60000000000000000 femtoseconds until 12 o'clock AM

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Deviation Actions

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System FN-1-303-776
”Beginning experiment. This will be trail number 22,780. If we’re lucky we won’t have to mop up after this one.”
The scientist, a male Cli’sorr by the name Sss’Shook, was working over a reinforced console. The original console had exploded during trail number 7,172 and had taken half of his and had almost cost him his life. But he was fixed up and back to work in the same day. But after weeks of experimentation he was beginning to wonder if it was a futile effort.
”Are the coils properly charging?”
“Yes sir.”
”You don’t sound very confident.”
“It’s just that… there is a slight variance in the pulse phase of the power influx.”
”How much of a variance?”
“Roughly 6 micro-pulses per femtosecond.”
”Get it down to 4 and we can continue. In the meantime, prepare the test subject. And be careful people. We don’t need a repeat of Carol.”
Separated by three feet of layered durasteel and with clear crystalline metal viewing ports, the experiment began. A lump of flesh was suspended in the middle of the chamber. It squiggled and squirmed as it tried to free itself from the invisible forces holding it in place. Eight arms ending in what looked like overelaborate drill bits unfolded from the walls and surrounded the lump of flesh. As four tech assistants worked hurriedly on their consoles one reported, “Preparations are complete. We are ready whenever you are sir.”
”Excellent. Let’s begin then. Begin bringing the power up slowly. We don’t need a repeat of…”
Before Sss’Shook could finish there was a blinding light flooding from the test chamber. His artificial eye shut off to protect his optic nerve. His organic eye, however, was not so fortunate and was seared to the point that he would need to replace it.
As he reeled back in pain he maintained enough sense to shout, ”Report NOW!”
“No injuries. No damage to chamber or equipment. Subject is gone.”
Sss’Shook sighed, the noise sounding odd coming from his vocalizer. ”Great. Just get the clean-up crew.”
“We won’t need ‘em. The subject is gone. As in the ‘poof’ ‘bye-bye!’ sort of gone.”
”Wha- Is it in the target chamber then?”
“No.”
”THEN WHERE IS IT!”


<<<>>>
Within it the heart of a star
Within it the keys to life
Within it a resting intelligence
It is a key to the whole of space
One of many, it is the cause of strife
Its purpose malevolence
Part of an eternal arms race
It lives in the place known as Czar



<<<>>>
Alane System
“Mech production is at 125% predicted values. At this rate we won’t just meet the deadline, we’ll monster it!” The young man leapt from his seat and slammed his fist into the table, clearly excited by the progress being made.
“Hm.” The older man at the head of the table stroked his beard as he spoke, “That is a most appropriate saying if ever there was one. But don’t think this is some wonder weapon that will win us the war.”

“Of course not! But all the lives it will save! That I can get excited about!”
“Could save.” The older man corrected.
The young man shouted back, “WILL!”
Wizengurd merely sighed as he rubbed his temples. He was going to have a long day.


<<<>>>
System FN-1-303-776
Burne was giving the device a very studious once over. It was the fifth once over he’d given to this particular machine and he still had nine more to do. He figured that at this rate it should take him another three days to complete his inspections.
His apprentice, Sharon, leaned over his shoulder to watch his work, her eyes let out an almost imperceptible hum as the magnified what she was looking at several thousand times.
”How can the circuits be so small? I can’t even see them, let alone look for defects.” Her voice was quiet, well below the threshold of organic hearing.
Burne leaned back so that the vibrations of his voice didn’t negatively affect his work. ”The atomic structure currently exists in a different state than what you’re used to. I’ll give you an introduction to the concept at a later time. Now hush. Just watch and do your best to observe closely. I can’t afford to make a single mistake.”
Sharon nodded silently and watched her master’s work. She may have a deeper understanding of magic than her master, but he had a much greater knowledge of science and technology than she did. She couldn’t be an apprentice forever, she was going to have to learn everything Burne knew and then some. She sighed internally knowing it was going to be sometime before she could strike out on her own, even with her knowledge of the ethereal.


<<<>>>
Celefra System
The Emerald Sword watched as the small spherical ship lifted off to return to the Immortal Empire. He turned his attention to his sword. Currently it was one of a kind, just like his new armor. But, soon enough it would become standard gear for all in the order. He turned and headed back to the palace. Back to Inara’s throne room. If he was lucky he’d get a chance to try out his new toys soon. War was brewing and that meant assassins. He was going to have his work cut out making sure that Capitol’s empress didn’t get herself killed.


<<<>>>
System FN-1-303-776
Cargo barge is departing. Initializing gateway. Prepare for dimensional shift.
An Immortal Empire cargo barge slowly edged its way into the massive gate structure. As soon as it was within the confines of those walls it began the process of reentering the prime-universal state. It was a complicated process, but necessary to ensure the ship’s survival. Within the minute it would be ready to deliver its cargo to the ever hungry forge worlds of the Immortal Empire.


<<<>>>
Dark Space: Immortal Empire Territory
Maribel, captain of the ‘Fat Luddite,’ disinterestedly looked over the report. It was long, tedious, and could probably be summed up in just a couple sentences. She skimmed through it, picking out the most important parts.
-46.7789% of beacons placed
-Errors in beacons 15, 16, 17, 88, 112, and 213; attempting to rectify
-Beacon 201 experienced core failure. Eight dead. Fifteen wounded. One ship now in need of repair.
-Production has temporarily halted as resources are being redirected to more vital projects.

Maribel swatted the holographic screen away and stood up to stretch. Her joints cracked and popped as she did so, showing her age. She grabbed her cane and limped down the central aisle of the command deck. There was casual talk around the bridge as her crew coordinated the placing of the beacons with the rest of the fleet. It wasn’t difficult by any stretch of the imagination. As she limped down the aisle a tech got up and approached her. She gave him a glance before continuing her walk. Even behind his helmet she was able to recognize who it was.
“Yes Wilbur? What’s so important that it requires the captain’s attention?”
He handed her a data slate, ”I have our next assignment.”
“Pfft. Typical. We aren’t even close to finishing our current job and they’ve got another lined up for us. Well let’s see it.” She took the data slate and read it as she walked. The tech following close behind her. Her brow furrowed as she kept reading. “We can’t do this. At least not with these ship. We don’t have anywhere near the fuel stores to get us there, let alone back.”
”There’s a second message directing your fleet to undergo a retrofit before you undertake the mission. I assume that retrofit is going to improve our deployment range.”
“That’d be a safe bet. Not sure what they expect us to do all the way out there though.” Maribel handed the data slate back to the tech and dismissed him. She thought about her next assignment as she walked the rest of the way across the command deck. It was still some ways away, so she had plenty of time to contemplate what she would be able to accomplish so far away from the galaxy.


<<<>>>
Dark Space: Immortal Empire Territory
Alice gasped as power was restored to her lungs, which immediately expelled the air she had been holding for the past hour and a half while her assistants work desperately to return power to their teacher. Normally she could go months without breathing, but that was dependent on a mechanical process built into her body. Without that device however, she became dependent solely on her biological organs to keep her alive. Even with several layers of redundant systems she still felt like the life had been pulled out of her. She felt tired, sluggish, maybe even a little drunk. She sat up slowly, using her six arms to prop herself upright. Vision returned slowly as power was restored to the rest of her body. She saw that her robe had been ripped open and her chest compartment had been pried open using a crowbar. Her eyes blinked as they autofocused, showing that her assistants had had to use three crowbars and that two of them were bent. She looked down at her chest and saw a power cable had been spliced into her system, bypassing her central and secondary power cores. She followed the cable and saw it plugged directly into the nearest wall.
Her attention turned from the power cable to the faces surrounding her. Her first words were, ”Did anyone happen to record any data?”

A young girl near the back of the group tentatively raised her hand.
As Alice lay back down she said, ”Good girl. If I gave out grades you’d get an A+. Bring it here. While I review it someone be a doll and get me a fresh power core.”
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