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98.12% The Power of Ten: Sama Rantha / Chapter 524: Far Future Ch. 234 – The Corunsun

Capítulo 524: Far Future Ch. 234 – The Corunsun

"Your reaction is unexpected." The hovering drone followed me smoothly through the opening, watching as I trailed the cable behind me. "Were you aware of me?"

"The Seal Lock in its chamber above is absolutely free of dust. Not a mote is allowed to land upon it. If you think I could not guess it was psionically-empowered, you gravely underestimate me. Psionic empowerment coupled with pre-Imperial computing technology fairly screams of the existence of an intelligent data network. That you haven't had a massive meltdown and taken out the city means you remain uncorrupted.

"Thus, you are a self-aware computer network that has been isolated by the Foundation, probably without you interfering with their overt maneuvers. Now, I believe you had the means, probably telekinetically, to re-establish contact with the data network, but you sensed Warp influence in it, realized the long-term harm it would do to you, and effectively sequestered yourself.

"My actions here are basically to prepare you to resume normal duties. We can talk about isolation and preservation protocols after events unfold."

"Resuming normal duties?" the drone repeated, and I could hear the arching tone. "You speak as if-" It was interrupted by a beep, and fell abruptly silent, snapping around to look at the thumb drive in my hand.

"The Celestial Tribute!" it finally exclaimed in a halting voice. "It...It has been found?!"

"And a new Duke Corunsun has been claimed by the Ducal Seal and Signet. Details within." I held it out in my palm, and waited.

Micro TK plucked it off my open palm, spun it around, and a crystalline port formed on the drone's surface. The drone sat there in midair as I returned to hooking in data cables to various ports and areas of interest, leading to some systems that would be crucial to further events.

---

A not-so-remarkably short span of time later, the drone zipped up to me considerably more quickly. "The identity of the Tribute and codes have been verified and accepted. You are the Duchess-in-waiting, Sama Rantha, the beloved of the Duke Briggs Corunsun. You are here to facilitate the return of the dynastic wealth and authority of the Corunsuns to its Duke!"

"That is correct." I plugged in another superconductive data cable. "I trust you have sleeper programs in all the systems of the Foundation?" "Of course." I detected a subtle difference in the hum of the dense stacks of computer hardware around me, and diodes blinked up... and went quickly dark again...

"Wonderful. The Duke will be visiting after you can assure me that transfer of properties to His name will be accomplished. He will place the Seal upon the Lock, and take the Ducal Seat, and begin the process of establishing Himself here.

"However, He is in the middle of establishing a kingdom on the other side of the Great Rift right now, and will be unable to remain here."

"You will be serving as his agent in the Empire. Understood." The Psionic Intelligence began to calculate quickly. "It would be best if I infiltrated their systems further. These data connections are a good first step. It would be best if I re-established my primacy first."

I snapped in the last cable, which led into a minor terminal that had to deal with tax revenue storage numbers... which naturally would have to connect to something giving current tax revenue, and where those funds came from, and went to.

"What do you need? I should be able to get it to you."

--------------

Once the true Foundation, who I promptly dubbed Founding, was moving, things began to adjust.

Taking over the cyborgs who maintained the computers down here in the sub-zero chill wasn't actually all that hard, once Founding was in the systems. A combination of downloaded program updates through their own local Boole and artful insertion of dataplugs into them with drones and TK did the job fairly smoothly.

It basically shifted their orders to coming from Founding instead of the families ostensibly running it, and rather quickly, Founding's ancient systems were hooking into the newer and considerably less sophisticated systems added over the years by the families to replace it.

He was pleasantly surprised to find out I had access to programming and certain levels of technology even more sophisticated then he was, and started hinting at upgrades almost immediately. I demurred until Briggs had arrived to claim His Seat, naturally. I had no authority to upgrade or adjust the system until then, which Founding acknowledged with a sigh...

------------

Getting Briggs into the Foundation's Royal Hall wasn't all that difficult. After all, he looked like an appropriately brutal bodyguard. We sauntered in quite openly; my identity was confirmed, and we were shown personally on a tour of the Royal Hall by a plastic-smiled guide happy to natter on about the legendary loyalty of the Foundation Families to their Duke.

Briggs barely looked around, and of course nobody realized the significance of the Signet Ring upon his finger. Him Ar Dumb Broot, Him Ar.

We entered the Hall with its breadth and shiny murals of ancient history, unchanged for millennia. The field about the Dais of Enthronement was unchanged, and would not go down save to the wearer of the Signet, of course.

The guards were purely symbolic androids, of course. There was nothing to destroy or steal in here... the images could be restored by the same nanotech that preserved them, and it would take atomics to breach the Field about the Dais.

Which didn't mean the jaw of our guide didn't drop when Briggs strode unconcernedly towards the Dais.

"Sir, Sir!" Pirvin shouted excitedly. "Contessa Rantha! Your bodyguard! If he touches the field, he-he will... will..."

Briggs stepped right through it, the energy screen playing over his body visibly as he stepped through, and reached up to his neck to remove a certain medallion there.

"He... what is he..." stammered Pirvin, and I grabbed his arm.

"It may be worth a LOT of money if you record this," I noted to him. He looked at me, back at Briggs as that massive ham of a fist held up the much smaller medallion. Pirvin's eyes got very wide, indeed, and his optical recorder almost shimmered as he kicked it up to very high resolution.

Briggs placed the Medallion upon the Lock, and the Seal shimmered with light. Psi-active matrices locked into unique crysto-metallic patterns shone and shimmered with liquid light.

There was no flaring of light, merely a withdrawal of it. Briggs calmly withdrew the Seal and hung it again about his neck, this time on top of the massive suit wrapping his thick body.

"Greetings, Duke Corunsun," a voice spoke up, as the Lock upon the Crown Pillar receded like falling water into the floor. The very expensive Orion Marble flowed and rose up, forming into a great throne, gleaming with veins of raw gemstones in spectacular fashion.

Just the perfect size for him, too.

"Please seal the Foundation, and Summon those who work here to the Hall." The actual headquarters had long been moved from this ceremonial heart to a new tower on the Crownspire of Corun long ago, so the most senior members of the Families weren't actually close by. "Begin the transfer of assets and titles to my name and the accounts provided to you.

"Oh, and bring up The Corunsun."

Pirvin swallowed hard at the rumbling bass of Briggs' voice, carrying power, assurance, strength, and determination that was trashing every image he ever had of Ancients. Sitting on that throne, the Ducal Seal glittering on his chest, he indeed looked like a great nobleman...

Part of the dais flowed aside, and a stand arose. On top of it rose a great gemstone, a multifaceted, multicolored corundum jewel the size of a man's head, brought up from who knew where.

The Corunsun...

Briggs' pale violent eyes fell upon Pirvin, who fell helplessly to his knees beneath their weight.

"Long ago, the vassals of Corunsun swore their fealty to the family and its Duke upon this, the jewel for which the family is named.

"I am sure it is a mere formality, for are not the families of the Foundation known for their loyalty? Pirvin Skymander, you are invited to be the first to pledge yourself to the Ducal Seat of Corunsun in six thousand years."

Pirvin swallowed again, staring at the glittering red, blue, and topaz gemstone, glowing there with real power. "A-and if I don't?" he had to ask.

"Making a mockery of loyalty to the Corunsun name?" Briggs inquired, very softly.

Pirvin almost lunged for the gemstone, slapping his hand down upon it. "I-I," he stammered.

"I, Pirvin Skymander," I supplied him helpfully, and he repeated blankly, "do swear life, loyalty, and limb to the Seat of the House Corunsun, and He who sits upon it, His Grace Briggs, the Duke Corunsun!"

He got it all out, his knees shaking so hard I was basically keeping him upright.

The light flashed in his eyes as the Geas took hold. A Raised Geas, and applied with technopsi, too. This could not be broken without at least a Sixteen working on it... and the Duke would know if the Oath Corunsun was broken, as the heart of the Seal and the stone upon his Signet both came from the Corunsun.

"Welcome to My service, Master Pirvin," Briggs greeted him with a cordial nod.

"Your Grace!" Pirvin hyperventilated a few times, calming himself down. Now that he had Sworn himself formally to the man he was supposed to be loyal to anyways, he started to adjust. "How may I be of service to Your Grace?" he asked automatically.

"Sama, give him a sidearm. Pirvin, you will be given several chances to prove your loyalty shortly."

"Yes, Your Grace." He accepted the compact laz I gave him, switched off the safety with the attitude of someone who knew how to use it, and stepped off to the side, near me. "Uh, my lady, if I might ask-?" he inquired softly.

"Fiance," I replied calmly.

His eyes got very big again. "Yes, My Lady," he said, properly capitalizing things this time.

------

It didn't take long for the first workers in the Hall to be shuffled inside, having been ordered to assemble here by the computer networks. They came into the long hall, and started at disbelief at the huge Ancient waiting there on a throne, with a glittering Medallion on his chest, and the glowing twinkling of the Corunsun gleaming there, just like it looked like on the walls.

There were protests in back as the security bots hurled the recalcitrant and reluctant within, and suddenly things for some 1,247 Foundation Family members were rather quiet.

"Greetings, Families of the Corunsun Foundation. I am Briggs, the Duke Corunsun. Long have I heard of your legendary loyalty to My Seat. Before you lies the Corunsun, upon which the vassals of the Dukes swore their loyalty long ago. I offer you now the chance to confirm your loyalty, and retain your status with the House Corunsun."

There was a pregnant, fearful pause for them to digest that.

"If you do not wish to confirm that loyalty, there are sixteen different death traps in this hall designed to kill the holder of the Ducal Seal, placed here by your families. You will be allowed to test the efficacy of your ancestors.

"Camer Totsko, will you come forth and swear to this Seat?"

The florid, red-faced man flushed even deeper at Brigg's deep, mild voice. "I do not believe this! You cannot be the Duke! The Seal would never permit an abhuman to claim the Seat!"

There was a whine and flash of light, and the florid man's head exploded, showering the pseudo-nobles about with blood and brains.

Privin calmly lowered his pistol back down. "Your Grace, he refused," he added politely.

Briggs nodded slowly, pale violet eyes steady. "Then, I shall be more direct. In order to spare your fellows a cleaning bill, perhaps everyone who does not wish to uphold your famed loyalty should stand against the west wall..."


PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES
Aelryinth Aelryinth

I'm sure the lack of taking over guns blazing will be corrected in the eventual cinematic about the Duke's triumphant return. They are working on the screenplay already.

Capítulo 525: Far Future Ch 235 – The Sargasso

Director Grossmer's face was ashen as he finished with his Oath. He probably had more information than most on what was involved with an Oath on the Corunsun.

As it turns out, all the senior Security heads had also sworn Oaths on the Corunsun, and had been doing so for millennia. So when an actual Duke popped up, and was verified by the Corunsun, they were perfectly happy to 'usher' the senior members of the Foundation Families to the Hall for a little test to their loud promises of faithfulness and steadfast stewardship, yessirreeBob.

Briggs had displayed glacial patience with the recalcitrant bastards, and he didn't mind spending ammo on those who thought they had a choice. The fact they wouldn't swear now, basically the fulfillment of their family's promises for millennia, meant they had never been loyal, so they were basically traitors armed with knowledge of the Foundation and all its finances.

He pulled the plug on them without batting an eye. If they didn't want to be loyal, they shouldn't have worked here in the first place. Of course, if they didn't work here, someone doubtless would have tried to kidnap them and use them against the Foundation, so there was that...

"How may I serve Your Grace?" the ashen Director asked, looking like someone had just eaten his pet cat in front of him. He'd gone from being the mighty director of planets and hextillions in credits, to being the flunky to an Ancient. If he tried to rebel against the Oath, well, he'd die on the spot. The Corunsun had a reaaaally good Oath.

"You'll be obeying the orders of the Contessa here, and anyone she appoints to work with you."

I raised my fingers and snapped them.

Ten Ranthas in some of the sexiest business attire and stilletto heels you'd ever seen came walking out from behind the throne, and fixed eyes on him like lasers.

"We'll be starting with a comprehensive financial review of your investments for the past twenty centuries, including the trillions siphoned off into private funds for your families." His face fell even further at my words. "Don't worry about the Foundation's actual finances, we're going to be discussing how your families are going to be paying back the approximately 10.43 quadrillion credits you owe the Duke."

Twenty-one people fainted dead away. My granddaughters and their mother Sandra Day O'Rantha smiled the exact same way, all Legal Eagles coming for blood.

Four millennia of interest is indeed a bitch when it catches up to you.

------------

"I am imagining you with Legionnaire genetics, but I don't want to be eight foot tall, so I am promptly forgetting it and telling you not to indulge in that."

He hurr-hurred cheerfully underneath me, while I ran my claws over his chest, la la la, muscles like cables, hide like steel, hair like wire, sounded like a forge bellows, la la la...

"Wouldn't dream of it. Too many doors would be too short, and I have to duck too often now." Inconvenience more important than tossing battle tanks around, naturally.

"Miffed you can't just take your Ducal Seat now?" I asked him. It had been a long couple days taking those Oaths, but now one of his lads, Henry, was taking them for him, his Natural Leader awing the Family members being brought in in a steady stream. Their legendary loyalty was now being confirmed solidly. Their lack of loyalty in the past was also long confirmed, as the files of the security forces they'd used to enforce that lack of loyalty were pretty thorough.

By the laws of the Empire, they owed the Duke their souls, let alone everything material they owed.

"No. I'm making a bigger realm past the Rift." With his own hands, not taking it from others. "On the other hand, owning a couple systems or twenty does make it somewhat more convenient to set up the first Gate."

He actually owned six populated planets not on the Imperial records. A bit of taxes were in arrears with them. Four of the planets didn't even know the Corunsuns owned them, just in case.

A Gate crossing the galaxy would open up trade with the Empire once again. Any planet that had it, if discovered, would promptly become the center of a shooting war for first the technology, then the Gate itself.

So, it had to be set up on a planet out of the eyes of the Empire. That wasn't going to be an issue. We had a rapidly growing number of covert and overt worlds falling under our umbrella, although catching up to the Empire itself, or taking away its authority over them, was going to be a monumental task they were going to fight all the way.

They just weren't looking for something as immense and well-coordinated as we were, or who could move so fast to and fro.

"So, how's it feel to be Seventeen?" he asked, chucking me on the chin. He was a Sixteen, just a Level behind me on the Racial side. All that kingdom-forming and legend-building was driving his Source nature higher. Me building all this shit for him was doing it for me!

Throne knew I wasn't going to be running all this. I had too many kids who were Naturally Talented for the job(s), and all the ambition to do them with unseemly skill and heady doses of violence if necessary.

A lot of the kids were not going Deep, realizing that we were potentially going to be around a long, LONG time, and that meant plenty of time to go Deep and have future places to put Karma. We didn't have a maximum lifespan, so we'd only ever be getting closer to middle age.

Time to go Deep and get good at everything was something the long-lived could do. Getting the job done now, and qualifying to do that job at the highest tiers, was what the demand was. Being stuck at Ten when you needed fifteen Ranks to perform at the baseline wasn't going to cut it.

"The kids are already chaffing at me to go planet-hopping. I am very shortly going to be the most-traveled person in the galaxy," I had to laugh. "At the rate the Map is spreading, I'm expecting to be walking on anywhere from five to ten planets a day for a while." I would have the necessary psicrafting done in Chalice within a day or two. The necessary Karma was long since in place via Burning sizable amounts of e-platinum.

"Sparing Ronnie and Meter from doing the same," he laughed without sympathy. It was true. She'd been the first to qualify for doing so, but she was restricted to going to places that were setting up the highest-level tech production facilities, at this time our Energized Material production facilities. Given the Marks, her personal touch generally wasn't needed except at some of the very highest-end facilities, and the girls were making it a point of pride not to need her there personally, which meant gaining Levels so she didn't have to be.

Which didn't mean they wouldn't scream if they-

-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!-

Briggs and I both blinked as that /tell went right past any filters and directly to the two of us.

-Carmen?- I /asked.

-Marco?- Briggs /inquired.

-MomDadthisissoincredibleyouhavetoseethisMomgetherequickthisisfantasticIcan'tsayenoughyouhavetoseethis-

-Dear, you're blowing the line wrap,- I /said calmly, and she finally let her 30's Wis rein in her 40's Cha and get control of herself.

-Ahem!- Marco /intervened. -Uh, folks, we found a Sargasso.-

I looked at Briggs; he looked at me; both our eyes narrowed. -Eff me. There actually is such a thing?- I had to /ask.

-YesMomanditshuge!- Carmen /exploded again. Natural Mappers get excitable when they find legendary new places.

I sighed, Briggs sighed, and he looked at me looking down at him with magic-enhanced beauty that could kill on the spot anything that saw it.

Only for him!

-We'll be there in an hour. Tell the Strategos to get things rolling.-

-Yes, Mom,- Marcos /replied dutifully, and logged off.

"An hour, eh?" He waggled a bushy eyebrow at me.

"Let's see if you last that long! Rarr!" All the tails and wings and horns and arms came out for him.

"I am the mighty Duke Corunsun! Bring it, you hag!" he defied me valiantly, and close tonsil wars followed forthwith.

------

I stepped through the Riftcut, Briggs coming in behind me. Priscilla had gleefully moved into her new Contessa Rantha identity, and was even more ready to put the iron-hearted bitch trope into very solid use... and if working closely with Sir Henry Briggs was on the agenda, well, just how closely was a matter of intimate personal negotiations...

They both had Night Rose Masteries. Henry was the rare social animal of the lads of the family, and to say he got around was not a lie whatsoever. She was going to have fun using him, and he was going to have fun being used. Using him as a great excuse for bitchfests and endless bad soap opera plots was totally on the front burners... and there was a section of the Strategos that was entirely devoted all to that social warfare stuff, too, it being right up there with trading in importance, complete with scriptwriters and production companies on opposing sides of the Rift from where such events were taking place.

We were actually standing on an ancient alien space hulk, a drifting vessel that, by its lines, was probably some form of cargo container for bulk goods, oriented more towards a sphere then the streamed lines of a warship.

I didn't recognize the lines, either. Given how encyclopedic my knowledge of ships was at that point, it was impressive. It meant this species had never been met by anyone during human history that had ever told humans about them.

The wave of psychic trauma swept past like a mental tsunami... and broke against my Null and Briggs' Source despite itself. I barely got the Rift closed before it hit, and Briggs flared his Source out to full strength, frowning at the power of it.

"Damn, that's hitting at a Fifteen," he murmured, his face rather ugly. The screaming horror and despair carried on the psychic winds was horrendous. It would take a 36 Null or Source to be able to work here safely at that, and psychic winds tended to accumulate in higher gusts. The real range was probably 41+.

We glanced at Carmen, standing outside with us, her own Null out to full, having carefully stepped back from where we'd come through. "How's the tech taking it?" Briggs asked quickly.

"Barely. The repeated waves are rattling anything that isn't Angeltech," she admitted. "We're blowing vak-tubes regularly if they aren't covered by a Source or Null." She glanced in worry at their Scout ship, the Silk Road. "We're going to have to pull out towards the heliosphere soon, and then head back home for a full refit."

Well, that would put their Mapping on hold, which was a total pain. Briggs and I lifted our eyes, and slowly panned right. Then we both slowly panned left.

Just to make sure, we both did it again. I'm sure Carmen found it pretty hilarious watching it, and the credit figures flashing up in front of our eyes.

A Sargasso. There actually was such a place...

Ships were lost in the Warp every year. The Warp, however, was an unreal place, not meant for material things, especially things as full of energetic, super-dense, psi-active, and Energized materials as starships.

Eventually, such things would fall back out of the Warp into realspace. Space would have to be easily breached there, the Warp rejecting the heavy material, the draw of materiality and rejection of the Warp sending it spinning on unseen currents to where the Warp could fully recede, and it would fall back into reality.

And this was a place, or THE place, where they did it.

A Sargasso of doomed ghost ships, ejected from the Warp...


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Aelryinth Aelryinth

This actually exists in the 40k universe... although nobody attempts to salvage them, of course...

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