-=EZ-D7 System, Exclusion Zone, 9 System Jumps away from Soviet Space.
The Exclusion Zone existed as a precaution, one that time was seeming to prove was unnecessary. The Juhseungi had displayed no interest in what observers had once called "orderly and predictable" expansion on a pre-determined path, and have been content to stay in the Quarantine Zone no human ship would be foolish enough to violate. The Soviet Union, already the largest human power in territory, at the very least, hoped it would remain that way. They were already quietly making noises about the Exclusion Zone being unnecessary, surprisingly, in some quarters, they had even gone so far as to tentatively float the idea of other powers joining them in more permanently utilizing the zone - though it was unlikely any government would willingly take them up on the offer for practical reasons.
As such, the Soviet Union had ramped up its efforts to map node chains and chart systems throughout the exclusion zone in an effort to provide as much information as was needed to effect a new wave of proletarian colonialism. Security patrols that had once relied on the aged Silayev had been replaced by the more modern Vatutin - and the military had deployed a handful of capital ships to effect full planetary surveys and deploy temporary, if limited communications infrastructure. The conclusion was, perhaps, foregone - the Politburo had decided that the Soviet Union would move into the Exclusion Zone in force - permanently - irrespective of whether the UN agreed or not.
EZ-D7 was itself a system of prime concern, tentative charting had found a world that had fitted squarely into the Garden World category - and such a rarity within a field of projection of Soviet Force was reason enough to dispatch its tentative garrison - and a handful of colonial planners. The SNS Admiral Voroshilov, a Kiev Class Battlecruiser, and a single Slavnyy - the SNS Gradenko was deemed more than a sufficient force for planetary survey and initial groundwork. That they served as a reasonable expression of Soviet naval power for any foreseeable threat was also noted.
The Admiral Voroshilov was the first to transition into the system, erupting forth from the swirling blue aperture that was a hallmark of subspace travel, her engines propelling her forward from the node that allowed intersystem travel. A moment later, the Gradenko performed the same feat of faster than light prowess and slipped into a escorting position. The first thing Captain Timoshenko noticed was that his briefing on the irregularity of the systems node's position was very much correct.
The Voroshilov and Gradeko were already in a far orbit of their target. The EZ-D7 node - at least the one that had enabled their entry into the system - had, at some point, fallen into the orbit of EZ-D7 IV at some point, following a parallel course to its moon, rather than, as most nodes did, orbit the parent star of the system, often at the outer reaches. Space, was of course vast, and to expect everything to be the same was foolish. Timoshenko found some amusement in the thought, that Soviet science accepted such variety of the universe yet sought to impose a single vision of it, though such thoughts were not befitting a Captain of the Soviet Red Fleet. Mikhail Timoshenko, however, was not bound purely by dogma in his thoughts, that and the Soviet Navy was generally more willing of such freedom of thought if it worked in the Unions advantage.
Mikhail was not young, and that was a lesson he had learned - yet he wasn't quite ready to join the ranks of the old just yet. With that, he rose, let his green eyes sweep across the room and took in the actions of his crew. The bridge of the Kiev Class Battlecruiser was functional - most Soviet command centres were, and the Kiev was an older design than most. The Admiral Voroshilov had, like most of her class, been kept up to date. There was the newer variant of the holographic command table set into the middle of the bridge - where a century ago a less functional and limited radar display would of sat on any other Soviet ship. Two of his flag officers were there now, discussing something with the Gradenko's Liason officer and a member of a survey team. A facsimile of a viewing window sat directly at the front of the bridge, though such a window did not exist, giving a view of the outside and primarily, EZ-D7 IV.
The rest of the bridge was relatively quiet as officers and crew saw to their stations, most of which had been refined as the Kiev had been upgraded - the blockier computer stations slowly eroded, moulded and chiseled away as computers became more adept and less demanding. His own position was not elevated much beyond what was necessary to see all, a minor nod to military necessity of hierarchy rather than elevating one man above another - something the Soviet Union would not, in theory abide, ideologically. It gave him all the reason he needed to stand.
He noted as the individual from the Survey team nodded and departed - his utilitarian industrial uniform clearly at odds with that of a Soviet Flag Officer. Another juxtaposition of Soviet Society, Mikhail thought, but for a moment. He began to approach the holographic display as one of his Flag officers too, turnt and departed, he nodded at the man who saluted as they passed each other.
"Captain Timoshenko, the Survey Team will depart when we have confirmed the security of the system. STAVKA have provisionally named this system Malinovaya - that is, our quantum entanglement suite provided for this mission has informed us of such. Shall we launch our fighter patrols, Comrade Captain?" Asked Nadia Borisov, his senior flag officer. She was young, though not too young, it would still be some time before the blue of her eyes or the blonde of her hair was challenged by time. He had come to know her as fierce in spirit, though ideological at that. She, all the same, made the right calls and challenged him when it was appropriate, everything he needed.
"Very good, Lieutenant Borisov, see to the matter. I am entrusting you personally with the organisation of these patrols and the rotation of our pilots, as I wish to maintain 100% uptime on all our fighters for the time being. Junior Lieutenant Isakov, if you would, pleas work with Lieutenant Borisov on this matter, I wish to utilize all resources in these patrols and sweeps - the Gradenko included, if at all possible." Mikhail responded, letting his gaze rest on Grigor Isakov - he did not know the measure of the man, though if he was serving as Liason for his ship - the Gradenko - then he could be expected, at the least, to be competent.
"Yes, Comrade Captain, the Gradenko will make available all resources as they are needed." He responded, exactly as Timoshenko had expected he would. Average, he would assume, but competent. He noted Borisov's polite nod of confirmation to his orders as well, and he let his gaze sweep back up to the viewing display as they traded some words on the matter. He began taking stock of the world they were here to secure. He wondered what name it would receive, something inspiring, no doubt.
With that, the ship shook, albeit slightly. He saw the first fighter craft of the alert patrol cross the display, but knew it couldn't of been them. All thoughts of inspiring names retreated as his eyes turnt back to the holographic display. A moment of confusion reigned as he saw the cyrillic that spelt out "Unknown Contact" emblazoned next to a red symbol that was several thousand kilometers behind them. It was at this moment one would expect all hell to break loose. Perhaps elsewhere, it might, but not on Timoshenko's bridge. He looked at Borisov, who in turn was waiting for him to react.
A voice piped up from one of the bridge stations.
"Unknown Contact has completed an in system transition. Repeat, Unknown Contact has completed an in system transition. No Node Activity."
Mikhail Timoshenko took a deep breath and began calmly, but in an commanding manner, firing off his orders.
"Retask our patrols, please, Lieutenant Borisov - get me a flyby of that contact. Navigation, order a general direction reverse to the Gradenko and swing us around, slow and steady. Begin readying our primary weapons but nothing too overt, we have not been fired upon yet and I would like to maintain some civility. Communications, please make use of our special suite and inform STAVKA of the situation. Maintain a direct and live link if at all possible. Feed all sensor and visual data as and when it is available."
He turnt his attention back to the holographic display as, for a few excruciating moments the Admiral Voroshilov and Gradenko slowly began to manoeuvre themselves to face the opposite direction they had been travelling in.
"Gradenko reports about turn complete, Comrade Captain. We.. appear to be receiving a transmission from the contact." As soon as the crewman had finished speaking he began playing the transmission - or at least, whatever audible component had been attached. It was not in any language made by a human, that much he understood - and was likely some form of "First Contact" protocol. He made a note that at least several of the bridge crew had visibly recoiled from the alien sounds that had reverberated around the bridge.
"Return transmission on same frequency with standard diplomatic codes and content." Timoshenko said, raising his voice over the momentary murmur of discussion that had broken out as the message ended.
"It is done, Comrade Captain." came a response a few seconds later, as the Admiral Voroshilov slowly began to level out at the completion of her turn. Timoshenko could only wait, now.
"Comrade Captain, Gradenko has completely powered up her main forward battery." The sensors station intoned, with a minor note of concern.
"We.. are receiving a text message. Captain Lieutenant Sishenko wishes to respectfully remind Captain Timoshenko that by their nature, aliens are a reactionary menace and must be dealt with accordingly." Timoshenko shot Isakov a glance, who in turn clearly looked at Timoshenko with a greater degree of concern.
"Inform Captain Lieutenant Sishenko that STAVKA is aware of the situation and has not given us orders to make this a military engagement. Furthermore, please make Sishenko aware that I am the superior officer in this situation and that he will defer to my military authority on this matter. Please make the Gradenko's Commissar aware that if Sishenko wishes to defy such orders they are to take the necessary appropriate steps." Timoshenko ordered, it pained him to make such an outward threat, but this was not the time for games, ideological or otherwise. He did not know whether his message was received before or after, but the Gradenko opened fire.
For a few moments, chaos did reign. In space, the propelled kinetic slugs of the Gradenko's main cannon impacted the the Alien vessel around the same time the Gradenko's own Commissar raised his weapon against Captain Lieutenant Sishenko - by the time everyone knew just what had happened, Captain Lieutenant Sishenko's career - and life, were over.
Timoshenko himself had begun to brace for an inevitable response, though for a few seconds nothing at all seemed to happen.
"Alien Contact unaffected. Sensors read a large power spike, it seems the contact has shielding capable of mitigating kinetic weaponry."
Timoshenko nodded. It was, at the very least, data, and data that STAVKA had. Either the Alien contact believed what had just occurred to be a mistake, or was so untroubled by it that it was merely taking its time to react. The second thought did not please him.
A few moments later, the contacts outline began to coalesce into a meaningful shape on the holographic display as sensor data was completed - with that, he turnt his attention to the visual display itself. The Alien ship was mostly silver, with some elements of blue markings or components offsetting it somewhat. It was a sleek shape, though in some cases it often ended in a block shape or resulted in yet more curves. It was different, but not entirely displeasing.
"We are receiving another transmission, Comrade Captain - it.. it's in Russian."
------
General Assembly Floor, United Nations, Geneva, Geneva Confederation.
The General Assembly had been reconstituted much in the way its progenitor had, though there were differing numbers of seats and the UN symbol itself no longer featured the continents of Earth, but varying portrayals of stars. The Soviet Union rarely convened any emergency meeting of the Security Council, let alone the General Assembly in its entirety, for little other than ideological grandstanding. That the Soviet Ambassador had made it clear that it was of paramount and far reaching importance had raised many eyebrows, though few believed it would really measure up.
Andrei Dementyev was tired. Oh so tired. He didn't look it of course, the wonders of modern means - but he felt it. He was a relatively young man as far as politics went, yet he remained handsome, fair haired, but not so much as to be unapproachable or easily disliked - the new ordering of the Secretariat had brought plenty of fresh blood into the political scene, it was in some manner, a purge, though without all the deathly violence one seemed to associate with his government. Oh, it happened, but not nearly as often nor as publicly. It was more the case of early retirement these days, the old guard who could not adapt going to pasture on some family home or backwater colony. It mattered not. All in the Soviet Union lived, or died, in the service of the never ending, unceasing revolution. Or so they said.
It had been the manner of politics that dogged him so, dealing with the Politburo and Secretariat over the incident in the Exclusion Zone had been time consuming and exhausting. The cascading series of meetings and calls back to Leningrad and then the return calls had only ended because the Assembly had been called to order by his own hand. It never rained but it poured, was a western saying - Andrei knew how ridiculous that sounded, now that the Soviet Union itself was found to the directional west - but it applied.
Беда́ никогда́ не прихо́дит одна́ - Trouble never comes alone.
Athena and Ioseph were the real issues the Assembly wanted to deal with, but today his government would not oblige. It was, in some amusing way, a fantastic way to bury what the Soviet Government had unilaterally done. He would be forthright and upfront about that, His Government was playing a dangerous game moving into the exclusion zone in the first place, but, as they said, the revolution had never really ended. Then he would let the true matter here be put into the light. No-one would protest the former in the light of the implications of the latter.
Andrei nodded as the opening points of the Assembly meeting were quickly passed over, noting his satisfaction with the speed of it as he himself was called to the floor.
"While much information in the case we now bring to the Assembly floor is classified, even to myself pending a full briefing by my government, I am happy, at my governments instruction, to share what information has been made known to myself. Following a Security Council discussion on the subject, Soviet Ambassadors will, provided we can verify our information, share it with respective governments either through direct or U.N. channels. However, back to the matter at hand."
Andrei made a motion to someone, somewhere, that resulted in a dimming of the lights and the illumination of the main assembly floors holographic projection system, bathing the Assembly floor in a soft mixture of grey and red - The red demarcating the western borders of the Soviet Union and the grey the Exclusion Zone, a few points of light were labelled with strings of numbers - the usual designation for Exclusion Zone systems, with a couple of flashing blips. The names of a few Soviet Patrols were also made clear.
"As the Assembly is aware, the Soviet Union maintains patrols in the Exclusion Zone in order to provide a monitoring possible Juhseungi movements - though none have ever been detected, provide security in these backwater systems and provide assistance to the few independent operations allowed to temporarily operate in the Exclusion Zone for resourcing or research purposes. We have maintained such patrols for at least a century without any incidents - until this past month, as marked on the display and in information now made available to you and through the United Nations on a regular basis."
Andrei let the monotony sink in. Time for the first act, he thought.
"Given the lack of Juhseungi activity in this region and the continued presence of Soviet military forces without recompense, as of three months ago the Soviet Government internally, and unilaterally declared the Exclusion Zone open to Soviet Civilian and Industrial Concerns. Further to this, the Soviet Military began entering the area in force in order to survey and chart appropriate worlds for colonisation in the immediate future. The Soviet Union has made previously known that it is open to colonial operations from other Orion Powers in the Exclusion Zone should it be dissolved. As such, as of one month ago, the Soviet Union considers the Exclusion Zone void and all systems within to be open to colonial endeavours."
Andrei let the murmur and quiet discontent that had been building up among many of the delegations to bubble over into the senseless of rage of impotent politics. There was, truthfully, little anyone could do, though he was sure it would decide the election campaigns of a few "democratic" states.
Andrei waited for the display to zoom in on one of the the Soviet military identifiers that had popped up, denoting at least two capital class assets in a system some distance away from the Soviet border. A single distinct date appeared alongside the outline of what must of been a vessel, was now visible and dominated the display. He let the disquiet calm itself as delegations noted he was far from finished.
"Two Weeks ago the Soviet Union was engaging in survey operations in the system we have now named Malinovaya. During this operation, the SNS Admiral Voroshilov made contact with an alien vessel operating in the former Exclusion Zone."
Andrei let the Assembly once again fall into disorder. He nodded and the display began to change, though the sensor readings were now a map - the tell tale signs of the various Orion Powers became smaller, filling up much of the right hand side of the display. The Exclusion Zone, or rather, former Exclusion Zone was now shaded red and gray, though a small portion was shaded in a colour that did not quite fit any other power - beyond that, the same colour covered a handful of star clusters. It was clear whatever else was indicated had a reach and scope larger than that of the Soviet Union.
"You see before you our now expanded knowledge of the Orion Arm - As such, the Soviet Government wishes to inform the Assembly that it has opened diplomatic relations with the force that has identified itself - at least in human terms, as The Allied Systems League. While we have shared and received information with this League including provisional star maps, we would not seek to stand before this Assembly and simply describe them through our own words. As such, we have extended an invitation to their Ambassador, who is now en route from New Leningrad, to address the U.N. General Assembly several days from now."
