Part 10: 2860-2880-Shadows of Evils Past
Shadows of Evils Past
The Liberals and Social Democrats form a coalition after the 2860 elections, and develop an uneasy compromise, with Liberals setting most policy in Sol while the Social Democrats define policy in the stars beyond. Overall taxes and spending are cut, and that which remains is shifted heavily into the favored social projects of the Social Democrats. A year later, as anticipated, the planet in Vij's inner system, Cherenkov, is colonised. It is a world of unearthly, deadly beauty, faint glimmers of blue tracing the rock formations from the ionising radiation in the thin, inert atmosphere.
With Cherenkov as a supply base, the RES Leifr Eriksson is able to press on further, exploring the Hiraki system in 2864. It is yet another system with a lonely planet rich in metals, but bombarded by constant murderous radiation from its sun.
Three years later, in 2867, NordPharm unveils a line of gene-engineered microbial organisms capable of being engineered to synthesise drugs, travel through the Human body, and release targeted doses upon detecting unhealthy tissue. It is an immediate and dramatic step forward in the treatment of stubborn cancers, infectious diseases, and other health issues, and microbiotic pharmaceutical deployment rapidly becomes the standard for medical treatment in the United Republic.
As the population of the Forge has grown, suitable sites for settlement have dwindled, and, by 2869, its own arcologies have been constructed to provide more space for its people. Three years later, a civilian-funded colonial mission from Sol arrives at Laaxaayik, establishing the newest settled world in the increasingly far-flung United Republic.
Business and diplomatic offices interacting with the Nations and academic study of their history and culture has continued as the years have passed, and, by 2873, expert xenologists on hand for those who need to interact with the Nations are able to provide much more accurate xenocultural interpretation as an aid to negotiations than ever before.
In 2875, as the RES Sir Francis Drake arrives at Suud, it encounters something shocking. A nearly planetary-sized mass of semi-fluidic chemical structures with evidence of internal fusion reactions launches into a short-ranged hyperspace jump to intercept the Sir Francis Drake, and begins to blister the surface nearest to the Sir Francis Drake out to separate from the main mass. Before the fluidic mass can reach the Sir Francis Drake, her commanding officer orders an emergency retreat and succeeds in charging the hyperspace drive back up, fleeing with the news back to Laaxaayik.
In that same year, the hostile planet of Naraka in the Hayk system is colonised by settlers hoping to profit by land of their own and the close proximity of Naraka to Sol and its trade.
You get the option to rename a star if you establish a colony in an uninhabited system. I haven't been bothering to, as all my competitors will have default star names anyhow.
Still in 2875, the United Republic arranges information transfers between its own aerospace industry and that of the Nations, exchanging shipbuilding information for new power storage technology the Nations have that should allow for longer range on hyperspace jumps. With the new range, the United Republic engages in the routine launch of communications probes to nearby systems to see if contact can be made with species yet unknown.
This changes everything.
From Laaxaayik, contact is made with a new species, exchange of communications probes eventually resulting in mutual comprehension of language. The picture that emerges from the first fully-translated message from this new species is chilling.
"The Unified State of Radesh and its Colonies recognises these as communications from alien life. The Leader of the Unified State, Miamar, welcomes this opportunity to make new conquests as Leaders before him have done. Those aliens that submit willingly will be integrated without violence and contribute to the glory of the Unified State. Those that resist shall experience the might of the Unified State. Glory to the Unified State! Glory to Miamar! Glory to the Mrrshan species!"
Meanwhile, a communications probe sent from Cherenkov brings a response from another species. A response is sent in broken Sakkra to the message encoded in International Court Sakkra.
"You no part of Klackon. You bad. No-Klackon all bad. Klackon good. Klackon kill if meet. Kill all no-Klackon. Space for Klackon if no no-Klackon."
Rapid consultation with the Nations proves that Klackon territory must be very extensive, based on points of contact between the Klackon, Nations, and the United Republic.
Diplomatic communications continue with the Unified State as the Unified State and the United Republic feel each other out. The picture that emerges is horrifying- the Unified State might as well be Fascists from Earth history. The popular reaction to these races is one of shock and horror. Although the Nations are brutal and barbaric by Republican standards, they are reasonably friendly, and there exist some embers of individual freedom for the Sakkra within the Nations. The Unified State is a picture from nightmare, and the Klackon exist in Human minds only as abstract expressions of immovable hatred for non-Klackon.
A year later, in 2877, another shocking event occurs, that shakes the United Republic once the news makes its way through the hyperspace jumps to Republican space. A war erupts between two Lords of the Nations in the Yen system, going beyond the usual 'acceptable' low-level skirmishing and feuding to open ground warfare and limited atomic exchange. The Great Lord, responding to this breach of tradition and law, musters a force to crush both feuding Lords, then splits the Lineages of their two Nations into four lesser Nations with newly-raised Lords. Although the war is brief, millions die and the loss of property is immense.
The 'Galactic News Network' will report on any random events that occur in the galaxy. As I am not treating GNN as an actual thing that has contact with everybody from the beginning, I have not noted several earlier random events that we would have had no way to know happened.
In 2880, the star system Woo is explored. It contains little but a gas giant relatively close to the star and a lethal morass of a world with little to recommend it but rich gold deposits. This one fact, however, may still be enough to lure miners seeking high wages and mining companies seeking high returns to exploit more gold for the spreading Republic.
Xenology Report: Klackon
Almost nothing is known of the Klackon. They have had brief contact with the Nations, they spread over a wide volume of space, and they have expressed an implacable hostility to us and to all other non-Klackon. It must be presumed that the Klackon are extremely dangerous.
What is notable is that their contact referred only to their species, and not to any governmental organisation. This, combined with the extreme hostility to non-Klackon expressed, may indicate a level of identification of the interests of Klackon individuals with the Klackon species as a whole beyond any Human norms. This, however, is mere speculation- without active intelligence-gathering operations, any information on Klackon xenology is strictly speculative.
The Klackon personality is Xenophobic, which is the most unfriendly personality possible. Under the circumstances, I have chosen to interpret them as refusing communication with us so far.
Xenology Report: Mrrshan
The Mrrshan are a warm-blooded, quasi-mammalian species with a distinct similarity in appearance to cats. Both males and females share the approximate height and mass of Human females. Although omnivorous, their consumption of vegetable matter is strictly secondary to consumption of meat. Both their eyesight and their reflexes appear to be extremely sensitive, well beyond Human capabilities; we should expect them to excel at any tasks requiring rapid tracking and reflexes. Young are born live and nursed by females, before being remanded to youth training camps for later assignment into the society.
Mrrshan society is absolutely dominated by the Unified State of Radesh and its Colonies. All individuals are organised into paramilitary task units trained and dedicated to whatever use the Unified State sets the task unit to. Each task unit possesses a commanding officer with strictly delineated rank; it appears that without a clear understanding of relative status, Mrrshan instinctively seek dominance struggles until relative status is determined. To those of higher status, Mrrshan are reflexively and seemingly instinctively deferent and obedient. Those of lower status are commanded and exploited with absolute expectation of obedience. Dominance struggles between various historical leaders in Mrrshan history resulted in ongoing wars until a single state unified the whole planet. Military virtues are prized by all strata of Mrrshan society, and Mrrshan military discipline is essentially identical to civilian discipline. Military training needs only focus on the technical skills of warfare.
If there are any previous cultural or religious traditions in Mrrshan society, the cult of personality of the Leaders of the Unified State has displaced them. There is no social, political, or economic activity outside the Unified State. Even mates are chosen for Mrrshan by task unit commanders. The entire machine of the Unified State exists, essentially, to execute the orders of a single Leader without deviation. It is difficult to imagine a more pure or more oppressive form of autocracy.
Mrrshan are superb ship gunners who support larger ground garrisons, better space logistics, and better-trained ship crews than anybody else. Their Dictatorship offers little by the way of advantages or disadvantages, but their inclinations are entirely bent to excellence in war rather than any skill at peaceful development.
The United Republic in 2880
Earth prospers as the commercial, scientific, and political capital of the United Republic. Environmental quality has improved somewhat over the past twenty years as heavy industry has subsided, and what heavy industry remains supports the rush by new families and companies to find new prospects on far worlds.
Mars has become a major center of science and technological innovation, heavy industry almost entirely displaced by engineering firms and technology companies. What little heavy industry it maintains feeds resources in to build consumer goods or high-tech components for equipment, and Martian spaceports hum with activity.
Nieuw Vlaanderen has prospered greatly. Its economy has diversified and its population grown to nearly 14 billion, almost as high as that of Earth and expected to pass it in only a few years. Consumer positronics have penetrated throughout society, driven by eager customer demand. Although Nieuw Vlaanderen maintains heavy industry and technology, its true wealth lies in light industry, agriculture, and trade. Almost three fifths of the population of the United Republic is fed by the agricultural produce of Nieuw Vlaanderen, and it remains the chief gateway for trade to the Nations.
The Forge has a diversified and well-developed economy, and Social Democrat incentives to settle the world have helped to draw new immigrants. Although its 200 million workers in heavy industry are still vital to the economy of the Forge, trade, light industry, services, and other activities have flourished in the confines of the sealed cities of this Hellish world. The prosperity inside is a stark contrast to the harsh conditions outside.
The Anvil's economy remains relatively sluggish. Its population has grown, but investment has lagged. Mining and heavy manufacturing remain the primary drivers of the economy, although lack of Puppeteer deployment has caused mine output to lag. Beyond that, amongst the greatest sources of income to the planet are social services and transfer payments arranged by the ruling party.
Conditions have grown considerably better on New Greenland over the past twenty years. Increased population and trade ensure that operations work smoothly, and quality of life and wealth have risen greatly. New Greenland now supports an agricultural sector of 100 million. Amongst the food products it exports is meat from the New Greenlander neocroc, sometimes known as the 'slaughterbeast'. Although dangerous if it catches a Human in the wild, the neocroc is easily fenced away and farmed, and the meat is considered delicious by many people. New Greenland serves as a port assembling prospective immigrants to Wotan, which has begun to have habitats set up on its surface by settlers eager to exploit Wotan's mineral wealth.
Laaxayik has implemented its first wave of industrial development, and is in the process of deploying Puppeteer technology. Despite the bitter cold of the planet, conditions are still more comfortable than on the lifeless planets bombarded by lethal radiation, and it is possible for people to venture outdoors without full sealed-environment suits.
Cherenkov's population has rapidly stabilised at just over three billion. Investors work frantically to address the various opportunities its poor state of development offers, and erect arcologies to expand the space available on the world.
Naraka is a simple frontier world, comfortably supporting what modern industry it can while the population grows and sets down roots. Conditions are rough and simple, but little else could be expected this soon after its settlement.
Trade with the Nations prospers, but this is about all that can be said in favor of the current diplomatic situation. The RCSPS remains at 70,000 staff, and no formal understandings have been arranged between either the Unified State or the Klackon. The Klackon appear to be entirely unreceptive to continued communication. The Unified State, while perhaps more open to diplomacy, represents everything the United Republic is opposed to.
Population growth and growth in civilian investment has led to a surge in the size of the economy. Innovation and investment capital have blossomed. Growing load on commercial shipping should soon spur more shipbuilding, and naval logistics may be able to support a expansion of the fleet, particularly if more naval bases are constructed.
Uncertainty and unease ripple through the population as the 2880 elections approach.
The Conservatives want to engage in a comprehensive program of industrial buildup and establishment of naval bases across the Republic, sponsor the development of technology to refine naval coilguns and address the problems of industrial waste disposal, refit the Vigilant and Alert, and begin construction of a new, larger flagship, the Philadelphia. As far as foreign policy goes, they wish to avoid provoking the Klackon for the moment, expand the RCSPS to at least 150,000 persons, and prepare for war overt and covert with the Unified State. The Conservatives believe that with advanced technology and an expanded fleet, the Republican Star Navy should be able to seize an advantage over the Unified State, and the Conservatives believe that the Unified State must be destroyed and every last Mrrshan liberated from its tyranny. They hope to achieve this as soon as practical, although they know the United Republic must build up first. To support the position of the United Republic and contain any potential Klackon threat, they believe that signing a formal military alliance with the Nations would be in the interests of the Republic.
The Social Democrats want to build naval bases at Cherenkov and Laaxaayik to guard the approaches from the Klackon and the Unified State, expand the RCSPS to at least 300,000 persons, and use the RCSPS to hunt down more information and useful technology from the Klackon and Unified State, while remaining aloof from both. They wish to support some colonisation behind Republican front lines, as well as population subsidies and emigration incentives to colonial worlds as usual. They want to funnel money to RCSPS secret projects, xenoecological studies, and possible coilgun refinement, and commission a third Vigilant-class vessel for the Navy.
The Liberals want to fortify Cherenkov and Laaxaayik, as do the Social Democrats, but otherwise favor relying on the civilian economy to drive investment and innovation. New colonial ventures within Republican borders are expected to be backed by civilian settlers and investors. Market analysts expect developments in economic analysis and organisation, xenoecology, and drive technology to reduce travel and communications times in the growing Republic. They are willing to consider an expansion of the RCSPS to no more than 100,000 staff, and believe that carefully monitored technology exchanges with the Unified State, so long as these exchanges do not provide militarily-useful technology to the Unified State, may be of sufficient value to the United Republic as to leave the Republic at an advantage after the exchanges are done.