A War for the Stars

[Erax]

Admiral Wiers' private log, SGY 2402.9:

We can now build slightly larger Modified Corvettes. Our research teams are concentrating on more efficient cargo bays for the population transports.

Seeker I entered the Gandle Ott system, another uninhabited system with one fully and one partially colonizable planet. Captain Veren will head towards Berlin III to resupply.

Seeker II has been launched, under Captain Stran. I know many here do not agree with my choice, but I believe he will be a competent explorer once he enters the unknown beyond Arkonne.

Our relations with the Alliance improve daily; they have informed us that they are at war with the Yakrin. That explains much; the Yakrin must have offered us a treaty to keep us out of the conflict. That is what we will do, for now, but there are many here who insist we help our fellow humans right away. I will not risk my sector by rushing into an ill-considered war; I feel we have more to gain at the moment by expanding while our neighbors wear themselves down against each other. But if the time comes when we must choose a side, I hope it will be that of the Alliance.

[ May 01, 2003, 16:47: Message edited by: Erax ]

[Erax]

CODED TRANSMISSION
From: Chief Ambassador Reima, Sector Diplomatic Corps
To: Admiral Wiers

Berlin III, 2403.0

Admiral,

We are making rapid progress in our dealings with our fellow humans in the Interstellar Alliance. We have offered them a trade treaty, as per your orders. I have every reason to believe that they will accept.

The Yakrin have learned of our dealings with their enemies and are understandably disturbed. We have done our best to reassure them but I am afraid that we cannot have the best of both worlds. The friendlier we become with the Alliance the more the Yakrin will dislike us.

Current information suggests that the Yakrin-Alliance war is a stalemate; neither power can defeat the other's armada. If that is the case, perhaps we can act as the external power that breaks the deadlock and wins the war. There is much to gain from such a situation.

CODED TRANSMISSION
From: Chief Ambassador Reima, Sector Diplomatic Corps
To: Admiral Wiers

Berlin III, 2403.1

Admiral,

Everything is proceeding as we have foreseen. We established a trade agreement with the Alliance, only to have the Yakrin learn of it and demand that it be canceled. I await your decision in this matter but it is the advice of this Corps that you refuse their demands.

On another front, the Hutt are becoming restless. They must have realized by now that we lack the force to annex them and are reverting to their usual arrogant nature. We have sent them some goods to improve relations, but I must point out that the Hutt are not fools. They know we would be sending stormtroopers instead of goods, if we had them.

[Erax]

Admiral Wiers' private log, SGY 2403.2:

Seeker I has arrived at Berlin III, where the new starport has just become operational. They will pick up supplies and come to Virgillia, then head to Gesaril. Captain Veren and his crew have been away for almost two years; everyone here wants to meet them and hear about their exploits.

Syned I now boasts a spaceyard, but we must build other facilities there before they can start building ships.

Comet IV has been launched. She will stop at Berlin III for supplies, then head for Gandle Ott IV.

Acting on Ambassador Reima's suggestion, we refused to break our treaty with the Interstellar Alliance. Yakrin displeasure with this was evident; once the Alliance learned of the incident, they offered to broaden our treaty by including the exchange of scientific information as well as goods. We accepted eagerly; perhaps their scientists know who built the hyperconduit web. Our diplomats tell me that the Interstellar Alliance is a powerful ally. Together we may rule this sector.

Next: Myths and Legends.

[Raging Deadstar]

Very good, i'm really interested in this. Since i'm generous i decided to rate you 5 stars for your story telling technique

[Erax]

Admiral Wiers' private log, SGY 2403.4:

Gandle Ott IV has been colonized. Beyond that system lies the Alliance. We will raise a TIE fighter wing in that system for local defence.

Captain Veren received a hero's welcome here on Virgillia V. We paraded him down our main skylanes and put interviews with him on all the newscasts. But our navy is small and there is much to do; the Captain and Seeker I are on their way again, headed towards Gesaril.

Our factories can now produce the new model cargo bays; our naval architects are putting together a design for a small population transport that will serve our needs until we can build larger ships.

We need better metallurgical techniques to strengthen our prototype bomber designs; this will also enable us to produce stormtrooper armor. Our development teams are already working on it.

The Hutt cancelled their treaty with us. Ambassador Reima believes it is just a ploy to get us to send them more goods. I believe we can safely ignore them for now. If they had the strength to invade us, they would already have done so.

[Erax]

Wow, now I have a rating ! Thanks, RD ! (I have 2 votes, so someone else decided to rate me too).

[Erax]

Transcript from a presentation by Dr. Buchler (Nalros University) to Imperial military and scientific personnel on Berlin III, SGY 2403.3:

Good evening. I would like to thank Chief Ambassador Reima for having invited me here. There is much that the Empire and the Alliance can learn from each other. We have only recently discovered space travel, while you have been travelling among the stars for thousands of years. We have lived in this part of the Galaxy for as far back as we can remember, while you are recent arrivals.

Imperial scientists tell us this region of space is unlike any other they have ever heard of. The planetary systems here are linked by a web of warp points, or as you call them, hyperconduits. Communication with the rest of the Galaxy is impossible. Your science cannot explain any of this as natural phenomena. It is understandable, therefore, that you should want to know what theories our scientists have concerning the warp points.

I'm afraid that the warp points cannot be explained by our physicists any more than they can be explained by yours. Our theories about them come from other sciences - history, archaeology and anthropology. The study of our myths - and those of the alien races we have met - provide some fascinating hints as to the nature of our star systems. This presentation is only a brief overview of the subject, but we hope to bring other Alliance scientists here to present you with all our findings. Much of what follows is tentative, but it is the best explanation that fits the evidence we have found among the stars.

We believe this part of the Galaxy was inhabited by an incredibly powerful alien race, which most of us call the Ancients. The warp points were only one of their achievements. They were so advanced that they could create and destroy planets, nebulae and even stars. They could open and close warp points as desired. They could live on any planet, or change the characteristics of a planet to better suit their needs.

They also enjoyed studying other intelligent races. They travelled the Galaxy - and perhaps to other galaxies as well - in search of intelligent species from which they would take samples. These beings would be placed on worlds engineered to be as similar as possible to their original homes and their development would be observed from space. It is possible that some of these races were eventually adopted by the Ancients as servants or pets.

Then, for some reason, they vanished. There are many different stories concerning this event. In some legends, war broke out with another incredibly advanced species; in others, it was a civil war among the Ancients themselves. Other stories say the Ancients simply left, leaving their servant races to fight over their systems.

We may never know the causes of this disappearance, but we know force was involved. All the myths we have studied tell of a great war, although the particulars of who did the fighting and why are always different. Our recent discovery of a 'bLasted' system - random clouds of asteroids drifting around the core of a destroyed star - supports the theory that this Great War actually happened and involved destruction on a scale inconceivable to us.

After the War, the myths converge again. The Ancients left or were destroyed, leaving the warp points behind. Their servants survived, but couldn't maintain what was left of the Ancient empire. They began to backslide to pre-starfaring technology. Two of those races fought a second war at this point. It wasn't as terrible as the Great War, but still involved widespread death and destruction. One race set up an energy field around this part of space - a barrier that may be failing, since it sometimes lets ships through - and tried to destroy all other intelligent species inside it so that they would be the only heirs to the knowledge of the Ancients. The other race tried to prevent this. Meanwhile, on their own planets, the non-starfaring species began to explore orbital space and found the spying devices left in orbit by the Ancients.

At this point, legend gives way to history. The Alliance interstellar program began when we discovered the satellite around our homeworld. we plucked it from orbit and studied it, gaining hints about propulsion and guidance systems, new materials, new manufacturing techniques and even new weapons. We know for a fact that the Yakrin have a very similar story, and that explains why their spaceships - unlike yours - have essentially the same engines and weapons as ours.

So what can we conclude about what is out there waiting for us ? The Ancients no longer exist, or if they do, are not likely to return. Their two servant races - the ones our legends call the Light and the Darkness - may still be out there, locked in their ancient struggle. There may be other races using technology similar to ours to explore the Universe beyond their warp points. There may be newcomers such as yourselves. The Universe is a vast adventure, waiting for our two people to live it, if we can learn to work together.

Thank you gentlemen, and good night.

[ May 04, 2003, 16:08: Message edited by: Erax ]

[Erax]

Admiral Wiers' private log, SGY 2403.5:

Comet V has been launched towards Syned VI, a huge airlless ball of rock. Seeker II entered the Klozar system, another uninhabited system with a few partially colonizable planets. They picked up strange emissions from Klozar VII, an otherwise unremarkable world. Captain Stran will head for the nearest unexplored hyperconduit leading out from Klozar before returning to Syned.

We have designed the Fyrine class population transports to move people from the capital to the colonies. They were built on a modified corvette hull and have a cargo capacity of 300 kt.* The new model cargo bays were also used on another design, the Black Sword micro-carrier. These modified corvettes have two laser cannon and may carry up to twenty-six TIE fighters, organized into two oversize squadrons. Now that our relations with the Yakrin are in decline, we will need a proper war fleet and the Black Swords will form its backbone.

Commodore Telar is already organizing our sector's First Carrier Wing, to be raised on Gesaril. The spaceyard on Gesaril V will build two Fyrine transports, then two Black Swords. The Fyrines have no weapons, but we can use them as troop transports if necessary.

And now we must organize our sector's final combat arm: Stormtroopers.

* - Star Wars cargo bays are less efficient than their SEIV counterparts.

[ May 07, 2003, 00:43: Message edited by: Erax ]

[Erax]

Admiral Wiers' private log, SGY 2403.6:

Captain Stran led Seeker II into a new system containing one fully colonizable planet, three partially colonizable planets and one rocky moon. We called this system Tachung.

The Interstellar Alliance proposed a treaty of mutual defence and protection. Under this treaty, each power agrees to send military aid to the other power if such aid is requested. This means that if we accept the Alliance can bring us into their war against the Yakrin at any time. If we refuse, on the other hand, we may ruin the good relations we have been trying to build with our fellow humans and it will not make the Yakrin hate us less. Tomorrow I will send our answer, accepting their proposal.

War draws closer with every passing day. We knew this was likely to happen and we are not unprepared, but I still feel we are being overtaken by external events faster than we can deal with them. Our strategy has been chosen, our tactics are sound, our sailors, soldiers and pilots are capable. That should be enough.

But the price to pay if it is not is terrible.

[Erax]

Admiral Wiers' private log, SGY 2403.7:

Syned IV has been colonized. Seeker I will begin to explore the hyperconduit web beyond Gesaril; Captain Veren has been ordered to exercise extreme caution, since the Yakrin home system lies somewhere in that direction.

Speaking of the Yakrin, they cancelled their trade treaty with us. Black Sword I was rushed into production on Gesaril V, Fyrine I having been launched earlier this tenth.

The Andarr have become quite friendly with us. It seems there is some sort of rivalry between them and the Hutt; we can have a treaty with one or the other but not both. Knowing the Hutt as we do, it is better to take our chances with the Andarr. Ambassador Reima has sent them a message suggesting we forget our previous disagreements and establish a new trade treaty.

Our Stormtrooper program has been launched; our first bLaster rifles and DurapLast armor suits will be coming off the production lines any day now. Some of the Army bases will be handed over to the new Stormtrooper combat arm so they can begin to train their first recruits. It will take some time and we won't see our first Stormtrooper units until next year, but they should be well worth the wait.

Brigadier General Sheer has petitioned me for the creation of an Army invasion force as a quick substitute for the yet-to-be-created Stormtroopers. Given the velocity with which we are being drawn into war, I believe I will authorize it.