Tortoise

Through the Gateways: Humanity [Closed] [Soon to be Concluded]

_{[Starring: Kayla]}

_{(Addressing: @Crusader Lord)}

That's no good at all, thinks Oligarch Kayla, who feels exited. Oh, this is probably terrible news, she decides, and is very happy about it.

The protector at comms asks her "What should we do, ma'am?" It takes her a moment to realize the question is aimed at her, because she's only recently gotten used to being an Oligarch, and is not at all used to being the specific Oligarch people ask for directions. But then, she's the only one present. Nobody else was sent to oversee the Zetan blockade, and Kayla has a creeping suspicion they only sent her for the sake of removing her from the politics back home. (But joke's on them: Kayla has riled people up even through intergalactic messages.)

"Oh! Oh, yes," she answers her personal soldier. "Tell the Xandalians to- hold while we confer!" She can feel the fun in the wind.

~~~~~~~~

_{[Starring: Tanaka]}

Tanaka is staring himself down in the mirror. He intends to do this, and do it well. He knows that it's far more than he asked for, in simply wanting to meet new cultures, but it's his job now. This and not disappointing Savant Heralds. Fastening the tie around his neck, straightening the cowboy hat on his head- the Liason is out the door.

"Humans of the Galaxy," he announces from the center-most area of the Meeting Place, where all can see him and where his voice will be broadcasted out to representatives of every Colony, "I am Liason Tanaka, representative of the Earth Cultural Union in this Meeting Place. I have come today to address an issue that you may have heard about." Deep breath. You got good Eloquence scores, Tanaka, he tells himself, you can do this.

"The rumors you've heard are true. ECU military forces, in tandem with our allies the Undefeated, have undertaken a successful invasion of the Zetan system. Their navy has been destroyed, and as of now, their planet may be considered under blockade. No individuals will be permitted approach without explicit permission from either ECU or Undefeated authorities." He finds himself pausing for audience reaction, but then, there's not much of an 'audience' on the station. A handful of international diplomats look shocked, so maybe that counts.

"We have not done this without provocation. Recently, the Zetan forces abducted an ECU scientist, one Dr. Bodi, and forced him into their territory. They claim he came willingly, but as he left behind no notes or statements of intent, we cannot confirm this. Ladies and gentlemen, he was merely taken. And we intend to retrieve him. We also intend, furthermore, to act on behalf of all mankind in insuring such incidents do not happen again." That last part is clearly a threat hidden behind political language, but Tanaka isn't about to elaborate on it. It'll have to stand on it's own.

"Thankyou for your time." Without pausing for questions- especially not with Sigma-Devi probably walking free on the station somewhere- the Liason disappears into the mess of corridors that will lead him back to the safety of the ECU embassy.

~~~~~~~~

_{[Starring: Martina]}

"Don't touch that!" someone tries to tell her, but it's too late- her hand plunges deep into the flames.

"Ow, yowww, it's hot! It's hot!"

"Yes," the old woman suppresses a laugh. "Fire is always hot."

Martina Ward, who's rubbing her burnt fingers against the cold sand, answers back "I know that! I guess I just thought... I don't what I thought. That it was holographic, maybe. Is it? Real, that is?"

"Of course," the woman answers. She's one of the people Ward has risked everything to find. One of the few Mixtists left. "Everything here is real."

"Wow."

Martina stares into the flames, entranced again.

~~~~~~~~

_{[Starring: Kayla]}

_{(Addressing: @Crusader Lord)}

There was great debate among the Oligarchs about this terrifying request. On the one hand, if they let the Xandalian diplomats through, the Zetans will tell their end of the story, which could be a disaster for ECU diplomacy. On the other hand, refusing the diplomats would, well, also be a disaster for ECU diplomacy. Even Heralds seemed fully stumped by the issue. (After the War Council rejected his idea to destroy it and blame the Zetans, anyway.)

Eventually, they forged a compromise that made nobody happy, but at least managed to keep the Cultural Union's reputation intact.

From her cruiser, the Oligarch Kayla sends this message to the Xandalian Republic vessel: "Very well. I will order my ships not to fire. However, we obviously cannot allow a foreign ship free travel during this sensitive situation. This cruiser will escort you, along with several of our fighter craft, and we will sit in on any in-person discussions you have with Zetan individuals." She doesn't mention it, but the ECU is also listening to broadcasts and comms from the surface: if the Zetans say anything to the Xandalians, they'll probably hear it too.

She adds something that wasn't in her official orders: "Oh, and I, Oligarch Kayla, will be the one sitting in." She wonders if they can hear her smile.

Through the Gateways: Humanity [Closed] [Soon to be Concluded]

@Irredeemable
So, these guys use "plebe" as an insult, right?

Can't wait for them to meet the other noocracy we have

Through the Gateways: Humanity [Closed] [Soon to be Concluded]

Collab Between @Tortoise and @Irredeemable

The protectors were feeling much better, now that the Zetan navy was down for the count.

One of the remaining two cruisers, this one adorned with red stripes, took to the task of organizing troop deployments. In the holo-simulations, this was always taken to be a fairly simple job: find cities, bomb them into dust, repeat. Soldiers were just for picking up stragglers and occupying whatever the ECU decided to leave intact.

But now they were having an odd problem.

“Sir,” one junior protector told the chief. “There’s… no cities.”

“You must have read it wrong!” the chief yelled. ‘Yelling’ is the only volume he has. “Try again.”

The junior protector pushes a few more buttons. (He was trained to do this just a few days ago, and was still uncertain in his movements.)

“No, sir, I’m sure. There’s no cities. Not on this entire planet.”

An awkward silence fills the room.

“Well… what is there?”

A research outpost was chosen as their destination. They didn’t know it was an outpost, exactly, but they knew it was small, isolated, and hopefully contained Zetans they could capture to interrogate on where everybody is living. The shuttle lets down a little roughly, being that the piloting AI is not meant at all for this environment, but the protectors make sure they come out in style. They load their weapons while they walk.

“Open up!”, the commander bangs on the closest thing they can find to a door. “This is the ECU. We have seized this planet. We know you’re in there.”

Zetan weather surveillance outposts were not built with security in mind. They did not have cameras, or guards, or protective measures. What they did have however, was engineering designed to withstand the worst of what the planet could throw at them.

And this one had decided to leave a single warform outside, unpowered. The outpost itself had currently gone into searfront lockdown- an 83c celcius wall of heat was ripping across the surface of Tartarus-Sigma, and it was only a few precious minutes away from gracing the structure.

With the ECU banging outside, one of the disembodied crewmen from the naval battles took control and moved it towards the commander. Rather than immediately reply, it simply stood there, looking at the small squadron with its sleek, inhuman face.

“Woah!,” a young man jumped back from the moving machine. “Look, commander, here’s one- it’s all robot!”

All the protector’s hands immediately went to their hips, where their metal clubs would usually rest. Today, those clubs were exchanged for sidearms and rifles. They drew them in unison, under nobody’s orders but instinct’s, and raised them midway to the terrifying thing in front of them.

“You,” the commander barked. “We need information. Come with us, and we’ll have a talk.”

Even unarmed, a warform was not defenseless. Hardy, heat-and-cold resistant, with a reasonable degree of strength, dexterity, and, of course, its electrical surprise, this one warform could have seriously damaged the squad as it milled about aimlessly. But, instead, it was here to study them. Zetans didn’t get caught in searfronts anymore. Nobody had, not for centuries. So what did a human being do when exposed to non-fire based flash heat? They could theorise and model it, but nothing compared to empirical data.

“I’m sorry,” the warform finally crackled out. “Are you trying to intimidate a remote-controlled robot?”

The men exchanged glances. They had, each one, assumed this was only an extremely modified cyborg.

“...hey,” the young one says at last. “Is it starting to feel a little hot to you?”

It was. Out of nowhere, every human realized he was sweating.

“Welcome to Elysium-Sigma.” The form declared. “This monitoring facility is currently in extreme weather lockdown. The Zetan Consciousness thanks you for your sacrifices to the scientific cause.”

The commander tries to yell at the robot, the way his chief does him, but suddenly finds that yelling is becoming very difficult. Actually, it seems hard to breathe at all. The sudden wave of heat, like an open oven, takes all the air straight from his lungs.

It’s then that a warning traveling up his arms and legs tells him to look down, and when he does- it’s all red. His skin, red, crackling, boiling… soon, they’re all screaming with whatever oxygen they have left.

The team doesn’t make it back to their transport. Four roasting bodies lay in the Zetan sun. The warform alone is still standing.

“Welcome to Zeta-5.” The warform declared bitterly to their burnt bodies. That ship should be good to scrap and see how Hollywoodite troop transports tick. It was something, the Collective supposed.

~~~~~~~~

_{(Addressing: @Irredeemable}

This is not what they came prepared for. In fact, the Noocracy strictly ordered a blitzkrieg. They would rush in while the toasters still had their pants down, club them to death, and bust up their whole system faster than anyone can say “augmentations.” So to speak.

But as the ECU fleet hovers in orbit over Zeta-5, it became increasingly clear that this would be no quick war. It would be a long, painful, drawn-out siege, the first one in centuries of recorded history. They would need to keep the planet locked down. They would need to face-off against the environment, the native life, and the Zetan resistance fighters. And perhaps most importantly, they would have to stay in blockade, allowing no ships to or from the surface, no Zetan allies to approach, and no space-bound construction.

The protector chief sent his mission report to the Noocratic War Council, but by now, they've watched the whole event themselves. On New Hollywood, people celebrated, believing this to be a victory. But the truth settles in for the protectors ordered to keep orbit on their captive world.

Zeta's navy is gone, their planet is captured, but the real war is obviously only beginning.

Through the Gateways: Humanity [Closed] [Soon to be Concluded]

@GreyGoblin@MetalWeight
This is the worst part about GM'ing. But since neither of you have been online in a long time, unless you pop up in the next few days, I'll have to consider you to be out of this RP.

@Tortoise

And they're gone.

Now, @datadogie and @ClocktowerEchos, I really hate this, but I feel like I have to do something similar. I'll give you both about 5 days to make a post, but if you can't in that time, I'm going to consider you to no longer be interested in this RP. It's been weeks since either of you posted, and with five extra days added to that, anyone should be able to write something. If you post a paragraph even in four days and 23 hours, you'll still be in.

Through the Gateways: Humanity [Closed] [Soon to be Concluded]

_{[Starring: Abadi]}

_{(Addressing: @Raylah)}

Abadi smiles back at her guest- a warm, inviting, and above all, genuine smile. Or at least it's supposed to be. She's been practicing for three hours.

"Yes, our holograms are one of our people's triumphs. It brings our past to the present, so to speak. Can I offer you something?" Diplomatic talk, but they really did have every refreshment imaginable on hand. "Since the terraforming of New Hollywood has been under way, we've been able to grow anything from green tea to genuine chocolate. Trust me, it's much better than synthesized stuff."

Today, given the militant nature these talks might take, Abadi wore the most authoritative clothes she could think of. Middle ages metal armor, with the exception of high-heeled shoes, and a Queen's Guard 'bearskin' hat. Armed in such an outfit, the Oligarch intends to propose a mutual defense treaty between the ECU and the Undefeated, and if things flow especially well tonight, perhaps even float the suggestion of a pre-emptive strike against their shared threat.

"And I do appreciate the congratulations," Abadi continues. "Becoming an Oligarch is a lifelong goal for ma- hold on." Her infopad beeps an emergency signal, and as soon as she takes it out to check, she is suddenly flying to her feet. Her eyes are wide open in shock. Before Kelsie can even try asking what's wrong, a man in a turban and hammer pants runs by shouting "They took him, they just took him!" Nobody knows who he's trying to inform.

The holo-butler appears again, and without being asked, gently helps Abadi back into her seat. She's visibly shaken. "I'm sorry," she says to her guest. "We have just received urgent news." She looks Kelsie in the eyes.

"The Zetans have kidnapped an ECU citizen."

~~~~~~~~

_{(Addressing: @Irredeemable)}

"On of our own!" the man in the army outfit is shouting. "This was one of our own people, a loyal man of New Hollywood, and these- these monsters took him!"

He's only one of hundreds of protestors on the streets of New Beijing, New Paris, Neo London, and more. They're carrying signs, things like "Bring Back Bodi!" and "Our Doctor, Our Man!" In a stroke of brilliance, one cardboard sign reads "He wasn't just any Bodi!" A sort of makeshift shrine to him sits in the corner between a holo-suite and a public restroom, adorned with flowers, his picture leaning against the brick wall. The people of New Hollywood are not religious, but if they were, they'd be praying for him.

As it is, military action will have to do.

Overhead, countless fleets of makeshift ships flock through orbit, dipping low enough for the crowds to witness them, shrieking on their way to the Gateway. They're not entering it. Not quite yet, because they await a single order. And there's only one man who can give it.

~~~~~~~~

_{[Starring: Heralds]}

_{(Addressing: @Sigma)}

"Wait," Savant Heralds tells the council.

"For what? What are we waiting for?! They took our scientist!" An old Oligarch cries. He says it in much the same way a child would say 'He stole my toy!'

"Wait," Heralds repeats again, no louder than before. There's no reason to yell. They can't overrule him on this. The ships are manned by protectors, and Savant's Third Principle is clear on who commands the protectors. "This is my order to give. And I will not give it if we rush to defeat."

First, he explains to his audience of powerful but very angry Oligarchs, they would reach out to potential allies. He assures them that the most capable young ruler, one Abadi, is working over the Undefeated as they speak. In the meantime...

"We reach out to you," the encrypted message, addressed to the United Republic of Colombia, reads, "because we believe you hold humanity sacred. Yes, we have heard of your history. Your legendary fight against the Yulzan aliens inspires us all. But sadly, we have also heard of your supposed friendship with these Zetans. And so we wish to inform you that recently, they have kidnapped an ECU citizen, one of our own, and likely subjected him to unknown tortures. They have done this without reason or provocation. Are these creatures your friends? We would never imagine such things from your great peoples..."

In this way, the letter goes on to imply that the URC should distance itself from the Zetan Consciousness. The last few lines, boldly, even hint that the Colombians may be rewarded for joining the side of the ECU in this coming conflict. But this is only throwing darts in the dark. Really, the Cultural Union is more afraid that the URC will attempt to defend the Zetans against this attack, and this message is intended to cast doubts on their plans. Hopefully, it will succeed.

~~~~~~~~

_{(Addressing: @Crusader Lord)}

"'Ay, 'ay, darlin'!" a New Paris writer is trying very hard to catch up with an Oligarch, who is trying very hard to walk away from him. "Listen, I promise, this is the biggest thing since Elvis!"

The Oligarch sighs, and turns around. Her eyes have to drop down to where the hyperactive writer is standing. "I will hear out your whole proposal right now if you can tell me who Elvis was."

The man smiles like he just got handed a blank check, because for all intents and purposes, he did. "Eh, he was some music guy or somethin'- so, so, my plan is this, right, we go to those Xandalians or whatever they're called..."

He goes on to explain, with twice as much repetition and half as much detail as needed, a 'perfect scheme' to get the Xandalians in on the war effort. They've been receiving ECU media for months now. Movies, plays, you name it. Most of them are just repurposed holo-programs, made for a non-interactive environment, but now the writer wants to make stories exclusively for non-ECU nations.

"It's the perfect scheme!," he says again. "We can show them whatever we want, make them think like us here on New Hollywood think! Make the whole galaxy, you know, believes the things we believe! It's, what do you call it, a Fernanda!"

"Propaganda," the Oligarch answers him. "The word for this is propaganda." But she's smiling.

~~~~~~~~

_{[Starring: Abadi]}

_{(Addressing: @Raylah)}

A few hours have passed since the news dropped, and the dust is only now settling in the ECU embassy. Abadi begged her guest to stay while she coordinates with the Noocracy back home, but when she walks back into the office where Kelsie waits for her, she looks even more nervous than before. The hat and the heels only partially hide it.

"Guardian Blackwood," Abadi begins, "My government has informed me we are... declaring war. This is going to happen now, no matter what. We cannot overlook a human being, kidnapped from his own place of work. The Zetans will be punished for this. We only have one question for your people.

"Will you join us?"

~~~~~~~~

"They tryin' to figure out if those 'Undefeated' boys are gonna come with," one protector tells another. "That's why they got us floatin' up here by the Gate like sittin' ducks. Waitin' on their answer."

His fighter's comm system picks up the return message: "What, don't they think we can handle it? I've beat up lots of people before. I bet I can bust up some walking toaster."

Alone in his ship, the protector laughs proudly. He can't wait.

Howdy! :)

You say howdy. But do you say y'all?

Anyway, welcome

Through the Gateways: Humanity [Closed] [Soon to be Concluded]

_{[Starring: Heralds]}

Flicker, flicker, steady. Little golden lights come into being, hovering in empty air before Savant Heralds, each one in perfect representation of a ship currently orbiting over New Hollywood. If you look closely enough, you can even see the weapons, the windows, the outline of a pilot in a fighter. They remind him of the models he used to assemble as a child, and for a moment, this serious-minded man feels like a kid playing with toys again.

But he's not. He's the leader of a planet, and each one of these little holo-models is, in fact, a real ship. As he runs his hands through the Encore, he knows that real cruiser is floating over his head somewhere, ready for war. If only they were all like that one.

Many more of these lights represent the meat of the ECU's navy: repurposed and hastily built. Heralds sees models of shuttles with railguns attached, and asteroid miners with armor bolted on. Such thrown-together ships make up at least half the navy, and the other half: exact clones of Old Earth ships.

Fighters, corvettes, cruisers and a half-finished battleship. All looking like they could be three centuries old. If it wasn't for all the gold paint. Why did it need to be gold? Heralds had proposed gray, but the other Oligarchs do occasionally overrule him. Better, he decides, to be out-voted on aesthetic than on warfare.

That's why this holo-display is set up in his office. It lets him see each ship and each potential battle as it happens in real-time. And not only that: he motions with his finger for a fighter (which is actually a science ship with a cannon) to move to Encore's flank, and it actually does. Both the holo-model, and the real ship. From here, this little gray office with no speck of color but this cylindrical projector emerging from the floor, a man can send orders to an entire fleet. Heralds considers it his best move yet.

If the protectors cannot think, he decides, than their Savant will have to do the thinking for them.

~~~~~~~~

_{[Starring: Abadi and Tanaka]}

The first thing to catch her attention is the grass. Then the sun. Then, maybe, it's the trees, the distant river, or perhaps the double-rainbow arching overhead. Either way, all at once, she knows where she is. And so she scowls.

Ever since she saw the real Earth, that defeated lump of clay outside, Abadi hasn't been able to stand Earth holo-programs. They just feel like... a lie. She doesn't even know why, since they're as real as any hologram, but that's been the unshakeable impression she's carried ever since that faithful day six months ago. It was the same day she argued with the Zetans, nearly started a war, somehow laid the groundwork for a promotion, and met Kelsie.

So, there were at least two bright spots to all this. Even if Undefeated culture did scare her a bit, she liked Kelsie. That's why she's here- it's not like she came to the Meeting Place to talk to Tanaka.

"So, you like it?" he's asking her. "Does it seem like a good representation of Earth? Or, of uh, ECU longterm terraforming goals?"

It takes her eyes some time to swivel over to where 'Liason' Tanaka is, standing there with that same cowboy hat he wears every day. She wishes he were quieter. Is he even technically an Oligarch anymore?

"The double-rainbow might be a bit much," she confesses, but his stricken expression makes her regret it.

"Oh," he says, and this time he is quiet. "Sorry, Heralds told me to make it perfect." Why does he worship Heralds so much? Abadi doesn't even like the Savant. She doesn't know any other Oligarchs who legitimately do, either. They all get roped into voting for him from threats or empty promises, or sometimes neither, sometimes he just spins a lot of words and has you doing what he asks before you even realize it. But Tanaka's not like that. He actually believes in Heralds. Loves him. Poor guy.

"It's fine," she says. "I'm sorry, it is perfect." A moment passes. "Anyway, I gotta go. I have that meeting, and everything."

"Yeah, yeah, for sure," Tanaka says without looking back at her. "See you later."

Oligarch Abadi exits the Meeting Place holo-suite, leaving the Liason staring at his double-rainbow that isn't there.

~~~~~~~~

_{(Addressing: @Raylah)}

_{[Starring: Abadi]}

"Yes, I am in the ECU area of the Meeting Place currently, and we are able to receive you at your leisure. We look forward to productive talks." A simple and short message, considering they'll be meeting as soon as Kelsie's free.

Abadi looks out of the window of her borrowed office, a second-story room that overlooks the main area of the ECU's station. She knows her people have little experience with truly complex constructions, so their contribution to the Meeting Place is, well, a bit of a mess. But at least, it's one well-hidden by showiness.

Golden drapes cover piping, while complimentary wine platters hide the ventilation. Museum-like displays reveal scenes and artifacts from the golden ages of Earth. Holographic letters float in the air, declaring "Welcome to the E.C.U." in a font inspired by the Las Vegas signs of Old Earth. And finally, red carpets lead guests to the important facilities: the embassy, the holo-suite, and of course, the fully-manned 24/7 bar.

She's already set her holo-butler to appear when Kelsie enters through the big, arched doorway. He'll politely lead her through all that up to this little corner of the place, where hopefully, they can talk business.

Through the Gateways: Humanity [Closed] [Soon to be Concluded]

@GreyGoblin@MetalWeight
This is the worst part about GM'ing. But since neither of you have been online in a long time, unless you pop up in the next few days, I'll have to consider you to be out of this RP.

Through the Gateways: Humanity [Closed] [Soon to be Concluded]

Just as a warning: if the ECU gets curb-stomped, I will be replacing it with a society that's Asian on the western continent, and European on the eastern continent. Just to forever confuse what "Western culture" and "Eastern culture" mean.

Through the Gateways: Humanity [Closed] [Soon to be Concluded]

And there's the time skip!

So, here's how we'll be playing this. As Tanaka did, every nation who wants to (you can ignore it if you wish) can record a little description of themselves that all the other Colonies can see publicly. This is to replace all the individual 'first contact' situations we've been doing, allowing every Colony to officially know about each other, and have opinions of one another. So then we can get on with the trade and warfare and so on.

Also, if your colony (like mine!) had no navy before now, this would be a good time to say something about one getting started. Especially you, @Irredeemable, since the ECU is bluntly threatening you now. Like straight-up