NationStates Jolt Archive

Based on the (Later) events in this (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=496208) thread.

Half a million klicks off the Sun; One month ago

By local standards, it's temperate, even though the ultraviolet ambience, all but unhealthy to the average lifeform, would probably be useful in upping the cancer rates of baseliners a thousandfold. The gleaming arachnoid - reflective enough to maintain a temperature well below its melting point - doesn't appear to notice, though.

Of course, it isn't an average lifeform, either.

Right now, it's nothing less than engrossed by the finished product, roughly twohundred kilotons of contraterrene beauty, near-perfectly well arranged technology, and what passes for biochemistry in this time and place.

"Very pretty."

It's probably imagining the whole thing annihilating in a burst of gamma rays, with some x-rays and assorted short-lived exotic particles plus an absurd number of neutrinos thrown in, but hey - it's right.

It is pretty.

Moving the whole thing is a bit of a bother, though.

Radiations crossing the void; Faster than Einstein would have it, no less

FTLCOM@NRS 1E20 & EM 1E-1; SL 0; Beamspread x 1.2
From: Sandra Mikogami; Neptune
To: Whom it may concern; Mationbuds Authorities
Subject: Notice of Success

It took a little while, but our preparations for the embassy exchange have finally been completed (And the finished work is very, very pretty, if I may say so). The Wealth of Nations should stop by Maten in a month - I believe that a Dr. James Anderson (And his entourage) was meant to board it (And its newly-constructed embassy complex) as your ambassador to the Hypocisy.

That's about it. Our ambassador will... Well, be the embassy in question. He/she/it will need some time to acclimatise with the rather unique environment he's going to live in, but a few days should suffice for that.

Other than that, well - congrats on your re-emergence as a factor in the international community.

Yours sincerely,

~ Sandra Mikogami

Mationbuds; Maten Approach; The Present

The Wealth of Nations sped smoothly through the underdimensional what-makes-up-space realms of reality that allowed it to stretch the limits of special relativity way beyond their supposed breaking point, the trail of hard radiations it caused to appear in actual space probably setting off an early warning system or two - it'd announced itself a while ago, but vigilance was always a good idea.

It was over-killish for it to be here in person (Even though it'd left its usual entourage of civilian and military craft well behind) - it had other duties to fulfill, products to produce, mass to refine and transform, nevermind the not unimaginative demands its inhabitants had, which had to be attended to, too -, but it was also designated as the 'Seat' of Mationbud's ambassador, and right now, this duty took precedence.

In its wake, a (Nearly) unmanned barge was following it, just a few gigameters off the real thing. On board, only a handful of arachnoids - gleaming, and reflective almost to the point of burning out eyes - and one odd humanoid were waiting, maintaining the shiny and glorying in their work - for it was a great work, and they had surpassed themselves.

FTLCOM@NRS 1E10 & EM 1E-1; SL 0; Beamspread x 10
From: Habitat & Manufacturing Unit Wealth of Nations (Representative; Hypocrisy)
To: Whom it may concern; Mationbuds Authorities; Maten
Subject: Dropping by

[Attachement: Exit Point - 150 GM fom Maten]
[Attachement: Approach Vector - sunwards @ 30000 km/s; reaching full-stop @ Maten Geosynchrous Orbit]
[Attachement: Timetable - 1 h 30 m post-shift: Orbit; 1 d 4 h: Embassy delivered; 1 w 5 d: departure]

That much for the official bit. Shouldn't take long - launching the embassy shouldn't take much longer than a day (Earth Standard), though it'll probably take about 1 1/2 weeks to achive full operational status.

I'm pretty certain that Dr. James Anderson (And our present representatives - Janine Renton & her entourage) wont have many difficulties coming aboard - we've left his quarters vaguely spartan, mostly because I suspect that he wants to bring his own furniture et al with him. Still, they're functional.

On a somewhat unrelated note: I've a few thousand people here who wouldn't mind visiting Maten - of course, I realise that you're apparently dealing with a terrorist treat and minor unrest within the Empire, so I suspect that your security is a bit uptight right now (Ours would be, too). Still - is it possible? Security on board's pretty tight in the first place, so I figure it's alright, but still. Better to ask.

Other than that, well - information's been sent, so there shouldn't be any problems. See you in about an hour, Maten orbit. Security scans - and inspections, if you still require them - are of course cleared (Though really, I'm a civilian, so...).

Yours sincerely,

~ Wealth of Nations

The message being sent, the ship resumed its slow coasting-to-sub-c routine, shedding velocity, and watching the pretty radiations enter relativistic space in ways that made its machine-brain hurt, leaving a trail of gamma- and x-rays (And even the occasional bit of ultraviolet) to radiate into the void, all the time followed by the lonely barge in its wake.

Maten

The ship(s) didn't slip out right in orbit, for any number of reasons - getting oneself synched with the local frame of reference was one of them (Because being rammed by a planet just sucks), and not getting caught in FTL interdiction was another - as such, the Wealth of Nations and its barge appeared tangible in relativistic space a fair distance off Maten proper, about an AU to be specific, and coasted towards it at a relatively sedate velocity - probably accompanied by the warship escorts Mationbuds had historically been fond of providing, busily scanning the fourteen-and-a-half kilometre, multi-hundred-billion tonne habitat/ factory/ GSV ripoff that'd choosen to pay them a visit.

But hey - one couldn't really expect an ambassador to stay on a mere explorer, now could one? A bit of action was required, and the Wealth of Nations was about as close to a metropolis as spaceships usually got.

Well. The remaining business was fairly simple. Deploy twohundred kilotons of embassy, take ambassador & previous repesentatives on board, bugger off and do what HMUs were always doing.

IC:

Maten National City

As the preperations for welcoming the esteemed Der Angst ship to arrive, a message was picked up by Central Communications headquarters. The message was forwarded to the Diplomatic Corps which replied.

"

From: Mationbuds Imperial Diplomatic Corps
To: Sandra Mikogami; Neptune
Subject: RE: Notice of Sucess

We appreciate your well wishes on our emergence as a factor in the international community. Regards to the embassy exchange, we are pleased to inform you that the Empire has readied the area for the embassy to be deployed. And our ambassador Dr James Anderson is in fact ready for his ambassador duties. Upon the arrival of the Weath of Nations, he should be able to board immediately after refuel and resupply. Of course, your ambassador will be provided with all we can give to accomadate him.

Yours Truly,
Karin Duch, General of Diplomatic Corps."


Mationbuds Imperial Space

As the Weatlh of Nation sped through warp speeds, 2 Imperial VictoryIII Star Destroyers entered warp speed to escort the vessel to its destination... safely.

It received the message on behalf of the Imperial authorithies and after receiving the appropriate reply, it forwarded it.

"

To: The Wealth of Nations, to whom it may concern
From: Imperial Diplomatic Corps - Preperations Unit
Subject: Re: Dropping By

We would like to warmly thank you for making this embassy exchange a sucess. Ambassador Anderson would be bringing along sveral pieces of furniture which he treasures very dearly and of course his family.

As for the visit to our homeplanet, it can be done. We are now preparing to entertain the visitors and lodging as well as transporation are being prepared. Guides and meals are all being prepared too. We are confident the visitors will have a pleasant stay.

In the forseeable future, once the threat of a rebellion has been quashed, Imperial tourists and diplomats would drop by your homeship or homeplanet to take a look. That is if you dont mind.

Yours Truly,
Burke Wilhem, General Diplomatic Corps."


Meanwhile the planet-city continued its preperations to welcome the visitors...

I'm making some assumptions 'bout Mation National City, based on what I've read so far. Namely, the whole thing - with rare exceptions, I.e. the imperial palace(s) - being an industrial... thing. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Microwaves

CCOM@EM 1E-1; SL 0; Beamspread x 10
From: Habitat & Manufacturing Unit Wealth of Nations (Representative; Hypocrisy)
To: Imperial Diplomatic Corps - Preperations Unit; Burke Wilhem, General Diplomatic Corps
Subject: Continued ComExchange

Just about perfect - I (We) will make certain that his stay on board will be most pleasant, not to mention useful - he is an ambassador, after all.

And it'd of course be rude (Not to mention impossible - the Hypocrisy has very few limits on travelling in or out) for us not to ensure that your people can not only visit the Hypocrisy, but will have an excellent time there, considering the lengths you're willing to go in order to satisfy our curiosity.

As such, well - I'll be in orbit in a few minutes, and then we can begin.

Yours sincerely,

~ Wealth of Nations

What we're here for

Minutes passed as the Wealth of Nations slowed down, eventually coming to a 'Stop' in high orbit above Maten (National City). The ship's inhabitants - roughly a million more-or-less augmented humans, neko, half a dozen constantly cantankerous (But kinky) drow, some squid-thingies the ship had picked up half a year earlier from a pre-FTL civ it'd contacted, and of course the unavoidable machines - weren't overly excited, yet, at least some of them were interested enough to consider a trip to the surface.

After all, if preparations were made for them, they could as well take advantage of the same.

Communications went to and fro, orbital traffic was redirected, and the barge in the wake of the Wealth of Nations' drive emissions eventually started to descend towards the ground - simply dropping the embassy had been considered, and would've had a number of advantages, but 'Dropping' trees and a handful of birds would've been... Odd, to say the least, and if one had to land (Or hover a few metres above the surface), anyway...

What followed was best described as 'Complex', and would go on for a while.

Tourism

The little girl that was watching the screens of the shuttle/ ferry looked a bit disappointed, as she gazed over the many manufacturies, factories, ports, streets, plumes of smoke, more or less gigantic machines, and masses of workers that populated the planet's surface. "It's a bit ugly... Just like Sisgardia."

"Oh, I'm sure they've nice places, too. Certainly, we'll find the-"

Her mother was interrupted by the family's son, whose reaction differed slightly from his (Slightly) older sister's, largely insofar as he found the whole industrial complex they were now over, well... Not so much fascinating as quite simply the place he'd seen, desired in his dreams, filled with all kinds of booming noises, walking monstrosities, things going 'BOOM' in magnificient explosions, a thoroughly inhuman complex of Big Loud Things he really wanted to touch, feel, and, of course own.

"WOAH!"

Not to mention things the Wealth of Nations tended to be severely lacking - within the cramped confines of the craft, manufacturing tended to happen via machinery kept as small as was possible, simply because it was the only way to keep it... Efficient. The downside being that, efficient as it was, it looked mostly boring, and didn't really befit the sense of magnificience, of gigantism, of simple scale mny children - and a fair number of adults - desired.

There were a bunch of shuttles/ ferries descending downwards, all of them pretty smallish, interplanetary things, seemingly ashamed by their unremarkable appearance (Of course, the close-to-a-trillion tonnes of ship they originated from tended to soothe egos a little), each of them filled with a couple dozen poeple - somewhat more than a thousand in total. (Post)humans, mostly, though all sapient 'Species' on board (With the exception of the Drow, who were keeping to themselves and muttering about the idiocy that was leaving their caves and going here) were present, to greater or lesser extends.

Touchdown.

OOC:
Yep ya got that right.

IC:



From: Imperial Diplomatic Corps - Preperations Unit; Burke Wilhem, General Diplomatic Corps
To: Habitat & Manufacturing Unit Wealth of Nations (Representative; Hypocrisy)
Subject: Continued ComExchange

Once again we would like to thank you for warmly making our ambassador feel at home. It is our honor to host such esteemed guests on our homeworld and we expect nothing in return.

Once ties have strengthened and the proper groundwork has been laid out, a limited tourism or a full fledged tourism industry can be decided on.

Warmest Regards,
General Burke Wilhem,
Diplomatic Corps General.



Maten National City - Space

As the Wealth of Nations slowed down, several hundred Imperial Paramilitary Starfighters were dispatched to cordon off the area, with the aid of 2 Victory Star Destroyers. They didnt want anything to get into the way of the embassy.

Meanwhile a flurry of coms messages and signals were sent to the Wealth of Nations. The exact coordinates were sent as tractor beams stood on standby to aid in the deployment of the embassy...

Maten National City

As the horde of tourists in their shuttles descended down onto the homeworld, every tourist was issued a special pass which would serve as an identity card as well as a discount card to be used at all participating stalls.

Travel guides were also assigned to each group as they touched down on Tourist Center 05...

Microwaves

CCOM@EM 1E-1; SL 0; Beamspread x 10
From: Habitat & Manufacturing Unit Wealth of Nations (Representative; Hypocrisy)
To: Imperial Diplomatic Corps - Preperations Unit; Burke Wilhem, General Diplomatic Corps
Subject: Continued ComExchange

Thank you - especially as this makes it considerably easier to exceed your expectations, which I believe is always a good thing.

And certainly - overall, I don't expect the market to be too big (Hate to admit it, but industrial centres are plentiful), but getting a free cultural exchange running would be desirable. After all - what are we here for, if not to learn from each other?

Yours sincerely,

~ Wealth of Nations

Objects of Interest

Guided quite gently by various tractor beams and fields manipulating certain parameters of space, careful so as not to, lets say, cause the local gravitational environment to do a backflip, the barge descended towards the given coordinates, to the point where it was eventually hovering only a few centimetres above the ground (Landing completely would've been impractical, given its sheer mass, and hey - energy's cheap. So having it hover was not a problem, if one disregarded maybe a quintillion microorganisms below it getting a somewhat unhealthy tan).

What followed was by far the most complex process of the operation. The building (Or rather, the estate - a garden was included) had, for practical reasons, been transported in parts - well shielded parts, of course, via extensions of the barge itself, as well as the Wealth of Nations (Better safe than sorry!), but still parts.

Which did now have to be stacked, in a sort of Ikea-gone-mad scenario, plus some heavy engineering to avoid all too common collapsing cardhouse fun-ness.

Which in this case really wouldn't be something to laugh at. At least, not for very long.

And to this end, a positively gigantic entourage of machinery began to leave the barge, engineering drones in a variety of abstract and surreal shapes and forms that'd make Ediacaran and Cambrian biota jealous, carrying with them the first structures to be laid down - the fundament of the construction, including the 'Heart' of the whole complex, a collection of rather bland looking objects of varying - but generally largish - size, whose inside started to make less and less sense the smaller the scale one looked at was. From the micrometer level on, it was somewhat less comprehensible than a collage of Hundertwasser drawings edited by Picasso and then left to H. R. Giger to screw with.

The, well, 'Hive' seemed to be directed by only a handful of individuals, the majority of which happened to look like man-sized spiders with an albedo in excess of 0.9, making it a good idea to never stare directly at them, unless one was wearing sunglasses.

The whole area where the 'Estate' was supposed to be constructed was, by and large, surprisingly quiet - the 'Spiders' didn't favour sound as a means for communication, instead resorting to bursts of infrared going to and fro -, but by and large, progress was impressive.

After all, digging the hole needed for the fundaments was a pretty simple task when one could just shuffle kilotons of earth off in one go, and variously weld, glass, harden, or melt things in a matter of no time - nor specialisation - at all. And the embassy being self-contained (Necessarily so, when one thought about it) made connections with the local infrastructures - hardwired communications, water, the likes - something almost tacked on as an afterthought.

Visits from Earth

"Nifty." Peter Wilson looked at the identity/ discount card he'd just received, something that was, without doubt, fairly nifty - he didn't think that the locals would accept payments in platin coins (A stupid name, that. What platin? Well, at least there were coins, probably a bit outdated, but the average consumer liked the nostalgia associated with them), and the amount of Mationbuds-compatible credits he'd available was... limited. "Very nifty indeed."

And then the 'Tours' (A bit inappropriate a word, considering the tendency of the small congregations of visitors to walk off more-or-less randomly, and dragging their guides with them, the only things stopping them being the occasional 'Restricted' signs) began, fortunately less invasive than they could've been - Angstians were rude, but they were rude in rather more sophisticated and (More importantly) vastly less obvious ways than randomly trampling all over a local culture. No - they were polite when starting a conversation with trespassers, they were curious (But unobtrusively so, not entering buildings as if this was some kind of RPG) and eager to learn, and they kept their disdain for certain, rater blatantly obvious aspects of Mationbuds - excessive militarisation for one, certain aspects of slavery (Machines and clones) for another - strictly to themselves.

Com Exchange

To:Habitat & Manufacturing Unit Wealth of Nations (Representative; Hypocrisy)
From: Imperial Diplomatic Corps - Preperations Unit; Burke Wilhem, General Diplomatic Corps
Subject: Continued ComExchange

Indeed, a cultural exchange would be most desirable. Our populace would not only get to know more about each other, but develop a sense of friendship towards each other. Perhaps even combined travel fairs can be hosted anually to promote travel between our mighty empires.

Yours Sincerely,
Genera Burke Wilhem,
Imperial Diplomatic Corps.



Orbit

The work crew watched in amazement as such a large scale project unfolded, of course assisting whenever necessasary, be a a lil nudge there or a little help moving some part, the tractor beams were there to help.

Of course, a little traffic disruption occured when several flight lanes were shut down, also due to the fact that many motorists slowed down to gawk and marvel at the massive new ambassadorial building being deployed.

It was a sight to behold indeed. Of course, security was tight, no one was allowed to go within 50 kilometres of the deployment works. Maten Traffic Corps were present to ensure that, assisted by Paramilitary Units...


Tourism

The tour guides were amused when their 'charges' wandered off in different directions, dragging them along. However they were quick to explain and point out the different ... places of interests which might be of interest to the tourists.

Of course, there was a special monetary exchange counter at the Central Banking District where Platin Coins could be exchanged for Credits. Every tourist was also given a complimentary credit chit containing 50,000 credits, complimetary of the Imperial Bank, which was an active participant in diplomatic activities which might be of... interest to them.

Microwaves

CCOM@EM 1E-1; SL 0; Beamspread x 10
From: Habitat & Manufacturing Unit Wealth of Nations (Representative; Hypocrisy)
To: Imperial Diplomatic Corps - Preperations Unit; Burke Wilhem, General Diplomatic Corps
Subject: Continued ComExchange

I agree. Of course, I'm certain that any details regarding such can and will be handled on a lower level - not only in the 'Temporary Exchange' of people, but also in the exchange of (Cultural) goods - music, movies, microcode, the likes.

Yours sincerely,

~ Wealth of Nations

PS: A little note - while the Hypocrisy does in a sense qualify as an 'Empire' (Having conquered things - well, one thing - in the past, and generally taking a semiaggressive stance with regards to certain aspects of its foreign policy), the term has decidedly negative connotations in its present culture, not the least due to its history (DA proper was conquered and occupied on a semiregular basis before its present iteration, which eventually made it into space), and as such, calling it an empire would cause mild discomfort in many Hypocrites. Consensus is to refer to it as a 'Sphere' - specifically, as a (Cultural) Sphere (of Influence). No offence taken, of course (You didn't know, after all), just saying.

Objects of Interest

With the fundament being laid down, 'Construction' continued, fairly rapidly - by architectural standards, that is. But taking a couple days for the work still beat taking a couple months by quite a bit. The means necessary to provide 'Normal' visitors with air and water, the walls (Obviously), some redundant shielding (Couldn't have enough redundancies), the first stage of the contraterrene ecosystem... In the meantime, the arachnoids stalked the building site, ensuring that everything was in order, with the sole humanoid presence apparently - though not actually - did nothing, probably being there for public relations or something.

Visits from Earth

The tourists did, of course, make good use of the monetary resources given to them ('Saving' had never been a particularly common trait among Angstians), and assorted paraphernalia changed ownership at a pretty rapid pace, be they postcards, little glass statues, (Cheap) paintings, notebooks, droids (Although this earned the buyer some stares from his entourage), books in general, etc..

Others moved elsewhere, visiting memorials or museums.

Shal'nal, one of the sapient, land-dwelling pseudo-cephalopods the Wealth of Nations had picked up a few months ago, was particularly interested in these. After all, hir (Hir species consisted of hermaphrodites) did come from a planet that'd just recently managed to successfully launch intercontinental rockets and a few satellites - meeting something this alien (And spacedy) was rather special, and hir desire to learn as much as possible about these strange, bipedal (As opposed to quadrotentacled) aliens extended over quite a few subjects.

So s/he slowly climbed up the steps to the next available museum, earning a few rather odd stares from the locals (S/he was used to it), happy to wear an 'Antigravity' (Wrong term, really, as it had nothing to do with (anti)gravity. But the fiction on his homeworld had always called them 'AG' devices, so he went with that, anyway) belt - at home, gravity was at 7.424 m/s^2, and it was a bit of a pain for him to walk under MNC's rather higher gravity -, and entering what... Well, s/he didn't really know what kind of museum it was, but it'd be interesting regardless.

Probably.

On a side note, could probably move your ambassador + staff to the WoN, now. Just have him enter one of the hangars - security details can be assumed to have been handled appropriately.

Com Exchange



To:Habitat & Manufacturing Unit Wealth of Nations (Representative; Hypocrisy)
From: Imperial Diplomatic Corps - Preperations Unit; Burke Wilhem, General Diplomatic Corps
Subject: Continued ComExchange

Indeed such things can be handled at lower levels. Once the main framework has been laid out, we shall send several low level diplomats and economic officials to conduct surveys to see how Mationbuds goods can be integrated into your ... sphere. (I hope I put it correctly) and vice versa.

Yours Sincerely
General Burke Wilhem,
Imperial Diplomatic Corps

Construction

As the embassy was ... deployed, flocks of holo channel reporters dashed forward to catch a glimpse and be the first to broadcast the rise of a unique embassy to arrive in the Empire.

They were only repulsed by the strong paramilitary presence which only granted acess to the major and government checked news channels...

Tourism

Of course, shopekeepers and storeowners were more than happy with the bristling trade brought about by the tourists and each desired that it may continue. Trade was good, merchandise flew off the shelves as fast as they were restocked.

Of course, the goods were of high quality and had long warranty covering them, to ensure customer satisfaction.

Of course, those who entered musuems or places of interest were met by the appropriate guides or historians which provided assistance when necessasary or provided information about exhibits which aroused the visitor's curiosity...

Microwaves

CCOM@EM 1E-1; SL 0; Beamspread x 10
From: Habitat & Manufacturing Unit Wealth of Nations (Representative; Hypocrisy)
To: Imperial Diplomatic Corps - Preparations Unit; Burke Wilhem, General Diplomatic Corps
Subject: Continued ComExchange

Quite - I'm sure it'll work out without problems.

In the meantime, 'Construction' seems to continue as intended, with no significant delays - looks like we'll be done just in time. Which makes me think that it's just about the appropriate time for Dr. James Anderson and his staff (And family, I seem to recall?) to come aboard. We're ready, as far as, oh... Just about everything is concerned.

Yours sincerely,

~ Wealth of Nations

Objects of Interest

The construction continued quite rapidly, with flocks of constructor drones flying around, directed by the arachnids, laying down infrastructure for assorted essentials, communications access, the likes.

And the walls were growing now, revealing what was about to become a nice Rococo-esque 'Castle' of sorts, with a largish surrounding garden - even birds had been transported, as well as microscopic fauna and flora and everything else commonly considered necessary for a micro-ecosystem.

And everything was covered by then micrometre-thin filaments of protective fields, unremarkable but necessary.

Tourism

Shal'nal peered curiously at the exhibits in the entrance hall of the museum - s/he figured it was history-related, or maybe warfare... But then, these two were probably close o indistinguishable in the society it was visiting.

It turned around for a bit, tentacles swiveling in the air, lookign for someone to help hir a little with the basics - it was reasonably fluent in the local language, so that helped something. "Ah, hey... Hello? Ah, yes. You. Mind giving me a quick overview over what's... In here, and what their significance is?"

Grand gesture involving more swiveling tentacles. S/he meant the entire museum.

Com Exchange

From: Imperial Diplomatic Corps - Preparations Unit; Burke Wilhem, General Diplomatic Corps
To: Habitat & Manufacturing Unit Wealth of Nations (Representative; Hypocrisy)
Subject: Continued ComExchange

Indeed, it is reassuring to know that all is underway. Of course the time is right, the ambassador is currently... preparing for his diplomatic roles. But he is more or less done and will be comming aboard in approximately an hours time.

Yours Sincerely,
General Burke Wilhem,
Imperial Diplomatic Corps


Orbit

The MIN Lancashire, a 50m long Imperial Diplomatic Shuttlecraft departed from the planet's surface and headed towards the Wealth of Nations after clearing the planetary shield and customs.

It quickly moved to an intercept vector such as to facilitate docking...

Tourism

The Nationale Musuem was a grand and maginificent building. Housed in a well preserved 19th Century Castle once presided by the Kings of Mationbuds, it featured large displays and a wealth of information about the Empire's past, dating from prehistoric ages till present. It gave one a full understanding of all the ups and downs in Imperial history as well as the wars fought, if one even bothered to go through all the... trouble.

The poor guide nearly blanched when the foreign tourist gestured the entire museum. It was going to be a long day for him indeed...

Microaves

CCOM@EM 1E-1; SL 0; Beamspread x 10
From: Habitat & Manufacturing Unit Wealth of Nations (Representative; Hypocrisy)
To: Imperial Diplomatic Corps - Preparations Unit; Burke Wilhem, General Diplomatic Corps
Subject: Continued ComExchange

Ah, perfect. I'll wait for him in the receptions area, then.

Other than that, well... Have a nice day, I'd say. Should be done here in a little while.

Yours sincerely,

~ Wealth of Nations

Orbit

Diplomacy is one thing, politeness is another, but being a million-strong habitat, the Wealth of Nations was security-conscious enough to still subject the MIN Lancashire to the usual scans - looking for reversed charges, high-density objects, fucked up Van der Waal's forces, the likes -, although this was, of course, hardly unusual - Hypocrisy ships were generally subjected to the same. After all, living in a universe where one man could effordlessly carry kiloton-scale explosives in a purse or (Worse) be a bipedal EW platform taking over brains or (For example) gain temporary control over a fraction of the ship's self defence measures justified a certain degree of paranoia.

Nonetheless, it all checked out, and the Wealth of Nations quickly provided the necessary vectors while opening one of its hangars (Protected from open space by a flimsy field that could easily be penetrated by a massive object, but kept the atmosphere in - some ionisation occured as it could also be penetrated by high-energy protons or ultraviolet radiation, but...) to the approaching shuttle, while at the same time dispatching itself and a handful of its more respected inhabitants to the hangar, as there were:

Marius Schleger, Human
Ule Mi'Ni, Pseudo-Octopodiform
Kraus Neljai (Drone)
Wealth of Nations (Avatar)

Vaguley familiar as the Wealth of Nations was with Mationbuds' fondness of military protocol and Big Shiny Guns (tm), it'd also arranged for the same, in the form of five hundred MilSpec drones (Fully armed) floating in two fifty-by-five rows - none of them were containing a sapient mind, but they still looked very shiny, keeping their albedo (VR) at 90% to get near-perfect white, multipurpose fields up and featuring an equally near-perfect black, guns, EW and missile canisters mounted and 'Polished' to the extreme.

Fortunately, standing (Well, floating) at attention wasn't a problem with non-sapients.

The ship's avatar - an androgynous form that made it nothing less than impossible to determine whether it was male or female - was dressed appropriately, too. Of course, the only uniforms the Hypocrisy knew were school uniforms (And nobody knew how they had slipped into the society), so its blackish, pseudomilitary suit/ uniform was just that - pseudomilitary -, but it was better than a hawaii shirt.

Kraus Neljai, who was floating next to it, looked pretty much like the MilDrones floating at attention, except less tightassed - it was a civilian, after all, and thus lacking the guns and canisters the milspec ones were adorned with (Or the absurdowatt reactors of the same) - and a fair bit smaller. It also didn't bother with raising its fields, choosing a somewhat less shiny appearance (That it'd appeared at all was a small wonder in the first place).

Ule Mi'Ni came from the same planet Shal'Nal came from, and as the only one of the four who actually was a soldier, was wearing hir usual uniform (Plus 'AG' belt, as the ship had refused to permanently change gravity around hir) - on her homeworld, the insignia on it would've identified hir as a Colonel of the Pangean Union's Air Force.

The last one of the four, Marius Schleger, was dressed in pretty much the same 'Uniform' the Wealth of Nations was wearing, and permanently reminded of his schooldays, for exactly the same reason. He was a little out of place, maybe...

The shuttle enter the hangar any minute now.

Tourism

Shal'nal peered curiously at an ancient laser carbine being displayed, not far off the almost prehistorical muskets and assault rifles (Something that had been introduced only one, two decades ago on hir homeworld, and - courtesy of having tentacles rather than fingers - looked mightily different, anyway). Hir didn't seem overly interested in going through the entire museum in chronological order, instead preferring to poke hir head in here and there, occasionally wandering off in an entirely different direction, briefly considering Mationbuds' industrial revolution before going back to pre-gunpowder times - just to jump forward again, and asking a myriad of questions about its first ventures into space.

Then s/he looked at the life-sized painting of... Well, s/he'd no idea who this person was, so s/he asked hir guide about it. "What's that person's significance in Mationbuds' history? Looks imposing..."

Just lacks tentacles.