by Ivan Kal
Five hundred years was a short time for the Enlightened, so she doubted that there was anything that would need her attention. And after she finished reading the reports, it was as she had assumed—no changes. The only interesting thing came from one of the reports on her various projects.
“Tell me the status on Project Black Swarm,” she told the AI.
“The project is performing above projections. We will have full capability in less than two hundred years.”
Well ahead of the projections, it seemed. “And are there any signs that the Enlightened are aware of what we are doing?”
“None, Grand Exatt.”
Ullax sighed in relief. The Enlightened had managed to squash hundreds of her projects that had been supposed to stop them. They had kept her machine forces in constant struggle to keep up, even though she knew that they were capable of breaking containment. They kept it around their territory more to keep everything out of their territory rather than because Ullax’s forces forced it on them. She had tried building more ships to overwhelm the Enlightened, but every time she did try, they somehow knew, and they would increase their pressure, forcing her to recall the forces she had sent to build more yards. The same had happened when she had tried uplifting other races. And after several of those races had betrayed her, she hadn’t tried that avenue for a long time.
But Project Black Swarm was the one thing that she had managed to hide from them, with great care. She hoped that it was going to be the final answer against them—that it would bring about the final defeat of the Enlightened.
She had debated with herself for a long time on whether to build it or not, but the closer to her own death she came, the more convinced she became that she had no choice. The Enlightened had to be stopped.
Finally, she finished reading all of the reports, and decided that it was time for her to go back to sleep. She feared each time she woke up that it was going to be her last. And now, more than ever before, she felt like there was not much more time left. She walked over to her bed and lay down, initiating the stasis with a thought.
She welcomed the dreamless sleep that took her.
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Rise of the Empire series
Olympus
Sanctuary
Out of the Ashes
Warpath
Inheritance
Onslaught
What War Had Wrought
Hand of the Empire
Conquest—Coming soon!
Glossary
Cast of Characters
Empire
Adrian Farkas-Reiss — Human; Lord Sentinel of the Empire; Dal A’sha to Kar Daim Anessa of the Shara Daim. Known as the Heart of the Mountain.
Ryaana Farkas-Reiss — Half human, half Shara Daim; Sentinel of the Empire; Daughter to Adrian and Anessa.
Elias Bakas — Human; Leader of the Hand of the Empire.
Jacob Kelly — Human; Inquisitor of the Hand of the Empire. Former leader of Earth resistance.
Nkiruka — Human; Inquisitor of the Hand of the Empire.
Tomas Klein — Human; Emperor of the Empire.
Seo-yun Hyeon — Human; Minister of Science; Tomas’s partner.
Laura Reiss — Human; Fleets Master of the Empire; Adrian’s adoptive mother.
Nadia Wilson — Human; Minister of Civil Service.
Aileen — Human; Sentinel of the Empire
Oswald Mein — Human; Commander of Fleets.
Nair Hakeem — Human; Fleet Commander of the First Fleet.
Johanna Stern — Human; Fleet Commander of the Third Fleet.
Gotu — Nel; Administrator of Sol system.
Isani — Nel; Leader of Clan Warpath.
Jusan — Nel; Leader of Clan Dai Ven.
Shara Daim
Anessa — Kar Daim of Shara Daim; Dal A’sha to Lord Sentinel Adrian Farkas-Reiss.
Kane — Dai Sha of the Shara Daim; Son of Anessa and Adrian.
Vaana — Dai Sha of the Shara Daim; Daughter of Anessa and Adrian.
Garaam — Dai Sha, commander of the Shara Daim Legions.
Karoom — Dai Sha of the Twenty-Second Legion.
Horas — Dai Sha of the Twenty-Fifth Legion.
Arisak — Do Sun to Dai Sha Garaam.
Erasi
Valanaru — Gatrey; Ancient of the Erasi. Known as the Weaver.
The People
Axull Darr — Ultimate ancestor of the Human, Nel, and Shara Daim races.
Ullax Darr — Axull Darr’s twin sister, life partner to Waiss Gast.
The Enlightened
Waiss Gast — Once best friend of Axull Darr. Later becomes Aranis of the Enlightened.
Eroill Noust — Scientist of the People. Later becomes Doranis of the Enlightened.
Nariax Oera — Scientist of the People. Later becomes Loranis of the Enlightened.
Races
The People — The first intelligent race in the galaxy.
Human — Genetic descendants of the People, engineered by Axull Darr and left on Earth to evolve. Founding members of the Empire.
Nel — Genetic descendants of the People, engineered by Axull Darr and left on Nelus to evolve. Founding members of the Empire; former members of the Consortium.
Shara Daim — Genetic descendants of the People, engineered by Axull Darr and left on Shara Radum to evolve.
Guxcacul — Arthropods, subterranean; former members of the Consortium; Members of the Empire.
Sowir — Aquatic- and land-based race; former members of the Consortium; Members of the Empire.
Trivaxian — Mammalian; Members of the Empire.
Furvor — Avian; Members of the Empire.
Uvaramo — Members of the Erasi; formerly called Loraru; former members of the Union.
Gatrey — Members of the Erasi.
Ssarath — Members of the Erasi.
Krashin — An Enigmatic race with territory in the Outer Arm on the coreward border of the Erasi territory.
Hasre — Mammalian; bipeds; territory in the Outer Arm on anti-spinward border of the Krashin.
Ships
Empire Warships
Empire Fleet — Modern Empire fleets consist of 1200 missile cruisers, 1000 battle cruisers, 600 battleships, 400 dreadnoughts, and 800 drone carriers, for a total of 4000 warships. In addition, every fleet has 600 auxiliary vessels, which include: repair ships, construction ships, ammo ships, military transports, and stealth scout ships; for a total of 4600 ships per a single fleet. The Empire possesses sixteen Sovereign-class warships.
Drone-class warships
Appearance — Sleek blade.
Size — 300 meters long, 100 wide and 150 tall.
Weapons and defenses — High-powered proton beams, ion beams, plasma turrets. Shields.
Missile cruiser-class warships
Appearance — Rectangular platforms.
Size — 1400 meters long, 400 wide, 200 tall.
Weapons and defenses — Proton beams, s-missile launchers, antimatter torpedoes launchers. Drone point defense systems, shields.
Battlecruiser-class warships
Appearance — Resemble sleek talons.
Size — 1000 meters long, 350 wide, 550 tall.
Weapons and defenses — Proton beams, ion beams, molecular disintegration beams, s-missile launchers. Drone point defense systems, shields.
Battleship-class warships
Appearance — Overlapping carapace-like plates, turtle-shell design.
Size — 2200 meters long, 1300 wide, 600 tall.
Weapons and defenses — High-powered proton beams, ion beams, molecular disintegration beams, plasma turrets, s-missile launch
ers. Drone point defense system, shields, shimmering field.
Dreadnought-class warships
Appearance — Arrowhead design.
Size — 3200 meters long, 2100 wide, 750 tall.
Weapons and defenses — High-powered proton beams, ion beams, molecular disintegration beams, plasma turrets, high-powered kinetic turrets, antimatter beams, s-missile launchers. Drone point defense system, shields, shimmering field.
Drone carrier-class warship
Appearance — Open ribcage design.
Size — 4200 meters long, 3000 wide, 1800 tall.
Weapons and defenses — Proton beams, drone control teams. Drone point defense system, ability to power both the shields and shimmering fields at the same time. Carries forty drones and drone repair facilities.
Sovereign-class warship
Appearance — Depends on the generation. All are some variant on the World-ship Enduring and its six-sided pyramid shape.
Size — Depends on the generation; all are between 48 and 58 kilometers long, 18 and 24 kilometers wide/high at the widest/highest point.
Weapons and defenses — Proton beams, ion beams, antimatter beams, molecular disintegration beams, xa-nan turrets, high-velocity kinetic turrets, plasma turrets, s-missile launchers, antimatter torpedoes. Carries six Frigate-class vessels. Drone point defense system, shimmering fields, shields.
Shara Daim warships
Shara Daim Legion — Modern Shara Daim Legions consist of 1000 missile cruisers, 1200 battlecruisers, 600 battleships, 800 super battleships, and 400 carriers for a total of 4000 warships, plus another 600 auxiliary vessels, for a total of 4600 ships per a single fleet. The Shara Daim possess twelve Sovereign class warships.
Drone-class warships
Appearance — Sleek blade.
Size — 300 meters long, 100 wide and 150 tall.
Weapons and defenses — High-powered proton beams, ion beams, plasma turrets. Shields.
Missile cruiser-class warships
Appearance — Pillar shaped.
Size — 1300 meters long, 600 meters in diameter.
Weapons and defenses — Proton beams, s-missile launchers, antimatter torpedoes launchers. Drone point defense systems, shields.
Battlecruiser-class warships
Appearance — Pillar shaped.
Size — 1200 meters long, 500 meters in diameter.
Weapons and defenses — Proton beams, ion beams, molecular disintegration beams, s-missile launchers. Drone point defense systems, shields.
Battleship-class warships
Appearance — Pillar shaped, with a widening at the middle of the ship in a shape of a rectangular box.
Size — 2600 meters long, 800 meters in diameter (pillar), 1500 meters wide and 900 meters tall (middle part).
Weapons and defenses — High-powered proton beams, ion beams, molecular disintegration beams, plasma turrets, s-missile launchers. Drone point defense system, shields, shimmering field.
Super battleship-class warships
Appearance — Pillar shaped, with a widening at the middle of the ship in a shape of a rectangular box.
Size — 3600 meters long, 880 meters diameter of the pillar, 2400 meters wide middle part, 1200 meters tall middle part.
Weapon and defenses — High-powered proton beams, ion beams, antimatter beams, molecular disintegration beams, plasma turrets, s-missile launchers, antimatter torpedoes. Drone point defense system, shields, shimmering field.
Drone carrier-class warship
Appearance — Half-sphere design.
Size — 3800 meters in diameter, 2000 tall.
Weapons and defenses — Proton beams, drone control teams. Drone point defense system, ability to power both the shields and shimmering fields at the same time. Carries forty drones and drone repair facilities.
Sovereign-class warship
Appearance — Depends on the generation. All are some variant on the horseshoe or narrow-arch design.
Size — Depends on the generation; all are between 48 and 62 kilometers long, 24 and 32 kilometers wide at the widest point, and between 4 and 10 kilometers tall.
Weapons and defenses — Proton beams, ion beams, antimatter beams, molecular disintegration beams, xa-nan turrets, high velocity kinetic turrets, plasma turrets, s-missile launchers, antimatter torpedoes. Carries six frigate class vessels. Drone point defense system, shimmering fields, shields.
Erasi warships
Erasi Fleet — Modern Erasi fleets consist of 2500 destroyers, 1000 light cruisers, 600 heavy cruisers, 800 battleships, and 600 super battleships, for a total of 5500 warships, plus 600 auxiliary vessels, for a total of 6100 ships per a single fleet.
Destroyer-class warships
Appearance — Saucer shaped.
Size — 900 meters diameter, 180 meters tall.
Weapons and defenses — Particle beams, s-missile launchers. Point defense, shields.
Light cruiser-class warships
Appearance — Saucer shaped.
Size — 1200 meters in diameter, 200 meters tall.
Weapons and defenses — Particle beams, s-missile launchers, molecular disintegration beam. Point defense, shields.
Heavy cruiser-class warships
Appearance — Saucer shaped.
Size — 1500 meters in diameter, 300 meters tall.
Weapons and defenses — Particle beams, molecular disintegration, ion beams, s-missile launchers. Point defense, shields.
Battleship-class warships
Appearance — Saucer shaped.
Size — 2800 meters diameter, 580 meters tall.
Weapons and defenses — High-powered particle beams, molecular disintegration beams, plasma turrets, ion beams, s-missile launchers. Point defense, shields.
Super battleship-class warships
Appearance — Saucer shaped.
Size — 3200 meters in diameter, 800 meters tall.
Weapons and defenses — High-powered particle beams, molecular disintegration beams, hir’sa beams, plasma turrets, ion beams, s-missile launchers. Point defense, shields.
Devastator-class warships
Appearance — Elongated saucer shaped.
Size — 33 kilometers length, 18 kilometers wide, 2.8 kilometers tall.
Weapons and defenses — High-powered particle beams, molecular disintegration beams, hir’sa beams, plasma turrets, ion beams, s-missile launchers. Point defense, shields, skim-field neutralizers.
