Planet Manhattan
New York System, Liberty
Approximately 50 standard hours ago a Bretonnian patrol encountered an unknown fleet. One hour later, Lord Edward Barstow, one of Bretonnia's better diplomats is quietly but quickly moved to the HMS Stirling. Approximately 40 hours later, Bretonnia sends a message to all other Houses best described as 'We've encountered aliens. Things look peaceful so far. We've sent diplomats to talk to them. God help us all.' Our initial analysis suggests that since the Bretonnians are still talking, we've encountered an alien race that is willing to talk. We are still awaiting word from Operative Laslow for further data.
Colonel Frederick Tanner
Liberty Security Forces
They say that in Liberty, Manhattan is basically one great big city separated by unusually large parks. Thousands of skyscrapers littered the skyline and millions of ships littered it's airspace, from luxury skycars to heavy duty fighters for freelancers, to freighters filled with the goods that Manhattan desired. If a trend started, and it was expensive, chances are, it started here.
At the center of this massive city lies the original Liberty sleeper ship. Converted into the seat of the government of Liberty, it was in here that Richard Wallace, 182nd President of Liberty, had his office, the old Captain's Quarters of the ship.
Right now, President Richard Wallace was not a happy man.
Though to be fair to him, he is a man who is in charge of the most powerful nation in the Sirius systems and could effectively cripple the other houses with but a few words, yet suddenly unable to do anything in what is now perhaps the most momentous event in the history of the Colonies. An alien fleet had appeared on the outskirts of Bretonnian space and no one but the Bretonnians could do anything but prepare and hope for the best.
"Can someone please tell me what the fuck is going on in Bretonnia!" Richard roared at the men and women before him. These were some of the most influential men and women in both the Colonies and Liberty, but as President of Liberty he could change all that easily with but a snap of his fingers.
"Well sir," Admiral Ballantine, of the Liberty Navy, answered back professionally, "all we know is what the Bretonnians said, quote 'We've encountered aliens. Have sent diplomatic fleet to talk. God help us all.' end quote."
"You know that's not what the hell I meant!" Richard angrily retorted, "I meant did we have anything to tell us we should have expected this? Did the Valhalla Project say anything about this? This situation is a political shitstorm in the making!"
"Well..." Dr Harold Craxton, one of the top researchers in Ageira Technologies, shakily replied, "We all knew about the Alien Artifacts all over the Colonies, we had no reason to suspect that we were alone in the universe. We figured it was only a matter of time before we met some sort of alien life..."
"Well then wake up doctor and smell the shit! It's happening now!" Wallace shouted, "We've met these goddamn aliens, and now here is the million credit question, are these aliens in anyway related to what we found in Valhalla?"
"There's… no way to be sure sir," Dr Craxton hesitatingly responded, "We are however rather confident that these aren't the Dom'Kavash." he continued, his voice slightly steadier
"Then these are just aliens we've never seen a trace of before?" Richard replied.
"Essentially… we think so sir. This isn't as unlikely as you think sir!" Dr Craxton quickly replied upon seeing the President's face contort further towards rage, "Just finding these ruins proves we aren't alone in the universe. The fact that they found us and not the other way around doesn't change things." The President's face continued to redden and Dr. Craxton desperately spoke out the first idea that came to his head, in an attempt to save his job, "I mean, this could just prove to be one massive business opportunity for us!"
The President paused. Business was always good for Liberty, and it would always be in its interest to keep it good. "Explain."
Seeing his chance, Dr Craxton speedily replied, "Well… just because we are the ones who were discovered doesn't mean that we are the primitives here. We may be the veritable New World here, minus the inability to defend ourselves. These aliens may want something that we only have, or have in abundance. And if we are the only ones who have something…"
"We can charge them through their asses for it." continued the President. This has been the cornerstone of Liberty's business policy, especially in regards to the Jump Gates and Trade Lanes, for centuries. It would simply be bringing it to the next step were he to apply it to an alien race.
"Not to mention the market for our cheap goods. Think of the thousands of new markets, all waiting for exotic Liberty products, Synthpaste, Pharmaceuticals, Guns, Tech, Clothes, Art, you name what we make and chances are we could probably sell it! " continued the Dr Craxton, continuing to grasp at the straws of that he thought would work.
Which incidentally was what the CEO's of Ageira Technologies, Deep Space Engineering and Interspace Commerce were now thinking. So long as there was trade, these three companies would flourish. Ageira for the Jump Gate and Trade lane Parts for access to new systems, DSE for the construction, and IC for the insurance premiums it would make from the traders alone. They could possibly even go back to financing companies and other Houses! We're all going to be so rich.
Still, this was a rather risky venture, and it all ultimately relied on them having a peaceful first contact but the opportunity to tap virgin markets that have never yet seen Liberty methods… The payouts would simply be tremendous. Then a thought entered President Wallace's head.
They could be just like us.
They could try and flood our markets with their products. That means less profit.
They needed to get copies of the Alien merchandise and figure out how to make them to get back market that are rightfully theirs!
"Ladies and Gentlemen," he said, breaking the silence, "as much as Dr Craxton here is correct, it sadly works both ways. We've never seen their products before, and like it or not, chances are the people of Manhattan will want it, and that would mean credits going out of Liberty." he ended, letting that statement sink in for a bit. He could already see the frown forming in several of the CEO's before him. "What we need to do is buy time to fend off the fuckers from taking our markets."
"But Mr President," replied George Taggart, current CEO of Ageira Technologies, "Despite our excellent ability to produce high quality products, we can't possibly reverse engineer those products quickly enough to prevent the aliens from conceivably grabbing a significant portion of the market."
"Then we'll just have to make a deal with the devil, and call in the experts." President Wallace ended ominously.
Planet New Berlin
New Berlin system, Rhineland
Bretonnia seems to have encountered an alien fleet. Based on the message they sent out, the alien seem peaceful but we don't know for sure if the aliens are really benign. Agent Dieter has yet to find any other information on the situation.
Hauptmann Werner Braun
Rhineland Military Intelligence
New Berlin is a planet of extremes in every sense of the word. A single day or night lasts almost one standard year, with the night facing extremely bitter winters, and the day side facing a more temperate summer where the temperatures rise a little above freezing. Despite all this though, this was the capital of the former Rhineland Empire, now the Federal Republic of Rhineland. It was here, in a place of both extreme wealth and extreme poverty that the current Chancellor of Rhineland, one Erik Reinhardt, had his office.
"Are we in any way capable of doing anything here?" he asked the men and women before him, some of the most intelligent and influential people within Rhineland, ranging from the corporate world, such as Daumann Heavy Construction, to members of what was left of the Rhineland Navy.
"No sir." Replied Admiral von Richthofen, the leading member of the Rhineland Navy and the Captain of the only Battleship left in Rhineland, the Westfalen, "It may have been over 50 years since the 80 Year War, but we are still feeling the loss. We've plenty of fighters ready to defend planets, but the Westfalen is our only sort of true mobile offense and defense. We did have a theoretical plan for this situation but…"
"It requires resources we simply don't have." Reinhardt grimly replied. A grim fact of life is that while Rhineland had nearly everything it needed, it had debts to pay. Crippling debts because of a war the old government lost to a bunch of miners because a bunch of old men didn't know when to quit. "So how can we take advantage of this situation Ladies and Gentlemen? Do we have any sort of plans to deal with this sort of situation? Anything that could be applied at all?" asked Reinhardt.
Silence echoed throughout the room. No one was really prepared for this kind of situation. Rhineland had more important and pressing issues than some out of the way theoretical situation that was likely years or even centuries in the future.
"There… is one thing I can think of sir." one of the aides to Daumann hesitatingly replied.
"Quiet Sabine!" hissed Werner Daumann, current CEO of Daumann industries.
"No." Erik interrupted, "Let the woman speak." and he motioned for the woman, Sabine to continue.
"Well…" she continued still a little hesitant, "back when I was studying in the University of New Berlin ,my ex was taking a political science and economics double major, and he came up with a rather radical thesis." she ended a bit, waiting for the Chancellor's approval to continue.
"Go on," he said tersely.
"I remember him saying something along the lines that Bretonnia has a lot of manufacturing and such but we do a lot of finished goods and machinery, and our focus on product quality ensures that we always have superior products." she replied, a little more confidently, "The aliens seem benign, and I suspect they will want to conduct trade. My ex suggested that Bretonnia, with it's historically neutral and peaceful state, could theoretically become our greatest trade partner. Now that they've made contact with the aliens, they now seem to be the key to exporting goods to the aliens, and importing products from them as well. They will be receiving a huge influx of alien raw materials, and finished goods, all ready for shipping to us Houses, seeing as it is unlikely that they could make use of all that material, but I digress from his thesis. In it, he suggested approaching Bretonnia, ask them to be our long term allies. He predicted that should there be a lot of long term and highly active trade between our Houses, which his thesis also recommended, it'll be a huge tempting target for their traditionally peaceful area of space. They would need military expertise to guard against the various criminals that would pop up. Expertise we can provide thanks to our many veterans. We provide protection in exchange for raw materials and a favorable price on our products. In exchange, our superior goods can get a more favorable share of the market. With a good share of the market…"
"We can start paying off Liberty, maybe even start implementing the reforms that we promised…" continued Reinhardt. The idea could work. Yes it needed to be refined a bit, but… it could be the key to Rhineland's salvation. "Sabine," Reinhardt quickly asked, "do you still have any form of contact with this ex of yours?"
"No sir," she grimly replied, "he disappeared sometime after he presented his completed thesis, I never got a letter or anything from him."
A rather unfortunate turn of events that. If he had disappeared it meant he was either dead, or now a criminal, possibly even one of those Bundschuh revolutionaries… Still, they could work without him.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we now have an idea on how to pull us out of this mess." he then pointed to Sabine, "Miss, go get copies of that thesis from the University of New Berlin. You have my authority to jump any and all procedures to get them as quickly as possible." then he pointed to the various executives in front of him, "I need plans drafted for manufacturing more goods. Take into account the materials Bretonnia would need, and whatever you think the aliens could possibly want. Refine the processes and I want you to start getting the factories running again." then finally to Admiral von Richthofen, "Admiral, I want plans drawn up for patrol routes escorting the trade lanes to the Omega systems. I want better coverage of our flights, and I want you to move the Westfalen to the Stuttgart system as well. That should help deter any pirates. I also want you to begin negotiations with the Bundschuh and LWB. With this alliance, we could possibly start enacting the reforms that they demand." he finished.
"Yes Chancellor," they all quickly replied. There was a lot to do now in Rhineland, aristocrats to tame, criminals to talk with, workers to negotiate, but for the future of Rhineland, and their pockets, they would move heaven and hell to achieve this.|
New Tokyo
New Tokyo System, Kusari Empire
My Lord Shogun
We regret to inform you that beyond what Bretonnia has sent, we have learned little of the situation that is going on in the Tau 30 system. Agent Ro has yet to report in more details. Nonetheless we can still speculate based upon the message Bretonnia has sent to the other Houses. We suspect that these aliens will be seemingly benign. That does not mean they do not have hostile intentions. They could try to subjugate us quietly, infiltrate us with goods, culture, their way of thinking. These aliens could be the greatest threat to the stability of Kusari since the Blood Dragons.
Chu-Si Roku
Order of the Red Lotus
In a little twist of fate, when the Kusari arrived in the Sirius sector, they found that the planet they selected was much like their old home, Japan. New Tokyo is a world of gentle oceans and island chains. Much like their ancestors, the Kusari made do with the land they had, and built as economically yet aesthetically pleasing as possible; constructed huge graceful skyscrapers, fitting as many people as they could into a single location, using the latest technology that Kusari could reverse engineer and get away with.
All of this could not have been done, at least in the view of many in the Kusari government, without the strong rulership of a Shogun, who could lead and direct Kusari towards a bright and shining future. It was now this Shogun, one Gendo Masamune who was now listening to his 'advisors' from throughout the Empire.
"This can only be bad news for us my Lord," replied one Ozu Samura, Samura's current President, "Already those Liberty gaijin have a poisonous influence amongst the youth. The youth want change, and some already suspect that they may eventually wish oust you completely, change things such that you are merely ceremony, like the Emperors of old."
"Then how can a bunch of aliens worsen things for us?" asked Shogun Masamune incredulously, "They speak not our language, and most definitely know not of our culture. They are more gaijin than even Liberty. I do not see how Agent Roku's report could possibly come true."
"It is exactly because they are so alien that they may gain a toehold here. The young are fascinated by what is new and different. To see something so alien, instilling and even encouraging ideas and values that are not Kusari…"
"Could only weaken us by making the youth forget their past." the Shogun gravely replied. "Assuming that they are peaceful, then we likely cannot wage war upon them. The other colonies would most definitely disapprove of that action. What do you think we should do?"
"My lord, I believe that the best thing we can do is to… better fund Samura and Kishiro." Ozu painfully admitted, " Even with Samura's great labs and resources, we admittedly, do not have the… expertise Kishiro has in these situations when it comes to reverse engineering."
Masamune could clearly see the discomfort that admission caused Ozu, and incidentally the great smile on the face of Yoshi Kishiro, the current president of Kishiro Technologies. "As much as I would like to keep this within Kusari. I cannot see a situation here where we can feasibly fund you. As I'm sure you know, our… support of the Gas Mining Guild, has cost us dearly in their war against Rhineland. We may not be feeling it too badly, but for something of this scale… we cannot possibly fund this."
"Then who can we go to for funding? We can't go to Bretonnia, they are much too close to the aliens, and we trust not their monarch. Rhineland actively distrusts us and has nothing to offer anyway. Liberty would likely help, but we would be selling our own children in the process." Yoshi replied back gravely.
Masamune gave this much thought. Was it better to go into the unknown with someone you hated at your side, or alone?
"Gentlemen, it is better to deal with the devil you know than the devil you don't. We must therefore go to the devil we all know." he said , seeing the widening eyes of the people before him. "I decree that Kishiro and Samura must work with Liberty to help protect us against the alien gaijin." he finished imperiously.
Though the various executives before him were quite visibly disgusted by it, they could only mumble a "As you wish My Lord." before gracefully leaving the room.