04H, 'Hawking'

Posts : 38 Join date : 2014-01-05

A high-mass red dwarf star surrounded by a small number of planets, Hawking is considered not so much a system investigated for its resources but for the fact that it is host to a scientific curiosity, specifically its third planet - Boudica - a Saturnian gas giant with an atmosphere comprised of hydrogen, helium, ammonia and water vapour.

Resting in the habitable zone, Boudica is perhaps one of the most intriguing discoveries made in recent years - a Gas Giant host to life. Resting in the atmosphere are lighter-than-air creatures which use sacs of lifting gas and their low-weight bodies to traverse through the outer levels of the planet's thick atmosphere. Some resemble and function similar to species of jellyfish on Earth whilst others are vast in size, whale-like behemoths which use bioluminescence to attract smaller, spore-sized creatures before swallowing them on-masse.

Currently, there are a number of scientific outposts stationed in orbit of the Gas Giant whilst a larger construct has been based in the upper levels of the planet's atmosphere in order to study the complex lifeforms. The other planets in the system - consisting of barren, lifeless rocks - are used as either communication relays or mined for the few metal deposits they possess.

Subject: Re: 04H, 'Hawking' Thu Feb 06, 2014 9:59 pm

04H, 'Hawking' (Kal'Bavakorian Designation: 'Miracle')
Alliance Frontier Corps; Exploration Vessel 'Knowledge'

04H, 'Hawking' Low_Orbit_3_by_astrokevin

"Exiting the Light-Stream now, M'Lady."

"Very good. As soon as we exit, bring the ship into an elliptical orbit around the planet, and begin immediate life-sign scans."

While it appeared that Kal'Bavakorians were a race centered around the wonders of conflict and war, what with their many weapons and warrior traditions; the Kal'Bavakorian people had grown from much more than a simple love of war. While a great deal of Alliance funding went towards military defense projects because of their sudden expansion into new systems, the Kal'Bavakorian people themselves desired knowledge. Craved it. Because of this desire to know more, the Alliance Frontiers Corps was created by the Colonial Administration. Now, with added funding, and with an Alliance translator, representative, and political officer on every voyage; any Citizen who owned a starship was allowed to fly beyond Alliance space and settle their own colonies, or explore and research. Of course, all profits, research, and land claimed by these Frontier groups must be chartered by the Alliance; therefore expanding the power of the Kal'Bavakorian government through the peoples wishes, and money. An idea that saved government credits, and allowed those that have served the Alliance to help even further. An idea from the Empress that many reflected as, while bold and insightful, possibly dangerous.

Therefore, a test was required. A private group that had recently set up a research outpost on the world of Nalla in the Kal'Bavakorian home system was chosen to be said subjects. From their research outpost on Nalla, they had discovered a previously unheard of phenomenon in the galaxy: a gas giant of breathable atmosphere, and in the habitable zone of it's star. Armed with a charter, a YT-76 'Merv'Tun' , a few Alliance Colonial Administration personnel, and over thirty intelligent minds; they set sail to the stars...

The 'Knowledge' had just begun to exit the Light Stream; the Kal'Bavakorian equivalent of warp speed. With a tiny, violet pulse of light over the gas giant, the 'Knowledge' entered realspace; expelling the wondrous colors of the rainbow in all directions before the lightshow faded away, and gave way for the sublight engines of the craft to activate.

The bridge was a mess at this point. It was smaller than most corvette's of similar size, with more time and credits put into the crew quarters and research development sectors of the ship. It was dusty for one, with even some ice crystals forming in some corners of the room. Even worse; it was messy, although that was mainly because the four pilots, Lady Captain Nalli'Za, and the Alliance Political Officer had been cooped up in the bridge for the last seven hours. There were Basa Soda plasteel glasses sitting about, as well as Vara Snack wrappers, tissues..

Lady Captain Nalli'Za didn't care at this point, though. Her luminous eyes drooped, her mandibles hung low, and arms hung over the sides of her scaled command chair. The flight had been insanely long, and insanely boring, but the anticipation was soon to knock her back into shape. In fact, as soon as one of her pilots had alerted her of the ships preparation to leave the light stream, she was almost back up and sitting up straight in her chair. Letting out a few loud coughs and rolling her jaw, she pressed a few of the holo-switches on her chair before nodding to the pilot crew before her; all four settled into chairs that were half-integrated into the floor of the ship, and right in front of the bridge's circular view port.

"Bring us into orbit; I'll send word for the crew to prepare."

"Aye, M'Lady," replied the pilots below.

Immediately afterwards, Captain Nalli'Za glanced back down at the armrest of her chair, where her command console lay. Raising a three-fingered hand, she immediately begins to type into the display; sending a message to the rest of the crew who were resting in the ships crew quarters. It was a simple message alerting them to prepare for an atmospheric breach; to prepare to enter the gas giant's thick skies. She was still shaking off the effects of the long flight and, thus, it took a minute to actually send this message; shaky fingers and all. As soon as she was finished, the Lady Captain glares back towards the viewport of the bridge, hoping to catch a view of the world before they entered orbit...

"By the Goddess..." Were the only words her mind, suddenly gone blank from the utterly amazing view of the world below, could strive to form.

Posts : 38 Join date : 2014-01-05

Boudica, Upper Atmosphere
Galapagos Central Research Facility

04H, 'Hawking' Cloud_city_at_sunset_by_Balsavor

Nestled in the upper atmosphere of Boudica, the Galapagos Central Research Facility served as the hub for the Commonwealth's operations in and around the planet, with almost eight thousand personell stationed onboard. Whilst the planet itself possessed a fairly powerful magnetic field and an equally lethal radiation belt, the upper atmosphere allowed a level of protection from what would've normally been a counterproductive hazard to research. The gravity was fairly acceptable to move around in at approximately 1.13G's whilst the atmospheric pressure wasn't so high that research vehicles and instruments would've imploded, and the station was able to monitor the lifeforms inhabiting the upper clouds with relative ease. Yet the only new sign of life which had been monitored today came from a different world, it seemed - at least that's what one of the smaller research outposts claimed.

"++Galapagos Command, this is Celtic-02, we're picking up an unknown vessel entering the planet's atmosphere. IFF readings aren't showing up and our sensors don't recognise the energy signatures as Human or any other recorded species in origin++"

"++Celtic-02, please report the current co-ordinates of the vessel, we'll dispatch a security team right away++"

"++Copy that Galapagos, transmitting now, out++"

Promptly, the small research station transmitted the co-ordinates of the as-of-yet unidentified vessel to the Command Center onboard the Galapagos Facility, and within a few minutes a small squadron of security shuttles equipped with arnaments had set out towards the co-ordinate position. Upon picking up the vessel on sensors, they broadcast a message after running it through a translation program intended to encrypt it into a universally understood communication system.

"++Attention unidentified vessel, you are currently tresspassing on Commonwealth chartered space, identify yourselves immediately++"

Subject: Re: 04H, 'Hawking' Tue Feb 11, 2014 5:30 am

04H, 'Hawking' (Kal'Bavakorian Designation: 'Miracle')
Alliance Frontier Corps; Exploration Vessel 'Knowledge'
Status: High Orbit

A cry from the Knowledge's Communications Officer yanked her out of her silent staring contest with the planet below.

"Captain! Incoming sub-space transmission.. Doesn't appear to be any known Kal'Bavakorian communication system, nor language!"

A second voice broke though the suddenly silent bridge; the [url= http://th02.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2010/094/9/b/Quarian_by_Arukun14.jpg] Alliance Military's Translation Officer[/url], who immediately trecked across the cramped bridge quarters to the Communication Officer's terminal. Without any interest in the individual sitting at the controls, the Alliance officer simply stares down the Comm Officer; his luminous eyes widened in a most excited manner.

"Get up, get up... I must handle this!"

Captain Nalli'Za snaps her gaze over towards this Alliance Officer as he forced the communications officer from his chair; watching him sulk towards a nearby seat from which to wait silently while the Alliance translator unsnapped his helmet's harness, and set it upon the counter beside him. She bared her teeth questioningly,"...Are you sure it is wise to communicate with.. Whatever is out there? If it's a sentient alie-.."

"IF it's a sentient alien? It most certainly is! In fact, the language and communication system used by these aliens registers them as 'Human' in the Alliance Svu'Kavsi species databanks."

The officer doesn't gaze up from the communications console, beginning to focus solely on the message being transmitted by the so-called 'Commonwealth'. To ease the tension, the Alliance Political Officer, dressed similarly in flowing red garb and a thick, combat-ready envirosuit, turns to eye the Captain. He smiles somewhat as he mutters,"Excuse Burg'Tan; he's been waiting for quite some time for his training to pay off.."

"You understand the money and time we've put into this operation. All of us have already served the Alliance, so how is this fair that you can come in and jeopardize our research opera-.."

The Political Officer's smile turns quickly into a condescending frown,"The Alliance issued this charter and funding to your research team, Captain.. Do not abuse it." He waves one of his few fingers at her for a moment, before continuing with a nod in her direction.

"If we manage peaceful contact with a foreign species; not only will the Alliance be able to commit to new, unheardof grounds, and perform acts beyond our wildest imaginations.. But you will be able to research whatever the Vall'Turchu'kat you want! So..."

He turns towards his fellow Alliance Officer, preparing to watch over his shoulder, before casting one last glance at Captain Nalli'Za..

"I suggest you cooperate with these communications we are about to have, and plaster a smile upon your face should we conduct business. I assure you.. Contact with a foreign sentient species will be one of the greatest research endeavors you could possibly attempt. I'm sure a few air-basvkasg creatures can wait a few days for something of this magnitude.."

The Alliance Political Officer rustles his mandibles once before his light eyes turn back towards the communication console, and the Alliance translator operating it. The pilots below the Captain, as well as all other crew-members independent of Alliance service, settle their gaze upon her, as if awaiting some sort of reply to the take-over of the ship. Of course, since they were all Citizens, they had already served their time as Alliance soldiers, researchers, or the like, but even then, this didn't exactly settle well with them.

On the other hand, meeting intelligent, spaceworthy aliens was a rather kind alternative to their original plan.

With a low, guttural snarl, Captain Nalli'Za settles her gaze upon the Knowledge's Navigation Officer, before she sighs in defeat.

"Engage the Light-Stream Generators, just in case we need a quick escape from whatever inhabits the system..."

Within' a minute or so of the Commonwealth sending this transmission to the Kal'Bavakorian spacecraft in orbit, a return one is sent. The transmission is returned in a text-based format, along with an interesting added image file..

It is eerily familiar to the humans, for it is the Arecibo Message; a communication image from Earth released by Humanity on the Earth-Date November 16th, 1974, to alien life. Most interestingly, a similar image is released beside it; using the same code used by humankind...

Except edited for a different species altogether.

Information is within' the message; corresponding with the basic shape of the DNA sequence, as well as the shape of the alien, their height, and basic elements of which many cannot be recognized. It is clear the aliens understand the message although some parts, such as the location of their homeworld in relation to their sun, as well as their biology and other critical information, is kept blank.

The text added to the transmission is easily understood, as well.

++-[WE ARE THE EXPLORATION VESSEL KNOWLEDGE. WE COME TO RESEARCH THE PLANETARY SYSTEM AND SEARCH FOR LIFE. WE ARE A MEMBER OF THE FRONTIERS CORPS OF THE ALLIANCE OF [WITH-HELD] NATIONS.]-++

The part blanked out appears to be of some importance; possibly the name of the species itself.

Posts : 38 Join date : 2014-01-05

Boudica, Upper Atmosphere
Galapagos Central Research Facility

Almost immediately, the gunships forwarded the transmission to the Command Center, where the automated translation systems quickly set about on deciphering what had been broadcast. A few of the officers stationed at the communication terminals were awed by what began to feed through onto their displays, and the officer in charge new the gravity of the situation.

First Contact.

Aside from the political and military aspects which the situation now entailed, the staff onboard the facility also faced having to manage the situation themselves and ensure that protocol was followed correctly, lest they wish to accidentally incur a conflict between the Commonwealth and this unknown alien entity. For what it was worth, they'd somewhat made the matter easier by utilising this reverse-engineered Arecibo Message as it implied they possessed some base knowledge of Humanity, for better or for worse, but protocol wasn't something they could easily break. First and foremost, a heavily encrypted message was relayed towards the nearest comm buoy utilised exclusively for government channels such as the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign Affairs Office, whilst a message similarly translated into a base form of easily deciphered morse code was delivered in a transmission to the alien vessel, alongside the Commonwealth's variation of the Arecibo Code.

"++ATTENTION EXPLORATION VESSEL 'KNOWLEDGE'. YOU ARE CURRENTLY LOCATED IN THE CHARTERED SPACE OF THE GREATER COMMONWEALTH OF SYSTEMS. FIRST CONTACT PROTOCOLS ARE IN EFFECT - YOU WILL NOT BE SUBJECT TO PENALTY - PLEASE AWAIT ENVOY VESSEL FOR DIPLOMATIC FORMALITIES++"

Subject: Re: 04H, 'Hawking' Thu Aug 07, 2014 8:24 pm

04H, 'Hawking' (Kal'Bavakorian Designation: 'Miracle')
Alliance Frontier Corps; Exploration Vessel 'Knowledge'
Status: High Orbit

"We've received a return transmission, sir! This human government.. The 'Commonwealth'; it is sending a diplomatic envoy vessel to start communications!"

The Alliance Translation and First Contact Officer was filled with glee as he reported this information. The Alliance had always been aware of alien life existing out beyond the Home System; the Arecibo Message from Earth being a particular reminder of this. They had been made especially aware of Humanity's existence because of the ancient transmission, but it was only now they have actually made direct contact with the species. Most interestingly enough, these humans seemed different from their Coalition counter-parts. Not only was it clear in their more 'respectful' first-contact transmission, but their interests! The Coalition, in comparison, was seemingly not interested in the many wonders of the universe; only power and resources from what the Kal'Bavakorians had learned thus far. In fact, many humans nations seemed only interested in these simple desires; both out of greed and necessity. The Alliance had not yet discovered a human force investigating and researching anything without the intention of weaponizing it! Yet, these 'Commonwealth' Humans were interested in the Alliance-Designated Miracle System; properly named for the many miracles it harbored. It was a place that held little technological or resource gain, but was bewildering with the knowledge it presented about life itself. What other reason to be here than to learn?

It could be that this sub-group of humans were kinder and more reserved in hostilities than their brethren. Such a possibility made the Political Officer on board just as happy as his Translation Officer, although he hid it well he replied to his cries authoritatively.

"Very good! Send a return transmission; alert the humans we shall deploy a shuttle for a rendezvous. I shall make my way to the hanger, and lead the envoy myself."

The Translation Officer replies with a stout 'Yes Political Officer', before he began translating a return message for the humans. The Political Officer would then turn to the grumbling Lady Captain Nalli'Za; the woman silent as she sits upon her command chair,"Lady Captain, I'm afraid I must requisition one of the 'Knowledge's shuttles for visitation with the aliens. I assure you, we shall bring it back undamaged."

The Lady Captain merely nods; refusing to make eye contact with the Political Officer. Her eyes were angrily bright beneath the confines of her enviro-suits helmet, which made perfectly clear her frustration with the Political Officers interference with the expedition. Her frustration puzzled him, although it may just be spite from his sudden take over of these operations.. Yes, that was probably it. These Citizen Frontier expeditions were filled to the brim with those that, after having served in the Alliance Military, didn't wish to take orders from a higher power any longer. Many thought that escape into the Outer Territories would allow them the ability to escape a religious and caste-controlled society; important parts of Kal'Bavakorian culture. It was not so easy to do so, and making it difficult to do so was one part of his job, but he digressed.

In order to ease the Lady Captain's frustration to some degree, the Political Officer would extend a reassurance to her; making his way to the bridge exit at the same time. "I assure you, Lady Captain, you may continue the research expedition upon the completion of negotiations with the Humans. It shall not take too long," He says as he presses his hand upon the door controls, and steps through it after it slides open.

Upon his exit, the Lady Captain would emit a small snarl. These 'Political Officer' types had always pissed her off during her service in the Navy, but it was even worse as a Frontier Captain. Thank the Goddess she only had to put up with them one more expedition, and then her crew was free to do as they pleased in the Frontier Systems. She just had to keep a calm demeanor for the remains of this trip, although with him breathing down her scaly neck every two seconds..

It wasn't going to be an easy thing to do.

A return transmission is quickly sent back to the Commonwealth forces in Text-English. It is written just as strangely as the previous one..

++-[WE ARE PREPARING A SHUTTLE TO DEPART OUR CRAFT, AND IT IS CURRENTLY UNDERGOING DECONTAMINATION. IT WILL MEET AND DOCK WITH YOUR ENVOY VEHICLE, AS OUR SHIP IS NOT STRUCTURED FOR COMFORTABLE DIPLOMATIC COMMUNICATION. MAY THE GODDESS BLESS THIS MEETING WITH GOODWILL AND TRANQUILITY.]-++