NationStates Jolt Archive


New Genesis

The Infinite Crucible
01-09-2005, 19:29
It was dim, and would have been dark had it not been for the massive holo floating effortlessly on invisible strands of air. Great gold lines emerged from the center of the great illusion and spiraled out into the dark of the room. Each line came from its own green orb, planets united under the Hegemony. There were great swaths of red which each thin strand of luminescent gold avoided, Ouster “territory”. This spectacle was not without an audience. The room was filled with Generals, Senators, and the leader of the Hegemony, CEO Gladstone. This immense hologram was an illustration of the paths multiple deep space exploration ships would take if the New Genesis Expansion act was passed. Dozens of ships, propelled by Hawking’s Drives would push out to claim new territory, and in the unlikely case of meeting with an extraterrestrial species, form new alliances. A prominent General, Leigh Hunt, was explaining the many nuances of this plan to all those present in the room. The briefing had been going on for multiple hours and was just coming to a close.

CEO Gladstone looked up at General Hunt, “A grand plan, to say the least, but I many may wonder why we should expand, risk aggravating the Ouster swarms.”

Leigh knew Gladstone fully supported the plan, but many did not, so she must ask questions for those who were too timid to question the general. He replied, “This consolidation of the Ouster’s may only last for so long.” He continued, “While there is a risk that we may aggravate them, we must make use of this new found window to expand.” “Besides,” he finished, “We are already testing the limits of the resources of the space we inhabit, expansion is inevitable.”

The CEO knew this answer would hardly satisfy many members of the opposition, but if they were unwilling to raise their voices, then it was their loss. She knew there was one other question that many had, a far more important one. “General Hunt,” she piped again, “What do you think are the possibilities of encountering an extraterrestrial species.” She continued, “And should we encounter them, what do you think is the most probable response we will receive from them.”

General Hunt knew this was coming, “The Techno Core Advisory council states that the chance of encountering a new species...” He hesitated, “Very high, 94.8733% actually.” “They also believe that the chance of any given race being hostile to be about,” he thought for a moment, “39.896%.”

At the end of his short response murmurs burst out among the crowd. The CEO knew this was a good stopping point, “Now you all know what many have suspected for months, in all probability this action will lead to the discovery of new species and it is possible they will be hostile.” She continued, “Many of you wonder if we can risk have most added the list the Ousters now inhabit, that of our enemies.” It was time to quell worries, “I doubt the Ousters, our former kin, would tolerate any species, therefore Ouster “space” may act a barrier to any enemies we may encounter.” The truth of the matter was that Ouster’s had now true territory. Their species moved among the stars in great interstellar space armadas, quaintly called swarms. Ousters were, almost human. Multiple hundreds of years ago they had broken away from the Hegemony in its formative days and taken to the stars. Years of selective breeding had adapted them to zero gravity environments.

The briefing was dismissed, it was only a few hours until CEO Gladstone had to give the official speech to the Hegemony Congress on this proposal. She was relatively confident that it would be passed, but not sure.

Over the next few hours the All Things was a hive of activity. The All Things was the most common and most advanced way to access information in the Hegemony. One merely willed it and they could have any piece of information, no matter how obscure at their finger tips. Reversely, any could input data to the All Things. It was an ever evolving, infinitely complex compilation of all things, hence the name.

The time finally came and the speech was given. It was much like many of CEO Glastone’s other searches, short, to the point, and full of hope and ambition. When the speech finally ended the All Things was engulfed in a tidal wave of commentary and information. Gladstone took the time after the speech to read the All Things to discern public opinion. It was immediately clear what the people want, and she smiled. Expansion, first contact.

She knew she would weather a storm of questions as she returned to her private apartment on Tau Ceti Center, and she did. It took her many hours to chop through the veritable jungle of questions before she could finally retire for the day. Finally though she made it to privacy.

She slowly strolled through the massive modern flat and made her was to the equally immense balcony. Tiny insect size gun drone slowly floated about her, their camouflage polymer hiding them from view. An invisible wall of energy surround the balcony, protecting Gladstone from any hap-hazard assassination attempt. She gazed out at the mile high building that shot up from the unseen earth all around her. The Hegemony was growing. The Hegemony.

She smiled, she loved the Hegemony. It encompassed ninety four web worlds and almost double that amount in protectorates. The ninety four web worlds were linked by a series of devices known as farcasters. These creations enabled anyone who was anyone to be virtually anywhere within ten steps. No human knew how they worked, they were designed and maintained by the Techno Core AI. She thought of all the things that were within this great empire.

From the canal world of Renaissance Vector, a planet sized Venice, to Gods Grove, homeworld of The Templars, one fo the last pure places in the Hegemony, to Heavens Gate, not a world but a single putrid terraformed plateau. Every manner of world was within the web, but the wonders did not end there. There was Hyperion, a protectorate, which housed one of the greatest mysteries of all, The Time Tombs. Enigmatic structures which crawled backwards through time. Creatures that dwarfed those even of legend inhabited this empire also, such as the Ice Wraiths, beings which inhabited a world so cold that even its atmosphere was frozen. If such wonders were in this small tract of space, she could not wait to see what was out there.

The next day the New Genesis Expansion act was passed almost unanimously. Great ships were constructed and prepared. They were outfitted with the most advance Hawkings Drives and cartography programs created by the Techno Core. They were outfitted with powerful weapons should they encounter the Ousters, or worse. These were some of the most advanced ships in the Hegemony. They had but a single purpose, to expand and discover.

Such advanced ships were far to great for any crew. The finest explorers, military officers, and even pirates of the Hegemony were told to crew these superb creations. Multiple months passed and finally they were ready.

So on dozens of worlds dozens of ships set out on every axis, in every direction. It was time for a New Genesis.

OOC: Anyone can feel free to run into my ships.