Angle 1:
All we wanted was Heaven on Earth.
Heh, isn't that the goal of every religion? To either uplift or restore suffering humanity to its proper position in the scheme of things? It took us a long time to get it, but we finally got there. We finally managed to create Utopia, where all men and women were equal, and had all of their wants fulfilled. This is a post-scarcity paradise. I don't know how our ancestors even managed to get to this point without going extinct.
Thousands of years of barbaric slaughter, brother against brother, father against son, mother against daughter. No use crying over spilled blood. Didn't matter what our rationales were, it was always over resources. If only we could cooperate, work together, get the world we wanted. Share the resources. Seemed like that just wasn't in our DNA. Seemed like we would always be killing and oppressing each other, just to have a better livelihood for ourselves.
It started off simple enough. A couple of rocks, a couple of sticks. Throw some rocks into the fire, say the magic words, get a better, shinier, deadlier rock to put on the stick. Next thing you knew, we were using fire and no magic words to propel the rocks at each other. Then, it was a matter of time before we took the rocks out of the equation entirely and just focused the fire at each other in a tight beam. Small, but deadly accurate wounds, all the while, the resources for power dwindling rapidly.
Getting off this rock didn't help us much either. Our first steps off world were a monkey pissing match. And once the former Americans showed that they could piss the furthest the quickest, well, no one needed to go to the bathroom anymore. Oh sure, they talked a big game about pissing further, and they eventually did.
Lack of resources pushed us into the asteroid belt. Of course, being the barbarians that we were back then, we sent the expendables. Rocket fuel was expensive. We didn't want to have to pay what we promised the poor saps. We also didn't let them know about the substandard radiation shielding. But no one ever officially died of that, of course. No, there would always be an ill-timed "micrometeoroid" for a tragic death when they got too close to the end of the contract. Hey, they knew what they signed up for. Space is dangerous. We all know this.
Oh sure, there were colonies that rebelled against Earth, and succeeded and then went to war with each other. Soon it was war in the Kuiper Belt.
It seemed like we would always be at war with each other, that we would never have Heaven on Earth. That we would always be fighting each other, oppressing each other, enslaving each other, killing each other.
It all changed when we developed superluminal travel and made first contact with the Rontarans. The Rontarans put everything into perspective. The Rontarans helped us to finally realize that we are one, that we are all equal, and that we could have Heaven on Earth.
As I stand here on my balcony looking past the Rontaran slums towards the crystal blue waters on the beach, drinking my Mai Tai, I can't help but think, "This is the world we wanted."
I do not want that future.
Quote from: Don Coyote on July 17, 2013, 05:22:28 AM
I do not want that future.
If we do develop FTL and make contact with someone, though, it could well go this way.
Excellent piece, but I think you're being a tad optimistic.
Quote from: Doktor Howl on July 17, 2013, 03:20:53 PM
Excellent piece, but I think you're being a tad optimistic.
How so?
Nicely written.
QuoteAs I stand here on my balcony looking past the Rontaran slums towards the crystal blue waters on the beach, drinking my Mai Tai, I can't help but think, "This is the world we wanted."
All we really want is someone to 'legitimately' treat like shit to make ourselves feel better. :P
Angle 2:
The indigenous life on Rontar is fairly alien in comparison to life that evolved on Earth, making classifications difficult. A prime example is that of Tubularis custodians rontari.
T. custodians is eukaryotic and multicellular, however shows traits could make it classifiable as either plant or animal.
Anatomically, they have seven-fold radial symmetry. They have spherical heads with 7 ocular organs, allowing for 360 degree vision. Below these, they have 7 prehensile appendages that function as apparati for both respiration and ingestion. These appendages are similar to an elephant's trunk. These lead to a central digestive torus, with the equivalent of bowels spiraling counter-clockwise to a central inferior opening for excretion. Along this bowel spiral a several renal type organs that release metabolic waste back into the digestive waste. In between the esophagi are rows of pulmonary sacs, with three sacs to a row. The airways contain an organ similar to a bird's syrinx, giving it a wide range of sound production. The nervous system is similar to that of a vertebrate, with a central spinal column attaching to a skull housing a brain, which is made up, naturally, of seven segments corresponding to our own hemispheres. They have 7 segmented appendages similar to a human's arms terminating in a triangular manipulative organ with three equidistant digits, and seven motile appendages that are more analogous to crab legs.
On a cellular level, T. custodians has organelles that are roughly analogous to Earth life, excepting that it has both mitochondria and chloroplasts, allowing it to derive its energy from both ingestion and photosynthesis, and to switch between using oxygen or carbon dioxide for metabolic processes. The chloroplasts are more efficient at converting sunlight than Earth plants, and give the skin of T. custodians a very dark green color. This may be due to Rontar's sun being dimmer than Sol. T. custodians is thought to switch between ingestion and photosynthesis depending on factors such as food scarcity and atmospheric conditions.
Evidence suggests that T. custodians may have intelligence analogous to that of a primate or a cetacean, and have a rudimentary language and social structure. It is unknown whether they have intelligence comparable to hominids, but they have not been observed using tools, though they have been shown to shelter during their dormant cycles.
T. custodians is hermaphroditic, and an individual may fertilize itself or another. Fertilization results in what can only be describe as something that is both a seed and an embryo. After the embryos are deposited in a well lit area, they take root and grow a stalk, which raises the embryo off the ground. The central stalk eventually sprouts the appendages. When the embryo is fully developed it will destroy the stalk and seek out the adults. It was unknown that the stalks were part of T. custodians life cycle until several embryonic fields had been clear cut for development and the DNA of the byproduct was sequenced.
T. custodians is a highly resilient species, whose adaptations seem to have allowed its ancestors survive a geologically recent mass extinction.
Despite all of these differences, T. custodians biochemical processes are remarkably similar to that of a human.
Considering all of these traits, we recommend that more research be done into the potential applications of T. custodians in the following areas:
Pharmaceutical testing, labor force, manufacturing, terraforming, environmental control on long term interstellar travel, environmental control in insulated habitats, photoelectric research, service sector, genetic engineering.
Not so much this one?
Haven't had time. Will read tomorrow at work.
Quote from: Doktor Howl on July 18, 2013, 02:48:27 AM
Haven't had time. Will read tomorrow at work.
Cool cool
QuoteAfter the embryos are deposited in a well lit area, they take root and grow a stalk, which raises the embryo off the ground. The central stalk eventually sprouts the appendages. When the embryo is fully developed it will destroy the stalk and seek out the adults. It was unknown that the stalks were part of T. custodians life cycle until several embryonic fields had been clear cut for development and the DNA of the byproduct was sequenced.
This part reminded me of an Anne McCaffrey story . . . Velvet Fields (http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/velvet-fields/)
This piece was very detailed. I love that there's such an in-depth description of this fascinating creature, seven-fold radial symmetry. 360 degree vision. Syrinx-like organs.
And the result is a recommendation for pharmaceutical testing and hard labor.
Leave it to us. :horrormirth:
Quote from: Cardinal Pizza Deliverance. on July 18, 2013, 03:35:46 AM
QuoteAfter the embryos are deposited in a well lit area, they take root and grow a stalk, which raises the embryo off the ground. The central stalk eventually sprouts the appendages. When the embryo is fully developed it will destroy the stalk and seek out the adults. It was unknown that the stalks were part of T. custodians life cycle until several embryonic fields had been clear cut for development and the DNA of the byproduct was sequenced.
This part reminded me of an Anne McCaffrey story . . . Velvet Fields (http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/velvet-fields/)
This piece was very detailed. I love that there's such an in-depth description of this fascinating creature, seven-fold radial symmetry. 360 degree vision. Syrinx-like organs.
And the result is a recommendation for pharmaceutical testing and hard labor.
Leave it to us. :horrormirth:
Ooh, I'm going to have to check that out, thanks.
I felt like creating a picture of what the Rontarans are like before going any further. I also wanted to make them as non-humanoid as possible, while still having something that someone could picture. I also wanted to give them traits that could make them exploitable in a variety of different ways.
Non-humanoid, but something capable of intelligence, culture and recreating human sounds.
Angles three and four tonight. Possibly five and six tomorrow. Not necessarily in chronological order.
Quote from: FRIDAY TIME on July 18, 2013, 02:45:39 AM
Not so much this one?
Not so much. I don't get it, to be perfectly honest. It's probably me being dense.
I got a very lovecrafty vibe off the second piece (good lovecrafty, not racist and addicted to adjectives).
Looking forward to more!
Dok- ill see if i can make the next two work a bit better.
Gojira- thanks. Now that i think of it the rontarans do remind me of some creature of his. At the mountains of madness? I cant remember.
I will admit that tholians were a partial inspiration since tos was better about aliens that were actually alien rather than members of the forehead club for men.
Quote from: FRIDAY TIME on July 18, 2013, 10:00:43 PM
Dok- ill see if i can make the next two work a bit better.
Gojira- thanks. Now that i think of it the rontarans do remind me of some creature of his. At the mountains of madness? I cant remember.
Yep, that's the one I was thinking of. Elder Things. Really one of his best works, although it still suffers from "Cyclopean" syndrome.
Yeah that was a good one but youre right. He would have done well to consult his thesaurus more. Or go for the occasional good enough bisyllabic word.
Quote from: FRIDAY TIME on July 18, 2013, 10:13:43 PM
Yeah that was a good one but youre right. He would have done well to consult his thesaurus more. Or go for the occasional good enough bisyllabic word.
When I was reading it to the kids we played a game where every time he used the word "Cyclopean" they jumped up and ran around the coffee table.
Thats a way to burn calories lol
Angle 3:
Sarah held up a picture of a Rontaran to Charlie, and asked, "What is this Charlie?"
Charlie looked, and said, "Charlie!"
"No, not your name. What is this?" Charlie thought. Rontarans didn't identify each other by appearance, since it was entirely possible that the Rontaran in question was the product of self-fertilization, and therefore identical to the parent. It then let off a series of chirps and whistles. Sarah made a note of it, and then said, "Rontaran." Charlie repeated, "Rontaran."
Sarah was part of a scientific team trying to determine the linguistic capabilities of Rontarans, to see if they could learn enough English, or for that matter, any other human language, in order to gauge their ability to follow orders. She took the job because she was genuinely fascinated with them, much as earlier primatologists were genuinely interested in chimps and sought to teach them sign language. Rontarans, however, had the vocal capacities of a parrot, and could mimic an astonishing array of sounds. Charlie, in fact, sounded a lot like Sarah, but with a limited vocabulary. Sarah was also able to get the job because her boss was able to pull some strings for her. She noted the Rontaran word for Rontaran as a matter of mutual intelligibility. It was difficult, but if humans were able to get to the point where whales and dolphins could understand human, and humans could understand whale or dolphin, it should be possible for Rontarans too.
"If you are a Rontaran, then I am a human."
"Human. Sarah is human."
"Good! And how do you say human in Rontaran?"
Charlie let out another series of whistles. Sarah dutifully made note of it. Charlie continued. "Split-half." Sarah looked up. This was the first time that Charlie had indicated a nuance to their vocabulary and rendered it back into English. "Split-half?"
"Humans split-half. Two sides. Two eyes. Two arms. Two legs.... two types. Shes with two lumps. Hes with no lumps. Is why Mike looks at Jenny lumps?"
Sarah laughed, "Yeah, he's not very subtle, is he?"
"Suddle"
"The lumps are a little more complicated than that, but essentially yes. Men like women's lumps."
"Talking more lumps explain soon?"
"Yes."
Later that night over dinner, Michelle asked how the progress was going.
"It's going very well. Charlie seems to have a grasp on our language, albeit a broken variety. It's, well, alien to him. I'm having a bit of trouble determining how his language works."
Michelle looked up from the plate, "Well, it's not your goal to understand Rontaran. It's your goal to make them understand English." Sarah swallowed some of her food, "yes, well, depending on how sophisticated Rontaran communication is, it may suggest their level of intelligence and have ethical implications." She winced as soon as she said it. Michelle put her fork down and looked at Sarah. At the moment, she was Sarah's boss again, and not her wife. "Sarah, you are not to get overly attached to the Rontarans. It is your job to determine how we can put them to use, if at all, or if they are merely an exobiological curiosity belonging in a zoo."
Sarah tried to recover, "well, the ethical concerns would largely impact how cooperative we can expect them to be," she started, suddenly disgusted with what she was saying, "and whether or not people will begin to object to clinical trials for example...." Michelle continued to look at Sarah over the top of her glasses. "I mean, we can't have that can we? If the Rontarans expect something in return for cooperation, we need to know that in advance before we run into problems... and if they are more intelligent than we suspect, it could open the door to other uses for them." Sarah couldn't believe what she was saying, but she kept going anyway. "There could be, for example, military opportunities. Imagine, if the Allies were able to use Navajo to mystify the Japanese, what could we do with Rontaran? Or even further, imagine a soldier with seven guns aiming in all directions?"
Michelle raised an eyebrow in thought. "Military applications...."
I now have three angles to choose from. Not sure yet which one I'll go with.
Quote from: FRIDAY TIME on July 19, 2013, 03:38:58 AM
Angle 3:
Sarah held up a picture of a Rontaran to Charlie, and asked, "What is this Charlie?"
Charlie looked, and said, "Charlie!"
"No, not your name. What is this?" Charlie thought. Rontarans didn't identify each other by appearance, since it was entirely possible that the Rontaran in question was the product of self-fertilization, and therefore identical to the parent. It then let off a series of chirps and whistles. Sarah made a note of it, and then said, "Rontaran." Charlie repeated, "Rontaran."
Sarah was part of a scientific team trying to determine the linguistic capabilities of Rontarans, to see if they could learn enough English, or for that matter, any other human language, in order to gauge their ability to follow orders. She took the job because she was genuinely fascinated with them, much as earlier primatologists were genuinely interested in chimps and sought to teach them sign language. Rontarans, however, had the vocal capacities of a parrot, and could mimic an astonishing array of sounds. Charlie, in fact, sounded a lot like Sarah, but with a limited vocabulary. Sarah was also able to get the job because her boss was able to pull some strings for her. She noted the Rontaran word for Rontaran as a matter of mutual intelligibility. It was difficult, but if humans were able to get to the point where whales and dolphins could understand human, and humans could understand whale or dolphin, it should be possible for Rontarans too.
"If you are a Rontaran, then I am a human."
"Human. Sarah is human."
"Good! And how do you say human in Rontaran?"
Charlie let out another series of whistles. Sarah dutifully made note of it. Charlie continued. "Split-half." Sarah looked up. This was the first time that Charlie had indicated a nuance to their vocabulary and rendered it back into English. "Split-half?"
"Humans split-half. Two sides. Two eyes. Two arms. Two legs.... two types. Shes with two lumps. Hes with no lumps. Is why Mike looks at Jenny lumps?"
Sarah laughed, "Yeah, he's not very subtle, is he?"
"Suddle"
"The lumps are a little more complicated than that, but essentially yes. Men like women's lumps."
"Talking more lumps explain soon?"
"Yes."
Later that night over dinner, Michelle asked how the progress was going.
"It's going very well. Charlie seems to have a grasp on our language, albeit a broken variety. It's, well, alien to him. I'm having a bit of trouble determining how his language works."
Michelle looked up from the plate, "Well, it's not your goal to understand Rontaran. It's your goal to make them understand English." Sarah swallowed some of her food, "yes, well, depending on how sophisticated Rontaran communication is, it may suggest their level of intelligence and have ethical implications." She winced as soon as she said it. Michelle put her fork down and looked at Sarah. At the moment, she was Sarah's boss again, and not her wife. "Sarah, you are not to get overly attached to the Rontarans. It is your job to determine how we can put them to use, if at all, or if they are merely an exobiological curiosity belonging in a zoo."
Sarah tried to recover, "well, the ethical concerns would largely impact how cooperative we can expect them to be," she started, suddenly disgusted with what she was saying, "and whether or not people will begin to object to clinical trials for example...." Michelle continued to look at Sarah over the top of her glasses. "I mean, we can't have that can we? If the Rontarans expect something in return for cooperation, we need to know that in advance before we run into problems... and if they are more intelligent than we suspect, it could open the door to other uses for them." Sarah couldn't believe what she was saying, but she kept going anyway. "There could be, for example, military opportunities. Imagine, if the Allies were able to use Navajo to mystify the Japanese, what could we do with Rontaran? Or even further, imagine a soldier with seven guns aiming in all directions?"
Michelle raised an eyebrow in thought. "Military applications...."
I kinda wanna bitchslap Sarah here. If you go with this angle, please tell me Charlie kicks Michelle's ass somehow.
Quote from: Cardinal Pizza Deliverance. on July 19, 2013, 04:06:15 AM
Quote from: FRIDAY TIME on July 19, 2013, 03:38:58 AM
Angle 3:
Sarah held up a picture of a Rontaran to Charlie, and asked, "What is this Charlie?"
Charlie looked, and said, "Charlie!"
"No, not your name. What is this?" Charlie thought. Rontarans didn't identify each other by appearance, since it was entirely possible that the Rontaran in question was the product of self-fertilization, and therefore identical to the parent. It then let off a series of chirps and whistles. Sarah made a note of it, and then said, "Rontaran." Charlie repeated, "Rontaran."
Sarah was part of a scientific team trying to determine the linguistic capabilities of Rontarans, to see if they could learn enough English, or for that matter, any other human language, in order to gauge their ability to follow orders. She took the job because she was genuinely fascinated with them, much as earlier primatologists were genuinely interested in chimps and sought to teach them sign language. Rontarans, however, had the vocal capacities of a parrot, and could mimic an astonishing array of sounds. Charlie, in fact, sounded a lot like Sarah, but with a limited vocabulary. Sarah was also able to get the job because her boss was able to pull some strings for her. She noted the Rontaran word for Rontaran as a matter of mutual intelligibility. It was difficult, but if humans were able to get to the point where whales and dolphins could understand human, and humans could understand whale or dolphin, it should be possible for Rontarans too.
"If you are a Rontaran, then I am a human."
"Human. Sarah is human."
"Good! And how do you say human in Rontaran?"
Charlie let out another series of whistles. Sarah dutifully made note of it. Charlie continued. "Split-half." Sarah looked up. This was the first time that Charlie had indicated a nuance to their vocabulary and rendered it back into English. "Split-half?"
"Humans split-half. Two sides. Two eyes. Two arms. Two legs.... two types. Shes with two lumps. Hes with no lumps. Is why Mike looks at Jenny lumps?"
Sarah laughed, "Yeah, he's not very subtle, is he?"
"Suddle"
"The lumps are a little more complicated than that, but essentially yes. Men like women's lumps."
"Talking more lumps explain soon?"
"Yes."
Later that night over dinner, Michelle asked how the progress was going.
"It's going very well. Charlie seems to have a grasp on our language, albeit a broken variety. It's, well, alien to him. I'm having a bit of trouble determining how his language works."
Michelle looked up from the plate, "Well, it's not your goal to understand Rontaran. It's your goal to make them understand English." Sarah swallowed some of her food, "yes, well, depending on how sophisticated Rontaran communication is, it may suggest their level of intelligence and have ethical implications." She winced as soon as she said it. Michelle put her fork down and looked at Sarah. At the moment, she was Sarah's boss again, and not her wife. "Sarah, you are not to get overly attached to the Rontarans. It is your job to determine how we can put them to use, if at all, or if they are merely an exobiological curiosity belonging in a zoo."
Sarah tried to recover, "well, the ethical concerns would largely impact how cooperative we can expect them to be," she started, suddenly disgusted with what she was saying, "and whether or not people will begin to object to clinical trials for example...." Michelle continued to look at Sarah over the top of her glasses. "I mean, we can't have that can we? If the Rontarans expect something in return for cooperation, we need to know that in advance before we run into problems... and if they are more intelligent than we suspect, it could open the door to other uses for them." Sarah couldn't believe what she was saying, but she kept going anyway. "There could be, for example, military opportunities. Imagine, if the Allies were able to use Navajo to mystify the Japanese, what could we do with Rontaran? Or even further, imagine a soldier with seven guns aiming in all directions?"
Michelle raised an eyebrow in thought. "Military applications...."
I kinda wanna bitchslap Sarah here. If you go with this angle, please tell me Charlie kicks Michelle's ass somehow.
Charlie doesn't understand humans entirely yet, other than men like boobs and we have bilateral symmetry. Note that Rontarans don't describe us as sky-people. They don't consider that the strangest thing about us.
So far, the chronology is, Angle 2, Angle 3, Angle 1.
Also, Sarah's motivations are trying to keep her job, and trying not to rock the boat with the missus.
For Angle 4, factory human perspective, factory Rontaran perspective, or human religious perspective?
Quote from: FRIDAY TIME on July 19, 2013, 04:15:16 AM
Also, Sarah's motivations are trying to keep her job, and trying not to rock the boat with the missus.
I understand her motivations. You wrote her really well. :)
Billy was working the assembly line with three hands, working the consoles with four, working diligently.
Item after item, Billy cranked them out. Minute after minute, hour after hour. Product after product, Billy made sure that the humans had their toys.
One day, Billy's hand was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and Billy's arm was severed.
Injuries were unheard of on the assembly line. The Rontarans were unusually adept at manufacturing tasks. Mr. Klebanov came scrambling down. "Billy, are you ok?!"
"Ok am is, boss."
"You lost your arm!!!"
"Yes."
"We care about you. We don't want you to lose your livelihood."
"Working still can, Mr. Klebanov."
"But you've lost an arm!"
"Arm come back, after time."
"What do you mean, Billy?"
"Off comes arm, back comes arm. Some time, with arm return."
"You... regenerate limbs?"
"Reejennerrate."
The klaxon sounded. Billy punched out.
"Tomorrow more see, Mr. Klebanov."
"Yes. Do svidaniya."
Billy crabwalked out of the factory towards the Rontaran slums, 7 legs, 6 arms. Oleg Vladimirovich Klebanov looked down at the severed arm, and said to himself, "They regenerate...."
He looked around, even though he was the boss, washed off Billy's arm, wrapped it up, and put it in a cooler. For later.
:eek: Oh sweet jesus, Twid. I feel like you just nailed something there. Like, the entire basis of our current consumer culture, exemplified.
You may have other plans for this story, but I have to ask anyway... submit to Bitter Tea, maybe?
Oxford English Dictionary:
Ascensionist Movement: The Ascentionists are a contemporary group of anthropocentric theists who believe that humanity's place in the Universe is as stewards to lesser sentient life forms, and that humanity is the zenith of God's Creation. The Ascensionists see themselves as a civilising force, bringing order into chaos, simultaneously bringing culture and knowledge to other species and instructing them in their roles in God's ultimate plan as subordinates to humanity.
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on July 25, 2013, 07:05:03 AM
You may have other plans for this story, but I have to ask anyway... submit to Bitter Tea, maybe?
Possibly. Let me sit on it.
My main goal here is to sum up American culture from various angles, through the comforting distance of some other planet.
My reluctance is that if I end up writing a lot for this, I would not want it to overwhelm any other projects, especially where it seems the more I write, the more I think of.
That is a powerful narrative. That particular one, the Billy narrative, conveys incredibly well the attitude of corporate management toward the relatively disposable workers, and the cannibalistic overtones emphasize that. But it's part of a story, and I wouldn't ask you to sacrifice part of your story to the Bitter Tea project if you feel it is better conserved for publication en total.
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on July 25, 2013, 07:30:57 AM
That is a powerful narrative. That particular one, the Billy narrative, conveys incredibly well the attitude of corporate management toward the relatively disposable workers, and the cannibalistic overtones emphasize that. But it's part of a story, and I wouldn't ask you to sacrifice part of your story to the Bitter Tea project if you feel it is better conserved for publication en total.
If you like to use Billy's story as an excerpt feel free, if you think it can stand alone (and I definitely wanted the implication to be that Billy's arm was a what's for dinner sort of thing).
I also wanted to get across the whole, "we care that you have a job, can you still do shit for us?" fake concern.
I'm also trying to compose an Ascensionist sermon in my head but it's not quite there yet.
:mittens:
This is awesome!
Quote from: FRIDAY TIME on July 25, 2013, 07:07:24 AM
My main goal here is to sum up American culture from various angles, through the comforting distance of some other planet.
I think that's a big strength of science fiction and fantasy. You can examine controversial issues in a neutral setting, often allowing people to think about things they would dismiss otherwise.
I'm enjoying reading this.
Might work on another one tonight or tomorrow. If I can't get the Ascensionists off the ground yet, I'll switch Angles again.
Different angle brewing. Should be ready tomorrow night. Its going to be a jump further into the future and then im going to jump back for the next angle whatever it may be. If the out of chronological order is a bit jarring i apologize but i think calling them angles instead of chapters has given me that freedom from a linear narrative to help develop the earlier bits.
Bump because I want to get back to this.
Angle 6:
Earth and Titan had been fighting proxy wars for decades. Mars, Luna, and Artificial Venusian Lunulum were obviously allied, due to cultural similarity. The United Terrae, as those four called their confederacy, had managed to enforce political influence and military might over the asteroid belt. The Union of Soviet Syndicalist Demiworlds, largely made of the moons orbiting Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune had run into a bit of a stalemate with the UT. The Uranian system was isolationist, neutral, and wanted none of these shenanigans. The USSD had a stronger influence on the Kuiper Belt, in theory, but the UT worlds spun fast around Sol, and could launch ships into deeper orbits quicker.
For a long while, the UT and the USSD merely exchanged ugly words over radio. That all changed one day.
The UT base on Quaoar managed to directly image an exoplanet, in exquisite detail. It was orbiting a K class star. And it had the smoking gun of atmospheric oxygen, in levels similar, but slightly less than Earth. This meant only one thing. Photosynthesis was occurring on this world, and that oxygen breathing life was balancing out the otherwise toxic gas by exhaling carbon dioxide. Moreover, the majority of the atmosphere was nitrogen, an otherwise unbreathable gas, but nevertheless, comprising almost 80% of Earth's atmosphere. Humans could easily go outside with nothing more than a light jacket.
The USSD had been getting pretty close to breaking the light barrier. The UT stopped caring about exploration unless it was profitable. But now, the UT had a business opportunity, and the USSD had the means in progress. And lets face it, the USSD didn't have the raw resources that the UT had.
Ottawa sent out a signal to Galileo City on Titan, with the simple message, "we have much to discuss."