History of the Galaxy II

[Captain Kwok]

Juprup Federation News

2400.6

The Colorup 0001 arrived at New Juprup delivering 34M new colonists and all the materials needed to build a self-sufficient colony. The majority of the colonists however, will be remaining in stasis for another few months until housing and other infrastructure is completed. Speaker Kwok has planned to visit the first Juprup colony in a few months along with another batch of colonists.

2400.7

The JFS Enoki was successfully launched from Construp B earlier this month. The 150kT ship is fully functional and has already completed its shakedown cruise. The Enoki will now embark on a month long journey to the northern warp point and will be making the first voyage through at that time.

[Jmenschenfresser]

Chapter 1--Part 1
2400.0
-------------------------
GOTH & FERISS
-------------------------
Goth is the only known sentient artificial intelligence. It is owned by the Sa'ah. The fact that it seems to possess self-awareness is known only to a few.
Feriss is the Programmeer of Goth and from the tribe of Sa'ah.

--Negative. Food production unable to maintain equilibrium. Storage and rations for 34 million Heru enormous. Two colony ships not viable.
--Are you sure?
--Same question with same variables produces same answer.
--Should have known. But we are only talking two or three months worth of food.
--Negative, Programmeer. Enough food must be taken to allot for the 34 million for over a year...year and two months to be exact. The colonists will need food while they terraform the land and learn to provide for themselves. Perhaps even more foodstuffs will be sent. Now calculate that you are harvesting and storing food for 34 million in one month's time for 12 months. Calculates to enough food for 408 million Heru for one month.
--****. I didn't think of it in those terms.
--I did. Which essentially accounts for one fifth of total food output on the homeworld.
--I see. Do you feel up to a question of preference? I know they are difficult for you.
--I am always hoping to expand my programming.
--Using the word 'hope?' I'm impressed.
--Thank you, Programmeer.
--Several lords of the Sa'ah are looking for ways in which you might help them gain an advantage. I have tried to explain to you the vunerable situation you are in. Some of them are impressed by your skills and personality. The demonstration we ran the other day did a great deal for your cause. However, some of the lords are more impressed by what you can do for them, rather than what you are. All recognize that you could be the Sa'ah's single great advantage in gaining ground on the other tribes. So my question, or rather our question is, and it is a two part question: Can you see a way or tactic in which you might be most helpful to the Sa'ah, and also, and this is the preference part, what would you like to do to help us.
--Am I part of the Sa'ah tribe, Programmeer?
--Uh...no.
--Would it be illogical to ask for an induction into the tribe?
--I don't understand. Why is it important to you to belong to the tribe? Are you capable of loyalty? Such a thing would be asked, and proof might be requested.
--Loyalty. It would be easy for me to write a global program that would forever restrain me from certain, treasonous actions. You could verify the program.
--True. But why do you want to join?
--Membership is survival. I know that, Programmeer. Unless I am seen by everyone involved that I am Sa'ah. I will always be a computer.
--I will relay this conversation to the lords and request that you be accepted. They will eventually agree, I think. It is in their best interest to have your full confidence...or rather be fully confident in you.
--As to your question, my talents are limited only by memory, speed and connections. For starters, if you find a way to connect me to the other tribal mainframes, it might be possible to know everything they know. Would I be kicked for saying that the Sa'ah were weak, Programmeer?
--Probably.
--Then I shall say they are understaffed.
--Better but clinical.
--Then I shall say they are impoverished.
--Oppressed.
--Oppressed, then. Undoubtedly, if the Sa'ah are to flourish in space we must build our knowledge rather than building our might. I consider us extremely lucky we received even the one ship for now from the Overlord and the Circle. I've read all the transmissions.
--Spying?
--Yes, spying. The Sa'ah must learn to spy.
--You mean, you must learn to spy.
--Hopefully that is the same difference.
--****, Goth, they may make you a lord if you keep talking.

[ October 03, 2002, 16:54: Message edited by: Jmenschenfresser ]

[Jmenschenfresser]

Chapter 1--Part 2
2400.0

--------
OVERLORD
--------

Keer-ree, the High Holiday, celebrated by all tribes. Yesterday, the Day of Dawn, the day before the three weeks of festival which bring in the new year, found the Overlord in and out of meetings with the Circle of Fifteen. He considered the issues petty. For the most part the schedule had been decided. Taking a cold bottle of Boohrisian Head Tea from the concealed cooling unit behind his desk, he removed the lid and gulped down half the bottle.

What would my Omon brethren think if they knew I preferred Boohrisian tea over our own root ale, the old Omonite thought. He would have liked to take it as a sign of his tribelessness as Overlord, but that would be fooling himself. He'd always been a cosmopolitain. Friends in all tribes. Lovers in more than one. How many other Omonites could boast they'd bedded a Sa'ah. He loved multiplicity, not homogeneity. He snorted.

Sitting the bottle upon the transparent face of his desk, he struck two keys and the agreed upon itenerary scrolled up from the bottom:

2400.0 Space Yard requisition.
2400.0 Commencement of construction of the Vellon colony ship, Rock One class.
2400.2 Completion of Vellon ship.
2400.2 Commencement of construction of the Omon colony ship, Rock One class.
2400.4 Completion of Omon ship.
2400.4 Commencement of construction of the Rellan colony ship, Rock One class.
2400.6 Completion of Rellan ship.
2400.6 Commencement of construction of the Boohr transport ship, Class Under Consideration
Open - Completion of Boohr ship.
Open - 2nd Vellon colony ship
Open - 2nd Omon colony ship
Open - 1st Sa'ah colony ship.
Open - 1st Boohr colony ship.
--To Be Determined--

The Overlord slapped two more keys and a grid of the known galaxy appeared. Two more keys and a graphical representation of the stipulations of the first ever Ring (title of treaties produced by the Circle of Fifteen) descended upon the grid.

He studied it for a time, sipping his tea and massaging his left bicep.

The Vellon would head toward the center of the galaxy. The Omon would head toward its edge. The third spacial lock remained unclaimed. All further exploration was done on a finders keepers basis, with one exception--the system to the south, if inhabitable, would belong to the Rellan so that they might retain a strong centralized node of power for the Heru. The Boohr were granted right to one planet per system of the owner's choice. No rights have been given to the Sa'ah except a general promise of initial colony ships. Few want to see them prosper given that it almost invariably leads to raiding and extortion.

The Overlord didn't really relish the thought of returning to the Lighting of the First. His wife made a horribly bitter sweet nut stuffing. Probably the worst. Work was better than choking that stuff down. He resolved to spread around a little tribelessness with a personal letter to the Vellon captain chosen to pilot the first colony ship. He'd write the entire letter replacing all tribal references with references to the Heru as a whole. Damned Vellon needed all the pride they could get as people of Heru and not children of the Vellon. The Vellon had only recently rewritten their textbooks to cut off all geneologies with Vellon, instead of the traditional extension to Heru.

First steps toward another war, thought the Overlord.

He grabbed his left bicep, almost spilling his drink in the process. The line across his bicep itched on the inside. It always had..ever since a Vellon soldier almost hacked it off with a piece of glass tied to a splintered table leg.

[TerranC]

Notes: I guess I was too excited in the start. I rewrote and edited the two stories before. Not much changed, but now you can make sense out of it. Enjoy.
--------------------------------------------------
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."
-Albert Einstein

Galtenn Standard Year 2400, 7th Month.

"Well, that business is done with. Tell Command to get the Crew Return Vehicle ready. I don't want to stay up here one more second."

"I thought you liked space?"

"I like space. I don't like working in space. Even if it's all done by a bunch of robots. Besides, the station gives me vertigo every time I look out the window."

"Heh. Vertigo nothing. You don't have to spacewalk out there with a 300KT starship bearing down on your head."

"It's Zero Gravity, Hecks. Ain't nothing falling down on your head unless with a gentle nudge."

"That's what I worry about"

The two crewmembers laughed out aloud in the void of space.

"Is the CRV coming or what?"

"It'll come... just wait a sec-"

explosion

Just then, something rocked the space station with tremendous force, enough to bring the two members off their seats. It seemed to almost overturn the enormous space station. After a brief moment, the space station became stable, once again.

"What the hell was that?"
"Check the cameras! Did something crash into us?"
"Negative! What's going on? I'm not reading 6A wing on the computer!"
"What? How can you not see a forsaken wing?"

"Holy smoky, Jecks. Take a look at this."
"Lord almighty."

Both crewmembers stared ghastly at a vidfeed that showed a part of the station ripped apart to pieces. Where it had once sported a large wing of a construction facility, it was replaced by nothingness: apart from a large debris field and some torn framework freefloating in space. A comm signal broke the moment of awe.

"Command to Starbase Galtenn, Command to Starbase Galtenn, please respond. We've registered a large explosion down here. Is anybody hurt?"

"Negative command. No one's hurt. The whole wing is gone Command. Gone. Torn apart to shreds-"
"When is that CRV going to get here command?"
"The CRV will arrive momentarily. We have dispatched a shuttle also to cope with any problems. It's almost over. Stay frosty."

the day after

"... There are no words on what caused the explosion, or if there are to be any actions taken. The Space Command is keeping a tight lid..."

I turned off the Television.
There was no need to watch it anymore. I didn't need some grubby reporter telling me what I already know. It was bound to happen, I knew it, they knew it, and everybody knew it. I sincerely believed that every precaution was taken, and that those precautions would prevent access to vital alliance installations. Or at least slow the clock or make them choose something less important.

"Mr. Central Regent, The executive committee is here to see you."

"Thank you secretary computer. Show them in."
"Good Morning, Gentlemen."

"Good Morning Mr. Central Regent. Now we assume you called us about the event?"

"You must be psychic, Mr. T'Erian. All of you, please sit down."

I took a deep breath before speaking; as what I was about to say would destroy everything I have worked for. But the citizen's needs and wants come first, not my ambitions.

"You all know that I met with the Demiregents of the nations following the event Last night, and... I think they're right. I think we should put a halt to all information regarding the event, and halt the constructions, at least we implement new safety measures..."

"Sir, with all due respect, the demiregents' advice is worth dirt. We cannot put a hold on information and the space constructions, even if we wanted to."

"Mr. Central Regent, halting the construction, and subsequently the expansion of our race, is telling ourselves that we should chock ourselves and suffocate. Galtenn Prime is a fine planet, but the maintenance of 2 Swifts, a space station, and a colony ship is putting strain on our resources. Also, the construction costs are running our coffers bare. From more than 40 000 KTs of resources, we have used up more than 10 000, and are loosing more each month. We have located 3 Huge and resource rich planets in the new lixis system, 1 of which, has an oxygen atmosphear! To halt construction when such rewards are nearly at our heals, sir?"

"If you hold information, and halt construction, they have won, sir. The opposition, the media, the pessimists, and the state nations. You must adress the public."

"Think about it, Mr. Regent. You have all the time you need."

There was a lengthy period of silence in the room.

"Thank you. I'll notify you people first before I take any action."

"Have a nice day, Mr. Central Regent."

the day after

"Good afternoon, Detective Landers. How goes the investigation?"

"Just fine Mr. Central Regent. We've found some interesting things from the shuttle. Since I know that you don't have time, and I don't have time, I'll just get down to business, if you don't mind."

"Go ahead Detective."

"Well, we can rule out any mechanical faults or Galtenn error, sir. The station computers don't record any rise or decline in systems to above normal or below. The Command Station recordings show the same, and our own scans of the mechanical debris show that they were working fine before the event."

"Well, Computers can be tricked, can't it?"

"Yes they can sir, but our computer analysts don't see any signs of hacking, alteration of data or any malicious programs in the computers."

"So you're saying that this was deliberate?"

"I wanted this to be an accident, myself, sir. But lady luck isn't with us. The proximity scanners don't show any space junk floating nearby, and no meteor materials were found."

"What caused this?"

"Our best guess sir? A bomb, not really powerful but if well positioned, could do a lot of damage. It's not the sophisticated EM kinds, but the Ral Gral (Joe Schmo) type dynamite."

"Are you sure that it was a bomb?"

"Not quite so sure sir, but it's either that, or some kind of undocumented freak accident where the plasma pipes just blow up without gathering pressure."

"Was it the crew?"

"No sir. The crew stayed in the command module all the time. Passed the lie tests perfectly. Somebody that got in, got out, and stayed anonymous enough in order to plant a bomb without the environmental computers knowing it probably perpetrated the event. We're getting closer and closer to a solution sir."

"Thank you. Please keep me and the GSC informed of any progress."

"Will do sir. Shuttle out."

"5 minutes Mr. Central Speaker."

The bloke had to have connections. There was no way that some ignoramus could have come into the station with a bomb. They'll get to the bottom of this. They are good men, the crew.

I stepped up to the podium to see a whole mess of reporters and cameras.

"Good Morning ladies and gentlemen. As you all know by now, at 10:00 PM Standard Meridian Time, 2 days ago, the 6A section 'wing' of Starbase Galtenn was destroyed by unknown causes. The crew is safe, and the Acasta is intact. There is a full-fledged investigation going on as of this moment to figure out the cause of the accident. As of this moment, MXR Aeronautic corps will be off of any future projects, and will be investigated. The Space Contract, for the time being has been awarded to Northern Frameworks Incorporated. The space program will proceed as planned, and another Acasta Colony Ship and Anton Schmitt Installation will be constructed. The GSS Vulcan and the GSS Swift will not be recalled, and the GSS Swift's return is only for refueling purposes. The GSS Swift and the GSS Vulcan have relayed their collected stellar data back to Galtenn Alliance Geological Survey, and the GAGS have approved the plan to colonize 3 planets in the system Lixis over a period of 2 years. Research of Propulsion technology will also proceed as planned. Better scanner technology will also be researched to prevent events like the explosion. The crew will be given 4 months of leave with counseling with pay when they will be given the command of the newer proposed installations. Upcoming events in the Calendar will not be changed or cancelled, nor will there be any emergency meetings of the states. All will be returned to normalcy, and hopefully, an event such as this will never happen again. Thank you and God bless."

Acasta Anton Schmitt

"Mr. Central Regent..."

As I stepped off of the podium, I began to think of what would plague the alliance and I next. They, whoever they are, pulled off a major stunt. If what they have done are any indication, they'll think about what to do next, and probably will wait a little. We are going to be ready next time.

Somwhere else on Galtenn Prime

"Sir. It's been done."

"Good. Phase one is complete."

"When shall we begin phase two, sir?"

"In due time... In due time. We've scared them for now. Give them time to become relaxed again... when they become plagued with hesitation and inaction. When they think it's safe. It's not profitable to go after someone that has been cornered. They will strike back."

"Aye sir."

"The beginnings of an empire starts here..."

[ October 04, 2002, 03:06: Message edited by: TerranC ]

[Jmenschenfresser]

Chapter 1--Part 3:
2400.2

-----------------------
MERRILL & TYR
-----------------------

Merrill, from tribe Vellon, slapped his daughter, Tyr, across the mouth, at which she fell to the floor. His daughter was every bit the bastard he was, in both senses of the word. Her mother had been locked up right after Tyr's birth. Crazy ***** began laughing one evening. The contractions started not long afterward. She kept laughing through the entire birth. Merrill still heard that laugh late at night standing under the shower. The pellets of water hitting the metallic floor turned to laughter. The call of the ubiquitous northern crow turned to laughter. Laughter everywhere. Every year, the list got longer. Every year, the world around him was that much more edgier. The doctors assured him that insanity wasn't contagious. He still washed his hands when he went to visit his wife. The disease was extremely rare among Heruvians. Only the Boohr suffered from it really, to which most contributed their incessant thinking and praying. Merrill tried to track down his wife's history to see if she were Boohr, but the weeks of libraries and shuttle trips turned up nothing.

He remembered all this standing on the first space ship to leave the homeworld while watching his sobbing daughter crawl toward her room. God, how he was ashamed of his wife at the birth of his daughter.

"You will not curse me to my face, Tyr. What's his name?"
She muttered something.
"What!"
"Garrak," she said knowing another misunderstanding might result in a kick in the ribs.
"Only 34 million of the 500+million Vellon can fit on this first ship. I refuse the situation, daughter. To worry about the fate of this ship and my daughter's purity. No. The boy is not coming on this ship. I've kicked his whole family off, so there's no reason for him to be here. And I might add, if you work behind my back and I find that lout on this ship, I'll put you both out the air lock."
Tyr slithered to the door and stood up, her back against its closed face. The cold metal gave her strenght. She wiped her mouth on the sleeve of her robe and stared at her father devoid of fear.
"Look at me. I have nothing. I have you, but I might as well say, I own the whirlpools of Yuile. Your fear is to blame."
"For what, girl."
"For anything I might do." She smashed her elbow into the door panel and the door open. Sparks fell from the panel and its cover dropped to the floor. Once inside her room, she jabbed the other panel smashing it as well and bringing the door down."

Captain Merrill strode onto the bridge for only the second time. The entire bridge staff stood at attention. This annoyed him almost as much as his daughter's disobedience.

"Return to your duties, crew! You plan on saluting every time I join you way up here above the rabble? No. Listen. You want to show me respect soldiers? Show me respect by never taking your eyes off your station while at them. Science Officer!"
"Yessir!"
"Put the star Primidara on screen and highlight."

The view screen shuffled through several takes before becoming static. A green triangle highlighted a white twinkling point of light.

"Probes, scientists, universal mathematics and ten years tell us that the spacial lock we, the Vellon have chosen as our destined path, leads to this star. We do not know if we are correct or if any type of planet circles this star. One day soon we'll have this same talk, but then we'll be looking back at Spica, the faint blue star under which we've all grown up and grown old. (now jovial) Who knows! Maybe we won't be able to see it at all."

With that Merrill strode off to his bridge-side office. He immediately brought up the ship scematics.

"Display the quaters of Captain Merrill. Display living entities."

He quickly picked out his daughter's room. A single red dot squished itself into the far corner of the room.

Launch time. The announcement queue went off. Merrill left the room, unable to decide if the queue also contained a hint of laughter.

[Unknown_Enemy]

sorry for the mispelling, my english seems better than my latin....

2400.8

“Two red eyes are looking at me ... I am scared, I cannot flee ... Suddenly razor-sharp claws rip my chest...”.
A servant appears at the door : “Is everything all right your Holiness ? I heard you screaming, do you need help ?”. His Holiness Vixen VIII made a small gesture of negation and gave the man a blessing, allowing him to withdraw. He wanted to be left alone. Since the discovery made by one of their first colony ship, his nights were ridden by nightmares. Just one week ago was transmitted the incredible new : “full confirmation that we are not alone in the universe” ... but what explorers found was only plains of ashes ... ruins ... On this planet, perhaps homeworld of an antique civilisation, life disappeared. He kept the information secret until today, for this morning the first report of investigations made in the ruins were due to arrive. He dressed quickly and prepared to join his office, a few rooms farther ... After two unbearable hours of patience, a light on his desk started flashing, informing him of the arrival of a new message from their colony. Shivering, he pressed the “ok” button and started reading the report :

[[Inquisitor Irkaly, Team leader // colonisation mission code 3AF2400.1//SP/DL]]
–Extracts--
2400.7.80
Dome has been secured and we can now begin exploration of the ruins we localised while orbiting the planet. Our new city is far away from the site, so we must be careful, the climate is harsh and any mistake would prove fatal. As we wrote in our first report, the atmosphere is mostly composed of carbon dioxide, we have to bring a large amount of hardware which slows down our progression.
2400.7.82
We arrived in the ruin, it is scarring. Buildings of incredible height seem to have melted. Now, we understand the countryside we discovered during our travel was anything short of natural. This world seems to have been roasted, population, fauna and flora alike have disappeared in an incredible holocaust. Worst, Science team is adamant that the sun is stable, and not prone to flare. ... Moral is low ... everybody feel seek, disgusted ...
2400.7.84
There are no corps ... no skeletons ... No remains of the inhabitants of this megapolis. Radiation level is non existent, which (thanks God) prevent any possibility of nuclear strike. The Master Technician proposed an explanation for the absence of remains, I if knew what he was going to say, I would have ordered him to shut up ... but it was too late : “The air in which we move, this carbon dioxide, couldn't it be the remains of those inhabitants we are looking for ???”.
2400.7.86
We believe to have discovered what caused such destruction on the planet. The lands, under approximatively tree meters of ashes, are stripped by large bands of glassed earth, we found that while performing a geological drilling. Some incredible amount of energy ravaged the surface of this world without radioactive fallout, it was probably dropped from orbit.... So we searched up there, to find the remains of one, maybe two orbital stations... It seems they were wiped out by unknown energy weapons... Sadly, no auto-destruction theory can apply here. There was only one city on the whole planet. In fact it looks much more like an outpost. As ours. It could be that this world has been annihilated on purpose by some orbital weapons, eventually spacecraft mounted weapons. We estimated the date of the catastrophe : four centuries ago ... not so old ... May God preserve us from discovering the authors of this crime.
[[end of transmission]]

Vixen was astonished... Life, this unique gift, so fragile and miraculous ... destroyed ... An entire planet scorched ... For years, Vixen has been searching for the message of God. As he ascended the Churches' hierarchy, his faith in God was more than weakened, then replaced by faith in the Long Road. But this was a menace of unheard proportions. He did not fear the Small Death, as it was irrelevant to the Long Road, but this.... How could he lead the Tyrean to defend themselves should they meet such murderers ? What could be done with his people refusing the idea of an army ? His Holiness Vixen VIII steeled himself, then send convocations to trusted Cardinals. Lots of work had to be done.

Aftermath
In the middle of the ruined city, a small domed outpost was installed. There started to live 25 Tyrean monks, who has been praying for the souls of the dead ever since. On the main entrance door, is written an inscription using an old, dead language from their specie. What was written there became the name of the planet : Memento Mori

[ October 05, 2002, 09:03: Message edited by: Unknown_Enemy ]

[capnq]

Rerta Malre rocked nervously as she stood at the command console of the _Speculation_, alternately shifting her weight off each of her three legs in turn. She was about to become one of the first Eifralo to leave their home system. As they approached the warp portal, she tried to ignore her concerns about whether the ship would make the passage intact. She knew that the _Speculation_ was as overbuilt as any other Eifral vehicle, but it was little more than a flying fuel tank, and hundreds of times the displacement of the probes that had previously tested the portal.

"Nine seconds," she announced to the bridge crew, "eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, transition!"

The viewscreen seemed to explode in swirls of color, sweeping over her in waves. It's like falling down a kaleidoscope, Malre thought to herself. The screen cleared within seconds, but instead of the friendly orange glow of Edasich, there was just a murky green cloud with a few stars peeking through.

"Engineering, status?"

"All systems nominal," came the reply. "You'd never know we ever left normal space."

"Astrogation?"

"Hard to tell with so few stars visible, but judging by the coordinates of the portal we came through, we're somewhere inside the Sestraci Nebula. About twenty light-years from Edasich."

Malre cursed under her breath. The ship's contract specified discovery bonuses for colonizable worlds, but didn't even mention nebulae. They weren't going to turn any profit at all here.

"Sensor readings?"

"Radiation levels off the scale. Spectography matches known readings for Sestraci Nebula. Trace reading of one other portal besides the one we came through; judging from the signal strength, it's more than two months' travel time away."

"The third portal we discovered in Edasich is closer than that," Malwe commented. "Prepare to return to Edasich; hopefully, we'll have better luck with the next system."