War and Civilization 2

This is good . I'll write something later once the game gets several turns ahead.

Galactic News Bulletins are pleased to announce that we managed to aquire a piece of information concerning one of the races roaming the Galaxy that call themselves Stellar Adhocracy Society. And here it is what we have:

Highly intelligent standard humanoids with strange unusual adaptations to carbon dioxide atmosphere. Possessing comparatively weak bodies they are very fragile environmentally.

The society is based on principles protecting individual liberties with individual's freedom restricted only in cases when they violate freedom of others.
The smallest entity of the society is a family and within it individuals are free to act as it pleases them. The families are usually small consisting of parents and their ungrown offspring. To achieve goals demanding cooperation of the more numerous people they spontaneously gather in groups called adhocracies that fiercely compete with each other to get necessery resources. Depending on what is needed adhocracies differ in size and the biggest are corporate adhocracies. There is no single government and the society is governed by the constantly changing balance of power between different corporate adhocracies.

Although capable of making wars the concept is so ofensive to their principles that they always seek peaceful solutions.

Why they call themselves Outcasts remains a mystery as they do not want to share this knowledge with others. In the absence of knowing what their ancient history was like there is a strong hypothesis that their current homeworld is not where they origin and they were outcast for some kind of reasons from their original one that is now destroyed. In spite of them very peaceful now there are rumours that this destruction happened as a result of some kind of terrible civil war because, as almost every society, they have violent periods in their history. Studying their recent history files it turns out that from time to time the different kind of adhocracy forms. The adhocracy that wants to impose its views on others by sheer force. Though that adhocracy is usually very small in numbers it is capable of making great havoc before a sufficient organized opposition is formed and able to destroy it.

Bearing this in mind and adding their strong inclinations to sciences some scholars keep arguing that their current homeworld was some kind of scientific outpost and their original society was much more violent.

*dizzy* that was a great post Ender but umm, try to use paragraphs next time or at least divide the text into separate blocks instead of this one HUGE block. It's a little painful to read.

I hope it is now much more bearable..

Yes, definitely much better!

Galactic News Bulettins are proud to publish new details concerning Stellar Adhocracy Society. By the way, this message will show you that we are not as easy to outsmart as some entities may think:



It looks like the storm is coming - a stray thought unexpectedly occured to me seeing the dark cover of clouds forming on the horizon. Walking slowly home deeply immersed in thoughts, considering consequences of the recent meeting, I was instantly amused how adequate it was. A deep breath allowed me to appreciate the beauty of the still exquisite spring day. Yes, we were atuned to this world masterfully. Of course, after so many years it was called our homeworld now.

But I know it better. I remember.

I can recall the times when I was breathing not this compound with dominant carbon dioxide. The times when I wandered not under yellowish sky. The times when the sky was blue and I was breathing oxygen. They said: what is the point in changing the whole world for such a small outpost. It is clearly better to change the colonists.

The different homeworld, the different times. The ancient times.

Yes, my curse. My curse of longevity. It seemed to be such a wonderful idea. Stupidity of youth. It was a new opportunity then, I was rich, and I sacrificed almost all my resources to get it. Then, the next brilliant idea: discovering the nature of space and time in order to create new warp points. As these experiments could result in major local space disaster causing the destruction of the local warp points I ended up here on the distant, forgotten scientific outpost as a single one who was changed not only to breathe carbon dioxide but to live for eons. Literally. At least it seems like it for me.

My curse.

As a single one among currently living I saw the sudden agony of our civilization. Not that it was much to be seen. After all we were isolated here. We knew there was an unexpected outbreak of civil war and then the contact was severed. Nobody has ever after come to tell us of the outcome. We had to assume that we were the last of our species. And we had our own problems. The colony did not have the infrastructure to be self-sufficient. We did not even have proper knowledge to build it fast. As the outpost did not have any defences our central database had autodestruction devices in constant readiness and during the chaos somebody activated them. We did not have spaceships and now we did not have neither technical knowledge to build them nor even slightest idea how the warp points net looks like, including where our local warp points are located. We bearly survived falling into technical barbarity.

Such an unbearable reverse.

I was the leader of the adhocracy that managed to organize our society from scrach and since then is my traditional title: The Founder, but I consider The Oldest, as I am usually reverently adressed, being much closer to the truth of who I am. However, I know it well that behind my back I am called The Ancient and I could readily admit that it is just the truth.

My curse.

I saw my beloved ones withering with time so many times. So many times I celebrated the births of my children, was delighted watching them mature and mourned their deaths. It was so painful that finally I chose a seclusion and a contemplation of the universe living as a kind of hermit. It was respected by others. I was left alone. Occasionally, I was asked to give an advice or be a judge in clashes between corporate adhocracies. But it became rarer and rarer.

Centuries passed. Our society slowly grew in numbers and redeveloped technical sophistication. Then, millenia passed. It seemed like our whole society chose a suclusion having an inkling of the fate of our original race. My race. When our new homeworld became a little to small for us all we were entirely satisfied colonizing two beautiful uninhabited worlds found in the neibouring system. We did not even bother ourselves to explore other systems.

But no seclusion can last forever.

Suddenly, I was invited to attend this meeting. I knew this time would come. Nevertheless I was surprised. After so vast amount of time I had a snag communicating with others. Of course, I tried to modernise my vocabulary from time to time and this is why we could communicate but not without problems.

The news were grave.

Some time ago an alien machine of unknown origin, technologically vastly superior, arrived. It announced that there is a galactic community out there somewhere in the Galaxy and it invites us to join. It offered free preliminary delivery of something called Babel Fish that can help us to listen to something called Galactic News Bulletins and showed us how to tune our instruments to recieve those transmissions through warp point net. Communicating the last word it mysteriously vanished leaving only a package of several Babel Fish. What we recieved in the first transmission was frightingly disturbing. It turned out that some kind of galactic alien powers set our region of the Galaxy as a stage of an entertaining show with six races fighting for survival, us being one of them. As if it was not enough, when they started to publish recordings of thoughts of the leaders of the other staged races, we realized that this Babel Fish must have been some kind of spying device that could read thoughts of users. It is sheer luck that we are so distrustful when something is offered for free and we gave this tricky device to one of the dumbest of the members of our society to try it and relate transmissions. His thoughts must have been not of expected quality to publish but they aquired many snatches of invaluable information and revealed some of them.

There were two options how to proceed further. We could refuse to cooperate and do nothing, counting on the possibility of being excluded from the show. But, as we are afraid that we are the last ones of our once proud race, this option seemed too dangerous to take and the second one prevailed with my strong endorsement. I do not want to see another downfall of our civilization or, perhaps, our species to be a subject of a genocide. The second one is obvious to me: to take our chances in fighting for survival and perhaps, finding new friends, show the others that destruction is not the only option. The current shift of power among corporate adhocracies supported my views and strenghten them by offering me a position of our representative to the contacts with other races as I was by far, far the most experienced among them. I gladly accepted the post, thinking that finally my curse came to be useful.

Looking towards the heavy cover of billowing clouds once again, a new thought occured to me - if the race to the stars started, perhaps it would be possible to find our lost heritage. But, would it not be more dangerous to us than our alien enemies?

I felt it was necessery to chisel it. However, going further is boyond my mind powers.

This sunny day is so nice - I thought streching my body in the midday warm sunbeams. Beautiful spring. What this world would have been like if not this carbon dioxide thick cover. Some kind of icy barren desert, probably, as one can see so many out there in space.

Bah, the space. And those strange aliens.

We have met them recently and it was already clear that an understanding could be difficult to achieve.

After we saw that this mysterious organization, those Galactic News Bulltins, figured out a way to read our thoughts without us using these damn Babel Fish, I began to use one of them. I couldn't even imagine what it would have been like to try to make some kind of agreement with another race without them. Even now, although we understand words, sentences of these neighbouring aliens...

How do they call themselves? Ah, Shafath.

Even now, grasping the whole message can be so difficult without knowing the whole context.

As for example the recent events. They see our ship and they try to communicate with it. Amusing. Yes, we are quite an anarchic society but we know what discipline means as well. Every member of our society is free to choose an adhocracy that has goals similar to his or even create his own. But if he does not agree with his current adhocracy he has to resign and leave his post immediately to another member of it. And the consensus among corporate adhocracies that I, The Ancient, am the only one authorised to contact other sentient species, is so strong that those who don't agree with it are left without any significant resources that would allow them to leave one of our planets.

Additionally, this frustrating delay in communication. We have not got the answer for our initial proposal, yet.

Warming my ancient, and still looking young, body a sudden chill overtook me. Is it really possible that they do not have means to recieve our transmissions or just completely do not understand us, not using these Babel Fish?

How do i put the image at the top of my post?

I tried: img src="http://users.pandora.be/banzaiboy/eternox_imperium_tag.jpg"

with the <> at each end

EDIT: Whoops! Sorry double post

PROLOGUE

"It seems like only yesterday...", Chancellor Crian thought to himself as he was looking at the status report just handed to him by the Internal Minister. He looked at the cover of the document... back in old Earth it was made of what they called "leather" from animal hides and the pages "paper" from trees. Now, the materials were all synthetic. Inside were over 10,000 pages detailing all the meetings, events, incidents, etc. of a project that the people of the Terran Alliance, under his leadership, have been working on for more than 10 years now. A lot of things have changed since then. He looked up at his aides and advisors around him, their faces are a mix of excitement and apprehension.

"Sir...", Internal Minister Santiago began, "Yes I know Heilyn", Crian interrupted her. "This is it then." He looked up and smiled at them, "Let's go".

He placed the document in a round device the size of his fist, a storage device that can compress matter to store materials much larger than itself, and placed it in one of his breast pockets. He then gestured at them to follow him and they all began walking out of his office and into the hallway towards their destination. A security detail was waiting outside the room. They gave him a salute, he acknowledged and they began following him as well, taking positions at the front, flank, and rear of the party. Although it was quite unlikely that they were in any danger inside the Chancellery, it was standard procedure. The pace was relaxed, they were in no hurry. The chancellor's aides were talking rapidly into their earpieces getting last minute details and giving last minute orders on what was about to happen. People all over the building are running all over the place. It's not an unusual sight, but this day is busier than usual.

The chancellor kept silent as they were walking. He had read the document before, he knew all about the things that had transpired to get the project to where it is now. What was given to him was the final, official, original document. While electronic documentation is the norm, official government records are still kept on paper, synthetic paper that is, made from biodegradable synthetic fibers.

After a few minutes of brisk walking the party has reached the hangar. 3 escort craft are already in the air patrolling above them. Another 3 are still on the ground but are ready to launch anytime. The chancellor's "yacht" as it is called stands in the middle of the hangar, a soft rumble can be heard from its powerful engines. The craft are all ready to go. The chancellor boarded first, followed by the rest of the entourage. The ATPV (All-Terrain-Planetary-Vehicle), started to lift slowly from the ground. The remainining escort ATPVs also began their ascent and in less than a minute they were cruising through the capital city.

"How long before we get to the senate?" Chancellor Crian asked his aide, "six minutes sir", he answered. Below them, the capital city's thouroughfares were packed full of vehicles. Citizens from across the Alliance who have all come to the capital city to personally bear witness to the fruition of their labor. Despite the relative accessibility of ATPVs, the earlier generations of these vehicles were so clumsy and were so unsafe that most people are still hesitant to use them. There is only 1 "aerial" highway so far with many minor ones feeding into it.

The rest of the trip was without incident and they arrived to their destination on time. The senate complex was one of the biggest group of buildings in the Terran Alliance. Here was the heart of their democracy. As they disembarked a small vehicle was waiting there to take them to senate hall, in it was the sergeant at arms and his entourage. "Welcome Mr. Chancellor. Everyone is already waiting sir, they're already assembled", said the sergeant at arms as he shook the chancellor's hand. "Thank you Matthew", the chancellor replied. Everyone then boarded the vehicle and it started speeding towards senate hall, at the center of the complex. "We're about to make history..." the chancellor thought to himself as the hall loomed closer and closer in the distance...

To be continued....

CHAPTER I: Origins

We thought we have reached the epitome of our civilization... war... disease... famine... genocide... gone, forever... or so we thought.

Ever since the beginning of our time, we humans have always been in conflict with ourselves. We have always been finding ways to appease our inner demons and counter our fear of a vast universe we can barely comprehend. We have developed art, philosophy and science. We have waged countless wars and caused ourselves so much misery and suffering for thousands and thousands of years. Alas, when all seemed lost... and we seemed doomed to our primitive existence... things began to change..."

As their convoy entered the entrance of senate hall, a crowd of hundreds, maybe thousands of people rushed towards them. Reporters, supporters, even protesters all eager to express their support (or hatred) for the chancellor personally. While there are angry shouts once in a while, the crowd is overwhelmingly enthusiastic and happy, the chancellor throughout his term has been relatively popular among the people. The security personnel can barely contain the chaos, military vehicles surround the perimeter ready to suppress the crowd in case it turns into a mob.

"The chancellor is arriving! Here we see his convoy now entering the senate premises, the crowd is ecstatic!...", shouts a reporter as the convoy passes by. It enters a secure, secret entrance only accessible to high-level officials. Across the Alliance, billions have tuned in at their home entertainment systems, at work, at school everywhere, to witness this historic moment in Terran history.

The convoy stops near a large steel door protected by sophisticated security equipment and armed security personnel. They quickly disembark with barely a word spoken. The party undergoes standard security checks and soon they're inside the underbelly of the senate. They walk through Corridor after corridor and hallway after hallway until they reach the VIP lounge.

Aside from the usual comforts, inside are a multitude of screens each looking at every assembly hall of the senate. All are vacant at the moment, everyone's calendar has been marked off just for this occassion. Only the grand hall is occupied, and it is crammed with senators and delegates all over the Alliance who have come here to witness this defining moment. Outside, a throng of people have gathered to bear witness.

"Looks like they're all here sir, I've received a report that 3591 of the delegates have already arrived, there are only 121 absent and they're all on their way", says his aide. "Are you ready sir?"

"In a moment...". The chancellor pauses to observe the people through the viewscreens. For a long long time in his life, he has never felt such happiness before.

It all began with a single voice... then it became many... until it has become a roar so defeaning it's impossible to ignore. The small number of people who clammored for change worked all their lives, some even for several generations, to awake the people on the error of our ways. As technology improved, and people became more and more connected, the flow of ideas became much faster and efficient. It didn't happen overnight, no, it took more than an average man's lifetime, but we did it.

Not only did it take long, it was very difficult as well. There was too much greed, selfishness and fear. People used fear as a tool. It was used to frighten people from change. Change would be catastrophic, they said, it would not work, the status quo should remain. It took a while, and there were many hardships and sacrifices, but our world was changed. It has become one, and united.

A man from a thousand years before would have called our society a "socialist" one. We, however, have moved beyond pointless terminologies. Our way of thinking has grown beyond the comprehension of our predecessors, and we have achieved what was previously only in the dreams of great ancestors. We reached for the stars, and the Solar system was colonized. Beyond, we expanded our reach through the nearest star systems and established footholds there. Mankind had become strong, and proud. We were confident of our abilities, and we had the energy to put them to good use.

All seemed well... but man, it seems, is never satisfied...

Almost instantly, the hall erupted with cheers and thunderous clapping as the Chancellor entered. The grand senate hall was huge. It was designed for optimum acoustics, and equal field of vision towards the front podium. The seats are arranged ina semi-circular fashion, and also vertically for added capacity. The podium can be clearly seen from any seat thanks to clever design and technology. On the front stage are over 500 men and women, seated facing the senate.

"Thank you, good members of the house, thank you...", the chancellor began with his message of gratitude and his greetings before moving on to the core of his address. "Members of the senate, esteemed colleagues, fellow citizens, we are all gathered here today, to mark, a historic event in the history of our people. With much pride and joy, I am deeply honored to announce, the completion of the Pioneer project". With this the hall went into an uproar. He then proceeded to highlight the milestones and people involved with the project. He also gave a brief history of it.

The project, also known as Pioneer, began 12 years ago. It was basically a construction project. The Alliance needed to expand. With the development of new technologies this became a true possibility. It was now possible to construct a vessel large enough to carry several million people and safely provide the necessary infrastructure for them to begin life on a new planet. The project took many twists and turns, with many loses and near-cancellations, but after 12 years, they have achieved their goal. The first ship of what they plan to be many, Pioneer 001, was ready to be launched the following week.

"Let me introduce to you the fine men and women who will lead our great endeavor...", the chancellor then pointed with an open palm to the 500 sitting behind him and they all stood up to be recognized. These were only the officers, as the whole crew is too big to be introduced this way. the One by one they were introduced, in order of ascending rank. When it was all over and the Chancellor quickly went retreated into the inner chambers.

"I want to see the ship if that's possible", the chancellor told the Interior Minister. "It's all clear sir. They're preparing for departure right now and are in the final stages of loading the ship", the Minister said. "Good, let's go then. It'll be the last time we'll be able to see it up close". Soon they were on their way towards the spaceport where the Pioneer 001 was docked.

What was once strength, had become a double-edged blade. Where there was once unwavering trust, fear crept it. What we perceived as achievement, had become corruption and decadence. The Earth Union had grown to include almost 50 star systems. Our people were flourishing, and great centers of commerce and industry had appeared well beyond the reaches of the solar system from which we came. Soon, there were those questioning the dominance of Earth. Those who had been born in the colonies began considering themselves different, and those who were from Earth felt the same way. What began as a simple talk over the degree of autonomy broke into angry debates of independence and secession. Out of the stress of the time, supposedly great men lost their better judgment and civil war ensued.

It consumed us... all that we have worked hard to achieve, was decimated. No one wished to capitulate, and no one could completely subjugate another. In the years that followed, countless lives were lost in the name of "freedom" and "justice". How could we have forgotten so quickly what we have learned in the past?

It was at this time then, our darkest hour, that THEY came. At first it began with missing starships on the outskirts of known space, then entire starbases and minor colonies. Ships who have tried to make contact were all lost. Entire fleets were sent against them, few survived. One by one, entire star systems fell. It was a catastrophe of unimaginable magnitude. We were facing the blank wall of complete and utter annihilation... the destruction of our race. Those who returned from battle to tell the tales of horror were changed completely. Many committed suicide, others, gone mad. There were those, however, who emerged wizened and stronger. Eventually, we discarded our differences and united once again to fight the common threat.

We started fighting back. At first it seemed that we can still win, as we began to recover system, after system. The cost of our initial victories, however, was too great. Every victory was a phyrric one, and we cannot sustain that for long. Those who were wiser than most began foreseeing the end, and began preparing for a great exodus. Eventually, everyone began to accept that we cannot stop the aggressors, and our only chance would be to outrun them.

We used all that we know and all that we can do to delay them, system after system. At every engagement we suffered heavy losses, but we would inflict sufficient damage to delay them for weeks at best. Every day counts. Finally, they were at Earth's doorstep.

As the enemy armada crossed the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, the Earth fleet, including the remainder of the forces from other colonies, assembled into the largest fleet we have yet fielded into battle. Most were old and damaged, many were only armed with the most basic defenses. Massive vessels have been constructed, designed to carry millions of passengers and to be able to sustain them for centuries if need be. The idea was to send out these vessels into the stars, far away,... where THEY cannot reach us. As the final battle waged we abandoned our planet, and with what was left of our race, into the unknown.

We came to this sector of the galaxy approximately one thousand seven hundred and twenty-two years ago, aboard one of our mighty vessels. We know not what happened to the dozens of other ships, and especially, Earth. We now come by a different name, but the legacy of our ancestors lives on in us.

After making a surprise breakthrough in space propulsion in the year 2072 the Coshax people, under various esteemed leaders, expanded from their homeworld out into the depths of space surrounding their home system. After two planets of suitable atmosphere and conditions were located the colonization began. However, the Coshax scientists had yet to find a practical way of terraforming unsuitable atmospheres and this limited their expansion to the two suitable planets.

Then, under the guidance of Emporer WaffleHouseNInja, in the year 2400 the Golden Age of Science, another advancement was made in the field of terraforming and colonization. This allowed a renewed effort to made in reaching for the stars. The Coshax peoples were quick to embrace this chance, being a pioneering species by trait, and soon many new sytems and planets had been discovered and colonized.

While this expansion was ongoing the revered scientists on the three homeworlds, acting on the orders of the Emporer, were stepping up their research into space-faring fields. Although no other races had been discovered so far, the mighty leader had reasoned that with a universe so large it was only a matter of time before other sentient races were contacted, thus the pumping of resources into ship technology.

While the Coshax people explored and colonized the neighbouring systems they reinforced their existing systems so that if they should encounter a hostile race they would be well prepared. This expansion and reinforcement is still ongoing and Emporer WaffleHouseNinja is enjoying a reign of unprecedented adultion and solidarity from the Coshax people.

The year 2408 turned out to be a milestone in Coshaxian history, for this was the year that Coshax sensors in an outlying outpost picked up strange signals that suggested advanced propulsion that was non-concurrent with their understanding of celestial bodies. The findings travelled quickly back to the inner systems where the results were analysed and reanalysed because of the findings seemingly monumental implications.

It appeared another race had been discovered.

They called themselves the Eternal Eclipse Hive and organised themselves into an oligarchy under Central Speaker Shrike. Many differences were apparent between the two societies; the Coshax organised themselves into Corporations with the goal of scientific advancement, while Coshax understanding of the Shafath showed that they had no specific government or organisations.

After careful deliberation a message was sent from Emporer WaffleHouseNinja stating that while the Coshax peoples had no violent intent at the present time, any ships caught invading Coshax controlled space would be destroyed without warning.

It reamained to be seen which of the two races would be more 'eternal'.

Ah, what a panorama... And a wonderfully delicate breeze is just enough not to feel too hot. Clearly the summer is coming.

The breathtaking view from the balcony of this brand new research lab showed picturesque hills with misty valeys overgrown by the old forest.

The old... Amusing...

How is it strange that despite my age I am still able to relish it?

Undiscoverable mysteries of the Universe...

I have just been notified of a new mystery. The aliens living on those unbelievably frosty worlds I always thought have to be icy barren deserts. Vast differences that have to be between our two species are even difficult to imagine. But they breathe carbon dioxide. If so, if they really have similar features with us, it is still possible to find other things we have in common, interests we can share.

Looking at the rising sun that have painted the sky over hills in red, I wondered whether it was a sign of arising new opportunities or blood spilt...

The Coshax society had only just recovered from the news that there were other sentient beings at close proximity within the surrounding space when another astonishing discovery was made.

A second race, calling themselves the Stellar Adhocracy, were spotted and contacted on the edge of Imperium space. However, the most astonishing thing about this find was that they were almost identical to the first race that they had encountered. The breathed the same atmosphere. They inhabited the same worlds.

This puzzled the Coshax scientists and many hypotheses were put forward, including one that put forth the idea that at some point in the very distant future a single race had undergone a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions that had split the race in two and stranded them without contact.

Regardless, they acted under two separate governments as two separate races and so had to be dealt with as such. Therefore, the same message was put forward to the Stellar Adhocracy; 'Any ships caught invading Coshax controlled space would be destroyed without warning'.

The new aliens! And these ones utterly unbelievable. As if icy world dwellers were not enough.

My views on planetar habitability were in ruins...

In the ancient times, in my previous life so long gone, in our glorious history lost in time like tears in the rain, we met several alien sentient species. But, as far as I know, they were all rock planet based!

How can one live on gas giants? These planets don't even have a solid surface! How can one thrive living in thick, dense, hydrogen atmosphere? And yet, according to our intelligence division adhocracies, we have so much in common with them. These creatures living in entirely different environments have so similar interests comparing with us.

Wonders of the Universe will probably never cease to amaze me...

Watching the clearing up night sky lit up by a myriad of stars it seemed like I was going to have an extraordinary dosage of astonishment in my future life.

CHAPTER II: Journey Beyond

"Status report", Commander Tray said as he entered the bridge.

"All systems report optimal conditions sir, all hands are accounted for. We are ready for launch", 1st Officer Monahan answered while looking at the status monitor.

After years of hardwork and setbacks, the first Pioneer-class vessel was ready for launch. The Pionner 001, it's official designation, was the largest vessel ever to be constructed by humanity. It was even larger than the old colony ships from the days of the Earth Union. Everything about it was state of the art. It's Ion engines are a marvel of technological achievement and are generally considered what made the project possible in the first place.

Cramming millions of colonists into one huge ship was no easy feat. Even before the ship began construction, people who had volunteered and/or were assigned to come with the ride had constructed a city around the spaceyard. It was truly a massive undertaking, not unlike the great exodus from Earth. The homes that the millions of people were abandoning have already been given to the new batch of colonists who will be boarding the next Pioneer vessel, the construction of which is already halfway several miles away.

"Prepare for launch, initiate launch sequence, authorization code: Tray Theta-Alpha-Beta-Gamma-Zero-One-Zero", the commander ordered. "Launch code confirmed, all systems prepare for launch", a soft female voice begins emanating throughout the ship. "Executing launch sequence, T minus 30 minutes. All personnel please take your positions, this is not a drill". The millions of people on board, except for a few, are already on their assigned positions when the sequence was started. No problems came out, everyone knows where he/she should be doing doing this critical moment. A soft rumble begins to course its way throughout the ships structure. Outside, a huge throng has gathered a few miles away to witness the launch... even at a distance, the ship is enormous.

"T minus 5, T minus 4, T minus 3, T minus 2, T minus 1... launch", the ground shook violently as the ship's engines went full blast. Slowly the ship began to rise from the ground, its powerful engines creating a thunderous roar as it made its way to the heavens. The Terran expansion has begun!

The journal of Captain Thomas Baldwin, TF Pathfinder, 2400.8:
"It's been a month now since we left drydock. This morning, we've entered the Alpha 101 warp point on the edge of our home system. We've come across a small system with an extensive asteroid field surrounding it spanning dozens of light years. It's certainly one of the largest ones we've ever seen.

My science officer theorizes that it's the remnant of a cataclysmic event that occured here millions of years ago. We've found a lot of evidence that supports that theory judging from the asteroid compositions and their motion around the star. We'll look into that with more detail once we've analyzed the samples further and sent them to the experts back home.

More importantly, we've officially travelled the farthest yet for any Terrans. Our state-of-the-art ship looks to be holding together pretty well. We've received reports that fleet command has authorized the deployment of more Pathfinder-class frigates to survey the neighboring star systems.

My crew is becoming a bit restless lately over our discovery of primitive life on one of the planets. In the history of our people, the only other sentient beings we've encountered almost annihilated us. The mere possibility of other sentient life is making everyone nervous. We have no idea what to expect, and our experience tells us to expect the worst. Regardless, we've trained long and hard for this. I expect my crew to be able to do their duty to the fullest...

"Captain Baldwin, we've reached the asteroid, sir"

"Alright, I'm on my way". The captain stands up, closes his digital journal and proceeded to the bridge.

To be continued...

NOTE:

Hey everyone, I advise that we try to use at least ONE picture on every AAR post we do (other than the race tag pics of course). It breaks the monotony of text and makes the entries much more enjoyable to read. just a suggestion.

The date 2401.2 turned out to be a milestone in Coshax history.

Early warship-class frigates exploring to the north of Imperium space engaged an unknown vessel belonging to the Hive after transiting a warp point into an unknown system. The captain of the ship, confused by the unexpected vessel and by orders to defend Imperium space, decided in the heat of the moment to put his crew and ship first. After several attempts to contact the unidentified vessel failed, the captain ordered all weapons fired.

News of the encounter spread quickly to both sides, with Emperor WaffleHouseNinja's intital reaction that the captain had acted within reason. However, news soon arrived from a Hive emmissary stating that the unidentified vessel had in fact been filled with Hive colonists seeking a new life. The emmissary also stated that First Speaker Shrike had denounced the act as 'vile and barbaric' and that he had called upon the Shafath to rally against the Coshax in the name of defense.

The implications were quick to be grasped by the Emperor and he soon realised that action had to be taken immediately to avoid a full scale war. The Emperor was not affraid as such of the Hive themselves, more of the relationship they had with the Adhocracies under the Ancient One. Fighting one enemy was bearable; two was suicide.

The decisions made by the Emperor would shape Coshax history and reverberate down the ages.

War... This word so long not used in our language... This idea we tried to renounce so hard as it demanded an ultimate sacrifice from individuals... The sacrifice of their lives...

And yet, we still remembered what it meant. We had to. This is the price a society has to pay in order to survive. We still reckoned that sometimes a war was unavoidable. Sometimes one has to decide that it is time for waging a just war, to defend one's beloved, one's freedom, to make the ultimate sacrifice so that others could live in peace, could be free. But it is always very painful decision as in order to defend your freedom, your life, you have to take it away from an aggressor. It is very hard for us as reverence for liberties in our society is deeply ingrained.

And it has just happened, so close to us. I've just heard on the Gallactic News Bulletins the announcement of my friend Shrike. We haven't got any message from him yet, but this source of information, this GNB, proved to be invaluable. The war between our trusted friends Shafaths and the Eternox Imperium has just started. I still wondered whether this decision was not made too rashly, but I could understand his emotions.

So many lives lost... So many innocent sentient beings... What did those people commanding that fregate think killing them? What did they feel? Is it possible that they saw only an alien ship and not millions of living entities behind it? Did they feel like destroying a thing when they were destroying the most precious resources in the Universe: sentient minds? And what for? What was their goal like?

As it happens, we had our own share of emotions as our explorer was attacked in the neutral space by one of their destroyers. We were lucky that there was no firefight as our defensive design proved to be effective and we were able to run away. It was interestning coincidence that several days later the same explorer was able to engage their colonizer successfully, forcing it to run away and demonstrating to them that they could be attacked as well. Following these events, in order to avoid such incidents in the future, I repeated our treaty proposal but in the light of their vile actions against our friends it seems now that I made a mistake.

Thinking about probable hundreds of millions of victims I still had a slight hope that perhaps it was all just some kind of terrible misunderstanding and it would be possible for the both sides to come to peace terms fast. Was I, The Ancient Alkemion, too naive?

The year 2401.4 turned out to be another eventful one for the Coshax people:

A new race calling themselves the Terran Alliance were contacted in the outer regions of Imperium Space. It was an interesting discovery for the Coshax scientists; they, like the Hive and Adhocracies, also inhabitted Rock planets and this made the scientists wonder if perhaps the Coshax people were unique in inhabiting Gas worlds.

During this time Emperor WaffleHouseNinja worked furiously to patch up relations with the Hive, which were in tatters after the 2401.2 colonizer incident. Messages buzzed back and forth between the three races involved, but time would see how the situation would resolve itself. Holograph fragments from the time reveal that the Emperor himself wished that it could be dealt with quickly and effectively as he did not wish full scale war to break out over a simple misunderstanding.

Words... so many words... and up to now empty words...

The Emperor seems to like talking. But, in the end, what counts are actions. He says he wants to forge an alliance against hostile races. Fortunately we've met only one race that seems to be hostile. Thanks to his policy it is his race. How can he expect to forge an alliace rejecting every single proposal we've sent him and even not bothering himself issuing a controffer. It seems so incredible to me that I sense a ruse.

Is he stupid, careless, or just devious?

The thoughts crossed my mind when I was reading the Emperor's new statement, making me very unsettled.

Those hot sunny days are sometimes so difficult to bear.. - I was lying in the shadow of a tree on the bank of a river trying to gather my thoughts.

Thoughts... How dangerous can they be? Especially now when they were under the constant surveillance of an unknown force...

What if the Emperor found himself offended? How could it influence our delicate negotiations? But clearly it was not my fault. I never intended to make my opinions public. What could one do against such a cunningly mysterious force as those Galactic News Bulletins? Stop thinking? Ridiculous! We are so powerless comparing to them, so small... They can play us as it pleases them. Revealing those thoughts, keeping in secret the others... What was the reason to reveal these latest ones if not to antagonize us with our neighbours? What is their final goal? Stirring and inciting until we fight each other to the death?

So many questions... so few answers...

Some people say that to get an answer from the Universe it is enough to ask a proper question. It seems to me not that easy. Actually, figuring out a proper question is hard enough in itself, but as to me far more difficult is finding a way to ask a question. And what if you have found a way, have asked a question and despite that you couldn't understand an answer? Wrong question? Or perhaps there are things forever beyond our understanding?

The everlasting problem that has to worry all kinds of sentient beings...

Babel Fish for you!

Strange... Is this really true??

One of our explorers allowed us to establish contact with a new race of aliens. As it results from preliminary reports, they are humanoids quite similar to us. This shouldn't be unusual at all. In my distant past, another life, I clearly remembered, we met several humanoid species. They were all rock planet-based, oxygen breathing, very similar to each other. As their biology features were entirely different, there was a hypothesis, it seemed so ridiculous then, that we were all uplifted to sapiency at the same time by some kind of unknown power.

With this GNB meddling now it doesn't seem to me ridiculous at all.

What is strange with these new aliens, is that, despite they are humanoids, they thrive on icy worlds breathing hydrogen. If I remembered correctly our evolutionary theories claimed that humanoids could evolve only on rock worlds in oxygen environment. Either these theories are wrong or their adaptations are artificial. As I am a living proof that our biological knowledge was very advanced then, I am inclined to believe in the latter possibility.

Was it just a coincidence or...

Some people say: there are no coincidences, there are just signs.

Is it possible that they are creations of our ancestors as we are? And... would it be good for us?

Babel Fish will help you!

What happened with this message??!

We had sent it, as usually, and there was not a single trace of it! We examined the whole issue very thoroughly and nobody came with any reasonable explanation. Nobody should be able to intercept it without our knowledge. It was even worse! Our databases claimed that there was no such a message at all. It was so strange that I suspected new GNB meddling. As I see it they are the only known power that could be able to carry out such a stunt.

As it happens, there've been even more weird events recently. We've met sixth, according to GNB, final race of this contest. We had expected to encounter them soon so establishing contact was no surprise at all. The weird thing is that they are classic humanoids, finally, with many external features of our ancestors. Are they their descendants.. or perhaps one of the races we met then? Do they know something about the fate of our previous civilization?

Questions.. still more questions...

I clearly felt in my whole body, in every single cell, that there was some kind of mystery in all of this...

Babel Fish - a wonder of the Universe!

Recognize sovereignty...

What does it mean? What does sovereignty mean in the first place?

We've already learnt from our interspecies contacts that other societies like to keep to themselves, to consider systems they live as their property. No matter whether they use this property, those planets, or not. For us it is a strange idea as we reckon that a thing can become a property only when one can use it and clearly expresses one's will to do so. That is why when one of our adhocracies sees the world that is suitable, not colonized, not used in any way, it assumes that it has a full right to colonize it. Unfortunally other races see it the other way. They think that it is sufficient to be in a system, to spot a thing as a first one. But don't they see? What a waste of resources that somebody else could use and make us all richer!

Slowly we learn and, as we are a minority, we adapt.

And when we thought that we had understood the whole concept, suddenly: recognize sovereignty. This new race has even stranger ideas than the others. We already know why non-aggresion, restrain from colonizing, even avoid our systems, agreements are sometimes necessery but recognize sovereignity is a new mystery.

How to comply with a command you don't understand? How to show your good will if you do not share fundamental concepts with your interlocutor?

So many ideas to grasp... so many alien preconceptions...

And... how alien our preconceptions have to be to other races?

With a Babel Fish you can shape the reality as well!

Reading a new diplomatic note I realized that it was there again.

I don't know why they treat me as if I was a leader of my race. I never said that. It seems to me that, from what I said and did, everybody should understand that I am just a servant and have to comply with a current shift of power among corporate adhocracies. Of course, I don't deny, especially before myself, that I have a certain influence, certain power to shape events as I want them to be. But it is just that: shaping, not creating! I am just a simple representative! And despite all my efforts firstly Shrike, then the Emperor and now the Chancellor calls and treats me as if I was some kind of monoruler. What is worse they decide depending on this assumption and it can cause dangerous mistakes. Something has to be done with this issue. But in what way I should do it? How to show them smaller that they think I am without them reckonning that it is just modesty?

Thinking about it I am actually a leader. Not of the whole race, of course, but the leader of our diplomacy definitely. Perhaps it will be easier to show myself this way, stressing that I am just one of many.

Overcoming preconceptions that a society cannot govern itself by spontaneously emerging majorities was unexpectedly difficult...

CHAPTER III: First Contact

"Priority Alert! All personnel proceed to battle stations! This is NOT a drill!"...
"Priority Alert! All personnel proceed to battle stations! This is NOT a drill!"...

Captain Rinne has heard it all before, the automated voice of the TF Stargazer's computer issuing the priority level 1 alert warning... the highest level. The only difference is that this time, this is no controlled simulation. The alert is real, and the very thought of it is sending shivers down her spine. The alert level signifies imminent threat... and the ship's defenses have been raised to full readiness as part of standard procedure.

"Senior officers, to the briefing room on the double!", captain Rinne orders into the ship's comm system.

The Stargazer and it's sister ship, the TF Explorer, have entered this system several weeks ago to survey the area. Everything has been generally quiet until recently. The system has two gas giants orbiting the star in very close proximity to one another. On standard inspection they appeared to be regular gas giants... but anomalous readings began appearing on sensors. On closer inspection, there appears to be actual LIFE on these two gas giants, and what's more, intelligent life! There appears to be advanced settlements on them... how this could be on a gas giant is anyone's guess, but they're actually there.

That's not the end of it, however, as a space-faring SHIP was soon detected a few light years away! This automatically raised the priority alert warning, a relic from the days of the Earth Union, when every non-Human ship was hostile. While Terran rules of engagement strictly forbid inciting conflict (ie. firing first), self-defense is of the highest priority. Within minutes, the ship's personnel are at their stations and the officers have assembled at the briefing room to discuss the situation.

Captain Rinne: "Lieutenant Tollust, what have you and your science team ascertained regarding these beings?"
Lt. Tollust: "Captain, judging from the sophistication of their technology and the limited information we can deduce from their society, there is a 95% probability that this is a sentient race. From our limited transcription of their transmissions, they call themselves the Coshax and are native gas-dwellers. That is all that we know objectively so far captain, everything else right now is purely speculation and it would be unwise to make decisions based on those."
Captain Rinne: "Understood, commander Anwar, what of that alien vessel?"
Cmdr. Anwar: "Judging from the sensor readings, it is a vessel around the same class as our own, the mass and hull capacities are very similar although we have no knowledge of its capabilities or for what purpose the design was made. I'd designate it as a frigate-class vessel."
Captain Rinne: "Very well, alert the homeworld. Inform the Explorer that we are to hold position and wait for orders from Allied Command. Maintain combat readiness within the next 48 hours."
Lt. Tollust: "Understood captain."
Captain Rinne: "Dismissed!"

Elsewhere aboard the TF Voyager....

Captain Montero: "An ice colony you say??"
Lt. Gray: "Yes captain... it appears to be a species native to this type of world, from our limited data, they call themselves the Ullathi Hegemony. So far, we have detected no other ships."
Captain Montero: "I see, our orders stand. On the event of first contact we are to maintain full combat readiness until we have determined the nature of this species. Raise the homeworld."
Lt. Gray: "Aye sir."

Back on the Terran Homeworld....

"Chancellor, Admiral Changan has arrived, he says its urgent."
"Yes send him in, I've been expecting him."

A minute later Admiral Changan, chief of the Terran Defense Force, enters the Chancellor's office. Already inside are the different members of cabinet as well as the chancellor's top advisers. The room fell silent as the admiral entered, all eyes are on him, everyone anticipating the confirmation of what they already knew.

Chancellor: "Admiral, welcome, we've been expecting you..."
Adm. Changan: "Yes chancellor, I came here as fast as I could. Gentlemen, if I may..."

The chancellor gestured to him to take an empty seat on the table. The admiral then proceeded to pull out a folder labeled "confidential" and began to read from it.

Adm. Changan: "What I'm about to tell you happened at around 0100 hours earlier today, Terran standard time. We received encrypted transmissions from two Pathfinder-class vessels scouting the outer systems. The first was from the TF Stargazer, and it reported sighting an alien vessel... as well as advanced settlements on 2 gas giants. The second was from the TF Voyager, which reported sighting a settlement on an ice world. These appear, on further analysis of the data to be different species, both with their own distinct biology and societies. They also appear to both be sentient and capable of space travel..."

Almost instantly, murmurs started erupting around the room, some louder than others. The excitement... and fear of the discovery was so thick you can almost touch it. The chancellor asks everyone to be quiet and motions for the admiral to continue.

Adm. Changan: "This is all we have so far from an objective standpoint. The alien vessel that was detected was estimated to be around the same mass as our own frigates. As we speak, our ships are on high alert and are awaiting orders on how to proceed."
Chancellor: "What else can you tell us about these races admiral from your own analysis?"
Adm. Changan: "*sigh* Look, gentlemen, I know what's on everybody's minds right now and I know you want your questions answered. But really, this is all we have! There has been no contact yet from these races, only that we have confirmed that they are there. I wish there was more I could tell you, but there's nothing. If it helps, our ships are still on standby, and last time I checked, they've detected no new activity in their vicinities."
Chancellor: "I see, thank you admiral. Everyone, it looks like what we have to do is quite clear. We should try to establish diplomatic relations, and assure them of our non-hostile intent. There really is no other way to do this..."
Minister Sarmiento: "But what about our defenses sir?!? Our fleets are hopelessly antiquated and our military strength is minimal at best! We should prioritize construction of defenses along the border worlds!..."
Secretary Graham: "And what?!? Incite panic?! Any escalation might be interpreted as an act of hostility! For all we know that could lead us to war!"

That last word... war... ignited the spark. Everyone then started bickering and arguing amongst each other. "This is getting out of hand...", the chancellor thought to himself. The advisers were divided, with some favoring a defensive escalation and others a purely diplomatic approach. The fear in the room was tangible. The chancellor knew he had to take control of the situation...

Later, once everyone has calmed down, an order was sent to the patrolling ships so send diplomatic offers to both new races. No one was certain how they would respond, but one thing's for sure: nothing would ever be the same again....

To be continued...

Galactic News Bulletin: Inside the Terran Alliance today!

After first contact with the Ullathi and the Eternox, the Terran Government tried at first to cover up the story from the general public. It wasn't to be, however, as word of the encounters quickly spread like wildfire. The source of the leaked news was immediately apprehended and dishonorably discharged from the military, and is still facing charges of insubordination and treason. The reaction throughout the Alliance was significant, ranging from jubilation up to panic, riots and mass hysteria in some places. It has been a turbulent few months, and that wasn't the end of it as 3 other races were encountered within months of each other: The Stellar Adhocracy, the Powhatan Confederacy, and the Hive. Fortunately, all the encounters had been peaceful, and they were all mostly agreeable and diplomatic. Treaties were signed with the alien powers amidst protests from extremists in the Terran populace and government. Despite all this, fear remains the dominant force gripping the Allied worlds... a people whose memory remains fresh over a tragedy that had beset them centuries ago. Slowly but surely, people's views are beginning to change.

A new foreign affairs minister, Arthur Tydings, has been appointed to head the newly-formed Department of Foreign Affairs. Tydings used to be a chief justice, then a senator prior to this appointment. The senate right now is on its 2nd special session to discuss the issues that have arisen from contacting these races and what we now call an "interstellar community". The agenda includes topics from proper travel and migration laws for travelling Terrans and visiting aliens alike (which includes labor laws that will cover those who will leave or come for work), to the possible establishment of embassies on alien worlds to assist Terran citizens, to a possible overhaul of the Terran Defense Force which, for the past millennia, had been confined to planetary operations on land, sea and air. Chancellor Crian issued a statement earlier about how "a great new age has begun" and that "this is a new dawn for humanity, the likes of which has never been seen before."

We will bring you more in the comming months as events progress!

To be continued...

Babel Fish - your friend on a journey...

Humans... Humans and their dangerous ideas...

I have just received a note from Chancellor Crian that explain what their idea of sovereignty and the law means and I was reading it during my walk home after one of those meaningful briefings when all so laborously gathered details about other civilizations were discussed.

Very disturbing details...

How is it possible that people who keep saying that they value freedom, that they live in a free society, cannot see that when they force an individual to do something in spite of the fact that this individual hadn't violated anybody's freedom, they actually take this individual's freedom away. They say that it is for this individual's well being, that they know better, that otherwise it would be an anarchy. But how can it be for one's well being if one has different ideas how one's life should look like? How can they decide what is better if people have so different opinions about fundaments of their life. Is it not obvious that having different fundamental assumptions, logical reasoning leads us to different results? Is it not obvious that because of this nobody can know what is better in somebody else's way of life? How can they name it as an anarchy when people govern themselves according to the fundamental rule: everybody is free to do as it pleases them, as far as they do not violate somebody else's freedom? And even if it could be called this way, what is wrong with such an anarchy? People are free, nobody is hurt by it... That somebody's way of life can lead him to suffering? But who does not make mistakes? Those people with such a power that allows them to enslave others? And what are their rights to do so? That they are stronger because they know better? But perhaps they are stronger just because they have been lucky so far and it can change in a moment.

Even in our society such thinking people happen from time to time. Fortunately it is very rare. Even in our society once in a couple of centuries it happens that the whole group of such people arises. The whole adhocracy...

Our nightmare...

And now after signing all those free migration agreements, when our people are finally free to go where it pleases them, when they can visit all those strange worlds, strange aliens with their strange ideas, how will they feel with their freedom restricted on those worlds in such ways they do not even suspect? How will it change them? Will they be recognizable when they return? Will they respect freedom of others? Is it what happened to our ancestors?

Chilly gust of the northern wind evoked a shiver in my body...

Babel Fish - The Ultimate Weaponry!

Thank you, Chancellor Crian, for your answer. This is very reassuring to know that your government is not an oppressive one as many of our people want to see your ways with their own eyes.

You ask whether our people are allowed to carry weaponry around. Of course they are. Is it not the same in your society? How could they defend themselves if somebody not respecting their freedom would try to force them to do something? Are your people so defenceless against abusers? Is your police everywhere to defend them?

Of course things get violent sometimes. Is it not the same in your society? And taking this logic further: if the police is allowed to carry weaponry around how it can happen that things do not get violent among them? Do you not have abusers among policemen? And if you have, how ordinary people can defend themselves against such abusers not having weaponry? We ask ourselves how it is possible that your system functions and individual's freedom is not taken away?

Of course people do not think in the same way. This is why they are individuals. This is why they are unique, not equal. The problem is when somebody tries to force somebody else to think, or to do something in the same way as he does. This is the source of a conflict. What is wrong with expressing hatred? It is just the information about how much somebody does not like somebody else's ways. This can become the source of a conflict only if he does not tolerate those ways and tries to impose his views by force. If you have fanatics that do not respect ways of the others you have to deal with them as soon as possible and their ideas will not spread. In what way it could be faster than to allow people to defend themselves?

You know, Chancellor, a certain idea we met among other species has just come up to me. Perhaps your society is too... tribal? Perhaps it would be better when people start to think more like individuals not like members of a tribe. Our people form groups, our adhocracies, with a certain goal in mind. The group vanishes when the goal does. That is different with tribes. They continue to exist no matter what their goal is. Perhaps this is the fundamental difference between our both societies.

Ending, you say you need all of those documents for all of those matters. I wonder, what will happen if one day you awaken and you realize that all of those documents have just vanished, being destroyed or something? How can you put your trust in such transient things. Yes, I know that they are transient as well, but we prefer to put our confidence in other people.

Founder Alkemion

Babel Fish... Appreciate the beauty...

Hmm... exactly...

Why have the Powhatan Confederacy and the Ullathi Hegemony hardly been mentioned by GNB? And these are the only two that we had problems communicating with. All of those mysteriously vanishing messages... It would be the next argument supporting the hipothesis that GNB is behind it. But what is their reason? If they wanted us to start fighting they failed miserably.

It seems that everybody knows my motto: "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent".

Perhaps this new method of communication, the Shafats call: the StellarCom, is much more difficult for them to control. It was probably solely thanks to this invention that we were able to resume the exchange of diplomatic notes with the King and the High Regent. No, this is too simple... If they are capable of erasing information from our databases so selectively, not leaving any trace of their activity, it wouldn't probably be difficult for them at all to disturb our new communication lines.

Too few facts, I'm afraid...

But what if it is not important for them to make us fighting? What if they are just testing our reactions? Would it be possible that this whole contest is not an entertaining show as they told us but some kind of sophisticated experiment? Would it be possible that we are just laboratory animals they decided to t