Starborn Smith [Massive Scifi MultiFusion / Celestial Forge]

[BlazingHyperion]

Hmmm, honestly that really depends. Obviously no God Emperor since we know the Inner Sphere is what became of Earth and it's immediate surrounds. If the Orks were around in numbers, someone would know, given how much of the Galaxy the Goa'uld have explored. Given the anti-dameon measures on the Stargates, I think the most logic assumption is that many of the nastier threats in 40K probably got bodied by the Ancients or Asgard. The Tyranids are extra galactic, so the might be around. But they honestly aren't any worse than the Wraith over in Pegasus.

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A lot of really good assumptions, though a few that aren't quite right. You think a lot like me.

I will say, that any fans of the Imperium or Chaos probably won't enjoy this story quite as much, but Aeldari and Necron fans will.

Pretty much this.

If the Ancients exist in this, then by default the Chaos Gods have to be either weaker, or generally suppressed. Since they kind of take up the same metaphysical space, at a glance.

Ancients are ascended energy beings, so it's possible the Warp-fuckery is treated like the Ori, in that it's stuck in some places as the Ancients kicked it out and closed the door. Especially since they clearly have anti-warp tech that's really good, going by the Stargate Wards. So they might be treated as Necron-level 'Fuck Yo Warp'.

Because otherwise most Goa'uld would be servants of the Ruinous Powers, going by all their... them-ness. Things are basically purpose-made to be Tzeentchian or Slaaneshi, with their plotting and the plotting/paranoia they cause by being capable of infiltrating/impersonating people, and their being totally convinced of their perfection.

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I would say that the Ascended beings exist at a level above Chaos, metaphysically, at least. And yeah, the Alterans had some serious "fuck the warp" type technology.


I am annoyingly free with spoilers, and I've talked about this more over on Discord. Up to Chapter #57 over there, so I hope you check it out.

 

[Dracobait]

Guessing the Nox are the Aelderi and the Asguard are the necrontyr with the Ancients as the old ones and the furling as the Krork

 

[Kenji Kage]

Guessing the Nox are the Aelderi and the Asguard are the necrontyr with the Ancients as the old ones and the furling as the Krork

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Mh if this was the case it would make sense as the ruinous powers would not actually exist

as there would have been no war in haven there would still be deamons and things like the enslavers

but the chaos gods would likely not exist the warp would also be quite a lot less violent

 

[BlazingHyperion]

- - -
POV: James Cromwell (Battletech)

I nodded to the Pangaran representative who took a seat across from me. With us were also Arktos, Ma'chello, and Eudora.
"Thank you for seeing us on such short notice, Madam Thol. I'm afraid we have unfortunate news."

She nodded. "About that device that was discovered in Egeria's Tomb?"

I nodded. "It is a transmitter of some sort – similar to those Radios that you've just started using, but much more advanced. The moment the room was unsealed, it sent a transmission."

Madam Thol stood up and walked to the window. "Do we know who the transmission was for?"

"Most likely for Ra." I composed myself a bit. "Possibly for Apophis, though that would be unlikely."

She nodded. "Alright. What do we need to do to prepare?"

- - -
POV: Egeria (Stargate)

My host's eyes fluttered open as we sat up in the sarcophagus. I couldn't help but snarl at the insult; they put me into one of these… things despite knowing what they did.

My host, a woman by the name of Annelise Koenig, spoke, "Better to ask for forgiveness than for permission."

I almost snarled again, but I could understand the sentiment.

To my side, a man approached. From my host's memories I knew he was one Michael Dresden. "Annelise?"

She nodded. "Still here. This is trippy."

It was always strange getting used to the mannerisms of a new host.

Michael nodded. "James is still on Pangar. Negotiations with the locals are going well, all things considered."

Annelise nodded. "I figured."

I'd like to see Isetri. It has been entirely too long since I've seen one of my children. I spoke to Annelise.

She raised an eyebrow, but relayed my words to Michael.

He nodded. "Ma'chello figured that would be the case. Lady Isetri has been informed and is waiting."

We followed Michael from the room and out of the ship – Ares' Flagship. His own Jaffa had rebelled against him? My, this Arktos must be one hell of a leader to convince the followers of a God to abandon them.

Annelise spoke to me, They go by Serkha, now.

The freed people, then? I suppose that is a fitting sentiment.

The gate was dialed and we stepped through to a rather unique world. Behind me was a sheer cliff that rose hundreds of feet above me, around me were the beginnings of a city, all placed on a cliff that was almost perfectly smooth and easily several kilometers in length and width.

I just barely managed to see a tunnel that was being dug into the mountain, though I couldn't quite tell how they were doing so.

This world was definitely a unique one, and if my host's memories were correct, it was well outside the range of nearly all the System Lords.

Finally, I turned my senses to the naquadah. The world itself was also rich with the material, but that wasn't what caught my attention. No, while I also felt the several thousand goa'uld Prim'ta in my surroundings, what really caught my attention was the unique signature of one of my children.

Then I saw one of the enormous metal walkers – my host called them industrial mechs. What sort of society would create such monstrosities? My host kindly showed me her memories of her homeland, and I nearly shuddered. If these people hadn't been so busy killing each other, then they might have actually been able to topple Ra's empire, given enough time.

Hmmm. Terra? Ahh, the first world. I suppose the world's original name would have been forgotten if all that remained were the slaves.

We continued to walk as we approached a building. I could feel my child within. I entered the building and saw one of my children for the first time in a very long time. Taking over from Annelise, I spoke. "It's good to see you again, child."

Isetri stared in disbelief for a few short moments, before almost breaking down into tears.

- - -
POV: Arthur Sinclair

I sat at a table across from Egeria who inhabited Elder Annelise's body. Sitting with us was Elder James, Ma'chello, Eudora, and Arktos. Elder James had also invited the representative from Pangar who had agreed to come along.

"I thank you all for freeing me" she spoke in that synthesized voice that was unique to Goa'uld.

Elder James nodded. "You're quite welcome, though I'm afraid that a bit of an issue has come up."

The Elder gestured towards the Pangaran representative. "While we were removing you from the stasis jar, we believe we might have activated a transmitter of some kind."

Egeria nodded. "I am aware. Assuming that Ra has not decreased the number of vessels at his command, I would assume no more than a few weeks before one of his Ha'tak arrives above your world."

The Pangaran representative clenched his fists. "What can we do?'

Egeria frowned. "All I can recommend is that you prepare."

She gestured towards the rest of us. "I have no doubt that these people would be capable of taking a single Ha'tak should the vessel's crew let their guard down. Ra is not likely to immediately bomb a planet from orbit as you are worrying. He will strip the world of useful resources, then begin selling the population as slaves to neighboring worlds. If you act quickly enough, then loss of life can be kept to a relative minimum. From there, it will likely be several months before another such ship arrives to check."

The room was silent. The Pangaran Representative stood up. "If that is the case, I'm afraid I must go make preparations. My government is currently deciding on a permanent representative that we can send to your world sometime soon."

He left the room and we were all silent for several moments.

"Now," Egeria began, "I believe you owe me an apology."

Elder James nodded. "I was aware of your beliefs regarding the Sarcophagus, and chose to have you enter it despite those beliefs. I take full responsibility for my actions, and seek your forgiveness."

Egeria stared at him silently for several moments. She eventually let out a sigh. "As much as I wish to be able to yell at you for such a defilement, I can understand why you did so. However, I will give you this warning. My… beliefs are not quite so empty as you might believe."

She gestured to me. "Your… perk… showed you what the wards on the Stargate do. You know that the soul truly exists, do you not?"

I hadn't even considered that as a possible implication. I gulped and nodded. Egeria continued. "I am not making baseless claims when I say that the Sarcophagus corrupts the soul. It destroys the part of you that is responsible for compassion and empathy. There are also the immediate effects, but the long term effects are just as real. Never trust someone who regularly uses such a device, the only beings they are capable of feeling compassion for are themselves."

Everyone around us looked spooked, and I quickly brought up something else of near equal importance. I coughed once. "If you don't mind me asking, I have a question about the Ha'taks."

She raised an eyebrow but nodded at me to continue. "Ares was worried that Ra had a way to track his ships. Do you know anything about that?"

She raised an eyebrow. "He's managed to keep that hidden for so long?"

I nodded and she continued. "This was something I learned not long before I was imprisoned. In fact, it might just be the very reason that he imprisoned me to begin with. The Ha'tak Hyperdrive is not nearly as streamlined as that of the Al'kesh or the Tel'tak. Activating the Hyperdrive causes the ship to be detectable by anyone within almost a hundred light years."

Elder James raised an eyebrow. "That would still require that there be something within range to detect the ship."

She smiled. "Which is why he has constructed a network of satellites that covers the entire galaxy. Even more, any Hyperdrive that isn't specially designed to minimize its presence will be visible to Ra."

I winced. "So if anyone tries to make a new hyperdrive, Ra will know. You need actual test data in order to properly minimize such a signature."

Egeria nodded. "Any attempts to improve the Hyperdrive by another System Lord, or a new civilization creating a new such drive would result in Ra immediately destroying them."

She turned to Elder James. "You're people are quite lucky. You use a different form of FTL for your travel. One that is invisible to Ra's net."

While Egeria was speaking, Ma'chello looked pale. He sighed and nodded. "Thank you for telling us about this. I'm afraid we have some things to discuss now that this new information is in order."

He turned to me next, "Arthur, is there anything that you could do to confirm this information?"

I sat back and let my mind wander for a moment. Now that I knew what I was looking for, I knew how I could detect the ship. The Ha'tak's Hyperdrive vibrated Subspace at a very particular frequency when it was creating the Hyperspace bubble. Theoretically, I could use any sort of Subspace Receiver in order to detect another Ha'tak.

The scanners on the Tel'tak would almost certainly work, but I don't have the blueprints for that… What else? Ahhh. The DHD has a Subspace Receiver for communicating with Stargates in its immediate vicinity. That would definitely work.

I gave a rather tense nod. "I can modify the subspace receiver from a DHD to listen for the particular vibrations made by a Ha'tak Hyperdrive."

Ma'chello turned to Elder James. "We need to test this immediately."

Elder James nodded. "Well, we know what our next project is. Arthur, all your other projects are on hold until you can get that DHD working. How long do you think you need?"

I frowned. "Two days. Max."

"Alright. Arthur, you're dismissed. We need to get that working immediately."

Egeria seemed to raise an eyebrow. "I would be very interested in learning of such an alteration. I would be quite interested in learning of the modifications that you make to the device."

I looked at Elder James and he nodded. "That would be acceptable."

Egeria nodded in response and I left the room while they continued to interrogate her on what she knew of the Goa'uld Empire.

- - -
27 hours later.

I put the crystal back into the DHD and stood up. This had been a pain in the backside, but I was pretty sure I had it done. Now that I knew what I was looking for in the schematic, I knew what I needed to do.

The Ha'tak Hyperdrive was set to magnify its vibrations in certain frequencies. While this did something to decrease the power usage of the ship, it also caused it to light up Subspace in a very particular manner. If you weren't already aware of the phenomenon, I doubted anyone would be able to pick up the signal.

Not unless you had a significant technological edge and an almost complete understanding of how Hyperspace worked, something probably only the Ancients and the Asgard had.

I nodded behind me, "It should be ready."

Arktos nodded. "Then we shall begin the test."

I watched as one of the Ha'taks took off. Several moments later, I saw a flash of blue in the sky; the instruments within the DHD began flaring up. I looked up at Arktos and Elder James. "Well, if that isn't confirmation, then I don't know what is."

The two of them looked at each other. "Time to change some plans."

- - -
POV: James Cromwell. Two days later.

I looked down at Arthur as he began making the modifications to the Pangaran DHD. I turned to the Representative. "Thank you for allowing us to do this."

She raised an eyebrow. "Of course, this concerns our world, after all."

We stood silently while waiting for Arthur to finish. Luckily most of the changes were code based, so most of the work was already completed.

Finally Arthur stood up and pulled up his compad. "Alright. Let's see… Hmmmm."

I raised an eyebrow. "Arthur?"

He nodded. "There is a ship…"

I felt my face immediately fall. "How far away?"

He frowned. "About 122 light years. I can't tell its direction, but if it is coming towards Pangar, then it will be here in a bit over 33 hours."

I clenched my teeth and turned to the Pangaran Representative. "I'm going to need to speak with your military leaders."

She nodded. "I'll have them ready in a few hours."

I nodded. "Good. We don't have much time to start preparing."

- - -
Author's Note:
Read up to Chapter #50 on Discord: [ LINK: https://discord.com/invite/dbVKfqYw5T ]