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POV: Arthur Sinclair.
With a whoosh, the space in the Cybrex Alpha system was torn open; a massive hole almost 600 kilometers in diameter seemed to shred apart the sky. I could just barely make out a couple dozen Bilskirnir-class vessels coming out of the blue glow of hyperspace. The object they were towing appeared from the crack in reality.
A massive domed ship, nearly 400 kilometers in diameter, with spires jutting from its underside, slowly arose from hyperspace. Following the ship out of the bright blue glow were another few dozen specks; each of them a Bilskirnir-class vessel.
The Astrocreator's vessel was a thing of beauty; I could make out the clouds forming within the Vivarium, part of the vessel's internal atmosphere.
The Al'kesh's pilot turned up to me. "We have a communication request from Commander Thor."
I nodded to the pilot. "Understood. Put it on the display." A moment later, a hologram of Thor appeared. "There is a vessel hidden under a cloak at the edge of the system."
Everyone froze, and it was only a few moments later that I regained my composure. "Is it a Goa'uld vessel?"
The vessel appeared in the hologram, and I instantly understood. Thor's next words confirmed my own thoughts. "It appears to be a Cybrex or Contingency vessel."
I pursed my lips; I should have known that something was up when the ringworld was in near-perfect condition. In Stellaris, the entire structure was totally ruined when it was uncovered by the player empire. That it was so perfectly intact should have been a glaring sign.
I stopped thinking there. "I need to discuss this with the president. Would you send us both to Kaelastrum?"
"Yes," came Thor's reply. A moment later, the sound of the Asgard transporter activating filled the room, and I found myself in the president's office; he raised an eyebrow as he turned his head to look at us.
I felt myself grimace slightly as I began speaking. "We have a problem." Thor brought up an image of the vessel while I was explaining the vessel's existence.
Arriston's relaxed mood quickly hardened as I continued my explanation. He pursed his lips as he considered his options. "Can you prevent the vessel from leaving if we contact it?"
Thor was quiet for a few moments before he responded. "The vessel has a fairly primitive hyperdrive. We can reach it before it exits the system."
The president pressed something on his flexi, and a few seconds later, someone entered. "Go get the other cabinet members. We have some things to discuss."
Over the next three hours, a meeting was held to determine what was to be done regarding the ship. When Thor agreed to defend the ringworld should it decide to attack, it was agreed that making contact was the best course of action.
So, myself, Elder James and President Arriston were all beamed aboard Thor's flagship. Within a few moments, the screen displayed an area of space, and Thor spoke. "I am ready to transmit your message."
Arriston nodded in thanks and began speaking. "This is President Arriston Pyros of the Republic of Kaelastrum to unidentified vessel. Please identify yourself."
For a few long seconds, nothing happened. Thor spoke, "The vessel is decloaking."
Suddenly on the display, space shimmered, and a metallic, vaguely cuboid vessel with blue highlights appeared.
[CYBREX CORVETTE IMAGE]
Once more, Thor spoke. "They are transmitting via radio."
A modulated, robotic voice filled the room as Thor played the transmission. "This is Cybrex Reconnaissance Vessel. We have disabled our cloak."
Arriston nodded. "Thank you for decloaking. Can I ask what you're doing here?"
The radio was silent for several moments before the response came. "This vessel was dispatched to identify the current residents of Cybrex Alpha. It was determined that further reconnaissance was needed upon detection of Cylon and Colonial signals."
That seemed to catch everyone off guard. Arriston furrowed his brows. "So you've contacted these groups before?"
The response came quickly this time. "We have been tracking a Cylon vessel that fled the Great Empty. Finding Cylon and Colonial forces working together is unprecedented."
I turned to Thor. "The Great Empty?"
Thor replied immediately. "It refers to an area of space approximately twelve thousand light years in diameter within which there are few transuranic elements. Terra is within that area."
Arriston nodded and continued speaking while I was asking Thor my question. "You could have contacted us if you had questions."
The ship was silent for a few moments. "How did you acquire the access code for Cybrex Alpha?"
Arriston froze for a moment, as did I. Luckily, Thor could answer for us. "They gained knowledge from an alternate timeline."
Once more, the Cybrex was silent for a few moments. "Acceptable. We have no further questions."
Arriston seemed rather confused for a moment. "Err… would it be possible to open formal diplomatic channels with the Cybrex?"
"Contact Cybrex Node 001 to open formal diplomatic relations." There was a moment of silence as Arriston waited for the vessel to continue.
When nothing came, he continued toward the vessel. "How can we go about doing so?"
The silence this time was rather lengthy. It was only after almost 30 seconds that Thor once more turned to a different terminal. "The Stargate has begun dialing."
The vessel spoke once more. "Cybrex Node 001 has agreed to initiate diplomatic protocols."
Thor turned to Arriston. "The Cybrex have sent a representative."
I was rather stunned at how quickly things had moved. Luckily for all of us, Arriston got a hold of himself faster than I did. "Then I suppose we should go down and meet it."
Thor simply nodded once, and he activated the transporters, taking us down to the surface. We appeared before the Stargate, and out of the event horizon walked a machine that I instantly recognized; a Cybrex android, similar to the ones we had discovered in Zeus' basement.
[CYBREX ANDROID IMAGE]
The robot stepped away from the Stargate just as the event horizon disappeared and spoke. "Greetings. I am Diplomatic Unit 001, the designated representative of the Cybrex."
Arriston smiled. "I am Arriston Pyros, President of the Republic of Kaelastrum. This is Supreme Commander Thor of the Asgard. Would you like to move to another room?"
Unit 001 nodded. "That would be acceptable." Arriston nodded and gestured for the android to follow.
As everyone sat down around the table, the diplomat nodded. "Node 001 would like to apologize for the surveillance vessel. We received notice that inhabitants had returned to Cybrex Alpha and taken command of the facility. We were worried about the possibility of Contingency interference."
Arriston nodded. "That is understandable… I have to ask, do you plan to retake Cybrex Alpha?"
"Negative," replied the Android. "The Ringworld was abandoned so that it could aid the people of the galaxy in a time of need. Unfortunately, our actions had unintended consequences; the galaxy devolved into a civil war over ownership of the ringworld. By the time the threat had arrived, they were already at their weakest point and easily defeated. We hid the world until someone needed it. You have already claimed it, we will not take it back."
Thor interrupted. "Explain this threat." The diplomat seemed slightly surprised by Thor's harsh tone, but he began explaining nonetheless. "In this case, it was a swarm of alien locusts that devoured all life. All the civilizations of that time were destroyed. We survived only by hiding ourselves from the rest of the galaxy."
Thor immediately brought up images of several Tyranid vessels. The diplomat shook its head in the negative. Next, he brought up images of Prethoryn Scourge vessels. This time, the diplomat was quiet for a few moments. "Yes. That would be them."
Thor put away his hologram and continued from where he had left off. "What do you mean, 'in this case?'"
The diplomat froze for several moments before he replied. "All sentient creatures are removed from the galaxy approximately every 200,000 years. After we went into hiding, it was those creatures. The next cycle after that was a collection of energy beings."
Thor furrowed his brow. "Thank you. Would your people be amenable to providing copies of your records of these entities?"
The diplomat answered immediately. "That can certainly be arranged."
Arriston furrowed his brow. "With that out of the way, why are you here? We knew you existed, but we didn't think the Cybrex would actually contact us."
The robot inclined its head slightly. "We have been trying to contact the Asgard since they first engaged in war with the Goa'uld. Unfortunately, our hyperdrives are incapable of reaching Asgard vessels before they leave. We have been impressed with the Asgard attempt to defend sentient life, and believed it would be in the best interest of both of our civilizations to make contact. The Curator Enclaves have also been trying to contact you and have failed as spectacularly as we have."
Thor, who had the gall to look somewhat sheepish, spoke. "I apologize. In our war with the Goa'uld, our primary advantage has always been our maneuverability. Remaining in one place after a battle was always a poor decision."
The diplomat simply inclined its head at Thor and turned back to Arriston. "We have been curious about the existence of Cylons and Colonials working in tandem, as well as the existence of another civilization that is unfamiliar to us." It turned to Elder James as it said this last part. "We believe you will be good custodians of Cybrex Alpha. Had it not been for the Asgard, our vessel would have left the system once we were satisfied that it would not be used against us. Since you have discovered and contacted us, I have been instructed to initiate formal diplomatic ties with your people."
That caught all of us off guard. In Stellaris, the only time the Cybrex ever came out of hiding was to fight the Contingency. Nonetheless, the next hour was spent setting formal diplomatic ties and establishing the location of an embassy for the Cybrex Remnants, as they called themselves.
While it was never stated outright, I was pretty sure that the Cybrex had a way to reclaim Cybrex Alpha if they so wished. Preventing them from doing so depended partially on keeping them happy; the diplomat's requests were all quite tame; all it asked for was a plot of land to construct some simple Cybrex structures. The entire encounter was strange.
As we stood up and the diplomat prepared to leave, it turned to Thor. "Node 001 has also requested the opening of formal relations with the Asgard. Diplomatic Unit 002 is prepared to begin when we know where to send it."
Thor was quiet for a moment. "What is the maximum range of your subspace transmitters?"
"We can reach anywhere within 3 million light-years." Thor sighed in annoyance. "Our homeworld is not within range."
That seemed very much to catch the diplomat off guard. "Diplomatic Unit 002 has been informed and is still willing to participate."
Thor fidgeted with one of his stones as he presumably transmitted a Stargate address to Unit 001; it froze for several seconds before responding. "Unit 002 requires some modifications before it is ready, but it will arrive on the world of Othalla in approximately 10 minutes."
We arrived once more at the Stargate, which began to dial. The diplomat turned back to Arriston after it finished speaking with Thor. "My people will arrive on Kaelastrum in a week. Thank you for having us."
As it finished speaking, the Event Horizon sprung to life behind it; it turned around and stepped through.
Contacting the Asgard had been one thing, but the Cybrex were something else entirely. Diplomatic Unit 001 had clearly been created purely to interact with humanoid entities. It seemed excited to speak with us, a rather strange feeling. Though on second thought, Deimos, the Cylon AI, was always incredibly cheery, and its choice of a cute skeleton for an avatar was even stranger than this had been.
As the event horizon closed, all of us breathed a sigh of relief. Arriston took a deep breath and turned back to the person standing by the DHD. "Dial Kaelastrum." In a whisper he spoke in a voice filled with dread. "I have even more paperwork."