[center][h3]Defenders of Harmony Space Station[/h3][/center] "Chaos is planning something. Faust is vital to their plan. Fergus is not here, for he cannot face Chaos yet. Alas Prime is in danger, we cannot go to the temple through conventional transport. I require the magical signature of the area to open a portal, please give it to me." [center][h3]Taoshe[/h3][/center] [i]Never expected a weapons taboo like that, I'll have to petition the council to change the first contact protocols.[/i] The diplomat was clearly embarrassed by his folly, and quickly sheathed his sword as the other Terrans did so as well. "Apologies, we are inexperienced. I am, however, glad to know that your people shall judge us fairly. While we may judge ourselves by our past, we have been judged in the extremes for the mere act of fighting, and it is good to know that conquering a world because it's inhabitants fight is not the norm." The Terrans also entered the vehicle, fitting much better than the Lorca. They were quick to take notice of the fact that no accommodation was possible for the Lorca, an unexpected situation when considering the tactile holograms seen aboard the naval vessel. It served as yet more proof that technological advancement was almost never the same on the many inhabited worlds. The knowledge that they had a leg up in accommodating non-humanoid figures due to their "smart furniture" was also nice to have. [center][h3]Sol System[/h3][/center] The Equestrian convoy would notice an intense concentration of magical energy pass by them as they sent their message, seeming to coincide with a giant swarm of gravity lens distortions. The magic would seem familiar yet alien, it was certainly another type, but wasn't "there" in any normal sense. While it was strong energy-wise, the Equestrians would get the distinct impression that it was too weak to cast a spell, despite common sense implying otherwise. A response to the message was sent from the third planet in the system, which seemed to be the only habitable one there. It was in English as well, implying that they had highly efficient translation technology. Little did the Equestrians know that the Terrans were thinking the very same thing. Notably, a frighteningly fresh debris field orbited the fifth planet, still clumped closely together. There was enough material there for three hundred ships, and the proximity of the debris implied that the battle took place that very day. "Welcome to the Sol system, we are the United Terran Federation. Your peaceful words reassure us, but we have not had the best of experiences with species that utilize magic. You'll have to understand that our people place a great deal of weight on the word of others, and breaking even the simplest promise can be seen as a major insult. The other magical species we know of apparently has no concept of a promise, and we don't fully understand if this is connected to magical abilities such as telepathy that may or may not exist. Despite our suspicions, we will allow you to dock at one of our major stations above the fifth planet, though our homeworld is off-limits until we have established that you have no hostile intentions. I assume that your defensive shields will hold against debris and residual plasma?" [center][h3]Gliese 581 System, Alas Prime[/h3][/center] The skies of Alas Prime were filled with dots of light speeding towards the planet at faster-than-light speeds, anyone near the swarm of lights would see warships obscured by a gravity lens affect as they passed by faster than anyone could comprehend. They quickly entered the inner system, defense platforms unable to get a firing solution on the unimaginably fast ships. As they slowed (as much as such a term could be applied to a fleet travelling at warp speeds), a flurry of missiles was let loose from the now-STL swarm of ships. For whatever reason, these missiles were designed to intentionally slow their approach, bringing their effectiveness down drastically. Even so, they impacted the defense platforms of Alas Prime, striking serious blows deep into the structures. Those that missed their marks detonated early, the aggressors refusing to utilize them against the planet. The gravity lenses disappeared, revealing countless warships with the distinctive dual-ringed Terran design. The sheer numbers of the fleet made it clear that the entire Armada was there, and if the numbers weren't enough to prove that, the firepower certainly was. All of the ships opened up on the remaining defense platforms with plasma weapons and antimatter missiles, removing any opposition that stood in their way. They advanced towards the planet like a wall, point defenses shredding fighter squadrons sent after them. Each and every ship bore the symbol of the Terran Starfleet, an image of the Earth with a dagger driven through it, and six stars surrounding it. On the lead ship, it was prominently displayed on the bow, with the intent of intimidating anyone who dared to get close enough to view it with the naked eye. The spinal weapons of the dreadnoughts began to glow red-hot, all the heat from their railguns being kept in the metal of the firing mechanism due to the lack of any substance for it to disperse into. The lead ship sent a message to the planet below, translated into perfect Iscandarian automatically by the ship's computer. "This is High Admiral Kai Vivian of the United Terran Federation. Your warships have been destroyed, your defense stations torn apart, and we have weapons of mass destruction aimed at your planet. You surrender, and we will demilitarize your world and keep you confined on it. You refuse, and your cities will become craters, your monuments will fall, and your temples annihilated in the most technical sense of the word. Those are your choices, and whichever you choose, be assured that we will follow through with our threats." [center][h3]Kaku University, Prefecture 0, the District.[/h3][/center] It had been days since the battle of Jupiter, and all the excitement that came with the victory had since disappeared. The fact remained that the war wasn't going to be clean, and even now, the Terran Armada was headed for Alas Prime. Everyone knew that a planet was going to die, and they all knew the blood would be on the hands of every human. Most didn't have a problem with this, after all, the Iscandarians had threatened to destroy an entire star system and humanity with it. However, those in the District could see history repeating itself, the screams of those killed in the the Great Crime echoing in everyone's ears. Even in this perpetual state of unease, life went on as normal, the only difference being that the heads of the civilians were held lower than normal. The holographic billboards still obscured the stars, and road lights made navigation just as easy as if it were day. The lights of the grand skyscrapers of the city shined brightly, not a single room being dark. In the middle of all this life was a quiet university campus, the dorms mostly silent and dark as the students got sleep for the inevitable partying that would take place tomorrow night. After all, it marked the first humans victory in space, when the invading Iscandarian fleet was defeated in the First Battle of Sol. However, one of those dorms was exceptionally active, its lights adding to the already overpowering light pollution. Unlike virtually every other single-person dorm with a light on, there was only one student in it, hunched over a computer. While this student was certainly frustrated, it was for an entirely different reason than every other lit room with one person hunched over a computer in it. Papers were spread out across his desk, lined with equations. His computer displayed a document on magic from the Alcubierre Institute on Luna, detailing the sensor data from the Harold White Facility Disaster. Everyone involved was said to have suffered major neurological damage, and many seemed to lose their very sentience. He scrolled through the document over and over again, each time unsatisfied with what he found. After two hours of reading and sipping coffee, he brought his first down on the table with all the strength he had. As it was two A.M, that strength amounted to gravitational acceleration. Resting his head in his hand and massaging his temples as his already loose glasses continued to slip off his head, he sighed heavily enough to make it quite clear to the rest of those alone and hunched over a computer that he was certainly not having as much fun as the vast majority of those with their lights on. "Nothing!" He exclaimed, leaning back in the cheap office chair that he owned, rubbing his back against the already ripping backrest. The abruptness of the action caused his glasses to fly off of his head and land on the bed behind him, something that he barely noticed due to his frustration. "There's absolutely nothing on how, or even [i]if[/i], they controlled the magical energy! This was my last chance to find [i]anything[/i] on magical control! How the fuck does so little information exist on something that would raise us so far up on the Kardashev-Smith Scale!" A faint voice came through the wall, though distorted by it, the man could make out an accusation of being too loud. He groaned, responding by throwing the same accusation right back at them. The sound of a word about to form was heard, then quickly cut off as his neighbors realized how weak the foundation of their argument was. He groaned, leaning further back in the chair and closing his eyes. "Maybe they were right when they said it would take a live specimen from a magic-sensitive species to figure out the control of it." He mumbled to himself, respecting the wishes of his neighbors despite their comically flimsy argument. He sighed, getting up from his chair and retrieving his glasses. He stood between the bed and the chair, contemplating his next action, then picked up his laptop. Resting it on his pillow, he fell into bed facing it, laying on his stomach in an uncomfortable position that he nevertheless preferred to the mundane sitting position he had been in for countless hours. He opened the word processor that came standard on all laptops, and began to write an grant request. [i]Well, this is a stupid idea.[/i] He thought as he typed furiously. [i]It just might work.[/i] He lay there and typed for hours as his eyes became heavier and heavier, no coffee left to keep him awake. After an amount of time he simply couldn't place, his eyes closed and hands fell limp on the keyboard. Some unquantifiable time later, he woke up to the sight of an entire screen full of nothing but the letter "f". Despite how little sleep he managed to get, he felt refreshed, though this feeling would likely wear off at exactly the time all the parties started if his luck remained the same. Glancing down at his computer's clock, he saw that it was eight in the morning. Before he could even think about why he woke up so early, he heard the voice of a woman from above. "When I saw you on your bed with a laptop, I must say, I had a completely different impression." He looked up, seeing the face of his longtime friend Rin Tomiko, who had chosen to work with him on the daunting task of advancing human knowledge of magical energy in even a marginally significant way. She was born in Prefecture 31 during the reconstruction period, and got a lot of flak for her Japanese heritage until she moved to the northeast. During her childhood, the western parts of the district held quite a substantial bit of racism towards Japan for their involvement in the war. Being the daughter of a JSDF officer, she ended up as the target of much of this racism. "I had a feeling you would, after all, you have more experience with that than I do." He said, smiling tauntingly. "Is that supposed to imply that you have someone to do that for you?" She responded, taking his joke and throwing it right back at him. "Just that I'm obviously a more evolved being with a less active sex drive, much better adapted to urban life." He said, a humorous smile on his face. "Evolution doesn't work like that, Mr. More Evolved Being." The two stared in mock seriousness before bursting out in laughter, the man sitting up in bed. "But seriously, Hugh, what were you writing?" "A grant application, I'm trying to get my hands on the [i]Kaku[/i]." Ron's eyes widened in surprise, and it took her a moment to get the words out. "You're asking for command of the university's [i]Bastonge[/i]-class?!" She exclaimed, her voice likely disturbing the neighbors. "You really think we could get a starship for our magical studies?" "So far, I've come up with the best equations on magical energy, and I earned weapon rights in that terrorist attack on Mars during the First Battle of Sol. I meet all the necessary requirements, and the university knows damn well that us Americans can handle first contacts. If I can manage to capture a live Iscandarian, then the entire question of magical control will be solved! Think about it, with that knowledge, who knows what we could accomplish!" "I can't argue with that, but do you really think the entirely European university council would give a starship fully capable of battle to a Dist-... American? I mean, the thing has tri-mode magnetic accelerators, those can punch through the military bunker in Paris!" "Not if the American is asking, that's why I'd like to ask you to submit it." She stared at him for a moment, fully understanding the idea, but still with a quizzical look on her face. "You're making this up as you go, aren't you?" "Yep." He replied with not event a hint of shame "Will you do it?" Rin smiled, firmly placing her hand on her head and shaking it. "This is one of those things were either I do it, or you go and screw things up, isn't it?" "Yes. Yes it is." "Alright, I'll do it. If you didn't write it according to regulation, you owe me one hell of a favor."