NationStates Jolt Archive

When the planet was discovered, it sent a tiny ripple of excitment through both the warrior, and religious caste leadership alike. Since the Empire had fragmented under the strain of the emperors death, and the grab for power both castes attempted in its immediate aftermath. But the shock that this had caused was long since over, and dis-satisfaction with the regimes was growing. The disruption that the blockade of Pluto initiated by the warrior caste caused such chaos that they were forced to abandon it before it destroyed Charons economy, which was far more fragile than Plutos, its main trading partner. So a sullen cold war reigned, neither side willing to give in, and the civilians in the middle subject to a ceaseless media campaign against both factions, effectively polarising opinion, warriors on Charon, Religious/bureaucratic on Pluto, and isolated spheres of influence inside the Oort cloud and Kuiper belt, vastly outnumbered by the resurgent pirate threat.

But this planet changed everything. A colony effort could distract the civilians from their increasing displeasure over the current climate, a successful colony effort could tip the balance. So both sides focused their resources, and almost simultaneously, after mere weeks, launched their colony fleets, which were cheered from the docks by mobs of people, delighted at the expansion. The last major excursion like this had gone beyond most, if not all Jordaxians recall, so this renewed interest appealed directly to their sense of national pride, so much so that even the most cynical felt a slight pang of joy as they seen the footage of the colony ships disappearing into hyperspace.

What wasn't so advertised, however, were the peacekeeping escorts that had left days before. Whilst they were small compared to a fleet, as a police force, they were far in excess of the norm.

As the first escort re-appeared back in normal space, the planet, called TY-509b, or, less formally, Oz, loomed large, dominating much of the local area. It had numerous small, insignificant moons, but these were of no interest. Oz itself was very similar to Earth, and only very slightly smaller. Vast cloud formations obscured entire continents at a time, slowly and gracefully gliding through the sky. The force itself, consisting of a single Hagar carrier, and at least thirty Nonsequitor destroyers, with large (though appearing small relative to the Nonsequitor itself), bluntly pyramidal structures hanging from the underside from each.

Aboard the Hagar "Extreme Prejudice", commodore Abhaya of the warrior caste stood, examining his situation briefly. He had arrived before the religious/bureaucratic escorts, and could thus choose the ideal colony site, and secure it, without interruption. To him, this was a key advantage.

Directing his thoughts through the ISIS channel in his neurites, he opened up contact with the battlenet.

"ISIS, I need you to pick out some probable landing spots for the colony ships before anybody else arrives."

I'm not slow, Commodore, it's already done. We have several hundred possibles, this planet is far more tactically interesting than our usual fair, but I've narrowed it down to three particulars. In the south-west, we have a large, flat area with good sea access, in particular, a large network of rivers leading further into the continent. In the south-east, a mountainous archipelago... if you like fish. In the northeast, however, there are extensive plains, which judging by the native plantlife, are very fertile, and fragile. Given the current cloud formation, it has a persistent hurricane season about now. I think that's more than enough geography lesson for now, Commodore.

Silently musing for a few moments, Abhaya made his choice.

"We'll settle in the southwest, ISIS. Bring our ships into land, and drop a beacon so the colonists know where to drop."

Of course, Commodore. Will that be all?

"for now. Keep me informed."

He dropped out of his neurite conversation, and refocused on the bridge around him. Monitors, filled with information, sensor readouts, and other data that was too faint for Abhaya to make out were displaying, attentively watched by uniformed Jordaxians. The planet, shown by a camera link on the hull, was growing larger as the "Prejudice" closed in. A few Nonsequitors sped across the cameras view as they shot into the atmosphere, disappearing beneath the cloud layer. Soon afterwards, the Prejudice descended along the same route.

On the ground, the Nonsequitors had dropped their cargo, towering pyramidal structures, hovering mere feet from the ground, and were sitting at a high altitude, watching for anything that might have been missed from orbit. In the middle, the three kilometre long hulk of the Prejudice slowly touched down. From the flight hatches, swarms of spiderlike vehicles shot out, plummeting to the ground, their top-mounted turrets panning left and right. Within minutes, the area was full of Jordaxian ground vehicles, mounting improvised patrols of the locale, and a few moving to explore further out.

Several hours later, the religious/bureaucratic castes force appeared from hyperspace. Its leader, admiral Eryu, after consulting ISIS in much the same way, descended in the Northeast, watched by, and watching, the warriors on the surface. There were no incidents, however, and in the end, both sides waited, making little moves but to fortify their landing site from each other until the colonists arrived.

OOC: How exactly can we get into this as an RP? It might be the exceedingly slow and brain turned to mush mode but I just don't see it. Sorry for the purely OOC post.

Minuta']OOC: How exactly can we get into this as an RP? It might be the exceedingly slow and brain turned to mush mode but I just don't see it. Sorry for the purely OOC post.

OOC: it's a habit of mine, but don't worry, I'll open it up. I just like to set the scene, first. A bad habit, admittedly...
alternately, you can opt for coincidence, and stumble upon the system (I haven't been specific, but it's on the same arm as sol, but a bit further coreward. My difficulty lies in not knowing most people, not having contacts, and thus not having a good reason to tell them all about the new planet. I'll think of something. That said, if you have international news coverage, you'll have heard of the colony mission. my empire(s, at the moment) don't do the secret thing unless it's important. Though if you join with a small colony, I have a restriction. This is more like a "wild west" colony thing, moreso than the Firefly universe. Whilst your peacekeeping forces can bring whatever toys they wish, civilian tech must be virtually nil. In that vein, I guess your reason for a colony site could be for financial gain. Setting up on a world with another nation in essentially neutral territory can lead to far easier trade.

OOC: Thanks. I have an idea.

IC:

"Sensors are picking up alien life."

The Minutan had been on a mission to pick up something of importance to them. They were not to leave until they had aquired it. The world they had found was far different to their own vast, barren, inhospitable homeworld. What they found was something else. Lush green forests and plantlife beyond belief. They had a moon of such like it, but not to this extent. This was far more beautiful than anything they had inhabited before. They sent their report back to the homeworld a while ago.

"We have a message back. They want to capitalise on this oppurtunity. They have deployed two further ships to aid us. With them they bring further civilian's to aid us and supplies."

"Excellent." Harish Lumiq was pleased, being the assigned leader of the whole operation, this was a perfect chance for him to prove his worth to the Minutan, and to Waki Duris'ha, their leader.

Their main base was not much more than a fairly big tent complex. From here they sent out scout parties in various directions to try and find it. It wasn't known what this object was yet, but for years they had searched out its existance, and from the historic tablatures this seemed to be what they were looking for. All the boxes were ticked.

The message had arrived not that long ago, and now the promised help had arrived. Minutan craft began to descend on the site, bringing with them their new ventures and oppurtunities. Cargo was being dropped from low level altitudes, supplying the site with proper building equipment and somewhat primitive resource gathering equipment. Minutan civilians began to file out of the craft, heading down towards the camp. Each carried with them a selection of personal items and a tent to add to the complex.

The hill on which they were based was the ideal place. There was still alot of room they could expand into before they would have to clear space.

Two scout parties returned as another three left. The other was on its way. "Readings to the south-west were weak, but not by much. It could well still be in that direction." The report was as usual. The reading was weakening in certain areas, but strengthening as they got further afield. Where was this thing?

"We shall continue searching in that direction. An outpost?"

"Set-up, two Minutan positioned there. We return soon."

"Good." The group went to a tent to record their findings on the virtual map. This map was indicating where the signal was strong, where it was weak and the computer tried to build up a picture of where it was most likely to be. It had been searching for an answer since the first set of readings went in, no result had been found yet.

It took another 3 days for the first colony ship to arrive, its vast, cigar-shaped hull suddenly dominating the nights sky above the warrior castes makeshift enclave, which was brightly lit with beacons. The ship could not land, however, being far too large to survive in a planets gravitational field. It would simply ferry down the inhabitants, some forty-five thousand civilians. The operation was predicted to take several days to complete. Closeby, Abhaya was aboard the Prejudice with its Nonsequitor escort, having returned to orbit after the basics had been left behind. Even on the ground, it had taken nearly a day to unload everything that would supply the peacekeepers in the short term. Seeing with some satisfaction that the vessel had arrived safely, and unharmed, he quickly requested his communications officer hail it, with greetings, and instructions to begin the transportation as soon as possible. Shortly afterwards, the captains response was received.

"Greetings Commodore Abhaya." came the reply from the elderly captain, his voice wizened somewhat with time, but highly resonant still. "I'm glad to see that everything's in order. I've informed our cargo that we've arrived, so we're just waiting for them to get ready to shift out... shouldn't take any more than an hour. Any word on the religious camp? Any trouble?" His tone by the end had risen, almost as if he was hopeful for some confirmation of violence.

"No, no," responded Abhaya, "we've had no word or sightings of them, bar when they first approached. We're fairly similar in composition at first glance, but who knows for sure yet, except ISIS."

"It's not telling you?" the elder captain enquired.

"She claims that she can't at the moment, though it's through her own design. to remain neutral, any instances that are detatched from her main nodes on Pluto and Charon are sealed entities until they are reintigrated. Basically what it means is that whilst it's the same ISIS over there, she can't access its secured files."

Eloquently put, Commodore... she chimed into the commodores head, almost on cue. It solves so many problems this way. As soon as that, she cut the communication.

"We've put too much faith into that machine, if you want my opinion. You don't know what it could be doing behind your back, but it can see just about everything we're doing. It's not safe!" By this time it seemed evident to Abhaya that the old man would spout on for hours about military rhetoric and whatever else came to mind if he didn't cut him off, so his response was blunt.

"Captain, I would request that we terminate this conversation. I have delivered your orders, and must be kept available in case something were to happen. Unless you have something important to say, I believe that we have nothing more to discuss." He shut down the channel immediately afterwards.

On the surface of the planet, general Saiun was taking in the sights. She was a Talosian, a breed of machine-Jordaxians that had long since attained full sentience, and through long exposure to Jordaxian culture had been successfully assimilated. That said, they were still a direct people, and often chose the simplest solution to any problem, that of violence, and so drifted towards the armed forces, and other more uncivilised careers, such as thuggery and piracy. Physically, they looked on average similar to Jordaxians, with the obvious difference of being machines, though they could opt for a wide range of cosmetic, or practical body modifications that could change their appearance utterly. Often moving parts that would be "under the skin" were visible on the outside. On Saiun, however, being a career officer, she had long since invested to covering such obvious weak areas, and had a fully covered, rusty orange body. She was sitting on the middle-front hoverstrut of her Pondskater (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v639/Guo2/Pondskater2.jpg) as it rested in a lush valley, waterfall flinging spray into the air, causing a light mist. The ground was almost entirely covered with a grasslike substance, almost identical bar the tinge of red at the edges of the blades, and Earthlike plants, though each with subtle differences and unique qualities. (though this varied wildly, and sometimes the differences were not noticable at all) She mused on nothing for a second in the tranquility, calming her mind, before clambering back along the strut and into the skaters main compartment. She was accompanying one of the advanced scouting parties charting their local territory, trying to find local wildlife, and examining the general area for any sign of intelligent life. Unfortunately for her inspections, there was no significant animal life. Insects were commonplace, flitting from flower to flower pollinating them as they went. Natives appeared to be nonexistent, which was a fairly good thing. Motioning the crew of the 'skater to continue on, she sat upright in her seat, a difficult feat in the cramped atmosphere, staring out of the window, her eyes, emitting a faint yellow light from their sockets and an even fainter whirring which she herself could not hear without effort as they focused, stared off at the horizon, which was obscured by a large hill they were climbing in front, and dense temperate forest on all other sides. As the 'skater crested the hill, the landscape revealed itself. High up, in space, the colony ship sat motionless, whereas beyond the horizon, the defensive enclave lay. Ahead were vast plains soaked in sunlight, interrupted only by the river, and seeded with small forests here and there... she was lucky that she could simply store the image, as almost as soon as it had appeared, the 'skater dipped down following the other side of the hill, and sped off into the plains, the deep thumming of its hoverpanels, and the whine of the engines beneath that dominating and disturbing the otherwise tranquil world.

Meanwhile, the religious caste on the other side of the planet were doing the same, expanding their boundaries in preparation for the colonists that had not yet arrived. Concern grew that they may have been waylaid or lost somehow as a day passed. Their concerns, and more importantly, the concerns of Eryu were proven false when the second colony ship appeared in the early dawn light the next morning. Almost as if to make up for its delay, large shuttle pods detatched almost immediately carrying the first lot of settlers. As ISIS related this news to Eryu, he smiled broadly at the fortune. Perhaps, he thought, the schedule might not be as damaged as he had feared. It was at this moment that his day got better. A pondskater shot into the makeshift base, decelerating wildly as it done so, until it had stopped barely ten metres from Eryu. A Jordaxian soldier climbed out of the top hatch, stopping as he exited fully to secure his Personal Gravity Generator, a lifeline to him, and all other organic Jordaxians on the planet. He clambered down off of the 'skater, and marched quickly towards Eryu, before stopping, and bowing.

"Admiral," the soldier said, clearly out of breath, "We have found coal in the hills just sixty miles south of here. We returned as quickly as was possible to tell you."

It took all of the admirals restraint to keep from cheering. Disposable fuels such as this would guarantee the colonies quick growth. The subjugation of its resources could happen far quicker than was anticipated, and he couldn't have been more delighted.


(OOC: sorry to not respond to you, Minuta... I couldn't think of anything to do, to be honest, heh.)

"Sensors are picking up alien life."

The Minutan scout teams searched day and night to no avail. The computer was still calculating, the thought processes and calculations running through it confused it. Its processor was at 60% useage, which never had happened before, usually running at under 5%. It was most certainly puzzled.

One scout team was out in the forest. "Are you getting wierd signals as well?" The sensors were picking up wierd activity nearby. "Something is in that direction." The Minutan scout pointed with a long finger to the west. He walked through the undergrowth to find a small rock, glowing purple.

"What have you got?" The team had found something, what it was they did not know. "Interesting, and entrancing. Let's get it back to base. Pinpoint this location."

The scout carried the rock back to base, escorted by the others. Was this the item they had been looking for all these years? It certainly was not normal, it seemed like it had come from somewhere which was not naturally there. Perhaps this could be it.

The new Minutan on the planet began to construct more permanent accomodations. The basic structures were going up quickly, as tents were replaced. The primitive instruments were beginning to be replaced with some more advanced technology, but it was taking a lot of time.

Harish Lumiq was filing a report to Waki Duris'ha, the Minutan leader.

The extra supplies and settlers have arrived without problem. Buildings are beginning to be built and our search is giving interesting results. As I look at the monitor now, you can see the whole planet is engulfed in various shades of green, indicating that there is no specific place in which it can be found. The computer has not yet worked out a possible location. We continue our search but as of yet to no avail. I will keep you posted on advancements.

Harish Lumiq

The computer updated. The pinpointed location on the map turned black, as did a small area around it where the rock had been found.

The day had yielded one interesting find, that of a rock. When it was returned to the base they found it was not the item they were looking for but just an amazing rock. It was not naturally there, nor did it seem to have any use. A Minutan walked past the screen and spotted the anomaly that had just appeared. A few more Minutan walked in. They all stood around the screen commenting on it. It was very interesting. An outpost was being sent to be setup. They had a breakthrough of some sort.

"Sensors are picking up alien life."