NationStates Jolt Archive

By the year 3000, mankind had achieved amazing power technologically. We had colonized the Moon, Mars, and even established colonies on Jupiter. However, while our technology was mighty, our instincts remained primitive. The result was a war that made World War II look like a lover's quarrel. The Destruction not only ended our civilization, it brought our species to the brink of extinction.

Among the survivors were the Jovian colonists, who, being so distant from Earth, had escaped much of the Destruction. Unfortunately, one of the casualties had been their food production facilities on Europa - in fact, half of Europa had been blasted away by an antimatter discharge. And so the Jovians had to return to Earth to survive.

The Jovian colonists were joined by like-minded survivors from Earth, who collectively decided on one thing - that the cause of the Destruction was not our high technology, but rather our primitive ways of thinking. They decided to create a new civilization, similar to what had started to appear on Jupiter prior to the Destruction, based on three principles - respect for human life, the preservation and nurturing of human civilization, and the relentless pursuit of science. And so the Jovian civilization was born.

For fifty thousand years the Jovians lived a semi-nomadic lifestyle on Earth. The Destruction had wreaked havoc on a scale not seen since the Permian extinction, so there was little incentive to settle down anywhere. They used genetic engineering to perfect much of the human form, and provide themselves with food. They achieved stunning breakthroughs in physics and astronomy. However, despite their continued pursuit of science and technology, they realized that the Solar System was no longer suitable for them. Finally, in the year 53,210 CE, the Jovians developed faster-than-light technology. They opened a massive gateway and flung their entire civilization through it.

However, that gateway did not only lead to another star system. It led to an entirely different UNIVERSE (OOC: The one you're in) where the Destruction had never happened. How the inhabitants would react, the Jovians did not know...

OOC: This thread will describe the Jovians' search for a homeworld - New Jovia. Anyone with sensors capable of detecting gravitational phenomena will probably notice the Jovian Gate.

This Side of the Gateway

The five colony ships began to take their readings. While the gate had flung them into another universe, it had flung them disappointingly short. In fact, since they had emerged much "earlier" they emerged in interstellar space, due to stellar drift.

The To Seek, To Find, a To Seek, To Find class High Endurance Research Cruiser (HRC) that the New Jovian ships had litterally landed in the laps of, backed off hurridly from their first position only mere centimeters from the hull of the lead colony ship to a distance of five light seconds. The SeaQuestian ship had stopped at a near-by Class J planet to gather some base material for use in the replicators, AP Core, and a few other places while en route to study a black hole as part of an on-going research project for the SeaQuestian government.

Bridge

"Holy crap! That was too close!"

"Agreed. I thought I saw one of them waving at us through a window."

"You never know. We were close enough for that."

"Enough bickering. Hail them."

"Aye."

Message

Transmitted to the New Jovian ships in the Universal Standard Language (OOC: English) and every other known and unclassified language on record:

Attention unidentified craft, this is the To Seek, To Find of the High Guard fleet. Would you care to explain why you dropped to sublight speeds so close to us?

"This is the colony ship Ganymede. We are searching for a new homeworld. We did not know you were here."

After sending the message, President Ali Mika turned to the sensor man.

"How in all the Seven Continents of Earth did our sensors miss them?"

OOC: New Jovia, you have MSN?

IC: OHDII Famine - Knonsorious System, Outer Heaven space

The Knonsorious system was rather unremarkable. Lacking any forms of life and only a few habitable and resource poor planets, only the Famine and the Outer Heaven Defence Station Delorious were the military presence in the system. Too far out to recieve any attention from Outer Heaven's government, and just a few light years shy of the Outer Heaven Border Zone, it was generally disregarded, and unknown to most citizens.

This was, of course, until an inter-Universal event ocured barely 20 light years away from Knonsorious.

On the Bridge of the Famine, Captain Zeron blinked as his Tactical Officer relayed the information. Rubbing his eyes, he narrowed his mind link to the particular Officer.

Inter-Universal event? As in...some kind of jump portal or gate has opened between this Universe and...another?

The Tactical Officer sent an affirmative, and Zeron glanced out of the view port into space. The value of this event was immense. Outer Heaven had come from another Universe, destroyed by the xenocidal race known as the Shivans, and in all their centuries of existance had they ever encountered another trans-universal species or Nation. Zeron knew this all too well.

Send a priority one transmission to the Delorious. We are going to investigate the event and open up, if possible, peaceful relations with whatever we encounter. Then make a Subspace Jump to the event, five kilometers out, and run a sensor scan of the area, I want to know what's there and whether it can be a threat.

Ever since nanites had been put into common usage, as well as some Shivan genes being fused into all military officers, speech was pretty much a rarity on Outer Heaven ships, Mind Links, or at a glance, telepathy was used instead. Feeling an affirmative from the Tactical Officer, Zeron opened up his Mind Link again and listened to the whispers in the back of his head, and watched the images he couldn't see outside his mind. Barely thirty seconds after he gave the order, Zeron watched as a Subspace Portal opened, and let out a breath.

I could get a promotion from this...several. I must play my cards correctly, or it could spell doom for us all...

_________________________________________________________________

Due to the nature of Subspace and centuries of use, the Famine arrived approximately six kilometers from the Ganymede only a minute after it's incident with the SeaQuestian ship. Immediately, active sensors swepped throughout the area, grabbing readings on the Ganymede and the To Seek, To Find.

Sir...we detect a SeaQuest Research vessel, and an unknown vessel idetified as far as we can tell as the...Ganymede. By design, it appears to be a Colony Vessel, probably their equivalent of our Mothership, only without the offensive capabilities. The Tactical Officer continued to analyse readings, knowing that he did not need to make eye contact with Zeron, who was pondering. After a few moments, he made a decision.

Send out a open transmission. Identify ourselves and inquire to what is happening here.

_________________________________________________________________

Within moments, both the SeaQuestian ship and the Ganymede recieved a transmission:

This is the Outer Heaven Destroyer II Famine hailing all ships in the area.

You are close to Outer Heaven MK II space, and we have detected inter-Universal readings.

We request to know what is happening.

OOC: Its 0300, so last post before bed.
@OHmII: Nice post, but I've noted three problems.
One, we've never met ICly before (not that I can recall anyways). I'll accept you've heard of me through word of mouth, but that would mean I wouldn't be the first choice for IDing a ship's origin.
Two, my High Guard (ie, military) ships are covered with a unique bio-skin that has photomorphic properties, amoung other things. Thus, it can display anything I want on it. This means no painted on identification marks. The standard color scheme is an overall mottled blue pattern on the entire exterior surface of the ship.
Three, the To Seek, To Find class HRC is a new one of mine not seen before, so no one should even have records of it.
Sorry if I seem like I'm nitpicking, but I just wanted to set the record straight. That, and I tend to be a perfectionist (especially with my brain half-asleep).
@All:
Oh, and here are the base stats of my HRC class (lol, wouldn't it be ironic if I was the smallest ship in this thread).
Length: 210m
Beam: 158m
Height: 52m
Crew: 40

IC: Messages

In response to the message from the Ganymede:

We were passing through this area of space. To the best of our knowledge, most, if not all, forms of superluminal travel able nations also have sensors that would warn them if they were about to ram a ship, even one of our size, when dropping to sublight.

In response to the message from the Famine:

This is the High Guard vessel To Seek, To Find. We were passing through this way en route to our destination where we would relieve our sister ship in our research project. We had stopped at a near-by Class J world to stock up on base material for several ship functions and were leaving the area when our other friends here dropped to sublight mere millimeters, literally, from our hull.

By the way, Famine, interesting name for a ship. Personally, we would have gone with something more flashy and more akin to the ship's role. Like this ship's name, for instance.

OOC: @OH: I'm assuming your message was in the USL (English). If otherwise, let me know and I'll edit accordingly.

OOC: SQ, thanks for the compliment, and in response to your three 'nitpicks':

1. We have met IC before. It was a while ago...but it involved either me boarding your ship (For friendly purposes) or us boarding another ship.

2. We don't identify ships by markings alone. We take things into account like energy signitures, arnaments, propulsion systems, shield systems etc.

3. We don't have records of your ship no, but we can make an educated guess based on what we find on your ship. Is this acceptable?

The arrival of these people from a universe decidedly different from our own did not escape the notice of the Order of the Spinning Mistress; watching over friend and foe alike with unrelenting indignance, they never unprepared.

"Archmaester Pythaes, this thread of ours has been joined by wanderers from another." A low and gruff voice said, over the burning azure flames spilling out over the rim of the iridescent cobalt-silver bowl in front of him.

"I see, Archmaester Ytharion. New beings from an old place, now here in our place to explore or to conquer or just to visit, such trivial things of such unimportance; what we must know is if they are friend or foe of our Lady. What say you, Archmaester Picikan?" Another said with a voice deeper and harder than the last over that same azure fire, flickering and flickering against the aged skin and red-platinum robes of the three Archmaesters.

"I say that I agree with you Archmaester Pythaes; we must know if our comrades from that other place enlightened these souls or let them fall to the evils of the Hourglass." A third voice replied, deepest and hardest of them all. With eyes as clouded as a storming sky over a paling blue sea, but still staring and staring into that pyre of dancing light.

Nodding in silent agreement, they waited only a few free seconds after their brief discourse before they all slowly dipped their hands over the small walls of licking fire into the burning urn.

* * *

And he rose from the floor, caught in the throes of an unbreakable trance. Staring through the snake like cracks of cracking ashen walls with clouding teal eyes, like deep pits of seawater shored by wrinkling and sagging copper skin aged by innumerable years of service.

Go forth and remind these distant friends of the Mistress and her hand in guiding them along this new path. Learn of the Hourglass and his machinations what you can. Do what She wills. Three voices said in an unearthly harmony, like the faint whispers of spirits that come to visit in the dead of night. Holding the Maester in their grip while he had been silently consulting his inner self; searching for the truth of all men’s nature within himself as he had done so many times before, leaning against a heavy oaken staff imbued with runes and listless gem stones, capped by an oblong orb of flickering red light that glimmered off of the iridescent red and black hues of his robe fastened over a black robe with thick platinum trim.

"I understand..." he murmured softly with a voice soft like a gentle summer breeze as the voices released him. Making for his stone chair as the brazier suddenly lit into a bright orange fury, spiraling up towards the ceiling in a writhing column of blood and tangerine brilliance. Through these flames Maester Rhaetesten saw what the Spinning Mistress willed of him. Be it simple observations of primitive peoples so far untouched by the never-ending war, or divine revelations about the state of the near future, the fire was Mistresses way of communicating with the Acolytes of her order.

And so he stared into this fire with an unrelenting ferocity, even as they calmed down into nothing but smoldering flames never again making it over the brazier's unburnt rim.

"Greetings friends of old, neglected but never forgotten; and new friends from another of the Mistresses many writhing threads, how has your journey been?" The old Maester asked from his seat with words that transcended beyond the barriers of infinity and entered the minds of the SeaQuestens, the newly arrived Outer Heavenites, and most importantly: the New Jovians; those whom the Lady had willed him to meet. It was a message not heard per se, at least not by the physical ear, but still understood.

A music of sorts, fast and repeating but soothing and unintrusive, passing beyond those stone walls of that stone temple of massive pillared support columns that beheld a massive stone tome, titled in words far beyond the comprehension of mortal eyes, jutting out from the temple’s domed top, clawing a staggering ten meters up into the blackness of space. Affixed atop a marble foundation resting on a field of waving green grasses, running along the multitude of cobblestone roads of marble that led up to the multitude of ornate marble archways from a multitude of unknown infinities that lay beyond the edge of the floating island, encapsulated by a bubble of eerily contorting energy that morphed starlight into an eerie amalgamation of color, swirling and swirling along the nigh-transparent surface.

OOC: SQ, thanks for the compliment, and in response to your three 'nitpicks':

1. We have met IC before. It was a while ago...but it involved either me boarding your ship (For friendly purposes) or us boarding another ship.

2. We don't identify ships by markings alone. We take things into account like energy signitures, arnaments, propulsion systems, shield systems etc.

3. We don't have records of your ship no, but we can make an educated guess based on what we find on your ship. Is this acceptable?
OOC: My response:
1.) TBH, I don't remember (and my being half asleep doesn't help).
2.) The To Seek, To Find uses alot of new stuff. Most of what she has is brand new relative to what I used to have (even the armor layers are new Ic'ly speaking). TBH, only a few torps on my current combat ships are still using old tech from back when I had a more of an ST influence, let alone all the way back to the start when there was a large B5 influence, then the various mix phases. All of which led up to my current Hybrid Technology.
3.) A'right, that's fine with me. Though, unless we met (as you say) before I switched to my current flag, that would probably be the surest way to identify my nation of origin without my characters IC'ly telling you.
@All: A'right. I got a boost of unexpected awakeness, so I'll stay on a little bit longer. I'm too tired to make an IC post, so I'll leave it at that for now.

OOC: There are three other colony ships - the Callisto, Europa, and Io. Ganymede is the lead ship.

IC:
Our sensors SHOULD have detected you. How we missed you is beyond us, given that we scanned this area prior to jumping.

Aboard the Callisto
While the President was yelling at the sensor techs on Ganymede, the astrophysicists aboard Callisto began to make scans. That the stars were in the wrong positions was the first hint of trouble - and of the answer to their problem.
"Could we have been off in our jump?" asked one.
"Unlikely, given the precise coordinates we possessed. We knew that the other end of the gate was located precisely at such and such a position relative to us."
Ron Gamliel, a skilled cosmologist, proposed a radical idea. "Was that position known in both space AND time?"
"Time? You think we have gone back in time?"
"Possibly. Check the stellar drift records."
The Jovians possessed detailed records of stellar positions going back fifty thousand years. While time travel was until now entirely theoretical, analyzing stellar drift was the leading method of determining when you were in Jovian sci-fi - which was far and away the leading genre of fiction among Jovian civilization.

OOC: OK, I'll just find a nice planet nearby.

While the Callisto astrophysicists determined when they were, a search was made for nearby planets.

A small, cool nearby star was identified as possibly suitable for life. When the Europa jumped, she found two planets and an asteroid belt orbiting the star. One was completely covered in water. The other was somewhat volcanic, with oceans of lava on the near side. Analysis of the asteroid belt identified a rocky dwarf planet.

The decision was made. The remaining three ships jumped. The water planet was named New Europa. The volcanic world was called New Io. And the dwarf planet in the asteroid belt became New Callisto. Ganymede, the lead colony ship, was to remain in orbit around the star, and would become the capital of New Jovia.