History of the Galaxy II

[Gimboid]

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2399.9
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"shinjitsu o shiruto seiriyokugarau" [Translation - To know the truth is to have power]
Old saying of the Mahatsuhito clan

Although it had been two thousand years since the Imperium had been formed, its various parts still acted in synergy. It was as if the Imperium itself was a living being with the Shoguns controlling the primary organs of its existence. The ebb and flow of wealth, power and information from these was what gave the Mahatsuhito clan its overwhelming control over the empire.
Kaneko had been born into that power, yet her finesse in exercising that power could be compared to even the great Tanika, who had taken a lifetime to master true military and political power and had left her legacy to the Mahatsuhito clan she had given birth to.

Elegant, graceful. These were the first words uttered by many who admired the most advanced vessel ever constructed by the Katana Imperium. Generations of finely honed technical mastery had been applyed in its design and only the most trusted craftsman of the shogunates had even been allowed to enter the shipyard in which she now lay. Kaneko had spent so much of her life planning the vessel that would take take the Imperium to the next level and allow it to expand into untold sectors of the universe, and now, finally, her well laid plans had come to fruition.

Untold promises and sleepless nights were now behind her, she smirked as she realised the truth in that thought - the real journey was just beginning and all her attention would be needed if the Imperium was to remain as cohesive a being as she had always known it should be. She gazed out the vast windows of the imperial palace towards the endless stars that dotted the nighttime sky and for a moment she was overwhelmed by the endless possibilities that the future could hold...

[ September 28, 2002, 15:06: Message edited by: Gimboid ]

[geoschmo]

2399.9

I am tired. I am awake. I am cold. I am hot. I am…

The Hive was in chaos. The collective intelligence of two billion separate minds in continual contact with one another, each seeking explanation and direction, and receiving none. There was a constant stream of information, and no analysis. Billions of symptoms, but no diagnosis. All was confusion.

I am hungry. I am full. I am in sick. I am well. I am…

Hundreds of millions of hosts wandered aimlessly aimlessly about. Many millions simply sat and stared. They had the knowledge and most of the memories of their former selves, but had lost purpose. They remembered how to do things, but had lost their reason for doing them.

I am lost. I am wet. I am dry. I am…

Failing to receive the guidance that they sought, gradually the host beings began to revert to their fractured memories for information about what to do. One by one they began to resume their daily tasks. They began to care for themselves. Eating when they were hungry. Sleeping when they were tired. The workers returned to their plants, not exactly knowing why, but having nothing else to do they did what they had always done. The students returned to their schools and sat obediently at their desks staring at the front of the class, whether or not the teachers had returned. The teachers that did return stood at the front facing their students, or in front of empty classrooms in many cases, not knowing why. Even the artists returned to their workshops, though they had lost their reason for doing so, and no one was left to appreciate their works.

Where am I? Who am I? Why am I…

Gradually the chaotic stream of voices began to subside. It began to process the information that had been overwhelming it. It began to assign simple tasks to individual hosts. As a newborn brain begins to form neural pathways and organize sensory data, so to the Hive intelligence began to develop ordered pathways of communication. To prioritze the information it was receiveing. At first, it was concerned only with the health of it’s host bodies. Just as a single organism does not need to consciously “learn” how to get nutrients to it’s individual cells, so too The Hive instinctively handled these simple tasks. Those that were too young or too feeble to care for themselves were cared for by others, just as they had been when they were separate beings.

I. You. Me…

We.

We think. We act. We learn. We are...

The Hive had become a single entity. A single being made up of billions of individual beings, instead of merely billions of individual cells. It was still young, childlike in many ways, but it was self aware. It was sentient. It did not understand many things around it, but it had the collective memories and knowledge of billions of sentient organisms to draw on. It was getting better at processing the moment to moment sensory information and physical needs of its hosts now and could begin to devote more energy to retrieving and analyzing this memory data. It began to take notice of the world around it. And then a new thought emerged. A bit of curiosity bubbled to the surface. On half the planet every eye turned towards the heavens and noticed the tiny lights twinkling in the night. It saw the

stars…

The Hive knew the word. It knew that the stars were merely suns like the one they circled around, but that they were so far away that they appeared very tiny. Just as a mountain that from one hosts perspective was on the horizon would appear only to be a tiny hill. But to another host standing at the base of it would see how truely massive it was. The Hive knew there may be other planets circling these other suns. And it wondered. For the first time in it’s existence it felt a longing. For all these many months of learning to listen to the billions of voices it was hearing, it had now realized that all these voices were it’s own voices. It heard no others. It wondered if it were alone in the, what was the word?

universe…

For that was one piece of information it could not find in any of it’s hosts memories. It found many contradictory thoughts. But no host had hard facts that the Hive could analyze. Is there another out there? Another like us? Or are we the only one? For the first time, the Hive felt…

alone…

[Captain Kwok]

Juprup Federation News

2400.0

Almost ten years since the concept was first proposed, the Juprup Federation came into existence as the first unified government of the Juprup people. The first official act was to elect the Speaker who would lead the newly founded Federation Council. The Council’s unanimous choice was Councilor Kwok from Port Spoogy, who played a pivotal role in organizing the new government from the beginning. In his inaugural speech, Speaker Kwok declared, “This is the dawn of a new age for the Juprup, an era in which peace and prosperity will lead our people to many great things,” and later lamented “These exciting times will be remembered for millennia to come as we begin to reach for the stars.” Among the first tasks of the Federation Council is to finalize the plans and funding for the creation of the first off-world colonies to help relieve the over populated and resource depleted Juprup homeworld.

2400.2

The first orbital construction station, Juprup Construp A, was launched to the delight of all Juprup citizens. The first of five orbital stations to be built above Juprup prime, Construp A will provide the facilities for the construction of the first Colorup colony ships. Later stations will focus on a variety of tasks, including the construction of Enoki class explorers that will be the first manned ships to pass through the Warp Point, a phenomenon first discovered by robot probes almost fifty years ago.

[ September 29, 2002, 05:11: Message edited by: Captain Kwok ]

[TerranC]

*Notes: Please note that I will now try to put some visual representations: Pictures! They will be in BMP format, and some might be large. Please be patient if you want to see the pictures, or skip them altogether. Thank you.
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"It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn't feel like a giant. I felt very, very small."
-Neil Armstrong

Galtenn Standard Year 2400, 2nd Month

Despite the "friendly warning", nothing damaging have been done to me and/or to the alliance and it's partners of the space program in these past two months; well... if you count some of the coffees I've spilled which scalded me, I guess you could say that I was damaged.

The Construction of the experimental vessel has ended 3 weeks ago, and after cleaning and testing the equipment and the ship, it was brought out into the desolate plain of Anozira via 4 hoverfrieghts to the Noscut airport. From there, it was delivered to the Anozira North Launch site section by section, deck by deck. It was then reassembled in the Jet Propulsion Labs Anozira Hanger, and now it sits in hanger waiting for launch.

The experimental vessel has been named Swift.

Swift Specifications

It sports 6 newly developed JPL Ion engines which is packed into 3 engine nacelles, which are supposed to give the Swift the title of the fastest craft ever built; but I have my doubts. The Swift is also fitted with NOLGS. Nuclear Ordinance Launcher & Guidance systems. There was heavy debate on this issue, on why a ship of exploration should sport such a deadly weapon. The Galtenn Alliance won the debate, after we discovered a meteor that narrowly missed our planet, after it passed us 2 days prior to discovery.

The landslide victory over the H&P Group, The Hypochondriacs and Pessimists Group, as it was called by most of the media, has caused the Oceanic Federation and the Namor Republic to pull from the alliance. Their loss. From the creation of the Alliance after the worldwide Trade Disputes a 100 years ago, No nation has pulled it's representatives home, under any ordinary circumstances. I guess an exception could be made, as in these times, nothing was ordinary.

Although the warning didn't strike, it may be due to the extra security detail I've put on to every alliance installations, institutions, embassies, and any building, corporations, and parties connected to the space program. No chance could be taken; especially after the riot after the poll on Oceania City that injured 3 people.

I never expected all this. As the Galtenn Alliance is an alliance of the nations, and since we have no land or population to call our own, the power are in the states, and two of them rebuked their demiregents from the alliance representatives’ council.

No matter. As long we have primary support of the majority, all is fine.

"Sir, we should be landing at the launch site in a few minutes. Your long wait is over, sir."

"Thank you pilot."

I could see the launch site now, despite the heavy storm. There wasn't much to see. I could see the central control spire, 3 research Geodesic Domes, and 3 dark buildings, which I presumed, would be where the Crew and I would be staying until the weather clears up. The Launch was supposed to take 3 days ago, but a snowstorm blew into Anozira, disrupting air and ground traffic. One of our convoys carrying the bridge module almost got stuck in the snow, 2 kilometers from the launch site. Thankfully, it safely rolled in after getting out of the ditch, and before the worst came.

"Sir, we're landing now. Please keep your hands inside at all times."

"... Thank you pilot."

The door slid open, and I had 3 minutes to get to the nearest object that would shield the hovercraft crew and I from the snow. An ATV-W quickly came over, and stopped right in front of us. The crew and I got on, after anchoring down the hovercraft.

"Fine weather we're having, isn't it, Mr. Central Regent!"

"Yes, pilot. Absolutely splendid!"

The ATV sprang into motion as we got on, and went down an underground chute to a full-scale parking lot, complete with heating. I deactivated my thermal insulator of the body suit I was wearing, and walked outside.

Galtenn prime is almost completely comprised of Ice; other parts are water, boreal forests, and a very small fraction is tropical. All Galtenn evolved from the icy parts, which explains our natural insulation furs, located under our epidermis and throughout our whole body. Even a race with normal insulation from the elements need protection from anomalies, so one day, one brilliant unknown inventor developed a body suit which could provide warmth, chills, humidity, dry air, and other things. Even to the point of anchoring down a person from a harsh winter storm. Several improvements were made from the day it was made, but most of the systems still remain originally. If needed the body suits could be compressed into pockets attached to normal fabric underwear or other wear instantly, with the touch of a button. The body suit automatically cleans the air inside it, and since we don't have the need for sweat as other few tropical species on our planet do, hygiene is not an issue.

I pressed down the compressor button, and the body suit instantly disappeared, showing my formal politiksuit.

"Ah, Mr. Central Regent. Thank you for coming."

"I wouldn't miss this for the world. And you are...?"

"Gerrehdt Provost. Facility Director. It is an honor to have you here at our facility."

"If I may ask, what facility? I saw only a few buildings outside...?"

"The whole facility is underground, made up of 30 flours and capable of holding 30 000 people. The buildings that are outside is only for pure necessity, as we lose heating that way."

Mr. Provost continued, leading me into the turbolift.

"It's already late sir. Would you like to go to your quarters?"

"Thank you, I am feeling a bit tired."

As soon as we stepped in the turbolift, it quickly shot down, across and up. Leading into one of the dark buildings.

"How is the weather going to be like Mr. Provost?"

"The Forecast is bright, Mr. Central Speaker. We should be able to launch tomorrow morning."
"Here are your quarters, Mr. Central Speaker. If you need anything, don't hesitate to call us. Have a nice dream."

As soon as I stepped off, it shot down again.

As I lay at the bed, I kept thinking about my father. He wasn't a politician, nor was he anybody special, but he was a great father, and an amateur astronomy enthusiast. He got me interested in stars, and in space. And he always would tell me that "Someday, We will be able to go out into the stars, and see many strange, but beautiful sights."

He passed away shortly after christening the chassis.

The launch sites was clear and bring the next morning, as I could see from my quarter windows.

Launch Site

The Launch site were some kilometers away, but it could be seen with clarity. 4 pillars of cables, metal cables no doubt, kept the Swift grounded, as it seemed to fight the swift from launching out into space. There didn't seem to be any snow on the Swift, So I guessed that it was brought out this morning.

But there were 4 short, stout pyramids on the corner of the launch pad. I never saw those on the blueprints.

Mr. Provost walked in behind.

"Good Morning, Mr. Central Regent."

"Mr. Provost, what are those pyramids on the launch site?"

"2 of them are bunkers and 2 are emergency stations. They were brought in the Last minute."

"Thank you. I suppose I should get ready?"

"Yes sir. The Launch commences in an hour."

I hurried to the turbolift, and got down to the command center. By the time I got down, it took 15 minutes to get from my quarters to the Control center. This place was massive.

The place was flurry with action, as crews worked around the clock to insure safety. I saw 5 main plasma displays outlining the most important information: The Ship engines, Launch site traffic, the weather, or more specifically, the temperatures, Ship system status, and space traffic.

30 minutes before launch.

"Mr. Provost, who is the head of the controls?"

Mr. Provost pointed out a man near the 4th plasma display.

"His name is Delgado Trallan, but he likes to be called by his first name; he's coming over now."

Mr. Delgado came running to us, he seemed to be in a hurry. He was an old man, I would guess about 124 years old.

"Mr. Central Regent, It is an honor to be in your presence."

Yeesh... Honor this, Honor that...

"I am honored to be meeting the man who would make the launch come true, Mr. Delgado."

"Thank you Central Regent. The launch is going according to schedule. There has not been an error since ever. Everything is going according to schedule. No errors. Absolutely no faults."

"Calm down Mr. Delgado. I'm sure the Launch will be spectaculous, especially under your guidance."

"Thank you Mr. Regent. Thank you... Since we have some time on our hands, would you like to see something interesting?"

"Of course."

Mr. Provost and I followed Mr. Delgado into a room that had 3 golden disks on it. Mr. Delgado reached up and grabbed all three and showed them to me and Mr. Provost.

"They're disks. First Contact disks to be precise."

"First Contact Disks?"

"Disks that comprise information about us, Galtenn prime, other animals, our scientific achievements, our history, and even sounds!"
"Let me show you."

As Mr. Delgado put in a disk labeled Galtenn, a holographic display came up.

"Galtenn Alliance. An Alliance comprising of 35 Nation states, The Galtenn alliance works as a worldwide Regulation Institution. A Central Regent, who comes into power by voting and stays in power for 24 years, governs the Galtenn Alliance. The Galtenn Alliance has 24 branches, from humanitarian..."

The holographic player stopped and popped out the disk. Mr. Delgado grabbed them and put them back on the wall.

"These are the planetborn copies. The real ones are aboard the Swift. When the Swift or If the Swift encounters an alien species, they will give the aliens these disks as a gesture of good will."

"That's brilliant!"

"Thank you Mr. Central Regent."

"It is now 15 minutes to launch Mr. Central Regent."

"Thank you. I would like to speak to the crew of the Swift if possible."

"Anything's possible, Mr. Central Regent."

The Main Display showed a communiqué being sent to the Swift. After a few short Minutes, The Display showed a young woman in full body suit sitting on the captain's chair.

Mr. Provost spoke to the microphone in front of him.

"Good morning Swift. Mr. Central Regent would like to talk to you before launch."

"It's an honor sir."

"Thank you captain...?"

"Captain Jahanna of the Galtenn Starship Swift sir."

"Congratulations Captain. You must be proud to be the first one to bring our race into the warp age."

"Yes sir. It is a tremendous feeling."

"I have no doubt that you and your crew will succeed. Tell me, how many people are onboard the Swift?"

"35 sir. Most of them are from the Northern Directorate, but everybody are from everywhere."

"Thank you..."

Mr. Provost signaled me to look at the time. 5 minutes to launch.

"It seems that we will have to cut this short, captain. The launch will be soon. Good luck captain."

"Thank you sir."

"All right! Everybody give me your status!"

The monitors now seemed to work even harder than they did before a second ago.

"Capcom!"
"Good to go"

"Telsat!"
"Good to go"

"GalSupport!"
"Good to go"

The Checklist Lasted 4 minutes. The computer now started the countdown.

"Countdown: T Minus 59 seconds. All systems go for launch and good to go."

I went outside while the checklist was being checked off; Mr. Provost and the Hovercraft Crew also came out.

The Swift had 6 Booster rockets attached to its enormous wing; it would seem that Ion Engines won't do any good in the atmosphere.

"T Minus 10" "9" "8" "7" "6" "Ignition started" "4"

Your wish came true dad.

"3" "2" "1"

BLast-off!

The cables quickly came off admist the chaos. The Rockets roared with thunder and strength and the heat generated by them were felt all the way up to our position. What seemed like an eternity was only a few seconds; The Swift gracefully lifted off, like a tropical swan flying into the sky, leaving a trail of smoke along the way. The Swift shot up and up and up into the sky, until it was nothing but a speck in the sky.

Inside, the crew could see that the swift was now in the upper ionosphere, and it could see galtenn in it's fullest.

"Command, This is Captain Jahanna... we have jettisoned the booster rockets and will commence the ion engines"
"Ion engines at 10... 20... 50... 70... 100%"
"It's beautiful out here command... It's so blue. Like a gem."

Space

"Congratulations, Captain, and Good luck on your upcoming mission"

"Copy that command. See you soon."

[ October 15, 2002, 20:09: Message edited by: TerranC ]

[capnq]

CEO Cunsi Davdi watched the vidfeed with mixed emotions. I really should be celebrating, he thought to himself. The initial public offering for Pilda Shipyards had broken several records; the "New World, New Life" promotional campaign had drawn over two hundred and fifty-five million entries; speculators had sold their berths on the _Consumer Confidence_ for as much as eight times what they'd paid for them. It had been the Eifralo Conglomerate's most successful project so far during his tenure as CEO.

Yet all Davdi could think about as the hulking colony ship prepared to break orbit was that the woman he loved was leaving with it. Talro hadn't even told him that she'd entered the sweepstakes, and when she announced that she'd won one of the non-specialist slots, he was stunned that she actually intended to go, rather than resell her ticket. They'd never actually discussed a household merger, but Davdi had assumed that they'd spend the rest of their lives together. If that was going to happen at all now, it wouldn't be until he retired; he couldn't run the Conglomerate from a frontier branch office, and the Conglomerate needed him more than Talro did.

And that was the crux of it. Talro didn't need him at all. How much did he need her?

"There you are," his thoughts were interrupted. Retla Gurse, Vice President of Construction, bounced into the room. Besides being in charge of Pilda Shipyards' day-to-day operations, Gurse was also Davdi's closest friend. "Public Relations has been looking for you for a soundbite about the launch."

"I know, that's why I ducked in here," Davdi grinned. "Needed some time alone to compose something catchy enough to make the early newsfeed."

"Better get out there, then, before you get upstaged. The drive flare when all five engines throttle up is pretty impressive. And stop worrying about Talro; you know as well as I do that she'll be fine."

"You know me too well, old friend. Let's go give the customers the show that they came for."

[Unknown_Enemy]

2400.4

Cardinal Pytralia was sweating. Raising from his chair, he saluted the inner council of Cardinals, His Holiness Vixen VIII, then started to speak.

“Your Holiness, brothers, sisters,
I have asked for this session of the inner council to bring you some dire news. As you all know, our former homeworld's states send our ancestors here from 6 to 8 centuries ago, but only after undergoing the bio modifications that enabled them to survive on an ice world. We all know that these modifications were only partially successful, resulting in a climate adaptation of our body to the dreadful cold that lies here, but resulting also in the shortening of our life span to 80 years and what is commonly called the Small Death. The Small Death is a reVersion of our genetical code which results in weakening our Ice adaptation, while not allowing a Tyrean to sustain high temperatures of 30°C or more. Following the release of the Genetical Commission's archives, the biological Department made the following discoveries : people not afflicted with Small Death in their families see their life span reducing quickly. Should the present tendencies be confirmed, our life expectancies should top around 30 years in just 7 centuries from now. Considering the time a Tyrian needs to grow-up and learn, we will not be able to maintain an advanced civilization based on technology. At the moment, all our people seem be subject to this, except those infected by Small Death for unknown reasons. But worse, this finding lead us to investigations which proved that some of the flora we brought here mutated with the local bio-stock and has strengthened the shortening life span process. It appears that ....”
His Holiness raised from his chair and interrupted the cardinal,
“Brothers, sisters,
Please remember the cult back on Tyrian III, 6 centuries ago. Remember them hunted and condemned. Remember them banished here to be forgotten by all. That was only 2 years before the Armageddon. Remember that what may appears today as a disaster may result tomorrow in our salvation. You may resume Cardinal Pytralia.”
.....
3 hours later
.....

“... Therefore, it is the decision of the inner council that domed colony shall be created as soon as possible on other worlds, and that full priority will be given to the families presenting the more important risks of Small Death....”

I am his Holiness Vixen VIII, elected by the inner council to lead the Tyrean. I am the leader of a dying specie.

“... Exploration ships shall be built and sent to other systems to find suitable worlds....”

I am fully aware of what we are, we are an unachieved social experiment. Send a bunch of criminals to a harsh world, where they will have to work hard just to barely survive, and in a few centuries they should have evolved in a small and honest agricultural world. That was the goal of our presence here.

“... full priority to massive transport system will be given once a valuable new homeworld has been discovered....”

The experiment was a success, almost a miracle. But they betrayed us by committing mass suicide. They betrayed us by messing the bio modifications. They betrayed us by destroying our homeworld. May they freeze in hell.

“... complete evacuation of this world shall be set as main goal of the Churches....”

The Churches. What a joke. Is there really some Gods somewhere ? I wonder. The Churches are no more than convenient tools. They were the easiest tool which allowed our group to escape the soon to be dead Tyrian III. They are the most convenient tool to control the population, to have them unknowingly concentrated on the Long Road.

“... the main goal of leaving the planet shall be kept secret as long as we are not ready to migrate....”

Our people are not strong enough to accept the hidden truth. They are not strong enough to accept what they are. They are not strong enough to accept what they could be.

“...research in terra-formation shall begin immediately to ensure no new colonies will meet the problems we face now....”

I will not betray my people. I will not fail them.

[ October 01, 2002, 13:27: Message edited by: Unknown_Enemy ]

[sachmo]

Invexus Corporation

Mike Leetch took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, and then allowed himself time for a yawn and a stretch. He and his staff had been pouring over the mounds data that Invexus Explorer had beamed back after surviving the trip thru the wormhole. Leetch admitted that while he had been cautiously optimistic that the engineering of the ship would allow it to survive the trip thru hyperspace, he was as surprised as everyone else when Captain Bromley beamed his greetings back from the Kornephoros system. Since that day, Bromley and his crew had broadcast back to Cherek all sorts of readings, pictures, and data. While every bit of this information would be put to good use, it was quickly discovered that Leetch’s staff would need more resources just to sift thru it all and put it to the most efficient use possible. Word came down directly from Board Chairman Hartnell himself that the Space Research Division was to have access to anything and everything that they needed to get the job done. The next day, every wish Leetch had ever asked for had been granted. The department’s staff grew to twice its original size virtually overnight. They were given every piece of equipment he had ever requested. They were getting a brand new complex built for them, and the best news of all was the Mike Leetch was going to be project lead. That meant a huge raise and a chance in the spotlight. If they preformed well, who knew how high he could rise? However, being the golden boy for the company was a two edged sword. The Board Chairman wanted to begin remote mining asteroids as soon as possible. Leetch gathered his best men with him and began preliminary work on the issue. Projections had the project being completed in just over five years. Leetch knew better than to go to the Board Chairman with this estimate, and so he began the unenviable task of begging, borrowing and stealing resource he could to cut down the research time. In the meantime some useful discoveries had already been made. The stability of the hull of the Explorer had allowed an ingenious young scientist to design a dome that would fit over a colony, allowing Cherekians to colonize rock planets with atmospheres that would normally be toxic to them. This little gem bought Leetch and his people a little more time to figure out how to deliver a five year project in half the time.

Board Chairman Hartnell sat down at the head of the conference table. Gathered in this room were his closest advisors and department heads. The discovery of the domed colonies had been a huge boost to Hartnell’s plans. Initially, he had been a bit disappointed when Captain Bromley had failed to find a world with an Oxygen atmosphere in Kornephoros. The domed communities would allow quick colonization of a number of previously unusable worlds, including two in their own system. Already, a colony ship had been constructed, and was making ready to depart for Aecupus IV, the closest planet in the universe to Cherek. The planet would be used as a research colony. However, the long-term goals of the corporation, and of the Cherek people, needed to be discussed. That is what this meeting was about.

“Good afternoon, everyone” Hartnell said.
Everyone returned his salutation. They all seemed eager to get into the meeting.
“Alright people, here is where we stand. Mister Kilibreu has his Research and Development division working on interpreting the data we have gathered from Invexus Explorer. As most of you know, it has already paid off in the development of domed habitats, and we are well on our way to putting the first Cherek community on another world!”
Mike Kilibreu smiled as applause broke out in the conference room.
“Also, Fleet Services has done an excellent job of getting our first colony ship put together in three months. The hard work by Dana Wallace and her people has made our first colonization efforts a reality.”
Again applause broke out. Dana smiled shyly, then blushed when Hartnell gave her a quick wink.
“Every one of you should be proud of the work they have done. Because of you, Invexus is reaching out and spanning the galaxy. Your hard work and dedication is helping to secure the future for the Cherek people.”
More applause.
Hartnell held up his hands.
“This is only the beginning. We cannot harvest these new fruits of prosperity without fear of consequence. There are…others whom we may have to compete with.”
Gasps ran around the table, except for the few who had been privy to this information already.
“Captain Bromley recovered a bit of data that has been kept secret until now. During the first week of their stay in Kornephoros, Invexus Explorer picked up a very faint transmission from parts unknown. We still do not know much about this transmission, but we do know it was created by a sentient race.”
After a few moments of silence, everyone tried to speak at once. Hartnell asked for silence, and it was given, but he could see the uncertainty in their eyes.
“We have taken steps to deal with anyone, or anything, we come into contact with. To protect the interests of the Invexus Corporation, and to protect the Cherek race, we have created the Invexus Security Fleet. We will begin construction of armed capital ships that will be used to protect our facilities and people around the galaxy. Hopefully, it will be a force we will not need to use, but I gather everyone will feel better knowing that it exists.”
That brought some nervous laughter.
“I can’t say when, or even if, we will encounter this race, or any other race for that matter. If and when we do, my feeling is that we will be able to get along peacefully with them, and hopefully learn and grow as a people from the experience. We are standing on the brink of a new era, everyone, and Invexus will lead the way into the light.”