10.2
- Location
- United Kingdom
Basin shuffled his papers, "To those of you who are new, I am Basin, brigade deputy for political affairs. Previously my office was small given the high quality and political consciousness of the officer corps here, however as time's gone on we've had to instigate certain changes to the SG teams. For one, we now send out either Auxiliary or Regimental teams with at least one SG officer, while we maintain the SG teams for specific missions of importance. My subordinates are trained in diplomacy, intelligence and politics, and we serve a supporting role to the wider Program." He sniffed, "I'll begin with our allies, Lieutenant if you please?"
The officer operating the slides had gone over to the projection unit and loaded the first slide showing a large spherical structure in a white landscape.
"The Markaran civilisation emerged during a brief period between ice ages on their planet. They'd reached a position roughly a century more advanced than our own before the onset of a particularly bitter period of weather that continues to the present. However, their scientists had predicted this and the different governments allied to create large dome cities under the loose accord of a federation. This new state is composed of a dozen large cities and around 50 smaller outposts. It is currently unclear to us whether the mutual reliance of each dome on the others was a deliberate choice by the previous polity, however the state of affairs before Captain Ivanovich discovered them was one of concentrated industry and the division of labour. One dome growing food, another making electronics, and so on. During their mission Ivanovich and his team were taken prisoner but escaped and assisted an indigenous proletariat revolution which now control one of the domes, this one concentrated on metallurgy. Unluckily for the other domes we can supply all necessary resources, while withholding the metals which were previously traded. I regard this planet as promising, but requiring careful handling. We've already benefited in some areas from their advanced technology, but if Comrade Zhelezo will make a short statement on this?"
Zhelezo was their liaison with the massive steelworks in Magnitogorsk, attached to the engineering division and assisting in various related tasks around the Program. "The Markaran's use a system of continuous casting and long product production involving electrical furnaces much more advanced than our own. We've been working with the natives to create refined Naquadah of significantly greater quality than was possible before. This has implications for the industry of the Union, as well as our own projects. They also have several other technologies that are more advanced, but that we haven't thought of a use for yet, for example, the dome-cities are protected by what we originally thought was glass but is actually an aluminium-oxygen-nitrogen compound. We're considering whether it'd be useful for starship windows."
Basin continued, "We've largely ignored their memory modification technology however due to its unreliability and the fact that it brought their whole civilisation down eventually." He said with a smile, "Speaking of memory, we've strengthened our ties with the Oans, the amphibian species from L-211."
The slides changed to show an underwater landscape, great coral towers and schools of fish in front of a series of green structures which almost blended into the coral while a tentacled creature in long robes floated outside.
"Colonel Durov spoke to their ruling military council and once they were satisfied we were opposed to the Goa'uld they agreed to an alliance. This has proven particularly useful, firstly because we have no conflict over resources as they live underwater, meaning they were happy to give us a list of unoccupied planets and also Goa'uld strongholds they were aware of, but also being the Oan memory recall technology has allowed Comrade Gaius to retrieve many of the technologies Vulcan used, for instance the process of modifying a Ma'tok cannon to fire further. Now, onto a more difficult topic, Major Reniv?"
Reniv nodded, "Sirs," he said nodding at the head of the table, "The other significant group we've had contact with are 'Thrudvang', three worlds under Thor's protection. While Cimmeria is part of the non-interference treaty the Asgard have with the Goa'uld, Thor seems to have personally sheltered particular populations without including them in the treaty."
"You've confirmed this with this… 'Thor'?" asked Zhukov.
Reniv looked a little awkward, "No sir, we've not had any contact with him in some time. We know the Asgard are aware of us, we got a list of the protected planets off Freyr when we visited one world, but we've been unsuccessful in arranging any meetings. The Colonel managed to meet some though."
The eyes of the room turned to Durov, "I was attacked by an alien wall, wandered the base for several days gibbering in an alien language and scribbling notes which turned out to be several thousand new Stargate addresses, and then I built some sort of battery and dialled an eight-digit address which took me to Othala, an Asgard world in their home galaxy. They informed me I'd absorbed what was essentially an old library of the Ancients, and that this had various significant implications."
Basin drew breath but one of the scientists interrupted, "Am I correct in thinking you have some affinity for alien technology Colonel?"
Durov nodded, "Myself and a few others yes, we've yet to understand it fully."
"Biological matters are to be discussed later." Said Abramovich, "Proceed Reniv."
"As I was saying," said the Major, "Of the three planets of Thrudvang, the first Cimmeria, are very friendly, almost all of them wanted to leave after we told them we couldn't help them if they stayed, we had to hold trials for those who wanted to fight but we've now got two fully trained and well drilled companys of Cimmerians, with another three in trail. We've sent various assistance to the planet, the hammer device alone makes it valuable in case we ever have to remove a Goa'uld from someone without killing them. Our relations with the second planet's civilisation, the Turvayar, have also been friendly, but haven't proceeded as fast, while the relations with the Svorrin have been rapidly degrading. On Cimmeria one of the Cimmerian's saw SG personnel talk with Thor, and therefore knew we could be trusted. Comparably, when we went to the other two planets no such visitation occurred, meaning they had strangers simply appear and tell them that they'd come from their god, in effect. Now the Svorrin were already split culturally and religiously on the specifics of their origins as well as their relation to Thor. Our arrival has inflamed these tensions and there's been isolated incidents of violence between the different factions. We're closer politically with the faction who have the more factually correct beliefs, but the opposing faction are more powerful. We're told them we don't intend to side with either of them against the other, but I've so far been unable to make any meaningful progress till relations between the factions are normalised, which I n turn likely won't happen till Thor appears there himself."
"I note here," said Basin, "that while our trade with the Svoriin is significant, the importance of this planet lies with our reputation rather than the tonnes of fish they're sending us. If religious war breaks out there the Asgard will hardly take a good view of their followers slaughtering each other due to our actions."
General Kharchenko, an officer with oversight over many of the Moscow-based parts of the Program spoke up, "Comrade Basin, while I don't claim to be an expert on religious matters, I'm surprised to hear a political officer taking such a positive stance toward organised religion."
There were a few chuckles, Kharchenko hadn't taken a critical tone in his question, and many of the others who hadn't had a close association with the Commissar were thinking the same.
"Well I did introduce Christianity to the Romans." Said Basin lightly. "'Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.' You deal with weapons and training, I deal with speech and thought, both are weapons and both are needed to fight the Goa'uld. When we overthrew Vulcan and the Romans on Elysium lost the devil they'd feared for millennia I knew we needed some way to maintain the cohesion on the society. I am an atheist, and I agree with Comrade Lenin that religion has been used as an instrument of stupefaction by bourgeois, in this case truly parasitic, actors, but I also agree with Bukharin's remarks on the proper procedures for a Marxist to implement change toward a religious society. The Goa'uld can heal wounds, raise the dead, rain fire from the sky, and possess bodies. They are, in effect, gods, and even though these abilities stem from technology and biology, we can't ignore the effects these have on the populations we encounter. What advantage is there to persuading the Cimmerians that Thor isn't actually a god? If he didn't create them he still sheltered them from harm and assured their prosperity for thousands of years. Comparably the religious conflict among the Svorrin is simply a reflection of the greater socio-economic inequality between the factions we identify by 'Gandian' and 'Gemonite'. If the differences and religious issues between the factions were resolved they'd still be in conflict because of the inherent problems of the society."
Reniv nodded, "The Gandians control all the largest and most prosperous cities, as well as the main political and cultural institutions. The Gemonites began as Gandian exiles, following their prophet who got his hands on some Asgard devices, as Basin says there's more than religious conflict there, its just the most visible element of the society."
"It's the SGC's policy not to disrupt the religious or social particulars of the aliens," said Durov, "We have better things to do, and that can come later once we have the resources to devote to it. As long as they don't worship the Goa'uld we have no immediate conflict with them, and as Basin says this was isn't just military, its religious. If we kill their gods and their faith we have to replace it with something otherwise the societies will collapse."
Basin nodded, "I should also note that the working group on this topic is already massively oversubscribed. If you have something specific to contribute we'll receive it in writing before tomorrow afternoon, if not my division holds regular symposiums on this and other related issues to discuss policy, all are welcome." He shuffled his papers, "I think this neatly leads us onto the issue of the Jaffa." And he raised his eyebrows in Durov's direction.
The officer operating the slides had gone over to the projection unit and loaded the first slide showing a large spherical structure in a white landscape.
"The Markaran civilisation emerged during a brief period between ice ages on their planet. They'd reached a position roughly a century more advanced than our own before the onset of a particularly bitter period of weather that continues to the present. However, their scientists had predicted this and the different governments allied to create large dome cities under the loose accord of a federation. This new state is composed of a dozen large cities and around 50 smaller outposts. It is currently unclear to us whether the mutual reliance of each dome on the others was a deliberate choice by the previous polity, however the state of affairs before Captain Ivanovich discovered them was one of concentrated industry and the division of labour. One dome growing food, another making electronics, and so on. During their mission Ivanovich and his team were taken prisoner but escaped and assisted an indigenous proletariat revolution which now control one of the domes, this one concentrated on metallurgy. Unluckily for the other domes we can supply all necessary resources, while withholding the metals which were previously traded. I regard this planet as promising, but requiring careful handling. We've already benefited in some areas from their advanced technology, but if Comrade Zhelezo will make a short statement on this?"
Zhelezo was their liaison with the massive steelworks in Magnitogorsk, attached to the engineering division and assisting in various related tasks around the Program. "The Markaran's use a system of continuous casting and long product production involving electrical furnaces much more advanced than our own. We've been working with the natives to create refined Naquadah of significantly greater quality than was possible before. This has implications for the industry of the Union, as well as our own projects. They also have several other technologies that are more advanced, but that we haven't thought of a use for yet, for example, the dome-cities are protected by what we originally thought was glass but is actually an aluminium-oxygen-nitrogen compound. We're considering whether it'd be useful for starship windows."
Basin continued, "We've largely ignored their memory modification technology however due to its unreliability and the fact that it brought their whole civilisation down eventually." He said with a smile, "Speaking of memory, we've strengthened our ties with the Oans, the amphibian species from L-211."
The slides changed to show an underwater landscape, great coral towers and schools of fish in front of a series of green structures which almost blended into the coral while a tentacled creature in long robes floated outside.
"Colonel Durov spoke to their ruling military council and once they were satisfied we were opposed to the Goa'uld they agreed to an alliance. This has proven particularly useful, firstly because we have no conflict over resources as they live underwater, meaning they were happy to give us a list of unoccupied planets and also Goa'uld strongholds they were aware of, but also being the Oan memory recall technology has allowed Comrade Gaius to retrieve many of the technologies Vulcan used, for instance the process of modifying a Ma'tok cannon to fire further. Now, onto a more difficult topic, Major Reniv?"
Reniv nodded, "Sirs," he said nodding at the head of the table, "The other significant group we've had contact with are 'Thrudvang', three worlds under Thor's protection. While Cimmeria is part of the non-interference treaty the Asgard have with the Goa'uld, Thor seems to have personally sheltered particular populations without including them in the treaty."
"You've confirmed this with this… 'Thor'?" asked Zhukov.
Reniv looked a little awkward, "No sir, we've not had any contact with him in some time. We know the Asgard are aware of us, we got a list of the protected planets off Freyr when we visited one world, but we've been unsuccessful in arranging any meetings. The Colonel managed to meet some though."
The eyes of the room turned to Durov, "I was attacked by an alien wall, wandered the base for several days gibbering in an alien language and scribbling notes which turned out to be several thousand new Stargate addresses, and then I built some sort of battery and dialled an eight-digit address which took me to Othala, an Asgard world in their home galaxy. They informed me I'd absorbed what was essentially an old library of the Ancients, and that this had various significant implications."
Basin drew breath but one of the scientists interrupted, "Am I correct in thinking you have some affinity for alien technology Colonel?"
Durov nodded, "Myself and a few others yes, we've yet to understand it fully."
"Biological matters are to be discussed later." Said Abramovich, "Proceed Reniv."
"As I was saying," said the Major, "Of the three planets of Thrudvang, the first Cimmeria, are very friendly, almost all of them wanted to leave after we told them we couldn't help them if they stayed, we had to hold trials for those who wanted to fight but we've now got two fully trained and well drilled companys of Cimmerians, with another three in trail. We've sent various assistance to the planet, the hammer device alone makes it valuable in case we ever have to remove a Goa'uld from someone without killing them. Our relations with the second planet's civilisation, the Turvayar, have also been friendly, but haven't proceeded as fast, while the relations with the Svorrin have been rapidly degrading. On Cimmeria one of the Cimmerian's saw SG personnel talk with Thor, and therefore knew we could be trusted. Comparably, when we went to the other two planets no such visitation occurred, meaning they had strangers simply appear and tell them that they'd come from their god, in effect. Now the Svorrin were already split culturally and religiously on the specifics of their origins as well as their relation to Thor. Our arrival has inflamed these tensions and there's been isolated incidents of violence between the different factions. We're closer politically with the faction who have the more factually correct beliefs, but the opposing faction are more powerful. We're told them we don't intend to side with either of them against the other, but I've so far been unable to make any meaningful progress till relations between the factions are normalised, which I n turn likely won't happen till Thor appears there himself."
"I note here," said Basin, "that while our trade with the Svoriin is significant, the importance of this planet lies with our reputation rather than the tonnes of fish they're sending us. If religious war breaks out there the Asgard will hardly take a good view of their followers slaughtering each other due to our actions."
General Kharchenko, an officer with oversight over many of the Moscow-based parts of the Program spoke up, "Comrade Basin, while I don't claim to be an expert on religious matters, I'm surprised to hear a political officer taking such a positive stance toward organised religion."
There were a few chuckles, Kharchenko hadn't taken a critical tone in his question, and many of the others who hadn't had a close association with the Commissar were thinking the same.
"Well I did introduce Christianity to the Romans." Said Basin lightly. "'Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.' You deal with weapons and training, I deal with speech and thought, both are weapons and both are needed to fight the Goa'uld. When we overthrew Vulcan and the Romans on Elysium lost the devil they'd feared for millennia I knew we needed some way to maintain the cohesion on the society. I am an atheist, and I agree with Comrade Lenin that religion has been used as an instrument of stupefaction by bourgeois, in this case truly parasitic, actors, but I also agree with Bukharin's remarks on the proper procedures for a Marxist to implement change toward a religious society. The Goa'uld can heal wounds, raise the dead, rain fire from the sky, and possess bodies. They are, in effect, gods, and even though these abilities stem from technology and biology, we can't ignore the effects these have on the populations we encounter. What advantage is there to persuading the Cimmerians that Thor isn't actually a god? If he didn't create them he still sheltered them from harm and assured their prosperity for thousands of years. Comparably the religious conflict among the Svorrin is simply a reflection of the greater socio-economic inequality between the factions we identify by 'Gandian' and 'Gemonite'. If the differences and religious issues between the factions were resolved they'd still be in conflict because of the inherent problems of the society."
Reniv nodded, "The Gandians control all the largest and most prosperous cities, as well as the main political and cultural institutions. The Gemonites began as Gandian exiles, following their prophet who got his hands on some Asgard devices, as Basin says there's more than religious conflict there, its just the most visible element of the society."
"It's the SGC's policy not to disrupt the religious or social particulars of the aliens," said Durov, "We have better things to do, and that can come later once we have the resources to devote to it. As long as they don't worship the Goa'uld we have no immediate conflict with them, and as Basin says this was isn't just military, its religious. If we kill their gods and their faith we have to replace it with something otherwise the societies will collapse."
Basin nodded, "I should also note that the working group on this topic is already massively oversubscribed. If you have something specific to contribute we'll receive it in writing before tomorrow afternoon, if not my division holds regular symposiums on this and other related issues to discuss policy, all are welcome." He shuffled his papers, "I think this neatly leads us onto the issue of the Jaffa." And he raised his eyebrows in Durov's direction.
