NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: Anyone's welcome! Well, near-enough anyone, in any case. In this case, I'd like to kindly invite anyone to comment, whether you be on the good side of these Accords or not. If you wish to sign them, feel free to do so. Obviously, you'll need to modify Item 4 to fit your nation's armed forces, fleets, and whatnot.

Five systems, five worlds. The five gems of the Starfederation spiralled idly round their parent stars, the people on them living as they had always done; in peace. It was not a quiet peace, however. They worked ceaselessly, constructing pieces of weaponry, which, in turn, became cannons, which were fitted to new ships.

Tyrant Golheas had commanded it. Although supreme leader of the Starfederation, he was only so by the will of the people. And the fleet was there for a reason, he knew. Four hundred systems fell under the sway of the Starfederation, five of those vitally important. Another four were mildly important, and another six contained highly productive mining operations, or perhaps some other resources. The other three hundred and eighty-five were either uninhabited, or only loosely affiliated with the Starfederation.

Yet, they fell under his jurisdiction. But that was not what he sought to change. No, the Starfederation was peaceful, now. But there were many, many atrocities in the bounds of space, and he felt somewhat duty-bound to.. do something.

The Scintillating Fleets grew by the day, and the AAF was a force large enough to overwhelm any other ground force in the sector. They were powerful; more powerful than they had ever been. But this was not the reason for their announcement. No, Golheas had seen the galaxy crumble, civilizations rising and falling, all within the blink of an eye. Those who sought wanton aggression were dangerous; and had to be restrained.

The Dominion Accords were a set of documents, detailing the Starfederation's intent in such matters. He looked down at the page, sighed, and hit 'send'. They would be in every corner of the galaxy before too long. And with good reason. The sheer quantity of imperialism and war was dangerous - far too dangerous to allow to continue unbaulked, even if they could only baulk it in the smallest of ways.



Item 1 - Any human or humanoid aggressor nation, or nation with the intelligence and moral capacity to understand human-centric ethics, aggressor nation being defined as a nation that employs unwarranted or unprovoked acts of aggression against other nations, is hereby pronounced an enemy of the signatories of these Accords.

Item 2 - Any non-humanoid aggressor nation against a humanoid nation, or nation capable of understanding and adopting human-centric morality, is hereby pronounced anathema to the signatories of these Accords.

Item 3 - Due to largely-conflicting cultural differences, the Accords will not apply to beings undergoing aggression, that cannot understand simple human-origin concepts, nor the human moral system.

Item 4 - The Starfederation of Hyperspatial Travel hereby pledges a Scintillating Fleet to the defense of those beleagured by aggressor nations.

Item 5 - Note that those conducting mutual aggression against one another shall not be the subject of these Accords.

Item 6 - The useage of planetary bombardment shall not be permitted to those stopping aggression under the Accords - only the destruction of fleets, and fleet production facilities. The killing of civilians may only take place should no other course of action be available.



Simple enough, he knew. But it gave him.. well, a leg to stand on, when intervening in conflicts. And, noting that he had not declared war on those aggressor nations was also useful - a mere statement of enmity served the same purpose, without involving the Starfederation in a costly, long war every time it turned around. He sighed. And waited...

Her Majesty's Commonwealth Government of Bautizar
Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Her Majesty's Government (HMG) expresses its concern with the document known as the "Dominion Accords." While in principle this statement of purpose is sound, we fear it may be utilized as a cloak to conceal imperialistic motivations for the seizure of land, territory, and power while hiding behind a rhetoric of intereference on behalf of the principles of self-determination.

HMG urges the Starfederation to work through appropriate channels in pursuit of these aims, and to work with the appropriately recognized forums on such matters. Organizations such as the League of Free Worlds exist partially for the promotion of such goals and aims as outlined in the Dominion Accords, and bypassing them to declare a unilateral policy renders this document suspicious in our opinion.

Sir Philip Watts
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Her Majesty's Commonwealth Government of Bautizar

21 January 3429 (Commonwealth calendar)

Saacon Ralpmet stared long and hard at the datascreen in front of him. These "accords" put forth by this Starfederation was, he felt, too lofty a goal to survive in reality. He steepled his fingers in front of his face and leaned back in his chair. Arcadeos had long ago had its idealism burned out of it, leaving a cold, more pragmatic nation standing in the ashes of its innocence. Still, perhaps it would not be so bad to humor these people: after all, Purity was something to be protected, and it seemed as though these people still were. He sat forward and punched the intercom button, "Rachel, please send in my cabinet."

Later that day, a rather succinct response was sent back:

The Dominion of Arcadeos would like to arrange a meeting at your earliest convenience for an in-depth discussion of these Accords.


OOC: Really just a glorified tag, I'm too tired to properly respond.

Honoured Tyrant Golheas,

We're curious. The 'Dominion Accords' your polity has introduced/ made policy/ advertised appear to be based on a vaguely humanitarian philosophy - an interventionist one, no less (Which raises some issues with regards to Hypocrisy, but as they say: 'Not legality, but humaneness shall judge us').

Now, we can say with certainty that we're rather happy with the overall stance you - well, your people, judging by what's known about your political system - are taking. Indeed, it's a stance that should be taken far more often.

However, we are rather curious as of what exactly made you use the definitions and limits you've used.

Item 1 is seemingly excluding Hegemonising Swarms of any sorts - so a horde of replicators hitting on a nascent civilisation working on steam engines doesn't fall into the 'Aggressor' category?

It's a simple issue, really: Reduced to the smallest common denominator, it means that you'd help someone who is attacked by another man of the same species, but not if he was attacked by a rabid dog.

And this makes decidedly little sense.

Furthermore, 'Moral Capacity' is a very problematic term - ethics can change as time progresses and circumstances change. Indeed, any aggressor is to a greater or lesser extend excused by this - the aggressor's ethics evidently differ from, lets say, yours, as proven by their very actions -, and indeed, the aggressor may have grown up in an environment where such aggressive ethics were perfectly normal, maybe even necessary, meaning that his ethics make sense, 'Evil' as we may consider them.

As such, the goal of any interventionist force must not be to 'respect' the morals under which any given malevolent entity operates - its job must be to change them, one way or another.

And naturally, the above explains why we're rather mystified by Item 3 - it appears to be a doctrine of moral cowardize, hiding under an umbrella of 'Respect for Different Cultures'.

And lets be honest here - whether 'Aggression' happens because someone doesn't like the little grey aliens who dwell on a nearby planet, and wants them all dead, or whether it happens because one does like the little grey aliens, and wants to save them from extinction doesn't have an effect on it being being 'Aggression' (As in, interfering with the actions of another polity) or not. Both sides believe that they're right, and both sides try to impose their ethics, their social norms on 'Outsiders'. There is no reason to be apologetic about it, no reason to limit one's 'Aggression' to entities one is vaguely related to in a feeble attempt at looking 'Understanding' and 'Respectful' - it just means that the social norms of a society hellbent on killing get a chance to spread further that they have to, given proper resistance.

And we're pretty certain that this isn't your intention.

Another problem is that the Dominion Accords don't define 'Inacceptable' reasons for aggression - however, 'Aggression' can happen due to a wide variety of different reasons, some of which are - by our, and I suspect your standards, too - benign. Intervention by yourself against other aggressive polities comes to mind, or attempts to collapse tyrannical regimes (You may have noticed the absurd prevalence of slavery). This is hardly the same as 'Come in, kill everything, keep planet because our leader thinks that taking from the several hundred bllion uninhabited stars with their trillion or so available planets in this galaxy doesn't befit his manliness' - and while we realise that overloading one accord with an absurd number of 'Good Intentions' can have results detrimental to the goals of the accord, it doesn't exactly have to be openly hostile to entities whose philosophy happens to be rather more closely related to your own than, lets say, that of the stereotypical dictator thirty lightyears to the left who gasses critics but never leaves his sphere of influence.

This said, overall, we commend your ideas and ideals - I hope that above points didn't bring about the wrong image.

Yours sincerely,

~ Sandra Mikogami (Hypocrisy; Neptune)

http://www.necrontyr.plus.com/images/venturerssmall.gif

While we approve wholeheartedly of the intentions expressed in these accords. Further, we agree with the majority of the points raised by Sandra Mikogami, however, we can’t feel obliged to stress that there is a degree of difficulty codifying in any solid terms when intervention in a situation is warranted. We have found that the degree and nature of intervention in any given situation often by its very nature has to be a case-by-case matter, favouring minimal-force alternatives.

Luinthelë nos Ancalimë (http://www.necrontyr.plus.com/images/luin.jpg)
Hon. Great Captain of the Venturers¹

---

OOC: Brief post, really, as I have little else to say, beyond 'Hi' oh, and a humorous move for a man with that title.

¹ Paramilitary organisation devoted to this kind of thing, acts to provide a measure of ‘plausible deniability’ and facilitate extra-C’tani recruiting, as well as hide budgetary expenditures.

With the permission of Tyrant Golheas
The Starfederation Ministry for Foreign Affairs
To the Commonwealth Government of Bautizar

The Starfederation does not seek imperialistic aims - indeed, we already possess more territory than we can adequately police, were it all inhabited. The Dominion Accords are simple enough in nature - we seek to inhibit imperialism, not spread it. We seek no reward, nor impose any conditions on our aid.

The League of Free Worlds is a relatively powerless, toothless organization. From what we have seen of it, it is not a power to be reckoned with. Military might has conquered galaxies, and words and negotiation will not stop conquest. Only might may face might. We offer immediate, powerful help to those under threat. That is all these Accords detail.

Alan Balstair
Minister for Foreign Affairs

- - - - - - - - - - -

With the permission of Tyrant Golheas
The Starfederation Ministry for Foreign Affairs
To the Hypocrisy

Item 1 is seemingly excluding Hegemonising Swarms of any sorts - so a horde of replicators hitting on a nascent civilisation working on steam engines doesn't fall into the 'Aggressor' category?

Item 1 merely details the stance of the Accords on races which are equipped to understand human morality, and, having done so, conduct acts of aggression against one another. It leaves more room for leeway, as an 'enemy', as Starfederation law defines it, is merely legal precedent to declare war, or initiate trade embargos, and carries quite the amount of legal baggage with it.

It's a simple issue, really: Reduced to the smallest common denominator, it means that you'd help someone who is attacked by another man of the same species, but not if he was attacked by a rabid dog.

This, however, is not true. Item 2 details that any non-human, or species without the ability to understand human morality, attacking a human is pronounced anathema to the Starfederation. A state of anathema allows us to conduct worse measures on such species than we would on human and human-esque ones.

Furthermore, 'Moral Capacity' is a very problematic term - ethics can change as time progresses and circumstances change. Indeed, any aggressor is to a greater or lesser extend excused by this - the aggressor's ethics evidently differ from, lets say, yours, as proven by their very actions -, and indeed, the aggressor may have grown up in an environment where such aggressive ethics were perfectly normal, maybe even necessary, meaning that his ethics make sense, 'Evil' as we may consider them.

This is irrelevent. Whether they believe their ethics to be perfectly normal or not is not the subject of these Accords. Their actions will be judged by morality as we see it, as hegemonistic as that may seem. Thus being why species without the capacity to understand human morality are pronounced anathema - we do not possess the ability to deal with them, and, as such, must regretfully take a more drastic path.

As such, the goal of any interventionist force must not be to 'respect' the morals under which any given malevolent entity operates - its job must be to change them, one way or another.

And naturally, the above explains why we're rather mystified by Item 3 - it appears to be a doctrine of moral cowardize, hiding under an umbrella of 'Respect for Different Cultures'.

Perhaps a brief misunderstanding has taken place here. Item 3 does not prevent the signatories of the Accords from acting out against those non-human aggressors - it prevents them from being protected under these Accords. Many consider this human-centric, and, for the most part, we agree. The Accords are designed to protect species with the same moral compass as us, in order to aid the regression of imperialism within the galaxy.

And lets be honest here - whether 'Aggression' happens because someone

it doesn't exactly have to be openly hostile to entities whose philosophy happens to be rather more closely related to your own than, lets say, that of the stereotypical dictator thirty lightyears to the left who gasses critics but never leaves his sphere of influence.

At their heart, the Accords are selfish. We wish to spread peace in the galaxy - not a certain type of governance. Until the galaxy itself is peaceful, the stopping of atrocities may wait. Perhaps people will suffer, but we do not possess the resources to rescue every slave from slavery. And a relativistic kill vehicle will slaughter far, far more than the dictator using gas.

Perhaps our wording was bad - but I feel our explanation has uncovered precisely what it needs to. These Accords are designed to be fairly permissive, allowing us to take action quickly and decisively, and in a legal manner, under the laws of the Starfederation.

Alan Balstair
Minister for Foreign Affairs

"Hum. Pretty sweet, that..."

Sandra sat in a more-or-less uncomfortable chair that'd been advertised as 'Antique' - she hadn't realised that apparently, 'Antique' also meant 'Impossible to sit on' - and was reading, mostly about the Starfederation of Hyperspatial Travel (Things were a bit confusing, as it wasn't the only entity with that name - fortunately, the dying-off of other entities using the term made things a little easier).

The political system, the society, recent history (Ouch.), geography, demographics... A lot, really.

She rather liked what she was reading, too.

Which reminds me...

Honoured Alan Balstair,

Thank you for your swift reply.

I feel that I have to apologize - I have, indeed, missinterpreted some of the Accord's points (Particularly item 2), much to my embarrassment. As it stands now, I believe that my objections (Not quite the correct word, but...) as detailed in my first message can generally be considered resolved.

What remains is to wish you the best of luck in your endeavours, which are so closely related to our own ideals, and to hope that we'll live to see their completion.

Yours sincerely,

Sandra Mikogami (Hypocrisy; Neptune)

PS: Incidentally, as certain factions of the Hypocrisy are presently engaged in evacuating a number of pre-nuclear civilisations from their (Endangered) homeworlds, well... You wouldn't happen to be able to provide habitats to a few of them? I realise that this comes rather sudden, but habitable/ terraformable worlds are somewhat scarce, and our capacities limited.

Sandra Mikogami
I thank you, in turn, for your thanks. Although I have been somewhat curt in this matter, the organization and recommendations on the government's new stance to various nations has taken up copious amounts of my time, of late.

Although the Accords are somewhat altruistic, their existence, we feel, shall aid in the stemming of the chaos in the galaxy we find most distasteful.

Yours in good faith,

Alan Balstair

PS: Terrestrial worlds in the Starfederation are admittedly common; although most of those which are not colonised tend to be so because of virulent lifeforms, or overly-prevalent predators. Considering the low birth rate in the Starfederation, our rate of growth is not sufficient to consider the colonization of new worlds, especially considering the efficiency of asteroid mining for new resources, and spaceborne hydroponic farms for various delicacies that are endemic to single areas.

However, we have a number of suitable worlds available for newer species - but, unfortunately, we cannot effectively police the boundaries of our space. I feel, though, your concern may be better taken up with the Minister for Colonization, Hagmar Binskeer. Please keep in mind - the man is somewhat distraught. His assistant was found dead outside of his office (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=515382) a mere day ago, and due to administrative tensions, he is overtaxed at the moment.

Nonetheless, I will forward your message to him, and request information from his department.
- -
To: The most honourable Sandra Mikogami
From: Minister for Colonization; Hagmar Binskeer

Having reviewed your requests, and discussed them with the Tyrant himself, we find your offer somewhat agreeable. A large number of endemic alien species are already under the Starfederation's wing, a few sentient, and a bare few entering industrial society. However, as previously stated by the good Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Starfederation must leave large portions of its navy to police and defend vital worlds, and so the vast majority of Starfederation holdings are unprotected.

As such, we can offer six terrestrial worlds - although the wildlife may not be suitable for their habitation, and we can also offer a small series of anti-asteroid satellites, as well as warning beacons, which will allow us to warn intruders of the illegality of their presence.

Should you wish for overt protection of these worlds, or assistance to allow these species to adapt to their no-doubt drastically changed environments (it is doubtful that they will survive naturally, given the variety of flora and fauna on these worlds, as well as the differing cycles of the sun and moons,which may cause infertility), you will have to provide them yourself.

Yours, Hagmar Binskeer
- -

As an active member of the League of Free Worlds, Incognitia wishes to state that it does not see the Accords as incompatible with the League; indeed in our philosophy of foreign affairs they complement one another.

The League is a pact of mutual defence and assistance; and though it is not an official League action, League members are currently assisting Bautizar in an issue regarding trade routes and mining rights.

Being cynical, we much prefer to fight aggression, or hegemonizing swarms, or in fact any threat at all, far from home, when it is still small, and with allies at hand. The Accords provide a framework for achieving just that, when the LFW is under no threat.
As such, my government has agreed, in a binding Consiliar vote, to enact a slightly altered version of the Dominion accords, which follows below.

Regards
Consilar-General John McGrath.

The (modified) Dominion Accords

Item 1 - Any human or humanoid aggressor nation, or nation with the intelligence and moral capacity to understand human-centric ethics, aggressor nation being defined as a nation that employs unwarranted or unprovoked acts of aggression against other nations, is hereby pronounced an enemy of the signatories of these Accords.

Item 2 - Any non-humanoid aggressor nation against a humanoid nation, or nation capable of understanding and adopting human-centric morality, is hereby pronounced anathema to the signatories of these Accords.

Item 3 - Due to largely-conflicting cultural differences, the Accords will not apply to beings undergoing aggression, that cannot understand simple human-origin concepts, nor the human moral system.

Item 4 - Terror Incognitia hereby pledges any part of the Fleet not committed or reserved for League of Free Worlds actions or home defence, to be a minimum of one Station (a Station being approx 100 Capital ships with all support), to the defence of those beleagured by aggressor nations.

Item 5 - Note that those conducting mutual aggression against one another shall not be the subject of these Accords.

Item 6 - The useage of planetary bombardment shall not be permitted to those stopping aggression under the Accords - only the destruction of fleets, and fleet production facilities. The killing of civilians may only take place should no other course of action be available.

Honoured Alan Balstair,

Of course - no offence taken. After all, we're all 'Enjoying' mildly distateful (Read: High) positions in the political hierarchy, with all the problems and frustration commonly going with them.

And your intentions, well, I've already said that I, and the majority of the Hypocrisy, wish you the best of luck.

Other than that, I'll contact Minister Binskeer immediately - again, many thanks for your immediate help.

Yours sincerely,

Sandra Mikogami (Hypocrisy; Neptune)

Save file.

Send file.

Open file.

Honoured Minister Binskeer,

Thank you for your swift... Well, considering that you contacted me before I had the opportunity to contact you, I'll call it 'Action'.

Your offer is gracious, and most appreciated - defensive issues shouldn't be much of a problem, as I believe that your sector of space is reasonably quiet in the first place, and it'd have to be odd entities indeed to hunt down neolitic species across half the galaxy just because they've been evacuated in the face of potential extinction. If nothing else, the mere fact that you hold a claim to the territories in question should provide an element of deterrence - this said, should more than negligible defensive means be necessary, we'd of course be able to provide them ourselves, having taken up the responsibility in the first place.

In any case. We - that is, the sapients involved in the whole matter. I am only tangentially involved myself, however, I believe that the incident coordinator, (The IEU Stargazer), will contact you soon enough - should be able to provide the (Limited, I believe) alterations necessary to ensure the species' survival. If you happen to have information regarding the environmental conditions on the worlds in question (Particularly the weather, the composition of their atmospheres, dominant biochemistry, the likes), we'd be much obliged.

Incidentally, if you happen to have worlds in environmentally challenged positions, slightly out of the habitable zone (Slightly too dry/ cold, greenhouse effect gone wild, the likes) featuring gravitational accelerations between .7 % 1.3 m/s^2, sufficient metallicity to provide the trace elements necessary for life, magnetospheres strong enough to keep stellar radiations at an acceptable level, working continental drift to keep the carbon cycle up and so on, those would be highly desirable, as we're considering the transplantation of entire ecosystems. On such short notice, a proper terraforming process is of course impossible, but a bit of improvisation, followed by a few decades/ centuries of proper processing might've desirable results (Not in all cases, certainly, but one or two would suffice), even if the price is a somewhat increased mortality.

But that's still better than extinction.

Yours sincerely,

Sandra Mikogami (Hypocrisy; Neptune)

I figure that I'll come up with details regarding the species, timetables etc. once I next finish a post for Charybdis.

-OOC-

Where would a nation fall if they can understand Human morality, they just (generally speaking) don't? Anything not of thier species is not a "person" but rather a thing, and asking them to think on the morality of a human is to ask a human to think on the morality of cows or mice.

Would they be under Item One, or Item Two?


-IC-

There were many things the Mekantan race was not known for. Diplomacy and Human Rights topped that list. Thus, the announcement of Accord was the delivery of a lit match to the powder keg that was the normally quite belligerent Hegemony.

Reactions among the Mekantan populace were varied. Some expressed the usual bloodlust, referring to the Accord and those who signed it as meat or toys. Some were slightly concerned by the size of those involved. Some, the outcasts of a society with an almost religious love of violence, were quietly optimistic. Still others found the matter quite amusing, usually those who saw the antics of the Lesser Species as sources of great hillarity.

The heads of government, the various Overlords, Clan Leaders, Fleet Lords, and Priests, had a slightly different reaction, summed up by a single line in Terraspeak.

"What are they going to do about it?"

At present, however, the Hegemony remained silent to the rest of the universe as it usually chose to, preferring to watch a situation from afar before deciding to step in and get thier hands dirty.

OOC: Two. Understanding also implies some minor form of adoption, in this context.

Sandra Mikogamir,

Information is readily available - indeed, StarNet, our communications and information-sharing nation-wide network has all this information available to any civilian. As such, we will transmit what we know immediately. Assays on the native life have only been quickly and rudely done, but it is enough to know that the life on these worlds is inimical with the vast majority of the inhabitants of the Starfederation.

(OOC: I don't feel like conjuring up an entire set of world-statistics, suffice to say that they all contain the standard mix of oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide, and, furthermore, all have gravities ranging from 0.9 to 1.2 G.)

As it stands, we have eight worlds available, to your specifications, six of them terran. More can be assayed and made available at your request, however, many worlds with overly-valuable mineral deposits, items of scientific interest, or other sentient species cannot be used for this purpose, thus vastly limiting your range.

The multi-asteroid habitat-ship, the Aligned of Beauty, has recently delivered its cargo of colonists to a recently-colonized world. It is capable of housing over two million sentients, and is easily configurable to the vast majority of humanoid species. If you so desire, we can house various species in there whilst you prepare the planets below for their inhabitance.

Yours in truth,

Hagmar Binskeer
Minister for Colonization

- - - -
With the permission of Tyrant Golheas
The Starfederation Ministry for Foreign Affairs
To Consilar-General John McGrath; Terra Incognitia

We wish you well, and find it most pleasing that others who are not ourselves have the same desires for peace. As you have signed your own version of the Accords, we will keep you informed about any possible situations that require your intervention, and would find it gratifying if you could find your way to do the same for us.

Alan Balstair
Minister for Foreign Affairs

Honoured Hagmar Binskeer,

Your offer and information are most appreciated, not to mention useful, though the Aligned of Beauty's assistance will most likely be unnecessary, given the transportation bottleneck we're experiencing - housing is no issue, transportation on the other hand, is.

The worlds you've suggested do certainly look promising - we'll have to do some in-depth analysis before deciding on the one(s) that'll be most suitable for this project, though.

Incidentally, I also suspect that you're rather interested in keeping local ecosystems intact - the two 'Fringe' worlds will probably receive special attention to avoid certain, ah... 'Difficulties'.

Regardless. I figure that the incident coordinator will eventually get a handful of ships to do more in-depth analysis (As far as this is possible within the rather limited timeframe) of the planets in question, as well as one or two - well, one, given the scarcity of the same - craft responsible for planetary engineering (If that turns out to be the most appropriate solution), and they should announce themselves soon enough (On a side note, said ships usually feature a sub-milgrade degree of armament. I seem to recall you being understandably unhappy about such things, though. I take it that they're supposed to rid themselves of any singularly military equipment for the time being?).

Yours sincerely,

~ Sandra Mikogami

'A handful' was, perhaps, a bit of an exaggeration - explorers were rare and in demand, nevermind spread over a volume only slightly smaller than that of the local group (Discounting two particularly eccentric ships that were exploring the Virgo supercluster at large, undetered by the problem of this being a bit beyond their ability to complete within the next million years or so, and thought of as being effectively lost), which made getting them to where they were desired mildly difficult.

Eventually however, the Stargazer, itself still floating about somewhere in the middle of the astrobiological rogue called the Charybdis cluster, managed to convince the Moondance to take over the job, much to its occupant's unhappiness who, while not having stumbled over ancient ruins to dig up, did nonetheless enjoy the pristine beaches of the third planet in a system a mere twenty kilolightyears off, apparently unconcerned about infesting the planet with their own microorganisms and/ or being eaten by the native ones (This was, however, a fairly reasonable assumption, considering the dominant, and mildly exotic biochemistry. Besides, the ship would decontaminate all visited areas, anyway).

The journey would still take a couple days, of course, but hey. It could use the time to demilitarize accordingly.

Hum. Getting off topic-ish here. Shall move it to a yet-to-be-started resettlement thread.

Sandra Mikogamir,

Unfortunately, the Aligned of Beauty is a most fragile transportation craft, and only capable of the shortest faster-than-light transits unaided. As the Starfederation is unused to the large-scale transportation of non-human creatures, it would take some time for us to even be able to assist you, even should the resources required be readily available. I can, however, offer you the contact code for the Starfed Freight Guild, who are, at present, due to varying.. fears regarding the outlying colonies, suffering a minor loss of business. Should you require ships to haul equipment, or other non-living items that you may need, the Guild is currently offering lower prices than they have been for almost a decade, and would be most willing to work with you.

Local ecosystems are a minor point of concern, however, we have samples of nearly every creature on our various outlying systems, due to handsome bonuses paid by the Ministry for Health for the DNA coding of any creature, as these can often lead to new cures to various diseases and conditions.

And lastly, regarding military equipment - although we can understand the need for such, especially when travelling vast distances, we would overwhelmingly prefer it if all such equipment was powered down for the duration of any ship's stay within the outlying systems. We will be more than willing to provide escorts for your ships, should you feel the need.

Yours in clarity,
Hagmar Binskeer

Hagmar Binskeer,

That's not a problem. I wasn't suggesting to use the ship to ferry off a few million poeple/ billion tons of biomass over half the galaxy, merely noting that its particular services are at presence of less relevance than your other, exceedingly valuable offers.

This said, the Guilt might indeed be of interest - I'll of course have to check with the incident coordinator, but in case that their services are usable for our present purposes (With regards of this particular operation - I figure that they'll eventually receive unrelated offers of a rather more mundane nature), their business might experience a certain increase in the forseeable future.

In any case. Your requests have been forwarded, and I'm sure that the Wishmaster will oblige - needless to say, it has been a pleasure to cooperate with you.

Yours,

~ Sandra Mikogami

And oocly, ending the hijack, and moving the details of species/ ecosystem transfer here (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=12306923#post12306923). Though I figure that you might consider the whole thing to be vaguely accord-related. Somewhat. In spirit.

From the Office of Sky Marshal Vaire, concerning the Dominion Accords

File received. Downloading.
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Message from Terran Federation, on the Dominon Accords, do you wish to open this file? File unpacking commencing.
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File unpacked. Displaying now.

Dear Mr. Balstair,

I have sent this letter to you in accordance to your galactic-wide transmission of these certain sets of accords that concern aggression and keeping it in check. I am sorry that this came from myself instead of our leader, but he was not able to be reached at the time of your transmission. Now, down to business. My language is neither going to be flowery, nor will I beat around the bush. I am a military man, having served in both the Mobile Infantry and the Navy for several years before ascending the ranks to where I am today, so I will be brief and blunt.

Your 'accords', as you called them, are the work of pacifists, and are a ridiculous idea. Now, before you get all crazy and start calling me ignorant and war-mongering, I will say it is a commendable idea and one that should be adopted, if it was able to be used realistically. But in reality, this pacifistic idea of natural rights, and of non-aggression is a fool's view of the galaxy. Every race, if need be, should be allowed, nay, encouraged to push for their nations and species, survival. We used to have these same ideas as you are putting forth, back in the annals of our history. Countries such as America, Great Britain and Russia had something akin to this. What was their fate? Crime rates shooting through the roof, wars which no right was even respected and many died. The democracies failed and the countries collapsed. Chaos consumed the globe. We were only able to regroup when those who knew what they were doing, war veterans, gathered together formed the foundation of the government we have today, the Terran Federation. In this nation, people work for the greater good of humanity, there are few selfish people and they don't have the time for those. In fact, in order to vote and hold office in our nation, you must have served a term of two years in the Federal Service, to become a full citizen.

This makes them take caution with their lives and with the problems of the nation as a whole, as well as learning valuable social values such as responsibility and sacrifice.

I apologize, I appear to have ranted a bit. Anyways, back to the accords. If we followed the accords, as you have put them, our race would have been wiped out and we wouldn't exist. We came across a nation of Arachnids, smart ones too, and we battled over territory. They came in and killed everyone on planets, we did the same. If we hadn't wiped out their "civilian" population, the war would have dragged on, forever. And they would be the ones sending a message of their own, not us.

To survive in this galaxy, you have to make sure you and only your nation survives, that is the great goal of any nation. If that involves making peace deals with several nations and depending on them, so be it. But if it requires total war on a species, to the point of genocide, so be it. That is the course that must be taken in order to see your superior race survival and ensure that they have a future. So it is the stance of the Terran Federation that these Dominon Accords will only weaken you and cause you to become targets to those you seek to defeat. With this announcement, you have become a target to any nations seeking weak nations to conquer. Now, you probably have taken this into account and have prepared for it, but still, why bother?

Anyways, that is our stance and I will stick to it. Though it is ill-founded and misguided, may you have luck on your foolish mission.

Signed,
Sky Marshal Vaire
Terran Federation

Incognitia respectfully suggests that the view of the Terran Federation is utter codswallop, for (among others) the following reasons:

Item 1 - Any human or humanoid aggressor nation, or nation with the intelligence and moral capacity to understand human-centric ethics, aggressor nation being defined as a nation that employs unwarranted or unprovoked acts of aggression against other nations, is hereby pronounced an enemy of the signatories of these Accords.

Item 2 - Any non-humanoid aggressor nation against a humanoid nation, or nation capable of understanding and adopting human-centric morality, is hereby pronounced anathema to the signatories of these Accords.

In case you don't understand, please allow us to summarise. Any nation conquering another is our enemy. Any swarm/hivemind/whatever attacking innocents is our enemy.

Common sense, as we do not deal with imperial powers in any case (nations called empires are fine, those holding other peoples in subjection are not); and swarms/hiveminds/monster AIs are a threat to all.
Unless you yourself are a power looking to build an empire, there is nothing to lose from signing the Accords.

EDIT: Several members of the Foreign Intelligence Service have been suspended pending investigation of an incident where covertly gathered intelligence not cleared for external dissemination was shown to a minister, who then referred to it in external diplomatic communications. To quote the Consilar-General "While I fully agree with the results, this risks jeopardising future intelligence-gathering, and it was not the place of these operatives to decide to disseminate it." In other news...

OOC: Incognita, please notice that this was sent to HT's person, not yours. Therefore, you have no knowledge of what is being said. So, your response is invalid.

OOC: Edited. Please note, I haven't deleted it because I believe my basic points to be valid, and you haven't answered those; also I missed the fact it was to HT alone not sent generally, as other posts in this thread have been general.
If you insist, I'll RP the gathering of the intelligence that led to this, and then the investigation of the suspended operatives, but I'd really rather not bother.

OOC: Well, I highly doubt they would find out what was said, as it was private, and highly encrypted, since it came from the Sky Marshal itself. In order to find out, you would have to crack the code, which would take a lot of time, go into HT's computers and find, or my computers and find it, hacking or asking for it. Other than that, I dont see how they would know. Also, if it was private, why the hell would I have to respond to your points?

OOC: Quotin' time! I'll be leaving the quotes in to make my reply easier to decipher - if you want an officialised version without them, just ask.

Greetings;
Sky Marshal Vaire of the Terran Federation
From Alan Balstair

Your 'accords', as you called them, are the work of pacifists, and are
a ridiculous idea.

This is not the view we are trying to convey. Indeed, we are prepared to use extreme violence to achive peace - pacifism is a goal we are not seeking. Rather, the Accords are a simplistic measure to allow navies to act within their bounds when in foreign territory, thus allowing us to cut out bureaucracy and red tape from such actions. The Dominion Accords are a way to cut through red tape and enable action, rather than force navies to sit impotently while awaiting governmental approval for their every action.

Every race, if need be, should be allowed, nay, encouraged to push for their nations and species, survival.

Indeed. However, should this push involve our territory, our citizens, or the territory of fellow humans, or those species who are friendly to humanity, we will most assuredly prevent them from ever taking such action against our race again - no matter the means we must use to achieve this.

In this nation, people work for the greater good of humanity, there are few selfish people and they don't have the time for those. In fact, in order to vote and hold office in our nation, you must have served a term of two years in the Federal Service, to become a full citizen.

The niceties of governance do not interest me - in the Starfederation, all may vote, provided that they are in good mental health. Our voting system allows us to elect a supreme ruler - and indeed, our elections are constantly in flux. For a vote may be withdrawn at any time, or given to another candidate. In this way, the ruler serves the people, as does the government. "You get what you pay for". A saying that is most appropriate. Our citizenry chooses the direction of government, and we do not seek to influence them using our government-ordained powers.

I apologize, I appear to have ranted a bit. Anyways, back to the accords. If we followed the accords, as you have put them, our race would have been wiped out and we wouldn't exist.

I somewhat doubt that. The Accords are firstly, and foremostly, designed to promote the survival of the nations who sign them. This is altruism of a sort - those nations who have signed the Accords must promote their own survival in order to aid others.

We came across a nation of Arachnids, smart ones too, and we battled over territory. They came in and killed everyone on planets, we did the same. If we hadn't wiped out their "civilian" population, the war would have dragged on, forever. And they would be the ones sending a message of their own, not us.

The Accords state that doing what is necessary is acceptable. To do whatever is needed to stop the aggression. Should a series of relativistic projectiles aimed at highly-populated world be the only measure possible, then it may be taken. Thus, your actions would not be prohibited by these Accords. Indeed, had you signed them, you would've profited, as other members of the Accords would've aided you in your prevention of the arachnid spread.

To survive in this galaxy, you have to make sure you and only your nation survives, that is the great goal of any nation.

Government does not exist for the goal of self-perpetuation. Rather, a nation exists to serve those within it. I must disagree with you there - the survival of yourself is evidently vital, but the aid of those who share your values and beliefs, and thus will share friendship and alliances with you is hardly a foolish action.

So it is the stance of the Terran Federation that these Dominon Accords will only weaken you and cause you to become targets to those you seek to defeat.

Perhaps. But the conquest of a nation that can afford to announce to the galaxy at large that it will challenge any who undertake needless acts of aggression is hardly an easy act. I doubt there are few, if any powers equal to the task.

With this announcement, you have become a target to any nations seeking weak nations to conquer. Now, you probably have taken this into account and have prepared for it, but still, why bother?

Because the 'bother' is right. To bother here may save millions of lives, may save humanity and its allies, as fragmented as they are, from those who would only seek to subsume and destroy it, and because unity is stronger than disunity. That much is obvious.

Though your stance is somewhat isolationist and will no doubt lead you to ruin, may you find peace there.

In honesty and strength;
Alan Balstair

OOC: Oh, and take note that everything we receive that doesn't contain vital details, or we have been asked to keep private, will be released into the various Starfederation information networks. You can find just about anything in those, and they're open to anyone who's a citizen. And citizenship isn't that hard to obtain.

OOC: How does the DA look at mercenaries?

OOC: Generally... not. Mercenaries are just individuals - the Accords are more concerned with nations. Generally we'd go after both the mercenaries and the people who hired them, depending on the size of the mercenary fleet, and whatnot. If it was big enough to be considered a nation in its own right, the mercenaries might see war on their doorstep. Of course, each nation that signs the Accords interprets them differently, and this is probably a grey area.

OOC: I'm more of a mercenary corporation/manufacturing conglomerate, if that helps. And I mean more in the way of joining, how does the DA feel about that?

OOC: The Accords are, well.. Accords. They're not a moderated agreement as such - each nation can draft their own set of them, and follow them as they will. However, provided that you're an independent people, and don't go around aggressorising other nations (Which would put limitations on your actions as mercenaries, although altruistic mercenaries are pretty cool), my nation would be absolutely fine with it.

It had taken nearly seven weeks for the message to reach the Starfederation's Ministry of Foreign affairs. Indeed, it could be considered a miracle that the message had been delivered at all considering the sheer might of the Chaos armada that had invaded the Charybdis Cluster. Nevertheless, the crew of the Immyrian Sword-class frigate Eternal Wrath persevered, arriving with it's message intact. Hovering just outside the Starfederation's percieved borders (for how could the crew truly know where those borders lay?) the message was transmitted via astropath.

Esteemed Minister Balstair,

It is with the utmost respect that I contact you for I wish to make known my feelings regarding these Dominion Accords.

Even as I dictate this message, my people find themselves living under the shadow of invasion and destruction. The Ruinous Powers have come to the Charybdis Cluster and while the Theocracy has not yet faced the dreaded military might of the Chaos legions we know that day must surely come. Even now that insidious evil begins to stretch forth its tendrils in an effort to taint the faithful. Cult worshippers have begun to spring forth like weeds across the Theocracy. The Holy Inquisition toils day and night to stamp out the darkness that has begun to manifest itself.

Do not misinterprete the intent of this message. I do not come begging for the protection of the Accords. In fact, I cannot in good conscience sign these accords considering the position that the Theocracy finds itself in at this time. I would not turn the eye of unholy Chaos towards you, now or ever. My intent is simply this; to have you understand that the Theocracy of Immyr stands in support of the Accords even if we cannot enjoy the advantages bestowed by membership therein. I have this day, by divine decree, made it clear that any vessel or person engaged in enforcing those tenets set forth by the Accords themselves may find safe harbor within the Theocracy's borders. The vessel which delivered this message will remain for a period of days should there be any reply.

It is my sincere hope Minister, that the Theocracy of Immyr might someday, when the current threat has passed, make known our support by more than words. And if it is the will of the One God that my people and I should pass from this universe in the fires of destruction and war, then know that we do so carrying the message of the Accords in our hearts.

In my own hand,

Rhedick I
god-King of the Theocracy of Immyr

Under standard operating procedures of the Starfederation, it was not long before Incognitia was aware of this message.
There was swift debate amongst the TerrorGens Council, then it was decided that this was the first test of their commitment to the Accords.

The Theocracy of Immyr
While you say you do not wish for assistance, we will offer it anyway. The accords' assistance is not only for signatories, indeed that is one of their prime purposes: permit the assistance of nations with which we have no formal agreements.
Even if you reject large-scale naval assistance, we would like to send military observers to keep an eye on the situation, and open an offer of assistance in terms of arms, men, materiel; also we pledge to keep safe any of your people you wish to evacuate.
Good luck,

The TerrorGens Council of Incognitia, Accords Signatory

OOC: I was thinking when you kick off the invasion of the Chaos powers into your system, (if this is acceptable to you) I could send one station to the Charybdis Cluster. That would be 100 capital ships, and one sixth of my active fleet. This would be deployed to combat your enemies; however most would be elsewhere in the Cluster, with only a few in your system to directly assist you, so that your forces would form the majority of those directly RPed.

"This.. this needs to be taken to the Tyrant."

"Minister?"

"The Tyrant. Now. Personally. I don't want any chance of this being intercepted. At all."

It was a few minutes later, when the message actually came to the Tyrant's attention. His palace was not over-large - but it twisted and turned in the most peculiar manner, built with seemingly no deference to architectural methods, attempting to escape the confining squares and rectangles that made up so many buildings.

Sitting in a small, Victorian-style room, Tyrant Golheas was looking up at a simple portrait of a former governor on the wall, his fingers working furiously at one of the many datapads that were dotted throughout the palace.

Without a word, the message, printed on sheet plastic, passed into his hands. He looked at it. Then he waved the messenger away.

"Peculiar."

He was not a particularly gifted man, nor a charismatic one. Rather, his talents lay in his decisiveness, and his willingness to work. There, at least, he excelled.

There were few fleets that could be used at present. So few, that the Demons, which he had seen as such a threat, could be spared a mere twelve ships. But that was for good reason. The proximity of the Starfederation to one rather important organization - the Galactic Empire, meant that dispatching too many fleets to too many distant battlefields could be fatal. He was negotiating - hoping to reach some sort of agreement with the Empire, as war with it would invariably be fatal.

And yet... he knew of the horrors that the Chronosians had brought forth. Before his reign, in the time of independence, each planet-nation knew of them, and trembled as their fleets scourged the galaxy. It hurt, to know there was little he could do.

The Accords, however, demanded action. To do what you could to forestall such evil now would prevent it from rising greater than ever on the morrow.

There was one ship he could spare. The Elaborate Pattern. The flagship of the Starfederation. The ship without a fleet. Possibly, of course, because it was a fleet in its own right. And of course, a flagship without a suitable escort.. why, it was hardly a flagship at all!

Honourable god-King Rhedick I

It is in somewhat disturbed mind that I write this letter. For Ruinous Chaos has not oft been defeated, and nor, in all truth, can I see you prevailing against the might born through depravity that is the legacy of the deathly Chronosian Imperium. The Starfederation is bordered by such people, and, as much as I would love to see my fleets bearing down upon their hateful ships, as to annihilate them, to do so would to be to invite utter destruction upon myself, and my people.

However, even in such times, I shall do what I can. As I would hate to see your message fall into the wrong hands, would you care to take an escort, say, of the Starfederation's flagship, the [i]Elaborate Pattern, and, say, another hundred ships of the smaller, and support varieties, as befits a message such of this nature?

Indeed, should the scions of Chaos fall upon us on our return, I would not be troubled should my escort take refuge in your realm, as no doubt the return journey would be most dangerous, and I could not, in all good conscience, send men into a maelstrom such as that. Of course, I would be more than willing for them to earn their keep in such a hypothetical situation, say, by defending what worlds and strongholds of your own you deem necessary.

Should you wish to take up such an escort, I could have them assembled as soon as you might wish.

In honour and truth;
Tyrant Golheas
Supreme Elected Ruler of the Unified Starfederation

He smiled. An escort was perhaps a touch strange - but rather, his offer was one based on the most spurious of logic. He did not wish to engage in poor relations with the Empire by offending them directly - instead, he had made an offer. Take a hundred ships back with you, he had said, and let them aid you as you see fit.

His smile broadened, and the message flickered off through the atmosphere, to be picked up by a shuttle, which promptly decrypted it, and then itself moved into the bay of a larger ship, which, in turn, would meet with the Eternal Wrath..

****Main Bridge. Sword-class frigate Eternal Wrath****

The cloying scent of blessed incense hung thick in the air on the bridge. The swelling tide of blessed hymns rose and fell as the music was piped through the vessels internal audio systems. Underneath it all was the tang of ozone and engine oil and the clatter of cogitators for this was a ship of war of the Divine Theocracy of Immyr.

Captain Kys stood resolutely at his command pulpit, a pair of message sheets clenched firmly in one meaty fist. The first sheet bore words of support and offers of aid from a member of the Accords called Terror Incognita. The message itself was more than the Theocracy could have hoped for considering the circumstances. It meant that these Dominion Accords in which the blessed god-King placed so much faith were what they said they were.

The other message was no less inspiring coming directly from the leader of the Starfederation himself. Again, the offer of assistance contained therein seemed genuine and appeared to come with no strings attached. Kys’ course of action was clear.

“Forward these messages to the god-King himself via astropath immediately. His divine guidance is needed as these responses fall far outside of what was planned for,” he ordered his First Officer who nodded once and turned away. No mention was made of the fact that the mere sending of this message through such a roiled and particularly chaotic sector of the Immaterium would likely kill the astropath assigned to forward the message for such was their purpose in life. “Inform both the Tyrant and the officials of Terror Incognita that their gracious offers are even now on their way to Gaias IV and into the god-King’s hands. His response should be swift.”

OOC: Sorry about the delay. I have been out of town for work for the past couple of weeks. I will post again tomorrow with Rhedick's reply to both messages. There is a certain amount of xenophobia that colors everything that the Theocracy does. Even a progressive leader like Rhedick cannot escape it. In staying true to that, I'm not sure he will say yes to a large number of foreign warships popping into orbit around Gaias IV. However, aid in evacuating as many civilians as possible would probably be alright. ;)

OOC: That's lucky. Since this came up, one of my allies has got into a fairly serious spot of bother, and I have a funny feeling I'm going to have to send everything I've got to help him.
Interestingly we face the same enemy, as we are, or will be, fighting the Unified Sith, who are allied with the Chronosians you're up against.
Immediately we are under no threat, but obviously we need to give full support to our ally, and that will consume all our fleet, short only those required for home defence.

We're still prepared to provide asylum for any of your people you wish to evacuate, and are prepared to offer military help as soon as that becomes possible.

OOC: Yyeaaahh... there's some interesting events that have taken place that may prevent me from doing that. To sum it up, Sithy sithed my Tyrant, and mindscrewed him in order to coerce my nation into the Galactic Empire. Following that, a discreet uprising took place, replacing most major governmental officers, and whatnot. It makes things interesting, to say the very least. Especially when the vast majority of my navy is concentrated on the side of the invaders..