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In all his years of service, Commander Solman Dirn had never seen anything quite like this.
He stood on the catwalk above the massive primary bay, which was occupied by attack craft, shuttlecraft, troop transports, and the external waziri’s Zathru starship.
Outside, Dirn could see dozens of starships, a mix of Nebula Conglomerate Starforce craft, Zathru warships, Ravusq capital ships, and a massive Doolari Homeguard warship.
The Venture was playing host to civilian leaders from the Doolari, Ravusq, Zathru, and the Nebula Conglomerate. The Venture, along with most of the ships present, had received the incredible Multi-Phasic Universal Source Shield Generator. The taskforce had tested the shield and quickly found it was exponentially more powerful than the energy shields they had been employing.
Dirn was no expert, but he knew enough about the workings of energy shields to know that making use of the existing shield generators to produce that effect was some impressively advanced tech. The various starships equipped with the Multi-Phasic Universal Source Shield Generators were virtually invincible against energy weapons.
Torpedoes and missiles were still a threat, but the way the Multi-Phasic Universal Source Shield Generator energized hull plates lessened their effectiveness considerably. Against the conventional weapons of the various races across the galaxy, these ships could take more punishment than anyone had ever dreamed possible before.
Still, they had not yet gone up against the Ditufgne and their energy weapons. Though the new shields would surely be more effective, even the Xorcerizts were not immune to Ditufgne attacks.
The meeting about to occur aboard the Venture was unique in many respects. This was a discussion about interspecies peace accords, which the Xorcerizts’ compact required for sharing weapons technologies.
“As a part of the compact, each government that signs it would agree that they would never employ the weapons we help them develop against any other race inside of this galaxy. If they do, they will be subject to reprisals by the Xorcerizts and all others who have signed the compact,” the Xorcerizt ambassador Nallatrum had said.
In addition to the Nebula Conglomerate politicians, representatives from The B’Born system, the Spontorv System, the Jodan Alliance, the Proxitma System, and another dozen Human worlds would be present. It was also rumored that the Therion Alliance might send a representative.
What was more, there would be representatives present from each of the Ravusq Q’suvar systems. While the Zathru and Doolari had separate sectors of space, they had a singular military entity and oversight government in place. The Ravusq, like Humans, had separate government entities, each with their own militaries and leadership.
Humans were still the most divided species among those gathering. Their number of different, separate governments was greater than that of any other species, even though it was believed that the Ravusq and Zathru each outnumbered Humans considerably. Dirn had overheard one of Admiral Dromm’s aides commenting that nobody was entirely certain of the exact number of governments among the Human race. Dirn was not surprised.
Dirn had also heard that the mysterious Torvodach occupied as vast a sector of space as the Ravusq or Zathru and were as divided as Human governments were. Dirn always found the lesser-known races fascinating and had once dreamed of joining an exploratory group to chart the unknown.
Yet such groups were rare—and seldom government-sponsored or sanctioned.
Following the taskforce’s encounter with the Ditufgne and the meeting with the Xorcerizts, Dirn had been promoted to the rank of commander. With that promotion, he was not only the immediate second to Wing Commander Murn (who had command over all the starfighters in the ever-expanding taskforce), but he had command of all the fighters on the Venture.
It was rare for a fighter pilot to receive a straight commander rank. Sub-Commanders generally headed squadrons, while Wing Commanders handled whole air groups. But with Murn’s new duties, Admiral Dromm felt it easier to make Dirn a commander.
Today would be the beginning of a dialogue unlike any other. It was rumored that certain Ravusq Q’suvar systems had had naught but contentious relations for decades. There was competition among the Nebula Conglomerate, Proxitma System, and Therion Alliance that had caused trade disputes, diplomatic disputes, and tariffs—but no military disputes.
While Humans, the Ravusq, the Doolari, and the Zathru had not had any military disputes in several centuries, neither did they ever explore cooperation and alliances such as the Xorcerizt compact would create. This compact would guarantee that they’d never have a military conflict again, lest they incur the wrath of the Xorcerizts.
Having seen them in combat, Dirn certainly would not care to face that.
The one thing Dirn was having increasing problems with was nightmares. He was not a fan of taking sedatives to sleep, but he was finding if he didn’t, he awoke in the middle of the night terrified. Despite Dirn’s having survived two encounters with the Ditufgne, they’d frightened him like a boogeyman of his childhood. The way they simply destroyed everything in their path, without thought for anything but utter destruction, chilled him nearly beyond reason.
Yet he continued to hold it together and perform his duties well. He had handled the second encounter with the Ditufgne utterly professionally. But he still worried that his subconscious mind could interfere with his waking mind at some point. Perhaps he needed to see a ship’s counselor.
Dirn was not going to be necessary to these negotiations. Thus, he was on the catwalk, watching. To his left and right were soldiers in combat armor with their swords in rifle form, at ease but ready to leap into action if necessary. Though this was supposed to be the start of friendly conversations, precautions were always a good idea.
Dirn saw an ambassadorial craft heading into the bay. At first it didn’t look familiar, though he knew it was another Human government’s. As it slowed for a final landing approach, he still was unsure.
“An Imperial Sloop of the Zarahn Empire,” Wing Commander Tudya Murn said from behind Dirn. “They were not expected.”
“Commander,” Dirn acknowledged her.
“Solman,” she replied. “We’re not on duty at the moment. But they are likely going to call for you.”
Dirn turned to face his superior officer. “This is a matter for the diplomats. We’re soldiers.”
Murn looked grim. “You’re right. But given what is at stake here, they will want the firsthand accounts of the initial survivors.”
Dirn grimaced. “After all we’ve seen since? The Xorcerizts? This new technology? That’s not enough to convince them to sign this compact?”
Murn sighed. “Solman, you’re seeing this as a soldier. Problem is here - send in the correct force to deal with problem when the diplomats fail. Next problem is there - figure out new force to deal with it. But this is something different. Never before, in the tens of hundreds of millennia of interstellar space travel, has this sort of agreement been attempted.”
Dirn was not ignorant of history. Still, he couldn’t help but feel he was missing something. Rather than flounder, he asked, “What am I not getting about this?”
“There are hundreds of independent, individual Human governments,” Murn replied. “Even with their centralized governments, the Doolari and Zathru have dozens of subdivisions and billions of citizens. And the Ravusq have many governmental bodies and billions of people. An agreement of mutual cooperation such as this, encompassing the potentially trillions of people of five major races across such a huge swath of the galaxy is not only unheard of and unprecedented—it’s forcing diverse and often separate peoples to work together.
“On top of that, they must declare more than an armistice, truce, and détente among one another. This is them deciding to agree to peace. To agree to that, after millennia of independence and frequently just keeping separated from one another is...mind boggling.”
Dirn considered that a moment. Though none were at war with one another, Murn was correct: neither did they have a true peace. He knew that there were billions or trillions of sentient beings across the galaxy, and beyond the races they knew (or were simply aware of), those numbers were tremendous. This sort of accord between not just Human governments, but multiple species, was monumental. Bordering on surreal.
Which raised another question. Dirn asked, “They also still don’t entirely trust the Xorcerizts’ motives, do they?”
Murn was silent for a few moments. “No, not entirely. First, the Ditufgne appear—apparently from the void between galaxies—and begin to attack and obliterate various military forces. Then a city to get at the CSA. Then another force, also not of this galaxy, appears with a solution to the first...but to get it in full, we have to agree to their demands.”
“You saw what I saw,” Dirn said, “though I wouldn’t exactly call their request to sign the accords a demand.”
“Semantics,” replied Murn. “It doesn’t change the fact that to gain the means to fight the Ditufgne, we must ally ourselves with the Xorcerizts. And, no, before you argue, I recognize there is not a literal alliance between them and the rest of us. But we clearly are siding with them in whatever dispute they have with the Ditufgne.”
Dirn considered that a moment. “Perhaps. The impression I got, though, is that the Ditufgne are coming for us, and the Xorcerizts are here to help because this is their fault. Or, more specifically, the fault of their progenitors...who are our peoples, apparently. I still cannot wrap my head around that notion.”
Murn chuckled. “I know. Me neither. I talked to a scientist friend of mine who was brought in by the government. She has gotten to test their DNA, and it can be traced to all the races they claim were part of that Project Outbound. Still, the knowledge required to combine these incompatible races – including a race that has no gender - is beyond anything modern science knows.”
Dirn shivered involuntarily. There was something unnatural, albeit fascinating, about the artificial creation of the Xorcerizts. “Do they reproduce like us, or like the Yalifira?”
“Like us,” Murn replied. “But they can actually retain a fetus for years before deciding to complete a pregnancy.” Murn’s tone changed. “If my friend didn’t know any better, she told me she’d be sure the creators of the Xorcerizts used some other, supernatural method.”
“Like what?” asked Dirn.
Murn chuckled. “No idea. Apparently, there have been experiments performed by and between teams from the various races to see if they could make us compatible. Despite having compatible sex organs, at least between Humans, Ravusq, and Zathru, there is no genetic compatibility. But then, my friend says that the number of races that are upright on just two legs and with two arms is another intriguing mystery. That so many evolved that way is statistically impossible.”
Dirn just shook his head. It was almost too much to consider. Still, any nerves he initially felt at Murn’s letting him know he was likely to address the diplomats were gone.
“We live in interesting times,” Dirn remarked.
Murn said, “Yes, we do, Solman Dirn. Yes, we do.”