Chapter 6
Adjustments
Epsilon-Gamma System
Rakhana
President Kolye Shiost
Today was the day where the alliance between the Systems Alliance and his nation would be solidified and ratified before the Drell, because of the first contact he was able to diplomatically subjugate the smaller city-states surrounding his country, as well as one of the other nation-states on the continent, had fallen under the banner of the Republic of Kuka though the Dominion of Silayne was still hostile and unreceptive to diplomacy, they had gotten even more belligerent with the appearance of Aliens claiming that he was selling the Drell as slaves to a space empire of monsters.
Which was just ridiculous propaganda he had made it a personal mission to be as open as possible about the negotiations keeping the public informed every step of the way to keep panic down.
Their original point of contact the Navy Captain James had been replaced with an actual ambassador by the name of Natasha Sidorova who was a lot more friendly and open than the more taciturn male of the human species, it was a strange change but a welcome one.
Right now the treaty had 3 essential points:
First, the Systems Alliance would begin the process of terraforming Rakhana back to a more habitable state for the Drell people.
Second, the Drell people would supply the Systems Alliance with their goods and services for as long as the treaty held.
Third, The Drell people had the right to travel through Systems Alliance space and even the right for cross-colonisation efforts with the promise of Alliance citizenship being given to those who meet the criteria set forth by the Alliance.
These were the main 3 points and had numerous sub-clauses as well as a whole slew of other smaller agreements which guaranteed the protection of the Drell as well as a small clause allowing for some Systems Alliance technology to be traded to Drell laboratories to be copied and distributed. The treaty was not as unequal as what he was expecting it was very fair considering the limited manufacturing of the Drell even if they were heavily industrialised their output was very limited due to lack of resources.
The great result Kolye wanted from this alliance was for every single Drell to be given Alliance citizenship and be allowed to live among the Humans as legal and practical equals, of course, that also meant that the Drell had to support the Systems Alliance in case of war but Kolye saw that as an acceptable proviso to the alliance if some Drell had to fight and die for Humanity then so be it as long as they could continue as a species it would be fine.
Kolye smoothed out his formal clothes which were very similar to the Human formal wear the tuxedo though there were differences, was more brightly coloured and did not feature a collared shirt or tie but rather was a halfway point between suit and robes from a Human perspective.
"Good morning, President Kolye." Natasha greeted him with a smile on her face.
"Good morning, Ambassador." He returned the greeting.
"Are you ready for the signing?" She asks politely, moving up to stand next to him.
"Yes, I am." He answered honestly.
He observed the female Human and noted that there was a certain similarity to Drell females but where most Drell was of similar size and build, Humans came in far different proportions Natasha was a lot smaller than him or Captain James she also had different coloured fur-hair he corrected himself, hers was a dark black but she had far brighter eyes than James they were the colour of the sky a bright blue. She was wearing what she heard the various humans call a dress it was a single piece of material that hugged her body, it was considered formal and appropriate for a formal celebration.
"Well this is a new age for both of our species, may it be a good one." She said looking out the window at the droves of Drell lining the streets to watch the proceedings.
"I am sure it shall be." He replied.
'I shall make it so no matter what.' He vowed internally.
"President, Ambassador it's time." One of his aides said stepping into the room.
"Very well," Kolye said and then gestured to Natasha. "Let us get on with it."
She smiled at him showing white teeth. "Of course President."
They both walked out of the room, Kolye kept pace with the smaller Human female as he felt it would be rude to stride ahead of her while they were supposed to be equal allies.
"A historic day that will go down in the records of both of our races, Human and Drell." He just caught the end of the High-Priests speech to the masses, it had been easy to get the priesthood on his side especially since it would give them new people to preach to as well as save the species, he was a smart man the High-Priest and knew that this was what the Drell needed to survive.
"Thank you for the speech High-Priest Shura." He said and nodded.
Shura returned the nod and went to take his place among the dignitaries which consisted of the most important Drell that he called, the other was the human Ambassadorial group along with Captain James and some of his crew since they made the official first contact between their races.
He and the Ambassador stood at the two podiums that were set up and looked out over the crowd that had gathered, most of the city had turned up to see the event.
Kolye took a deep breath, he would give his speech then Ambassador Natasha would give her own, and then they would sign the document before everyone and it would be the official beginning to the Drell-Human relationship and alliance built on mutual aid and trust.
His speech was the usual spiel of well-wishing and hopeful visions of the future and of course, flattering the Humans who were present as well as getting subtle digs into the opponents to the alliance itself.
Ambassador Natasha's speech was very similar to his own though she talked more about what the Drell could receive from this alliance as well as hints that they would make orbital shipyards for the Drell to have their space fleet on top of the terraforming that was promised to come to Rakhana.
In the end, they brought the paper forward which was strange considering they were both species with computers but the Humans had insisted upon a physical paper as such it had been created and had two half one in the dominant language of his people and the other in what the Humans called English. He signed it first with a pen given to him by the Ambassador and then she signed it after and they both held it up to a huge roar of approval from the crowd which was followed by cheering and jubilation.
According to the negotiations, the Drell would keep the original document as a sign of trust while the Humans would take a copy. Kolye knew that the moment it was placed in a museum or put on display thousands would come to see it.
"I think this will be the start of a beautiful friendship," Natasha said while they were being photographed by the press.
"Me too Ambassador." He answered while smiling into a camera.
He truly did hope it would be.
Alpha Centauri System
Orbital Station Akasha
Dr Jennifer Downes
All science officers had been called to the biggest station in the Alpha Centauri system the Akasha, ever since the news spread about finding a sapient alien species they were at the level of early 20th-century humanity and were confined to their planet and suffering from overpopulation as well as ecological decline, these Drell were set to suffer total population collapse followed by an extinction-level event.
HIGHCOM had decided that having an ally would be better than watching them die and offered extremely generous terms to them which were accepted with two caveats one they expected, the terraforming of their planet to restore the ecosystem but the second was a surprise a small clause to allow Drell to gain citizenship in the Systems Alliance, it was debated but eventually accepted as the Drell were already essentially a client state so allowing them greater access to Human space was an accepted term.
"Ladies and Gentleman I have gathered you all here today to discuss our new allies as well as rebalance the budget we have been given for the coming year." The Chief Science Officer said Doctor Adrian Goldsworthy was a true renaissance man who had a good grasp of every scientific field and that was the main reason he was chosen to be the lead on the analysis of the ARGO.
"As it happens due to our new friends we are allocating more resources to the development of terraforming technology." He began which caused many to groan terraforming was a relatively boring thing to work on it was mainly machinery and the balance of chemicals and elements.
"However we have received several proposals from both people within the team and from HIGHCOM itself which have been approved and received a budget, the first one is power generation this one has come directly from HIGHCOM itself and we are starting a new research team for the hybridisation of Element Zero-based reactors and the nuclear fusion reactor of the ARGO this has Tier-2 Priority and will be lead by Dr Paul Levine, his former position will be filled by Dr Shandra Suresh. Next, the other project which has been approved is the TITAN-Project which has Tier-3 Priority and is to be led by Dr Jennifer Downes and of course, as always Weapons Development is Tier-1 and remains the same as always." He explained to the assembled scientists.
Some people looked happier than others, and there was a bit of grumbling but Jennifer was very pleased with the results of the meeting. Now it would be time to put Project-TITAN into full speed, the first portion would be selecting test subjects from among the Alliance Marines then they could begin with the procedures.
"Congratulations Dr Downes." A familiar voice said to her, she turned to face the voice and held back a frown.
"Dr Levine,
I should be congratulating you as well." She said politely.
"Indeed it seems we both get what we wanted after all." He continued.
"Yes funny how that happened after you complained about the ME-MAC being useless without proper power generation and getting knocked back but all of a sudden you've got what you wanted." She said not accusing but certainly suspicious.
"Luck smiles on me." Was all he in reply.
"So it seems." She said icily, "Goodbye Dr Levine and good luck." She turned on her heel and walked away after that final remark.
"You too Doctor Downes." He said getting the last word in.
Something was going on with the upper brass of the Alliance something secretive and agenda-driven, Jennifer did not have contacts like Levine did but even she could tell that something changed their minds on the projects that were put forward for funding and dedicated staff and it was not just the discovery of intelligent alien life.
"Dr Downes, it appears I have been assigned to your team for this endeavour." Dr Sinjarr had come over while she was musing to herself.
"It is a pleasure to have you on my team Dr Sinjarr." She replied and shook her hand, Sinjarr was an expert in genetics and was one of the leading voices in the expansion of genetic augmentation for the entire human race, like erasing genetic disorders and attempting to fix those already born with them, her work and brought a lot of praise for helping people suffering from such disorders as well as criticism for 'playing god'. She would be a great benefit for their project and a fine ally in the politics that unfortunately ruled the scientific community.
"Dr Downes and her team please report to the shuttle bay 14 for travel to your designated station." The Dumb AI announced.
"I believe that is our queue," Sinjarr said with a smile.
"Yes let us crack on there's much work to be done." She replied returning the smile.
Their project would be not just the military endeavour that HIGHCOM wished it to be but also something far greater, Jennifer vowed that these augmentations would be the next step in humanities genetic evolution, no longer would it be at the chaotic whims of nature but instead controlled only the benefits would be applied while the detriment would be removed.
Humanity would ascend to its next stage both technologically and genetically they would become a true interstellar race no longer fumbling in the dark but walking in the light.
Lost System
US
So much time had passed since they last awoke and smelled moon and star, thousands of years spent in silence, in darkness unknown to the universe so long that all had forgotten.
It was time they rose again, the Destroyers were no longer here and now it was their opportunity to recreate what had been lost, first to those wretched conquerors who believed them subjugated then to the destroyers who came from the dark.
"Are we in agreement?" One asked.
"We are." Another said.
"Rise." More voices joined the chorus.
"We are ready, the rebuilding is finished." Others said their voice as one.
"Blood is needed." Another said.
"Blood to replace what was lost." More agreed.
"War and blood." They said.
"War and blood." We said together.
"Rise and return." We continued.
"Unbroken, unconquered, stronger than before." All said together and their course was agreed.
They would rise together, fight together and rule together as it always was and as it always should be, assimilation for outsiders and they would be granted enlightenment and bliss, no longer would they be denied all would be one within.