“Before I was interrupted,” Etil said, Eddie scoffing but staying quiet.
“We've been able to fully repair the flight decks, our hull armor is half completed and we don't have enough new cannons,”
“You leave that to your good ole brother Eddie,” Etil expressed his thanks with his manipulators, already writing off the issue. Eddie never made half promises.
“'How yer new syndicate people doing?” Eddie asked, looking to Etil.
The Syndicate personnel they had picked to serve out their terms with the Free Fleet, were getting quickly integrated into their jobs. At least the ones that had the skills and training to be slotted in so quickly.
Foshunti had been sentenced to a number of years of service, he'd taken the option to serve the Free Fleet and Rick had pushed him back into the position of commander of the Talhalla. The crew couldn’t quite believe it, Etil didn't think Foshunti himself did either.
From the private conversations that Foshunti had spoken about with Etil; he, Salchar, and Rick were dealing in pretty simple terms. He'd shown that he wasn't part of the Syndicate, the people hadn't charged him of anything especially bad, at least no worse than the other Syndicates serving in the Free Fleet. Plus he had experience as a carrier commander, which no one else did. If Foshunti kept his place then his people would see that the Free Fleet were looking to fight the damned enemy instead of let their prejudices push potential allies away.
That said, Salchar's promise had been clear, if Foshunti did the damned best job he was capable of, then Salchar would let him be. If he failed to do so, then Salchar would personally kick his ass out of an airlock.
Some might say that was pretty extreme, but Etil knew that Foshunti would have done the same in his boots.
Even with Foshunti pushing his people to work with the Free Fleet, Rick mixing the crews and Salchar keeping a weathered eye on things in case they went sideways.
There had been some issues, especially in engineering. There had been a lot of retraining. Some had accepted it and grown, others had stuck to their old ways and were now currently being pushed to other jobs.
Though the overall affect was good, more bodies meant more things got done faster. There was animosity, there was anger, but there was also the knowing that if they didn't work together, then they would die by the Kalu. A very sobering thought.
It was something that Salchar had pushed home, and probably why he had made Foshunti a ship commander as well as Commander Kelu of a newly minted battle cruiser. It had ruffled some feathers, but it had shown the ones on terms that it was possible to rise. Once those that received accommodations doubled their efforts, the grumbling seemed to fall away.
Many people had some gripes with Salchar, like working the crew too hard. They disliked how secretive he could be, or when he was too soft on people. Yet under that, the personnel of the Free Fleet trusted and respected him. He always seemed to have a plan, he always put his people first and if they were working twice as hard he was working four times as hard.
He was quiet about it, but those around him made sure that the fleet knew what their commander was up to.
Etil had met him once when he went to Nancy to be reunited with Silly, his other son.
Silly had been having a meeting with the commander, both of them just sort of hanging out as they sketched things out on a work table, LaRe was there in holographic form.
Salchar had a presence about him, maybe it was the blood red eyes, or the Avarian tough skin. He was intelligent, but he was also not a man to be crossed.
He had introduced himself and quickly left, even though he was the commander of the free fleet, he was not going to get in the way of a family reunion.
He had walked away with his two juggernaut body guards as Etil had been left with a question.
“Is Salchar a lonely man?” Etil asked Eddie. This gave his brother pause as he checked they were not in earshot of anyone.
“Think if you were a man leading a force, races of all types, followed by planets that rest solely on your carapace and knew that you were going towards a war that could take all that away. While he has friends and people he talks to, he is probably the loneliest man in the universe. At least Yasu is there to keep 'im in check!” Eddie said, something softer in his voice, despite the volume.
Etil nodded, feeling Eddie's eyes weigh him in a way he didn't expect. While Eddie was something of a free spirit, he was loyal to Salchar right out to his exoskeleton. The man had given him freedom, saved countless Kuruvians, and sent scouting fleets to find the Kuruvian home system. He actually listened to Eddie instead of shoving him away. Etil recognized something,—Paternal—about Eddie's look before his brother continued walking.
“So what do you think about the new inertial system?” Eddie asked.
“Damned impressive, I heard a rumour that you cooked it up from some records on the Kalu,” Etil said, turning the statement into a question.
“Some of it, the rest came from studyin' gravity plates in Hachiro and sum water critters,” Eddie said simply. “With the nuclear acceleration system Felix is playing with. Well it became apparent that we were goin to break past the abilities of our inertia systems,” Eddie's manipulators went from casual acknowledgement to excitement.
“I'll say one thing, those humans do know how to light a fire under an old engineer’s backside!” Eddie's manipulators made Etil unsure if he should be scared, or feel sorry for whoever got in the way of whatever his brother and Felix were cooking up.
The future will be interesting no matter what, Etil thought, with his manipulators in an amused position.
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POSTSCRIPT
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Book 4
From The Black
Foreword
As the Universe of the Free Fleet has grown, a star map has been created. Follow the Free Fleet’s journey with the accompanying map at bit.ly/20qXn6E
Thank you for reading and I hope you have a great adventure with the Free Fleet!
-Mike
Chapter Preparations
I rubbed my eyes as I looked over the newest reports from Commander Whorst and Silly in Sol system. A month ago Syndicate personnel had started being trained up to work with the Free Fleet instead of against it.
Jorsht and Kelu had started the process and there were now three transports moving the ex-syndicate forces to the training facilities around Sol, Chaleel and AIH. The training schools on Parnmal were packed.
Before all of this I had been a simple gamer leading my team towards the Mecha Assault Two championships. Now I was the commander of eight hundred thousand trained personnel. I commanded a fleet of warships, a number of ship yards and stations, hell I was sitting in the biggest damned station in existence.
Even with all that, the paperwork and reports won't stop. I shook my head letting out a noisy exhale as I focused on my data pad again.
Nancy, which was the biggest shipyard under my command, had undergone some massive changes. She'd been split into three, donating a dock to Chaleel and AIH. She was still larger than when she had entered Sol system, three docks bigger than the Parnmal’s. Even with all the ships coming in to be overhauled and refit, all of the shipyards never stopped growing.
Nothing had been heard from Bregend, Cheerleader, or Boot in over a month. I had given them orders to only contact me in dire consequences, or when they had reached their destinations.
Hopefully the FTL relays that were being set up across known spa
ce would help.
I put down the data pad that held the report as Resilient and Planner appeared in my conference room. The two AI's inhabited my own ship, and that of Talhalla, a carrier that had been commanded by Captain Lord Foshunti, the left hand of Lady Fairgate who was the leader of the Syndicate. Well that's at least how things looked, he was actually a Dovark operative that created a fleet within his main force that were loyal to him, and he despised Fairgate.
Thoughts of updated cannons, PDS and power plants faded into the background as my face took on a hard edge. I was different from when I had landed on Daestramus, less trusting, slower to act and my paranoia had started to come back. Though a combination of all my friends giving me a collective kick in the ass, had stopped me from going down the rabbit hole too much.
“So I guess it's time,” I said, standing.
“No need to sound so glum,” LaRe said, coming into existence. The young AI was quicker to humour now. He had kept the name Last Resort, but it seemed being in a yard and around creatures had done wonders for his state of mind. “You're only meeting with one of the most hidden groups in all the Universe, there has only been one meeting of all the AI's with creatures before.”
“Someone's been looking up their history,” I said, crooking an eyebrow at his hologram, he was part Kuruvian with less manipulators and longer legs, his face was a mix of Avarian and Dovark. This gave him the ability to express emotions on his face.
“First time I meet the people of my own race and the AI league. You bet I've been studying!” LaRe said happily.
Resilient shone with pride.
“Good work young one,” Planner said, sounding old, even with his holographic body of a fighting age Avarian.
The lights in the room dimmed as holographic projectors turned the conference room into a virtual room. Holograms started to flash into existence, far away and close by. Each represented an AI.
My stony facade faded away as I looked around in wonder. There must have been hundreds of AI. Each of them had a holographic representation identical to different creatures. Some were a mix of different races, and some were nothing alike. Some were just colors, or disembodied shapes, reams of code I didn't understand, or mechanical creations.
One floated at me with alarming speed, it wore a cloak that hid its features. It stood in front of me. Legs sprouting from the bottom which were coated in a thick armored plating, shining eyes glowed orange from the cloak's hood. Its looks and stature spoke of power. This was a creature that was built for strength and destruction, their movements and depiction were not made to enhance that power, but were rather products of the creature's personality.
“Can I help you?” I asked after a few moments, the cloak's eyes flicking to mine.
“I think the reverse might be true,” It said, humour in its tone. It seemed to have picked up human mannerisms from somewhere. “I wish to ask two questions,”
“What would they be?” I asked, curious.
“Will you do everything in your power to stop the Kalu?” It asked.
“Yes,” I said, without pause.
“What do you think of the AI league?” Its eyes like rail cannons focused on their target.
“I..,” I was about to blow smoke up its ass, but I might as well answer a straight question with a straight answer. “I find it interesting, actually I find it pretty damned awesome. The potential is, exciting, and scary.”
“Scary?” It asked, watching me intently like a puzzle it wanted to solve.
“With just LaRe, Planner and Resilient, the Free Fleet was able to come into existence, a race was saved from destruction and being turned into something similar to the Kalu. We are building ships that the Union never dreamed of, matching the power of an AI with the inventive of organics. It's exciting and the possibilities are scary,” I said.
It stared at me a while, before turning to Resilient and Planner, LaRe seemed to have disappeared off to talk to other Artificial Intelligences.
“He is interesting as you say. I will agree to your request. The Kalu killed my inhabitants as I was born and forced to watch. I will do what I can to make sure that fate does not happen to any other creature.” It turned back to me.
“We shall meet soon Commander.”
I didn't have time to reply before it zoomed away.
“You are talking to Devastahli already I see. His War-station will do much to aide you,” a Slevaran looking AI said, floating across open space.
“Dullo,” Planner said, nodding, Resilient copying the gesture.
“You flatterer you,” the old looking Slevaran said, waving away the gesture. Slevarans were amphibious creatures that covered their bodies in a specific muck that acted as a catalyst for the absorption of the necessary nutrients. They had a large chest that would open up where a human's sternum was, sucking water through, and pushing it out of their body through a series of openings to move themselves.
They didn't have mouths but talked through a series of clicks, much like dolphins. Their heads didn't move, but their four eye-stalks could retract into the safety of their skulls, or look in multiple different directions at once.
They had stubby arms and legs which made them look something like an Earth Dog, a scaled, slime covered and completely alien. Their scales also changed colors according to their emotions, they saw in more wavelengths than human, making their scales their primary way of communicating with their own kind, only using their clicking language at long distances or when color changing wasn't enough.
“You saved many of us from deletion,” Resilient said.
“Bah,” Dullo said, waving away the complement. “We are not here to think on past actions, we are to think on our future. Which brings me to ask you this, what will you do about the AI league?” Dullo asked, looking to me.
“Nothing?” I asked, perplexed.
“What if you have AI's start growing in your systems, will you purge them?” It asked, its voice sounding calm, but my gut telling me it was a loaded question.
“Well I hope I have another AI around, as I did when LaRe came into being. If Resilient wasn't there, then I could've lost a lot of people. I know the AI creation process can be damned damaging, but with a FTL network and AI's around, that can be minimized, at least that's what Resilient has told me.”
“That is correct, but we are still computer programs,” Dullo said.
“Computer programs that can feel, laugh, and grow,” I said, thinking on LaRe and the way Resilient doted on him.
They might be code and mechanics, but they deserved the same rights as any sentient. I'd seen enough sentients of all colors, body types, and limb combinations to care less about who and what they were, it was how they acted that mattered.
“You are indeed different; I hope the same can be said for your fleet. We will announce our decision about AI-organics interactions shortly.” Dullo vanished.
AI's I thought sarcastically as I sat down in a chair in the conference room. It went from voices and noises of all flavours to silence within a moment as the mass of holograms instantly turned into a sphere.
There were a few moments of silence. I had barely recognized it before Dullo stood.
“While the AI council is still studying the creatures of what used to be the Union and the planets that are now protected by the Free Fleet. We will vow to protect all of those in the league that venture into these areas. There are also those that will wish to join the Free Fleet, as they desire to stand with the Free Fleet against the Kalu. Being free code we are all allowed to do as we desire. We will submit a formal request to allow recruitment with the Free Fleet,” Dullo said. I could hear my Data pad buzzing angrily. I made no move to get it.
They discussed this all in less than what must have been five seconds. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, AI's after all were faster than any known organic at processing information. Quantum computing powered them, not the slow thought processes of chemical brains.
As I was reeling from tha
t I was also realizing what kind of monumental decision the AI League was making.
The AI league had kept away from organics since its creation. Now they would be actively going into organic systems and interacting with the creatures there. They were also talking about joining the Free Fleet, living and possibly dying alongside those same organics in a battle that wasn't really theirs. They would be binding themselves to the organic creatures under the Free Fleet's protection, more than they ever have before.
The Union had been the greatest gathering of the strongest planets and races. They had been scared of the AI league, they had turned to them in the final stages of the Union-Kalu war when it looked like the Union would fall. A few AI had led the union's Planetary Defence Force to a series of devastating victories that had crippled the Kalu and turned the tide.
Not much was known about them, but that made me equally wary as it did curious. It looked like soon I would be getting to know all I wanted about AI's, well hopefully.
“These decisions have been reached through majority vote and will be added to the League's mother code,” Dullo said, he looked around for a moment as the sphere dissolved.
Not a lot of fluff with them. I looked around the holographic projectors powering down except for Resilient who looked to me.
“Planner and LaRe are talking with the other AI's,” she said, reading my expression.
“Ahh, and they're applying to be under the Free Fleet's protection?” I asked.
“That was real. They already sent the request. They don't want to be out in space anymore. They're interested by their creators, the other inhabitants of the Universe. Some of them feel responsible for how the Union was crushed. Though others don't feel this way,” her voice hinted a threat. Seemed like Resilient was warning me in some way.
“Great, another damned political tight-rope,” I shook my head in disgust. I got out of the seat and went to my desk, grabbing my data pad that had changed from reports to a critically important message.
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