Chapter Text
"My... people?"
"When we..." Callum stopped himself from saying humans, even after so many years, he found himself needing to do this, "... first figured out we had our first real encounter with an extraterrestrial entity, and we couldn't form any countermeasures. We knew nothing about even their most basic characteristics, until now."
"Are we gonna fight my.."
"Not unless your old homeland decides to join them," Callum stated flatly before turning to the gathering. He was about to postpone the meeting when he found the transmission already muted from the other end.
He gave a momentary glance at Rayla. He only brought her here because the meeting was supposed to be a routine status report on their progress which had no real security restrictions. Now he had to escalate it to discuss national security.
"Everyone without C-8 clearance or higher, please leave the room." He commanded, and over half the people gathered began shuffling out. Since the Erdian side was busy on their end, he had a message sent over to continue this meeting in a few hours.
Rayla wanted to know more, but she knew there was no point in arguing.
"Were there any other species inside?" Vaeril asked, and the reply came quickly,
"While we haven't explored much of it, all the bodies we found are of the same species. The size of the interior and equipment are all designed for a single or a very limited size, orientation, and body shape."
"So too small for a dragon to fit then,"
"It could be that there are areas that are separate and sized appropriately, but we mark the likelihood as low. Our equipment isn't capable of conducting more thorough searches."
"I'm hereby folding this into the naval division of the main autonomous AI vehicle program. You'll have access to their expertise and budget," Callum ordered; he saw some of the admirals wanted to contest it, and they probably would after coming up with a justification that wasn't flimsy on arrival. "No manned vehicles, we ain't risking anyone becoming fish food."
"Look around for markings, icons, languages, or anything else for any similarities to our historical records," Vaeril added as this, his tone clear and neutral while his expression was anything but.
"Any conclusions we can draw from this?" Callum focused on the remains of the giant creature, which was a mystery, but its origins and place in this ecosystem were of little concern to the military. This ship took priority over everything else.
"No sir, it offers clarity but not enough to draw any relaible conclusions." An intelligence officer spoke up.
"At least now we know how my ancestors even knew of this Halo. The question remains. What is it, and what does it even do?"
He was interrupted by the head of intelligence, "I'm afraid, Knight Commander, that such questions will have to wait until the immediate security issue is contained. With Regalia being our vassal, their lack of telecommunications renders their records for anything not highly localized unreliable. It presents an easy vector for seeding agents within.
Your Excellency, I propose that we reject or delay consideration of Prince Kaarel's overtures for complete unification for at least a decade. That should give us time to fill in the records to close that vector."
"Was this matter not discussed and accounted for over four years ago?" The head of the Commisariat Bureau interjected,
"The protocols were based on the assumption that elves would be directly recruited or mentally subverted.", the director of intelligence countered, defending his agency's work.
"There is only one thing we know for certain. Our enemy consists of elves. We still do not know anything about other species, political structure, economics, technology, or other capabilities." The director of internal security stated as he worked through the data.
"Robert, how has the extra production been going?" Callum asked his old friend, the current head of Clan Steiner.
"The production of stealth composites and coatings is still below 50% of our targets. I can't go any higher without rousing regulatory suspicions," Robert said apologetically. Some things couldn't be done clandestinely when they got big enough. "Best I can do is have excess production capacity on standby."
"Production capacity for components for advanced vehicles and weaponry is at the targeted 150% but similar to Clan Steiner's predicament, assembling them in secret on the scale we require isn't possible. The final amount is only 70% of our targets."
At Callum's behest, Aleesia entered her password and discovered that she had been granted temporary access to level 11. Quickly, she looked up the relevant data and forwarded it to him.
She was honestly surprised they were building next-generation stealth aircraft and missiles in secret. Using the increased production of current-gen aircraft to mask it.
Looking at the numbers, this year they would produce at least 500 units for light, medium, strike aircraft, heavy fighters, and other types, with an additional 100 carrier-capable units for the current generation. Bombers and interceptors were on a normal production run.
They had managed to build 160 stealth aircraft of each fighter class, but the lack of stealth coating meant that only 80 could be fielded. The goal was to produce 300 of each this year, with hopefully enough stealth coatings for at least 160-200.
As she looked through the list, she found several items that were locked behind levels 12 and 13 restrictions. Projects named breaker, adrift, whale, beehive, gluton, knockdown, runner, lightbulb, blanket, vacuum cleaner, river, etc.
"I think we should lobby the high soviet for a temporary exemption to production mandates to meet our shortfalls." The speaker suggested and began mentally going through a list of representatives and committees they could count on.
Callum just nodded as that could be pushed through by using the memory of the incident from last August. "Is the intermediate generation stealth interceptor ready to enter production?"
"Yes sir, though the performance leans towards the current generation. I do not know when the next-generation engines will be ready." The Director of SMED said as he transferred the relevant files to everyone, "This engine was suppsoed to be the basis for the generation after the stealth aircraft became the mainstay of our airforce. But we've made no progress in resolving the issues. Additional budget or personnel will not help."
Aleesia kept silent since anything clan-related was something Callum had a better grasp of. Rather, she worked to look up relevant data on things they discussed. The discussion ranged from production to training to deployments, though priority was given to Regalia due to needing to handle their vassals with care in this matter.
"Let's not forget our east, perhaps we should focus a satellite or two on Xadia." The General of the Army suggested
"Unlikely to be an issue," Vaeril countered as he had occasionally kept himself apprised on his old homeland, "they are contending with mass internal division.
Even if they were given the means to cross the veil and any advanced armaments. They would get bogged down with internal conflict long before they ever reached the borders,
This is likely to continue for a few decades unless something dramatic happens in the near term."
"Perhaps," The new Minister of Foreign Affairs sat deep in thought.
"Daniel, what're you thinking?" The speaker asked, knowing it was probably that he'd need to run by the high soviet.
"His Excellency's siblings are due to visit the Confederate palace this April. At the same time our trade agreement with them is up for renewal. We could use that opprtunity to gather information."
"Approved," Callum declared. The veil made it impossible for satellites to gather reliable intel anyway, but he could not picture the East posing a threat to them.
After two hours had passed, the Erdian line reconnected, having finished their own matters and the meeting resumed. Another hour was spent simply catching both sides up on what their separate discussions entailed.
It took another four hours for them to fully discuss shared security and military strategy before Vaeril called for everyone's attention, "May I assume the security threat is discussed and we can move to the more pressing matter?"
Callum looked around the gathering before nodding for him to speak,
"Now that we know that IS a ship. How exactly did it get to this realm?" Vaeril keyed the display to show a cross-section of the planet, with a 10,000 km gap between each shell layer that were called 'realms'. A point far down blinked, showing where the ship was.
"Shouldn't it be on the surface?" General Cornelius finished for him, and he just nodded,
"Precisely, we move large ships by enlarging the ring gate portals using the central tower's functions. Unless they have another means, we should assume they brought it there using the same method as us." Vaeril thought on it hard; unless the rings went dormant or were locked out, there would've been a record that they could look into.
"And the holes on the hull?" The Erdian Minister of National Defense asked, and the display highlighted each one.
"Three ways this happened: First, it was forced to flee to this realm after being attacked. Second, it was attacked once it arrived there. And third, it was both." General Cornelius took a sip from his mug while trying to picture the events in his mind as he worked through the problem. "However, the cause could be anything from some kind of planetary defense mechanism, another interstellar entity, infighting, or something else entirely."
No matter what they tried, all they had was educated guesswork. There just wasn't enough information for them to make any real deductions.
"We should at least acquire some samples from the hull. If we can understand its properties then we might know what it would take to puncture it." The Erdian prime minister spoke up as he quickly went through the personnel roster to see how many specialists they could divert to this.
Aleesia just watched, struggling to keep up. The discussion seemed to easily jump to things that were tangentially related a lot before coming back. Most of all, the discussions involved changing their current plans and moving up their schedules, among other things.
30th March
Callum's estate
"Where is he?" Rayla popped his head through the window after she was finished playing with Eva.
"He's busy checking up on a lot of classified projects." Aleesia was frantically rescheduling everything for the next few months. "Tomorrow we're heading to the joint naval exercise. After that, I need to handle some stuff in the main estate, then meet with the syndicate council."
"Do you both need to? This stuff's gonna be reported to you anyway. Why can't we just watch TV instead?" Rayla sulked at how their family plans for the weekend were now in ruins.
"We make do with what we get," Aleesia said, knowing just how packed her schedule was going to be. Taking a vacation as planned wasn't something people in their positions ever got to do. "You four can still go without us."
4th April
Confederate Palace, Xadia
"GUYS!"
"Zym!" Ezran, Aanya, and Ellis ran up to their old friend, who had to lower his head so they could hug him. In the last three years since they saw him, he had grown to be almost twice the size of a horse.
"Zym saw Eva who barked happily seeing him again. He then looked around for someone very important who wasn't anywhere to be seen, "Where's that grumpy toad?"
"He's sleeping," Ezran said, running his hand through Zyn's mane, which felt so soft.
"You can talk now." Ellis remembered Zym barely able to form complete words the last time they came.
"Fluently," Zym raised his snout high in a display of superiority, his tail wagging side to side. Once he was satisfied, he lowered himself, "Get on, the others are in the garden."
They quickly helped Eva get on before climbing on. Zym raised himself and spread his wings wide.
"You've.. done this before, right?" Ezran held onto Zym's mane as he looked down.
"No." That was all Zym said before taking off with his passengers screaming in terror.
Meanwhile, in the conference room,
They quickly held a meeting, using the renewal of the trade agreement to renegotiate some terms.
"An army of golems." Vaeril rubbed his chin in deep thought. He had heard of such things but always dismissed them as mere exaggerations of folklore. This was unexpected, as this was the dramatic something he spoke of only a month ago. "How effective is the treaty you signed with Elarion?"
"It has no loopholes he can take advantage of. He must attain permission from the entire confederacy to march his troops outside of their territory. His own supporters have no intention of attacking us, so he poses no threat to you." The moonshadow representative spoke as he went through the specifics of the treaty.
"Has he tried to do anything to sway you?" Vaeril began to piece together the political landscape.
"No, he seems to be trying to sway the masses and anyone with influence very slowly.
In the meantime, he is just training his forces while making overtures for better trade with the rest of us. We suspect he won't try anything overt yet." The Moonshadow representative spoke, trying hard to hide his frustration at how this was even allowed to stand.
"That is why you wish to renegotiate the terms, then?"
"We are willingly to reduce our trade restrictions." Avizandum offered,
Vaeril thought on it for a moment. They had reduced their import of sunforged items, opting for cheaper ones that only lasted a few years. Now the majority of their imports were agricultural products, specifically those used in casting spells, medicine, or alchemical uses.
There was a hard limit on how much they could buy each year; the amount wasn't enough to outlast any supply shortages.
"I believe my superiors would be amenable to this."
Ibis offered him a list: "We would like high-grade steel, medical supplies suited for treating combat injuries, and the use of your doctors to regrow the limbs of all of our people."
Vaeril read the list before nodding, "Everythign on this list can be done,but we will need guarantees of safety for our personnel if you wish to conduct mass limb regrowth treatment."
He easily guessed the high-grade steel was for weapons and armor since it was expensive to make in Xadia outside of the sun forge, which did not have an unlimited capacity. Selling it for cheap would be easy.
The limb regrowth was being done in limited capacity in the Eastern Union. Doing it on this scale would benefit their military, no, he quickly corrected himself, as it would be far more beneficial for their economy if those who lost limbs had more options for work.
"I believe they will agree to this. It'll take a day or two for them to grant the team permission to negotiate on this." Vaeril felt that should be sufficient to keep matters in Xadia from becoming a problem.