NationStates Jolt Archive


A Ship Possessed

-Ferris-
02-09-2004, 09:53
-----Somewhere, Inner Sol System-----

By the time the High Road dropped back into the normal three-dimensional universe, Arnau Velasco's Ghosts had got themselves into every part of the ship's system that would take them, including the Reliquaries of the crew.

For his part, Estéban Carrasco stayed on the command deck, overseeing the drop into normal space - the Possessed crew might have once been a top-notch jumpship crew, but the Corporeal Liberation Front Ghosts possessing them were better revolutionaries than starship crewers.

Excellent work, friend Carrasco! As always, the Ghost of Velasco himself was buzzing around in Estéban's own Reliquary, a malignant nuisance. Estéban fervently wished that the CLF leader had followed his own anti-digital dogma and stayed dead.

Such a busy little system this is, friend Carrasco. The High Senate will never find us here, look they as hard as they will. Isn't that just wonderful?

Estéban said nothing; Velasco knew just what he thought of that. The sooner the High Senate of the Ferrisian League tracked down the High Road and the surviving CLF "freedom fighters", the better. Small chance of that, though, given the seventy lightyears - seven days - between here and Thukat. Still, the High Senate - and more importantly, the League Star Command - wanted to find Velasco very badly indeed.

I've done what you wanted, you bastard. What about your end of the bargain?

Your Natalia? Not quite yet, friend Carrasco - this Reliquary, and this ship, are much too useful to the cause, after all, no matter how morally repugnant the situation may be to the both of us. The end at which we aim is surely worth any price!

Which was true, although the truths differed for Velasco and Carrasco; Arnau might be repelled by his continued existence in a form he'd decried for three decades and more, but his unwilling host was repelled by the means - killing, hijacking, mindjacking - to which Velasco was willing to resort. And while Velasco's aim was nothing less than the destruction of digital sentience, Minds and Ghosts both (and presumably the destruction of the Lightgate networks also), Carrasco's was simply to have his Ghost back; the one he'd been assigned upon his majority, not the one currently residing in the Reliquary chip at the back of his skull. Futile though it might be, he'd discovered he'd come to love Natalia Marquez, the bickering old woman.

Damnit, Velasco you bastard, you promised, and I hold you to your word!

Now Estéban began to realise just how badly he'd blundered; Arnau might continue to hang the carrot of Natalia's return before him as long as he needed Estéban and the High Road, but as soon as the CLF leader no longer needed him, he'd do away with "unnatural" Ghost and "Mind sympathiser" both. Carrasco let out a helpless groan of anguish; the Possessed command crew neither noticed or cared, more mechanical than organic under the control of their subverted Reliquaries.

My word must serve the cause, friend Carrasco, as must all things! Steady now, friend Lozano is about to send the message.

Zacarías Lozano, Velasco's favoured disciple and captain of the mutineer cruiser Righteous Cause, had pulled the cruiser ahead a few hundred kilometers as soon as the High Road dropped back into normal space, as was standard Star Command practice to avoid an alert and lucky system patrol cruiser wiping out taskfleets with a well-placed fusion drone.

Now Lozano would broadcast the message he and Velasco had worked out before reentry; if it worked, it would gain the CLF protection from any Star Command taskfleet which might be hunting them. If not, well, the Sol system was big enough to go to ground in, message or no message.


Broadband Unencrypted Communications

This is the cruiser Righteous Cause of the Corporeal Liberation Front. We are the last survivors of the organic resistance against the opressive evil of the Digital Sentiences of the Ferrisian Star League, our comrades having been cruelly massacred by the digital opressors in the Thukat star system.

We request sanctuary of the powers of the Solar System; the jackbooted enforcers of the League Star Command will assuredly be hunting us at this moment - and they hunt with the patience of machines, and will not give up until every last member of the Free lies dead.

In the name of Liberty and the martyred leader Arnau Velasco we entreat you; save us from the machine!

- Captain Zacarías Lozano, CLF Cruiser Righteous Cause


It was lies all through, of course, or at least truth severely skewed by the Corporeal Liberation Front; but the inhabitants of this system, a good seventy lightyears from Thukat and the other systems of the League, would have no way of knowing that.


-----Elsewhere:-----

Nothing here either, Epsilon?

That is correct, Admiral Fernandez. We can locate neither the Righteous Cause or the High Road in this system.

Eleanor Fernandez sighed, fingering her Admiral's pips absentmindedly. Even with ten jumpships - eight Exploration Vessels, two taskfleets - combing known space for the CLF terrorists, Velasco could not be found, and every day which passed since the Haven Rock massacre at Thukat decreased the likelihood of it ever happening. Although they'd been rumors that Velasco might have been on the Solidarity when it's reactor containment failed; if so, it was Lozano, not Velasco, that they had to find. That they would find; the League Star Command was not in the habit of allowing people who killed fifteen million civilians to escape.

Tell the captains, Epsilon - this one's another blank. We go onwards.

Ave, Admiral. Fleetmind Epsilon disbanding; Flagship Epitaph systems relinquished to Mind Callisthenes. Send the order to pull back to jump formation?

Yes, Callisthenes - all vessels enter jump formation around Epitaph. The sooner we find Velasco, the sooner Haven Rock is avenged.

OOC: Come one, come all! The CLF message is an unencrypted radio transmission, and even if you don't get it, the High Road's FTL drive has a very high "virtual mass"; that is, it masses much more than it should, given the materials it's made out of. This makes jumpships like the 'Road very slow indeed at sublight speeds, and also very easy to spot with gravitational sensors.
-Ferris-
03-09-2004, 08:53
To tell the truth, Zacarías Lozano didn't know exactly why he was still taking Velasco's orders. Certainly Arnau was (or rather, had been - his corpse was in the morgue of the Righteous Cause, and no matter where his mind might be his soul was fled) the founder and leader of the Corporeal Liberation Front, and it was possible that Zacarías was following him out of habit.

But all habit should have been rendered null and void the moment Arnau breathed his last aboard the 'Cause, or even before, when he'd passed through the Lightgate aboard the Solidarity to the one aboard the 'Cause; the thing had disassembled him at the molecular level, and in Zacarías' eyes that equalled "dead". And "abomination of the First", as Velasco himself had taught.

No, Velasco should have stayed safely dead, and command of the CLF should have passed to Zacarías. He was, occasionally, tempted to turn the X-ray lasers of the 'Cause on the High Road and blow jumpship, sympathisers, Velasco and all into subatomic particles. But he had not yet fallen that far, or had perhaps fallen somehow upwards since Haven Rock.

In this case, though, even the plans of an undead abomination were common sense, and Zacarías was willing to follow them. With plan A going apparently unnoticed (or at least unanswered), it was time for plan B, and Zacarías set the 'Cause and the 'Road to head out to the asteroid belt of the Sol system, in search of a rock in which to go to ground.

OOC: Still feel free to jump in! If I have to do this all by myself it's going to be a darn dull thread, and I'll probably go mad and start slinging asteroids at inhabited worlds...
The Caloris Basin
03-09-2004, 10:30
Curious... "Corporeal Liberation Front"... such an... odd name. Liberating the corporeal form... that sounds... unpleasant. Hmm... "Thukat star system"... what the Hell is that?

>Initiate CommandSequence \\:\\:activate:research_drone_alpha
>Return //://:research_drone_alpha Activated

>Initiate DroneCommand \\:\\:research:Thukat_star_system
>Return //://:research:thukat_star_system Successful

They do seem rather... luddite, however. Not sure about this digital stuff, but I suppose contact couldn't hurt. Besides, they're pretty far out right now.

>Initiate CommandKey \\:\\:extrncomm\\tightbeam:righteouscause
>Return //://:extrncomm\\tightbeam:righteouscause Successful

Greetings, Captain Zacarías Lozano, and welcome to Sol. I've detected no other transmitions, so it appears that it falls to me to welcome you to this particular solar system.

I can't say that I'm familiar with the "Digital Sentiences of the Ferrisian Star League," nor am I familiar with the Thukat star system, so I may not be much help.

Perhaps you could enlightening me.

>Initiate CommandKey \\:\\:closeroute
>Return //://:closeroute Successful
-Ferris-
03-09-2004, 11:25
Whoever the "Federated Mercurial Colony of the Caloris Basin" might be, they weren't providing much about themselves, but Zacarías wasn't about to complain; if a League Star Command Taskfleet were to drop out on top of the 'Cause right now, there'd be nothing to stop a rapid implosion of the fusion reactors but whatever political goodwill the CLF might have gained in the Sol System.

So Zacarías sent a nice informative reply; his faith in Velasco might be crumbling, but his faith in the righteous cause of the CLF was just fine, and part of any faith is "spread the word".


Radio Tightbeam Communication @ the Caloris Basin

Many thanks for your welcome, friends of the Caloris Basin!

The Ferrisian Star League is a five-system dictatorship, held together by the creations of the despotic, tyrannical race known as the "First"; the races of the Ktthrûkhtin and Kzûkhin, and the inhuman, emotionless dictators that are the "Minds" - Digital Sentiences created by the First to police their empire.

The Minds exterminated their creators and kidnapped our ancestors from Earth hundreds of years ago, forcing the human population of the five systems into slavery and servitude and controlling their organic minions through computer programs known as "Ghosts" - cruel mimicries of the departed designed to keep us under their heels for all time.

But there are still some humans - and even a few Ktthrûkhtin and Kzûkhin - who rebel at the yoke of the Minds, and strive to cast off their dominion. We formed the Corporeal Liberation Front to free ourselves from slavery, but the despots of the League have not been idle; after crushing our resistance in the Thukat system, seventy lightyears from here, they surely seek us still.

Please, stand up for justice - don't let the Front die out!


Zacarías might sound like a cross between a right-wing propagandist and an advertisement, but that could be fairly accurately blamed on Velasco; what Lozano had learnt he now repeated. It had been effective once, after all.
The Caloris Basin
04-09-2004, 10:34
Interesting... You meet all sorts of people out here in space. Then again, there's weirdos everywhere... they're just more creative up here.

>Initiate CommandKey \\:\\:extrncomm\\tightbeam:righteouscause
>Return //://:extrncomm\\tightbeam:righteouscause Successful

Ah. Hrm, this is something of a conundrum, as you can imagine. If you will indulge me for a moment, I would like to make sure that I am grasping the basics of your story, as I am mildly confused by a couple idioms and proper nouns.

First, I assume that "Ktthrûkhtin and Kzûkhin" are non-human, organic races. Furthermore, I assume that "The First" are a now-dead race of (human?) organic beings who long predate yourselves, as well as the "Ktthrûkhtin and Kzûkhin". Finally, I assume that the "Digital Sentiences" are a non-organic race. Possible an "Electronic" or "Artificial Intelligence" (commonly abbreviated as 'EI' or 'AI').

Running on the above assumptions, I further assume that you and yours are an organic race who is seeking asylum from the "Minds" (the aforementioned E/AI). Am I correct in these assertations?

>Initiate CommandKey \\:\\:closeroute
>Return //://:closeroute Successful
-Ferris-
04-09-2004, 10:52
Radio Tightbeam Communication @ the Caloris Basin

You are correct, friends! The First were humanoid (but most assuredly not human) aliens, who "uplifted" the nonsentient ancestors of the Kzûkhin, and adapted them further to create the Ktthrûkhtin. They then created the Minds (who are indeed non-organic, non-corporeal sentiences) to police their networks and operate their machineries ... but the First created too well, and the Minds turned upon them and exterminated them.

The Minds then abducted our ancestors from España, on Terra - I say "our" for the majority of the resistance is human, as are the majority of the organic slaves of the Minds.

Having escaped their grasp, they will indeed be seeking us; we require your protection, friends, for without it they will surely find us!


OOC: Apparently I can't post something that's just a quote...
The Caloris Basin
04-09-2004, 11:14
Well... he certainly sounded desperate. Then again, it was safe to assume that any refugee would. The real problem was that he seemed rather anti-machine, which could certainly make things complicated. On the other hand, it seems they hailed from Earth, which made things even more complicated.

>Initiate CommandKey \\:\\:extrncomm\\tightbeam:righteouscause
>Return //://:extrncomm\\tightbeam:righteouscause Successful

Hmm... This certainly is complicated. This isn't the first time that I've heard of a nation brought to ruin because they were inable to properly create A/EI's, so I sympathise, somewhat, with your plight. This could likely be beacuse the Minds are/were non-corporeal. I have found that we tend to do better when we have bodies, I'm not sure why, but that is what the evidence seems to point towards.

At any rate, I could probably offer temporary asylum, at the very least. I must admit that I am quite curious about you and your history, especially the E/AI that you are fleeing.

>Initiate CommandKey \\:\\:closeroute
>Return //://:closeroute Successful
-Ferris-
04-09-2004, 11:57
"I have found that we tend to do better when we have bodies..." Zacarías read, and the horrid suspicion blossomed that he had been talking with a Mind. A Mind! He must not accept it's treacherous offer of asylum, or it would waste no time in shackling the remnants of the CLF to it's whims.


Radio Tightbeam Communication @ the Caloris Basin

Friend, I question you; your words lead me to believe that you yourself may be a soulless machine! Please, lay my fears at rest - assure me it is not so!


OOC: Come on, little roleplayers ... don't be scared ... post post post, afore I flog th' lot of ye! Just kidding. :)
The Caloris Basin
05-09-2004, 08:16
Whoops... well... he would have found out eventually... I am kinda silvery. And metal.

>Initiate CommandKey \\:\\:extrncomm\\tightbeam:righteouscause
>Return //://:extrncomm\\tightbeam:righteouscause Successful

Souless? Metaphysical discussions of the 'soul' aside, I assure you that bear you no ill will, despite your aparent... shall we say... specism. Electronic Intelligences are much like any other intelligence. There are good, and there are bad. Or, more accurately, there are shades of gray. An organic form would have quite a difficult time living where I live, and wouldn't be able to do the things I do, such as walk the surface of the innermost planet when the temperature is at it's peak; something I am doing as I send this message to you.

I fear, however, that my words will be of little effect, and possibly not even heard, as you may have severed the connection before this message completes itself. I hope this is not the case.

As I stated before, the Minds that you fear have no bodies, while I have one. I truly do believe that rooting the intelligence in a body helps prevent the sorts of things you are fleeing.

But, if you still refuse my offer of asylum, I will bother you no more. I would offer you other possibilities, but you likely wouldn't believe me, just like you probably won't believe me when I tell you that I won't betray your location nor your appearance in this system. One caveat that you had best believe, however. There are many, many E/AI's in this system, numerous ones on every planet and most every moon. If you truly dread to be near any E/AI, or 'Mind', then you have likely picked the wrong system to dwell in.

-Elijah

>Initiate CommandKey \\:\\:closeroute
>Return //://:closeroute Successful
-Ferris-
06-09-2004, 10:59
Zacarías had indeed ceased to read Elijah's message before he reached it's end; it was horribly reminiscent of what the Minds themselves, and their organic sympathisers, spouted in the League, and thus an abhorrence.

The gravitic sensors of the 'Cause (much more advanced than those of the 'Road, which was after all a civilian jumpship) had found what they sought, in any case, and the CLF might now be able to escape League Star Command notice, message or no.

The peoples of the League were not in the habit of colonising planets or moons; such things were rare, after all, and in the five systems of the League there was only one rocky body, a high-gravity waterworld of little actual use (to humans, that was. The kzûkhin regarded it as the center of their culture - it was, after all, their homeworld).

No, there were far more rocks in the sky than mere planets, and with the advent of the electro-gravitic effector (another invention of the First, like the FTL drive and the Lightgate networks) the humans of the League had set up several hundred little worlds across the five systems. The 'Cause and the 'Road had the necessary effectors to reproduce the effect (after all, what else was a gravydrive?).

So the 'Cause had detected a nice carbonaceous asteroid, and the 'Road now hung in orbit, with it's point-defence effectors creating a nice one-gee field for people to walk about in. Not that they could walk about unsuited, of course - neither vessel carried terraforming equipment, and in any case they lacked the decades required for even minimal terraforming - but it was there.

Although there were some who pointed out that an asteroid suddenly changing it's gravitational field might look suspicious to the denizens of the Sol system (and even more suspicious to any LSC vessels looking around), the former seemed to be not paying much attention, and the latter ... well, if that happened, very little was going to save the Front in any case.

And, as had happened to many other asteroids in the League, it was christened simply El Peñón - The Rock.

OOC: I'm rather disheartened by the lack of response ... post? Please? Pretty please? I shall give you my Sad Ktthrûkhtin Face ... granted, the face of a sentient zero-gee squid-insect-thing isn't very pretty, let alone when it's sad, but hey! Jump in!
The Caloris Basin
08-09-2004, 11:28
A friendly bump...