NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: I've posted and RPed before as a modern nation, but the concept didn't sit well with me due to the lack of a concrete history and cultural identity. This is an effort to remedy my previous errors. Due to the neccesity of a vacuum to avoid holes of interaction, Golugan will be a FT nation on a singular world.

IC:
It was a planet of little note, the second orbiting body among four surrounding a relatively young sun. It was a wordly of slightly higher gravity than earth, wracked by constant storms and, save for a few islands that never got larger than a few dozen square miles and the arctic poles, the planet was entirely aquatic. It had first come to the attention of the galactic realms when signals suggesting spacefarring vessels were picked up, but investigation never found results on any of the planets, so it was dismissed.

Now, signals are being picked up again, but this times signs of electronic communication on open channels.

OOC: The Golugani are an aquatic race. The new signals being picked up are beacon towers so as to augment the range of the race's empathic psionics for faster communication across the planet. Any race not able to tap into the empathy will be viewed as animals, while those with psionic ability will get to see the nice side of the Golugan race.

OOC: Tag for post later...

OOC: Bump, since active FT nations seem to be on now.

Calaverians are a evolved human version of your race, death and beatings for the animals of the universe(including yours.

"Kaluga Doga, we've picked up some interference on the surface beacons. I managed to isolate it and... it sounds like communication." The Golugan technician didn't bother looking at his superior, his Kaluga, as the empathy inate to the Golugani explained his confusion and irritation.

Doga blinked, taking in the information, contemplating, then bringing himself alongside his Chuluga subordinate to observe the data presented. "I see why you're confused. That's aerosphere interference. It would seem we have found grounds to support the theories of the Kanori School regarding extraterrestrial life, with a twist."

The Chuluga felt Doga's surprise at the implications as he listened to the isolated signal again. "Air breathing life? Interesting. One of my clutch mates muses on biological hypotheticals, I'll run this by her during mealtime."

Doga nodded, pushing off the wall to swim down a corridor to an amplifier relay, which increased the complexity and range along which Golugani empathy could transmit. "I'll get the data to the Imperial Council and the Voidswimmer Project Management."

They were picking up stray signals from the lost Observer " Alexander". She was nearing the planets area of space, no doubt with intentions of Observering the world, the ships main course of action would be to cloak once cloak and watch there civilization and wildlife with there sensors and such. The second stage would be taking some of them for dissection to see what made them tick.

'We're going in hot, so mark my six Dionysus Team!' crackled a voice over the radio. Dionysus Team's number one, Captain Antoine Levelle, was leading his four ship formation on a simulated combat jump. Their engines were spooled up and winding away, rapidly heating the cockpits of the space superiority fighters.

'Mark!' shouted Levelle, ordering his flight to jump. However, the team found itself somewhere completely different from what they expected.

'Sir, what's going on here?' asked Lt. Garth Pert, Dionysus Team's number 3. Levelle checked his radar and found nothing. 'We must have gone to the wrong coordinates, damn it!' said Levelle under his breathe, inwardly kicking himself for his own failure.

'This is two to four, check your 3 o'clock, low. You see that? Looks like a celestial body to me.' chirped Dionysus 2, Pat Lubbock. 'Well, from what I could figure...' said Levelle while bringing up a list of star charts on his HUD. 'The only system in our jump range is Cannakalle. It's been named but unexplored.' continued Levelle.

'This is Dionysus 4, or should that be Explorer 4?' said Andey Kawf, number four pilot of the team.

'More like Columbus Team.' laughed Levelle. The team chuckled lightly for a moment before they began to receive very clear signals over their headsets. To them it sounded like a whole lot of garbage, but after awhile of listening Levelle and the others found it suspiciously coherent.

'Could this be...' muttered Kawf.

'Minotaur, this is Dionysus Team, we've gone off course.' said Levelle over his long range communications system.

'This is Minotaur Command, we are aware of that. We are sending you the correct coordinates this time.' rebounded the crew of the AuBSD Minotaur.

'Minotaur, you probably know this already...but we're at Cannakalle. We're receiving some strange radio signals, we can't understand them, but they seem coherent. To me it sounds like intelligent language. You might want to send a task force out to check it out.' explained Captain Levelle.

'Understood Dionysus Team, continue on your combat mission and report to Minotaur actual as soon as you're back on the flight deck. Minotaur out.'

'Very well, Minotaur. Dionysus Team, mark my six!' and with that, Dionysus jumped again.

----

Hours later, three Au-170 frigates jumped in-system and began rigorous scans. With their powerful scanner packages they quickly found the source of the transmissions and were in stacked orbit over Golugan. As per Hermes first contact protocols, a mathematically coherent signal was sent back to the source detailing who they were and why they were there.

'Peace.'

The source of the signal was soon isolated, but nothing could be detected by Golugani sensors. One of the old vessels from the time when space travel was investigated as a possibility was quickly retrofitted with the latest advances in life support and communication, as well as minimal kickback ballistics on the off chance a sentient would be hostile toward other sentients. The vessel, renamed after the mythic ancestor Nirako, as launched to investigate the area of the Void where the anomoly was detected, continually transmitting the following sequence to communicate base six mathematics:

Boop.
Boop. Boop.
Boop. Boop. Boop.
Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop.
Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop.
Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop.

The singular crewman of the vessel blinked in surprise. Three ships, and they had sent a signal. Aerospheric interference again, but the same language. He logged the data in the database, and tried to reach out to the ship along the psionic wavelengths through empathy to communicate the concept of a language barrier while continuing the cycled transmission.

'Sir, we're detecting some kind of launch from the surface.' said the sensor officer of the lead frigate, the Au-1477. Captain Kirr steepled his fingers and said 'That answers that.'

Contact had been made with a foreign species in a suprisingly short span of time and all because a tactical planner in Minotaur's fighter wing smudged some numbers. A series of bleeps and bloops resounded out of the headsets of the communications section of the bridge. First contact had been made and the battlespace was seemingly secure.

'Isn't one of the Galileos in the area? I'm sure they wouldn't mind dropping by and taking over this...' said Kirr suggestively to his comms officer.

More words, more signals, all with the same interference... But no empathy! The crewman felt lost without the empathic bond to the rest of his people guiding him toward the proper course of action, helping him restrain his predatory urges. He opened communication the the planetary relay station, enjoying the optimistic anticipation of the crew before he felt the impact of his doubt and dread on their minds. "They are they, they communicate... But there is no empathy!"

Kaluga Doga tapped the comm link to test the stability before speaking. "Calm yourself. These creatures are clearly air breathers. For all we know, their empathy experiences the same disruption as their verbal communication. We'll have to resort to verbal communication for now."

The crewman nods, sending a thought of finality, cutting communications when he received the response, then switched signal patterns to open frequency. "Hello? I need you to transmit more words before our translation prgrams can process your language."

OOC: Okey dokey, here I go...
IC:
"Set coordinates for this location, we seem to be picking up communication signals." Darth Argos held out a piece of paper with coordinates on it.

"But sir, that is very very far away."

"Remember what happened to the last person who disobeyed?" The soldier remembered the man had his memory cleared.

"Okay, prepare for hyperspeed." The man was quaking with fear.

The ships disappeared into streaks of light and left reality, jumping into another dimension, they reappeared the same instant they left. They were across the galaxy, near the home planet of Golugan, but they had no idea who the Golugans were.

"I feel a disturbance in the force, almost like mental communication. I feel the need to check it out, search that planet for any civilization."

'Just more gobblety guck, Captain.' sighed Yarvin Gaul, comms officer of the Au-1477. 'There's nothing we can do until Galileo arrives. Keep them busy, tell them a story or something.' said Captain Kirr.

Gaul was confused by what the Captain had said. 'Pardon, sir?' asked Gaul. 'Say something, if someone just sat down on your couch and didn't say a word all night you'd find it a little strange, don't you think?' answered Kirr. Gaul couldn't argue with the logic of it.

'Good evening Cannakalle, how are you this evening? This is Specialist Yarvin Gaul and it's nice to meet y'all. Furthermore, since you don't understand a damn thing I'm saying, I may as well tell you that I lost a bet last week and I've had to wear a thong to my duty station for the next twelve days. In addition to that...' Yarvin spoke, mostly bullshitting and joking, with the Golugani...having no clue at all that they were trying to decipher the Aumanii language and that eventually, they might know what he was saying.

Meanwhile, the science vessel Galileo was plodding around in a nearby star system, catapulting Hermium Wavefront mines into the system's star. When their shields failed due to proximity to the star, the detonation charges kicked in and pushed the Hermium crystals inside far beyond critical mass. The resulting explosion ripped a hole in the very fabric of the universe with a blinding flash that made even the very close star look like a twenty watt bulb, and the immediate closure of the hole created a massive shockwave in the universe itself.

"Brace for shockwave in three, two, one..."

The science vessel rocked and jarred as the shockwave from the bomb passed through the ship. This was the fourth mine to detonate near the star in a carefully planned sequence. Several more mines detonated and several more shockwaves passed through the ships. Readings from the testing were showing that the shockwaves were interacting and merging to create larger, more violent waves that were having a destabilizing effect on the star.

Another series of mines went off, and the star began to eject mass at an alarming rate. From the opposite side of the star, an extraordinarily large solar prominence shot from the surface at far beyond escape velocity. The star appeared to have lost almost 2.8x10^25 km^3 of mass, almost 2% of its total. The huge prominence kept going, absorbing a small rocky planet in the process. After several hours, the oversized prominence had traveled several astral units and had eaten two planets and countless asteroids before cooling and dissipating. The theory was sound, and the test was a success.

After the data collection probes had been collected and analyzed, Galileo prepared to depart the system.

"Mission accomplished, men. The system works." congratulated the ship's commander, Rear Admiral John Thompson.

"Sir, we've received a request from the Aumanii frigate Au-1477. They'd like us to join them in a nearby system to help out with some weird radio signals." reported the comms officer.

"...Very well. Set a course for their coordinates." said Thompson in an unsusally uncombative moment. "I'll just have to make sure that Captain Kirr knows that he owes me some Aumanii whisky after this." stated the Rear Admiral flatly as he closed the Aumanii fleet roster on his chair's data pad.


The Galileo arrived a short time later, but just in time to catch the Specialist's broadcast. Thompson quickly sent a message to the Au-1477.

"Maybe we've arrived at a bad time, but I'm not sure that I'm comfortable with helping out what seems to be a boat full of queers. I hope that there's a good reason that your crew is wearing thongs, Kirr."

Not long into the story, Gaul's voice spoke up with a mechanical undertone and a strange, echoing effect. "I hope you don't mind me using your voice for the translator program, but we have more of yours than anything, and it's much more convenient. Inform your superiors that two way communication is now possible. In the meantime, I'll be going over the archives of your translated story, or at least as much as I can comprehend. The translation program had trouble with the concept of 'thong,' it would seem."

While the crewman read, he reached out mentally again, trying to detect empathic activity he could communicate with. From what he read from the story, these beings weren't fully sentient, but perhaps- No, the Calaverians sounded like mindless, sadistic predators. Was empathic sentience a gift of Golugan alone?

Kirr was completely unaware of what Gaul was saying on the radio, being busy studying an preliminary intelligence report on the seemingly primitive spacecraft that was sent to greet them. Gaul looked sheepish when Kirr glanced over at him. 'What?' was all he could muster before picking up a headset and responding. 'Uh...forget what you heard, we were keeping the alien cryptologists busy while we were waiting for you guys to show up. Apparently Gaul has some things he's only comfortable talking about with spacemen.' laughed Kirr.

'We'll send you everything we've learned about these things, which isn't much. We'll withdraw and form a defensive picket while you get to work. Captain Kirr, out.'

'Captain, I think the aliens are talking to us.' said Gaul before responding to the Golugani.

'This is the Aumanii Frigate Au-1477 lead element of Switchback Squadron, which is the formation of vessels you are no doubt aware of. The incoming vessel is the Explorer ship Galileo from the Hermes Alliance. It's a pleasure to meet you all, welcome to space.' said Gaul, hoping they wouldn't bother translating what he had said.

"Ha. Ha. Ha. Oh, wait, it seems the translator is having trouble with laughter, since it hasn't heard your species equivolent. This actually isn't our first time in space, although it is the first time we've found anything other than gas giants and our sun. As for being welcome... The initial signal we received was from a group called the Calaverians. Are you familiar with their school?" The crewman quickly adjusted to transmit a data packet to the surface so that they could process the information, and so the Imperial Council could reach a decision regarding how to act.

On a two year exploration tour, the Ganoxian destroyer Chrono was on a mission to find new planets for colonization. Captain Rey Tolson, sat in his command chair bored as hell. Its been six months since they saw a planet in the area and it wasn't too spectacular to Tolson's standards. His executive officer, Commander Yuri Frinks, came up to the holobar.

"Sir hear is the daily report,"

"Fine, give it here," he read the datapad and sighed, "nothing again."

"Sorry sir,"

"Yeah I know, continue on." he held his hand against his brow."

"Captain!"

"What?! What is it? Did you find something!?" he said erractically almost jumping out of his chair.

"Um, no sir. Just wondered what you want for your dinner?" Chef Solanis asked.

"Oh..." he sighed heavily, "I suppose a steak dinner."

"That bad sir?"

"Yeah, its that bad, I'll take it in my room."

Tolson got up out of his seat and left the tactical display area, "Commander you have the bridge."

"Yes sir," he immediately took the seat.

An hour later a crewman signaled Frinks, excited as ever about what he had found. "Calm down Ramdas,"

Frinks looked at the results of the scan and immediately raised a brow. "Lets not alert the Captain about this, navigator!"

"Yes sir,"

"Set course for the origin of these subspace signals and initiate a microjump"

The Chrono came about and disappeared into hyperspace.

Thompson was rather... unpleased with the way that Kirr had simply dumped this first contact into his lap. He loathed this kind of work. Either way, he got to work looking at the data that had been transferred and began to think about a response to the aliens.

"Erm, this is Rear Admiral John Thompson of the Bryn Shanderan science vessel Galileo. My allies have tasked me with this business so hello, I suppose... I haven't heard of Calaverians, but don't see what education has to do with them anyway."

"Ah... it seems your language has different meanings for different words based on context, which I assume somehow compensates for a lack of psionic empathy in your race. Apparently, our term for group unit translates to school in your language. I take it that is, in addition to the term for an educational facility, your language's term for a group of lifeforms that reside in the aquasphere rather than the aerosphere?"

Meanwhile, a construction project had been initiated on 'Cannakalle's' largest dormant island, with automatons of a chitinous appearance under the supervision of piloted mechanoids of a similiar asthetic. The goal of the construction, apparently, being a hangar bay and basic structures to accomodate the presence of air breathers, or at least the basic framework.

"That would be a safe assumption, I suppose. My sensors are noticing alot of activity down there. Are you building a brewery in honor of my arrival, or something? If that's the case, I'd like to come down and take a tour of the facility in person."

The Observer remained cloaked, and shut down all communications, she was already planning her actions to scrutinize this new race like a germ under a microscope. The hundreds of fighters in her hangar were already being checked as with the ground military she was cabable of launching a ground and space war by herself. But she had to live up to her name for the moment, an Observer.

"Ah? Oh, I'm afraid can't communicate with you and the surface simultaneously. One moment." The crewman adjusted his communication systems to contact the planet, and after a few seconds of enjoying the empathic bond and exchanging data packets. "Ah, it seems that they're using the Alpha Dormant Land Mass to construct a sort of Embassy Metropolis. They would have been done by now, but they need a sense of scale... Would you be willing to transmit your mass, dimensional, and chronological systems of measurement as well the the average size details of your species so that they can complete construction?"

I suppose that might be helpful, yes." replied Thompson. He pondered sending the Golugans the data on a Zaku so that they would build the structure ten times larger than required, but it was too early in the morning for jackassery of that level. No, he would give them the correct data. This time, at least.

Galileo transmitted the data to the Golugan ship, making sure to send keys to the measurement system that would allow the aliens to quickly convert to their local system of measurement.

"Hmm... Can't swim in the aerosphere, no wonder your ships look the way they do. One moment... Packet away. The city should be completed within the hour. So, I have to ask... Does anyone in your species have a capacity for... I believe the best term is psionic empathy?"

On the surface, there was a fair ammount of reconstruction going on as level walking surfaces needed to be built, with floorplans on hold until they knew human capacity for empathy.

OOC: Bump, bump, and away!

"No, we don't swim. Swimming only works in liquids." said Thompson over the radio. "There are some with psionic abilities, but they're not terribly common. My crew is large enough that someone on board might have them."

"Ah, your race is emmerging as self-aware beings! Yes, yes, this explains a lot. Still, mainly without psionic capacity? I'll inform those on the surface." The crewman moved to adjust his transmission pattern when a new voice crackled over the channels, purely mechanical with the same echoing effect.

"That will not be neccesary, Wanderer. The void traffic control center of the Embassy Island, while incomplete, is functional in regard to communications. Return to your school, Wanderer, and let our concerted thought guide the words spoken for the Golugani. Galileo, we are transmitting coordinates where your vessel may touch down on the surface where we may speak in person... and hopefully meet some of your psionics."

"Right then. We'll begin preparations for planet fall." replied Thompson.

Meanwhile, Galileo began to alter her orbit, slowing her velocity with her powerful engines. As she slowed, her altitude began to drop. As she came closer to the planet, she encountered more and more atoms of various gasses. As the atmosphere thickened to a noticeable level, it began to heat Galileo's hull through the friction of encountering matter at speeds of more than mach 25. The thicker the atmosphere got, the more heat was created. Fortunately, Galileo's ceramic-titanium composite armor was designed to shrug off atomic weapons, lasers, charged particles, and whatever else the greatest scientific minds in the galaxy could throw at it, so the ship was more or less unaffected by the heat even after the ionized atmosphere cut off radio transmissions.

It didn't take long for the ship to slow to speeds nearing the speed of sound as she descended through the planet's atmosphere. The cool air of the stratosphere cooled the hull back down to normal temperatures well before the ship neared her destination. Meter by meter, the ship came closer and closer to the sea before finally splashing down in all her 750m glory.

Still sailing under her own power even while two thirds submerged in the sea, Galileo maneuvered to the facility and looked for a place to anchor or dock.

A holographic railway flickered into being along the Galileo's flight path, directing it toward an open air landing center, although flickering occasionally. A voice came over the radio, deep and smooth rather than mechanical. "Greetings, I am Dolugan Doga, overseer of development of Embassy City. Please follow the guiding lights to the designated landing area as best you can. We apologize for any technical difficulties, as we weren't expecting to have to adjust for the aerosphere in such a short time. Our readings suggest you don't use gravitic control drive for propulsion, which would explain your rather reckless manner of entry. In any case, gravitic control will take care of landing procedures once you reach the end of the guiding lights."

The island itself was covered in various levels of open air structures warded by an energy field to keep out the everpresent rainfall of the planet. Insectile robots attended to constructions tasks under the supervision of Golugani in mechanoids resembling elephantine lobsters. The landing area itself seemed unshielded against the rain initially, but the effects of the noncombat energy shield were soon visible.

Knowing that Galileo was not designed to land on the surface, Thompson had the ship land in the water instead. She wasn't the most elegent vesel to have ever graced the seas, but she did the job. Her shuttles, however, were more than capable of landing on the planet's surface. Since the aliens had apparently not graced their facilities with a dock large enough for Galileo, Thompson simply took a shuttle to the landing center.

Kalugan Doga was naturally rather peeved with the humans, choosing to act heedless of the advised course of action rather than communicate. He probably would have held a grudge, if later reports didn't indicate that the micromachine adapters in the landing area weren't functional to the degree that the Galileo did. Still, it set a baseline for the viewpoint of the Nukadoga school regarding nonpsionic sentients.

In any case, the micromachines were able to accomodate the shuttle easily enough, and near where those on board would be assumed to exit the micromachines opened up to a well that soon revealed itself to be an elevator as a Golugan in a breather system to keep the top third of her body, the section out of the water, moistened while speaking. The helm had also been provided with a real time translator unit, and she awaited the emergence of the humans. Kalugan Naro of the Kinaro School had been carefully selected to make a good first impression, as the Kinaro were anticipated to be the most patient with non-psionics.

OOC: Bippety boppity bump!

OOC: Once more, with bump!

Thompson and a small team of nerds and jocks exited the shuttle just as expected. It would seem that the markings on the outside of the shuttle indicating the airlock were universal. The Shanderans were each wearing a lightweight space suit.

"So, where can I get a drink around here?" questioned Thompson to nobody in particular.

Kolugan Naro Kinaro waved for the attention of Thompson and his entourage, also sending out an empathic pulse calling for attention in the hopes that there were psionics among them. One of the robots, like a metallic millipede with a front that spread outward into a quartet of fine insectile claws with a bulbous visual receptor, scuttled over with a pair of trays, each holding several sets of bowl-like glasses.

"Welcome, humans. The tray nearer your Galileo, I believe the left, holds glasses of saltwater. The other holds icewater brought in from the polar currents. We don't know anything about human dietary needs, but I assumed that water, in some form, is a universal component of life, and that airbreathers wouldn't be able to sustain themselves on the microlife of the aerosphere with such low density."

The Chrono slowed backdown into realspace and came upon the origin of the signals. Frinks making sure the position was correct ordered communications to send a greeting to the foreign parties. Tolson walked out of the elevator and looked pissed.

"Frinks why didn't you alert me that you were going somewhere."

"Well sir, I didn't want to alarm you about trivial matters, since you looked rather depressed lately. I didn't want you to get disappointed again about the communications."

Tolson remembered the last time they searched out signals, which turned out to be a advertisement for some sort of anal cream. He shuddered at the memory, "Next time, alert me when you move MY ship, Commander."

"Yes sir, course of action sir,"

"Send out a gr--"

"Already done so sir,"

"Oh! Well carry on commander,"

"Yes sir," he retired from the tactical area and made way for Tolson.

"Continue on present course," Tolson ordered.

The Chrono is quick to receive a reply from none other than Kolugan Doga, who is slowly starting to wonder if his job should have a rotation so that he doesn't go feral. "Greetings, humans. We're already speaking with some representatives of your race one the Embassy Island. What brings you here?"

OOC: I wonder if anyone has noticed that I only bump when the other people in the thread are online.

OOC: I wonder if anyone has noticed that I only bump when the other people in the thread are online.

The thought hadn't occurred to me.

OOC: ...Bump.

Were there any psionics in the Shanderan party, they didn't notice the call. They were a bit busy being startled and horrified by the metallic abomination, and then simply disturbed when its true purpose was revealed. Shanderans didn't trust robots. Not after the AI revolt of 2247, at least. Thompson, mean while, was not amused by the literalness of the aliens.

"...I don't know about the others, but the liquid I need to survive is alcohol. Especially since my job has me doing shit like this over and over again..." explained Thompson.

The mechanoid quietly scurried over to the group of humans and offered the plates of water up for them to take a drink. "I'll assume that statement should be taken as affirmation of one of my associate's hypothesis that your species makes up for a lack of empathic communication with wordplay, nonliteral statements, and verbal subtext. In any case, we should probably get down to business.

"When our race first explored the stars, we scoured our entire system for signs of life, sentient or otherwise. We found none. This, combined with the fact that the other three planets in the system are either airless rocks or gas giants, leads us to conclude an airbreathing terrestrial race such as humanity is from another system, and possesses the technology to traverl between solar systems conveniently. We desire this technology."

". . ."

Thompson simply looked at the fish in silence as it went on about psionics once again. He became visibly more interested when the conversation moved on to more important things that didn't involve new age nonsense.

"You would be correct. We hail from a planet known as Jannath orbiting a star many hundreds of light years from here. For the past four hundred years the stars have been our frontier, and in those four hundred years we've refined the art of traveling between them to the point at which any citizen can live on a planet in one system, spend the afternoon in a park thousands of light years away, and be home in time for dinner." Thompson noted. "The most valuable part of our system of faster than light travel is the Project Hermes hyperspace gate network. It allows us to link our star systems with each other and allow nigh instantanious travel between them."

Kalugan Naro pushed off the edge of her pool with her midsection to lean against the opposite edge, nearer Thompson, as her interest piqued. "As much as this gate network intrigues us, we're more interested in the technology that the Galileo used to reach our planet. Technology we could equip to our ships to colonize new worlds, or secure ourselves against interstellar threats through interdiction systems. You get the idea, I assume."

"Our gates and our ship drives use the same technology. Unfortunately, the technology is available only to the members of our alliance. We can petition the Hermes Transportation and Construction Corporation to build a gate here, but we're unable to allow our technology to fall into the hands of those not in the Hermes Alliance."

Kalugan Naro nodded in thought, drifting laps around the edge of the pool, making it clear she was uncomfortable in the aerosphere even with enviromental protection. "I see... I'm not allowed to submit our race to joining any interracial alliance without an objective analysis of the political climate of the known universe... Is there any form of trans-system transport technology you are allowed to share with other races? Reverse engineered schematics of rival powers, perhaps?"

Thompson sighed. He really needed a drink, and every moment that the meeting lasted meant another mental image of the Au-1477 burning in space or crashing into the planet drifted through his head.

"I'm afraid not." admitted Thompson. The only FTL technology that his country had ever had was developed by their allies in The Island States. "We've only got the one branch of technology. It did lead to some nifty bombs though. I used them earlier today to shoot a planet with a star."

There was a dangerously long and awkward pause before the Golugan legate spoke again. "One more question on the previous subject matter, then one that you brought up. First, is there any way you can convince a race outside your alliance to come to us willing to share their technology? The second, arguably more important... Why would you launch a sun at a planet?"

The Observer decloaked and her fighters began to pour out of her ports, her massive size showed her firepower, her single weapon, a plasma-ping cannon, cabable of tearing through a capital ship with ease turning it to solar dust. The captain stood on the bridge, his neural link attached, speaking to the crew " This speacis should first be approached with caution, any resistance will be the result of primitization."

Elsewhere on the planet...

Kolugan Doga wasn't the only person made busy by the arrival of humans in the system. Kolugan Digan Andigan had been monitering the systemwide scans for new ships since the Golugan race had apparently gotten a lot of alien attention. When the Observer decloaked, he immediately contacted Doga. "We have a big contact, and it's letting out little contacts like a matron in spawning season."

"They aren't talking about attacking, but they're expecting resistance. Begin preperation stages for charging the ADS, I'll determine their intent." Kolugan Doga then switched transmission to contact the Observer. "We've detected a large number of vessels departing from your primary craft. Please explain your intentions behind your course of action."

The ships in orbit may notice an increased lightning activity in the omnipresent stormclouds of the Golugani homeworld. The crew of the Galileo, both on staff and 'ashore' would see metallic towers in the distance gathering energy from the lightning, highlighting their presence where distance had until then hidden them.

The Observer decloaked and the captain appeared, he was putting on gloves elegantly like royalty " Do not speak unless you are spoken to animal, those craft are probe fighters, manned heavy-hitting fighters. We ask you to stop your encroachment into space, or we will bring you back to your planet."

"Our explorations into space came and went hundreds of your years ago. We have the means to remove you from existence in less than one of your minutes. Recall your vessels or become slag." Koluga Doga switched to contacting Chuluga Digan, eager to vent his frustration with letting animals on the planet of his race. "They're hostile. We'll give them a chance to respond, then make an example of them when they think we're boasting idly."

Koluga Digan nodded, giving orders to finish preperations for the Asteroid Destruction System. The clouds swirled in the sky beneath the Observer on the planet, forming the eye of a storm. Pulses of energy ripple across the planet, centering on the eye of the storm.

OCC: sorry busy with other rp's gotta get out here.


The Observer recalled her fighters and prepared to jump out of the system, back to Celestis, perhaps one day she would return and finish was she had begun with this backwater planet.

"I'm afraid not, and I don't see how it would be within our interest to do that. I neither have the power to do that or the want. I'm an officer in my nation's military, not a technology broker."

"As to why I shot a few planets with a star this morning, I did it for a number of reasons. The most important of which is science, of course. The ability to use a star offensively will allow us to better fight our enemies. More to the point, it was fucking awesome."

Koluga Digan smiled, relaying the command to power down the ADS before contacting Kolugan Doga. "They're leaving."

The Galileo crew would notice the weather return to relative normality. However, they were probably busy noticing the congregation of a lot of chitinous robots congregating on the bay. "The Calaverians we mentioned, the ones who we just dissuaded against attacking, were human. Why would members of your race seek to do us harm?"

OOC: Leaving I can forgive. The backwater pun I'll collect restitution for later.

"They're assholes and want to see the business end of a star engulf their planets." stated Thompson flatly. The Shanderan and Aumanii forces in the system would have had no problem dealing with the threat, but the fishes' defenses were impressive as well. "Some of us, on the other hand, are more apt to use diplomacy before using violence."

If Koluga Nora Kinora's breathing mask allowed the visibility of her mouth, they would have seen her jaw dropping. "You... Your race isn't politically unified?"

"We're not human, but no. The people of the planet Jannath are known as the Jannarii. Ethnically, my people are Shanderans. There are many ethnicities and nations from Jannath, and there are several empires in space made up of Jannarii. The Aumanii above and the New Havenites who designed our drives and gates are but two others."

Thompson glanced up at the sky.

"Humans are even less unified politically, and are constantly fighting amongst themselves and everyone else they encounter. They're the cancer that is killing the galaxy."

Nora's breathing machine began making noises suggesting hyperventilation. "And none of these races show indications of empathy?!"

"Not as far as I'm aware, no. I suppose that having the ability to form tools and communicate verbally removes most of the need for it."

Nora nodded, closing her eyes a moment as she receives a lot of new information. She then opens her eyes, her smile concealed by her breathing unit. "The vast neural network can be highly beneficial. Domestic disputes are easily settled, and a half-dozen methods of intersystem travel can be developed to the testing stages an hour after observing two different types within planetary range.

"You've given the Golugan race much to think about. We do not believe we can benefit from trade in the immediate future, but in the long term it is possible. So, one last question: Are there any races or political factions that your people believe to be a threat to the psionic and empathic development of other races?"

OOC: Bump-bump. Bump-bump. Bumpbumpbumpbump...[/Jaws]

'Fleet General.' urged Commander Subotai, holding an important looking communique out to the commanding officer of the Aumanii Battlespace Dominator, Minotaur. Hardok Tyz'juan stood upon the battle deck of the Minotaur watching the wargames that were being held, displayed on a large holographic sphere which floated brightly above its projector. Tyz'juan's matte black uniform seemed to swallow the light of projector, though contrastingly the silver tubing that ran down the breast of his tunic shone rapturously.

'Tyz'juan!' said Subotai, more forcefully this time, catching the Fleet General's attention finally. Tyz'juan took the sheet of paper and looked over it cautiously. 'The Au-1477, under Kirr, has reported pirate action in the vicinity of the first contact operation.' explained Subotai.

'Very well then. It seems some live fire would do us better training anyway.' said Tyz'juan, handing back the sheet. 'Inform Cerberus-actual that the maneuvers are over, I was annihilating their forces anyway. Prepare for combat jump to Cannakalle, we shall secure the system so that Galileo may do they job properly.'

Tyz'juan's lip curled back spasticly, an old shrapnel wound often forced his face to contort involuntarily, especially when he felt stressed.

'Task Force Minotaur!' called Subotai into a handheld communications device, waiting for a moment for all the icons on the hologram to turn red, the sign that they were ready to jump.

'Mark.' shouted Subotai, tensing his stomach for the inevitable and uncomfortable spacefold.

'Jump!'

Moments later, the fifty nine ship Task Force disappeared, leaving no trace of their presence in deep space. A short span of seconds passed before Task Force Minotaur cracked space in half in a wanton display of the technical mastery of the peoples of Jannath.

Inside the Galileo's shuttle, a junior comms officer was busy monitoring the radios when a message came in from the science vessel. He quickly scribbled down the gist of the message and ran out of the shuttle to deliver the note to Thompson.

"Er..." was all that Thompson was able to utter as he read the note. "It would seem that the Aumanii have brought the Battlespace Dominator Minotaur into orbit along with her large taskforce." explained the Shanderan admiral.

"I've just been informed that Fleet General Tyz'juan has asked me to convince you to open your ports to our ships. Given the task force above, I'm not sure that this is a request."

And so, the pattern repeated. Energy rippled across the aerosphere of the planet, Koluga Doga hailed the Minotaur asking why they were making such a large military presence, and the Galileo crew could see the lightning towers piercing the ocean skin once more.

Koluga Nora Kinora narrowed her eyes, glancing slightly to one side at a lightning tower in the distance. "Tell me, why would your associates pressure such a demand?" The Shanderians probably noticed at this point that the robotic servitors working in the area, ranging from dog-sized crawlers like the one that brought the drinks to the elephantine crustacean ogres with black metal chitin and pale blue nanite muscles, were all becoming rather restless, as though expecting violence.

"Quite frankly, Tyz'juan is just a prick. You'd be best advised to disregard him as an example of our species. However, I would submit to his 'request' if I were you." said Thompson as he eyed the lightning tower and storm clouds. "You guys can put on a nice light show, but the Minotaur can slag a planet in the course of a few minutes even without the help of her task force. My advice would be to do as he says and lodge a formal protest with the Aumanii government or Hermes Council later."

Nora ponders a moment as the decree of the Imperial Council of School Elders reaches a decision on what action to take is communicated. "Our docks are open, although this is the only dock we have at present save for abandoned caverns on dormant islands."

Kolugan Doga uses flowery words and doublespeak to communicate that the demands are being satisfied to the Minotaur shortly after his initial inquiry.

OOC: Hey, it's a bump!

Meanwhile, on Galileo herself, the ship's many labs and scanners were being used to take a closer look at Cannakalle and her star system. Ever since the Galileo had arrived, the crew had felt a sense of belonging on the planet, almost euphoria. There was a similar feeling whenever the Aumanii homeworld of Vascilia was visited, but here on Cannakalle the feeling was much stronger. In the labs, the scans of the planet and her system were showing something very valuable to the Hermes Alliance. The planet itself was packed with Hermium ore, a strange blueish crystal that forms the basis of the Alliance's FTL.


"Lieutenant, the labs are reporting huge deposits of Hermium in the system and on the planet." reported the bridge's science officer.

"I see. That means that we'll probably want to stay here for a while." said Lieutenant Karp, the ship's XO.

"Mages are also reporting the presence of a strong weave here. I'm sure that even you can feel it. It's stronger even than Vascilia's." continued the science officer.

"Well then, that makes Cannakalle a class AA system for colonization. Radio Minotaur and inform them of this. It might be a good idea to raise the issue of annexing this place with the council. There's a meeting scheduled soon."

Tyz'juan stood in front of the chart table, staring at a set of tattered scrolls. 'What are you trying to tell me, Doctor?' asked Tyz'juan grimly, hands clasped behind his back. The room was pitch black except for a single overhead lamp. The light only served to highlight the scars which covered his battle-worn face, dark shadows filling the deep gouges left by shrapnel wounds.

'The Shanderans refer to it as "The weave". It's a philosophical concept, which they use to rationalize Vascilia and the planet's special properties.' explained the civilian, Doctor Herbert Grig. Tyz'juan stood dead silent, his lip curling back nervously.

'The weave is responsible for our, uh...unique abilities.' explained Grig to the seemingly unconvinced Tyz'juan. 'I understand. And this world is allegedly wrapped tighter than a Dersconi school girl with it.' said the Aumanii General.

Grig chuckled. Tyz'juan's lip twitched spastically. An uneasy silence followed. 'I shall arrange for shore leave then. The men are homesick.' said Tyz'juan as he contemplated the possibility of his future orders. If this world was as rich in Hermium as the Galileo suggested, it would surely become a strategic liability if it were left attended.

Thirty minutes after the arrival of AuBSD Cerberus...


'Heads up, Troy!' shouted the musclebound form of Herc Edwards, tossing a duffelbag full of ammunition to the Special Unit 7's leader, Troy Mandrake. The ten man team were busy suiting up in the briefing room of AuBSD Chimera's flight wing. It was the only place they could get any reasonable amount of privacy. Their matte black sneaking suits fit their bodies snugly, almost too much so in some places, complained the men.

'Be ready for anything down there, I mean it.' urged Mandrake, his thick brown mustache comically wriggling...taking away from the seriousness of his words. The men knew their mission, they had been training for it for years.

They heard a knock on the door. Two quick taps and a final loud, meaty, thud meant that their package had arrived. Troy opened the door wide enough only for a slim suitcase to be passed to him before quickly closing it. The room went quiet, the men stopped for a moment as they realized what it was and how serious the situation is.

'This is the real deal, boys.' said Mandrake, admiring the nuclear device in his hands. Special Unit's final gift to any unwilling locals, should they be overwhelmed. 'Alright, lets go.' bellowed Herc, clapping his thick, black hands together boomingly.

Special Unit 7 hurriedly went to the hangar where their dropship was stationed, the halls emptied by Cerberus' contingent of Shock Troopers. Within a matter of seconds after boarding their transport, they were on their way to the surface. Within minutes of leaving the hangar, they had already landed and exited the vehicle. They were met by...they weren't quite sure what to make of it...

It was called a Gargantua the latest in the technological and military developments of the Golugan race. It looked like a lobster with an ebony shell and pale blue muscles, except in that it had a bulbous head on a thick, extended neck, and could fit snuggly in a football field. It was made primarily of nanites, although various shield generators were present within the mass alongside life support and propulsion systems.

The mechanoid bent low as though bowing, and the head of the leviathan quartered in an X pattern to reveal a mass of water the size of a small house inside an egg-shaped energy field. At the front of the bulb floated a Golugan with scales that blended from a predominant white to deep blue along his back.

"Hello, Aumanites. I take it you're hear to bring to light the details of the benefits of joining your Hermes Alliance. I am Chuluga Kina Kirona, primary of this Gargantua's crew and representative of our race for the time being. We were about to launch to reinforce an exploratory mission that had encountered hostiles, but technical difficulties has forced our vessel to remain behind."

Troy stood, staring at the leviathan before him. Suddenly thinking that the carbine he had tucked away under his coat was very inadequate. 'Nice to meet you, Chuluga. I'm Troy Mandrake and these are my friends. Here's Herc, Lyle, Dan, Foss, Joe, Jack and Stewie. We're from the Aumanii Foreign Ministry. And yes, you guessed correct. I'm here to inform you of the benefits of joining the Hermes Alliance.' said Mandrake, patting Gargantua on the claw jovially.

'I'm going to be very upfront about this. You have something that we need. And we'll do anything to get it. Anything. My superiors feel that this could be the beginning of a very lucrative trading relationship for all parties. I don't know the economic situation of your world. I don't know what your people have and don't have. Want or don't want. But I tell you what, if you don't have something that you need...we probably have it. The Jannarii, my people are an advanced race that have traveled through out the stars and aquired a great deal of resources. Resources we are willing to share, in exchange for your membership in our alliance...and your help in getting what we need from your world.' explained Troy, not trying to sound too overtly aggressive. It wasn't a skill of his, really. Talking to people or fish people in this case, wasn't his forte. So, he blundered through this negotiation as best he could for now, trying not to get pinched in half by this...what ever it is.

'If you'll allow me to read the charter of the Hermes Alliance, it's a long one so stay with me, you can tell me your feelings about it and we can try and work through any problems.' said Troy, removing a dataslate from his pocket and clearing his throat at the same time.

'Overview

The Hermes Alliance is an alliance founded by the nations of New Haven and Bryn Shander in the wake of the split with the Concordat, an alliance formed in the wake of the Hogsweatian-Tiburonese War after the two nations bloodied each other's noses in defense of then allied nations.

The Charter of the Hermes Alliance:

Article One: Statement of Purpose

The Hermes Alliance is based around three things.

1. Mutual defense of all member nations.
2. Free trade of goods and information between member nations.
3. The construction, maintenance, and operation of the Project Hermes Hyperspace gates.

Article Two: Mutual Defense

All member nations are to come to the aid of another member nation if it is attacked.
Article Three: Free Trade

All member nations are to allow the free flow of goods, information, and people between all other member nations. No passports or tariffs will be required for transit between member nations.

Article Four: Hermes Gates

All member nations are to contribute to the construction, maintenance, and operation of the Project Hermes Hyperspace Gate network. All member nations will also be free to use the gates without fee or limit.

Article Five: Founding Nations

The Hermes Alliance was founded by the nations of Bryn Shander and New Haven. The founding nations hold supreme authority in the alliance.

Article Six: Council of Hermes

All member nations will appoint a citizen to represent them in the Council of Hermes. The council will meet twice a year, but can be called together by any member nation at any time. Each nation will get one vote, except for the founders, who get two. At any point, a founder can veto an issue. This veto can be overturned by a unanimous vote by the other member nations. A veto by both founders cannot be overturned.

Article Seven: Acceptance of New Member Nations

Any nation that wishes to join the Hermes Alliance must find a sponsor within the alliance. Once sponsorship has been aquired, the sponsor will call the Council of Hermes to meet. At the council meeting, all current member nations will vote on the entry of the new nation. At any point, any member nation can veto the application to join.'

Troy looked at the Gargantua and saw it unflinchingly staring back at him.

Kina smiled as he listened to the charter, and what the alliance had to offer. The airbreathers may not have the empathy that connected the billions of the Golugan race in an elegant psychic weave, but they made efforts toward mutual cooperation and development. One of his crewmen swam over, with black scales where Kina's would be white, and said something in the Golugani native tongue. Nodding, Kina turned to face Troy once more.

"Your comm officer may have noticed your charter is being transmitted along our public networks to put the data before the people as well as the Imperial Council. The concept of joining the Hermes Alliance, which we assume is a political body, is favorable to five of the ten schools and unfavorable to three. Two of the schools are uncertain due to key issues. A prominent issue, even to favoring schools, is what is the resource that you seek? The other, mainly to the school most in touch with our predatory ancestry, wishes to know how often mutual defense will come in to play."

'We're looking for Hermium. A very potent fuel that we would like to take advantage of. We have the infrastructure to refine it, just not a sufficient supply. It's indicated by my reports here that your planet has at least ten years supply of it. And we'd be willing to do anything for it....' Troy trailed off, looking at his dataslate.

'As far as mutual defense is concerned, my slate says it has never been called for. Before or after Auman was admitted to the alliance. It's more of a "Just in case" measure. I'll have to note as well that you are only required to contribute to the defense of member states, be it financially, military or by humanitarian means.'

Kina pulls out a datapad, slowly pushing it through the bubble shield. It lists the various resources available from Cannakalle, in the Auman language but by the Golugan name. With visual samples accompanying, Troy would be glad to see Hermium was one of the few resources that had no local demand. "We're not familiar with this Hermium by your name. Can you identify it visually?"

Troy fumbled with the alien device, scrolling through a vague list of elements before finding what he needed. 'Oh yeah, here it is.' said Mandrake with a sparkle in his eye. 'We'll be in contact with you in the next six months, a delegate from your nation will be asked to attend an annual meeting that Hermes holds. At which point your nation will be sworn in. If that is all, I'll be on my way?'

Kina smiled and nodded, taking the datapad back. "Very well. The schools flow to your favor by six to four. We shall see you again when the time comes. May the waters ward you from Shivan fire, Koluga Troy Auman."

'Very well then, my fishy friend. I'll make it a point to attend your people's induction.' said Troy, snapping the Fishman a salute before turning on his heels and marching back to his transport. A historic event had just transpired. The Aumanii people had just made first contact with a non-Jannarii species, wheeled and dealed them, and negotiated their entrance into Hermes. It was a fine day in Troy Mandrake's otherwise unimpressive career.