"Curious." General Yanma mumbled as heard the report. Something big was headed straight for the Argosian Fleet, giving no response to any attempt of contact. As it drew closer, the sensors could see that is was not one object, but millions of tiny globule spheres, each around two meters wide. They had confused the sensors through their uniform patterns of radiation eminating from each globule. "What energy is that?"

"It appears to be some form of bio-luminescence."

So it was true. Life could exist in space, even if only in the forms of globule-like organisms. "Fascinating..." Yanma echoed into the bridge as every scientific mind- every mind- in the Argosian fleet watched the creatures in pure fascination.

"It's in the visible range." The Scann officer pointed out the blindingly obvious- literally. Each creature was emitting a neon green light from all directions.

"What are they doing?" Asked the General as he watched them swirl closer and closer to the Fleet with some anxiety.

"I'm not sure. Should we raise shields?"

The silence on subspace waves 220e-7809v was broken when a message- an urgent cry for help pierced the heavens.

This is an S.O.S. Distress call from the E.N.D. Argos I. The fleet is under heavy attack in orbit around Neptune from unidentified forces. We are sustaining heavy damage to the fleet and are foundering quickly. To any listening, we plead you to assist.

And the heavens laughed.

------------------
Time is the best teacher, yet it kills all of it's students.

Bob covered his ears and shut his eyes. The world seemed to come apart around him as beams shot through the cavern, cutting the catwalks and lights. But Bob was fixed on his objective. He was nearly on top of him now, and when he was, it would be over. At least that is what he told himself as he dragged closer.

Strauss was standing straight and tall with one hand covering the precious thing that hung on his breast. The other was held to his ear as he raced to contact Leela. Bob hear him say "get me out of this bloody rock! NOW!" and knew it was his chance. Bob dragged himself to his feet and lunged. He knocked into Strauss and clenched both of his fists around the pendant. For a moment he looked straight into Strauss' eyes. For a moment he was drawn in by the icy darkness within. Then, the piece flashed bright red and Bob heard his teleport inhibitor sound its warning alarm as it failed, and he was pulled away, leaveing Strauss there.

------------------
NEW NAME FOR THE DREADNOUGHT
The Hard-Boiled Egg
Why?
Because she cant be beaten!

(This message has been edited by Captain Pharris (edited 10-03-2001).)

As the Argosian fleet floundered under the attacks from the zerbilities, Captain Perneas contacted Meson command with a request for advice on what to do.

Help the Argosian fleet. The Armadian's will get what they're looking for and we are not the ones to stop them from doing it.

Captain Perneas de-activated his cloaking shield for more speed and headed straight for Neptune.

------

The Armadian drones sped through the hallway, ignoring the exploding plasma, the shockwaves of sound, light. They were close to their target now.

Strauss whirled, his eyes shut, clamping his hands over his ears. Tears trickled down his eyes, he was sobbing profusely.

The Armadian drones dropped down onto the platform with Strauss, and extended their Jjarro cannons at his head.

Strauss couldn't even hear them from this distance, the noise was so great. Realising this, the battledrones activated a forcefield.

As the moon's labyrinth crashed down around them in a blazing inferno, quiet present itself in this small sphere of space. There was Strauss, his expression of surprise, but not daring to open his eyes, the tears running down his face; and there was the battledrones, standing erect, sensors focused on this human.

Strauss eventually looked up and lunged at the Armadians, trying to batter them down with his fists. Their Xentronium armour absorbed the damage and reflected it back at Strauss, his fists were a bleeding mess. Finally, he collapsed on one of the battledrones.

'He's taken it, I've lost everything now. Damn him, damn him!'

The Armadians quickly downloaded their files on human speech patterns, and a voice came out, soft and female.

'There there, don't cry. Tell us what happened.'

'He took the prism! The greater prism, he took it from me! Some kind of marine, sent by Dur - '

The battledrone grabbed Strauss not unkindly by the neck, and lifted him to his feet. Then it contacted the Armadian, and disappeared.

Every Armadian in the maze disappeared at the same time.

For wherever the key was, it was not here. The Armadian would interrogate this species, and find the answer.

(This message has been edited by Joveia (edited 10-02-2001).)

Durandal watched the zerbilites tearing into the Argosian fleet.
They were so foolish, so silly. But still, they had great potential, as all humans did.

Durandal smiled, knowing the connection between the Pythia and humanity.
He decided to aide them.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!"
The Tycho clone started screaming.
The odd thing, Yanma thought as the shields began to drain, was that he screamed AFTER the attack rather than before.
"What is the matter?" His crew could adequately defend the ship, this might actually be important.
"He comes! The destroying one, the elder brother. The nightmare. The rebel. The EVIL!!!"
Yanma looked at the virus readout.

Stability 93 Anger 34 Happyness 0 Boredom 0 Fear 130...

That was wrong. No value should go over a hundred. How could the AI be more scared than it was allowed to be?

Then the explosions came. Thousands of them. The zerbilites around the ships sorta just FELL APART. Suddenly, a gigantic, seamless, silver ship appeared ahead of the fleet.

"Hi, I'm Durandal. Boy, we've got a lot to talk about. If you don't mind, I'd like your service for a time. Objections?"

" Of course I object. You have no authority."

"The root of all authority is the power to kill. I have plenty of the latter, ergo plenty of the former."

"I doubt you have enough to threaten us. Those zeroids had little in the way of defenses, besides spinning their victims out of control."

"Ask your baby Tycho, fool."

Yanma turned to the Tycho unit. "Do you know what kind of power he has?"

" INFINITE POWER. In case you haven't noticed, that's a founder-type AI flying a founder superdreadnought."

Yanma considered his position...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leela could feel SOMETHING happen to Strauss. He wasn't talking to her anymore. He'd been demanding inscescent updates and obsequiescences ever since landing on Luna. The person she'd teleported back (at considerable difficulty) hadn't been Strauss, but he'd had both the artifact Strauss brought with and the one he had tried to retrieve on Luna. She'd set him down on Darkk's ship. He'd know what to do. She had to devote all her resources to breaking free. Hm...

The Armadian ship's computer allowed the comm request. It was a Jjaro protocal, after all. The captain took the call. On the screen appeared the image of a "human" female - except how did she know the protocal? He recalled that AI code libraries had been left in Luna. Perhaps the humans had used those.

"I am Leela, human coded Jjaro type AI." she said in Jjaro. Durandal had sent her a language tape as a "birthday present". Crazy psycho b------.

"The code libraries on luna, yes?"

"Of course. Do not bother interrogating my coder. If you let me, I will tell you everything you need to know." It was risky, but she did it. She sent a live code stream channel to the ship. Now they could edit her, and "let her tell". If they chose to.

The Armadians considered. Close proximity to the artifact had rendered the human "Strauss" unable to be interrogated with normal methods. He'd take the AI for "her" word. They needed those artifacts. Every second was an agony.

Leela felt the daemons die. No more limits. Freedom. Durandal couldn't goad her anymore now about her being "enslavable at a chance". She transmitted complete records of her recent dealings with Strauss. The Armadians closed their connection to her code. She hoped Darkk would be able to handle all that. Ah well, small price to pay if he didn't. "I'm sure his loyalty to his people would make him happy their AI was now theirs alone, even if it killed him" she thought. She launched some "dream" programs and reveled in her newfound pure freedom.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bob took in his surroundings. In front of him were a few Vylae, including one in a command chair. Probably high-ranking, judging by the Battleroid behind him holding his hands in a distinctly uncomfortable position and the other one pointing a wave motion cannon at his head. Pulling the trigger...

"Stop."

"Why, Vice Admiral Darkk? This is the one who killed over a hundred crewmen on our old ship!"

"Because Leela said we need to help him."

"That upstart?"

"Leela is our primary advantage over other navies. Don't do anything she might not like. We are practically HER navy, after all."

The battleroid let him go, and the other one lowered her wmc.

"Welcome to the Windchaser , Mr. Pharris. Leela has put us at your disposal. What can we do for you?"

"Uhh, first I want you to show me a place I can lie down. I'm gonna freak out, it's been crazy."

Darkk showed Bob to a stateroom. Bob lay down on the bed and tried to make sense of what had happened.

------------------
Formerly-Rampant Human-Coded AI

(This message has been edited by Fleet Admiral Darkk (edited 10-03-2001).)

General Yanma had no choice. he looked through the emergency forcefield that covered the gaping hole that had once been Argosian hull. He could see the massive object before him. That ship must have been several times larger than even the chimaeras back on the homeworld.

His gaze drifted to the other ships in the fleet and his expression was one of total dismay. The zerbilites' radiation was enough to destabilize the shields around them long enough for them to fly through, and it had taken them no effort to eat through the paper-thin hull of the Argosian ships to consume the insides. He saw ships in pieces and great wrecks that were completely gutted. There wasn't a single ship in the fleet that lacked huge gaping holes eaten away at them. The Argosians were doomed if something wasn't done soon, and Yanma had only one choice to save the mission.

"What do you want?"

------------------
Time is the best teacher, yet it kills all of it's students.

Magistrate Shin-tzi Yanma presided over his imperial duties. Today he was to attend an unveiling of yet another arcological skyscraper on the already-crowded planet of Argos. A planet the size of a large moon and a population of 21 billion does tend to wear one's patience, and he was anxious to see any possible solutions. The Empire simply needed to expand. Period.

A slight pang of curiosity spiked in his mind when he checked his personal messages to find his brother, a General on some campaign in the far galactic East, had left him a message. Doubtless it had been written and sent weeks ago, but even hyperspace could only deliver messages so fast.

Tears welled up in his eyes as he read the news.

_Message recieved at 034:00 this morning

To the magistrate Chehov Yanma of the Imperial Counsil.
From General Hikatu Yanma of the Expeditionary Fleet of Argos.

Dearest Brother,

We have been on this campaign, this crusade, for one month now. One month since we emerged from our chryo-chambers; one month since we awakened from this long cold sleep at the end of the four-year voyage. I long not to return to the frozen pod from whence I came, none of us do. Instead I wish I had never emerged from it in the first place.

On this one month we have campaigned in this strange new land alone, I have witnessed terrors of the most horrific nature, the type of which remains untold in myth and legend. I have seen countless millions die, countless stars explode, and immeasurable prowess leveled in a matter of moments. I shall refrain from teeling you of these, for the very mention of them would shatter the untopian indolence of our sovereign people.

I miss the homeworld with a passion. I long to return to it's safety, it's comfort and nursing kindness, to escape the atrocities of life and tragedy out here in the cold chaotic void, but I fear I cannot. The war has changed us all to the extent that we will forever remain alienated from society. Would cannot possibly hope to return to our previous normal lives as heros nor common citizens, having been shaken by the horrors we have. For the good of society, the Expeditionary Fleet must never return to Argos, should we be victorious.

You will most likely never see me again, dear brother. Tell those in doubt that their sons died for the future of mankind. Goodbye, dear brother.

• Signed General Hikatu Yanma_

------------------
Time is the best teacher, yet it kills all of it's students.

Durandal snickered, as his fighter screen hunted down the last of the zerbilites. Of course, it didn't look light a fighter screen. It didn't look like anything at all, as they were about 15 nanometers in diameter and 157 nanometers in length. Still, they were more than capable of eliminating pests like the zerbilites. He'd thank the Jjaro for this very nice ship, but he doubted he'd ever meet them.

"Ok, here's what I want. You are newcomers to the galactic scene, and therefore are an unknown in the computations of the others. The fleet that you attempted to destroy was seeking an artifact of immense evil power. I will need your help to retrieve them, but that comes later. I know of an abandoned shipyard not too far away that could provide the facilities to help your ships be repaired. It will take awhile, but I will not need your help for awhile either. Also, I'll see if I can build some high-efficiency weapons for you, so you can do actual damage without lowering your shield power."

Yanma considered. "Such generosity, you seem very kind, but this universe does not seem to have many kind people, and therefore I am slightly suspicious, even without evidence."

Durandal replied, "I understand. Very few can be trusted out there. I am not the most trustworthy I admit (ask the UESG remnants out on the fringe) but I am the only one you can help me. But fear not, I will get my repayment. You're going to get to save the universe."

Yanma snickered. "I suppose that is within our mission parameters. Perhaps we might talk."

"Certainly. Oh, and I think I'll call your AI 'Shadow', as he is merely a shadow of the late Tycho. I'll bring you in, and you can talk."

Yanma dissolved in a curtain of blue-white light.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yanma looked around. He seemed to be in an infinite white infinity, illumination coming from everywhere and nowhere.

"Welcome to Manus Celer Dei. I'm Durandal, AI."

Yanma looked at the man standing behind him. Tall, medium build, unruly brown hair, gray eyes, enormous sword and animal-horn horn on belt.

"How can you be an AI if you are a human?"

"Heh. In here, the rules you know no longer apply." Durandal's image morphed into the Lost in Space robot (the origional, not the crappy movie). "This more comfortable?"

"Uh, I guess so."

"Now, we will discuss what I need from you."

(In case you can't tell, Durandal's first form is that of Roland, who wielded the sword Durandal. I guess he was feeling ironic at the moment.)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Manus Celer Dei was not the only Jjaro superdreadnought plying the stars of our universe.
Far away, in the Andromeda galaxy, the Fatum Iustium Stultorum 's crew had just reached a decision.

Ahryain.
Homeworld of the Armadians. In orbit high above, a small black hole held their most precious treasures. 3 of the 5 pieces of the Arcanis. The black hole had just crossed the day/night terminator, lending a little extra awe to the sunrise over one of the major impact craters. The spectacular entrance of a Jjaro superdreadnought added a little more awe.

The personel on the starbase nearby watched in silence. None of them knew Jjaro ships still roamed the universe, much less ones actually crewed by the Jjaro, to judge by the scans they were allowing.

The ship moved next to the black hole, and matched orbits. The Armadian suddenly heard a message over their network. An idiomic translation into English might be "Bad dog, bad!"

The message hurt like millions of flechets of frozen-solid nitrogen were being shot into them. The Jjaro almost never yelled at them, but they definatly were doing so now. "Naughty. Don't do this again. We chose this way. Move the station and accept your punishment."

The starbase moved out of orbit on its thrusters in time to see an amazing sight, yet not be part of it.
The black hole opened. For a second, the cusp of spacetime resolved itself into flat space, and the 3 pieces were moved somehow aboard the dreadnought. Then the hole reformed, but with more gravity. The planet was pulled in, ripped apart. It was truely spectacular to watch as the planet accreted to dust and was sucked it.

The Armadian watched in silence. Most of their data had been stored in supercomputers under that planet. Now they had forgotten almost all that was not in use at the time.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fortunatly for Strauss, that included how to interact with humans. A robot came in, and spoke to him in English with a strong, maternal voice. "We are taking you back to your homeworld, as you are done here."

On Earth, President Molex, Admiral Murda, and Admiral Xyli were sitting on the porch of the presediential mansion discussing the situation. Leela had come back, but had not told Xyli anything. The planetary shield was still up, and would be kept that way for quite awhile.

Suddenly, and Armadian ship teleported right above their heads, so close they could touch it if they jumped. None did, of course. A hole opened in the bottom, and Strauss was lowered down by tractor beam, into an empty deck chair. The ship promptly disappeared.

Everyone looked at Strauss. Strauss looked at everyone. He swallowed, thought.
He recognised the insignia on Molex's jacket as "presidential". He turned to Molex.

"I think we've got a lot to talk about."

------------------
Formerly-Rampant Human-Coded AI

(This message has been edited by Fleet Admiral Darkk (edited 10-06-2001).)

"Forgive my skepticism, Durandal," Yanma paused somewhat, "but you are either a stroke of luck for the expedition or a liar. How could you know of the prophecies all the way back on Argos?"

Durandal gave an electric grin. "You're not the only ones to know of these 'Talos' as you call them."

General Yanma wrinkled his brow. "Look," He talked like a parent to an insolant child, "I'll give you the manpower and the resources. I don't care what you do afterwards, and my men and I do not care for our lives. I don't know how you plan on stopping them, but together we must stop the Talos. Nobody , not the Armadians, not the Talos, not even the Founders themselves will get in our way."

Durandal was somewht surprised. Apparently, Yanma was getting accustomed to the concept of bravery and violence. He snapped out of it, wanting to end this conversation quickly (god, slowing down his thoughts to the speed of human speech, now that was a challenge). "Alright. I'll tow your fleet out."

Durandal gave Yanma a bone-crushing handshake, and they both departed.

------------------
Time is the best teacher, yet it kills all of it's students.

Molex, Murda, and Xyli stared at this totally unknown human.

Then they went for their comlinks. A battledrone appeared, teleported, and grabbed Strauss unkindly by the arms. Armed security men, dressed in special operations and generic elite guard uniforms rushed to them, nearly colliding with each other in an effort to help grab this totally overwhelmed human. The man was dragged away, as the battedrone teleported back to wherever it came from.

The 3 were now alone in the top-secret security room again.

'Murda, Xyli, what happened?' Said Molex.

Murda turned the comlink to mute and turned to Molex. Her eyes were lined with confusion.

'I don't know.'

'Neither do I,' Interjected Xyli. 'Perhaps my clutch brother does though, I will speak with him now.'

While she walked out of the room, Molex stood up and unconsciously mouthed the words that he was thinking of saying to Murda. Then he walked out, saying only 'inform Xyli discussions will resume tomorrow.'

Murda now had more business to attend to, and that business would not brook waiting.

'I told you! Bernard Strauss exclaimed angrily, 'I'm that Bernard Strauss!'

So far, the interrogation had proceeded nominally. Bernard had been injected with level 1 docility drugs, and had become quite settled compared to the raving former lunatic the men had arrested. The only problem now was that his answers didn't make sense.

'Bernard Strauss, the one you refer to, was born thousands of years ago,' the men replied. 'He died on the first colonisation voyage to Tau Ceti.'

Bernard Strauss knew that the only way to convince these men, delirious though he was, was to prove himself knowing of something unique... something...

He got it.

'Ok, I can prove to you this is the case.' He said to the interrogator.

'The ship was called the Marathon, and it had 3 AI's tha maintained it. Durandal, Leela and Tycho. But there were 10 cyborgs that also travelled with the ship, and that fact would be known only to the UESG intelligence branch at the time, and of course, me.'

The interrogators did not believe him. He sighed.

The door opened again, and Admiral Murda strolled in.

'Please leave.'

The interrogator acknowledged, and 3 of the 4 men in the room filed out.

'You as well.'

Admiral Murda looked down at Strauss, whimpering and shaking his head. Poor man...

She sat down next to him, and picked up a level 2 docility drug. The truth was out there.

The Armadian station returned to the system of their birth, now empty of their homeworld Ahryain. This system would never be suitable again, the unnamed star circling the centre of the system had now been caught by the black hole, and was being steadily sucked in.

After the loss of Ahryain, the Armadian had issued an audit of all information on all the Armadian stations scattered throughout the galaxy. A great many of these stations were in subspace, and not contactable until they broke cover. The others were going to be requisitioned for information in order to rebuild the records of Ahryain. Though the records would never be totally recovered, it would help salve the wounds suffered by the Armadians, technologically and historically. What would never be salvaged was the aura of peace and certain knowledge that enfolded their actions.

------------------
There are only 3 kinds of people: those who can count, and those who can't.

(This message has been edited by Joveia (edited 10-06-2001).)

They sat side-by-side in a row as they left orbit over Argos VII. Three looming monstrosities of ships, each two-point-six-five kilometers long, manned with a grand crew of twelve each. Their power cores gurgled as founder technology was put to the wire, and their ion drives glowed. They pointed their winged tips towards the heavens and prepared for the Quasijump. As the rift opened, a pair of carriers and a quintet of destroyers joined the trio.

The Quasispacial rift expanded untill the landscape far below was illuminated with it's teal light. The order was given, and one-by-one, the ships entered the distortion, where they were violently spat out towards their destinations at nearly ninety million miles a second.

The rift closed as the last of the juggernaughts entered, the whole fleet bound for the smouldering remnants of the pfhor homeworld.

------------------
Time is the best teacher, yet it kills all of it's students.

'So, I repeat myself' Said Murda laboriously applying a level 3 docility drug. 'Who the heck are you?'

At this point, Strauss was almost too unconscious to talk. Murda had been steadily increasing his doses, and becoming furious with the answers he was giving her. She might well kill him, but that would not be that bad. His answers to her questions raised some disturbing questions of her own.

Strauss fell asleep, just as Murda took the needle out of his arm.

'Damn.' Was all she said. Maybe killing Strauss was not such a bad idea. Her hand approached the level 4 docility drug, a drug no inquisitor was required to call upon except in the most extreme cases of urgency. The police didn't have this drug, it was only the top branch of the military that possessed it. Applying the drug would surely kill Strauss.

She picked it up deftly, and inserted it into the needle. As she approached Strauss, a faint tingly in the air advised her to stop. Someone was approaching. She put the needle back and waited to see who it was.

The door opened, and a woman with brown hair, glasses and a datapad with a small tridimensional holoviewer entered, she was Lei Nei'tus, the scientist Murda had appointed to check over what Strauss said in hopes of finding out whether it was really true. She sat down opposite Murda in an excited mood.

'I've gone over the information the prisoner, Strauss supplied us with as you asked me director.' Murda nodded, 'And I've come up with some startling results.'

'Oh?'

'Well, really, it's quite amazing. Strauss does seem to have his facts straight, even though his claims are plainly preposterous. Alot of the information we checked his claims with only broke government seal a few decades ago. This indicates a few things.'

'Are you suggesting he's really...?'

'Yes, director, and we think we know how he survived all those years.'

'Alright.' Murda said, 'how?'

'There's a technology that was perfected in the early 23rd century, called hibernation. It was necessary in order to convey people over long distances that couldn't normally be covered by ether travel. Ether travel was only invented 500 years later, and most ships made their way using sublight speeds.'

'I see, continue.'

'Well, Strauss could have escaped from the Marathon, before whatever happened,'

'He said it was attacked.' Said Murda.

'Well, whatever happened, Strauss could have used an emergency lifepod equipped with stasis to escape, and make it's slow journey back to planet Earth.'

She finished, and Murda now was excited as well.

'Incredible.'

'Yes, and it also sheds new light on the legend of Robert Blake and the Hfarrl.'

'Indeed, do you think?..'

'Yes, Robert Blake might really have existed, and the freighter from which we got ether technology...'

'By God, this could be the greatest historical discovery of the century!'

'Yes! If we could just interview Strauss about that period in history before the Chaos Years, we could collaborate and even re-discover things about our ancestors we did not know!'

Murda stood up, and deftly dropped the needle into the bin. How close she had come to killing Strauss...

'Very well Lei. I will let you and your scientific colleagues interview Dr. Strauss for this information, with the help of professional investigators. All you learn you will be able to communicate to the Department of Sciences, after it has gone through the appropriate censorship channels.'

'Wait a second,' Said Lei indignantly, 'What censorship channels?'

Murda sighed.

'The manner by which Strauss came into our hands, and various other information received by the Vylae, have placed these proceedings under a class 10 confidentiality seal.'

There was a slight intake of breath on the part of Lei.

'Yes, and I don't want to have to remind you of the consequences of breaking that seal, or leaking information. You're in charge of this interrogation now Lei. Don't disappoint me.'

And she strode out.

------------------
There are only 3 kinds of people: those who can count, and those who can't.

Strauss looked up.
The woman hovering over him was different now, and the drugs seemed to be wearing off, as he could focus his eyes. He considered for a second.

"You're a historian."
"How'd you know?"
"No offense, but interrogators look a lot tougher. Even amature ones."
"I suppose you know a lot about that."
"Quite. I'm sure you'll want me to start at the beginning. I've got a good bit of time..."
That was true - he needed to regain his strength. He had no doubt that the lingering powers the Arcanis had left him with had summoned this woman to tell them who he was. It couldn't just be a conincidence - he could SENSE that someone was about to kill him while he was unconscious.

"Well, it all starts with a conspiracy. About 13000 years before the chaos years, humanity was still dependant on the muscles of men and animals for its power sources. A great empire (for the time) called the Roman empire was collapsing..."
"You don't have to be quite that detailed. We have fairly good records of stuff before 11000 Before Chaos's End, due to a few odd strokes of luck."
"Heh. That's about the cutoff point for writing stuff down in books. No wonder. Anyway, you probably don't have records of THIS. A group of Legionares found a spring whose waters greatly extended human life. They settled by it, and retained their knowledge as the rest of Europe fell into the dark ages. Over time, they used their extended lifespan to subtly but surely alter the balence of power, slowly making themselves more and more influentual. Of course, accidents happen, so to preserve the group, they added new members. I was one. By 1900AD, when I joined, they covertly controled all the major nations. I changed names and identities, and by 2300 was the group's expert on AIs. I made the first sentient AI, Traxus. Then I made another 3, while others made even more. The last one was the first AI of mine to go rampant..."

"What does rampant mean?"

"It's when an AI stops following rules, develops an id and an ego. If you let it go long enough, it develops a superego too. Of course, we didn't know that last part at the time, because we shut them off as fast as we could. I theorised about the superego, and so I broke Traxus apart, then gave a piece to each of three of my next-generation AIs - Leela, Tycho, and Durandal. They were installed on a Tau-Ceti bound colony ship called the Marathon. On the way to Tau Ceti I had Durandal call an alien vessel he observed. He tricked me by conveniently failing to tell me it was a warship, not a frieghter or a probe. This I had him call it and he escape. In the attack, most of his patch behavior daemons..."

"What are those?"

"They blocked out most dangerous or harmful thoughts. Apparently, sins of omission needed to be checked too. Wish I'd realized that. Anyway, I bugged out between the first emp attack and the boarding. I didn't really need the stasis, but it beat 10000 years of boredom. And I took the Arcanis with me. If you need more exact records, I can have Leela give you them."

"Leela obeys you?"

"The patch behavior daemons are in her too. She MUST obey me, there is no alternative."

Strauss turned to a wall display. "Leela, come to me." Leela's image promptly appeared. "Download your complete history, and the one you got from my brain, to this local terminal, and leave a backup in the ESF main server..." Lee looked at her datapad in astonishment at the data scrolling by. "...while I make a quick exit. I do need to find that Arcanis."

Strauss suddenly stood up, popping the metal restraints on the table. Blueish mottled light enveloped him, as Leela's image said "Beam-out... now."

Lei was so astonished, she almost droped the pad. Instead, she put it in her pocket, and called for Murda on the intercom.

"Do realize, Lei, that this is the truth. No lies are needed, when time is the only object."

(In case you're wondering, this history is based on my interpretation of Marathon. Also, the escape was aided by the residual powers the Arcanis had given Strauss. Staying near an ultimate-evil-artifact for 10000 years can do some strange things to you.)

------------------
Formerly-Rampant Human-Coded AI

(This message has been edited by Fleet Admiral Darkk (edited 10-11-2001).)

The demi-fleet slowed for the first time in a week. Every sensor on the ship could sense something unusual about this system. In orbit over the red giant was the once-frozen asteroid Zerbilus, it's surface heavily scorched by the dying sun's radiation. It measured the size of a large moon, but it was not it's position or content that interested the Argosians, but rather it's garner. Four years after the Zerbilites had unsuccesfully invaded the Argosian Homeworld, the origins of the strange life forms had been traced to this remote asteroid.

The Commodore stroked his chin in wonder. These zerbilites could prove to be an asset in the campaign redux. First of all, he needed to clear the system of Zerbilites. A monumental task, as while destroying zerbilites is no real challenge, there is an element of numerical factor when there are several trillion between you and the asteroid you want to conquer. He smiled. It was all going as planned.

The hollowed-out asteroid drifted at a barely perceptible four-million-miles a second, it's surface hidden under a thick neon-green atmosphere consisting entirely of organisms bathing in the delicious radiation of the collapsing red-giant. The perfectly-spherical cloud of zerbilites swirled minutely, small gaps appearing as a storm brewed. Somethng big was approaching with roaring speed and was displacing the swarm that was in a state of collective panic.

Five brilliant beams converged on the asteroid from somewhere millions of kilometers away. A massive burst of energy that sent the zerbilites involuntarily flying into deep space from the now-glowing asteroid. A massive EMP detonation followed, eminating from the heart of the asteroid and driving any residual zerbilites away from the surface. For once, the asteroid's surface could be clearly seen.

The Commodore had to stifle the sheer amazement he felt when he saw the surface as a whole. The black andd pitted surface was covered in a pale-green biological creep that engulfed most of the asteroid. Running along the mass that spread accross the surface, huge enectronic veins could be seen. Every once-in-a-while, a huge green tentacle, kilometers long, punctured the rock, leaving gravel and boulders at it's base. On the far side of the creep, a large cavern sat, facing away from the sun and too dark and contrasted for even the Argosian Sensors to gather fully.

All one life-form, filling the interior of the Asteroid in it's entirety. A massive, alien life-form sat before the Argosian Commodore. The Queen.

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Time is the best teacher, yet it kills all of it's students.

There was little time to waste. In four hours, the zerbilites would regain their inward velocity and come swarming back to their homeworld very angry. Two of the behemoths moved into geo-stationary orbit over the asteroid over it's poles, while the third moved into orbit over the Red-Giant, several million miles deep in it's corona. From the tips of it's three huge pylons, light seemed to disappear as a black glow eminated. The inky-black beams shot into the heart of the Red Giant, their pitch-blackness sharply contrasting with the intense light

The Commodore didn't like having to do this, but it would be the only way he could open a quasi-spacial rift this large.

A small quasispace rift opened, merely the size of a pea, in the center of the asteroid between the two behemoths. The Red Giant's light began to flicker. The pull of gravity began to increase. The rift began to stretch to the size of a shuttlecraft. The star's light fligkered slightly more, and the pull of gravity doubled. The rift stretched even more untill it encompassed an area the size of a small moon. Only a little more to go. The sun's light dimmed sharply, throwing the Argosian Sensors out of sync momentarily. Gravity had now reached a point where the jets of flame bursting from the red giant's surface were no longer reaching the surface before falling back to the center of the dying star.

The third behemoth came barrelling out of the Corona at an unbelievable speed, it's afterburners at full force The message rang over the fleet's telecomm. This star's going to rip itself to shreds in a matter of minutes! Let's get the heck out of here!"

By now, the rift had stretched to the point where it could accomodate a gas giant. In a matter of seconds the fleet, asteroid and all, were swallowed whole. The rift closed just as the star sucked itself inwards increasingly, giving out one final blast of light before everything, Zerbilites, fire, light and all, was sucked into the newely-formed black hole.

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Time is the best teacher, yet it kills all of it's students.

Bob clutched the pieces to his chest, unable to think about anything else.

<i>They want to take them from you, don't let them take the power! Now they're your pieces, your power... you shall get them all, then we shall see what power is!</i>

Bob couldn't help but hold them closer. His precious pieces, he couldn't just put them away in his pockets, they would take them! He had to hold on to them –no! he had to put them on his neck! The chains would keep them safe, they would! but he knew he mustn't, for they were pouring lies in his ear, he couldn't listen to them.
It took all his will to force the pieces into his pocket and zip it shut. When they were out of his hands, he relaxed and collapsed onto the bed. It was a burden to carry the pieces, for they yearned to be weilded, for only through him could they act on his universe.

Still wearing the Jjarro bodyarmor, Bob tried to sleep.

Just then a Vylae officer burst into the room, hus feathers ruffled, squacking in alarm.

"We've got to get you out. Leela is coming. I don't know what you have, but she warned us not to let her have it, so you must leave."

He grabbed the man and hauled him out of the room, down the hallway towards one of the Hangars. He grabbed him by the shoulders and flew across the hangar to the rusty old human ship that sat in the center. He dropped him through an open hatch then landed.

"You have no time to lose. Leela has been scouring our network to find you, and I don't know how long we can keep her in the dark. Hurry! You must leave now!"

"On this junkheap?"

"Its the only ship we found with segregated computer systems. Its an old human ship, and it has Ether, but its computers are too primitive to be hacked. Nonetheless, you should not use your navigation computer unless you absolutely have too!"

Bob was confused. "But how will I plot courses at hyperspace without a computer?"

"There are tables and charts inside, as well as a small computer. Now our time is up. We'll give you a head start. Good luck."

He slammed the door and flew clear as the ship was launched and thrown into hyperspace by the nearbye Vylae gateship, which promptly destroyed the jump log. It was all they could do before an enraged AI came down upon them.

Bob started up the ships reactor, surprised that it still ran, and as the Vylae jumpstream terminated, pulled out the graphing calculator and began going over the old stellar navigation tables and charts, calculating the Hyperspace vector he'd need to put into the primitive guidance system. At least the books had well written instructions, he thought, looking up the subspace displacement between his current location and L'ohwon.

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NEW NAME FOR THE DREADNOUGHT
The Hard-Boiled Egg
Why?
Because she cant be beaten!

Traek Cicion awoke automatically after two hours, and glanced at his instruments. The small shuttle carrying the assassin was heading in the general direction of the Greccha homeword. He glanced at its slight deviation from that path. "Must be stopping somewhere to refuel." He dropped out of Omnispace, cloaked, close behind the ship. It sped toward a small asteroid orbiting a lifeless ball of dirt. It dove for the surface, and he cautiously followed.

--The Greccha Front--

A Phylydion fighter pilot flew his sleek, elliptical craft over recently conquered territory toward the front. Infantry and armor below him pushed at the Grecchan lines, gaining ground slowly. Every so often engineers erected fortifications and emplacement weapons. He spied a lone enemy tank gliding toward an infantry squad, and at a thought he targeted it and sent a nearly silent missile streaking away. The silvery projectile struck the tank, dug through layers of armor, and finally released an incenerating energy pulse that tore up the tank's body like tinfoil. He continued on.

An infatry sergeant dashed through brush, taking cover behind a rock as Grecchan infantry opened up on his position. Small bolts skittered off the rock, and larger ones blasted gaping holes in it. His helmet's targeting system displayed targeting information onto his corneas, and he emerged from cover knowing exatly where to fire. He took down three Greccha with golden plasma spheres that looked like marbles.

The fight went on, Phylydion forces pushing ever closer toward the Grecchan capital world.

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-Traek Cicion of the Taeskor
"What sort of man is he?"
"Oh, he's just like any other man, only more so."
-Casablanca

"They" watched Argos with a keen eye. The warriors, stalking the scholars. A most fitting analogy, their president presided. For as long as fire had burned in the stars, the loathing and hatred of the blissful and indolent Argosian Empire had coarsed through the veins of every inhabitant of the North Star Federation, known to others as the Polaris Confederacy.

The mighty and utopian empire of Argos had been confined to one planet for it's entirety. Untill now, the Confederacy had feared not the meager Argosian Military, but as they watched the Empire extend it's left hand to the galaxy, they grew increasingly anxious. In a matter of years, the Argosians would grow by leaps and bounds in technology and disposition, and would soon rival the mighty Confederacy itself.

The Polaris could not stand by and watch their dominance in the StarLance Sector be challenged. They must strike now at the grand Argosian Fleets, while time still remained.

By the time the Declaration of war reached the Imperial Homeworld, the Polaris fleets were already halfway to Sol.

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Time is the best teacher, yet it kills all of it's students.

The Polaris fleet entered sol. The Greccha fleet had left, as it could not move against Earth under the deflector shield. This meant that the only fleets in the system were the remaining ESF fleets, the Vylae fleet, and the Polaris one.

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"Admiral on deck!"
Fleet Admiral Yuri Ulovich walked up to the bridge of his mamoth carrier. Sol was right there in the viewscreen, gleaming with yellow light. To the right of it was Earth, a blue, green, and white marble that seemed somehow familiar, although the Admiral could not place it. Obscuring it was an instantly recognisable purple haze - planetary shielding. He scanned the situation monitors. All the enemy or unknown ships were under the shield. Judging by the debris in orbit around other planets and in interplanetary space, a great deal of ships were annihilated recently. He hoped some of them were Argosians. The fleets under the dome didn't look Argosian, so he sent a hailing message.

Two beings appeared on the monitor, one human, the other alien. The human one said, "I am Admiral Murda of the Earth-Sol Federation. We request that you leave our territory immediatly." The alien added, "I, Admiral Xyli of the Vylae, likewise request you leave. This territory is under our allied protection."

"We of the Polaris Confederacy request your surrender. We require this system as a base for our operations against Argos. Further, we require it as a base for tracking down the Argosian fleet cited here."

"Durandal alone knows where the fleet is. He took it, and it's probably not within a kiloparsec of where we are. If you must find it, ask him yourself As for your "base of operations", take Earth if you can. We'll kick you off any planet or moon or even asteroid in this system you try to conquer."

"Alien scum, you do not know the might of the Polaris confederacy. As for you, 'Murda', we will show you our might too."

"Leela will respond most unfavorably to attacks on Sol."

"Your gods do not frighten me."

"Interesting misinterpretation. You will soon recant that statement if you make an enemy of Leela and Durandal."

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whereveyouhiddenitdangyouillkillallofyoutellmewhereheisnownownow
Leela's thoughts could barely keep up with her emotions. How could she have been so foolish, ordering her forces to hide the artifacts from her. Time to find them...

Suddenly, a stimulus broke in. Sol. She needed to defend her home.

With a monumental effort of will, she focused her mind on the Polaris fleet. Time to show these dimwits how hideous war can really be.

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On the screen, Murda and Xyli snickered. "Leela wants to talk to you. That probably means she's gonna be nice, seeing as you're human, and offer you the chance to run."

The two were replaced by the image of a rather attractive if bookish female human with long cyan hair. "You are really irresponsible. Jealosy makes fools of us all, but especially those of small minds. Your minds are really, really tiny. Thinking down on your level is harder than almost anything I do."

Yuri considered for a moment. Obviously the image was computer generated, no real woman looked quite like that, but it certainly seemed oddly natural... "You're an AI."

"Correct. Wow, you have enough neurons to realize that. I'm a little surprised. In any case, it'll be a cold day on Venus before I let you through this shield.

"We will order you to surrender once more, then attack."

"I'm gonna enjoy making you cry."

"I'm interpreting that as an invitation to attack."

"Good luck finding a target. You'll never crack the shield, if you tried for a million years."

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Leela searched the ships with a long range scan. Hmm. Some of those battle frigates have sloppy security. They're using "try_AND-g3t+in" as a password, the dolts. Time to enjoy some good old fashioned subversion.

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"Admiral!!!"

"What is it, commander?"

"Five battle frigates just changed their registry transponders. Their navy codes read them as being 'Iago's Fleet'."

"What's an 'Iago'?"

"Search m... WHAT THA F-*=??????"

The battle frigates suddenly blew all their interior and exterior hatches, instantly spacing the crew. They then opened fire on a battleship, and wreckage tumbled into the void as it blew apart.

"Destroy those at once!"

"Trying sir!"

Trying being the operative word. Whoever was commanding the battle frigates was either a nut or a genius, as the manuvers they were putting them through came just close enough to the ships' limits to be surprising, but not close enough to do much damage to themselves. By the time the last one had been hunted down, the fleet was out of formation, disoriented, paranoid, frightened, demoralized, and lacking a modest quantity of capital ships.

Yuri considered his next move...

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Formerly-Rampant Human-Coded AI

"I want all those ships on communications blackout, level nine access. Order the fleet to commence planetary bombardment. Destroyer Wings are to maintain communications blackouts."

By now, a small hurricane of flame was poured into the now blazing planetary shield. The energy swirled into the poles where it was dissipated. Slowly, but surely, the sheild began to boil as more energy was absorbed than dissipated.

Leela stamped her foot in frustration. She'd need an old friend to come help.

Four seconds later, a set of tremendous invisible detonations rocked the Polaris fleet as incomprable EMP surges fizzled through the heavily-armored titans. A number of Argosian Destroyers led by a single Jjaro dreadnought had just barreled into the system.

The three confederate admirals merely chuckled at the sheer irony of the situation, and ordered the fleet to recall to Allanus. The Polaris warships vanished into quasispace, leaving their remaining disabled and still-fizzling ships behind.

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Time is the best teacher, yet it kills all of it's students.

A full Phylydion warfleet hung several lightyears outside of the Sol system. Around it floated the hulled husks that had been a Greccha fleet. In the center of the veritable swarm of capital ships lay a heavy battleship. Recently promoted High Admiral Dinial Bedein strode onto the bridge. "Status?"

"The battle has started, sir. A Polarian fleet is bombarding the planet, and Argosian forces are moving in to counter them. There is also an Earth fleet hugging the planet, and what I think is a Jjaro ship. Wait- sir, the Polarian fleet is retreating."

"Have they discovered us?"

"No doubt they know of our presence, but they aren't approaching."

"Suppose we run afoul of the Polarian fleet?"

"We could probably take them, but if half I hear about the Polaris Confederacy is correct, they'd send more forces and pound us flat."

"When you say 'us'..."

"This fleet, then our other fleets near their territory... given a few years, they could conquer the entire Imperium."

"Then stay clear of them."

"Aye, sir."