Part 25: Apr 26 2157 - Oh My

Next stop: Yehat space!



VIDEO: FAMILY REUNION



Ye tempt fate and our sympathy too much, I think. This time, perhaps we cannot be as much yer friends as ye would like.



If this is being a true thing, there will be many changes. But we are a species long wise in the ways of deceit. Ye must be proving these words ye say, Captain. Send the Shofixti to us as a way of proof.



We are scanning the separation of a vessel from yer fleet, Captain, and indeed, its configuration matches that of a Shofixti Scout vessel. This had better not be a trick, Captain! We are knowing the power of a Glory Device, and if you detonate the weapon near us, the price for you shall be dear, very dear.
The Scout has docked, and we await the pilot's appearance at the airlock. The atmosphere cycle is complete... the door slides open... and... IT IS TRUE!!! THE SHOFIXTI ARE ALIVE!!! Look at that furred muzzle, those shining black eyes, the sweet claws! Our children have returned from oblivion!! But now we are faced with the cruellest truth! We who have sacrificed our honor! We who have lain with the enemy! WE ARE NOT WORTHY! WE ARE NOTHING!...We are less than nothing.
But wait! We are not Spathi. We are Yehat... OF THE STARSHIP CLANS! We will NOT live this lie any longer! Listen as I speak these words! If our Queen makes the dishonorable command, then it is THE QUEEN WHO HAS NO HONOR! And a dishonorable Queen is NO QUEEN AT ALL! We, the Zeep-Zeep, are the only Clan who remember the TRUE MEANING of honor! We shall TEAR THE QUEEN FROM HER THRONE! The two-thousand year reign of the Veep-Neep Queens IS OVER!
THE REVOLUTION HAS BEGUN!



The Yehat situation has become more complicated.





Next stop: The Syreen station!





What do you wish of us?



Yes, I think so. Aren't they part of the Mycon religion somehow? We have recordings of Mycon HyperWave transmissions from the War... pretty weird stuff. The Mycons just kind of.. rambled, never making much sense. They talked a lot about 'Deep Children', and 'Spears of Light', but we couldn't ever understand what they were talking about.



What?! What did you say?! Human, you had better not be joking. Syra is not a subject for Earth humor. Now what do you mean, shatter planet crusts? How? That IS what happened to Syra, yes, but we presumed it was a natural cataclysm... a meteor. Do you have proof that it was something else... these Deep Children?



Let me see this proof, Captain!



Great gods! These fragments... they are IDENTICAL to the debris we found near the punctures on Syra! We never guessed that the fragments might be organic! To have survived re-entry!... nothing organic would remain!... unless UNLESS, it was genetically constructed for this purpose! AND ONLY THE MYCONS POSSESS THIS CAPABILITY!!
THE MYCONS WILL PAY DEARLY FOR THEIR CRIMES!!! We will not sit here and do nothing while the Mycon fiends are free to roam the galaxy, perpetrating their evil. You wanted our cooperation in fighting the Ur-Quan. You've got it... provided you first help us seek our revenge against the Mycon race... help us to destroy them!



Our first step is to get some mobility. We have some fine starship officers on board, and they are all eager to go after the Mycons, but without our Penetrator starships, we're totally ineffectual. So our first step HAS to be recovering our Space Patrol combat fleet. We know that the Ur-Quan didn't destroy them... they never waste anything but we believe they have sealed them in some kind of deep vault in the surface of an alien planet.



No, that's your job. But maybe we have some clues to help you find them. The starship officers who flew the Penetrators to the vault did so with total sensor black-out. The only thing they could use for navigation was the presence of the Dreadnought fleet surrounding them. When they arrived at their destination and lowered their ships into the immense vault, they were transported to the Dreadnoughts and only caught a split-second glimpse of the outside world. As far as they could tell, the sun was either red or orange. Based on their trip-time calculations, the farthest they could have travelled is about 200 HyperSpace distance units.



Good luck, brave Earthling. When your mission is successful, maybe then we can... get to know each other better.



I have acquired a ship full of Syreen captains!



So, this is the radius in which we'll find the shuttles. Because of how the radius was determined, we can be sure that the star is somewhere near the edge of the circle.



I'm not gonna cheat - time to start checking out red and orange stars in the target area. First stop, Beta Cerenkov!



Beta Cerenkov involves a bit of dodging VUX fleets, but no Syreen ship vault to be found.



Next stop: Gamma Copernicus!

The Pkunk are on the move again.



Nothing whatsoever.



The remaining good candidates, unfortunately, are in Ur-Quan space.



Although if you think about it, it would make more sense for the Syreen fleet to be behind enemy lines.



Eventually, I find an energy signature, on the moon of Epsilon Cameloparadalis I.






Time to get the hell out of there.



VIDEO: THIS SCENE WAS INEVITABLE



From our analysis of the Deep Child fragments you showed to us and a review of the recorded Mycon transmissions from the War, we have established the kind of world the Mycons desire for their hideous Deep Children. They need a planet like your Earth... or our Syra... one rich in water and oxygen, and possessing a molten, active mantle. Our plan is to lure the Mycons to such a planet, and then attack them when they least expect it. We know of just such a world. When the Ur-Quan were analyzing their mass of planetary data to find a new home for my people, one of the close candidates, ranked just below Gaia, was a blue world orbiting close to the star, Organon.
Captain, we need your services again. Here is what you must do. You must go to the Mycon and tell them of this world. They will find that the world is suitable, and when they go to Organon, we shall be there... waiting for them. Then we shall destroy them!



I'm afraid BOTH our duties will be dangerous, Captain. We may never see each other again.



That's more like it... now. Let me help you off with this... yes... now aren't you a lot more comfortable?



Oooh! Say that word again! It makes me feel so excited! It makes me want to do something nice for you... like this... and this... and especially, this!



...mmm... MMMm!... Ohh!... MMMMMmmmmmm!!!... does that answer your question?



Then let me teach you what you need to know... we will begin with the fundamentals of basic Syreen physiology...



Please don't worry, my darling human... we have all the time in the world... and my door locks securely.



Then stop wasting you lips on words, you silly fool... and come here!





...now you must go! But you will remain always in my mind and heart, and deep within me, I know that someday, when all this madness has come to an end, we will be together like this... again.



This is where Organon is - our next objective is to trick the Mycon into going there.