[chewy027]

2400.1 – 2400.6 ~ A Simple Decision

Our construction on the first of two comet class colonizers is moving along exactly as planned. It should be completed within the next tenth. At the same time, Vice Lord Junon tells me that he feels that we have indeed reached a new level of expertise in physics and in religious technology, and that this new understanding will allow us to research such wondrous things as energy shields, advanced sensors, and even energy based weaponry, though this final area, that of weaponry, is the least appealing to us Vandron. It is for this reason, and after much deliberation, that we have decided that we will indeed forge ahead in the area of energy shielding to give our vessels greater protection from whatever may lay ahead of us. For this is the way of the Walkers. We have always been slow to aggressive action, but have been content with defending ourselves from the aggressor. Indeed, it is because of this that we were called the Walkers by the Cindron and the Eldron, for we accomplished our ends through the use of wisdom and application instead of brute force. And it is this philosophy that we will continue to use as we venture out into the Great Beyond. The Almighty has taught us that we should be slow to action, however, when action is necessary, we should move swiftly, wisely, and honorably. Ironically, it was during our deliberations as to what we should next focus our research on, that the twelfth of our deep space probes relayed information to us from the edge of our system that demanded immediate and swift action.
We quickly put aside our research deliberations, to the consternation of Vice Lord Junon, and focused our attention on this new information that had been brought to our attention. The following is a recording of some of the discussion that took place immediately thereafter:

“It seems” explained Vice Lord Exnon, the minister of space and exploration, “that the twelfth deep space probe that was sent out in the second tenth of 2398 has discovered a strange anomaly on the far eastern part of our home system.”
“What sort of anomaly?” asked Vice Lord Junon. “Is it of any special significance?”
“Well,” continued Exnon “The anomaly seems to be some sort of elliptical disturbance in the fabric of space itself. While we have seen strange anomalies akin to this before, none produced the same results upon further examination by our probes.”
“What do you mean by that?” asked Vice Lord Defcon, the minister of defense.
“Yes, explain the significance of these ‘results’” Lord Chagnon demanded.
“Of course Chagnon, it seems that as our probe approached the anomaly for closer readings, as it is programmed to, it somehow vanished.” replied Exnon.
“Vanished? What do you mean vanished?” asked Defcon.
“Well, ah, we were tracking the position of the probe from our sensors here on Serenity when the probe suddenly disappeared from our scanners. It doesn’t appear to have been destroyed, nor does it seem that its systems went offline.” answered Exnon as manner-of-fact as possible. “It simply vanished.”
“I see,” replied Defcon “and do you have any possible explanations for this occurrence?”
“Yes, Exnon, what did happen then?” asked Chagnon.
“Well, to the best of our calculations and observations it appears that the probe went inside of the anomaly. That is why it went off of our scanners, but we don’t know if it was indeed destroyed once it entered the confines of the spatial distortion. I think it would be best if we received Lord Junon’s incite into this.” replied Exnon trying to deflect some of the attention from himself.
“Is that what you think?” replied Junon, “Well then I suppose I could make some educated postulations as to what may have happened.”
“Please do,” said Chagnon, “perhaps you can shed some light on this matter.”
“It appears,” Junon went on, “that there are two likely scenarios as to the fate of the probe. The first is that it was indeed destroyed by this anomaly. If that is the case then we should make note of the coordinates of the distortion and avoid it in the future. The second scenario is that the probe was not destroyed, but was affected in some different way by the anomaly. In either case action must be taken as to ascertain the correct outcome of the probe, and the exact properties of this anomaly.”
“Yes, I agree.” said Chagnon, “the question is, what is the wisest course of action to proceed with? Should we continue to send more unmanned probes through, and continue to collect data from here on Serenity or should we commission a manned scout ship to approach the anomaly and give us a precise explanation as to its effects. What do you think Exnon? This seems to be your department.”
“Yes of course Lord Chagnon,” a somewhat shaky Exnon replied, “I would think that the wisest and safest course of action would be to continue to send probes to the anomaly. We could easily outfit some probes with our new ion technology so they would reach the destination within a few tenths.”
“However,” cut in Junon, “while I agree that would seem to be the wisest course of action, we do not yet have the capability to equip these engines on small probes.” Junon’s interest was beginning to pique as to the possibilities of such an anomaly. He went on, “besides, we don’t even know if the probe was initially destroyed.”
“But we don’t know it wasn’t destroyed.” added Defcon.
“Exactly,” put in Chagnon, “I do not think it wise or necessary to endanger the lives of any of our people. However, I also do not believe that the probe was destroyed.”
“Why is that?” inquired Defcon, “There is no evidence indicating it was or wasn’t destroyed.”
“True,” replied Chagnon “yet something leads me to believe that it was not destroyed, and therefore, I have a proposal as the action we should take.”
“Your intuitions have not been wrong before Lord Chagnon,” said Exnon perking up a bit, “perhaps the Almighty has given you a unique insight into the situation.”
“Perhaps,” Chagnon replied with a slight smile, “In any case, I believe the wisest course of action would be to commission a manned scout ship to investigate the anomaly. However, I also believe that the ship should be equipped with its own probes to send into the anomaly before it takes any such action itself.”
“As long as my men aren’t endangered I see no case for objecting to this course of action.” agreed Defcon.
“Yes, I agree as well,” quickly replied Exnon, not wishing to be the Last to speak up “that is a wise decision.”
“If this is the will of the council then I have no qualms against it.” answered Junon as he rolled his eyes.
“Then it is settled then,” Chagnon said as he stood up from the table. “As soon as the second Comet Class colony ship is built we will begin construction on a scout ship to examine the anomaly.”
“May I make one suggestion,” Defcon put in, “perhaps it would be wisest to commission the scout ship before the second Comet. We know what lies ahead of us on Rigil, but the anomaly may hold something completely unexpected. Speaking from a strictly defensive state of mind, I believe we should know what exactly this distortion is before we make plans for anything else.”
“A wise insight Defcon,” Chagnon replied slowly sitting back down, “So it shall be. The scout ship shall be commissioned before the second Comet is built. And if there are no further details to discuss then I believe this meeting is adjourned.”

And so it was. Upon the completion of the first Comet, a Revelation Class scout ship, derived from the escort chassis, was commissioned and built. It was immediately sent to the coordinates of the anomaly to discover once and for all what secrets, if any, this distortion held.
Meanwhile, Comet 1 safely arrived on Hope and the construction of Hope Colony was immediately begun. In addition to the construction, teams of scouts began to scour the land in search of any signs that the Almighty may presently be or may have previously been to this world. Hope was designated a Research World as the initial scans showed that its resource levels were particularly low, a fact that Lord Chagnon was not pleased with. Since the end of the Last Great War, resources had to be closely monitored so as not to waste anything. As it was, Hope would serve the Vandron well in their search for the Almighty, and boost their glorious civilization’s research capacities, which had been performing wonderfully.
The research for the energy shields proved to pass very quickly as an adequate level was reached within only two tenths. These new shields would now be included on the designs for all of their ships, a detail that Vice Lord Defcon saw to personally. At the same time, it was decided, albeit grudgingly, that the best defense would now be a stronger offense, and so a new level of expertise was sought for the projectile weapons currently in use, and the ability to build larger chassis for the fleets starships. Though it was projected to take nearly a year to accomplish these goals, it was decided that it would be the wisest course of research to pursue, in the event that someone or something should meet them.

[ September 02, 2003, 02:36: Message edited by: chewy027 ]