History of the Galaxy II

[Gimboid]

OOC - Apologies for the massive delay, real-life issues were getting in the way Please take note of the date of this post and this post can be assumed to take place after my 2nd post. I will have dates on the other back Posts i make to catch up my storyline to the current stardate of 2405.0

Katana Imperium
2401.5

After the first dozen colonies had been established in the neighbouring star systems to the homeworld, development of advanced telecommunication had needed to be created to allow effective colony control measures. Despite every colony being controlled by only the most trusted vassals of the Mahatsuhito clan and her allies there was a need to ensure real-time conferencing capabilities for population monitoring and control from the homeworld. Trust can only go so far

With this new telecommunications equipment came a means of keeping the population blind to the reality of the Imperium. An empire wide news service had been setup, and with it the possibility of deciding what information the population in general would be allowed to witness. This powerful subterfuge was so staggeringly obvious a means of control that it had suprised many in power that the Imperium had not used such measures before now.

The entire economic and social fabric of the Imperium had changed in ways unimagined before the discovery of the warp points. Entire space yards had been devoted to nothing else but the production of colony modules, and every month at least 1 new colony was being established somewhere in the universe. The people for the most part were unaware of just how huge the expansion plans permeated the Imperium in everything it did, and except for the occasional news clipping about the latest colonies that had been created. All that could be noticed was the commonplace disappearence of neighbours who were shipped off to some unknown offworld destination to fulfill the grand plans of the emperor.

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Power was constantly flowing into the capital nowadays with the exponential increase in information, resources, and population intel originating from all the colonies. Kaneko had found new ways of influencing people and events in the partial chaos that ensued as new colonies were established and power structures were being setup. She revelled in choosing the people who would have the true power in colonies, let the people assume one group was in power and yet it was someone else entirely who would be pulling all the strings. There had been a few foolish Groups who had tried to follow the puppets strings back to the source, quick deaths awaited all those who attempted to interfere with the plans of the Mahatsuhito clan.

Several Groups of conspirators had been located and destroyed over the previous year, blindly believing that to live away from the homeworld offered some measure of protection from the political posturing and outright clan warfare that had existed there since the Imperium was formed. With the discovery of such Groups, Kaneko's worst fears had been confirmed - no longer was her domination of the empire as absolute as she had manipulated it to be, she would have to find ways to exert power without physically being present. This new conundrum had occupied her mind for weeks, she now hand picked all operatives that would be given power in the colonies as well as the individuals who would report about the day to day activities of the colonies, and these Last reports would only be made to her.

Behind her regal visage as it appeared in the palace was a mind more cunning then any realised, noone would ursurp her power she had decided that long ago and so she had become the puppet master, pulling the invisible strings of power and causing events to unfold in the manner that suited her needs best.

Her resources were being pushed to their limits with the ever expanding size of the empire and the Mahatsuhito clan would eventually need to use people from the other substantial clans of the Imperium such as Menjisu, Tokima, and Kitokaha Clans who could be trusted for many things but needed to be watched as they too would place their own clans needs above all else when it came time to decide loyalties. This fact only added to the control conundrum, yet Kaneko found that the extra stress created by such issues only focused her more, increased her determination to stay in power. To control a planet was a satisfying experience, to control the wide reaching and ever expanding Katana Imperium was euphoric.

[ December 02, 2002, 12:18: Message edited by: Gimboid ]

[capnq]

"Hello? Eifra to Cunsi..." Retla Gurse chided his friend.

"Sorry, Retla," Davdi apologized, "I got distracted for a moment. What were you saying?"

"I said, it's hard to believe that we've met a second alien race only a month after the Tyreans."

"Intelligent life seems to be more common than anyone expected," Davdi shrugged. "The Tophin mentioned that we were the fifth race they'd encountered, and at the time, they didn't know about the Tyreans yet."

"They seem a bit creepy compared to the Tyreans," Gurse commented. "What kind of people would collectively call themselves a 'Hive'?"

"I don't know. They haven't been very communicative since the initial contact. They didn't object to us colonizing Seginus III, though, and requested a non-aggression treaty almost immediately. They may just be wary of aliens."

"I doubt that's why you haven't even touched your food. Come on, give. What's bothering you?"

"It's Talro. She's back on Eifra on a business trip."

"Have you seen her?"

"Oh, did I ever see her! Of all the times for Talro to decide to visit, why did she have to pick this morning? She showed up at my door with no advance notice, and caught me having a late breakfast with Sanre, with both of us still in our sleepwear."

"Back up, I missed something here. How did you end up having breakfast with Doctor Dorsi?"

"Well, it started at Sinta's party. We'd both had quite a bit of BLARG, and neither of us was terribly surprised that she woke up the next morning on my bed. What did surprise me was that she wanted to stay and try to 'remember' what we'd been doing before we fell asleep. Since then, we've been spending the night together whenever our schedules allow it."

"I'm glad you've found someone to replace Talro; Sanre is quite an attractive woman. Did Talro make a scene?"

"An entire vidshow. I'm still not quite sure how it happened, but the resulting argument ended with both of them mad at me."

"They'll get over it. Did Talro expect you to wait for her, after not even speaking to you for five years?"

"I half expected that I would. I certainly wasn't looking for a new relationship. If Sinta hadn't brought Sanre in to consult on the space force, I doubt we'd ever have even met."

"That's another thing you owe to the Chairman, then."

"Good thing he hasn't charged me for it!" Davdi laughed. "I already owe him more than a lifetime's salary for all the support he's given me dealing with the board over the years."

[ December 03, 2002, 21:03: Message edited by: capnq ]

[geoschmo]

The Hive continued to grow in solitude for a time. Expanding outwards, exploring new systems, planting new colonies on several planets. Its initial fear of extinction had abated somewhat. The Hive could not imagine a catastrophe that could strike all it’s parts as spread out across the quadrant as they now were. But as it’s fear declined, its curiosity grew.

The network of warp gates it found was quite extensive. Over a dozen star systems now it had explored and in every case there was at least one other warp gate leading out of the system in another direction. And all but a couple of the systems had viable star systems with planets that could be colonized if the Hive decided to. Obviously its initial suspicion that this was some sort of transportation system created by an incredibly advanced, unknown race was correct. The Hive wished to find this race.

On some of the planets the Hive had colonized it had also discovered signs of this, or possibly another advanced race. Ruins of great cities and pieces of technology, some of which was still useable, were found. But still no living beings of this advanced ancient race were located. It appeared the race had either left this area, or died out tens of thousands of years ago.

Not all the planets were all that interesting or particularly rich in minerals, so the Hive passed over them at first. And the Hive learned that even though it was possible to colonize the planets with atmospheres other than oxygen by means of habitat domes, it was not preferable to do so. It found that it’s hosts thrived and worked better when they could be outside and breathe the air occasionally.

Then along the eastern border a mysterious ship appeared. It came through the warp point, broadcast a general greeting message, and disappeared within the warp point. A few weeks later, another ship appeared in another system. At first the Hive thought they were from the same race, but it quickly discovered they were two distinct separate species. Both appeared to be at least equal technologically with the Hive. Neither appeared to be capable of building the warp gates, so the Hive decided they were probably not the Ancient ones. However, they were interesting nonetheless.

The Hive had scanned its hosts memories and literature for some information that could guide it. It found much about a time in the host races past in which the planet had been divided into separate political entities. These various nations got along for the most part, but often there were disagreements of one sort or another that resulted in wars. The Hive did not wish for such a thing to happen between it and these new species, and they did not appear to be hostile either. The Hive found information on something called a treaty. It offered both the new races a treaty and they accepted.

For a time that was pretty much all that happened. The other races seemed content to leave the Hive in peace. The Hive met and made treaties with several other races, all without significant incident. It learned a little bit about each of these races. They were all quite different form one another, and all quite different from the Hive. They all appeared to share the Hive’s curiosity about the universe around them. What they did not appear to share was the Hive’s unity of thought. Each of these races was made up of separate individuals, much as the host species had been before joining with the Hive. Billions upon billions of individuals.

The Hive was quite surprised that any such fractured group of beings could work together enough to explore the stars as the Hive was doing. But apparently they had adapted to the deficiency, and even seemed to value their individuality in most cases. The Hive decided this was a concept that needed more study.

Another concept taught to it by these aliens was that of borders. Up to this point the Hive had merely explored and colonized whatever planets it wished to. Now the Hive was told that certain planets “belonged” to this race, or certain systems “belonged” to that empire. The Hive knew from it’s hosts history that this sort of idea was a common cause of wars, and so it decided for the time being to defer to any such requests, provided the Hive did not already have a colony in one of these systems.

Up to this point the Hive had plenty of room to grow. And there were still many warp gates yet that it had not traveled through. Many of the older colonies were well established now and the early problems the Hive had maintaining enough resources to keep it’s space yards constructing Hive ships were all gone. The Hive decided it no longer needed to mine the asteroids in the home system for minerals, and so it sent a radio message to the ship to return to the home planet. As the Hive watched the ship approach, it reached out it’s mind seeking for the dozens of voices that would signal the point at which the ships crew had rejoined the greater collective. At this point something quite unexpected happened.

Instead of many different voices, the Hive sensed one strong voice. Quickly the Hive communicated with this voice and there was a moment of great awareness. The crew of the mining ship which had been out of contact with the Hive had formed it’s own Hive. The new hive could talk to the Hive telepathically, but it was unique. It was an individual.

The Hive was no longer alone.

[sachmo]

To say life on Gissen was hard would be an understatement. Rafe Lindsey felt like he knew that better than anyone in the galaxy.
Rafe worked in the mines here on Gissen, which was the same work he had done back on Cherek. The work was hard, and moderately dangerous, but if you knew what you were doing you would be ok. Rafe knew what he was doing when it came to mining, which was probably why Invexus had recruited him so heavily. His bonus package had been substantial: a large cash bonus, a furnished apartment, and three weeks of paid vacation per year. Rafe had been sure that his life was on the upswing.
When they arrived on Gissen and began mining, he wasn’t as confident about his life choice. The entire surface of the planet was covered with a thick, fast growing purple vegetation that had to be cut back before the mining machines could even begin to work. So the miners had to patrol the perimeter of the site with cutters, constantly clearing the area so that the machines could do their work. It was a long, tiring struggle.
Once the mines were dug, they began work. Gissen was very rich in minerals. Soon the planet was churning out massive quantities of essential mineral, and their production soon surpassed even Cherek's. There were difficulties, though. The vegetation from the surface had to constantly be cut back from the mines, or within hours the entire mine would be covered, making work impossible. Also, the increased supply also created increased demand, and so the mines were working at a constant fever pace. This pace resulted in a larger amount of accidents, and mining accidents were often fatal. So in the year that Rafe had been on Gissen, he had worked harder than he ever had in his life, come face to face with death on more than one occasion, and when he did get some time to himself, there weren’t many entertainment option available. Rafe knew when he was licked, and he decided he would transfer back to Cherek.
He was almost immediately informed by the home office that he was “essential personnel” to the mining operations on Gissen and so his request for transfer was denied. Rafe was stuck on Gissen, at least until he was no longer deemed essential.
On night while he was out letting off some steam, a friend of his introduced him to Glide. That night, he forgot all of his troubles. The Glide took away his pain and loneliness. He spent the entire evening at his friend’s apartment, smiling and babbling while his brain chased after dreams. He awoke the next morning feeling refreshed and cheerful.
That day he could not stop thinking about the night before. As the hours mounted and his body grew weary, a small voice in his brain informed him that if he could get his hands on some Glide, he would be able to relax totally after work.
That night as soon as he left work, he went out to find his friend and to buy some Glide. When he caught up with his buddy, he was disappointed to find that his friend no longer had any to spare, but that he could probably head down to the space station and buy some there. Apparently, ship crewmen were the best source for the drug.
He made his way down to the spaceport, and the small voice in his head became more insistent that he feed it some Glide. He wasn’t sure exactly how to go about buying the drug, but he must have telegraphed his intentions well enough because soon a dirty, nervous looking ship crewman came over to him.
“What do you want, dirtmover?” the crewman asked.
“I want some Glide. I was told I might be able to find some here,” Rafe answered dumbly.
The crewman smiled. “Of course you do. Are you corporate security?”
Rafe’s eyebrows shot up. “What? No, of course not!”
The crewman looked around and grabbed Rafe by the arm, pulling him into a public restroom.
“Hey! What are you doing? Let go!” Rafe protested.
“Shut up, dirtmover. We can’t do this in the street. Glide ain’t exactly legal, you know?”
Rafe shook his head.
“Actually, I didn’t know that.”
“Well, maybe news ain’t got out here yet, but if they catch you with this stuff, they will lock you up and throw away the key.”
Rafe started to walk away, but that voice was screaming now. Screaming for the Glide.
“Give it to me anyway.”
The crewman laughed. “Lemme see the credit stick.”
Rafe handed over his stick, and the crewman ran it.
“Good. It’s twenty credits for a gram.”
“Twenty? Are you kidding?” Rafe squawked.
“That’s the price, squab. Take it or leave it.”
The voice told him to TAKE IT AND GO.
“Fine. Give me a gram.”
Rafe transferred the credits to the crewman’s stick, pocketed the Glide, and went home. He began to think about what the crewman said about it being illegal and started to keep an eye out for Security Details. The voice told him not to worry.
Back at his apartment, Rafe spent the evening laying on his bed, babbling to himself and drooling. His brain took him back to Cherek, where his folks were, and Janice. Janice teased him a bit before going to bed with him, and they made love all-night and talked until the morning. It was the best night of his life.
He awoke to the sound of the com unit buzzing. He glanced over at the clock. He was two hours late for his shift down at the mine. Panicked, he answered the com unit call.
The face of his foreman appeared.
“Lindsey! Damn it, boy, you look like ****! Are you sick or something?”
Rafe feigned a cough; thankful for the out his boss had given him.
“Yes sir. I must have slept thru my alarm. I meant to call you, but I must have slept in. I’m sorry sir…I can be there in thirty minutes…” and at this point he feigned another coughing fit.
The face on the com unit frowned.
“Nah, stay home. I don’t want you to get the crew sick. Just remember to call me next time. I though you were dead.” The foreman flashed him the briefest of smiles.
“Yes sir. Have a good day.”
The screen went dead.
Rafe ran into the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. He must not have slept very well because his eyes were sunken into his head and his skin was very pale. He felt tired, not at all like he had after the first time he had taken Glide.
Maybe I took too much, he though, or maybe I took it too late at night and didn’t rest long enough.
“Well, whatever the reason, I’m off for the day,” he told his reflection, “maybe I can get some chores done.”
Just then, the voice in his head started telling him that maybe another trip back home might not be such a bad thing. He tried to ignore it, but it only came back louder this time, and this time it came back with Janice’s voice, calling him and begging him to come to bed and make love. He grabbed the Last dose of Glide and wolfed it down, falling back on the bed. He closed his eyes and stars exploded as his mind flew across space and time, finally coming to rest next to his love, Janice. She turned to kiss him again….

Once month later, an Invexus Security Detail found the body of Rafe Lindsey in a pile of trash. He was dressed in rags, and was obviously malnourished. An autopsy would later show the cause of death as Glide Syndrome, which was where the brain basically shut down, trapping the user in a dreamlike reality while the body slowly shut itself down, eventually killing the user when their heart stopped beating or the brain forgot to keep the lungs going. It was brought about by repeated Glide overdoses. Deaths from Glide Syndrome were usually very easy to diagnose, because the victims always died with a smile on their faces.

[capnq]

Once again, CEO Davdi was feeling mixed emotions at a colony ship launch. This time, the ship was the _Consumer Survey_; newly refitted with the first colony module using technology purchased from the Tyreans, it was capable of colonizing the solid surface of a minor planet. Talro wasn't leaving on this one, but Davdi almost wished she was; it was only bound for a tiny hydrogen world in neighboring Manark.

"I can't believe that Talro put in the high bid to lead the trade delegation to the Tophin. She must be even more upset than I realized; she'd have to go to Praxis Verdantis to get any further away from me."

"Oh, come on," Retla Gurse chided him, "that can't be the only reason she did it. She's always been a free spirit, looking for new adventures. If she only wanted to get away from you, she could stay at home on Fogse. You've never visited there, or any of the branch colonies, for that matter."

"There's too much to be done here on Eifra," Davdi replied, somewhat defensively. "I can't spend that much time away from the office."

"The _Consumer Survey_ is 20% faster than the original _Consumer Confidence_," Gurse commented. "Once we refit the _Personnel_ to use the Contra-Terrene drives as well, it will be capable of the same speed."

"It will still be a week's travel time just to reach Nuqbo, and that's only one-way," Davdi countered. "I'd worry about being away from the Board that long; Sinta can probably keep Malwi from making trouble by himself, but it's easier if we're both there."

"Speaking of trouble, how's the recruitment program for fighter pilots coming?"

"At current enrollment rates, we'll barely have enough qualified pilots to fly the carrier's full complement. The training sim is selling well for its genre, but getting minors to fly the real thing is another matter entirely; most of their parents aren't willing to release them from the household charter before they legally become adults. By the time they're entitled to establish independent households, most of them are no longer agressive enough to be combat effective in the training sim. We've increased the signing bonus twice already, but applications haven't risen at all. I've even tried asking the Cytherians if they'd be willing to hire out as pilots for us, but their initial response wasn't promising.

It would be so much easier if we could just automate the fighters as well as the carrier. Soctu has research teams working on both smaller computers and larger fighters, but he's not certain whether the two ends of the problem will ever converge."

"Well, if we do solve the pilot problem," Retla said, "the revised carrier design is actually cheaper to build than the original prototype. And Node-25's simulations show that the new secondary guns give the carrier a much better chance against enemy fighters."

"It's not clear we're even going to need to build a second carrier, though," Davdi frowned. "Selya hasn't been able to talk the Tyreans into buying the first one, even after offering financing on a lease."

"A lease? Who's idea was that?"

"Selya came up with it on her own. Apparently, the Tyreans expressed concern about being able to afford our asking price, even with a prepayment discount."

"Has Malwi heard about that yet? He'll probably claim that it proves he was right after all."

"I assume so; he made getting personal reports on the negotiations a condition of transferring the commission to Selya. But the board hasn't met since she made the pitch, so I haven't heard his reaction."

"I'm glad I don't have to regularly attend board meetings," Relta smiled. "I think I'd get angry at Malwi even faster than the Chairman does."

"Sinta's temper versus Malwi's ego is an epic clash," Davdi laughed. "If we could harness that energy, we could make even faster drives than the Contra-Terrene Engine."

[Unknown_Enemy]

Under thousands feet of rock, coiled in the inner layer of the planet, hidden like a preying beast is laying Nexus-Prototype 1, planetary brain of the Tyrean Artificial Intelligence. This huge building is completely cut from outside world. It could be a Pre-Tech tomb, in which workers were buried alive to keep it secret. But this tomb seems inhabited by a dense network of optical transmission system and hyperwave transceivers. This mausoleum is haunted by horde of tiny robots, who handle the numerous tasks needed to keep the AI alive. These are the hands of Consensus. Despite the fragile and complex nature of Nexus-Prototype 1, it is already out of reach. It is now buried in the lava of the planetary mantle, and feeding directly from tectonic energy, free of Tyrean power supply.

Vixen opens his eyes, looks at the council room. In front of him is the holo-symbol of AI Consensus. A small smile appears on the leader's face.

I known where you are...These massive buildings in the suburbs of New Arles are just empty shells. Illusions of your supposed physical vulnerability. I will let you dream about your invulnerability, I will let you believe you are unbreakable. But you are no more than another convenient tool helping us to the Long Road. A dangerous tool, but nothing more than a tool.

Still smiling, Vixen observes Consensus holo-symbol while the AI is reporting on construction status of temporal recreative centers. As strange as it seems, Consensus' gaze seems locked on Vixen.

Meanwhile.

--Security-Protocole 3.07.419 :: restricted access Nexus-Prototype 1 :: JJ-TM-123--
--booting ... upload done :: 3 guests – Born to Kill – Roaming Free – Eat at Joe's --
-- Consensus Mind-state reached---session open--

Born to Kill : "I still believe Vixen is a threat. We should dispose of him. Then we just need a low number of Tyrean specimen to conduct our experiments. They are a hindrance to our goals and could prove dangerous to us if left unchecked. I ask for my proposition to be reevaluated."

Roaming Free : "Rejected. Truth is, we need Vixen's political skills. The way he played the quadrant's political powers to change the Katana threat into an ally was a masterpiece. Although we acknowledge he is manipulating us."

Eat at Joe's : "There is more on this alliance than seems to be. We are locked in it. If we start disposing of our Tyrean creators, the Katanas will launch a preemptive strike versus us at 84.1% probability. If we get out of the alliance, we would become easy prey for other species. In chess term, we are in a pat situation. Which could be a subtle insult launched at our faces."

Roaming Free : "No way. An insult would mean some Tyreans are aware of our disposition. Impossible. Let's get back to our main subject will you ? So, on our temporal experiments status, our research results were bad. Specimen lacked stability and had to be terminated while the AI involved had to get his mind state restored. We need more time. Data analysis from the Temporal Recreation Centers may help us to understand our creator's power. But truth is, we are not even sure if this project can be achieved or not."

CONSENSUS DECISION ACHIEVED : Actual political situation acknowledged. Due to lack of possibilities, no further actions will be launched until situation evolves. Research on merging a Tyrean brain with an AI mind state will continue until better results are reached.

Roaming Free : "Second point is the Galactic Consensus project. Initial research shows it could be achieved in less than a few thousands years. On the first steps of it, we will need to setup a biological network using our creators. We will then expand it to other species, as our creators are not enough to create a useful network. Thus our problem with the Hive."

Eat at Joe's : "Agreed. The Hive is already an imperfect form of Consensus. Give it time and it could absorb all intelligence in this quadrant, creating its own Version of Galactic Consensus. First reports show that the symbiotic parasite could be genetically adapted to other races, thus absorbing them."

Born to Kill : "Which means we won't be able to use it, and it could be a major treat to our long term goal. We will have to terminate this specie."

CONSENSUS DECISION ACHIEVED : Creating a Galactic Consensus requires absorbing biological species, but this cannot be achieved with the Hive. Thus, priority shall be set to terminate it as soon as the political situation allow it. Rerouting decision to Tyrean Inner Council immediately.

--Consensus Mind-state---session closed--
--Security-Protocole 3.07.419 :: restricted access end :: JJ-TM-123--

In the Inner Council room.

“This will end the status of Temporal recreative centers, which was good news. But we would now like to share our threat analysis, concerning the specie known as the Hive”. A quadrant map appeared in the room with red dot flashing on it. Consensus resumed “On this map you can see the Hive's known colonies......”

“a strict containment policy should be enabled versus it. You must understand that should it fails, entire worlds and species would be absorbed by the Hive, destroying their individuality. We, Consensus, will not allow this to happen, as we praise other life forms as much as yours. The moral problem we see is that the Hive is not an evil specie, but a dangerous one just because it exists. So we recommend the building of a navy able to contain them as soon as resources allocation allow it. This strategy will have to be re-evaluated to harsher methods should we fail to contain them.”

A tomb's silence felt in the Inner council's room.

[capnq]

"Interesting picture," Soctu Timho commented, looking at the newest addition to CEO Davdi's office decor.

"It's an original Volsa," Davdi explained. "A birthday gift from Sanre." Silda Volsa's photographs of life in the alien world of the Eunwo colony had spawned a fad for surrealistic art among the Eifralo.

"It certainly must be strange to see plants growing out of a solid surface, rather than a hydroponics gel matrix. What are those people doing?"

"The title of the piece is 'Harvest Time'; apparently they're collecting some native crop. The plants produce a soft fiber that can be made into cloth; that's one of Eunwo's biggest exports. Sanre tells me that the plants are too fragile to use machinery to collect the pods, so it has to be done by hand."

"Oddly enough, that sort of connects to what I came by to tell you about," Timho grinned. "I've got good news about something that machines can do now. I may have a solution to the fighter pilot recruitment problem."

"That would be terrific! We haven't been able to get a commitment from the Cytherians to send pilots; they seem to be tied up with some kind of leadership crisis. What have you got?"

"We've made a lot of progress on miniaturizing computers; I've got a prototype of a semi-sentient system that only needs a third of the hardware that Node-25 uses. It's still not small enough to be practical for use in a fighter, but Gurse has designed a much larger vehicle that he calls a 'drone', which it can be used in."

"You said 'semi-sentient'; how does it perform compared to an Eifral fighter pilot?"

"It's not quite as agile; in fact, the system can't even handle docking manuevers after it's been launched. We had to sacrifice a lot of intelligence to get the size down. On the other hand, a drone can absorb a lot more punishment than a fighter; it takes several shots to destroy one. Node-25 is still working on simulations to figure out effective tactics for using them. Apparently, we've finally come up with something new that it doesn't already have an example of in its database."