Parliament of Dreams [Closed: Doppio Giudici/SBTH]

[The Ctan]

The Great Ship Anguish Ameliorated was the best part of ten kilometres across, faintly saucer-shaped on the forward part of the vessel, with a crescent-shaped cutout on the bow side, its underside bulked up with downward-tiered structures and spike-like protuberances, while its aft sections were tiers of technology that formed a ziggurat over the fields of armourglass domes that made up much of its upper surface, holding parks, riding areas, arboreta and starlight theatres.

The ship was sumptuous too, it made no attempt to hid its opulence, as one might approach the miles of bays and docking platforms along its ventral side there were statues and murals, expositions of the glories of the manyfold histories of its creators. An observer from the Ancestral Universe would call it a Necron ship, its hull was deep sea green, but while the harvest ships that had survived the Great Sleep had been tomb-vessels in name and function, this ship was adorned with light.

The quantum flambeaux shimmered with entrancing patterns of light as Zuri Nirra ita Sautekh walked down one of the axial corridors of the Great Ship. She walked with a cane of deep red teak, adorned with gold and capped in ivory, the latter was artificial, but the others were created to traditional patterns of her homeland.

She bore the name Sautekh, but she was not a Necrontyr. Within the Great Civilization, it was customary to bear a number of names, but generally, these ended nos or ita, followed by a clan-name, one that represented affiliation to thousands of clans, or clubs, perhaps, was a better description; they took the names of ancient dynasts but did not trace lineage from them.

She was human and traced her identity down a number of lines, the biological matrilineal, the ideological and more.

She gave a gesture as she greeted her guardians. These were assuredly Necrontyr, and Necrons at that, the rarest of these, the burnished gold, darker in hue than the red-yellow gold she wore on her jewellery, they were adorned in a burnished reddish-gold across their skeletal cuirasses, and they saluted in turn, a clattering of relics accompanying the gesture.

They were Triarch Praetorians, the guards and emissaries of the executive Triarch Council, the matchless warrior band who had never hibernated. Although she was the principal representative here, she felt slightly small before her guards. Each of them had a consciousness worn smooth by the sands of time, and their green jewel-like eyes had watched civilizations rise and fall.

They had been the enforcers of the ancient rulers of the Necrontyr, the teachers of the ancient Yldari, and they had been those who had first turned to the cause of suppressing the rampancy of the Necrons as they had emerged from the Great Sleep.

“Judicator Usarath,” Zuri said, “it is my pleasure to meet you at last.”

The Praetorian gave a bow of her crest-adorned head. “It is our pleasure to convey Supreme Coordinator Amis’ greetings in person,” Usarath said.

“You have inloaded the briefing on the Prole Confederation,” she said, it was not a question, she did not doubt they had all done so, she expected professionalism and knew they expected the same of her.

“I have,” Usarath replied, walking with her now, without any particular formation or intention, the towering machine construct stood far above Zuri’s genetically altered form. “I expect your task will be easy,” the Praetorian said. “The Confederation seems amenable to most of the proposals that we would offer.”

“The information that we have is limited, but we would like to think so,” she said.

The group arrived at a tiered gathering place; a multi-tiered venue for citizens to observe the moment. The Introduction Instrumentality, which employed Zuri, was a newly reformed institution, an evolution of older diplomatic functions into a specialized agency for handling first contact with interstellar capable peoples.

Stepping up onto the raised platform, Zuri let her neural lace speak to the ship, as they arrived, the ship stepping down from its inertialess drive into relativistic travel.

“Greetings to the Sector Trade Hub. This is Adhili Zuri Nirra ita Sautekh, of the Great Civilization Introduction Instrumentality; I bring greetings and respects of the Great Civilization of the C’tan. With your permission, we would like to invite your personnel to board the Anguish Ameliorated for whatever standard inspections you find appropriate, and to dock the ship with the Trade Hub. At your earliest convenience, we have a number of gifts for the staff and residents of the Hub, and a number of cultural exhibitions we would like to offer invitations to aboard this ship. I, of course, am at your disposal to begin preliminary discussions for the future of relations between the Great Civilization and the Confederation.”

[Doppio Giudici]

There was a long string of pulses from the large Sector of Beta Trade Hub, which appeared to be between the light infrared to radiowave range. There was a series of further pulses after that, which were long and even less effective, followed by even longer and longer pulses. It would require considerable short term calibration to handle the longest and most harmless waves possible on the electromagnetic spectrum. If the proper calibration was made, the information would turn out to be a lightly compressed data packet, which was sent over a ten to twenty minute period, on a loop, till they finally figured out how to receive and understand it. The data packet would contain a 'video',' or at least a series of images that were timed to a series of sounds.

The image of a fluttering banner of the Prole Confederation would be displayed

"Greetings, welcome to Pvuk-Yur and by extension, the Sector of Beta Trade Hub. This Trade Hub connects Nidus and the complex 'Mega Powers' of it's seemingly endless billions population, to the rest of the Quadrant and by extension, the Galaxy at large. Currently, the dominant Mega Power securing and maintaining this Hub, is the Prole Confederation. The other Mega Powers are in a constant state of competition and cooperation with us, and are generally wrapped up in the complex politics of our home world. As a Confederation of five Mega Cultures, the Prole Confederation is most willing and interested in working with other organizations from outside Nidus. The Prole Confederation's banner is a glowing circle upon a black background, the darkness symbolizing the vacuum and the cruelty of man, and by extension everything that is mortal or physical. The pentagon is a popular symbol with three of largest culture within the organization, and is fitting as the Prole Confederation is yet again, five Mega Cultures. The center 'Tau' symbol stands for Terran, meaning humans specifically, and calls for a brother slash sisterhood among all humans."

The five colors around the pentagon split off and a small person is displayed over each of them. One by one, from the bottom left clockwise, each is temporarily enlarged and spoken about.

"The brownish green section represents the 'Birthland' and by extension all of the people tied to the Illumien culture, who have lost their way and been reintroduced into the fold after 2010, which was over 130 years ago, each year being 3.154e+7 instants. Currently the area is used as a holy land for a wide range of religions that believe in a single god, and is a place of pilgrimage, religious unity, and religious reformation. Many pious people like to have their ashes scattered here.

"Next is purple, which is the main color on the banner of Vadia, the second homeland of the Illumien culture, after they fled the 'Birthland'. Vadia was their only homeland for close to 1000 years, before the formation of the next nation, and it's a word which translates to an offensive taboo word. To this day Vadia has maintained a tradition of having an Emperor, but the emperor has been an appointed popular figure for a very long time. The last emperor lived from the 1980s to just a year ago, and he is known as Richard, the War Machine. Vadia's largest land-marks are the many cemeteries and ruins dating back to many of it's worse 'Wars For Future Existence'. Once a location to bury 'The Fighters' who died for 'The Cause', it is now a place for all people who die to protect and secure the Prole Confederation.

"Yellow or marigold is Doppio Giudici, now referred to as Pentaga Giudidi, translates to 'Two Causes' and then 'Five Causes'. The five causes are said to be Liberty, Security, Egalitarianism, Utilitarianism, and Empathy. PG, as many refer to it, has elected it's leaders since the very beginning, back in 2005. The founder and first president, is the last major prophet of the Illumien World Myth, which is the most popular Illumien religion. PG was known for being very interested in world affairs and has a very rich immigrant culture, which keeps the Illumien people from getting bogged down in their own overly repetitive practices and beliefs.

"Grey symbolizes the 'Grey Skins' or people of The Global Sovereign Confederacy of Aleckandor. The GSC's largest demographic are indeed grey in skin tone, but there are a wide range of other rare and environmentally based tones as well. The peoples within this region represent most of the believers in more then one divine being, that are within the Prole Confederation, however they have sizable numbers of agnostics and atheists as well. The people of Aleckandor joined the Prole Confederation over a hundred years ago, forming a pact of unity with the previous three Mega Cultures, which were at the time aligned into three nations."

"The pale or white refers to the Veridian Republic, which was the smallest of all of the Mega Cultures, but during the first few drafts or proposals for the Prole Confederation, it was a major player and a strong contributor of scientific research. The Veridian Republic was and still remains a nation of agnostics or athiests, who are driven by science, progress, and the desire of confirming facts to make sure they are true."

"Overall, please welcome. We are currently calibrating our translation software since none of us speak any of the galactic trade languages, and mostly speak the Nidus International Trade Language, along with various regional languages. Proles, will not be moving on board the space vessels of any other species due to extreme paranoia. In the name of equality, we will not be moving aboard the ships of any other humans well. We will consider doing so, using a hostile environmental suit, at a later time. Please bring a dish that is safe for humans to consume, that can be 'paid for' or earned in 3600 seconds of work, by a minimum wage worker or equivalent. If your society has abolished currency and capitalism in the name of equality, please just bring a standard workers dish that is suitable for humans, of a slightly elevated quality. Please also bring a high quality weapon, such as a blade, firearm, something suitable for one handed use, preferably by a human."

[The Ctan]

Zuri smiled broadly, her expression was one of contentment as the message came back with the break-down of the station by its diplomatic status. Within her mind, the ship-mind flowed its own analysis into her.

Currency; the Great Civilization had a currency, and it seemed appropriate at the same time difficult to work out what that might represent. Some food was in-scope for currency, most foods were not. Synthesising a banquet for one thousand could be done with speed but cost less than a garden apple from a neighbour (although being so penny-pinching was not exactly neighbourly).

The single hour’s wage at the All-Civilization minimum; ten credits. But then, ten credits would buy surprisingly little. Zuri did not need to think of that of course, her mind was more on the request.

What their hosts specified was revealing in itself, it measured the value a prospective trade partner, the most common ‘class’ of a post-industrial civilization by occupation, might enjoy. She could have easily sourced something from somewhere aboard the Anguish at cost, but that would create an impression she might then have to work to dispel.

There was an emphasis on religious plurality in the host cultures that she approved of, not only on principle but because it suggested that the Confederation would not be too parochial, which was certainly good.

And then there was the last request; the weapon. That was a strange one, and she wondered for a moment about whether or not to object. The Great Civilization generally frowned on the export of weapons, or even letting outsiders see some of their more elaborate weapons, but on the other hand, the request was not unreasonable.

She mused on the matter for a moment and then shrugged inwardly, it wasn’t particularly difficult to pick a suitable weapon, she carried one after all, though not on her person.

Zari exloaded two requests into her aura and the ship responded, the cybernetic request giving her two items that appeared on a force-table beside her left hand. The table was a transparent force-field oval fifty centimetres in length, and both items arrived on it by displacer, the distinct sound of the teleportation was a squeaky pop familiar to anyone who had paid attention to the sound of hydrogen combustion in the schola.

The first was a standard sidearm, an ablation pistol similar to one she carried most of the time when she was not on duty. A chrome body gave it a little flash, and it was equipped with a grip of ink-black plastics on its handle. Like any firearm above the strictly mechanical it integrated a “gene-lock,” the moment one picked the weapon up it scanned the user. There were several layers to this more than the genetic, and of course in a sealed suit that was not reliable, in truth the name gene-lock was old-tech and it worked by scanning the bones of the hand that grasped it, examining the growth patterns within the limb. She passed it from hand to hand like a trick-shooter playing with the weapon, giving it a chance to initiate to her off-hand (her right) as well. The osseous-lock was more reliable than a gene-lock as well, even a clone, unless grown with meticulous care on the same diet that young Zari had grown with, would have different growth patterns to her bones.

She lifted it and it imprinted to her, reporting its location to her aura of internal implants. She was aware of it in the same way she was aware of a limb that she was not looking at, instinctively knowing where it was, and its initiation diagnostics unspooled into her mind.

Zari felt the weapon within her mind. It had a number of physical controls on it, and with the link to her aura disabled it would function adequately; she suspected she might need to do this and she assigned the option to disable security as one of the higher priority options in the weapon.

Even if she did disable the security features it would still never turn on her, its loyalty locks were engaged, but it would work for anyone she passed it to.

The model that had been selected was eye-catching but unadorned save for the surfacing, it was large enough to intimidate and almost silly she felt, a little heavier than she was used to.

The weapon was charging itself from the ambient fields that permeated the Great Ship, in a few seconds it would have completed its setup, and loaded itself; it would never run out of ammunition while within a thousand miles of a compatible power-node that could broadcast harnessed power to it, but even so it was equipped with a removable power cell ‘magazine’ to a standard design. Like almost everything constructed by her people, it had an unobtrusive self-destruction mechanism.

The interest in weapons was natural, of course, but she did not fault it overmuch. Within the Great Civilization, the carrying of weapons was ubiquitous among Citizens. Indeed it was the mark of one and they were usually carried openly. The wars their people had seen made them love weapons as a comfort-blanket; she suspected it might not be too different for their hosts.

The other item was a chromed plate, surrounded by a field that retained heat and excluded dust. Atop it was a wild mushroom brown butter pasta with truffle oil. Zuri lifted the tray and examined it for a moment. Steam coiled under the filter field, oozing out through the top of the field with a shimmer, and she then held the plate out, dropping it to one side of her.

The plate’s suspensor took the weight and it hovered off her shoulder, integrating with her aura to retain its position.

She slipped the gun’s holster onto her thigh and nodded to her escort, they would take a simple launch over to the station, then it would remain to be seen what awaited them.

It was cagey that they did not wish to board the visiting ship, but Zuri was not yet concerned.

[Doppio Giudici]

Approaching the station would make it very clear that it was 'overbuilt' and to a considerable margin. Despite that the SBTH was designed as a diplomatic and commercial hub, it was covered in what was very obviously some dense, faintly radioactive material, which was covered in a layer of plastoid and hardened steel. There was a number of possible entrances, all which involved docking in a landing port that would open, but only one of them could be open at a time. Not only that, but once a landing craft of any size landed, it would be moved by a treadmill like surface into another contained area. The first chamber would be locked up, and the second chamber would close up as well, before repressuring itself. The exact contests of the shuttle would be scanned, and whatever gas mixture was within, would be emitted around the outside of the shuttle in question. The occupants of the shuttle would have to get out, and walk into another area that was properly pressuized and gassed to the specifications of their shuttle, before the doors separating section two and three were closed. While inside, they would be given a brief, harmless radiowave scan for about a minute. For another minute, they would be signaled with every possible combination of frequency that would setoff a signal controlled explosive, including dialing all possible phone numbers or radio frequencies.

Once the final set of 'doors' opened, a main area was made available, which had floors entirely covered in soft, rubbery-like material. So far the SBTH seemed surprisingly empty, and all of the signs were clearly in some Nidus language that was completely unlike other galactic languages, as it evolved completely separate from them. There were arrows that pointed this way and that, symbols that seemed to indicate some kind of emergency, or were pictures like shaking hands, a coin in a hand, or an image of some kind of firearm with colored circles above it. The walls seemed to be padded up to about seven feet up, with a clear material, and under that there was strange murals and images that looked spray-painted, brush-painted, or chiseled in. The art appeared to show various urban and rural areas, along with many scenes of nature, oceans, planets, moons, or stars. There was no sign of a particular people, species, ideological cause, or any specific cultural sensibility. It was very easy to get lost in how utterly removed from anything specific and empty this area appeared to be.

A series of about two men and two women would approach, with CRs upon their backs via a two point adjustable sling. They wore suspiciously pale shirts made from some kind of fiber, and wore visibly tan pants of a professional sort. They had fingerless gloves, thick green socks, and shiny combat boots on their extremities. The head had a helmet modified to to have headset/mic combo installed, along with with clear ballistic glasses. The eyes that stared out at the world seemed to indication no specific emotion, and neither did the face, but the eyes glanced around constantly. Immediately one of them stopped and the others did as well. Almost by instinct, as the one who stopped first looked in a direction with narrowed eyes, the others started checking all other directions, forming a quick primitive. The one who stopped first gave out a deep, tired sigh, but his face didn't line up with the expected expression. Grumbling, with completely emotionless eyes and cheeks, he looked down at something attached to his thigh and hip, before pressing at it a few times.

"Dossage up 10%, everyone else check your levels."

'I can't tell if being safe is better or worse.'

+"I know. I'd be back driving the knife in if my family didn't insist otherwise."

The three of them spoke quickly and off the cuff, at a distance where they just barely could be heard. It wasn't clear if they were aware they could be heard or not. Regardless, the four of them would advance closer, not really giving indication that they were aware of the exact number of humanoids or people they were greeting or approaching. Each of them was no visible sleeves on their shirts, with the banner of the Prole Confederation 'inked' just below the right shoulder, and another banner inked just below that. Close up, it was clear that they had blue lines about as thick as an eye running down from just below their eyes, to their chins.

"They haven't figured out who exactly they should select to be the ambassador and it's not entirely clear who the most highest figure up the command line is, that isn't currently wrapped up in matters of life or death."

The man was facing Zuri, so perhaps he was speaking to her.

"Never Two, Never Four; assume 'no follow' escort position. First sign of yelling or even so much as a tink, I want all smokes up."

One male and one female nodded, before moving behind Zuri and whoever else was with her, facing away from Zuri as well. The male speaking looked right back at Zuri again.

"If you have anything that makes noise that sounds like a small hallow metal object being tapped or dropped, please don't touch or mess with it. Don't make any clicking noises with your mouth, no sudden movements. At the first sign as so much as a minor incision on the finger or even a single second of temporary blindness, you are to dive to the ground, which is padded and safe."

When the male turned himself partially, grabbing something attached to a pack of some sort behind the female beside him. It appeared to be some kind of headset with a microphone. He held it out to Zuri.

"Put this on and adjust it till it fits comfortably, it should seem a little tight. Noise should start to sound slightly artificial, that's how you know it's on. Should any kind of attempt be made upon your life, you are to keep your eyes down and closed, until one of us says or advises otherwise. This is to minimize any kind of psychological damage. For your own comfort and emotional stability, the headset doesn't pick up a number of noises. The headset also reduces the noise level of all sounds that can cause even temporary harm to your ability to hear. Do not directly look at any of us, do not directly talk to any of us, do not try to remember us. In the event that the entire escort team needs to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to show proper respect and safety to you, as a guest of the Prole Confederation, you should remember as little about the team as possible. You don't know if we are alive, you don't know if we feel any emotions, and you don't know what we have done. Your level of empathy at us, should be as low as possible, without being negative."

He and the person next to him turned to face the front, before walking forward at a reduced pace at first, before moving at a comfortable pace. The escort group then led Zuri to the Prole Confederation diplomatic area.