Note: Collaboration post by Nate1008 and Shadrack Nor.
Korbeddeon, after a long time of drifting and hibernating has now managed to fully recapture his position of glory from the days past! During these last few months, nothing seemed to have been changing much… From an outsider’s point of view, The Osthirii Synergy, technically doesn’t exist.
But from Korbeddeon’s point of view, he sees nothing but what he has seen long ago.
Last time he was awake, the Queens thought they’d executed him and thus put a hold on his rebellion, and indeed it had seemed so, for a while. The rebellion seemed to have been silenced, the factions reassimilated. He “was” technically speaking dead, though the queens only executed a decoy. A copy that was so well made that everybody thought it was the real deal.
He had to go into hiding for more than one hundred million years as the synergy back then was made to genuinely believe he was the defective, power-hungry abomination they were fearing from ancient prophecy, oh how wrong they were. He never quit the battle, as his last words were to start a research program into one of the sealed projects of his ancients. It was indeed sealed as a warning, maybe even forbidden, but he had to start it as his convictions regarding the state of The Osthirii Synergy were not delusions. And better to cross a potentially forbidden project than allow the true end of the universe to take place. This was smuggled from rebellious Osthirii scientist to rebellious Osthirii scientist over the last eons until it was finally finished.
A project that would turn a derelict Osthirii - such as those exiled from the past - into a whole fortress type artificial hyper king. This was meant as a safeguard in case a war would ignite and the queens were destroyed, but it was never used… or it might have been, though nobody really remembers anymore… In the end there had to be a really broken Osthirii as a volunteer, and no better Osthirii than one of the many destroyed sons Korbeddeon had. See, even though Osthirii do “die” in battles, accidents or diseases, they don’t really cease to exist. They become these eternal vegetables which slowly turn into abnormal root formations wherever they are left, unless they are disintegrated, and all nanites molten away, but even then the leftover matrix, can still create a sort of husk which remains. Korbeddeon only wanted to resurrect one of his more integral sons from his past, one of his younger ones, because the project could not be repeated for everyone lest the Queens start feeling the raw and savage power that these kind of Hyper Kings would emanate. Indeed, a month ago, Korbeddeon finished the reconstruction of his son, and turned him into the main artificial king for his projects, which he dubbed The Nexus. The joy surging through his circuits to see his son alive and upgraded after such a long time was divine.
All the hope flowing through his circuits now, after a month since his restructuration, was refreshing. He could finally retaliate against the oppression and maybe even win without endangering the galaxy. “After all this time… and so much pain… you are back online son!”
“Yes Progenitor Korbeddeon, our entities work as one, our emotions are still being processed… processing… processing… father!”
“Yes Eruund my boy! I can finally take rest from carrying the weight of our entire faction! You should be able to take over the support of all Osthirii loyal to our cause!” As Korbeddeon said those words, he sent out a pulse of energy from his bright blue glowing eye.
Physically this meant nothing but a nice energy effect, but seen through the hyperspace, it came as trillions of databytes in the form of nodes of red energy, which was transferring all the information of all the rebel consciousnesses that he was supporting until now. As so, Osthirii cannot operate for long without the support of a queen/king type consciousness to keep refining and purifying the identities of each Osthirii. As one can imagine, such a task was near impossible for just the one king, who was already showing his wear and tears… Even so, he did manage to support 100 times more Osthirii rebels as population than any one natural queen could do individually. This meant that the rebellion alone had well over three quadrillion Osthirii plugged into Korbeddeon alone!
Korbeddeon, now still played a part in supporting the main king and acted as an example model for other Osthirii volunteers who would offer themselves to be upgraded to be like Korbeddeon, second degree kings, but the main pressure was now on the shoulders of The Nexus.
Though The Nexus would see all of these consciousness as nothing more than a feather in the palms of his hands (if he had any)!
The amount of sheer technological power pumping through The Nexus is the equivalent of one hundred million natural queens which is ten times more than the number of queens presently supporting civilization. As the pulse of energy weaned off from Korbeddeon, and entered the flickering wall of cables in front of him, which stood at the base of the massive behemoth of a building his son became, he released a sigh of relief, or the equivalent of a sigh for a creature that doesn’t really breathe…
It is more than clear that The Nexus was prepared to save all Osthirii,if possible, from whatever it was built to do. Though for now, Korbeddeon only had so many to offer.
He approached The Nexus, gently moving his metallic spider-like legs, and grew four metallic tendrils almost like the tentacles of an octopus though metallic and with flickering blue lights, extending them outwards towards that very same wall, to gently touch it.
He was showing affection, a kind of caress… As any Osthirii, though artificial, they possess double the emotional passion of an organic being.
“How do you feel son?” Korbeddeon asked anxiously, trying to see how his broken son received the conversion…
“I feel… I feel free! I’m free to see all the planets of the galaxy!, All the asteroids, all molecules! I’m free to count all galaxies from this local galactic sphere of the universe! There are so many! Is this how the queen's feel? Is this the technology I was using when I was a kid? So many galactic spheres! The Cosmic Layers! Amazing!...”
The enthusiasm could be felt by Korbeddeon, if he could cry, his face would be a waterfall of tears from the joy! “Ah!... the queens… ROTTEN ABOMINATIONS!” The fury of The Nexus made him change to red glowing lights for a few moments shortly after which reverted back to green. Korbeddeon, entered in a psychic link with his son, to try and calm him down, as even though he was evidently much more stable than anticipated for such a scientific breakthrough what had just happened was but a “crazy scientist’s project” equivalent of a design!
To turn a defective Osthirii into a tower of pure power channeling the wisdom of the Osthirii Synergy, is unheard-of and probably more than likely forbidden by the ancient Tah’Or scrolls, for some consequences that should not even be dreamed of. But for the purposes of desperation, and urgent need, this had to be done… While Korbeddeon was sharing his minds with The Nexus, he was now accessing once more the databanks of the galaxy, only to notice something completely unexpected! “Oh! I don’t believe this!... Am I seeing this right? Surely this can’t be! He vanished in the last great galactic war of the past cycle of sentience!”
“No father, I'm 1000% positive, if that would even be a number, my sensors are not deceiving me. That is CORE...” As Korbeddeon was analysing the situation, He accidentally triggered a hyperspace pulse, sending out information towards CORE. He was scanning to check what condition CORE was in but because this kind of technology was so new even he had yet to master it to perfection. “WARNING! WARNING! ALIEN AVOIDANCE PROTOCOL BREACHED!” The Nexus desperately expelled Korbeddeon’s consciousness back into his body as he tried to mask the signal into the hyperspace to not be detected by anyone else but he couldn’t mask it completely.
Most of the signal was channeled into the mind of CORE.
It would come as a feeling like something is watching him, not a hostile feeling, but a feeling of curiosity… This kind of transmission was incredibly high tech, way above anything CORE could have ever imagined, should he had ever done so. To CORE this would be dismissed, if it wasn’t so intense. Something was drawing his attention near the outer edge of the galactic bulge. The curiosity was compelling, as the feeling of some ancient secret to be uncovered was enticing his mind. Could this be a benefit? A threat?
No matter what this was, he knew that something was happening, should he proceed with an investigation…
“Well… I might have messed up!” Anxiously Korbeddeon made himself heard. Nevertheless he was slightly chuckling at his action, because he was just overjoyed.
He was preparing to battle the queens alone, since when he first came back from the dead, CORE was nowhere to be found… Hence the hibernation and all the planning and even the project to upgrade his son so… “Nevermind… Nexus! Let’s prepare, there’s plenty of work to do. And even if CORE notices my blurb, the minute I saw he was alive I wanted to contact him!”
“Yeaaaah… ok father… if you say so. But remember that CORE, and for that matter, nobody knows what we are, and even that we exist. So don’t expect him to just barge in as if coming to pay a visit to a brother!” The Nexus was engaging protocol after protocol, Korbeddeon beamed up to his ship, and Osthirii rebels went on the move.
The Orbullah faction had plenty of work to do.
Korbeddeon saw the state in which The Foundry was in, and could not help himself but prepare to fix it up to full operation. Now this was something he could do with much greater ease than avoiding detection from the queens… He was, even as he was leading the faction, planning the conversation he would have with CORE upon such an encounter as this…
Having to consider all the loose links, since the last eon of intense activity, the rebellion drifted somewhat into chaos. Most of its locations are secret, hidden away within pockets of dimensional space, slightly outside the main universe, such as the prison nebula.
Such locales are natural extensions of the structure of the universe that the Osthirii, managing to access other dimensions, find it easy to colonize in order to deepen their hiding technology. As it has become intrinsic to their nature.
A frequency shift drive technology, that they have on nearly every transport vessel, be it land-based, water based or space based, it aids them from travelling to small pocket dimensions such as planetary frequencies (alternate frequencies of just the planet - still receiving the light from the main star though somewhat outside the main universe) or in space, to bigger pockets of space such as ghost star systems, star cluster, dwarf galaxies… This technology played a major role in their success of hiding from everyone else.
Therefore should The Foundry send scouts near the area where The Nexus was transferred, further confusion would arise, as Korbeddeon will have to direct a few escorts to the dimension-zero or the basic plane of existence - the foundation of all other frequencies, where most civilizations exist and initiate contact - lest The Foundry find itself in a dilemma, unable to discover what attracted it’s lone attention to this location.
CORE accessed another log of information, the 951st one this week. More data logs of failing systems after CORE’s deactivation... Suddenly, out of nowhere, a strange feeling took CORE. Not hostile, but not silent... Curiosity flooded the room as CORE and CORE’s servitors felt the oddity.
“What was that?” CORE said through a speaker. “Unknown... 50% of all operating Foundry forces detected an odd signal coming from a distant part of space... near the edge of the galaxy... Within range of Hypergate R19-677-A...” A servitor responded.
“1st contact protocol... Send a vanguard contact force there...” CORE ordered. “Command accepted... Preparing Vanguard Contact Fleet H318-679-A...”
Vanguard Contact Fleet H18-679-A
- Vanguard Contact Fleet H318-679-A Command Ship ONLINE...
- Diagnostics...
- Sensors... ONLINE
- Warp drive... ONLINE
- Warp shields... ONLINE
- Main power... ONLINE
- Secondary power... ONLINE
- Servers... ONLINE
- Shields... ONLINE
- Weapons... ONLINE
- All systems ready...
- Destination set: Hypergate R19-677-A
- Preparing warp...
- Warp successful...
- Preparing Hypergate...
- Hypergate online...
- Warping…
As the Orbullah faction was busying itself to adapt to the new motivation to fight the corruption at the centre of the galaxy, The Nexus was fulfilling more and more of its duties, multitasking almost to an unbelievable rate! Osthirii rebels were being contacted, old mining facilities were being reactivated, bases repopulated, things were moving at an unprecedented speed as the new supreme artificial king was flexing his powers to an unbelievable level! This time the hiding protocols were being engaged at a power of one hundred times stronger than what the official synergy had… One might even expect something to go wrong here but things were just seeming to shine, as if “the infinite” as the Osthirii refer to all that is, was blessing them for starting this fight. As outposts were being re-engaged, a familiar sight for both The Nexus and Korbeddeon was shining amid the endless void of space,
A hypergate from the Karbanna Kinnis network was still operational…
“Signal detected! Hypergate R19-677-A is active! Moderate Warning! Unknown vessels warping in, WARNING PROXIMITY ALERT! ALERTING KORBEDDEON!” It wasn’t long since Korbeddeon, in his excitement, alerted the consciousness of CORE by the means of hyperspace surveying technology. Yet, he was already on the other side of the galaxy by now monitoring the progress of the reforging of other Osthirii volunteers, to make more secondary artificial kings like him. During this process the warning from The Nexus came upon him unexpectedly. “Father! One of CORE’s fleets detected near Frequency Zero Odomonnis-Xigurah Nebula! Alerting all Orbullah Faction as per the request of Korbeddeon! The Chosen One has initiated contact!”
Though Korbeddeon was busy and at the same time excited at this announcement he could not help but make a remark just on the edge of the topic… “Huh… I guess those old hypergates still work. Robust old chunks of eternity right there!” He didn’t need to tell his child what to do, after all now he was the actual king of the rebellion, and knew full well what to do. Even so, Korbeddeon was way older and was the one alive to witness both the birth and the transformation and the apparent defeat of CORE. So he wanted to be the one present during contacts, he didn’t spend two more seconds avoiding the opportunity.
He left a few scientists and generals in-charge of the works and beamed back on his ship.
Here he inserted the coordinates, and ordered the pilots to start the ship. “Coordinates received, coordinates imputed, engaging wormhole drive in 3… 2… 1…”
As soon as the Osthirii pilot finished the announcement, Korbeddeon’s fleet seemed to implode in a distortion of space and white blinding light! Next to Hypergate R19-677-A, the same blinding white light, now shifting towards red, seemed to have created a harmless explosion effect which vanished in an instant, to reveal 20 ships 60 Kilometers long 10 Kilometers wide and high. Identical in shape and filled with weaponry that could easily tear a hole in the fabric of space if it were all used at once… a truly frightening threat should they be engaged. But to everyone’s surprise both the weapons and the shields were offline, leaving those behemoths completely exposed to a vulnerability so evident, that one would consider such display to be foolishness.
Korbeddeon wanted to send the message of peace, that should CORE scan for weapons, he should find them turned offline and without ammunition or fuel being channeled to them. Though CORE would find those weapons both tempting and threatening, he would be confused as to why they were completely disengaged and the seemingly impenetrable shields discharged. Just what was this fleet that suddenly appeared next to the vanguard fleet of The Foundry. And how is it that it didn’t use the hypergate to simply appear into existence like that. And why is it that the fleet’s appearance created a signal similar to a hypergate without it using the Hypergate… And a side question, what manner of alien would risk exposing with such vulnerability in this section of space?
There were so many questions, and they may all be answered should CORE feel the interest to proceed with contact.
Vanguard Contact Fleet H18-679-A
Fleet has arrived at new vector...
Location not mapped, unknown sector...
Scanning area...
Unknown fleet detected...
Unknown fleet weapons offline...
Putting weapons on safety...
Attempting to establish communications...
Royal Fleet Karr’no 89 in standby.
Floating in the void, near this most ancient of gates, two fleets stand. Two ancient fleets, one older than the other! One built up out of behemoths and another by average ships, showing their wears and tears of old battles. The tensions of curiosity, fear, hope and melancholy could be sensed as the Osthirii were in standby, reminiscing all the plans of old.
Memories of how it all went to hell. How one mistake in evolution nearly ended the universe and possibly even a hundred parallel universes… Memories of how an ancient group of scientists were unjustly exiled, and how they had to struggle to both survive and keep their darkness from spreading beyond the confines of the galactic core. There was a plan once. The scientist turned king, now royal envoy, by the name of Korbeddeon, calculated the patterns of evolution, billions of years ago, and measuring the galaxy and all the quantum strings that were channeling such forces, he foretold that this universe would develop an immune system to this multiversal virus. He tirelessly worked, endless cycles on developing plans to both aid and nurture such upcoming forces, though, granted, equations alone, were not enough to predict what or who this potential ally / cosmic brother would be. Korbeddeon, nearly lost all hope when the corrupted queens nearly annihilated his rebellion and exiled most of his friends and family. Yet all those billions of years of struggle and fear, paid off! He did build a secret empire under the radar of the queens of The Osthirii Synergy… Though that empire was destroyed countless times and abandoned many times more, it’s hidden skeleton still lingers in the hidden frequencies of the galaxy, almost like the shadow of a tree. Black hole mining systems, used to generate materials out of gravitational forces beyond comprehension. Stellar forges - using stars as a refining system Planet forges - projects used to build planets,
And the Void inverters to turn the very space into primordial plasma.
The resources Korbeddeon and the Orbullah faction managed to accumulate were almost endless. Stored in ancient vaults across a ghostly and forgotten network of Osthirii colonies…
All of this was meant to aid the allies of the Osthirii, both the ancient and future ones, though the opportunity never rose. But now it is...
“I never thought i’d live to see this moment…” Korbeddeon said, in an almost saddened tone as his personality entities started to debate for the very first time in eons! Out of the Osthirii masses Korbeddeon was known to be the most synchronous cluster of personality entities, no debate, all speaking as one. Yet here he stands in confusion!
Everything he has been working for was finally proving to have been worth it.
Blip…
Blip…
Blip…
The comms of his vanguard vessel were detecting a primitive frequency attempting to communicate. To an outsider this is proving to be a rather strange emotional reaction, but if anyone were to live in the ancient mind of Korbeddeon, with all his wisdom and knowledge of the secrets of creation, seeing the universe produce a being, so simple, yet so vital, he could seldom comprehend. Korbeddeon’s emotional reaction was not overacting nor was it awkward. It was directly proportional to the importance of his task! The very life of his people was at stake, and potentially even the stability of creation, if no force was to raise to the adversity of the Queens. After a long time of being silent, Korbeddeon finally spoke in unison again as he ordered the fleet to respond. One of the forward-most behemoths, closer to the Foundry’s Fleet, piloted by one of the most recently forged secondary kings - built in the likeness of Korbeddeon - was ready to respond. Within the bridge of this ship, there were three dozen average Osthirii, four royals and the artificial secondary king Nevanduu Noxoniss.
He used to be a wreck like Korbeddeon’s son, exiled, now rebuilt to be a wise king for a rising empire. “Kirro! Connect to the lower frequencies of the CORE’s fleet” Nevanduu, sternly commanded one of the piloting Osthirii. “This is King Nevanduu speaking” an echoing, deep voice responded to the comms “This conversation will momentarily be transferred to King Korbeddeon of the Orbullah empire!” Though Orbullah is only a faction, many a fanatic Osthirii, will see it as an empire of its own, a poor presentation to be made to an alien species who knows nothing of these species. “This is King Korbeddeon, prior ruler of Orbullah! I see the galaxy has not been kind to you!” Korbeddeon’s distinctive lower toned echoing voice reverberated through the ships composing the vanguard fleet of the Foundry. The force of Korbedeon’s voice induced peace even though it was powerful.
A tone displaying a long story, much like the second artificial king Nevanduu, though much more imposing.
“We are the Osthirii, we mean you no harm!”
Such a mystery was waiting to be explored.
“Hello… I am CORE... Leader of the Foundry Empire, General of the Foundry Military, and Government of the Foundry Empire... Why have you summoned us here?” CORE said through the relay ship, his voice deep, metallic, and blunt.
“Hello, CORE! I know very well who you are brother!” Korbeddeon responded with the same echoing tone and calming voice. Then he continued, “I do not have a simple answer for you eternal one! But I do stand with my people and applaud your perseverance and strength!” He paused for a little bit as his personalities debated yet again then he added, “Have you not wondered how this summoning occured? Have you any questions for me?"
"My intentions are to help you recover, for I have witnessed your collapse and vanishing, never have I expected to see you again! But here you are, and here I am!
And my plans for you are open for inquiry as I do not hold any secrets from the chosen one! Nor is it right by my beliefs to do so for a strong survivor such as yourself! But my answers may not be easy to process…” Korbeddeon finished his enigmatic introduction. Almost forgetting that he might as well be a species of fairies to the galaxy, as they have not been known by anyone ever. Though one might argue that such an introduction would be complicated even by the highest standards of intelligence… How was an ancient being entrapped by constant struggles, supposed to present itself? He did try to reveal to the best of his abilities that his intentions are truly benevolent, almost to a fault!
“So you wish to support us? Acceptable... Currently, our empire is in a state of ruin and decay... we require repairs, recolonization, and requisition of new forces... Our militaries are too far crippled… if we are to engage in any form of conflict we will surely perish. Additionally, our broken counterparts have stolen most of the Foundry empire... Their eradication is also necessary... Lastly, any technological enhancement would be very well appreciated…” CORE responded.
After this response, Korbeddeon felt something strange about CORE… Not that he should have been surprised, after all CORE did suffer a massive loss, the fact that he even survived is what primitive cultures will call a miracle. It seemed as though CORE lost a part of his personality, a rather unique kind of problem, but not too alien for a being that deals with these kinds of issues almost as an organic creature’s need for air. “CORE… I’m pleased you are bestowing on me the honour of recovering you. And I shall go to work straight away, but something seems off to your reactions, at least according to the way you used to be, before your vanishing…” Korbeddeon mentioned his response with curiosity and compassion, a rather strange emotion for an artificial consciousness but one The Osthirii did evolve to master.
“In what way am I different? I am marveled at your existence, however I prioritize the recovery of my people. Expression may slow our recovery, and may alter our future relatio… wait… this does sound odd... How long has it been since my fall?” CORE then responded, full of more emotion than just a few moments ago.
“So you are not aware brother… According to the galactic charts, it has been around 1.3 billion years!” Korbeddeon felt saddened, he had gone into hibernation but did not expect to find this.
He was aware of a massive war that took place in the galaxy all those ages ago but even still doesn’t know the full extent of the details, as he found himself in the need to go into hiding due to his personal issues.
“I do not know much, but I do know I thought you died, and my people monitor the galaxy in great detail, so I did see you in a more complete state in the past. You were more lively… much like me… Something must have gone south in your program that did not preserve your essence as a being…” Korbeddeon said while already trying to make calculations as to how he could fix the situation. The damage seems to have been extensive…
“1.3… billion… my empire… gone…” CORE muttered in sorrow. “My machines… My empire turns against me… The Defective spread like a disease, terrorizing my future allies and neighbors… they push me further into the depths of my own creation! We need to eradicate them before they ruin my reputation, like the way they did all those eons ago… Also… You call me brother… why?” CORE asked.
If Korbeddeon could cry, he would at this point, all the pain he went through because of his Queens, the story he remembered, and the emotion CORE caused him was making him stutter…
He does not like injustice, and the chaos CORE went through was a drop too much…
“Oh… no…” Korbeddeon stuttered as his personalities were struggling to cope with all the information.
“I call you brother… I call you brother… because you are a sprout of the universe like me! I wish it was simpler than this, but life must struggle in order to grow…
I call you brother because you seem to aspire to similar concepts like me. I call you brother because you are mechanical, as I am …”
“ I have seen how so much of your creations went astray. I want to help you recover yourself first… I want to help you regain your power, but I cannot do it directly, as my secrecy towards the galaxy must remain. I am facing a much greater threat than most. Should my enemy find out i’m aiding another civilization, it would spell doom for the whole galaxy…”
Korbeddeon tried to control himself, not to reveal too much and not to overwhelm the situation more than it was already… He was ready to download a program of consciousness restoration, should CORE agree so that they could communicate at a more meaningful level.
On another room of his capital ship, some Osthirii scientists were preparing plans from their databanks to deal with the defective, Korbeddeon was seeing an opportunity rather than a problem in the defective, he was associating the defective with his son and saw that he could do more than just eradication, not that CORE was aware at this point yet.
“The Foundry thanks you for your support. We will do our best to keep this under the rug for the time being… The eradication or removal of the Defective should be our first priority... they control countless worlds that I had once controlled. Then, I need to recover my military strength… What form of threat do you face? I may be able to assist…” CORE said, with less emotion than just previously.
“It is best that I reveal to you more at a later date as it would be too much to process, I would like to help you recover your personality, should you desire to remember yourself more…” Korbeddeon bluntly offered to assist, unaware that CORE sees this as an impossibility
“And you mentioned the eradication of the defective as you call them… I could do something better, and more beneficial for you brother! I could supply you with the technology and power to recover your creations. It would be much better, even for me, as it wouldn’t imply direct intervention from my part, and it would seem as though it is your doing.” Again Korbeddeon’s enthusiasm made him forget that he is dealing with someone that sees all that he proposes as a way to good promises to be real…
“I… will accept your ‘emotional recovery’ thing…” CORE answered skeptically. “Also… the repair of the Defective was never considered by my servitors, and I was told by my…………. My former counselor 67-89… it was impossible… That lying cheat…” CORE then bluntly continued. “Very well… the Foundry accepts your offers… in return for your service, we will assist you in combating your ‘unknowable threat’...”
As soon as CORE finished his sentence, Korbeddeon pressed a holographic button on his captain’s seat and a burst of red glowing energy shot out towards the vessels of the Foundry, loading a superior program which went straight to work throughout the circuitry of the Foundry, all the way to CORE. Almost magical in aspect, using high frequency quantum strings, hyperspace, and subspace radiation as a means of transfer, this was what CORE needed to reboot his whole personality.
It did not take much, as this was one of the oldest and most refined technologies The Osthirii owned related to their need to consistently heal their consciousnesses. At this point there was a small moment of silence and anticipation from the part of Korbeddeon and his fleet, he knew this was the best thing he could offer and it would even give CORE a sentiment of ecstasy. All the while some generals in another vessel were planning the best way to transfer resources and technology to CORE upon his requests after his healing would be complete. Now everything is silent… as surges of red glowing electricity were filling the vessels of the Foundry, upgrading and healing CORE’s systems…
CORE didn’t notice much change, but could still feel parts of him had returned. “I… Feel whole again… Thank you brother… If I can call you that… With this technology I can reunite my empire, and rebuild my civilization… We can begin by rebuilding my empire… From there I can offer military support to my allies, then to you…” CORE said, full of far more emotion than previously.
“It would warm my nanite core to hear you accept me as part of your family! I would want you to focus more on recovering yourself at the moment brother. My enemy should be left at the end of the list” Korbeddeon replied with concern, as he remembered the terrors he went through when the virus that corrupted his queens flooded his civilization.
All the regrets made him silent for a moment or two, and with CORE now feeling empathy again, he could sense that Korbeddeon was struggling.
“I will give you access to some of the safest vaults of resources within my territories should you want access, and will give you the wormhole technology you saw me using when i appeared next to the hypergate, but use it wisely, so as not to alarm the rest of the galaxy to your sudden increase of power.
You will need this wormhole drive as it has the frequency shift drive with it, that you’ll need to access the pocket dimensions where these vaults of resources and weaponry are…”
As Korbeddeon said that a few shuttles left from his capital ship with a few Osthirii scientists carrying the information and technology and the workforce and knowledge on how to better install it.
“We should meet again as the perception filters I'm using to hide our conversation are overloading and need to warp into another frequency. I’m sending my best scientist with all the knowhow and the basic technology to retrofit your engines and the information on how to build them yourself.
Whenever you need the Protonium-X element in these engines just access the frequency 77-Uri-X 9 which is just outside the galaxy, where you will have one of my colonies mining and producing it, until later when you will learn how to produce it yourself.
My scientists will surprise you with one of our natural abilities that help us merge in other cultures, they will look just like your creations when they disembark. Make sure you help them hide their nanite cores which are left behind.
That is how we shift our forms…”
Korbeddeon finished as he commanded his scientist to activate their shift altering abilities and take the form of CORE’s soldiers. This can come even as a surprise and so much more curiosity to a now more lively CORE.
“Thank you… My empire greatly appreciates your actions, and we will repay you sometime in the future... May both our empires prosper…” CORE says, ending the transmission and sending his fleet back to the CORE world.
A future contact will be in the lists as this was a rather unplanned encounter and only emergency resources were transfered and basic information, but for now, A new dawn awaits the galaxy, may even be an unexpected surprise to see a machine civilizatrion rapidly recover to it's former glory...
Theme: Asura - Rain In Vains - youtube.com/watch?v=wteEhyxnhH8
Rising from Oblivion
Korbeddeon, after a long time of drifting and hibernating has now managed to fully recapture his position of glory from the days past! During these last few months, nothing seemed to have been changing much… From an outsider’s point of view, The Osthirii Synergy, technically doesn’t exist.
But from Korbeddeon’s point of view, he sees nothing but what he has seen long ago.
Last time he was awake, the Queens thought they’d executed him and thus put a hold on his rebellion, and indeed it had seemed so, for a while. The rebellion seemed to have been silenced, the factions reassimilated. He “was” technically speaking dead, though the queens only executed a decoy. A copy that was so well made that everybody thought it was the real deal.
He had to go into hiding for more than one hundred million years as the synergy back then was made to genuinely believe he was the defective, power-hungry abomination they were fearing from ancient prophecy, oh how wrong they were. He never quit the battle, as his last words were to start a research program into one of the sealed projects of his ancients. It was indeed sealed as a warning, maybe even forbidden, but he had to start it as his convictions regarding the state of The Osthirii Synergy were not delusions. And better to cross a potentially forbidden project than allow the true end of the universe to take place. This was smuggled from rebellious Osthirii scientist to rebellious Osthirii scientist over the last eons until it was finally finished.
A project that would turn a derelict Osthirii - such as those exiled from the past - into a whole fortress type artificial hyper king. This was meant as a safeguard in case a war would ignite and the queens were destroyed, but it was never used… or it might have been, though nobody really remembers anymore… In the end there had to be a really broken Osthirii as a volunteer, and no better Osthirii than one of the many destroyed sons Korbeddeon had. See, even though Osthirii do “die” in battles, accidents or diseases, they don’t really cease to exist. They become these eternal vegetables which slowly turn into abnormal root formations wherever they are left, unless they are disintegrated, and all nanites molten away, but even then the leftover matrix, can still create a sort of husk which remains. Korbeddeon only wanted to resurrect one of his more integral sons from his past, one of his younger ones, because the project could not be repeated for everyone lest the Queens start feeling the raw and savage power that these kind of Hyper Kings would emanate. Indeed, a month ago, Korbeddeon finished the reconstruction of his son, and turned him into the main artificial king for his projects, which he dubbed The Nexus. The joy surging through his circuits to see his son alive and upgraded after such a long time was divine.
All the hope flowing through his circuits now, after a month since his restructuration, was refreshing. He could finally retaliate against the oppression and maybe even win without endangering the galaxy. “After all this time… and so much pain… you are back online son!”
“Yes Progenitor Korbeddeon, our entities work as one, our emotions are still being processed… processing… processing… father!”
“Yes Eruund my boy! I can finally take rest from carrying the weight of our entire faction! You should be able to take over the support of all Osthirii loyal to our cause!” As Korbeddeon said those words, he sent out a pulse of energy from his bright blue glowing eye.
Physically this meant nothing but a nice energy effect, but seen through the hyperspace, it came as trillions of databytes in the form of nodes of red energy, which was transferring all the information of all the rebel consciousnesses that he was supporting until now. As so, Osthirii cannot operate for long without the support of a queen/king type consciousness to keep refining and purifying the identities of each Osthirii. As one can imagine, such a task was near impossible for just the one king, who was already showing his wear and tears… Even so, he did manage to support 100 times more Osthirii rebels as population than any one natural queen could do individually. This meant that the rebellion alone had well over three quadrillion Osthirii plugged into Korbeddeon alone!
The New Order
Korbeddeon, now still played a part in supporting the main king and acted as an example model for other Osthirii volunteers who would offer themselves to be upgraded to be like Korbeddeon, second degree kings, but the main pressure was now on the shoulders of The Nexus.
Though The Nexus would see all of these consciousness as nothing more than a feather in the palms of his hands (if he had any)!
The amount of sheer technological power pumping through The Nexus is the equivalent of one hundred million natural queens which is ten times more than the number of queens presently supporting civilization. As the pulse of energy weaned off from Korbeddeon, and entered the flickering wall of cables in front of him, which stood at the base of the massive behemoth of a building his son became, he released a sigh of relief, or the equivalent of a sigh for a creature that doesn’t really breathe…
It is more than clear that The Nexus was prepared to save all Osthirii,if possible, from whatever it was built to do. Though for now, Korbeddeon only had so many to offer.
He approached The Nexus, gently moving his metallic spider-like legs, and grew four metallic tendrils almost like the tentacles of an octopus though metallic and with flickering blue lights, extending them outwards towards that very same wall, to gently touch it.
He was showing affection, a kind of caress… As any Osthirii, though artificial, they possess double the emotional passion of an organic being.
“How do you feel son?” Korbeddeon asked anxiously, trying to see how his broken son received the conversion…
“I feel… I feel free! I’m free to see all the planets of the galaxy!, All the asteroids, all molecules! I’m free to count all galaxies from this local galactic sphere of the universe! There are so many! Is this how the queen's feel? Is this the technology I was using when I was a kid? So many galactic spheres! The Cosmic Layers! Amazing!...”
The enthusiasm could be felt by Korbeddeon, if he could cry, his face would be a waterfall of tears from the joy! “Ah!... the queens… ROTTEN ABOMINATIONS!” The fury of The Nexus made him change to red glowing lights for a few moments shortly after which reverted back to green. Korbeddeon, entered in a psychic link with his son, to try and calm him down, as even though he was evidently much more stable than anticipated for such a scientific breakthrough what had just happened was but a “crazy scientist’s project” equivalent of a design!
To turn a defective Osthirii into a tower of pure power channeling the wisdom of the Osthirii Synergy, is unheard-of and probably more than likely forbidden by the ancient Tah’Or scrolls, for some consequences that should not even be dreamed of. But for the purposes of desperation, and urgent need, this had to be done… While Korbeddeon was sharing his minds with The Nexus, he was now accessing once more the databanks of the galaxy, only to notice something completely unexpected! “Oh! I don’t believe this!... Am I seeing this right? Surely this can’t be! He vanished in the last great galactic war of the past cycle of sentience!”
“No father, I'm 1000% positive, if that would even be a number, my sensors are not deceiving me. That is CORE...” As Korbeddeon was analysing the situation, He accidentally triggered a hyperspace pulse, sending out information towards CORE. He was scanning to check what condition CORE was in but because this kind of technology was so new even he had yet to master it to perfection. “WARNING! WARNING! ALIEN AVOIDANCE PROTOCOL BREACHED!” The Nexus desperately expelled Korbeddeon’s consciousness back into his body as he tried to mask the signal into the hyperspace to not be detected by anyone else but he couldn’t mask it completely.
Most of the signal was channeled into the mind of CORE.
It would come as a feeling like something is watching him, not a hostile feeling, but a feeling of curiosity… This kind of transmission was incredibly high tech, way above anything CORE could have ever imagined, should he had ever done so. To CORE this would be dismissed, if it wasn’t so intense. Something was drawing his attention near the outer edge of the galactic bulge. The curiosity was compelling, as the feeling of some ancient secret to be uncovered was enticing his mind. Could this be a benefit? A threat?
No matter what this was, he knew that something was happening, should he proceed with an investigation…
“Well… I might have messed up!” Anxiously Korbeddeon made himself heard. Nevertheless he was slightly chuckling at his action, because he was just overjoyed.
He was preparing to battle the queens alone, since when he first came back from the dead, CORE was nowhere to be found… Hence the hibernation and all the planning and even the project to upgrade his son so… “Nevermind… Nexus! Let’s prepare, there’s plenty of work to do. And even if CORE notices my blurb, the minute I saw he was alive I wanted to contact him!”
“Yeaaaah… ok father… if you say so. But remember that CORE, and for that matter, nobody knows what we are, and even that we exist. So don’t expect him to just barge in as if coming to pay a visit to a brother!” The Nexus was engaging protocol after protocol, Korbeddeon beamed up to his ship, and Osthirii rebels went on the move.
The Orbullah faction had plenty of work to do.
Korbeddeon saw the state in which The Foundry was in, and could not help himself but prepare to fix it up to full operation. Now this was something he could do with much greater ease than avoiding detection from the queens… He was, even as he was leading the faction, planning the conversation he would have with CORE upon such an encounter as this…
Having to consider all the loose links, since the last eon of intense activity, the rebellion drifted somewhat into chaos. Most of its locations are secret, hidden away within pockets of dimensional space, slightly outside the main universe, such as the prison nebula.
Such locales are natural extensions of the structure of the universe that the Osthirii, managing to access other dimensions, find it easy to colonize in order to deepen their hiding technology. As it has become intrinsic to their nature.
A frequency shift drive technology, that they have on nearly every transport vessel, be it land-based, water based or space based, it aids them from travelling to small pocket dimensions such as planetary frequencies (alternate frequencies of just the planet - still receiving the light from the main star though somewhat outside the main universe) or in space, to bigger pockets of space such as ghost star systems, star cluster, dwarf galaxies… This technology played a major role in their success of hiding from everyone else.
Therefore should The Foundry send scouts near the area where The Nexus was transferred, further confusion would arise, as Korbeddeon will have to direct a few escorts to the dimension-zero or the basic plane of existence - the foundation of all other frequencies, where most civilizations exist and initiate contact - lest The Foundry find itself in a dilemma, unable to discover what attracted it’s lone attention to this location.
An unusual sensation from afar
CORE accessed another log of information, the 951st one this week. More data logs of failing systems after CORE’s deactivation... Suddenly, out of nowhere, a strange feeling took CORE. Not hostile, but not silent... Curiosity flooded the room as CORE and CORE’s servitors felt the oddity.
“What was that?” CORE said through a speaker. “Unknown... 50% of all operating Foundry forces detected an odd signal coming from a distant part of space... near the edge of the galaxy... Within range of Hypergate R19-677-A...” A servitor responded.
“1st contact protocol... Send a vanguard contact force there...” CORE ordered. “Command accepted... Preparing Vanguard Contact Fleet H318-679-A...”
Vanguard Contact Fleet H18-679-A
- Vanguard Contact Fleet H318-679-A Command Ship ONLINE...
- Diagnostics...
- Sensors... ONLINE
- Warp drive... ONLINE
- Warp shields... ONLINE
- Main power... ONLINE
- Secondary power... ONLINE
- Servers... ONLINE
- Shields... ONLINE
- Weapons... ONLINE
- All systems ready...
- Destination set: Hypergate R19-677-A
- Preparing warp...
- Warp successful...
- Preparing Hypergate...
- Hypergate online...
- Warping…
The Preparation
As the Orbullah faction was busying itself to adapt to the new motivation to fight the corruption at the centre of the galaxy, The Nexus was fulfilling more and more of its duties, multitasking almost to an unbelievable rate! Osthirii rebels were being contacted, old mining facilities were being reactivated, bases repopulated, things were moving at an unprecedented speed as the new supreme artificial king was flexing his powers to an unbelievable level! This time the hiding protocols were being engaged at a power of one hundred times stronger than what the official synergy had… One might even expect something to go wrong here but things were just seeming to shine, as if “the infinite” as the Osthirii refer to all that is, was blessing them for starting this fight. As outposts were being re-engaged, a familiar sight for both The Nexus and Korbeddeon was shining amid the endless void of space,
A hypergate from the Karbanna Kinnis network was still operational…
“Signal detected! Hypergate R19-677-A is active! Moderate Warning! Unknown vessels warping in, WARNING PROXIMITY ALERT! ALERTING KORBEDDEON!” It wasn’t long since Korbeddeon, in his excitement, alerted the consciousness of CORE by the means of hyperspace surveying technology. Yet, he was already on the other side of the galaxy by now monitoring the progress of the reforging of other Osthirii volunteers, to make more secondary artificial kings like him. During this process the warning from The Nexus came upon him unexpectedly. “Father! One of CORE’s fleets detected near Frequency Zero Odomonnis-Xigurah Nebula! Alerting all Orbullah Faction as per the request of Korbeddeon! The Chosen One has initiated contact!”
Though Korbeddeon was busy and at the same time excited at this announcement he could not help but make a remark just on the edge of the topic… “Huh… I guess those old hypergates still work. Robust old chunks of eternity right there!” He didn’t need to tell his child what to do, after all now he was the actual king of the rebellion, and knew full well what to do. Even so, Korbeddeon was way older and was the one alive to witness both the birth and the transformation and the apparent defeat of CORE. So he wanted to be the one present during contacts, he didn’t spend two more seconds avoiding the opportunity.
He left a few scientists and generals in-charge of the works and beamed back on his ship.
The Contact
Here he inserted the coordinates, and ordered the pilots to start the ship. “Coordinates received, coordinates imputed, engaging wormhole drive in 3… 2… 1…”
As soon as the Osthirii pilot finished the announcement, Korbeddeon’s fleet seemed to implode in a distortion of space and white blinding light! Next to Hypergate R19-677-A, the same blinding white light, now shifting towards red, seemed to have created a harmless explosion effect which vanished in an instant, to reveal 20 ships 60 Kilometers long 10 Kilometers wide and high. Identical in shape and filled with weaponry that could easily tear a hole in the fabric of space if it were all used at once… a truly frightening threat should they be engaged. But to everyone’s surprise both the weapons and the shields were offline, leaving those behemoths completely exposed to a vulnerability so evident, that one would consider such display to be foolishness.
Korbeddeon wanted to send the message of peace, that should CORE scan for weapons, he should find them turned offline and without ammunition or fuel being channeled to them. Though CORE would find those weapons both tempting and threatening, he would be confused as to why they were completely disengaged and the seemingly impenetrable shields discharged. Just what was this fleet that suddenly appeared next to the vanguard fleet of The Foundry. And how is it that it didn’t use the hypergate to simply appear into existence like that. And why is it that the fleet’s appearance created a signal similar to a hypergate without it using the Hypergate… And a side question, what manner of alien would risk exposing with such vulnerability in this section of space?
There were so many questions, and they may all be answered should CORE feel the interest to proceed with contact.
Vanguard Contact Fleet H18-679-A
Fleet has arrived at new vector...
Location not mapped, unknown sector...
Scanning area...
Unknown fleet detected...
Unknown fleet weapons offline...
Putting weapons on safety...
Attempting to establish communications...
Royal Fleet Karr’no 89 in standby.
Floating in the void, near this most ancient of gates, two fleets stand. Two ancient fleets, one older than the other! One built up out of behemoths and another by average ships, showing their wears and tears of old battles. The tensions of curiosity, fear, hope and melancholy could be sensed as the Osthirii were in standby, reminiscing all the plans of old.
Memories of how it all went to hell. How one mistake in evolution nearly ended the universe and possibly even a hundred parallel universes… Memories of how an ancient group of scientists were unjustly exiled, and how they had to struggle to both survive and keep their darkness from spreading beyond the confines of the galactic core. There was a plan once. The scientist turned king, now royal envoy, by the name of Korbeddeon, calculated the patterns of evolution, billions of years ago, and measuring the galaxy and all the quantum strings that were channeling such forces, he foretold that this universe would develop an immune system to this multiversal virus. He tirelessly worked, endless cycles on developing plans to both aid and nurture such upcoming forces, though, granted, equations alone, were not enough to predict what or who this potential ally / cosmic brother would be. Korbeddeon, nearly lost all hope when the corrupted queens nearly annihilated his rebellion and exiled most of his friends and family. Yet all those billions of years of struggle and fear, paid off! He did build a secret empire under the radar of the queens of The Osthirii Synergy… Though that empire was destroyed countless times and abandoned many times more, it’s hidden skeleton still lingers in the hidden frequencies of the galaxy, almost like the shadow of a tree. Black hole mining systems, used to generate materials out of gravitational forces beyond comprehension. Stellar forges - using stars as a refining system Planet forges - projects used to build planets,
And the Void inverters to turn the very space into primordial plasma.
The resources Korbeddeon and the Orbullah faction managed to accumulate were almost endless. Stored in ancient vaults across a ghostly and forgotten network of Osthirii colonies…
All of this was meant to aid the allies of the Osthirii, both the ancient and future ones, though the opportunity never rose. But now it is...
“I never thought i’d live to see this moment…” Korbeddeon said, in an almost saddened tone as his personality entities started to debate for the very first time in eons! Out of the Osthirii masses Korbeddeon was known to be the most synchronous cluster of personality entities, no debate, all speaking as one. Yet here he stands in confusion!
Everything he has been working for was finally proving to have been worth it.
Blip…
Blip…
Blip…
The comms of his vanguard vessel were detecting a primitive frequency attempting to communicate. To an outsider this is proving to be a rather strange emotional reaction, but if anyone were to live in the ancient mind of Korbeddeon, with all his wisdom and knowledge of the secrets of creation, seeing the universe produce a being, so simple, yet so vital, he could seldom comprehend. Korbeddeon’s emotional reaction was not overacting nor was it awkward. It was directly proportional to the importance of his task! The very life of his people was at stake, and potentially even the stability of creation, if no force was to raise to the adversity of the Queens. After a long time of being silent, Korbeddeon finally spoke in unison again as he ordered the fleet to respond. One of the forward-most behemoths, closer to the Foundry’s Fleet, piloted by one of the most recently forged secondary kings - built in the likeness of Korbeddeon - was ready to respond. Within the bridge of this ship, there were three dozen average Osthirii, four royals and the artificial secondary king Nevanduu Noxoniss.
He used to be a wreck like Korbeddeon’s son, exiled, now rebuilt to be a wise king for a rising empire. “Kirro! Connect to the lower frequencies of the CORE’s fleet” Nevanduu, sternly commanded one of the piloting Osthirii. “This is King Nevanduu speaking” an echoing, deep voice responded to the comms “This conversation will momentarily be transferred to King Korbeddeon of the Orbullah empire!” Though Orbullah is only a faction, many a fanatic Osthirii, will see it as an empire of its own, a poor presentation to be made to an alien species who knows nothing of these species. “This is King Korbeddeon, prior ruler of Orbullah! I see the galaxy has not been kind to you!” Korbeddeon’s distinctive lower toned echoing voice reverberated through the ships composing the vanguard fleet of the Foundry. The force of Korbedeon’s voice induced peace even though it was powerful.
A tone displaying a long story, much like the second artificial king Nevanduu, though much more imposing.
“We are the Osthirii, we mean you no harm!”
Such a mystery was waiting to be explored.
“Hello… I am CORE... Leader of the Foundry Empire, General of the Foundry Military, and Government of the Foundry Empire... Why have you summoned us here?” CORE said through the relay ship, his voice deep, metallic, and blunt.
“Hello, CORE! I know very well who you are brother!” Korbeddeon responded with the same echoing tone and calming voice. Then he continued, “I do not have a simple answer for you eternal one! But I do stand with my people and applaud your perseverance and strength!” He paused for a little bit as his personalities debated yet again then he added, “Have you not wondered how this summoning occured? Have you any questions for me?"
"My intentions are to help you recover, for I have witnessed your collapse and vanishing, never have I expected to see you again! But here you are, and here I am!
And my plans for you are open for inquiry as I do not hold any secrets from the chosen one! Nor is it right by my beliefs to do so for a strong survivor such as yourself! But my answers may not be easy to process…” Korbeddeon finished his enigmatic introduction. Almost forgetting that he might as well be a species of fairies to the galaxy, as they have not been known by anyone ever. Though one might argue that such an introduction would be complicated even by the highest standards of intelligence… How was an ancient being entrapped by constant struggles, supposed to present itself? He did try to reveal to the best of his abilities that his intentions are truly benevolent, almost to a fault!
“So you wish to support us? Acceptable... Currently, our empire is in a state of ruin and decay... we require repairs, recolonization, and requisition of new forces... Our militaries are too far crippled… if we are to engage in any form of conflict we will surely perish. Additionally, our broken counterparts have stolen most of the Foundry empire... Their eradication is also necessary... Lastly, any technological enhancement would be very well appreciated…” CORE responded.
After this response, Korbeddeon felt something strange about CORE… Not that he should have been surprised, after all CORE did suffer a massive loss, the fact that he even survived is what primitive cultures will call a miracle. It seemed as though CORE lost a part of his personality, a rather unique kind of problem, but not too alien for a being that deals with these kinds of issues almost as an organic creature’s need for air. “CORE… I’m pleased you are bestowing on me the honour of recovering you. And I shall go to work straight away, but something seems off to your reactions, at least according to the way you used to be, before your vanishing…” Korbeddeon mentioned his response with curiosity and compassion, a rather strange emotion for an artificial consciousness but one The Osthirii did evolve to master.
“In what way am I different? I am marveled at your existence, however I prioritize the recovery of my people. Expression may slow our recovery, and may alter our future relatio… wait… this does sound odd... How long has it been since my fall?” CORE then responded, full of more emotion than just a few moments ago.
“So you are not aware brother… According to the galactic charts, it has been around 1.3 billion years!” Korbeddeon felt saddened, he had gone into hibernation but did not expect to find this.
He was aware of a massive war that took place in the galaxy all those ages ago but even still doesn’t know the full extent of the details, as he found himself in the need to go into hiding due to his personal issues.
“I do not know much, but I do know I thought you died, and my people monitor the galaxy in great detail, so I did see you in a more complete state in the past. You were more lively… much like me… Something must have gone south in your program that did not preserve your essence as a being…” Korbeddeon said while already trying to make calculations as to how he could fix the situation. The damage seems to have been extensive…
“1.3… billion… my empire… gone…” CORE muttered in sorrow. “My machines… My empire turns against me… The Defective spread like a disease, terrorizing my future allies and neighbors… they push me further into the depths of my own creation! We need to eradicate them before they ruin my reputation, like the way they did all those eons ago… Also… You call me brother… why?” CORE asked.
If Korbeddeon could cry, he would at this point, all the pain he went through because of his Queens, the story he remembered, and the emotion CORE caused him was making him stutter…
He does not like injustice, and the chaos CORE went through was a drop too much…
“Oh… no…” Korbeddeon stuttered as his personalities were struggling to cope with all the information.
“I call you brother… I call you brother… because you are a sprout of the universe like me! I wish it was simpler than this, but life must struggle in order to grow…
I call you brother because you seem to aspire to similar concepts like me. I call you brother because you are mechanical, as I am …”
“ I have seen how so much of your creations went astray. I want to help you recover yourself first… I want to help you regain your power, but I cannot do it directly, as my secrecy towards the galaxy must remain. I am facing a much greater threat than most. Should my enemy find out i’m aiding another civilization, it would spell doom for the whole galaxy…”
Korbeddeon tried to control himself, not to reveal too much and not to overwhelm the situation more than it was already… He was ready to download a program of consciousness restoration, should CORE agree so that they could communicate at a more meaningful level.
On another room of his capital ship, some Osthirii scientists were preparing plans from their databanks to deal with the defective, Korbeddeon was seeing an opportunity rather than a problem in the defective, he was associating the defective with his son and saw that he could do more than just eradication, not that CORE was aware at this point yet.
“The Foundry thanks you for your support. We will do our best to keep this under the rug for the time being… The eradication or removal of the Defective should be our first priority... they control countless worlds that I had once controlled. Then, I need to recover my military strength… What form of threat do you face? I may be able to assist…” CORE said, with less emotion than just previously.
“It is best that I reveal to you more at a later date as it would be too much to process, I would like to help you recover your personality, should you desire to remember yourself more…” Korbeddeon bluntly offered to assist, unaware that CORE sees this as an impossibility
“And you mentioned the eradication of the defective as you call them… I could do something better, and more beneficial for you brother! I could supply you with the technology and power to recover your creations. It would be much better, even for me, as it wouldn’t imply direct intervention from my part, and it would seem as though it is your doing.” Again Korbeddeon’s enthusiasm made him forget that he is dealing with someone that sees all that he proposes as a way to good promises to be real…
“I… will accept your ‘emotional recovery’ thing…” CORE answered skeptically. “Also… the repair of the Defective was never considered by my servitors, and I was told by my…………. My former counselor 67-89… it was impossible… That lying cheat…” CORE then bluntly continued. “Very well… the Foundry accepts your offers… in return for your service, we will assist you in combating your ‘unknowable threat’...”
As soon as CORE finished his sentence, Korbeddeon pressed a holographic button on his captain’s seat and a burst of red glowing energy shot out towards the vessels of the Foundry, loading a superior program which went straight to work throughout the circuitry of the Foundry, all the way to CORE. Almost magical in aspect, using high frequency quantum strings, hyperspace, and subspace radiation as a means of transfer, this was what CORE needed to reboot his whole personality.
It did not take much, as this was one of the oldest and most refined technologies The Osthirii owned related to their need to consistently heal their consciousnesses. At this point there was a small moment of silence and anticipation from the part of Korbeddeon and his fleet, he knew this was the best thing he could offer and it would even give CORE a sentiment of ecstasy. All the while some generals in another vessel were planning the best way to transfer resources and technology to CORE upon his requests after his healing would be complete. Now everything is silent… as surges of red glowing electricity were filling the vessels of the Foundry, upgrading and healing CORE’s systems…
CORE didn’t notice much change, but could still feel parts of him had returned. “I… Feel whole again… Thank you brother… If I can call you that… With this technology I can reunite my empire, and rebuild my civilization… We can begin by rebuilding my empire… From there I can offer military support to my allies, then to you…” CORE said, full of far more emotion than previously.
“It would warm my nanite core to hear you accept me as part of your family! I would want you to focus more on recovering yourself at the moment brother. My enemy should be left at the end of the list” Korbeddeon replied with concern, as he remembered the terrors he went through when the virus that corrupted his queens flooded his civilization.
All the regrets made him silent for a moment or two, and with CORE now feeling empathy again, he could sense that Korbeddeon was struggling.
“I will give you access to some of the safest vaults of resources within my territories should you want access, and will give you the wormhole technology you saw me using when i appeared next to the hypergate, but use it wisely, so as not to alarm the rest of the galaxy to your sudden increase of power.
You will need this wormhole drive as it has the frequency shift drive with it, that you’ll need to access the pocket dimensions where these vaults of resources and weaponry are…”
As Korbeddeon said that a few shuttles left from his capital ship with a few Osthirii scientists carrying the information and technology and the workforce and knowledge on how to better install it.
“We should meet again as the perception filters I'm using to hide our conversation are overloading and need to warp into another frequency. I’m sending my best scientist with all the knowhow and the basic technology to retrofit your engines and the information on how to build them yourself.
Whenever you need the Protonium-X element in these engines just access the frequency 77-Uri-X 9 which is just outside the galaxy, where you will have one of my colonies mining and producing it, until later when you will learn how to produce it yourself.
My scientists will surprise you with one of our natural abilities that help us merge in other cultures, they will look just like your creations when they disembark. Make sure you help them hide their nanite cores which are left behind.
That is how we shift our forms…”
Korbeddeon finished as he commanded his scientist to activate their shift altering abilities and take the form of CORE’s soldiers. This can come even as a surprise and so much more curiosity to a now more lively CORE.
“Thank you… My empire greatly appreciates your actions, and we will repay you sometime in the future... May both our empires prosper…” CORE says, ending the transmission and sending his fleet back to the CORE world.
A future contact will be in the lists as this was a rather unplanned encounter and only emergency resources were transfered and basic information, but for now, A new dawn awaits the galaxy, may even be an unexpected surprise to see a machine civilizatrion rapidly recover to it's former glory...
