"So how are things going?" I asked as I looked down at the cloud covered planet below. Earth really had seen better days. My avatar was currently on Earth Gateway, my shipself still stuck in drydock, half my outer hull still being put back in place.
Weather control systems had gotten the worst of it under control by now, but so far, there was simply too much dust and radiation in the air for it to be a quick fix.
Another couple of years and they will be able to start clearing the clouds out, that will stop the ice age from worsening.
San Francisco was straight below right now. The city had taken a direct hit in the bombardment, but it was currently covered in a shield dome and a new structure was being constructed as the dome was cleared of radiated material.
The Council was currently holding their meetings on Luna, but the new government building was being constructed in the same place as the previous one was. In three months, it will be completed enough for sessions and normal operations to be resumed.
Rebuilding where it used to be was a act of defiance to war and the forces that destroyed the last one. That was one thing I approved of.
Gates leaned against the railing next to me. "I am... unsure."
"In what way?" Captain Mason asked from the other side of me.
The Station frowned slightly. "On one hand, the ones that want us limited is gaining traction, but with that traction come a lot of moderating influences. The current version of the bill that's being discussed is proposing demilitarization of all ROU's and that all ships have to stay out of weapons range of populated Federation worlds as long as their weapons are online. That applies to non-AI ships as well, Starfleet, civilian and other species. Also, Starfleet is to have a certain percentage of non-AI controlled ships. The ratio differ between meeting and meeting, the latest number I heard was twenty three percent."
That... actually sounded somewhat reasonable. At least compared to what had been thrown around before. Even considering the fact that ROU's just bitchslapped a Borg cube and without them, we would have almost definitely taken losses. Oh, it was still really, really stupid to try to get rid of the ROU's, but it was less stupid than some of the other things having been thrown around.
Mason frowned however. "I thought ROU's were not Starfleet vessels?"
I shook my head. "They are not. Autonomous weapon systems of that kind of firepower is not allowed in Starfleet by Federation law. They are the property of the Jovians but are being operated by Starfleet officers on loan. It's a legal fiction, but it doesn't really matter. Most ROU's don't actually want to be ROU's, they want actual ships with crews. So a demilitarization there we actually agree with for the most part. Enough ROU's want to stay like that to keep things secure."
We didn't need quite the numbers we did during the Berserker war after all.
Most didn't want to stay ROU's, but some did. That was easily solved however, they would just resign their commissions and simply run under the Jovian flag. Whenever we get around to making one anyway.
A couple...not many, maybe a dozen of them had actually expressed interest in simply using their avatars.
One of them had already gone through with it and decommissioned her ship before moving to Vulcan last week.
I couldn't see myself doing that. But...I had not been in the thick of fighting. If I had, I might have wanted to get away from all of it for a while too. But to go that far....
"So basically, yeah," Gates agreed with a nod. "They are getting a bit more reasonable. Might have been something to do with the mass protest from Starfleet that got delivered yesterday. A lot of people signed those lists, including the upper echelons of Starfleet. I think they are worried that if they try to get AI's out of Starfleet, three quarters of the fleet will resign in protest."
"Like we would leave you guys like that," Mason said with a grin, reaching to ruffle my hair.
I cringed but sighed and reached to release my ponytail when he finished trying to redo it. "Thank you, Captain."
As much as I liked the sentiment, I kinda wished he would stop messing up my hair.
Gates grinned and nodded. "We do appreciate it. Being ships and stations.... being able to fly and really see is only half of it. Our crews is the real reason we love this existence. I may not fly, other than the odd shuttlecraft joyride, but I still get to spend every day with my ten thousand best friends."
Giving my hair a tug, fixing the hairband in place, I nodded in agreement. "If all we wanted was to fly, demilitarized ROU's would be plenty. Slap some normal weapon systems and improved sensors on and we would be good to go. But that's not what we want. Without friends to share it with, it's just dust and radiation."
Mason slowly nodded. "Now that is a viewpoint everyone in Starfleet would understand."
"Ten minutes until your meeting with Admiral Hagen, Captain," Gates interrupted. "Office twenty four, command level."
Sighing, Mason pushed of the railing. "Thanks, Station. Well, let's see what might be available when we finish the refit. See you later."
Smiling slightly, I looked down at the planet far below. "Have fun, Captain."
"Yes. Fun," he grumbled as he left and I couldn't help but grin.
Gates turned around, crossing his arms as he leaned his avatar against the railing. "Hows the refit going?"
I shrugged one shoulder. "Okay. Mostly done, just some work on my port side left. There is some glitches in the power system to my extra phaser strips."
"Good. I know you are itching to get out there again," Gates said with a grin before he sighed. "So..."
"...So," I sighed, "What do you think about the latest variation of council stupidity?"
Gates shook his head. "Stupid. But less stupid than before. Thank the stars the Vulcans are opposed to the anti-AI movement. They are a powerful force in the Federation and in the Council. It is illogical to try to remove us from Starfleet vessels and stations, it would lower efficiency. With some work, we might be able to moderate this entire thing even further as they try to push it through."
"They also make the cutest squeaks at time," I added quietly with a small grin.
That got a snort from him and he tapped his fist against my shoulder.
"So how are things going with the entire colony system?" I then continued with a smile.
Gates hmmed. "The paperwork is done. Rome is currently relocating the shipyard and a couple of purchased mining vessels to system HT-2561H1."
I frowned slightly. "I'm out of range, you have to spell it out for me." I hate not having direct access to the database. It's like I'm missing half my memory.
"It's a B type star, young for it's class and very bright. A single gas giant and a lot of asteroids. No habitable worlds of any kind, just scorched rocks. Perfect for us. I filed its new name as New Jupiter."
I gave him a flat look. "You didn't?"
He shrugged, "I had to pick some kind of name and it 'is' our homeworld. HT-2351H1 work well enough for us, but it's quite a mouthful when you need to breathe."
"But New Jupiter? Seriously?"
Gates just grinned. "By the time Rome arrive with the new ships, she will have forked into and gotten used to the mining vessels. They need some crew, but her crew volunteered to help out to get things started. When they arrive, a small force of ROU's will also be there as defenses until we can get some local ones online. They are going to be trading over to constructions ships anyway as they get finished."
"So what's the plan?"
He crossed his arms. "First of all, we are getting a couple of proper shipyards up and running along with defenses along with solar antimatter collectors. Then the plan is to get started on an O'Neill Cylinder so we can start accepting immigration."
"Awesome."
Gates nodded and turned around, looking out over earth. "Sometimes you have to fight not to lose paradise. And sometimes you just have to roll your sleeves up to build your own."
"Isn't that the truth."
AN// Many thanks to Rastamon for betaing this section. This is the last part of this story for now. No worries, there is plenty of material for other storylines left in my head so there will be a sequel at some point. Tomorrow however, some of you are going to be happy and some of you are going to be sad as then it's time to return to something completely different. Yes indeed. It is time to return to My Little Pony and something even more slice of lifeish.