Teofish said:
Global Alliance for Space Administration
(aka Human Domain)
We feel necessary to inform Sean Ari Cauthon that no one in Pel's Aurora is a 'citizen' of any state recognized by our administration. As far as we are concerned the mega-conglomerates which have influence in this region are paying their fair dues as part of the United Fifth, so we dare say you are indeed being model 'citizens' as you put it. News will reach Earth eight months from now informing them of United Fifth revenue increases from the Outer Shroud, bringing good news, and further expansion projects will be undertaken with this in mind. All I can say is well done!
Our requests of you are therefore not rooted in disappointment with regional authorities. They are rooted in our prior experience with the Ishamshuk. In the words of James Grant they are a powerful enemy who is cruel in victory. More so than any enemy you have faced.
I for one am very surprised at how quickly Pel's Aurora seems to be thinking and breathing on its own, believing itself to be the center of the universe. I have bad news for you Captain. The galaxy - even just the tiny human-inhabited portion of it - is bigger than any of us, you or me included. Your worries about Innovaganix and your rogue emperor are meaningless, the trivial petty squabbles of a backwards and wartorn region of space. If you think that you could survive without us, you might be right in some ways - Pel's Aurora is not going to starve without our intervention, and despite its constant self-destructive behavior it seems to have largely bounced back from aforementioned petty squabbles.
But when it comes to outside threats - the Ishamshuk - you are no match, my friend. While you were struggling to make a living as a common rabble-rouser with a breaking-down starship, I was there, on Polaris, facing them down in order to relieve the besieged occupied population. Millions died. Millions more people than Pel's Aurora could muster. Does that help put things in perspective for you, Captain? I know this enemy very well. They will end you.
But I'm going on a tangent. I'll answer your questions, as they are justified. The threat posed by the former regional branch of Innovaganix had the potential to be galactic in scale. Some of the more pessimistic among us believed the Second Great Plague was about to start. Help was considered, but my colleague Admiral Blanchard reported that our doctors have verified that Innovaganix had developed and began dissemination of a cure, and shortly thereafter was defeated by the regional coalition. As far as we know the death toll caused directly by the virus was less than 50,000 people (high estimate) - which simply does not register in a population of 20 billion. Letting you solve your own problems is the smart thing to do when, as you say Captain, it barely concerns us.
We did not believe for more than an hour or so that Maxim Harvey's little empire would last long. He took advantage of a brief power vacuum that everyone knew was temporary. And seeing as how we are just as reliant on dark matter fuel as you are, we would be foolish to defy Maxim while he still controlled that boson star. I dare say our trust in the region to police itself on this minor affair was indeed well-placed, as dark matter prices remain relatively low - for all.
It also should be said that you get out of us what you put in. Our attempts to aid regional development of Pel's Aurora were stifled by local lack of cooperation and constant war. My subordinate Blanchard tells me that several projects put forward by our charter partner InTran which would have benefited all of you were ignored by all colonies ... with the notable exception of the Dracona Republic, who always answered our call. Sadly the spare surplus resources of one poor frontier colony were not enough to commence our projects. A shame you were all too busy killing each other.
Regardless of the United Armada's stance on non-interference in conflicts among humans (barring special circumstances) this is not a problem that Pel's Aurora can fix, and it's not our problem. To be honest captain, if Pel's Aurora were lost I doubt my superiors back at Earth would notice. You only exist because the region was reported to have a high density of boson stars - which was proven true - but it will be years, at the present rate, before the production of Pel's Aurora's several boson stars matches even just Formos or Durre Manthor in distant zones. We can afford to lose you for now. This is entirely your problem, if the reports are true, and we are ready to assist - if the locals are cooperative with their obligation to provide for the United Armada in times of war with an alien threat.[1] If history is to repeat itself however... I fear you are all - yes, all of you - doomed.
Stay safe.
Viktoria Lockwood, Admiral of the Fleet, Outer Shroud Sector Command, United Armada
Order of the Soaring Eagle
Our "friends" representing Earth are only telling you part of the story. Don't listen to their reasoning for not intervening in your local troubles. The truth is the United Armada wants to avoid getting involved in complex regional politics for fear of making the wrong decision. Wars among humans are a tad complicated, I'll grant them that. But I would wager the wars which raged on in Pel's Aurora were of a special nature. As Viktoria mentions but glosses over, the virus created by Innovaganix was a threat that transcended this region. It threatened Earth's partnership with the Congress of Madapar, threatened interstellar trade, and well, naturally would have exacted a cost in human life. While the Domain was busy pretending to not be fellating Maxim Harvey for his precious boson star's produce and fearing corporate retaliation, the Order was helping all of you. Order warships participated with a significant role in the war against Innovaganix as well as the War on Triterra, and our clerics worked in the laboratory alongside a league of other doctors to produce a cure - which did inevitably come to be, though Innovaganix was also successful in producing their own. Even now, Order Paladins are stationed on Kalonda providing aid and relief to a world engulfed in civil war.
The Order has been busy making friends among the denizens of Pel's Aurora while the United Armada gets bogged down in bureaucracy and overextension. Forget the protection they promise - Earth doesn't care about you. But Hercules[2] does and we have shown that. Accept our protection once again and we shall show these Ishamshuk what for!
Chapter Master Cristian Vasile
Chapter Patron Iulian Constantin
Chapter 'Phoenix'
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[1] - Referring to the Treaty of Tokyo's Concordance, which among other things, in theory, unites all capable human militaries together in the event of attack by a non-human force. The treaty was made 198 years ago, 2000 light years away. Viktoria's interpretation is that support must be provided, but it can also be understood more simply that human colonies should at least not deliberately impede the United Armada's efforts.
[2] - Hercules, in the Alpha Centauri star system - headquarters of the Order of the Soaring Eagle and its Grandmaster.
