NationStates Jolt Archive

The small gray orb floated still amidst the nothingness of space, standing as a lonely valiant soldier against the massive presence of the Sun. And it kept becoming bigger and bigger, as the small transport ship swiftly traveled the route between space station Thaenothil and Mercury.

"A planet lost where everyone can see it. It is certainly interesting to see that someone was brave enough to dare claiming it" Commented idly Krivenkah Pestonova, recently named as Head Commissioner of the Energetic and Hydric Resources Management Offices for Thaenothil.

To her side was sitting baron Lammar von Etrick, Subsecretary for the General Development Ministry, who had his gaze lost somewhere in the vast scenario that grew beyond the thick protective windows, while slowly shaking a big cup of brandy with his fingers. Pestonnova's comment broke his absent state "Oh, yes, Krivenkah. I was pondering the same. A place than everyone overlooks, the lost corner of the System, so to say. I can not do less than appreciate the irony in our situation, going there seeking solutions for our problems -he took a short sip of the bloody liquor- Ironic indeed"

Both Pestonova and Von Etrick had been sent by the Federal Commission to negotiate in-situ with the mercurial colonists. Having received good news about the production of energetic resources on the ashen planet, and given the current hard situation through which the colonies of Thaenothil have been in terms of power supply, it quickly became a matter of high priority to seek a solution through exchanges with Caloris Basin. And along with them traveled the representative group of the Federal Business Combine. The corporative conglomerate had jumped into negotiations with the offices at the motherland as soon as they became aware of the project, and now they have attained exclusive rights over any future investment related to the operation. As always, state initiatives ridden by the horses of private corporations.

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It was just a matter of hours until the calcined surface of Mercury occluded most of the scenery. Now in close radio range, the pilots of the transport began opening the appropriate communication channels "Caloris Basic, this is F.I.T.V. Coloroth IV, carrying federal emissaries from space station Thaenothil. We await for clearance and coordinate instruction to land. I repeat. This is F.I.T.V. Coloroth IV, carrying federal emissaries from space station Thaenothil. We await for clearance and coordinate instruction to land"

The small vessel entered mercurial orbit, awaiting to be allowed to land and deliver it's energy-hungry commission.

The transmition from the Coloroth IV was picked up by a tired Daedalus Class satellite and beamed down to the planet's surface, where Elijah smile-anologued in C-Space. He had hoped that his avatar might be finished before begining to trade in energy, but some things couldn't be avoided.

Initiate CommandKey \\:\\:extrncomm\\tightbeam:colorothiv
Return //://:extrncomm\\tightbeam:coclorothiv Successful

You are cleared to land at the following coordinates.

Initiate CommandKey \\:\\:closeroute
Return //://:closeroute Successful


In the center of the basin sat a titanic black dome. Between it and the other domes that dotted the basin, it was easy to see how Elijah was able to so easily harvest the nearly endless amounts of heat and energy that flowed out from the sun constantly. As the Coloroth IV began its descent to the surface of the planet, the large dome slowly cracked open, like a bizarre iris, the walls seeming to melt into the ground.

Nearer to the surface, thousands of small rovers came into view. Some had manipulator arms, others had strange tools, all where highly reflective, flashing like spot lights, and all were constantly doing something. No vehicle rested or paused its work. There was far to much to do.

Also visible where the massive towers that ringed the mountain range that surrounded the basin. They could only be the Lightning Guns that had been described before this trade agreement had been reached. While the effortlessly tracked the Coloroth IV, they showed no evidence of firing, or even being fully powered up. This was a secure site indeed.

As the ship landed, and the dome closed, massive climate control units roared to life, as did the air generators. After about ten minutes a holographic image of a silver man* appeared by the most accessable hatch. He smiled broadly, Welcome to the Caloris Basin.

[OOC: * The hologram looks something like the figure on the flag. Liquid metal.]

[tag to make my life easier]

The federal delegation came out from the now dormant transport vessel and into the massive enclosed dome. The vague metallic scent characteristic of artificially generated breathable environments filled their nostrils, as they began breathing the new air. Just at the exit of the ship stood the quicksilver host, a man that seemed to be composed only from liquid, glittering metal.
Being used as they were to treat with computer-generated holographic representations of digital minds, the acted quite naturally upon encountering the man. The mercurial figure was, nonetheless, a quite interesting thing to see.

Both delegates came out first, and bowed politely before the man. Krivenkah took a step further and gave Elijah's projection a broad smile of white teeth.

"You must be the one who treated with our government on the preliminary negotiations, Elijah, if my memory does not fail. My name is Krivenkah Pestonova, and my companion here is the baron Lammar von Etrick. We have been sent to negotiate the commence of this mutually benefiting energy exchange treaty" Her words were followed by a dissimulated cough from one of the members of the corporative commission, who were standing at the entrance of the ship, behind them. This made Krivenkah clench her jaw and turn her eyes in another direction for a moment, before recovering composture "And, of course, the Federal Business Combine, principal commercial and industrial conglomerate of the Federation, has insisted to be present in the negotiations by sending it's own board of representatives. This, of course, unless you should choose to disapprove their presence"

Von Etrick took a step ahead and smiled gently at Elijah, his mouth lost among his long brass-colored beard "By all the activity I saw around here upon our arrival I can presume that you are quite a busy administrator. Thus, we would dislike to extend your program any more. The negotiations will begin as soon as you see fit, Elijah"

Elijah holds his arms out, palms up, smiling almost apologetically, Afraid my avatar hasn't been shipped yet. He frowns slightly as his image shimmers, a mote passing through his face. He grins, New building and all...

He smiles again, bowing slightly, obviously unable to shake anyone's hand, Facilities are still somewhat limited, however, I can easily give you a tour. You also needn't worry about the rovers working planetside, most of those functions have already been scripted, and are largely automated, I can give you any and all time and attention that you need. He grins, And I have plenty of time to entertain the Federal Business Combine's representatives. They'll be no trouble. However, in interest of keeping you on schedule, and measuring the efficiency of such transaction for future reference, we should probably ajourn to the other dome to... 'talk turkey', as they say.