just wondering what the Admiral wants to see me for."

"Ah. I see. Do you have reason to be concerned?"

Julia nodded sadly. "Well, Hargert, I was absent from a critical operation and used my command codes to gain access to an exclusion zone that I didn't have official orders to access. So… yes, I think I have reasons."

That won her an understanding nod. "Well, I'm sure it's not that. You brought us back Mister Jarod. The Admiral is an understanding man."

"He is," Julia agreed. "Unfortunately, Minister Hawthorne and Admiral Davies are not." She checked her watch. "I'd better get to my office to finish filing things, I'm supposed to be meeting the Admiral at 1130."

"Of course, of course." The old German put an understanding hand on her shoulder. "Just remember, it's usually not as bad as your fears think it to be."

I hope not was the reply in her head.
"A Radical is a man with both feet planted firmly in the air." – Franklin Delano Roosevelt

"No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism." - Sir Winston L. S. Churchill, Princips Britannia

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Re: "Whispers of Destiny" - "Undiscovered Frontier" Season 2 (Multiverse Space Opera Crossover)

Post by Shroom Man 777 »

Daddy Karesl is an upstanding guy.
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"Sometimes Shroomy I wonder if your imagination actually counts as some sort of war crime." - FROD
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