”It’s always the unknown that makes things difficult. This maxim is true in all walks of life. We all make plans, whether those plans are to develop a career, to win a game or a competition, or to defeat an enemy in battle. The plans seem good enough when we make them and start to implement them, but that’s when the unknown gets you. Either the enemy, or just another person we are dealing with, has a competing plan that renders our plan impossible, or we run into a complication that we didn’t anticipate. Sometimes that complication is something we could’ve predicted, but we just didn’t put in the work. Sometimes the complication is something we couldn’t have anticipated and couldn’t have done anything about even if we had. In the end though, the unknown gets us.”

- High Ambassador of the Mrrroww

--------

“Have the beacons finished going through all the power conduits and systems?” Selendil asked while putting the finishing touches on the power core she was about to install into the large auxiliary generator. Even with the technology of the Dhar, creating a controlled spatial bridge to phase space to draw on dark energy was something to be taken seriously, so she was extremely careful while working. Even a simple containment field failure would make things really complicated. Everything was done with her psionics because her abilities in that field were much more precise than her hands.

“The nanites have gone through and tested 97% of the power conduits, relays, and storage crystals. The rest will be done in twenty minutes.” Lux reported.

Selendil had spent the last week creating new power cores for the support beacons and the beacons were finally operational. With the addition of new nanites from the stores of Haven, the beacons were working almost at full capacity. They all suffered from wear and tear due to the negligence over the long years, but the nanites would fix those problems once they were done with testing the power systems of the ship. Getting the power back online was the first step in restoring the ship into a working condition.

“Good. Once that’s finished, I can start working on making sure the auxiliary power generator can be started.” Just because she had the core that the power generator required didn’t mean that the old systems would work properly, which was why she was running a lot of tests. That’s something all the engineer types she had stored had emphasized in unison. Testing was important, and would spare a lot of effort later on that would otherwise be spent doing repairs on some systems that blew up due to a malfunction.

“Do you think we could get the main power generator online once we get the auxiliary one operational?” Lux asked. As the AI it had a pretty good grasp on how much the performance of the ship was lowered by not having the primary power systems working, even though the auxiliary systems could provide enough power for most of the needs the ship might run into for the time being.

“Not yet. The auxiliary power might be enough for us to go deep enough in phase space to get the materials we need, but we’ll need both of the auxiliary generators to actually start the primary core. Besides, starting the primary core is not exactly simple.” Selendil replied. The auxiliary cores were not actually designed with the idea of keeping the ship running. They could do that well enough, but their primary purpose was to help in getting the primary core online. More specifically they kept up the systems that prevented the primary core from obliterating a large portion of the galaxy in a time period that broke most of the laws of physics that the scientist of the younger races had agreed upon. Dhar knew those laws were mostly guidelines instead of concrete rules.

“I still don’t understand how that works. I know you’ve explained it to me 25.6 times and it still confuses me. The temporal and dimensional physics involved are just not something that fits in how I think the universe works.” Lux complained pensively. The AI didn’t have access to some of the information the Dhar had gained from the Great Song, so the confusion was understandable.

“Just think about the moment the core is started as the moment a new dimension is born. The explosive beginnings are stretched over a really long time thanks to our ability to slow down the subjective time inside the core. The moment of birth provides almost limitless energy for the new dimension to develop properly, and we harness that power.” Selendil summarized a much more complicated process into something digestible.

“That doesn’t really help. Also considering how shitty that explanation was, I’ll only count it as a partial explanation for my tally. That brings the count to 25.9.” Lux grumbled.

Selendil couldn’t hide her amusement. She would be equally confused if she didn’t have the knowledge of the scientists who developed the technology. Even then she barely understood how it worked. “We make big boom, we slow time, the big boom provides energy. Simple enough for you now?”

“26, and fuck you," Lux replied evenly.

“I located the gardener you were looking for.” Haven suddenly sent a message. As the Ai was tied to the station, it was forced to stick to messages instead of coming along on the ship unlike how Lux had come to the station with Selendil. That was the difference between a personal AI that also happened to control a ship and an AI dedicated to keeping a station working.

“The terms?” Selendil asked without interrupting her work.

"A healthy compensation in credits and a concession," Haven replied. "The Guardians are the best at what you're looking for and can be extremely discreet, but they are rather particular about the work they do. He wants control over what plants go into the hydroponics. Apparently, most of the other races prefer aesthetics and other such factors over the wellbeing of the plants. The resulting ecological systems are iffy, to say the least. According to him, that makes the plants sad.”

“Imagine how sad they would be if Selendil was in charge of them.” Lux made a small joke while the target of the joke promptly ignored it.

"Tell them that I'll agree so long as I'm given the power to veto plants assuming I have a proper reason. Also, I want some control over what goes into the section where we grow stuff for consumption. I doubt my tastes are the same as a living plant’s. Do they even have taste buds?” Selendil countered.

“You don’t have taste buds either.” Lux continued to make comments.

"The Guardian has made a counteroffer. He will agree to your terms if he is allowed to stay to watch over the hydroponics over the long term. He doesn't want you to screw the whole thing up once he is gone. In this case, long term means until he is satisfied that the system works and you will not fuck it up, or until you find his services unsatisfactory. There's a slight cultural implication at work here that is lost in translation. He is implying that the ship will likely retire long before either of those happens. The Guardians live for functionally forever and most ships get retired after a hundred years at the latest, so it's a short time for someone of their kind." Haven was clearly amused by the implications.

“He has no idea how old this ship is, does he? Of course he doesn’t, as you wouldn’t have told him. He’s trying to swindle his way into a cushy job for the next few decades, isn’t he?” Selendil smirked.

“Essentially yes.” ´Haven’s amusement was growing.

"Tell him to bring his entire family if he has any. If he does not, have him bring some other Guardians he can trust and you have vetted." Selendil gave her approval. It was a win-win situation. The Guardian would get the cushy job he wanted, just for a much longer period than he expected. Both sides swindled the other, which was the best way for such negotiations to go. “Oh, do make sure he is aware that he will have no say in where the ship goes now that he has decided to stay on after the hydroponics get built. I may warp him back to the station on a rare occasion, but I do mean it when I say the word rare.”

“Right away!” Haven’s connection cut as the AI returned back to work. There was no need to worry about being able to pay the Guardians either as Haven could just add a few zeros to Selendil’s account. They had already spent the original sum twice over with the supplies and purchasing relatively high-quality Gravinium that they were planning on using to power the smaller crafts on the ships, like the fighters and shuttles.

“You know, now that you are getting something like a crew, you’re committed to getting more.” Lux pointed out. If Selendil was by herself then she could manage her own needs by herself as she didn’t actually have the needs most other races did as she was an energy being. However, the presence of others, like the Guardians, would necessitate a proper crew that could handle such needs.

“I’m aware. Remember though that this was your idea. Still, we don’t need too many people considering you handle most of the ship’s functions and the beacons handle most maintenance.” Selendil countered.

“Yes, but you have to consider the social aspect as well. A small crew is fine on a ship the size of a corvette, but this is a big ship. Most races would consider several hundred people a skeleton crew barely capable of keeping a ship this size functioning. I’m not saying we need a large crew, but we need more than a few gardeners and a cook or they will go insane with all the empty space.” Lux clarified its point.

“Well, we’ll have to deal with that slowly. I’m not going to fill the ship with random beings straight off the docks. The Guardians are acceptable as they are really the best gardeners out there and you won’t let me anywhere near the hydroponics. I could see that feline ambassador as tolerable as well as long as she didn’t try any power plays, but I’m fairly sure she has other plans.” Selendil argued. Even if she could sell her ship as ‘Solarian’ vessel lacking crew at the moment, it would still raise suspicions. Thus they had to be pretty selective in who they allowed there, even without considering Selendil’s own strict standards. Basically, anyone she considered good enough would already have a high position with their own race.

“What about the girl we have in stasis?” Lux suggested.

“What about her?” Selendil’s eyes narrowed. “Even if we added her, that’s just one person. One person, whose loyalties lean rather heavily in a different direction, I might add.”

"Well there's that, but her people seemed to almost worship the Dhar, right? Maybe we could use them? Besides, her loyalties would not be a problem if we had more of her kind onboard, right?” Lux explained.

“That’s a thought worth considering. I’d prefer loyalty through respect over worship, but that could work as well. Anyway, we don’t have access to more of her kind at the moment, as they seem to be avoiding the station. And even if I had the time to fix her mind, it would take weeks with everything else that’s going on. We’ll have to postpone that idea for the time being.” Selendil considered the proposal.

“Well, we are not in a rush. Just a thought we should keep in mind.” Lux agreed.

--------

Leon felt uncomfortable in the full dress uniform that he was required to wear on the bridge of the Manticore. The other officers present were less than pleased with the fact that he had finagled his way on the ship and basically left the Slingshot to his crew to handle. The fact that the Slingshot was basically stuck in place doing mundane tasks that a blind groundhog could handle mollified things a bit, but the officers on the ship still considered it questionable at best. The fact that the Slingshot was halfway between a ship and a station didn’t help things, as different rules applied. As a result though, Leon was making sure he followed every regulation he possibly could to avoid giving the other officers more ammunition to use against him.

Luckily the trip had been rather simple so far. Having an entire fleet travel through phase space was a little more complex than having a single ship do it, but they had managed things well so far. Leon’s expertise on phase space navigation as well as his quick mind had actually been quite a useful asset, which lessened the pressures on him. It was still a pain in the ass to coordinate so many ships so that they all arrived at the same time. “Reaching the pre-determined coordinates in 30 seconds admiral.” The announcement came.

"This is it, ladies and gentlemen. We are about to exit phase space a short distance from a likely hostile system. You know the drill. We are close enough to Illum space that it's prudent to leave our jump a bit short in case they have a surprise waiting for us." The admiral announced.

The crews were already at battle stations. They weren’t really expecting trouble, but caution required them to be careful. That’s why they were dropping out of phase space before they reached the point where the gravity well of the world they were aiming for required them to. It was not exactly standard procedure, but it was a maneuver they often used, and it turned out to be a good decision too.

The space around the enormous ship twisted and spat the ship into normal space. Immediately the stations all around the bridge started sounding alerts. “Enemy vessels detected!” Announced the officer in charge of the intelligence gathering systems ranging from sensors to heat detection.

“Minefield detected at the coordinates we would have exited if we had continued until the gravity well!” The helms announced as well.

"It seems we've run into an ambush. Number of enemies?” The admiral demanded immediately.

“Display coming up now!” The intelligence officer replied. A large holographic display was projected in the air above the strategic officers, displaying the relative position all detected ships and any features that would affect the battle, such as the gravity well of the nearby planet. The displayed situation caused the officers to curse.

"We're outnumbered two-to-one," Leon commented.

“We’d be outnumbered much worse if we had run into that minefield.” The admiral replied. “It seems they were prepared for a fleet, but we still surprised them a bit. If I was the other side setting an ambush in my own territory, I’d make sure I would have at least a three-to-one advantage. They also brought only one dreadnought despite having enough ships for two fleets. It seems the Illum still have some difficulties in producing the largest ship classes.”

As they spoke the ships already started firing. In space, the battles often begun at extreme ranges. As even a slight deviation in aim meant a miss on a target thousands of kilometers away, the weapons most often used at extreme ranges had the ability to adjust their trajectory. That usually meant guided torpedoes and weapons that fired with the speed of light, which meant beam weapons that the Tetrarchy had very few of. The Illum had a clear advantage on that front as their beam weapon technology was more advanced and their beam weapons more numerous. The Illum vessels were equally effective at all ranges while Tetrarchy ships were much better at closer range. That’s why it was a common tactic for the Tetrarchy to close distance to bring their main weapon systems to a more effective range.

“They’re likely to have a clear advantage in psions though.” Leon countered.

The admiral made a sound of agreement. “We brought along something for that. Aegis joined us for this mission. Even though he isn’t the most powerful Deity, he should be able to keep the Manticore safe at least. Whether that’s enough remains to be seen.”

“So the question is, are we trying to win this battle, or are we trying to buy time to flee?” Another officer asked. “The odds are not great, though not completely impossible. Even if we flee, we just finished a jump that took weeks, so our phase drives will require a lot of time to recharge. We’ll be stuck here for hours either way.”

Battles between less than a dozen ships of destroyer size and smaller were often over in few minutes, but the battles between large fleets of large ships with powerful void shields could take days, which was why the officers were reacting so calmly. "I don't think we'll be able to just leave," Leon stated.

“What do you have in mind?” The admiral asked. He agreed with Leon but wanted to hear the reasoning of the younger officer. He dearly hoped Leon had other ideas besides wanting to find Miyo.

“Two reasons. First is an obvious one. If we can’t take this system now, we’ll not get an opportunity to do so again. The Illum now know for certain that we can reach this system and are sure to fortify the place to prevent us from making additional attacks. It also allows them to follow us back home and we really don’t want to hand them a second path to attack us behind the established battle lines. The second reason is a bit more questionable. I have the feeling that the Illum commander wants us to try and escape.” Leon was confident in his first reason but less so on the second as it was based on a hunch.

“I agree on both accounts.” The admiral stated before anyone could protest. “Besides the obvious problem of exposing our ships to fire while we perform the jump and taking major damage, I also feel that there’s another layer to this trap they have laid. Despite the odds currently facing us, this feels too easy. The minefield was a cute trick, but the maneuver we pulled is something they could’ve predicted. The genetically engineered bastards are anything but stupid after all. They must have something else in their bag of tricks. I’m not yet sure what that something is, but I intend to try and find out.”

“So we’ll stay and fight?” One of the older officers present asked, a grizzled and bearded man wearing commander’s insignia.

“Yes.” The admiral decided. “This is too important. Now, figure us a way to win this battle.”