Chapter 24: Revisiting Past Strategies

I woke up. It was the first quarter of my tenth year in my new life as a traveller between realities.

I didn't have it in me to do a full review of the status of my empire, so instead I took the footnotes highlights rather than having a full meeting. And as a result I noted a particular looming issue was still heading towards my people. And yet again I found myself contemplating solving the issue by shamelessly stealing technologies from another universe.

Simply put, I had completely overlooked that the habitat construction technologies of my people were largely successful only due to the construction methodologies available to us. I certainly wasn't willing to hand over the optical camouflage tech to the Free Earthers, and that as a result meant that what was acceptably confined in the Jovian League would result in severe psychological stresses to humans over time. My choice not to give them access to more rapid methods of producing alloys let alone biohull materials meant that they also had to rely on more conventional construction as I had no real in-between. And as a result, I found myself breaking one of my usual rules: never add another large chunk to bite down on without first digesting what we'd already swallowed, so to speak, when it came to technological progress.

The only real saving grace I had in this case was that the technologies I was seeking to acquire were, due to the problem they were intended to resolve, comparatively low on the complexity and exotic nature scale. That, and the fact that I had internally committed to giving my people at least a full year before acquiring new technologies again. As much as there were several additional technology bases I felt would be incredibly useful to my people that I could probably acquire with great ease, each new techbase I sought for them to integrate would result in still further issues in actually advancing ourselves. And as great as it was to be 'veljic', the more disparate and disjointed the technologies we built our infrastructure upon were, the greater the chance that something would go wrong.

So instead of my usual three-month sleep intervals, I would increase to six for the next few years, and instead rely upon the Hosts to implement my plans in those 'verses in which we had permanent presence.

The 'verse I was eyeing for the next great tech-theft was an interesting one, as I was also going to make it an exercise in my Hosts acquiring it all rather than doing it myself -- only working to obtain the necessary coordinates to allow them to do so. Amusingly, they would need to actually operate in at least eight different alternate dimensions for it to all work out, as many of the techs I'd found were random in how often the people of the 'verse acquired them. The 'verse in question? Surviving Mars. The game was itself a fairly thin veneer over a narrative of what the potential challenges and likely answers would be in developing a self-sustaining colony on Mars, and even the terraforming technologies were -- barring the conceit of how long a "day" was -- a great example of non-exotic technological solutions to those problems.

The transit to the 'verse was about as ordinary as one might expect. The Heartseed performed just absolutely swimmingly; transiting in the vessel was no harder anymore than it was to transit on my own. Easier, even, once you overlooked the brief "charging" period of running the healing devices to essentially "inhale deeply" on the necessary stamina/bioenergy that my method of traveling between realities seemed to rely upon. Between that and the liquid-naquadah enhanced terra-root reactor nodes having double the power output they used to produce, my little corvette was just so much better in so many tiny ways I couldn't really begin to count them all. Where navigating through space used to be like trying to push a sled through soggy snow, now it was more akin to running a dogsled. Even the shipscale biotics were improved -- not merely due to the improved power generation of the ship, but also because apparently the dark energy the Mass Effect relied upon was something that naquadah also improved, even if the functional gains were merely a reduction in the static buildup produced.

I'd chosen to connect to the late-stage "post-Mystery" era of the Surviving Mars narrative, as it would make for the greatest chance of actually acquiring all the relevant technologies. In a way this was somewhat frustrating as if I'd been able to connect to the distant past of the setting I could probably have acquired yet another unique biotech base to advance my people with, but I had to be selective with my gains as it were. Transiting between dimensions using the slide-portal drive (with short bursts of the small naquadria reactor to drastically reduce the wait between jumps) in order to get the best dimensional coordinate data I could from the various copies of the canonical reality beneath me, I was almost amazed at how many alternate versions there were that were so readily accessible, before I realized that this was a narrative that was designed to be flexible. A point in favor of canons based on games, I supposed, was that they would have so many mirror dimensions which could be in reach of conventional transits as a byproduct of the sheer variability of their narratives.

If it weren't for the hypertech species that existed in at least some of these dimensions, the Surviving Mars 'verse would've made a great alternative reality cluster to expand the League into. But I still wasn't ready to fight those kinds of fights. In the meantime we'd have to settle for a minor research and observation outpost in one of the "failed" worlds -- of which there were plenty where Earth was also dead. Kind of depressing, that.

No, for me this 'verse was nothing more than a layover point even though the numerous technological developments here would be incredibly useful for the Free Earth Republic, and also for the Mass Effect humanity. But the biggest factor for me would be that it would be the first time I tasked my Hosts with systematically probing a 'verse for every possible technology that could be acquired from it while also remaining hidden from the general populace.

With all of the improvements that had been made to the Heartseed, it was a breeze to skim through the various alternative mirror dimensions of this reality until I found a good target for the rift Gate. What would have taken hours the way I did it instead took mere minutes. I could've taken even less time if I'd simply dropped off a warseed to do the job in lieu of my own ship, but I felt that I needed some level of responsibility in the process.

In the extra three months since I'd gone back to sleep after the execution, The Engineer's people had managed to produce a fairly large number of the goa'uld healing devices. Enough to equip four warseeds with the things. It seemed that their simplicity in combination with the sheer utility of the things in a society whose infrastructure was dependent upon biotechnology encouraged their widespread use, and the demand for the devices was quite high. Even so, Rank Hath Its Privileges; for every three of the devices that had been manufactured to date, two of them were allocated to be reserved for executing my own plans. The Militarum hadn't even waited to discover if the use of the devices could actually reduce the functional energy cost of transiting 'seeds between realities to install all they could in emulation of the Heartseed. While the advantages weren't that great in terms of potential combat efficacy, the thinking was that apparently even if they couldn't be used for my purposes, they could at least be used for deep-range scouting in the various realms to which my far-flung empire had access. After all; we didn't really know what to expect in the deep space regions of the Sliders 'verse, nor did we know what other threats were lurking off of the Relay network in the Mass Effect 'verse.

When, however, it was discovered that they could in fact reduce the energy costs, the four vessels that had been so equipped were recalled for immediate use by myself. Smiley still egged me on about properly testing the heavier mass even though The Engineer and The Doctor both were quite confident that reducing the mass to only five corvettes rather than the full seven, coupled with the significantly improved transiting performance, should make it go much better than the last time I tried a multi-vessel transit.

The thing with competent scientists and engineers was that when they both agreed with one another completely, the odds of their predictions going badly were quite small. Needless to say, Smiley's declared reservation of one "I told you so" went without fulfillment. I didn't bust his chops over it -- he was right to call me out on my historical recklessness with regards to these things, and besides it was useful to know that I wouldn't be able to make two such transits in quick succession the way I could with just the Heartseed even before the various Stargate 'verse upgrades.

My arrival, then, in the X-Com universe was strictly by the numbers. The four warseeds broke off from the Heartseed and began scanning one quadrant each, while my vessel with its drastically superior stealthing capabilities broke for Mars orbit, searching for any industrial or alien presence there -- I wasn't entirely sure which version of X-Com I had reached, after all, and the best way to be sure was to double-check. There shouldn't be anything on this Mars, but I could have simply not known what to look for.

In short order, the various alien vessels and alien operatives were located. Those of the alien operatives -- mostly 'Thin Men', but there was actually a sectoid 'commander' as well -- that could be captured simply through use of the ring transporters and phase pistols set to stun were, whereas the rest were merely documented.

A few hours after our arrival in the X-Com universe, I found myself staring at the countenances of the various personnel in the command center of their base, as displayed via holographic communication. It was, perhaps, a bit rude of me to project via long-range vo'cuum, but I felt like making an "entrance" for once: to them I would be looming large behind the hologlobe.

I waved my hands out in magnanimous greeting, the imperial robes flowing generously along with the gesture. "Greetings, X-Com. Do not panic, for I come not merely in peace, but with gifts. I direct your attention to the outside of your base, where even now these deliveries are being made to your people."

Colonel John "Central" Bradford glared into my larger-than-life face. "Who the hell are you and how did you get this channel?"

I moved my hands in as graceful a manner as I could to clasp them behind myself. "I am Emperor Andes of the Jovian League, and you might want to look a little more closely, Central. I have not infiltrated your computer systems. It would have been impolite."

Bradford's eyes widened as he realized what I was saying, and noticed that in fact my hologram wasn't angled correctly to be displayed by the hologlobe projector but instead was apparently just … there, flickering occasionally, without apparent source for the image. "Sweet mother. Whatever tricks you're playing at, wearing a human face, we won't be fooled, you xeno bastards!" Bradford swept his arm at the personnel that were just staring at my larger-than-life hologram. "Someone get something that can jam this signal, damnit! Haul ass! Move!"

Various personnel were scrambling about the facility, with odd bits and bobs of largely unidentifiable equipment. The base security officer wearing an "alien alloy" vest and laser rifle who decided to try to see if high energy concentrations could disrupt my hologram was disappointed to discover that in fact it could not. I looked down at him and merely tutted, before settling back to a patient expression. "Do let me know when you children are done."

Several long moments later, the command center of the base had been abandoned and Bradford was meeting with Shen, Vahlen, and the "Commander" in a heavily shielded portion of their base, which happened to be the most recently constructed component and the ultimate reason why I wanted to have access to the place in the first place. Even now their first volunteers were in the three sarcophagus like chambers having their entire beings flooded with the strange energy that they barely understood. The Psionic Enrichment Chamber.

Unfortunately for them, the shielding while effective wasn't enough to prevent me from projecting the vo'cuum hologram into the chamber completely. Nor did it prevent me from taking sustained in-depth sensor readings from the entirety of their base and its contents thanks to the various technologies aboard my Heartseed. The combination of Star Trek 'verse sensors, goa'uld sensors, and Altered Carbon scanner technology all with their slightly different basis of gaining remote data allowed for significantly better returns than strictly the sum of their parts would have dictated.

Bradford slammed his fist on his open palm. "We can't just sit here and do nothing! This facility is compromised damnit! Those alien bastards are probably up there laughing at us while we sit here with all of our operations crippled. We're losing the planet because of one joker with an image projection system!"

Vahlen and Shen both remained silent, their voices impassive. The Commander of X-Com on the other hand seemed more considered. "Oh I don't know. Something very much tells me this is something … new. An opportunity, not a trap. Still. It is best that we be on guard against the unforeseen and the surprising. Isn't that right, Emperor?" The Commander looked directly at my vantage point, making eye contact with me even though I wasn't actually projecting an image.

Spooky.

I triggered the vo'cuum to display me leaning against a wall of the enrichment chamber. "Took you folks long enough. Decided not to run around screaming about the falling sky yet?"

Bradford just glared silently at me, though he had been about to say something before the Commander raised his hand to cut the Colonel off. "We don't take kindly to intruders in these parts. You claim to come in peace; why don't you prove it? Meet us in neutral ground, with these gifts you claim to have for us."

I chuckled. "Well that would be rather tedious considering they're all sitting outside of your base's entrance right now, all gift-wrapped and pretty. I'd get around to opening up the cryopods at some point if I were you though, or at least hooking them up to your local power. The silly buggers inside won't keep forever otherwise."

The Commander seemed troubled. "Cryopods? Just what kind of gifts are these?"

I waved my hand in a theatrical and sweeping manner. "Oh, just the bog-standard uplift package for a contemporary humanity confronting a Class B alien invasion. You know; particle beam weapons technology, artificial gravity and ion thruster technology, advanced alloy and room temperature superconductor synthesis, basic gravitic-confinement monohydrogen fusion technology, handheld energy and lifesigns detectors, electronic telepathic broadcast/receiver interfaces, auto fabricators for the above. And a small fleet of personal atmospheric transits based on said technologies. Oh, and a number of captured alien infiltrators along with video footage and documentation of their locations along with the locations of other infiltrators as of the time of the capture of the individuals in said cryopods."

The Commander seemed somewhat troubled. "You … just what are you?"

I stroked my hand on my chin to show I was considering how to answer the question. "Well; I suppose the most accurate thing I could tell you is that I'm a native-born son of Earth. Just not this Earth."

Vahlen's gaze locked hard onto my holo-avatar. "Alternate Earths? And ones with advanced technology? How curious! Did your people come from a timeline where Rome never fell, perhaps? But then how does that explain the clearly classical Japanese derivation of your attire? Oh I have so many questions!" The emphasis on 'questions' was met with an altogether unhealthy fire in the good Doctor's eyes.

I very much preferred my pseudo-German blonde middle-aged female scientist. She didn't give me the shivers. "All in due time. For now, why don't your people go ahead and take advantage of the breather I'll give you while you work out whether or not trust my little gifts? Oh, and while we're at it -- Bradford, you'll want to take your phone out and take a picture of this."

I raised my hand up and a new holographic globe display came into view. On it was a single red dot in Honduras, with a radiating series of circles drawing attention to it. I explained. "At this location, your people will find the current terrestrial planning and logistics forward operating base of the Ethereal's slave army. Be forewarned, though; while I intend for my own assets to impinge the aliens' operations, at some point I will be leaving you to your own devices and you'll be needing to fend off an assault against this base at that time. As you might have noticed; it was remarkably easy to actually locate. My people are not the only ones with the means to do this. Diversification would not be amiss either."

Bradford snapped out at that. "Do you have any idea of the costs involved in running multiple independent facilities? We just don't have the scale of operations to permit-"

I cut him off with a dismissive wave of my hand. "You do now. Unlike the technologies your people have worked out from the Ethereals' wreckage, the superior technologies I am providing you with are mass producible with the materials of this planet."

Bradford's eyes widened. "That's too good to be true."

I shook my head. "Not everything has to be a battle, Colonel. Though your caution does your people good. For now, take the data your observation satellites are no doubt even yet recording as a sign of my good faith."

In the time I'd been sitting there faffing around with the X-Com personnel, my four warseed corvettes had each taken out multiple alien vessels. They'd even made a run of three separate Battlecruisers to try to smash the warseed covering south america. Hardly subtle strategically speaking, but one supposed they had been hoping for the battle to take long enough to allow them to evacuate their base on the ground there. I had made a point of ordering the light bombardment with the Skrill Cannons of the various detected entrances of the Ethereals' base, just to make sure nothing got out.

I was mostly leaving the wreckage in place for the moment, as actually harvesting it all wasn't exactly something the 'seeds were equipped to do while simultaneously fighting off the survivors of the crashes and any further Ethereal vessels. Well, that and I didn't want to risk our ships getting caught with their pants down should the Temple Ship arrive early due to my interference.

Once I was confident that would not be the case, however, I intended to strip those things of everything that wasn't bolted down. Then strip the bolts. Then strip the deckplating. It would take several trips to haul away it all, even with at least half of it all being delivered back to the local X-Com personnel … but hey. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

It would be interesting to see if the merger between the Eco-Tech implants, Kromagg telepathic mechanisms, and Ethereal psionic enrichment would finally let at least some of my Hosts -- let alone myself -- awaken psionic abilities. At the very least, it would be another gift to give to the Asgard, who had long since given up on activating 'near-ascended' abilities of their own, and should they manage to actually master the technique of psionic rift generation would give them another long-term strategic advantage over the replicators. Especially since I wasn't above keeping several sectoid commander instances to myself as a 'special delivery' to the Asgard in the hopes they would be able to serve as viable hybridization candidates for the Best Greys.