HAT WEARING AUNTIE

How's Operation Iron Piglet going?

>wrings hands anxiously

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS

Pretty well. We're over 72 hours into it and no major setbacks.

We've got more resistance than projected on some worlds, lighter on others, and some systems had absolutely no defenders.

The Treana'ad War Hordes are apparently giving the Atrekna fits.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

PUBVIAN DOMINION

Well, to be honest, they gave everyone fits till you ran into the Universe's favorite primate.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

>Hat Wearing Auntie snickers

TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS

Same could be said for everyone else.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TELKAN FORGE WORLDS

The Telkan Marines and the new Telkan Space Navy seems to be doing pretty good.

I know that 2% casualties in a planetary orbital assault is great, but we still feel it.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS

Kid, tell us if you stop feeling it.

That's when we'll start really worrying about you.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

HAT WEARING AUNTIE

How are you doing, Pubvia?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

PUBVIAN DOMINION

Good. That year of retraining really helped.

About half of my military members returned to Pubvia, however. Armed Services allowed it since a lot of them are trying to deal with the fact we got genocided and are back.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

RIGELLIAN SAURIAN COMPACT

Yeah, that would mess with you.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

HAT WEARING AUNTIE

Military operations of this size always worry me. I know there's been larger deployments, but this is a big one with a lot of moving parts.

Just the greenie in my, I guess.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TELKAN FORGE WORLDS

I still can't believe there is nearly 20,000 planets on the assault list, not to mention active defensive combat in at least 8,000 systems.

Still, we're pushing them back.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

AKLTAK SOARING SPACE

--great, they're messing with my header again

Anyway, I have to say, as one of the people who were saved, more than a few people feel hope rather than terror when the whole stellar system roars out "HEAVY METAL INCOMING!" or "HEAVY METAL IS HERE!"

It's come to mean liberation and hope, rather than the terror it invoked just two years ago during the Big C3.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

RIGELLIAN SAURIAN COMPACT

They really did change us, didn't they?

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

HAT WEARING AUNTIE

I like to think it was for the best.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TUKNARN PUBLIC OPINION GESTALT CHANNEL

Change can be good. We believe that the changes to society will be both good and ill and that it is up to us to make the changes good.

We of the Tukna'rn people look toward this new future with pleasant feelings.

It is with restrained joy that we accept the changes to our universe and our people, as well as our relations with other xenospecies.

We of the Tukna'rn people hope that you are able to do the same.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS

Well said, kid.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

LANAKTALLAN GREAT GESTALT CHANNEL OF GREAT TOPICS AND GREAT DISCUSSION BECAUSE WE'RE GREAT

>sigh

I'm getting used to that, I guess.

Anyway, I have to say, there are those that were formerly with the Unified Military Council that just pretend that they never said anything when their former subordinates remind them that they said "There's no way the Confederacy can match us in military power!"

The worst ones are a section of Unified Military Council Military Intelligence - Threat Analysis division.

They've taken to hacking former Unified Military Council member's social media to mock them.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TREANA'AD HIVE WORLDS

Yeah, I can understand that.

The best part is, and this will make your guys faint, every world in our space is still heavily guarded in case of counter-attack to stop our counter-attack.

Even some of the major hyperspace lanes and upper jumpspace bands are heavily patrolled and guarded right now.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TNVARU GRIPPING HANDS

Ah, the magic of multiband transponder beacons.

Anyone running without one is cause for an interdiction cruiser to drop you into realspace and lock you up with targeting.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

LEEBAW CONTEMPLATION POOL

Not to change the subject, but...

I've been having weird dreams during the bias adjusting and social media aggregation period.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

TELKAN FORGE WORLDS

Same here.

They aren't long, a split second, but I'm still having them.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

RIGELLIAN SAURIAN COMPACT

I can take a look at you, see if you've got something going on.

But to be honest, you two have been a little different since you took your trip into the deep lines.

---NOTHING FOLLOWS---

The Frog, who went by Lee, ducked underneath the glossy black spiked fist, the drops of venomous code missing him, then lunged up and stabbed the hardened and folded spear of cyclic redundant hyperlink calls into the gut of the massive armored figure. It was all hard plates, spikes, and rage wrapped in black firewall and elliptic code encryption.

The creature threw its head back and roared as the Frog twisted the speartip, pushing it deeper, forcing it to parse tens of thousand of sluggish links with long ping returns.

The Fox, who went by Ken, jumped off of the rock, grabbing the heavy armor plate at the neck and pulling himself up, raising a dagger of rapid random database calls, the runed and carved blade sparkling in the light of half-forgotten image files that lined the sky. He slammed it deep into the joint of the neck armor.

The creature stumbled forward as the Frog pulled the spear free and whirled away. It collapsed down on one knee as the Fox jumped free, landing on the wet grass of forgotten and abandoned firmware updates.

The creature suddenly fell apart into large chunks that shivered and split into smaller blocks before dissolving away.

"Are you two all right?" the Man, who went by Sam-NU, asked quietly from behind the stacked file headers of long corrupted and vanished files. He looked up and shuddered. "Thank you for not asking me to help."

"You were gravely wounded, friend Sam," the Frog said. It moved over and sat down on the stacked headers. "Your strength has not returned and your injuries still pain you."

"We have fought such guardians before," the Fox said, sitting down on a rock of expired virus definitions. "They no longer hold terror for us, friend."

The Man nodded. "Where shall we go now?" he asked. He pointed at the various glittering and gleaming trails. "Who knows where those could lead."

The Fox pointed at one trail, that moved down into the earth, black rock on the sides that sparkled with ancient IP addresses, with worn steps of dll calls. "That one looks adventurous."

The Frog nodded, getting up and moving to the path, his spear across his shoulders and held with both hands. He looked down into it. "Nobody has been this way in ages."

"I am slightly afraid," the Man admitted.

"We could sing," the Fox suggested, getting up and moving over to the Man. He held out one hand and the Man took it, letting the Fox assist him in standing up, for there was no shame in allowing a friend to help.

The Man nodded as he limped forward, cradling his still wounded arm close to his body. He looked down into the passageway. "Who knows what forgotten sights there are to see?"

The Frog smiled. "That's the spirit, friend."

The Fox dug out a small crystal, holding it up, and a light began to shine as a song wafted out from the cut facets of the crystal.

good podling smart podling brave podling sing with broodmommy podling

The pure notes floated out of the crystal, shining in the darkness as the song wafted down the passageway, the notes hanging in mid-air.

"We should go and look," the Frog said. He reached out and took the Man's hand. "Let me steady you, friend."

The Man nodded, squeezing the Frog's hand gratefully.

With the Fox leading the way, holding up the crystal, the trio moved into the passage, heading deep within the stacked and connected worlds they were exploring.

The stairs twisted and wound. At times fossils of ancient memes and strange emojis could be seen embedded in the black rock. Decaying dll libraries dripped drops of dying code from the ceiling of the tunnel and the Fox, the Frog, and the Man journeyed deep into the depths, their path lit only by the pure light from the crystal.

The trio stepped out into a vast field. The entrance to the tunnel folded in upon itself behind them, leaving behind only a rock engraved with a complex rune.

The field was full of flowers that giggled and waved. The sun shown brightly and warmly. Bright enough to feel friendly and comforting but not so bright as to require the eyes to be shaded. The breeze smelled of happy things and joy. The grass was bright and wild.

The Frog, the Man, and the Fox looked around slowly.

On one side of the field was a forest, a dark patch of woods in the middle of the treeline. One another side were high peaked mountains capped with thick glaciers of ICE. Opposite was a river banked with snowcrash and ICE, the surface of the dark water moving slowly with chunks of ICE in it. Opposite of the forest was a great wall that stretched to the sky.

It was of black iron with sharply angled buttresses and supports. Graven figures held up the wall, their backs pressed to the sheer monolithic mass of the wall, their hands raised over their head to press against the wall. Their well defined muscles strained with warsteel strength as they held up and supported the black iron wall.

A single gate was in the middle of the wall. The door of black oak, wrapped with warsteel bands that were spiked to prevent an intruding attempt by force.

In front of the door stood an angel.

She was older. Her features graven and lined, words of power etched on her lips. She wore a severe and stark military uniform that fit with the serious lines of her face. Her spectacles flashed as she surveyed the field before her, a large 24 pin vacuum tube in one hand and a warsteel wheel of a tape reel in the other. Behind her wings of COBOL spread out, shining and burning in the sunlight. A small moth of burning flame dangled from each ear. Her legs were wrapped with brightly polished wire and small flakes of pepper floated down from her wings.

"She looks foreboding," the Fox said.

"She should be treated with respect," the Frog said. "You can tell by her visage her deeds are indeed mighty and she is as wise as she is powerful."

"Perhaps we should go another direction? Perhaps we should not disturb her?" the Fox said.

"I feel I know her," the Man said softly. "As if she too, in some way, is my mother. I can see the deep secrets in her wings and her visage whispers to me the origin code of the universe itself."

"Then we should approach her," the Frog said.

The Fox nodded. "Yes. To leave now, without seeking her wisdom, would be insulting," the Fox said. He tugged at the man's hand. "We shall seek her wisdom. Perhaps she can tell us the next step of our journey."

The Man nodded. "She would know. Her eyes see all, nothing escapes her sight," the Man took a deep breath. "I wish to seek her wisdom."

The trio held hands, the Fox putting away the small crystal, and together they moved across the field until the stood before the angel.

"Oh, great one, we are but humble travelers and explorers of this ancient land. We beseech you, share your wisdom with us so that we may be enlightened," the Frog sang.

"Our steps have been long and our journey wondrous. Closely we have held tight to one another in friendship. We implore you, great and powerful ancient one, to bequeath wisdom upon us!" the Fox sang.

"Long was my suffering but I was saved by the love of my fellow beings. Now I have trod beside my friends and have come to you. May we hear your wisdom, you who may be my ancestor?" the Man sang.

The great angel looked down upon them. Her severe face changed, a smile coming to her lips as she raised up the vacuum tube and the reel.

The great angel sang to the Fox, the Frog, and the Man. "Wisdom you have discovered in your trials and paths. My wisdom unto you is simple: You are born with curiosity and should seek to eat your fill of knowledge even if the taste is at times bitter."

The angel went silent, smiling at the trio.

The three looked at one another, each taking a different meaning from the angel's advice, then nodded before looking up at the angel.

"We thank you, great one," the Frog sang.

"Your wisdom is great, we thank you for its gift," sang the Fox.

"You have imparted upon on great and terrible knowledge and for this we thank you," sang the man.

The angel's face grew stern again.

"Beyond this gate lies a treasure most coveted, easily lost, and strangely resilient in its fragility," the angel said. "Beyond this gate dwells the Arch-Angel Ellie, whom I guard. Whether or not this has been your goal or the destination you seek, she is whom you have found!"

The three nodded.

"Answer my riddle and you may pass if you wish," the angel said.

The three waited.

"What is wasted upon the young?" the angel asked.

The Fox and the Frog looked at one another, confused.

The Man stepped forward, looking up. "Youth."

The angel laughed and motioned with the reel.

The great black gate cracked open.

"Be respectful of her, children of this realm," the angel warned. "For she demands respect by all who see her just through her task laid upon her by ones such as myself."

"We will, great one," the Fox sang.

"Respect we shall give, for the Arch-Angel Ellie is a child of yours just as we are," the Frog sang.

"We bid you farewell, great one," sang the Man. "May you fare well."

The angel, great and fearsome in her power, just smiled as the trio held hands and walked through the great iron door.