Fiction:Andromeda War/Grand Conversion

Dylans Plans
Dylan and his Meta has calmed down, but their plans were still in place, they still intended to fulfill them. What they intended was unprecedented, unexpected, and completely un-Meta. The Meta of old had been a peaceful people who meant what they said and did what they said they would do. The only thing that stayed the same was that they still do as they say they will.

On a secrete space station where only Meta worked, the Wentals had been working on figuring out how the Converter Bots worked, and on improving them, for some time. The Meta were thought of as the most trustworthy of the Wentals, as they couldn't do something without Dylan knowing of it. But when Dylan sent the message, they ceased to be trustworthy to the Wentals.

Over the time working with and on the Converter Bots, the Meta had been able to reduce the death ratio to a mere .02% of the life converted. Still a significant amount on a planetary scale, but small enough that the biospheres of planets converted would remain intact. They had also figured out how to turn them on and off at will. When Dylan sent his message to secretly send a sample to an even more top secret lab, one built by the Wentals solely, they did so.

Dylans intent was obvious to the Meta, and they agreed. Only when the Wentals could spread to planets without destroying the biosphere could they truly survive in the universe. So Dylan tested the Converter Bots on an uninhabited planet, with stunning success. Dylan then tried it out on a planet with tribal life, with even greater success. Finally, a planet with a civilization, also with great success. Now that he knew the Converter Bots worked and were capable of converting sapient creatures and even civilizations without destroying them, he needed only one final test before he could risk revealing his idea to the Wental Council: he needed a space-empire to be tested on.

Conversion
Dylan watched from a camera attached to the bottom of a Wental-Draconis trading ship as it entered the atmosphere of the small city of Arnasia, on a designated trading planet with the Wentals. In this ship were the new Converter Bots, and the ship was rigged to crash land just outside the city, thus releasing the Converter Bots (and random mecholife) into the wilds of the planet. It was the perfect set up, as the only thing that could be blamed was pilot error, all the crew members were Meta. There was no sabotage, nothing but a "mistake" on the part of the pilot, who would press a button that would shut off all the ships engines in a full reboot. That would last just long enough for the ship to crash, and would leave the crew injured but alive. The only damage to the ship before the crash was that a case blocking the full shut down button was ripped off as if by accident, which would explain how the pilot could screw up like that. Everything had been taken care of, no one would suspect that it was an intentional crash.

Dylan watched as the ships engines suddenly cut, listened to the distress call, and chuckled. The camera vaporized, and he changed channels to the Draconis cameras now watching the crash with a terrified silence. News channels on both Wental and Draconis sides of the incident changed to cover it in live time, and then it hit the ground. The crash was worse then had been anticipated, the ship ripped itself in half and then started spewing out it's contents. Dylan winced as he felt the crew die from the force of impact, but knew that they had accepted the risk when they took the mission. None of them had had families for that reason. Then all else was swept aside as the Converter Bots started their job.

The silvery metallic change was at first not evident, but as the rescue crews ran out to help the downed ship, it became obvious that something was happening. The Draconis that were too close stood frozen in place as a pale sheen moved over their bodies, and plants as well as animals started to be affected in the same manner. In a rough circle from the point of impact, everything was gaining that strange sheen over it, becoming mecholife. As the Converter Bots passed over something, it froze in place, plants, animals, birds, insects. Several flying creatures dropped out of the sky, but flipped and spun, their bodies far stronger then they should be.

The Draconis that had gone out to help the downed ship and weren't yet Mecholife started to flee. Several got onto hovercraft and fled, but the Converter Bots would have none of it. They chased down the fleeing Draconis, capturing them and sending the hovercraft flying end over end as Draconis drivers froze in place. Back near the epicenter, life was starting to move again. A Draconis regained movement, and looked around, confused by the slight subconscious pulses of the mecholife Network. As realization of what happened dawned over it, the Draconis howled with fury, fear, and grief.

The wave of mecholife spread and soon the entire city was engulfed, then the continent, then the planet. As it spread, the Converter Bots speed increased until they were so fast only a space ship could out run it. Three such ships had lifted off and fled into space, where they watched as the event unfolded below. This was an unprecedented disaster, no one knew how to proceed.

Social Shockwaves
The Draconis' response to the outbreak was swift, in just a few hours they had quarantined the planet along with positioning a fleet in defence. A cluster of Wental ships flew towards the world with the intent of studying the disaster but once they reached the fleet they were immediatel contacted.

Gerassa - ''Attention Wental fllet, this is captain Gerassa of the 478th Talon fleet. You are entering a quarantine zone, state your purpose here!'' Ginga - We are here to ensure that no mecholife be harmed out of fear or rash action. Gerassa - ''I have my orders. No one enters or leaves the planet's atmosphere to prevent the spread.'' Ginga - ''That is acceptable, so long as you do not destroy the planet out of hand. In fact, don't destroy it at all. We need to understand why this happened, if we don't it could happen again.'' Gerassa- ''We have some idea of what had happened. It seems despite all safety protocols conversion nanobots emerged from the crashed vessel. The recovery teams were wearing hazmat suits designed to protect them from your form of life which has led to subsector command wondering ig this was intentional.'' Ginga - ''It was not intentional. We lost 23 Meta when that ship crashed. Why would we kill off Meta to get this ship to crash?'' Gerassa - ''Perhaps their deaths were unintended, it happens. You know more about the conversion than we do. If you can convince the commodore of your intentions i'll let you pass.'' Ginga - ''I personally don't know much about the Converter Bots, but I was briefed that the Wental Council would be coming to try and solve this problem, I'm just here to make sure nothing stupid happens before they can arrive. I do know one thing though... the Converter Bots haven't been active since the Mechanization itself, this is the first time they have actively mechanized anything since then.'' Gerassa - So far all we have done is sent down food supplies, I was never ordered to hatchling-sit the population. Ginga - ''Ah. We were worried that you would simply wipe out the planet out of fear this incident would spread. While I cannot promise it won't, I can state that it shouldn't, the Converter Bots cannot spread beyond an atmosphere. Gerassa - Planetary security forces are still somewhat active and the probe swarms have been ensuring that no-one uses this as a chance to riot.'' Ginga - ''That's a relief. If you need ground forces, we can help, we've already been mechanized.'' Gerassa - ''Speak with the subsector commodre first. I have been authorised to use lethal action to maintain the quarantine. I'll give you his contact details.'' Ginga - ''If you do attempt to use lethal force in a way that would destroy mecholife on the entire planet... then we would have an issue. If you mean shooting ships out of the sky, that's not as bad. Where can I find the subsector commodre?'' Gerassa - ''The latter is what i meant. Sector command is looking for a way to reverse the effects. If not then the executive admiral could authorise an orbital bombardment. Subsector command is in the Valad system, second planet.'' Ginga - ''Valad System, second planet. I don't think that mechanization is reversible, and I can assure you that bombarding the planet would piss off the Wental Council. Besides that, mecholife is very sturdy, you'd need to make an EM pulse the size of a planet to kill it off.'' Gerassa - That is the most likely method so I suggest you move quickly. Ginga - ''Got it. But remember, we Wentals are just as vulnerable to EM Pulses as mecholife, creating that would probably cause a massive anti-Draconis feeling among the Wentals. Just a heads up. *turns to the wheel of his ship* Now, I have a commodre to meet.''

In the space of a few hours Ginga arrived on Valad Prime, capital of the Mathist-1-Valad subsector. Thensions ran high in the city streets and many gave her strange looks as though she wasn't welcome. On plasmascreen billboards across the main city footage was shown of the disaster. It was quite clear that the Draconis believed what had happened was indeed a terrible tragedy. She may her way to subsector command in the heart of Vankobis - the planetary capital - and made her way to Commodore Tanus' office. As she knocked she could hear the commorodre inside. as she entered he looked up at her with a blank expression before esting a datapad on his desk.

Ginga - Hello Commdore Tanus - I don't believe we've met, your name? Ginga - Commander Ginga, I'm just the guy who was closest. Tanus - Captain Gelassa mentioned you were coming, I take it this is about the incident on Arnasia Prime? Ginga - ''That is correct. The Wental Council themselves are coming to work out what happened, so I would really prefer it if nothing happened before of during their time here.'' Tanus - ''The planet is still in Imperial space depite how close to the edge it may be. If the council can help the crisis i would help but sector command has other ideas...'' Ginga - ''If you were to sterilize that planet's mecholife, it would result it a very bad relations disaster with the Wentals. Such a weapon, and it would be nothing less then a weapon, could eventually be used against us. That alone would be reason enough for us to cut relations with you out of fear alone. To say the least, it would not end well.'' Tanus - ''As far as sector command knows the entire incident was an accident. Until we can find a solution that benefits both the Imperium and the colonists the use of EM bombs is to be a last resort.'' Ginga - Well, your Quarantine Fleet Commander was a little less hopeful. Tanus - ''She is only doing what she was assigned to do. There are three million people on Arnasia prime and if intelligence is correct the entire planet was converted in 21 minutes.'' Ginga - ''Welcome to the wonderful world of nanobots. They move faster the more the spread.'' Tanus - ''It gets worse for us: Sakanis house wants compensation. Governer Tassadus died from the conversion along with two sisters, four others of the house were converted and the house has temporarily disowned them.'' Ginga - ''Well... I can understand that. You just lost a planet.'' Tanus - *grunts* Don't remind me. Ginga - ''Well, it could have been far worse. When the Mechanization occurred to the Wentals, we lost 72% of our population. Biospheres collapsed, and our entire military force was simply gone. This could have ended that way.'' Tanus - Sector command is planning for recolonisation unless the process can be reversed. Ginga - ''Those that survived are likely under immense psychological trauma from the ordeal and we have little experience with such matters. I wouldn't attempt to recolonize the planet. Mecholife is a very dangerous thing, there is a good chance that any Draconis who tried to live there would be killed by mecholife. Besides that, you would never be able to feed a biolife population using the planet itself to grow food. Any resources to be consumed would need to be shipped in. As for the phychological trauma, well, we Wentals went through this time about 20, so we can help you there. It helps if you first openly accept that they are still living, thinking creatures, and are your equals. Of course... we never had to worry about not being equal, we were all mecholife. However, being accepted would be a step in the right direction.'' Tanus - ''We studied how mecholife works. The plan would have been to saturate the atmosphere and upper crust in an EMP first before reintroducing new biolife. Such a decision would not be made lightly.'' Ginga - ''...And would end with disaster. You're talking about wiping out 3 million lives and sterilizing an entire planet. I can't stop you, but I can warn you that the Wentals would be horrified to see such a thing done by an empire to its own people. Plus, they are mecholife. We stand by our own, such an action would create massive anti-draconis feelings across the empire.'' Tanus - ''Hmm. We could soften the blow if the population is accepted into the Wental, mechanised aliens is one thing but mechanised Draconis would be treated with suspicion and potentially fear. Many, particularly in the Ohlon-1 sector are still unsettled from the Mecha-Wasp conversions. If they realised their kin became mecholife i cannot predict the outcomes.'' Ginga - ''I cannot speak for the Wental Council, but I do not think they would be against taking on the Draconis population. It would still scare many Wentals that an entire mecholife planet could be sterilized, but with the sapient population intact they wouldn't be as scared.'' Tanus - ''During the Mecha-Wasp war sector command was not above using such measures to prevent planetary conversion. Unlike in this case the population wouldn't have been affected.'' Ginga - ''So you have always had such weapons, you've just not used them in a while. Just try not to use them again until this has been settled. It's worrying for the Wentals that the Converter Bots have become active, we want to study the planet and see if we can find out why they became active randomly today.'' Tanus - ''You are immune to the converters. I will grant you premission to go planetside as long as you follow quarantine procedures and as long as you share the data. I will have sector command postpone action but the planet is strategically important, the best we can do is evacuate the mecholife before we prepare the planet for recolonisation.'' Ginga - ''Again, I cannot speak for the Council, but your demands are neither excessive nor unexpected. They will probably agree to them, and I'm sure they will be willing to evacuate the Draconis on the planet so you can attempt a recolonization. I should return to the planet, the Council will be arriving soon enough.'' Tanus - Safe journey commander. Ginga - ''Thank you. Let us hope this ends well.''

Draconis Mechanis
''You are now Mechanized. That means that the Draconid Imperium cannot care for you anymore. This is going to be an immensely stressful situation, but you are a strong and hardy people. You will prevail, of that I am certain.'' This was being repeated many times over by thousands of Wentalian Guides and Helpers and Medics and Soldiers as they removed the population of the machanized planet. Many of the Draconis were in a state of shock, all the Wentals could do was attempt to make the transition from Draconid Imperium to Wentals Democracy as swift, simple, and easy as possible. It was the best they could do, all they could do. Trade with the Draconis was done, for now, because both sides feared another such event.

Dylan sighed as he watched the families and groups of people walking towards the stands, where they were giving their identification and being told that they would never be able to be part of the Draconid Imperium again. His sigh wasn't so much for them, they would survive, he truly believed that. What he was sighing about was how foolish he had been to do this. He didn't regret it, just wished he'd thought it out a little more.

Dylan settled down to plan the construction of the new city on the planet they were moving the Draconis to. He felt a little guilty, so he decided to make the houses larger and roomier then the Draconis here would have been able to afford before the event. He wanted them to be able to get past what they were now, and eventually even come to enjoy it. They were stronger, faster, and basically better then normal Draconis now, all of them. Why shouldn't they get better housing? He also planned ahead and left space for a 100% increase in population before new houses would be needed. If that didn't satisfy them, nothing would.

As for Aeriu and the rest of the Ultanos Family that had lived on the planet, he designed a large palace for them. Gardens, ponds, fountains, more rooms then even he could have used in his life. And a grand entrance hall. Anything to get them to shut up. Dylan was more then willing to go overboard on the design, as he knew it would provide both the Draconis moving to the planet, and the Wentals who would be working on it with a large number of good jobs. He built the city to be able to hold 7 million people. The city would be located on a planet called "Klaxos 3", which already had 4 Wentalian Cities and a strong, thriving economy. It was world with few dangerous predators, and the outer walls of the city would be more then enough to make the Draconis feel secure within it.

The planet had been chosen because it was similar in shape and design to the planet from which the Draconis refugees would be coming from. Everything possible to ensure that there was as little discomfort as possible was being attended to. However... Dylan knew it would be hard for them, especially for those who had lost loved ones, or for families now divided between the Draconid Imperium and the Wentals.

Dylan also had another duty to attend to. While the death rate had been low, there were still about 628 people who died. Of those, at least half had been parents, and it usually killed both, though why was unknown. Dylan now needed to explain to the orphans what had happened and what was going to happen to them. He had found new families for most of them, but some had been old enough to willingly choose not to go to a new family. A few had been more curious then saddened, and actually wanted to live with non-Draconis. For the most part however, they all wanted to live with their own, so Dylan had made special reservations for such individuals, and set aside houses and money and resources for when they became adults per the Draconis way.

Dylan sighed again. If the Draconis had been willing to give up the planet, he could have had this whole problem settled already. However, they were instead going to sterilize it, and that provided yet anther reason to sigh.

Jasmine had successfully gotten a sample of all life on the planet, but she was very upset that she wouldn't be able to study the planet itself for much longer. However, her anger over that was nothing compared to the fear that had spread across the Wentals when they heard the Draconis had weapons that could sterilize an entire mechosphere. It was something none of them wanted to believe in, and many said just wasn't possible. However, Dylan knew that when the planet was sterilized it would give the Wentals a solid and probably permanent fear of the Draconis, fear that would cause all sorts of trouble for him in the future.

One thing Dylan didn't have to worry about was reconnecting families, at least through communications and networks. The Draconis had made a great effort to track down families and family members of those who had been on the planet when the Conversion occurred, most if not all the families had at least been given the chance to communicate if they wanted, and the new city would have a full attachment to the Sline installed from the start.

There was a new member species in the Wentals, and Dylan wanted to make sure they were invited properly. What was the name Jasmine had given them? Ah yes, Draconis Mechanis.