|Viraliv|[20-14]Sliue-Ececs|Ora’s Eye|Tepi|Tepi-3|
11,163,955,738cy
Terraformer Station ‘Favala’, Low Tepi-3 Orbit
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Some time has passed, nothing important to mention until the transport fleet finally arrived. It warped into the system through gravpoint-01 and after a quick identification it was allowed access through the rest of the system. Luckily the guards at that installation didn’t have itchy trigger fingers, they don’t see much action so it can’t be said they are veterans. They were amongst the first batch of recruits this planet will ever see, and as such they are eager to prove themselves, too eager in some cases. The transport was carrying exotic resources, those that aren’t often found or that are hard to produce. Though at the current stage the Favala has no need for them, having a stockpile ready to run is better than the alternative. Of course, the more important cargo they have on board would be the orders from high command and up-to-date news, well somewhat up-to-date.
Almost immediately upon docking, even without letting the engines cool down, the captain of the transport fleet was rushed into a meeting with the head officers of the Favala. This will give the crew of the transport fleet some time to repair their ships and serve as a sort of ‘shore leave’. The meeting was slightly tense while waiting, for a while anyway, but as expected the high command was ecstatic about the project. Especially one that was expected to finish rather quickly and one that could serve as an industrial world. Although this was the expected decision it is still proof of their mission. Like a warrior carrying the war banner, when held up high it signifies something. In this case it signifies their authority and ownership of the planet, and by extension the whole system.
The general outlook that the public has for the government is mostly positive, with corruption and minor issues always being present like in any government. Regardless, many people know what it’s like to live under other conditions and at least appreciate what the Tarmon government stands for. As such, for the colonists and workers aboard the Favala, this banner is one that not only solidifies the planet’s future but also works as a focus for their determination and efforts.
Captain Idris and the head officers prepare a report to be sent by way of the transport as a response. In full, it is a nearly 127 page breakdown of the events since the original message was sent by them. Not to mention the absolute ton of data and additional details attached with it and the captain’s personal notes. Outlining the successes, failures, and potentials of the colony and the events it might face is the main reason for this documentation's existence. Though this report will likely be read once and then destroyed or locked away in an extremely secretive location, it is still a highly important paper and one that will decide the importance that the government places on the Tepi system.
More importances, besides the response and the materials, is the news. Only the most interesting topics are discussed, the more mundane are for the general people aboard the station. Conflict between the TFS, alongside a few minor one-planet nations, and the Skull Coalition seems to have been rising these last few years. Before it was posturing, searching for allies, political and financial maneuvers, and using pirates to conduct proxy raiding. Now however, the situation has been escalating. Strategic stations being sabotaged, embassies being withdrawn being met with others withdrawing, negotiating is going nowhere, small patrol fleets “disappearing” on both sides, and some installations switching sides. It’s obvious now, even to the common person, that unless something major happens that this conflict will end with war. Many people fear war, as they should, at any second of their day a fleet could warp in and siege their planet. Carpet bombing it, glassing it, or whatever other ways there are to thoroughly break the planet’s people or eradicate them.
As such, on both sides of the conflict planet’s have begun rioting, out of fear or desperation. They challenge their empire's control and authority to interrupt their lives with the petty politics of who rules the starcluster. This has hit the TFS the hardest, although they are a galactic government that is just as bad as others they still hold the ideals of democracy close. As such, to a certain degree, they must placate the population through actions and words. On the other hand, the Sekull Coalition’s nation is more authoritarian in nature. One of the reasons the coalition was founded in the first place was to fight against the democracies of the stargroup’s control over the resources of the stargroup. The TFS having the most authority and control in the starcluster made it less economically viable to be authoritarian. In the act of treating them like outcasts they were forced to work together in order to enrich their nations and have a fighting chance. This economic distress caused their people to want the government to change, to adopt more democratic ideas. Something these autocracies resent the TFS for doing, even if it was indirect.
As such, the coalition is a natural formation to prevent the social change within their nations. And to challenge the status quo of the starcluster so that autocracies are the dominant type of government in it. After which the coalition would no doubt break apart and they would begin fighting for the “throne” amongst themselves. Regardless of what happens this cycle will continue and ones who will suffer the most are the common people of the empires. As it stands now the TFS would likely be the winner. Afterall, it does have enough power to claim authority of the starcluster and only a few have challenged that claim. Not to mention the other democratic nations wouldn’t want authoritarians to take control. Though most other democracies are small and most of them have, in some way or another, found themselves to be integrated into the TFS they’re very many of them. This conflict has turned into one of governmental temperament over anything else, with the factions dependent on what type of government you are. The other ones, that are neither authoritarian nor democratic in nature, will likely see themselves turn into proxy battlegrounds or maybe they’ll be entirely left alone. Though the main aggressor in this conflict is the Sekull, perhaps they have some plan or secret card to play. Or, perhaps they’ve just started to believe in the same nationalistic social values they constantly feed their citizens.
Either way, it’s not really something that will impact the people in the Tepi system. The Sekull Coalition doesn’t know about them being here and it’s a far out system, too far out to be used for sneak attacks. Of course, there is the unlikely event that retreating Sekull forces find themselves warping into this system. While the Favala isn’t a war station she is adequately armed to take on a small fleet herself, although that’s a worse case scenario. Lots of temperamental and delicate machinery aboard afterall. Not to mention the defenses that Idris had ordered built will have more importance placed on them due to the news. An expansion from military checkpoint to actual outposts is necessary. Military expansion is a part of colonization. You can’t have what you worked so hard for snatched away by someone else.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Pirates and terrorists especially are known to have hidden bases in random systems that they use. For them, a freshly terraformed world is like being able to capture the prize in the sky, it’s just a dream. Not to mention, just a terraforming station alone would be enough to drag all pirates in a starcluster to that spot. The tech blueprints alone would allow them to begin research on how to build their own terraformers. Very few pirate factions in the past have ever had a world to call home. Those that did were plagues upon the nearby nations to them, until they got wiped out. In those cases, they usually invade the planet or the planet had a rebellion and became pirates. In those cases, those around them know exactly where they are and the advantage of the pirates have always been their willingness to gamble and their hit and run tactics. Being tied to a planet is a huge advantage in the short turn, until the various authorities can gather a fleet up and it removes their ability to up and leave before being caught.
However, terraforming tech changes that. Afterall if they don’t know where your planet is then they won’t be able to invade it. Eventually they’ll find it but by then you’d likely have enough money to afford mercenaries or swayed other pirate factions to your side creating a pirate federation. Many nations in other starclusters, though they often hide this, were originally pirate bands that had gotten their hands on some form of terraforming tech. As such, the case of enemies potentially being able to capture any terraforming tech, whether blueprints or actual models, is dealt with by scuttling the ship; usually in a rather explosive way.
Though the Tepi system’s terraformer has a high enough military presence to destroy any pirate scouts or runaways that might find themselves here so that isn’t likely to be an option.
The news of the rising conflict doesn’t concern the people much, not because they are detached from the situation. Mostly because these things have happened multiple times throughout their life. A rising conflict just for it to sputter out. Even then the TFS is likely to have the advantage in any conflict so the people aren’t worried, well except for those whose relatives live on planets near the potential battle lines. Plus with the colony ongoing everybody is more focused on work to worry about something they can’t do anything about. Morale is looking very good even after the news.
Some other news, local this time, is about the caverns. The explorers have thoroughly explored the cave system and reached the dead end. Close to thirty miles of it have been explored and while there are many interesting things to take note of in the report there is one that is rather attention grabbing. It’s about the water. Throughout the cave system, for miles now, water records were present in the stone. Yet, when reaching the bottom of the system no water was to be found. This is what was expected, those records were very old afterall. However, what was unexpected was the finding of another cave system, or at least the opening of a potential one, was found five miles deeper from the ending of the Grashkillok cave system. This cave being isolated from the rest gives the experts high hopes of finding some liquid water, or perhaps even frozen. However, this is a project that the colony can’t spare the resources for just yet. Digging through five miles of hard stone for some water that may or may not be there just isn't worth it. This will likely happen when the Grashkillok colony has fully expanded and completely filled in the cave system, having an easy way of expansion such as a pocket of free space would make it a worthwhile project. Not to mention that the level of industry and ability of the colony to do such a project would be significantly higher at that time.
Currently, after the new expansion of one pressure valve, the current Grashkillok directly inhabits a little over three miles of the cave system. This might not seem like a lot but the cave system is as tall as it is wide and a lot of space is saved by building up as well as across. Another important subject in the report is resources, although the surface of the planet is highly rich in all sorts of elements that can't be said deep into the planet. Although the meteorites have been landing on this planet for as long as the planet has been around, the materials from them haven't dug that deep into the planet. This is perhaps due to the relatively low amount of tectonic activity which, other than a few regions, is very sparse. That is one of the main counters to the idea of this planet being a young one. But it’s unimportant, really all this means is that any heavy industry will occupy the upper levels of the planet while farming and residential sectors might be regulated to underground sections of the planet.
This is a rather unique formation, on most planets it’s the exact opposite, or on the less technologically advanced planets the sections of them are mixed. Although the advantages to this is that the surface can be as polluted as possible, so long as pressure seals are the entry ways for the underground sections of the planet. In the short term that is a great proposition for terraforming, in the long-term it means that the world would never become a tourist location nor a location for the wealthy elites to live on. While that sounds good for the nation, for the planet, unregulated pollution is detrimental to its people’s standard of living. Of course, a planet with low standard of living would likely never grow to become politically important, and while economic and military importance is great to have, having all three would give the future inhabitants of the planet access to as many opportunities as possible. To that end, the council of the colony, and with Idris’s approva,l have already come up with several regulations on mainly what is allowed and what isn’t on the surface of the planet. Although this will limit the speed of growth, material extraction, refining of those materials, and currently more importantly the terraforming it’s still an important foundation for the future. Afterall, policies and declarations made at the beginning of the foundation of any organization become entrenched in the mind of the people growing up in that organization. Future wealthy elites will have a hard time combating this social engineering, hopefully long enough for the people to take the future into their own hands.
The TFS and its government has a long history of dealing with wealthy elites. Like a deal with a devil, they offer many great things and can help the economy which will boost the reputation of the current leadership. However, give them too much power and they start to exert their control over the government. At least right now, during the golden age of the TFS and the Tarmon peoples as a whole, the elites don’t have that much power. Nor does the government need to rely upon them to retain control over the stargroup, as such democratic teachings are prevalent. This no doubt influenced the opinions of the council and no doubt the people would cause havoc if the council decided something else.