The People of the Seas
In April 2204, the team analyzing the Croaks confirmed the fact that the signals are not natural. They are indeed artificial, generated by species who has achieved hyperspace travel. It was clear that the Normans were not alone in space- and that someone else was intelligent. Nothing much else was known though.
Meanwhile, Serril de Hauteville continued exploring the system and on one of the distant asteroids, he found yet another form of life- purely electric. Alive, in a sense, this network of electric filaments. Serril suggested further research, perhaps a space station researching them, sometime in the future. For now though, Normans were amazed. Serril moved on.
This asteroid is full of like, as strange as it sounds
At the same time, Maud de Hauteville had finished mapping the Nemozi system and jumped to the next system, called Niamba. There, she found something entirely different. A rift in time-space. Most likely connecting Niamba to somewhere else in the galaxy. Unfortunately, the Normans had no clue on how to enter on one side and come back alive, with all the bits and pieces attached, on the other. It remained there though- as a potential backdoor to the enemies. Or potential front door for the Norman fleets to march in. Time will tell.
Wormhole in Niamba, leading.. somewhere
In May 2205, Normans discovered geothermal fracking. Allowing more minerals to be mined. And more minerals is always a good thing, for the expansion of the Empire demands humongous amounts of resources.
More minerals!
In July 2205, Normans adopted a tradition under Expansion, called Colonization Fever. Meaning the new colonies will get always an extra population, for Normans did their best to accommodate all the people who want to start a new life somewhere outside the Solar System. Just in time too, for New Constantinople was starting to get ready to be a proper planet, not just some colonists playing home away from home.
In fact, this was the next major thing happening to the Empire. On 2nd of March 2206, Adelin declared New Constantinople to be a full planet, not just a colony no longer. It housed about two million people, had already developed basic infrastructure and in addition, Bohemond de Hauteville had been busy. It had about 1000 baronies, 230 counties, 57 duchies and 8 kingdoms, with much more to come. A hope for all the landless Hautevilles on Earth- if the expansion is fast enough, all will get a fief. Somewhere, far from home.
The Empress financed construction of the mining district and start of first civilian industries, for it was consumer goods that were lacking. And an agricultural district, for it was plain that importing food to New Constantinople was much more expensive than growing it locally.
New Constantinople, now with lots of baronies and counties and duchies
Race to Durabbius
In May 2206, the crack research team, focused on cracking the Croaks, had made at least some breakthroughs. It was obvious that the croaks were an advanced, space-faring civilization. It was also obvious that they had thought of the possibility of other advanced, space-faring civilizations existing in the galaxy and had taken extreme precautions on these said civilizations not being able to listen in on them. Making them a tough nut to crack.
At least some progress
Adelin assembled the council. Besides the usual ministers and councillors and science heads, for the first time, it consisted of a space-king. Bohemond I, Space King of New Constantinople, took his place in the council as well. Virtually. For it was quite pointless to travel to Old Constantinople for a meeting. The same applied to Serril de Hauteville, who just finished surveying the Durabbius system.
“They are an advanced, space-faring civilization, right?” asked the Empress.
“That’s what we know,” Carmen Martin, the head of Croaks studies, nodded.
“What does that mean exactly? How many of them? How powerful are they?”
Carmen Martin shrugged. “We don’t know, sire. I speculate that they are about equal to us, but please, take it for what it is. Speculation.”
“Hmm,” said Adelin. Then, went deep into thought. Everyone waited patiently, for the Empress was known for doing that.
“So, they use hyperlanes as well?” she said after a minute.
Arina Komarova, head of the physics department, nodded. “We don’t know of any other methods of traversing the vast distances between the space”
“Any other possibilities? Warp drives? Jump drives?” the Empress asked
“As far as we know, only hyperlanes.” said Arina, followed by Carmen: “Hyperlanes. About 96% certainty that they are using hyperlanes too.”
“Hmmmmmm,” said the Empress again. Then, she took up the galactic map.
“So, hyperlanes,” she mused. “Earth-Sirius-Barnard’s Star-Aclinda-Uchromia-Durabbius. Hmm. We’re talking about... a year for our fleet?”
There was a murmur of agreement.
“We need castles,” the Empress said. “Space-castles,” she added after a thought.
“Something that can hold their own for a year. Enough of cannons and power and armor that they are able to hold on enemy until our fleet arrives”
“Back to medieval,” her husband, Tancred de Hauteville, head of Engineering, murmured. There was a chuckle. But there was also general agreement. Normans needed castles again.
“And by controlling the hyperlanes, we don’t only control the enemy movement, we also control the enemy expansion,” added Bohemond. “Look, if we control Uchromia, we can block the Croaks from advancing into the unknown areas on the left side. Leaving this all for us. Doubly so if we take Durabbius as well”
“Unless someone else is there,” pointed Tancred out.
“True,” said Bohemond. “But at least, it will not be the Croaks...”
“Ok,” said Adelin. “The present priority should be getting outposts all the way to Durabbius. Or at least to Uchromia, but Durabbius is preferable. And build a space castle there.”
Again, everyone seemed to agree.
“In this case, other construction projects should only be undertaken if there are any resources left for our push to Durabbius. Concentrate our efforts there,” the Empress concluded the meeting.
At least Uchromia should be Norman...
That was the plan... Will the Normans win the race? Or do the Croaks gain the upper hand...
Expansion Continues
On 25th of July, 2206, the construction of “Alaska” was complete. Sister ship of “Blachernae”. Again, a massive ship, filled with 10 000 colonists, enough supplies, materials and machinery and one Empress. This time though, Adelin took her husband, Tancred, with him, who tried out a new fad- working from colony ship. After all, he had good FTL communication back to the lab equipment on Earth and plenty of lab assistants to do all the physical work that needed to be done. And the Empress and her consort were long overdue for a nice honeymoon.
Again, the Norman fleet followed, though it had proven to be more of an honor escort than anything else. Nothing was threatening Normans in their own space. The good news was- it was five ships, not three anymore.
Another colony ship departs
Anthony Feldman entered the Alvyrra System in August 2206. Immediately, the scanners picked something up. Something nasty. Something like Mermaids. Again. The poor man seemed to have no luck with the space amoebas- he once again stumbled upon them. Fortunately for him, he was now near the jumplane, so the escape did not take half a year. Instead, he was sent to Kannam, with orders to continue investigation to unknown regions upwards- since the way west was blocked.
Anthony Feldman, the Mermaid-magnet
When Serril de Hauteville entered the Mirzam system, it pretty much confirmed everything the Normans knew about the Croaks thus far. For the system was not an empty one. Around the bright yellow sun of Mirza was an outpost. Similar in function as the Norman ones, it was deemed. Just, alien in design. Totally alien. Seemed like rocks and crystals were the main construction materials. Serril, not really interested in getting dissected or something, decided to cut exploration short and instead, start exploring west of Uchromia.
The Croaks outpost in Mirzam
Next thing for the humans was expanding Expansion traditions again, in July 2207. Saving a bit of influence in claiming the systems. And since the influence was one of the most precious resources in the universe, it was a very good thing.
Second in Expansion traditions
Followed by discovery of Research AI in August. Every little bit helps- and this made Normans to discover things more easily.
Making the life of all Norman scientists a bit easier
At around the same time, Normans commissioned yet another science ship. Led by Liang Zhuge, it was tasked with cleanup. With all the other ships racing to go as fast and as far as possible, Liang was tasked with surveying the systems they skipped. For the moment, he got the orders to clean up the survey of systems near Sirius and Alpha Centauri.
The People of the Seas
It was in December 2206 when Maud de Hauteville entered the Saua System. Instantly, she knew it was a jackpot. It was not just one habitable planet, but two. An Earth-like planet of similar size to New Constantinople. And a bit smaller world, about Earth-sized. Similar to Earth as well, but mostly covered with oceans. Just four jumps from Earth as well. It was a good find and she reported the joyous news to Earth and started a deeper survey of the system.
A system with two planets!
It was all routine. Surveying one planet, then moving on to another. Until the system is fully mapped. Then, it is time to move on to the next one. Not this time though. This time, it lasted until Maud reached Saua III, the ocean world.
The initial long-range scans were promising. Breathable atmosphere. Average temperatures are totally pleasant for humans. Ocean consists mostly of two parts of hydrogen and one part of oxygen, or water as we know it, with no apparent toxic substances. Landmass was not large, but plentiful for colonization. Overall, a good planet, though Saua V, the more Earth-like planet would be an obvious priority.
When the ship entered the orbit though, it turned out to be a bit more complicated. For the islands were not just forests and meadows and mountains and such. No, it was something more. It was regular shapes and long lines.
“Fields...” murmured Maud, as she reached closer to the screen. The rest of her crew followed suit. “Fields and... roads...?”
“Follow that... road!” Maud told the camera technician and he nodded. The Norman high-powered camera, high outside of orbit of Saua III, changed an angle by a fraction of a millimeter at a time as the camera moved onwards and onwards, following the thing that looked like a road. There were more regular shapes that looked like fields. And small rectangular shapes that looked like housing. Then, it was all white.
“Sorry, clouds ahead!” said the technician. Then, looked at the screen and added “And plenty of cloud coverage ahead.”
“Send in the drone!” said Maud.
The cannon-like pipe on board the Pioneer moved slightly, until it pointed to the almost same spot. Almost- for it was aimed at the sea. In case something goes wrong, better for it to be at the bottom of the ocean. With almost inaudible pop, it shot the shell towards the planet. During an entry, the shell burned into a crisp, revealing a sleek metal object. At about three kilometers in height, it popped open a parachute, slowing the descent. Until at about a kilometer, the metal figure extended it’s propellers, they started turning and the parachute was also burned to a crisp. Maud was especially proud of that little feature- for Normans had taken the possibility into account. “Do not leave any signs behind!” was the guideline.
“Drone is ready,” said the technician. “I have control”
“Continue from where the camera left off,” said Maud. “Just, take it lower.”
During the launch of the Drone, Maud had contacted Earth and Alaska and now, it was not just them watching. Adelin and Tancred aboard Alaska, of course. But the drone was also broadcasted to every citizen of the Empire who was interested enough to watch. Plenty of them were.
With a steady hand, the technician guided the drone. Soon, it reached land.
“There is something on the beach,” the technician pointed out.
“Bring it closer- and lower,” said Maud.
It was something indeed. Something that looked like a hut. Definitely man-made. No, alien-made. Something with a doorway and small windows. And a roof, most likely made from the local equivalent of straw. And the house was made from something that looked suspiciously like mud-bricks back on Earth.
Suddenly, the door opened and two figures ran out, towards the beach. Reaching in height about to the half of the size of the door. Followed by a figure twice their height.
“Pan the camera towards the beach,” said Maud and the technician did so, revealing a small thing that appeared to be a boat, approaching the beach. The smaller ones rushed towards it, shouting something. As the boat beached, the taller figure jumped out, grabbed the small ones and hugged them, making loud lurching sounds.
Unbeknownst to the fact that above him, around the orbit, there were a bunch of humans glued to the screens, watching what appears to be a little family reunion. Or that lightyears away, on a huge ship, slowly moving across space, the most powerful woman on this side of the galaxy and her husband were watching them. Or about a fourth of the Norman Roman Empire were peeking into their small, intimate moment.
“Let us continue from where we left off,” said Maud, ordering the drone to leave the small family to their own devices and continue more inland. The drone did so, moving silently above the road.
There were other houses. Similar in construction. There were also fields. The road itself was paved and carts, drawn by strange beasts, were moving across it. Along with more and more locals, looking similar to the first family.
Then, in the horizon, something larger loomed. It seemed like the road would lead there and the drone followed it. Slowly, it turned into a city. A city surrounded by walls. Some large towers looming over the houses, usually two-three stories high. Some wide streets, some alleyways. A harbor, filled with something that looked quite like the human ships of old- oar and wind-powered.
Maud was filled with glee. She had found intelligent life outside of Earth.
Then, the technician said: “Sire, 15% of battery remaining....”
With a sigh, Maud replied: “Oh well. Direct it somewhere towards the ocean and self-destruct”
There was still a visual feed for 10 minutes, showing just the empty ocean. Then, as the drone disintegrated into thousands of small pieces that fell into the ocean of Saua III, the feed was cut.
This was more then enough though. About an hour worth of footage, confirming that the Humans are indeed not the only intelligent species in the galaxy. And “Pioneer” had plenty of drones left.
The third planet from the Saua Sun had some interesting inhabitants
Both the humans and the Croaks were aware that there could be intelligent life in the universe. They had taken precautions. Encrypted communications, coded languages, using tightbeam communications as much as possible, using communications as little as possible. The electronic signature of a Norman science ship was barely noticeable. And so on. These aliens did none of that. Of course, listening in to their communications was still hard, for it was mostly oral, with a faction of it also written.
Still, they were no Croaks. Within a few weeks, Maud and specialists back on Earth had deciphered their languages, got a good idea of their government systems, their writing, their way of life and even (after a few abductions- with subjects returned, their memories hazy, but all parts still intact and no weird probing) their biology.
They called themselves Fex’Klangans. They were reptilians by biology. They preferred to live together and they were not half as aggressive as humans. They really liked their slaves though and the main means of procuring them were either piracy or wars, the latter being usually fought over the seas, with land battles being a rarity. They were surprisingly non-religious and though they had imperial tendencies, their governments tended to be more like the Roman Republic, not the Roman Empire style of governments.
Fex'Klangans. Docile decadents with a love for democracy and science
In short, the Fex’Klangas were where the people of Earth were about two millennia ago. Iron age at it’s best. They were also just four jumps from Earth.
As for Normans- they met their first intelligent aliens. Well, the first intelligent aliens they could communicate with should they wish so. They did not wish so, for the moment.
The Fex’Klangans continued their everyday lives like nothing had happened- because, for them, nothing had happened. They had no idea they had gathered the full attention of the Normans.
