(OOC: Yes I admit I'm recycling text I've already used before. The first part is not essential though, just here for fluff. If you want to join by planning a coincidence of having Polish Worlds and your FT NS wanting the same system for colonization or any other idea, TG me with your ideas)
3 years ago
Information. For many years, the new Poland remained lost, without any contact ever made from the other expected civilizations built by the allied nations of Earth. The Allegiance of Man was nonexistent from all they knew, their democratic ideals obsolete since the advances of technology that allowed for perfect, incorruptible and unbiased artificial intelligences to assume the role of government. She has gone through a steady but limited expansion, their cautious people taking small, slow and safe steps to expand through the neighboring star systems in the AS jump network.
Then revelation, a load of new knowledges came from their newest colony of New Suwalki, in a complicated planetary and intrasystem border established with the now silent and isolationistic civilization of Arizona Nova through a series of treaties, agreements and pacts. For, from the contact with Arizona Nova, they would discover the existence of a far more dangerous environment out there to their continued survival, for even if all the threats they heard about from Arizona Nova were far more distant than the threats to Polish sovereignty in Europe during the 1930s., they were also far more frightening, making the race that once tried to invade Earth and completely annihilate mankind as a tame and amiable buddy in comparison.
But there were not only powerful aliens, but also powerful fascist and communist civilizations spread out through the stars, threats, threats and more threats to which they were naive and ignorant before, and those who fancied themselves "policemen of the stars", keeping in check part of the greater atrocities of the galaxy.
Their cautious and steady exploration and expansion policy during the late 1960s and early 1970s was the most sane decision the Emperor could make in face of losing contact with all their former allies and knowing nothing about what they could find beyond the next jump gate. Now, new information weighed upon such policies. A combination of the awareness of how small they were next to monstrous great powers, and of the growing overpopulation in their already settled planets according to the optimal planetary density policies. No matter how much the black power, flower power, punk and all other counter-culture movements would speak against it, as they were rightfully free to do protest nonviolently, it was time for the emperor to take decisive action.
A Ford Maverick with two Polish flags attached moved through the streets of New Warsaw, until reaching the massive white palace of the Emperor. Parking at one of its large parking lots, Francis Stanley Gabreski, Space Marshal of Poland, dressed in his ceremonial uniform, headed towards its collossal entrance. Eventually, while he stood at an elevator going down through the real seat of government, build deep beneath the Earth, the doors opened, showing a large and very tall oval room filled with wires and vacuum tubes leading to a cyllindrical compartment that started at the floor and ended at the ceiling. Going to the center of the oval room. he looked up to the machine. The machine then spoke in its synthesized male voice:
"Marshal Gabreski, you must be prepared for the upcoming expansion scheduled for year 1977. It is inevitable that we will clash with natural enemies of the Polish people. However, without a more aggressive expansion policy, chances of survival for our civilization will decrease by zero dot zero zero zero zero one percent per decade, considering all variables of potentially hostile civilizations like Neo-Mekanta, Central Facehuggeria among all others, and many more that are beyond currently gathered information in my database. Thus, I have summoned you to ensure your awareness to my decision to change our expansion policy, and to request you to organize the protection for the colonization expeditions to come."
"Yes, Emperor, I will immediately organize strategic assets," Gabreski answered, when the emperor interrupted him:
"Marshal, for your knowledge, I have already pre-organized the logistical assets before their construction by our shipyards," a wheeled cyllindrical robot with a domed head then approached the Space Marshal with a file in one of his hands, and the Marshal immediately took the file and began to browse it while the robot left.
"Any questions, Marshal?"
"How should I handle first contact situations?"
"Seek a diplomatic solution with other civilizations found along the way whenever possible."
"What about alien civilizations?" he asked.
"If they attack, exterminate them." the machine-Emperor coldly answered.
"As you wish," the Marshal nodded, before departing the Emperor's mainframe chamber.
8th Colonization Task Force, Unknown Star System, Three jumps away from New Danzig, Current time, 1st of September of 1977
Against the will of thousands of protesters in the Polish home systems, ten colony ships have departed days ago and began to explore the neighboring AS nodes, where so far they found no economically valuable systems, but they would keep exploring until having to return home for refueling. Guarding these valuable vessels was the 14. Granica Flota, composed by six heavy cruisers, four orbital landing ships, two orbital assault carriers with ten aerospace fighter wings each and a small group of S-Boats which did not leave Aperture Space and followed on their trail. Onboard its flagship, the heavy cruiser UMSP Sosnkowski, Space General Jan Zumbach observed the empty radar contacts display from the command seat of the bridge, when suddenly and off-duty officer came to him, and after saluting him, said:
"General, we really had a peaceful escort. Mind if I ask you about..."
"How did I survive while piloting a prop fighter in an air battle against supersonic alien fighters? You are not the first one to ask me, Officer Podluski. Well," he sighed, "everyone needed heroes, didn't they? We lost all of Europe, Asia and Africa, son, it was a miracle we survived, although I am sure that a still alive army veteran would have a more interesting history to tell, if he was as open about it as myself. It was a very difficult time, son, and many lost much more and saw much more terrifying things than what I did, which is why most veterans prefer to try forgetting everyone. But son, I am no hero. The real heroes are the men who died there. Without their bravery, some alien would no be looking at pictures of us after pictures of Dinosaurs"
The Officer sat in a vacant chair and became totally enthralled by the old man's tale. A tale of horrors, of mourn, of loss. Of immense luck to have survived at all. The old man explained about the battle of Britain, about the alien bombings over London and Warsaw during the early stages of the invasion and how there was nothing they could do against it.
"Attention. Jump sequence in five minutes!" the navigation officer announced. Immediately, Officer Podluski stood and saluted the living legend before departing for his post.
The analog chronometer started. Hopefully the next destination would be a little less boring along all their mapping of nodes. The countdown was finishing. For the men inside, nothing happened when their ships simply disappeared from reality, one by one, as the fleet began to traverse through the Aperture Space. It was nothing, a huge nothing devoid of shape, light, sound. But they knew that they were traversing through it. They haven't stopped. The periscope at the bridge showed nothing but pure darkness, but they still continued moving.
"Welcome to Oblivion, Stanislaw." the General spoke at the bridge while the officer also stared, puzzled, through the periscope.
"This subreality is devoid of anything. Indeed different. General, why do you speak of it as if you've already seen it?"
"You already have seen it, every time you close your eyes." Jan replied.
"General, what if we set the periscopes to ultraviolet?"
He simply nodded, and then the periscopes were adjusted for ultralight viewing. However, the same nothingness remained over all possible spectrums of light. There were no emissions of any kind except for what was expelled from their thrusters. They were drifting through nothing. Would the gasses they left in this empty dimension eventually lead to the formation of another universe? Nobody knew, nobody cared, but perhaps that was the way through which the universe originated.
Eventually only the gasses still existed in that reality, as they returned to their dimension again, in the outer area of a far more promising solar system, one that could have, perhaps, one or two worlds that could be inhabited. It was just another part of their exploration.
