Elder Cultivator

The commander of the strange ship that had not gotten squished by the distortion beast was apparently named Nekesa. As far as Ty knew, there wasn’t another ship that had gotten squashed, he was just very aware of his role in the one ship’s survival. Even if Nekesa was beyond Life Transformation.

“Would you like to stop by one of our planets to rest?” the old woman asked.

Ty had to think about it. He wasn’t authorized to engage in diplomacy, but refusing such an invitation could be a bad start to a long term relationship. “Of course, I would be glad to,” he said carefully.

“We will gladly welcome our savior,” Nekesa commented. “However, I must ask you to submit to a scan of your personage and your vessel, for the sake of our system’s security.”

From what Ty Quigley could tell, their own ship was very similarly equipped to Ruteran vessels- a marriage of technology and energy. That meant they might actually learn things that they shouldn’t, if their scanners were good enough. On the other hand, his own ship might pick something up from the visit. And if they based their assumptions about the Lower Realms Alliance off of his ship they would be severely confused upon observing a standard model.

Most people didn’t turn the wings of their ships into blades. Actually, most ships didn’t have wings unless they were going to be particularly focused on atmospheric combat. Ty had simply grown comfortable with the format and hadn’t wanted to change. With proper stabilizers, even a ship without wings could fly fine in atmosphere.

“As long as the scans won’t hurt anything,” Ty shrugged. He could have come up with any number of excuses in either direction. This was why he wasn’t meant for diplomacy. But he figured he would just warn people that his ship might be infected with weird foreign tech. Though the chances of their computer systems being directly compatible were… miniscule. There were limits to the gaps that cultivation could bridge as well.

Ty could tell the scan was happening, mostly because of the energy side of things. His ship picked out some fluctuations on various frequencies, but nothing it recognized. That just made sense.

“Apologies,” Nekesa said. “We had to verify that you were not connected to any unsavory factions.”

With his energy senses extended, Ty could feel Nekesa frown slightly. “You might find trouble with the Esoteric Order of the Blade.”

Ty’s face lit up. “Oh, who are they? They sound fun.”

“They will probably try to kill you, if they learn of your existence.”

“Like I said. Fun. Even if they don’t use swords.”

“What is your opinion on blades made of light?”

“Laser swords? They’re alright,” Ty said. Technological words were one of the few things that wouldn’t be part of the shared language. Especially not if this system diverged a while ago. He was still trying to feel out the barrier he bypassed. Was it hidden? He supposed it was possible to accidentally slip past one meant to hide the system more than it was to block people. And they seemed to assume that realspace travel was the norm. Nekesa had said ‘system’ right? So they just had one. Maybe they weren’t interstellar capable. “I won’t go looking for these guys, though. If it would bother you.”

“We would find it more relaxing if you did not look for them,” Nekesa concurred.

Shame. But trouble like that would usually come to him anyway.

Nekesa’s ship began to turn. “Based on your previous movements, I imagine you can keep up with our stable speed without issue. Is that correct?”

“Unless you plan on zipping back and forth across the system in a few minutes,” Ty agreed. “Can we stop by somewhere with some free energy so I can refuel my ship?”

“Forinti should be suitable enough for your needs… unless your ship is particularly indulgent.”

Ty mostly just didn’t want to cause too many fluctuations where people lived. But since it seemed to be their destination anyway, it was reasonable enough. He just wondered which of the planets he had picked out was being referred to. There were a few inhabited planets within the system.

Ultimately it turned out to be the simplest solution- the closest planet. Nekesa’s ship might have been patrolling- either for that Distortion Beast or something else- or already in transit to the same planet. It was strangely far out, but it didn’t feel like it had any particularly extreme formations making it more habitable. Maybe some tech he didn’t recognize, or it could just be one of those oddities that worked out.

Space was big.

It took them about half an hour to make it the last leg of the journey- not fast by Ty’s estimation, but the other ship wasn’t exactly pushing. Forinti was covered in water, with many small islands dotting it rather than any large continents. Ship sensors calculated it as about 20% land, which wasn’t particularly outside the expected scope of things. Kind of hot, but even the hottest areas were human-livable. For non-cultivators.

“It’s beautiful,” Ty commented. Gentle green skies that probably said something about the atmosphere’s composition. Sparkling seas, and of course the islands were quite something to look at when they got close. The cities really fit in well with the natural terrain. They’d done a pretty good job of not just making everything sprawl.

“I’m glad to hear you think so,” Nekesa said. “We are quite proud of its current state.”

Stolen novel; please report.

“Was it worse before?” he asked. He wondered if they could do any advanced terraforming.

“It was quite toxic,” Nekesa explained. “The seas were almost a black sludge.”

“Then you did great,” Ty commented. “Where do we land?”

“How much space do you need?” Nekesa asked. “I can guide you somewhere, since you won’t be able to speak with the control towers.”

“I can land vertically anywhere my ship will fit,” Ty explained. “Likewise, I could fly into a tunnel if it fits my wings and tail.” Technically, he wouldn’t have to fit in the tunnel, but the tunnel might not appreciate it in that case.

“All around mobility, then. We can dock at our intended spaceport. I will guide you through the route of approach necessary, then land ourselves. I trust you will not lose perception of us, but either way wait for myself and any selected delegation to approach, if you would.”

At the current distances? There was no chance he’d lose his sense of Nekesa. They’d been a thousand times further in space, and even if atmosphere limited him and his ship it wasn’t that much. Plus, Nekesa stood out with her cultivation. “I’ve got it.”

It took about half an hour of what Ty could only assume was contacting people on the radio, explaining why there was someone weird with her, that they needed to not be shot out of the sky, and all that. Maybe also clearing the area in case he was bad at landing. He wasn’t, but they had no context except his void maneuvers. Changing velocity in space was pretty trivial.

Nekesa continued to directly speak to him as they approached. He dropped onto the landing pad without issue, and she landed on the next one over. Ty was pretty sure that one of those had been occupied when they first arrived.

It didn’t take long for Nekesa to arrive with a proper envoy. Probably. Maybe it was just Nekesa’s sister. They did look similar enough. “Ty, please meet Makinia. I presume you will be most comfortable if I remain, but if you would prefer I attend to my other business I can leave you in her care.”

Was it correct diplomacy to say ‘I don’t care because I could probably cut you both in half’? Though he hadn’t seen Nekesa’s full power so he could be wrong. “You are the only one I know,” Ty said. “I would gladly have you remain.” Yeah, that sounded right.

He should probably have just left. Any good social cultivator would take all his secrets. If only he knew what they wanted so he could cut out those memories. Though… that probably wouldn’t be a good idea even if he hadn’t just come up with it.

“Nekesa said you are from… the Lower Realms Alliance. Is that correct?” Makinia asked. Her cultivation was firmly in Life Transformation. Ty would compare her combat threat with a wet paper towel. If she could kill him, it wouldn’t be in battle.

“That is correct. We’re a few hundred lightyears away. Your uh…” Ty paused. “I don’t actually know what your group is called. It sounded like you only control one system, though?”

“We refer to ourselves as the Origin Cycle,” Makinia explained. “Would you like to follow us to the lounge?”

That wasn’t the sort of question that required an actual answer. He just walked along with them. “It seems like a pretty good system,” Ty commented. “High natural energy, nice planets.”

Some architecture nerds would probably be freaking out with what he saw. But frankly, they were mostly just floors, walls, ceilings and windows. Not upper realms styled, or at least not any he’d seen. Among other things… he recognized plastic.

When they reached a sitting room, Ty shifted his sword belt so he could sit properly. Nobody had commented on his sword, so they shared some amount of cultivator acceptance. Or maybe they didn’t want to have to ask him to disarm and be rejected. He wasn’t just going to trust someone he’d met for an hour and barely fought alongside. Not that deeply. He would be subtle with his little device that scanned for poisons.

“Very comfortable,” Ty said. There was already food on the table.

“You may indulge yourself, if you wish,” Makinia commented, reaching out to pick a few slices of cured meat and cheese onto her own plate along with some thin bread.

Ty wondered if there was a ‘right’ way to eat that kind of thing, but he figured being new to the system being a weird barbarian would be appropriate. He stacked some up into an open faced sandwich and didn’t get any weird looks, though.

“I apologize for any discomfort my next questions may cause, but I must confirm you do not mean any harm to the Origin Cycle. Nekesa told me you were not aware of our system when you arrived. Is this correct?”

“Yeah, I dropped out of subspace when I sensed a battle with a distortion beast.”

Makinia paused. “I would like to ask about subspace later. I must next ask what your relationship with the upper realms is. Some assumptions can be made from the name of your group, but…”

Could he cut a planet in half? He wasn’t quite as focused on the same sorts of things as Chikere had been. Maybe if he got to his ship. He wasn’t planning to, but depending on how they reacted he might have to. “That depends on which part. We have a bunch of ascenders. Started our own group up there. The Exalted Quadrant isn’t on great terms with us.”

Ty felt a tingling feeling. Hopefully truthreading or something. If it was mental influence, he just hoped he could sense something happening before he was incapacitated somehow.

“What of the Chaotic Conglomeration?” Makinia asked.

So she knew about them. Well, it wasn’t that odd this far west. But that meant there was or had been some connection. Was he winning diplomacy? He learned something!

“Well, mostly too far to actually care,” Ty commented.

“Mostly?” That was Nekesa. Makinia looked slightly annoyed.

“We contacted some. To counterbalance the Exalted Quadrant.”

Ty was pretty certain all of this was okay to say. He did keep his senses open… and one strand on his ship. So far nobody had approached it, though.

“How long ago was this?” Makinia asked, going along with the line of questioning.

Ty frowned. “Not that long. A few centuries?”

“Significantly after our separation, then.” That was two pieces of information. He was good at this. “May we ask how many systems your Alliance controls? In general terms.”

“I don’t even know the specifics anyway. A whole lot. Dozens? A hundred?” Ty shrugged. He might be able to look it up in his ship’s records, but he wasn’t going to offer that.

“What of the cyclical invasions from the upper realms? Have those ceased?”

“That’s easy,” Ty said. “We kicked their asses the last few times around. Next time’s gonna be even worse if they dare to show up.”

Makinia looked surprised. Most people were. As if just because something had been a way for a few millennia it would stay that way forever. Maybe more than a few millennia- Ty didn’t know because history had been erased. For others. Rutera’s history went back quite a bit longer, but their planet was energy poor. Unlike this place, which made it weird they developed how they did.