NationStates Jolt Archive

The Imperial Space Defense Grid. The wonderful grid that protects the Imperial Union, yes we are a Union now. Not the evil leftist kind... okay we are leftist but, you know what I mean. But they were seeing strange things via the Grid. Powerful space stations, large boxy ships, sometimes they even saw a fight over Mars. Again and again, the Imperial Council said it was rubbish. Pssh, it wasn't rubbish. Then one day... well it involved a giant blockade.

The Imperial Council

The Imperial Council met underground, underneath the Presidential Villa to be exact. It was a dark room, squarish. On the walls were T.V. Monitors and the like. In center was a small round table where they met, but who were these people? The Imperial President, Frederick von Hattensberg. The Foreign Chancellor, Sergei Ilyanov. The Internal Chancellor, Tanya Zhukov. The Finance Chancellor, Nicholas Cage. I think. The Defense Chancellor, Wilhem von Sturben. And the Commerce Chancellor, Rosta Einvach.

All of these met to discuss the Imperial Union's Spacial Security. Wow. Wilhem von Sturben began. "Ladies and Gentlemen." He said, even though Tanya was the only lady there. "As you know, the Imperial Union is at risk. Allow me to present the evidence."

The planet Mars was shown on the T.V Screens. Surrounding Mars were ships, hundreds of them of all makes. Allanean, Weyran, and maybe other countries that were involved in the past incident. Heck, maybe I picked the wrong nations, but eh. The ships showed, then a video played. It showed the ships maneuvering to attack, others to defend. Heck it was like a large clusterbleep. It was a Space Navy battle, and the Rosians had a large Navy. But now I'm just rambling.

As soon as it was over Wilhem sighed. "This obviously shows how vulnerable we are. Therefore, I suggest we build our own fleet."

Nicholas fainted.

Sergei chuckled. "As you can tell, this would be very expensive." He said. "But, we can get help. This proves there is life out there. Probably humans are more advanced then us, strange we didn't pick up on it. Anyway, I say we make our own defense fleet. Maybe fourty large ships, who knows. I'm just guessing."

Frederick looked at Wilhem. "And the IRRs?" The IRRs being the Imperial Rosian Republics.

Wilhem cleared his throat. "Ten ships could work, this is going to be defensive."

Tanya shook her head. "Mr. President, the Rosian public will go insane. How am I supposed to tell them about this?"

Sergei shrugged. "Use different names. You know, instead of nuclear weapons use happy sunshine devices." He snickered.

Tanya moaned, but not in that way you pervert.

Rosta interjected. "But think about it, with this new source of trade open to us, the Island will make its money back in no time. I mean, we are a major weapons exporter. If anything, we can just sell them the porn."

The Council nodded.

Frederick smiled. "Excellent. Sergei, get working on a message we can give to this system. Tanya, follow Sergei's advice and sugarcoat it. Rosta, see how much this can get us in terms of trade. Wilhem, figure out something with the Department of Spacial Defense. And I, will wake Nicholas up."

Nicholas woke up. "Sorry."

Frederick patted Nicholas on the back. "Good. Now, you. Tell me how this is going to cost us."

Nicholas fainted. Again.

Frederick thwapped himself.

From: Sergei Ilyanov, First Chancellor of Foreign Affairs
To: The Solar System

This is a message of peace. We are the Imperial Union of The Island of
Rose. We noticed a lot of activity near Mars, and every other planet part
of the Solar System. We are elated because this means that we are able
to have new relations. We are also looking for technology to improve our
Space Program. Anything would be helpful. Thank you.
Sergei Ilyanov
Chancellory of Foreign Affairs

And this small message was sent to Sol over, and over, and over, and over. Coming soon, the broadcast from RINN saying we have people in Mars! Oooh.

Conglomerate of Angstian Off-World Holdings, Earth Orbit, Mother

"Profit?"

"Monetary Gain: Minimal. Creation of secondary Ties: Moderate. Creation of Dependencies: Moderate"

"Sufficient. Projected Timeframe?"

"Five years until operational status is reached. 25 years until Dependencies cease to exist."

"Acceptable. Current capacities?"

"Civil war is continuing. Our own facilities are a possible, but somewhat less-than-desirable alternative. Technology & Knowledge transfer can be started immediately, though."

"Risk factor?"

"Low. Keeping it on a basic level should reduce it even further."

"Well then. Lets get going."

The four people (One female, three males) stood up, leaving the conference room on Mother's edge. The decision had been made, now they could go through with it.

Minutes later, the message was composed and sent. Admittedly, they weren't especially certain with regards to the sanity of the project, given the Rosian... Well, obliviousness that sort of hinted at them being a comparatively... Odd society, but well... They could still try.

A little bit moe careful than last time, during the Allanean disaster, though.

From: The Conglomerate of Angstian Off-World Holdings
To: Sergei Ilyanov, First Chancellor of Foreign Affairs, The Island of Rose,
Subject: Rosian Space Program

"We have... Noticed your interest in... Improving your space program, and are, indeed, somewhat interested in possibly helping out, as far as we can.

"However, to do so, we would need to know some specifications, namely, what do you want?"

Sincerely,

~ The Conglomerate

The message was sent. A first contact, not much more... The last time Angstians had had direct contact with The Island of Rose was, after all, several hundred years ago, during the great war.

To: The Conglomerate of Angstian Off-World Holdings
From: Frederick von Hattensberg, Imperial President of The Imperial Union

We gladly accept this proposal. I am sorry Sergei is unable to respond, but
this question has to be answered by most of the Chancellories, and regulation
allows for only one to answer. Therefore, I will gladly answer. In short, this is
what the Imperial Union requires:

- Advanced spatial techonology
- A "space fleet" capable of defending the Island itself, about forty
- A smaller version of a "space fleet" capable of defending the IRRs, about ten
- Improved space stations to house these fleets
- Factories to build these fleets
- The price
- Good relations

I think that all of this can be accomplished, therefore we invite you to
come to our own Space Station One, to tell us how the agreement will work.
I will probably send Sergei, In Peace:
Frederick von Hattensberg
Imperial President of The Island of Rose

Rose International News Network

... and a shocking find today. The Rosian Department of Spacial Exploration, or the RDoSE, has found that other nations from Earth have colonized the whole of the entire Solar System. Tanya Zhukov, the First Chancellor of the Interior, gave a press conference, stating "These beings are humans and are people like us. We have nothing to worry, since they don't care about us." Most of the Imperial Union was releaved, but Son Hua, the President of the Chinese IRR stated "I do not trust these people, we should not be so open to them. I want to see if the benefit us." Also, the Rosian Department of Spacial Defense has started a new program to upgrade the Imperial Space Defense Grid. As of now, a new strategy to mass produce the R/SF-1A is in the works. Meanwhile in the New Roskan IRR, a new Socialist President was elected today as elections overtake the Imperial Union...

From:The Conglomerate of Angstian Off-World Holdings
To: Frederick von Hattensberg, Imperial President of The Imperial Union
Subject: Rosian Space Program

"We see. A detailed... Program, possibly going over the course of roughly one generation, can certainly be set up.

"Generally speaking, an exchange of knowledge and limited manufacturing capacities should be within our capacities, and as such we believe that successful cooperation can be arranged.

"A team of engineers will be sent to your station, with more detailed options, in about a month's time."

Sincerely,

~ The Conglomerate of Angstian Off-World Holdings

Mother

"Are you sure this was a good diea?"

"Why?"

"Check this news broadcast..."

The female checked, then shaked her head. "... Wow. You mean they missed, ah... Ludicrously excessive and rather detailed radio/ microwave communications they could intercept, the media from about a hundred or so earth-based spacedy nations, various other things...?"

"Looks like it."

The female (Natasha Hinata, Ivanova's 'Link to Earth' sighed. "I see... We will have to begin with the very basics. Veeeeeeeeeeeery basic basics. Dear god, how the hell did they manage to get into space without noticing such things beforehand?!"

The male shrugged. "No idea. Steampunk in space?"

"Well, that's certainly a possibility..."

One month later, SS1, TIOR

The transport was nothing more than a glorified shuttle, a mildly ellipsoid thing coming in with slightly more than zero acceleration, eventually docking while chatting with the Rosian C&C, who were now dealing with a slightly frisky semi-sentient AI. Nothing special, just a tad annoying.

Four people left the shuttle, suited up, heading for the inside, eventually entering the station.

A pressurisation later, they were ready to be welcomed by the Rosians.

They were Ralph Tsumoto, Aerospace Engineer, Franklin Shrubbery, Physicist, Michael Garner, Weapon Engineer, and Miyuki Tanara, Economist and Sociologist.

"Well, here we are... Annoyingly small, this thing. Bah."

As the Angstians entered the docking module... thing, two soldiers and a man who was wearing an Officer's uniform approached the Angstians. He looked about twenty nine, and looked Italian. He had a slight tan, as most Rosians did, and had a nice full head of brunnette hair... as most Italians do, I'm assumming. If not, this man is special. The soldiers behind him were wearing standard green camo, with a red berets. They were carrying Resi designed Guass rifles, yes we use those.

The Italian bowed. "Hello. My name is Captain Giovanni Forchelli. I am the Officer in charge of the soldiers here. I am glad that you have come, I hope it isn't too tight. Follow me."

Giovanni led the Angstians down the small hallway, the two soldiers in tow following the Angstians. As soon as they got out of the hallway, they arrived at the Command Center.

The Command Center was very large. It was divided into two sections. The top section, where the Angstians are in now, was the military section of the station. A large screen projected the statistics of the station while men were working on smaller screens, like a NASA command place. This was the biggest part of the station. The walls were white, of course. And really, a lot of fancy lights of doom. And on the edges, soldiers overlooked the Command Center... duh.

The second section was the civlian section. It was basically a small community center, not extensive, but it works. I'll leave it to your imagination.

Giovanni escorted the Angstians to the Commanding Officer in charge of the station.

The Commanding Officer, which looked around thirty something years old and Russian, stood up. He had brownish hair and was very fit. He shook the hands of each one, as he shook their hands he said. "My name is Mikalov Bornikov, I am the Commanding Officer of SS1. You must be the Angstians. I sure hope you can help us."

Meanwhile an R/SF-1A (http://img163.echo.cx/img163/9490/pmt2vd.gif) (the space fighter for the Rosian Space Force) flew over SS1, and spotted the Angstian shuttle. The pilot, a bored testosterone filled man pilot, contacted the shuttle. "Hey err... anybody there?" He said. Now if that semi-sentient AI would respond, it'd be a very interesting conversation.

SS1

Quite a bit militarist, the station.

What do you expect, Miyuki? It is a military station.

Point.

The four bowed back, slightly, mildly surprised by the AG present. It wasn't something they were used to, for a variety of reasons, all of which eventually ended with 'DA doesn't have it'.

"It's an honur." Ralph replied. "May I introduce? This are Franklin Shrubbery, Michael Garner, Miyuki Tanara, and me, Ralph Tsumoto." Each of them nodded when his/ her name was mentioned. "Not especially tight, no."

It is! We're used to a 6km/ diameter station!

Shut it. It's called being polite, dear.

Politeness is overrated.

The four Angstians followed Giovanni, looking around, not exactly impressed, but, well, curious, if mildly insecure (Not exactly surprising, given that they were used to somewhat safer space installations).

The command room was, obviously, fairly uninteresting for the four, all of which were wondering why exactly they were here, anyway (After all, their job was vastly easier to do when on the surface).

Still, once introduced to Bornikov, Ralph nodded again. "No need to doubt us. We certainly will. So... A small introduction? What you want, what you need, monetary and material resources available for the project, projected timeframes we should respect before we're presenting our... Options?"

Outside SS1

A burst of low-energy EM radiation. Radiowaves. The shuttle noticed them, translates them, interprets them. Milliseconds tick by.

A few more milliseconds, then it responds.

<Shuttle #227/335> Well, depends on your definition. Sentients? No. Humans? No. Semi-sentient equipment? Yes, me. Why, sexy?

Mikolov pondored. "Well. What we want is simple, a small elite fleet, by our standards. Of about forty. Money is no object, well almost. We need to keep it within budget, but we have a large budget so do not worry. Materials available, every type you can find on Earth. We have a large Commerce Chancellory making sure of that."

He chuckled. "Projected timeframes, about five years. To have the ships built and ready, I mean. To become independent from your likes, no offense it's just a new program the Government has working. We can't just depend on too much trade these days, where was I? Ah yes. To become completely independent, about... ten to twenty years. No rush."

He crossed his arms. "Now, what are your.... options?"

Meanwhile the R/SF-1A pilot grinned. A woman! It sounded like a woman! Well to him anyway, being in space without a woman by his side makes him go mad... and it can make any other man mad really. "Hmmm, I'm sexy? Well baby you sound sexy too."

SS1

"Well... Not the most detailed plan, but I guess that this is what we're for, right?" Ralph meant, smiling thinly at Mikolov.

"Yes, I think that could work. I think Jupiter has the necessary facilities for such a project..." Miyuki interfered, quickly.

"Yes. Yes it has. Now, if you would please..." Ralph looked at the rather delicate woman next to him, mildly annoyed. "The initial project should actually be managed faster. Between two or three years, give or take. With parts being finished after just one year.

"As for the... Is there anything resembling consumable fluids on board, here? Ah, yes. Thanks. Where was I? Ah, yes. As for the style... I suppose that for your means, we can cut out nationkiller capacities. I would say... 42 ships, eighteen Tactical Engagement Units, what you would call a frigate or destroyer, six Strategic Engagement Units, what you would call a cruiser or battleship, and six carriers, what you would call, well... A carrier, I guess."

He hesitated. "I guess Mr. Garner here is more knowledgeable regarding the tactical paradigms this numbers and designs are based on, though."

Michael Garner nodded. "Yes, but I guess this is for a later conversation. A detailed one."

"Good. Now..." Miyuki started again. "Of course, to reach independence, TIOR will need a complete revamping of its educational system, the buildup of several completely new industries and other such things. That's what I'm here for." She chuckled. "Projected timeframe is a little longer than what you expect. Twenty-five to thirty years. You might also want to look into the possibilities of human enhancement, be it with technological of biological means, in order to increase efficiency. Oh, and please note that complete independence will hardly be possible. One can strive to reach the ideal, though."

"Indeed." Ralph interrupted. "In any case, if such would be acceptable, we can... Go into the details."

Miyuki chuckled, handing Mikolov a datapad, on which a number with a fairly impressive amount of zeroes could be seen. "Like payment."

Outside SS1

The shuttle chuckled, listening to the reply, and allowed itself a quick EM anomaly, if only to find out a little more... Gender, interests, the likes, of the Rosian pilot.

The results were amusing enough. It decided to play.

<Shuttle #227/335> Heh, thanks. Of course, there are vastly more sexier parts on me than just my voice.

It didn't really see a reason to mention that this parts were its thrusters.

Nor did it see a point in informing the individual outside that drones, genderless as they were, tended to choose (And switch) 'Genders' at a whim, if only as a somewhat odd hobby.

Hm. Interested in some fun? I have some amusing ideas...

Indeed, this particular thing could become mildly amusing... Although it was more than just likely that the shuttles' definition of 'fun' differend slightly from the Rosian one.

Mikolov looked at the datapad. "Hm, that's a whole lot of zeroes." A pause. "But... I think this can work, within budget. All of this information has been wired to the Imperial Council, the Cabinet of the Island. You need to talk to them if you wish to get into detail, we can do two things. You can get aboard a Rosian shuttle and let one of my pilots fly you down there, the Island is always sunny. Or, you can pick up the Council and take them to one your fancy stations."

He raised his right brow. "Your choice."

Meanwhile the Rosian pilot, unwittingly talking to an AI program, got rather.... randy. "Come on girl, I wanna do all you wanna do."

That poor poor man.

SS1

"Well, we don't necessarily need to go into details, but I don't think the project would end up being... Satisfying, to you. So I guess some in depths discussions would be... Useful." Ralph answered, chuckling.

You know... Why the hell did they summon us... To this... Place, when it would have been better to go to TIOR proper in the first place?

'Cause they're lacking common sense, Miyuki. Possibly.

"Anyway... I guess that the Island itself would be a more suitable place."

You know, we have our own shuttle, and theirs scare me.

Well, doesn't hurt knowing how exactly they run it, w'll take theirs, anyway.

... Good I made my testament, Ralph.

"So, well, as soon as your shuttle is ready. Ours can take care of itself, so no problems."

Miyuki was already going through the details of their (Well, her) ideas. The idea of 'palying' a little with the Rosian educational and thus, social system intrigued her. It's not every day that you have a whole nation as your testing field.

Outside SS1

Shuttle #227/335 would have chuckled, if it had had the necessary equipment.

Alas, it hadn't, but this didn't really stop it.

<Shuttle #227/335> Well then, sit back, relax, and enjoy.

It wasn't quite certain what the pilot was expecting, nor did it really care about it. What it did care about was what followed.

A few mildly exotic EM fields were extended, lulling the pilot in question in. Taking care of secondary functions (Like, say, piloting the shuttle), forcing them into the pilot's subconsciousness, keeping his consciousness free for more... Important things.

In what had now become a reality on its own (A fairly well simulated, though), the shuttle's mind approached the pilot, in the form of a fairly good-looking female. Well, actually, a perfect visualisation of pretty much all of the pilot's dreams.

"Lets have some fun." It 'said' (Well, the pilot thought it said it). "I've a surprise for you..." With that, 'she' ended up on his lap. "I'm sure you have the time, no?"

i Give You All Satanic Head Bitey!!!