CHAPTER 3: GENESIS OF THE SHARIAN EMPIRE
Taylor's Journal
It has been two months since the Locker Incident happened, as well as being placed in this new body and universe by a Random Omnipotent Being. When I had awakened that first day after passing out in my locker, I saw that I was sitting on a silvery metal throne in a strange room filled with large white metal pods that were each ten meters tall. I looked down at myself and saw that my body was alien.
Suffice to say that my panicked screams summoned a robotic being to my presence. This humanoid robotic being, who was a foot shorter in height than me, looked like it was made completely out of angular pieces of greenish metal. I could not see any eyes on its face. I panicked even more, standing up from my seat and flailing my arms at the scary looking thing. Then I heard it say "Hello Miss Hebert," in raspy tones.
After I stopped flailing my arms, I cautiously listened to what it had to say to me. The robot said that its name is Mabus and that his master is the Random Omnipotent Being responsible for my current situation. Mabus then produced a laptop from somewhere inside him and gave it to me. I sat back down in my chair.
After I activated it, I saw that the supposed operating system of this laptop was Microsoft 10, 000. Looking through strange files on this laptop, I saw one titled "Taylor Hebert's Canonical Story." What I read in that file shocked me. The story was called Worm novels by Wildbow and I, Taylor Hebert, was the protagonist of the story. Long story short, I saw how my story played out, right up to me going insane, saving the world, and getting shot in the head afterwards.
After I was done reading the story, I was stunned and horrified about the fact that Scion and his alien ilk are a threat to the multiverse. Mabus then played recorded messages from ROB to me. The messages explained to me that I have been given the opportunity to change my fate. The messages stated that I will have to guide and develop an alien empire for a long time before I could return to Earth Bet and destroy Scion. The messages reassured me that only a small amount of time would have passed on Earth Bet by the time I returned there.
Time passed quickly for me on the world I was placed on. I read all the files on laptop relating to biology and abilities of the two races I would be managing, the technological designs that would be critical to the development of this empire, the new name I would be known as, and information about the universe I was placed in, as well as all the important people I would meet in this universe. After reading those files, I set about awakening the pods containing the Sytericans and Teknosians, with ten thousand members for each species. Mabus served me as an advisor as well as a butler, bringing me my essentials from the stock of supplies in this base.
This one kilometer long base was placed on a large island on a mediterranean world. It contained all the things we needed to kickstart our new civilization. The Sytericans and Teknosians treated me with respect, and I respect them in turn. While I was not their creator, their creator chose me as their leader and their teacher.
Aside from the files relating to the Sytericans and Teknosians, there were surprisingly other files about things from human culture. These other files included the following: the entirety of the content of the English Bible and a compilation of notes from Biblical scholars; various movies, books, and songs of all genres; and some video games such as Endless Space 2 and Plants vs Zombies.
The note attached to the Bible file from ROB said that the Bible is not just full of moral values, it is also a useful guide for a relationship between a deity and his or her chosen people. During my free time, I read the Bible and took note of how. My human family was agnostic in our religious beliefs.
With the magical powers of the Sytericans and the advanced technology of the technology of the Teknosians, we already had a small city up and running by the time two months had passed. The city was named Annette in honor of my mother. The city was built in a non-euclidean architectural style with the buildings mostly made out of synthetic greenish hued rock. My palace is large complex made up of both the underground base and the four gold covered, forty meter tall pyramids on the surface.
Our civilization was powered either by the nuclear fusion power plants, or by the strange, spheroid, Dimensional engines that gathered energy from the Warp in order to convert it into electrical energy. More and more drone units were being built to provide some free labor for the growth and expansion of our civilization. In case of unexpected attacks from unknown foes, defenses would be built in both the capital city and in future cities.
Aside from the typical automated defense turrets, semi-sentient plantlike organism were created for the purposes of defence as well. These genetically modified organisms were inspired from the Plants vs Zombies game. There is a two meter tall Bean Launcher which had a large, green, sac shaped head with four purple eyes, that rapidly spits out beans larger than cannonballs. These beans would used to inflict either kinetic or chemical damage upon impact with the target. The Bean Launcher could grow additional heads after being fed with additional biomass.
Other "Plants" included a giant blue mushroom that expels freezing gas when it explodes, another giant but radioactive mushroom that was black in color which explodes with the force of a very low yield nuclear bomb. There were also giant Toxic Potatoes that explode like landmines, as well as as purple Guzzlers with fanged mouths that are strong enough to bite through steel. Lastly, there were the brown shelled Tough Nuts that ranged from two meters to four meters in height. The magic within the Tough Nuts enabled friendly fire to curve around them while taking hits from enemy firepower.
As the years passed, new generations were born and guided by their elders. I made sure that the education system of our civilization was held to high standards. The population of each race grew in size from tens of thousands to millions. More and more cities sprang up on Syter, our homeworld. Eventually, we settled across the entire planet.
It was in the fifteenth year since the Founding of the Sharian Empire when the first space ships were built. Four ships that are each one kilometer long, two of Syterican make and two of Teknosian make, loudly took from their starports with billions of Imperial citizens cheering and recording this moment. This would be the start of the Voidseeker Navy.
Voidseeker Navy
"We seek the void, because we are ready to master the final frontier."- the motto of the Void Seeker Navy.
This department is composed of fleets of military starships of the Sharian Empire, who also supervise civilian shipping. It is made of millions of space vessels, their crews, their support staff, and dedicated star ports and manufacturing facilities. The vessels comprising the navy are usually of Syterican or Teknosian make as they are the most versatile and powerful designs found in the empire compared to the starship designs of their allies or enemies, most of the time. The highest officers in the Navy are called Voidseekers, who have authority over the admirals in their sector of the galaxy, with several sectors making a Galactic Segment. Battlefleet, which have 50 to 80 ships each, are named after the sector they supervise such as Battlefleet Shar which protects the Shar Sector.
The different Battle Fleets serve the Sharian Empire in the defense of its territory, obliterating enemies, and on rare occasions, forming expeditionary fleets to explore and colonize other universes. The battle fleets are stationed at massive space ports found in each Galactic Segment. Some spaceport are giant artificial rings around a planet, others the size of a small world! These ports were built along strategic positions in the galaxy to protect important worlds or trade routes across the stars.
Around the world of Teknos is giant ring of space facilities called Port Haven. Port Haven lies in the heart of the empire and is a very important space port as it was the first orbital space port to have been built in the Shar Empire. Since its creation, it has been producing more and more starships to supply the needs of the empire.
Types of Starships in the Sharian Empire:
Syterican vessels
Syterican vessels look like armoured carapaced, reptilian bioships, with two rows of triangular spines on their backs, with tentacles sprouting from their sides, and with giant maw with a mouthful of fangs inside. There are two pairs of eyes on the top of their heads, and with another two pairs of eyes below the mouth. At the aft section are a ring of gigantic fleshy tubes that spew out ignited gas, acting as a form of propulsion beside the inherent ability of the bioships to channel magic to warp space and time as directed by their captains. These vessel use their magic to create artificial wormholes as a means of faster than light travel.
2. Teknosian vessels
Teknosian vessels have a wedged prow, a rectangular, box shaped, metal body, with thick short fins sticking out. The prow on larger vessels is sharpened and is equipped with matter disruption generators to cut through enemy hulls. The body is smooth with thick armor and shield generators for protection. There are five fins on every syterican vessel, two fins on each side of the body and one on top. These fins each have four small built in plasma thrusters that help the ship maneuver quickly from side to side or up and down in space. At the aft section of each ship is a cluster of gigantic main plasma thrusters that spew out plasma from their plasma drives as a form of propulsion. Teknosian vessels have a specialized engine that manipulate different energies to create their wormholes for FTL travel.
Syterican and Teknosian Ship Classifications
Colony Vessels – All are 1 km long, 600 meters wide and 500 meters high. The vessels have no weapons. It is focused on getting to its destination quickly, then setting up a base of operations. Each ship usually has 2 command structures and 2 research structures already inside. It has light armor.
Small Assault Vessels – The most numerous vessels in the Shar Empire's fleets. They are 4 km long, 2 km wide, and 2 km high. They have 4 weapons systems, and the main weapon. They have a total of 6 enhancement slots for different modifications, including probes for expeditions.
Medium Assault Vessels – These ships are 10 km long, 6 km wide, and 4 km high. They are equipped with 8 weapons systems, the main weapon, and 8 enhancement slots. These vessels protect larger vessels from packs of smaller vessels.
Large Assault Vessels – These are heavy ships used for long range warfare. They are 16 km in length, 6 km wide, 4 km high. They have 12 weapons systems, the main weapon, and 10 enhancement slots. Heavily armored and deadly by themselves but are better when supported by smaller vessels.
Gargantuan Assault Vessels – Far bigger than LAVs, these colossal vessels strike awe and terror to the foe. They are up to 20 km long, 8 km wide, 6 km high. They have 16 weapons systems, the main weapon, and 14 enhancement slots. They are the fewest ships in number among the fleets and are slow moving vessels.
Support Vessels – These vessels do not have a lot of weapons but are very useful to the fleets. They are 6 km long, 4 km wide, and 3 km high. They have the same number of weapons systems as a SAV but have 18 enhancement slots. They can focus on a particular enhancement such as fleet acceleration, sieging, fleet repair, depending on the materials available.
Launch bays for Teknosian MAVs, LAVs, or SAVs, can replace 4 weapons placements each. They each carry 100 bombers or fighters, along with production facilities for constructing more drones. Fighters and bombers have a range of up to 12, 000 km.
For Syterican bioships, they can either have launch flaps or Ultra-tentacles to replace weapon placements. Ultra-tentacles are ten-kilometer-long tentacles found only on Syterican GAVS, MAVs, and LAVs, only. These tentacles are equipped with a set of triple psychic claws to cut through starship armor. They can also deposit boarding troops from its transport tubes into the enemy starship at close range.
Hierarchy of the Voidseeker Navy of the Sharian Empire
Flag Officers - Commissioned officers represent the highest ranks of the Voidseeker Navy's personnel and their commissions can only be granted by the Battlefleet Administration.
Voidseeker - is the highest rank normally obtainable in the Voidseeker Navy of the Sharian Empire. Several of these august individuals exist, one for each of the Major Segments. Each is responsible for the Navy's fighting forces across thousands of sectors in their allotted portion of the galaxy. Although many Voidseekers hold equivalent rank, traditionally the commander of the Shar Segment is considered the most prestigious office of the five. The attention demanded by the dizzying array of plans, schedules and staff under the auspices of a Voidseeker mean they are seldom seen outside their towering fleet headquarters at the Segment Fortress.
Admiral - An Admiral is allocated command of a portion of a sector's battlefleet and responsibility for the security of a handful of star systems and the vast tracts of wilderness space that lies in-between. It's rare for an admiral to amass his starships in one place as they are generally busy patrolling the worlds of the Shar Empire and trade routes light years apart. Perhaps on needed occasions the entire battlefleet might be mustered for a punitive strike or to defend against a sector-wide incursion.Captain - Voidseeker Navy Captains are the masters of all that they survey. The Divine Empress is the Master of the Sharian Empire, but aboard a Voidseeker Navy voidship the Captain's very word is His law. Aloof and uncompromising, these figures are unbowed by the awesome responsibility entrusted to them. They may be a tyrant, martinet, swashbuckler, strategist or saint but a Captain will always be an exceptional individual to have earned full command of an Voidseeker Navy warship and all the souls that reside within it.
Commander - A Commander is a subordinate officer rank who is in charge of individual Small Assault Vessels, with a Captain or Commodore holding overall command of an SAV squadron. However, an officer with the rank of Commander might also be found as the commanding officer of a squadron of system vessels, Wing Commander of the Attack Craft on board a carrier ship, or placed in charge of an orbital station. Many Navy officers aspire to nothing more than becoming the commander of a frigate with its frequent opportunities for action and glory.
Lieutenant Commander - Letant Commanders represent the lowest rank of senior commissioned officers who usually hold administrative responsibility over some specialty department in the crew of an Imperial warship. Letant Commanders often serve as senior bridge officers in their area of specialisation, but rarely as First Officer. If they perform well, they are in line to eventual promotion to the rank of Commander and their own eventual command over a voidship.
Lieutenant (First, Second or Third) - A Lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer who is usually placed in direct command of system defence ships and monitors. Many officers in the Navy rise no higher than Lieutenant. System defence ships and monitors occasionally fall under the direct command of a Lieutenant. It is more common for them to be found acting as second-in-command aboard SAVs, as part of the vast bridge crew found on a capital vessel, or in an Attack Craft squadron acting as Flight Leader. A Lieutenant is regarded as having true potential and the opportunity for eventual greatness. Some of the most renowned Captains first began to forge their reputation by taking over the helm of the ship when their commander was killed or injured. If they succeed, a Lieutenant can expect to advance through the ranks as a Third, Second, and finally First Lieutenant, steadily gaining more responsibilities as he does so. However, many Letants never make that leap, and spend their days serving as valued junior officers on the bridge of a starship.
Midshipman - A Midshipman is the junior-most officer rank in the Voidseeker Navy. Midshipmen are actually better described as students with an officer's rank. Technically afforded an officer's respect, they are nevertheless still in demanding training to become true officers, and many of their duties are "hands-on" opportunities to learn. Midshipmen are so-called because they traditionally have quarters somewhere in a warship's midsection, far from the command bridge. Not quite trusted with true responsibility, they remain under constant scrutiny as they complete their training. Should they prove successful, Segment Command often adheres to the tradition of requiring them to pass difficult examinations to become Lieutenants, though some have been known to receive "void promotions" for particularly impressive actions under duress.
Crew Departments - These are the different departments that divide the rest of the crew in a starship of the Voidseeker Navy. Each department has its own department head that holds control over the department the person is entrusted. The different department heads obeys the orders sent from the Flag officers.
Motion Department - This department is in charge of the maneuvering of the spacecraft, the control and maintenance of the ship's engines, reviewing the stellar maps for navigation purposes, and other such duties relating to the necessary movements of a starship. The head of the department is called the Velotician.
Welfare Department - This department is in charge of the health of the crew, the control and maintenance of the medical and sanitation facilities,and the distribution of health care services, and other such duties relating to the needs of the crew of a starship and for resolving emergencies such as fires. The head of the department is called the Welfarian.
Information Department - This department is in charge of communication and espionage within a starship, the control and maintenance of the transmission systems, sending interstellar messages to important destinations, and other such duties relating to the passage of information in a starship. The head of the department is called the Infomaniac.
Discipline Department - This department is in charge of the discipline of the crew, the control and maintenance of the obedience and morale of the crew and even the captain of the starship, providing for the spiritual needs of the crew, and other such duties relating to the maintenance of order in a starship. The head of the department is called the Disciplinarian.
Weapons Department - This department is in charge of the weapons of the crew and the starship, the control and maintenance of the weapon systems and munitions production facilities and storage of the starship, and the weapons of individual crewmembers, providing for the munitions needs of the starship and its crew, and other such duties relating to the maintenance of needed firepower in a starship. The head of the department is called the Deathdealer.
Provisions Department - This department is in charge of the materials needed by a starship and its crew, the control and maintenance of the storage areas, trade areas, and the materials production areas of the starship, and other such duties relating to the maintenance of order in a starship. The head of the department is called the Provider.
The Twelve Handmaids
Much is not publicly known about the "The Twelve Handmaid's," a group of all-female Sytericans clothed in golden armor and white robes, who form the honor guard of Divine Empress Shar Yamar. What is known however, is that the show absolute loyalty to the empress and are intolerant of gender inequality. They are considered great friends of the empress and where with her near the beginning of the Sharian Empire.
Each of the Twelve Handmaidens is extremely powerful, nearly close to the level of powers wielded by the empress herself and the members of her family. They are skilled enchantresses, capable of unleashing spells and curses that can affect entire countries. They follow Empress Shar Yamar whenever she goes on expeditions to new dimensions and are in charge of her and her family's security.
Led by one named Melanto, the handmaid's by themselves or as a group are terrifying to face in combat. Foes of the empire shake in terror at their coming and are crushed underfoot at their passing.
Origins:
The knowledge of who they once were, is a closely guarded secret known only by the royal family, the handmaid's themselves, and those chosen to know. They were once twelve, human maidens who served a queen called Penelope known for her cunning and her faithfulness to her husband Odysseus. The maidens working in secret for their queen however, were put to an unjust death by the king who returned home and killed his rivals, and who thought the maiden were disloyal to him but were in fact pretending under the orders of their queen.
In the afterlife they haunted the couple, the queen especially for the wrongs done to them. One day, Shar Yamar crossed dimensions and having found the entrance to the Greek underworld, paid Charon in drachmas and crossed over the river Styx. She came to that place in a disguise of a young Greek woman in old grey robes, looking for souls who could serve her faithfully. She met the twelve handmaidens where they were staying and gave them an offer saying "I am Shar Yamar. I have crossed dimensions and worlds to get here. I seek souls willing to be reborn anew and who will serve me and my empire. You twelve souls seem quite unhappy here. Would all of you wish to join me?"
One of the maidens who is named Melanto said, "Why should we join you? We have suffered in our past lives serving our old queen, why would it be any different if we join you?"
Shar said in reply, "You lived under a primitive society who sees you females as subservient to the males. The society I will build will be a place of equality, where it does not matter if you are either male or female. For what will matter will be the strength of your convictions and the efforts you put in for the good of all!
All of you handmaidens will live lives of comfort and luxury in new powerful bodies, yet you will also become great fighters who will defeat those who wish to hurt you and those you care about. You and I can work together in friendship to protect and guide a new empire that shall reign across the stars, or all of you can stay here in this underworld in misery. So, what do you choose?"
Melanto discussed with others about this deal for a short while and seeing that they had nothing left to lose, in unison they replied, "We choose to join you oh Empress."
Shar replied, "Oh, you don't need to be so formal with me! Just call me Shar, my friends. You won't regret this."
" How shall we leave the underworld?", one of the maids asked Shar. "Oh don't worry about that. I have suitable compensation for Hades." said Shar. She had gathered the souls of 24 criminals before coming to this place, intending to leave them here while she left with the souls of her new friends.
"Gather around me and prepare to leave your past behind you!" Shar Yamar said to them. The dozen souls drew closer to her and Shar sucked them up and put them within spheres near her soul where they slept. After that, She flew over the river Styx, then Shar spat out the souls of the criminals she gathered onto the riverbank with a scroll stating anonymously "A sacrifice of souls for the Underworld. Two for each of the soul I left with."
Back in the world of the living, Shar removed her disguise then flew to the spaceship she used to cross dimensions, a two kilometer long, magical, reptilian monstrosity otherwise known as a Syterican SAV. She entered its command center located within the massive creature. She interacted with its neural node and commanded the bioship to form a portal home.
The beast maneuvered, quickly facing outward from that parallel earth. Tendrils of energy gathered in front of it. The tendrils intersected then rapidly, a tear in the fabric of space and time formed. The bioship flew into it, the wormhole bringing it and its passengers into the home dimension, the Endless dimension to be precise.
After arriving back on Syter, the recently established homeworld of the Sytericans, the Divine Empress returned to her palace and started to work on the new bodies of her friends in her secret laboratory. It was a 10 meter high, 40 meter long, and 40 meter wide chamber of green stone, the illumination coming from twelve bright, blue, fiery orbs suspended near the ceiling, and twelve large, purple organic sacs attached one side of the room where the new Syterican bodies would be grown. In three days, the bodies were ready.
The Empress prepared then sent a telepathic command across the room, and the sacs split down their middle, the clear fluids rushing out from them. Shar Yamar extended the six tentacles from her back, split them in two, then formed sucker at the end of each tentacle. She walked to each of the sacs, carefully wrapping a tentacle around the waist of each body and then pulled out the bodies from the sacs. She held the bodies in the air with her tentacles and walked to the center of the room.
On the floor of the center of the room were twelve, grey, stone beds ,with Syterican words "Inhabit and Reawaken!" engraved into them, arranged in a circle around a green stone pillar, with what appeared to be a pink blob with thin tentacles on top of it. Shar placed the new bodies of her friends on each of the beds and covered them with white blankets. She then connected the tentacles of the blob of flesh to each of the heads of the bodies. She prepared herself to start the ritual.
She spat out the souls of her friends into her hands then inserted them into the pink blob. "You spirits, hear me! I have brought new dwellings for you! By my power, inhabit your new flesh and bone! By my blessing, you shall awaken anew. By my love, rejoice at your rebirth!" she shouted. She infused her magic into the blob. The spirits contained within sped through the tentacles to their new bodies. The bodies glowed for a short moment then stop. Shar waited for them to awaken.
A minute later, the bodies begin to stir and breath, eyes open. The former human spirits start to move out from their beds, clutching the blankets around them. The Empress walks out of the circle of beds and gathers their attention with a clap of her hands. "Welcome my friends to a new life!" she tells them. The twelve maidens respond in gurgle and roars, not yet well accustomed to their new forms. 'Oh right they cannot talk properly in a verbal manner yet. I'll have to use telepathy then.' thought Shar AKA Taylor Hebert. New friendships began as the Divine Empress and the twelve handmaids communicated through transmitted thought for several hours more.