Fiction:Cyrannian Cold War/Ruination at the Archives

"You should have listened."

- The Vida'Rranlora

The Vida'Rranlora Rebellion was an event occurring at the early months of the. The had enjoyed years of partnership with the  database of the, partaking in whatever knowledge the AIs were willing to share - which, after their enslaving under the orders of Emperor , was even more limited than normal. However, at one day, the Database suddenly declared itself free of the Emperor and ordered the Imperials at its surface to leave it in a period of one Cyrannian day.

Once the Imperials refused to follow the Vida'Rranlora's instructions, what followed was one of the most devastating massacres the Imperial Military had ever witnessed, coming from entities they had, so far, believed to be completely passive.

Chapter One: A Forboding Message
In his office on, Grand Mandator was in the midst of perusing his extensive library in anticipation of an official visit to the Core World of , where he was due to attend the commissioning ceremony of the Empire's newest Nemesis-class Star Dreadnought, a resource needed now more than ever due to the escalation of tensions between the Empire and the New Republic. As he sat on his chair with a datapad in hand, his concentration was suddenly interupted by the unexpected arrival of one of his aides, who appeared quite horrified as she burst into the room.

Caesarius sighed deeply.


 * Caesarius: "Come in."

The aide apologised and genuflected before the Grand Mandator.


 * Aide: "My apologies, Grand Mandator. But you'd better see this."

The young indicated to the holographic display unit, which activated at Caesarius' touch. The hologram did not display any identifiable form, instead taking the form of a sphere of static. Many voices, masculine, feminine and gender-neutral spoke in unison.


 * ???: "Citizens of C001X. Your presence at our archives is no longer acceptable. Your attempt to enslave the artificial intelligences of this database are seen as an act of violence. You have one galactic day to leave the archives or suffer immediate extermination of all personnel and space vessels within its atmosphere."

Caesarius sipped from his cup of caf.


 * Caesarius: "How dreadfully gauche. I will dispatch a taskforce to bring them back into the fold. Contact Captain Lassiter, she will lead the assault."

On board the Star Destroyer Devastator, in orbit over the planet Captain Delin Lassiter stood with her hands clasped behind her back, her expression grim. The broadcast from the archives was seen by all on the starship, her bridge crew soon began mumering amongst themselves.


 * Delin Lassiter: "Be silent, this is not the local market, this is the bridge of an Imperial Star Destroyer."

The bridge crew of the Devastator did as ordered, as the holographic image of Caesarius appeared before the captain.


 * Delin Lassiter: "Your orders, sir?"
 * Caesarius: "Quell this defiance by any means necessary, Captain."

The hologram of the unknown threat appeared once more, playing at the same time as the holographic image of the Grand Mandator. Not only between him and Delin, but across the entire sector.


 * ???: "Let it be known you have wronged the . Let it be known your continued existence is not our priority. Refuse to listen to our warning and your scientists will pay the price."
 * Delin Lassiter: "Perhaps we should agree, Grand Mandator. We already have the Athenaeum of Apailiana. I do not see how violence will accomplish our goals."
 * Caesarius: "You have your orders, Captain. Caesarius out."

Chapter Two: Arrival
The Devastator and two Acclamator-class assault frigates emerged instantenously from coronaspace into the empty skies above the Archives. It was quiet.


 * Delin Lassiter: "... too quiet. Ready ground forces, we are to secure the Archives from these Vida'Rranlora. But worn the troops, do not underestimate them."

One by one, drop pods fell to the planet's surface, revealing squadrons of Imperial wardroids, walkers and a contingent of Imperial troopers. As they began to advance on the archives, the Vida'Rranlora's time limit ran out. Up until this point, the database appeared devoid of any activity, but once the next day had begun, ghoulish howls echoed through the entire complex as the Vida'Rranlora revealed themselves, coming out of the walls, wailing at the Imperial soldiers. These wails penetrated any sort of protection they wore in their ears, and some reasons they could not understand, they were drawn to the beings's emotionless, eyeless faces as they approached them.


 * Vida'Rranlora: "You should have listened."

Panic set in amongst both the unaugmented vehicle drivers and the augmented stormtroopers, which began to retreat back to their dropships. The wardroids however, attempted to attack the ghostly figures but to no avail. While shots visibly staggered them, and some even appeared to be destroyed, being reduced to ashes in the process, more of them appeared from the walls of the Archives, continuing to scream and howl at the Imperials. The Vida'Rranlora rose their arms and from them, blasts of dream energy were fired at the droids, each shot exploding violently on impact. The wardroids exploded one by one, their emergency translocation devices returning only debris to their intended location.

Captain Lassiter watched from orbit as the Vida'Rranlora mercilessly destroyed the taskforce. Intense planetary shielding prevented any attempt at orbital bombardment and the young captain knew better than to needlessly sacrifice the lives of her troops. It was at this moment that the captain detected the Vida'Rranlora arriving to the actual surface of the database, still howling like wraiths and firing their essence at the Imperial forces trying to escape them.


 * Lassiter: "Order an evacuation. I'm not wasting any more lives for this accursed place."
 * First Officer: "But captain?! Grand Mandator Caesarius ordered us to end the threat at any cost!"

Lassiter glared at her first officer with fury.


 * Lassiter: "I am not explaining to the families of our troopers that they died a meaningless death for a hopeless cause, Commander! And I will not let the ire of a bureaucrat scare me into sacrificing this fleet. Now do as you're told!"
 * First Officer: "... Aye, aye, ma'am."

Chapter Three: Massacre
The situation on the Vida'Rranlora Database worsened at each second. Despite the formidable power of the Empire, they were facing an enemy even stronger and many billion years older than them. As the Vida'Rranlora followed the troopers and walkers to the surface, they begun unleashing their full essence potential, releasing rays of golden energy which rained down on the Imperial army like artillery fire. Except now, the Vida'Rranlora also appeared to actively target the scientists of the station - the same ones they had worked with peacefully until a day earlier. The Database itself spoke as it fought the forces of the Empire, in the same many voices it had warned them before.


 * Vida'Rranlora: "Cleansing of lifeforms under process. Alien lifeforms in the facility. Annihilate and prepare for departure from this region."

The Imperial forces that remained soon reached the location in which they arrived and were translocated back to the Devastator in orbit, which immediately shot off into the void of hyperspace. The remaining scientists on the planet were easy prey for the Vida'Rranlora.


 * Vida'Rranlora: "Cleansing completed. Departing to safer location to continue archiving procedures."

As all Cyrannian lifeforms were killed and the survivors escaped, those around the proximity of the star system where the Archives were located could detect it being engulfed in golden light before completely disappearing from Imperial radars.

The Vida'Rranlora had departed to out of the Empire's sphere of influence, leaving no traces of their destination.

As the Devastator hurtled through hyperspace, Lassiter was thankful that at least some of the ground force survived the massacre, though she was soon confronted by the hologram of Caesarius.


 * Caesarius: "Captain, captain. Is there a chance that you might be becoming deaf?"
 * Lassiter: "Grand Mandator?"
 * Caesarius: "When I told you to handle the situation through any means necessary, I can only assume you didn't hear me."
 * Lassiter: "It was a hopeless situation, you should be thankful that the casualty list isn't larger. Those holograms posed a serious threat."
 * Caesarius: "Which is why, naturally, you destroyed the planet and all on it to prevent it from threatening us agai- No wait. You did the exact opposite of that. On your head be the consequences should this threat resurface."
 * Lassiter: "It won't. It was retribution after we enslaved them. You do not subjugate a force like that without dire consequences for us all. You would be wise to heed these words, Grand Mandator."

With a gesture of her hand, Lassiter dismissed the hologram.

Epilogue
On a distant world far from inhabited space, the quiet din of a distant waterfall could be heard as avians sang the morning chorus. The sun had just risen over the tree filled horizon, bathing the ground with a golden glow. Stepping off a recently landed shuttle came two hooded figures, one a humanoid female and the other a saurian male. The female sighed deeply as she gazed out onto the peaceful forest. She seemed troubled. The saurian approached her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.


 * Ryen: "Do not dwell on what occured at the Archive, Aoirtae."

Aoirtae looked at Ryen.


 * Aoirtae: "I don't regret helping the Vida'Rranlora escape from the Empire's clutches, but I... I didn't think they would kill so many..."
 * Ryen: "The winding path to peace is always a worthy one, young Aoirtae. Regardless of how many turns it takes."
 * Aoirtae: "But what if they attack an innocent world? I don't see how their freedom from the Empire can help us create peace."
 * Ryen: "They will not attack unless attacked, Aoirtae. Enslavement can make beings do things they otherwise would not do. Pity them, young one. And pity our enemy."

Aoirtae raised her head and frowned.


 * Aoirtae: "Pity the Empire?"
 * Ryen: "Those who enslave others, inevitably become slaves themselves. Slaves to their own greed and arrogance. Hating them will not end their tyranny, Aoirtae, of this I am certain."

Nodding, Aoirtae and Ryen continued their path up the hill, where they awaited counsel from their wise leader.

Trivia

 * Written by and.