@AKuz that is lovely. I like the... eerily on-message... character of the Horizon personnel, the total lack of unguarded moments, except of course for the deliberately, artfully unguarded moments. And how all these different species have prettied-up versions of their history for us, ready to go... Including the Tauni, which gives us a comparison point for how off-base some of the other stories MIGHT be.
Leslie:
"I am pretty sure the Harmony would have no place for me."
We have a fairly high degree of assurance she'll be available for quite some time to come. She is nowhere near the age at which she'd be likely to superannuate out of a promotion, and most captains remain at the rank of captain for significantly more than five years, whereas Zhang only has three years' seniority in grade.
I don't want Zhang for the Enterprise so voting here. Also, yeah she'd be good for the Avendar but the current captain is also acing his rolls and I kind a want that to continue.
If this is what you're basing it on, I'd encourage you to reconsider.
There's strong forces at work (COUGH HER AUTHOR, among others) that mean there's a low chance she won't be on the EC Panel in three years, and when she does return she'll have the same-or-better bonus.
I actually went digging and found a current EC captain who waited as long or longer than Zhang would for the Enterprise -- T'Rinta, who first appears on the panel in 2306 and finally is EC'd in 2314. And she was 48 in 2306, but of course, Vulcan ages. But to the point -- there's nothing wrong with keeping Zhang on hold for another 3 years. Part of the reason there's seemingly high EC turnover is we're really good at using all of them.
Again, voting Zhang in right away is being over-cautious, and there's a much better chance she'll stick around AND be an even more awesome captain for an even more awesome Enterprise.
Captain Alexandria Kuznetsova, Starfleet Tactical, regards the tall glass pillar with curiosity. She tilts her head slightly to the side as she regards the image of a blue-skinned woman inside. The woman smiles gently back at her.
"Okay. What's your story again?" the Starfleet Captain asks at last.
"Hello Human! I am a Horizonian. We are artists, diplomats, and doctors. My people are blueskinned Humanoids with red eyes and dark hair. And we are traditionally known for our calm manner and artistic bent." the hologram says with a chipper tone and a smooth, practiced, voice.
Kuznetsova's head remains tilted as she watches the Horizonian. She can feel the presence radiating off of the virtual agent as the Starfleet officer wonders if the pillar is even necessary. This Hologram looks so much more natural and refined than even the latest Gaeni offerings.
The Horizonian continues, shifting into a male form of blue-skinned, red-eyed Humanoid, the voice shifting with the image to a polished, almost velvety, rumble, "My people are often considered the face of the Harmony. This is not surprising as it was our people who were the founders of the Harmony long ago."
Kuznetsova turns her attention to the Horizonian's clothing. She's all but certain that the clothes contain s some sort of wearable tech, and she thinks that she saw one of the blueskinned diplomats project a small hologram from her shirtsleeve earlier. At the very least Horizonian fashion involves heavy use of glasses and other individualized decorative technology.
The holo-Horizonian gives her a slight grin, "In fact, my people are named after our capital and homeworld, the world of Horizon, as we have sadly long forgotten the name of our ancestors that originally settled our world." The hologram shifts to an orbital image of a vibrantly blue-green world wreathed in white wisps. Around it dance thousands of pinpoints of light.
Alexandria considers that line carefully. It seemed impossible that a people could forget everything down to their species. And yet… the colonists of the failed Terra Nova expedition had forgotten they were Human to the point of hostility against the crew of Archer's Enterprise. Within a single generation even. The Horizonian claim was unlikely, yet plausible.
"We do know that our ancestors were natural artists with an interest in preserving the awesome beauty of their new colony." The matching image is of a verdant countryside that slowly morphs into an almost impressionist style painting as the camera slowly zooms out.
"Sadly some disaster befell these brave colonists and they fell into a time of conflict and despair. This period was ended when the first Singers arose to help knit the disparate and scattered survivors and their children into the peaceful union that would become the Harmony." a ring of highly simplified and stylized blue Humanoids hold hands as they encircle a Horizon that has changed into a similar simplified form.
From what Kuznetsova had gathered from the official first contact information this was centuries ago. The disaster happened in the same era that saw the destruction and ruin of so many other starfaring civilizations a millennium ago. Very plausible.
"With our society having rebuilt itself, we dedicated ourselves to peace, science, and art as we flung ourselves enthusiastically back into the stars." The hologram returns to an image of the planet from earlier, except that rapidly shrinks, the points of light flying away as it does so, the image becoming that of a massive area of space, stars in the thousands upon thousands surrounding the center spot where Horizon presumably still was.
The male Horizonian steps out from around a nebula into the middle of the starfield, a trail of stardust following in his wake, "But we have never forgotten what it was like to live in fear and need; so now we have dedicated ourselves to always being the first to help in whatever way we can whenever we are called on by our neighbours." The Horizonian woman returns, her own stars in tow, stopping to stand next to the male as both reach a helping hand down towards someone outside of the field of view.
The hologram seems to cycle back to the beginning, "In the modern Harmony, Horizonians are still the most populous species and form the backbone of the Harmony itself."
Kuznetsova tilts her head the other way as she wonders exactly how many Horizonians there are. A few Billion? Tens of billions? Trillions?!
"My people can be found in every profession and at every level of society. Speaker, Invector, and Singer, all count us amongst their ranks." More blue skinned humanoids, all in different dress and equipment, all smiling and waving at Kuznetsova.
The image returns to the original Horizonian woman again, "On behalf of my people, I would just like to say how much we are looking forward to entering into a fruitful and open exchange of art and ideas with your people"
Alexandria briefly starts as she feels a presence lurking over her shoulder, "Mmphwaht hweu" the presence begins, "Umf, watching?" says Anne Usha, swallowing, her cheeks briefly bulging out like those of a chipmunk.
"Cultural Introduction Kiosk" Alexandria says, gesturing to a row of glass pillars, each with a different species displayed in it. Many surrounded by curious watchers from the FDS or in Starfleet uniforms, "Basic introduction to the Harmony's member species."
"Neat!" says Anne, stuffing something else into her mouth, "Hey. Have you been to the buffet table yet?"
"I've been busy,"
"Wow! Neat!" Anne's eyes bulge in sudden amazement, as she catches sight of the advanced holograms, "Hey! Here. Have a chip!" she shoves her plate towards Kuznetsova, "Well they're not real potato chips, but like a sort of baked wood chip thing? But somehow good? Oh!" she holds out her other hand which has some sort of bowl filled with orange...paste, "Dip too! But the bowl is made out of the same sort of edible wood! It's so neat!"
Kuznetsova hesitates briefly, "I can get my own. Aren't you eating for two anyway?"
"For three!" Anne says happily, "This is my fourth dip bowl actually. Go ahead. Put some chips inside you!"
Kuznetsova holds out an arm perpendicular to her body and rotates it slightly, "Twisted my arm." She says as she relieves her friend of the plate and bowl.
"Listen. I'll find you again real quick." Usha turns around, "Lot more stuff I want to try!"
Kuznetsova makes an awkward half-wave as she tries to find a clear spot on her newly acquired plate to place the bowl, "How did she even manage this?" she mutters to herself as she weaves past an FDS woman excitedly chatting to an avianoid... man?
Speaking of which.
"Okay Tell me about your people?" she asks to a holographic bird man.
The hologram nods happily, "I am a Tseskiya! We Tseskiya are a mischievous, friendly, and quick-witted people. We are a black-plumed avianoid species who are always looking to trade, explore, and learn. And most of all; we love to have fun while doing so!"
He certainly is avianoid, thinks Kuznetsova to herself, the Tseskiya man is covered in black feathers and has a short, sharp beak of the same colour. Honestly, it looks to Kuznetsova as if the Tseskiya is a human-sized and shaped crow or raven. Well if corvids wore scattered tech and pouches on a harness under a red cloak anyway.
Another holo-world appears inside the glass pillar, this one mostly green and grey, with a small smattering of blue dotted across the surface and a ring of decent sized inland seas near the equator (though Kuznetsova has no idea how 'inland' works with such a ocean devoid world?) "Originating on the mountainous and river crossed world of Stickine, we Tseskiya built a prosperous and progressive Interstellar Republic built on honest trade, cunning thought, and lively political discourse." a row of presumably happy bird people now stand next to a broad river, as twinkling lights and soaring buildings come into view across the water.
"Sadly, our people were struck with a debilitating and deadly disease, called the Red Death, a crisis that was on the verge of destroying our people forever." the same row of Tseskiya as before, but decidedly less jolly and with red patches of almost fungus like material on their bodies poking out from under their cloaks.
"This is when our desperate calls for help to our various neighbours was answered by the Horizonians. They aided us with whatever we needed to survive and were even able to cure the Red Death within a few years of their arrival." Horizonians are now in streets thronged with Tseskiya, delivering food and medicine to a joyous crowd.
"In recognition to the links forged during the crisis our people joined the Harmony becoming the first new species admitted to the young Harmony of Horizon." A Tseskiya and Horizonian stand side by side, smiling and waving at a mostly unimpressed Kuznetsova.
"In the modern Harmony we Tseskiya make up the backbone of the Harmony's commercial and financial culture and are the first to trade with our new neighbours. Many of our people are found among the ranks of the Speakers or Invectors as we use our education and instincts to enrich and defend the Harmony."
Invectors. Alexandria thinks that's the Harmony's term for a member of the military. Though it could just be a generic term like "Soldier", or "Peacekeeper", or "Warrior". Or maybe some sort of formal slang? It's been hard to parse exactly what it means.
"Our natural avian instincts also make us natural spacefarers and my cousins are often found amongst the crews of Peacekeeper and Science Directorate ships."
That does seem true. Harmony crews didn't seem like they were segregated by species, several Tseskiya (and others) being part of the crew recovered by Courageous from the wreck of the "HSDV Ameela zee Vesoley"
That ship, identified as having belonged to the "Science Directorate" had been destroyed by Courageous. And possessing only a single plasma beam emplacement it certainly didn't seem like something that had been designed to be a proper warship.
Which does indicate that maybe the Captain was an irrational actor like the Harmony's Ambassador, "Singer" Leera vee Alona, claimed.
Once again, the Harmony's official story is plausible, but unlikely.
"On behalf of my people I would just like to say how much we look forward to trading and making friends with you"
And indeed there were a few Tseskiya as members of the Harmony's diplomatic mission in Sol.
Horizon certainly wasn't acting like a secretive totalitarian regime like some of the evidence could be read.
They certainly wouldn't have made an open invitation to members of the Federation's political class, the Diplomatic service, and to Starfleet itself to attend an open house celebrating the opening of Horizon's new embassy in Paris.
No totalitarian power interested in good relations with their neighbours would ever do that!
It certainly was plausible that the Harmony was merely a misunderstood but ultimately friendly neighbouring great power.
Something in Kuznetsova's gut told her otherwise however. Of course she was also the woman who still received some mockery for then-Ensign Kuznetsova's enthusiastic proposal of the Augmented Cat conspiracy that perhaps ruled Humanity.
...Or her well researched thesis that the Licori war was a carefully orchestrated trap put together by a superior social sciences mentat. A comprehensive and well supported theory that was not… fully…. borne out in reality.
There is still hope for her civilization of changelings living deep in the Delta quadrant however.
Alexandria moves on, stepping past a crowd of mixed FDS people and Harmony diplomats, coming up to the next Holopillar in the sequence, "Hello. Give me your talk" she says to the virtual agent inside as she picks out a particularly crunchy looking chip to stuff into her face.
He looks uncannily like an albino Klingon, in much the same manner that an Orion looked like a green Human, "I am of the Lintrids. We are an industrious, orderly people. You might recognize us by our pale skin and plated skulls, but more likely you will know us by the ornate masks that we traditionally wear in public." he reaches out of frame and produces an elaborately decorated and coloured mask that he holds out for Kuznetsova to inspect before he slides it over his face. She wonders if there is tech on the inside? Some sort of glassware type HUD or something?
"Our homeworld, Tiriad, is efficiently managed to maximize both material productivity, and aesthetic beauty. The taming of Tiriad is one of my people's greatest accomplishments." the opposite of most heavily be-oceaned M-class worlds, Tiriad is majority green with small blue oceans. The viewpoint swoops in to show vast continents of delightful rolling green hills and open forests.
"Our Republic had already been a spacefaring power for two hundred years before we made contact with the Harmony. After decades of friendly contact and cultural exchange with the Horizonians and Tseskiya, we became the third species to join the Harmony." a masked Lintrid is joined on boths sides by a Horizonian and a Tseskiya.
"Much of the Harmony's industrial needs are supplied by our hard work and efficient management.", a brief shot of a warehouse filled with goods, industrious Lintrids walking to and fro at a size that gives an impression of a industrial production of massive scale "You can find Lintrids employed in mines, arcologies, and factories throughout the Harmony of Horizon, and crewing many of its freighters and cargo ships. We are often found as Invectors in service with the Peacekeepers and Public Safety we often prefer more hands on roles."
"On behalf of all Lintrids, I look forward to a peaceful and mutually beneficial relationship with your people."
"Roo awwwlll theemff eeing had" Kuznetsova mutters into a mouth full of half chewed snacks as she continues stuffing chips and dip into her mouth.
"You all keep saying what?" She hears as an arm slips around her waist
"Hey Cam" says Kuznetsova, swallowing her food quickly, " 'I look forward to such and such with your people'. The holograms end every spiel with a version of that line." she says, leaning into her fiance and former subordinate slightly.
"Everything is tightly themed and on message." He grabs a chip from the plate, "Even the diplomats. They're all on task. All of them, all the species, are staying on their shared playbook to an almost scary degree."
"I'm not that surprised. We expect our own diplomats to stay on message." says Alexandria, a reflexively contrarian instinct coming to the fore, "The FDS would start having actual non-Caitian kittens if their diplomats just said whatever."
"The Harmony representatives are good though" Commander Camille Alexander says, "Even the service staff and, hell, the cooks, everyone I talk to is on message, or can bring a conversation back onto message" he gestures with a chip that is about to lose dip containment at the milling FDS and Harmony DIplomatic staff, "I think we're actually in danger of losing some of our people, if only out of admiration at the Diplomacy game being so well played"
Alexandria Kuznetsova's favoured Diplomacy game involves a map of the pre-Coalition of Planets federation space and wooden pieces bouncing off of each other in an endless thirst for systems with supply depots.
"You've been talking with them then?" says Kuznetsova, snatching Cam's chip away and shoving it into her mouth moments before the dip begins to dribble off of the side.
"Yup. Just thought I'd come and see how you're doing over here before I head back into the jaws of overwrought rhetoric as I try to preserve Starfleet's honour in an endless battle against both the FDS and the Harmony's own Diplomatic corps." he says with a sly smile.
"I'm just watching these for the third time." she pauses for a moment, "It's basically the same thing each time. There's so much here that I'm sure that I'm not quite getting." she shakes her head, "And it has to be deliberate, this is too slick for it not to be"
"You know, I can't get a straight answer on how their system of government works?" says Cam.
"What? I thought they were some form of popular E-Democracy. There is some sort of 'Sovereignty Committee' acting as the elected executive."
Cam purses his lips, "Yeah. It's just… hard to understand. The system seems so mutable, committees being elected and disbanding constantly, the chain of command shifting between different elected communities and groups."
"I put it in the same mental category that I leave the Apiata, Turkana IV, or the Yrillian government in. It's confusing, it somehow works, and the people doing the voting can spend literally days giving you endless talks about the finer details of factions and policy and you're even more confused at the end as you were at the beginning."
"I'm not ashamed to admit that my eyes glazed over when a Moy attache was talking to me about vertical Horizontal voting districts and double voting representatives to the All Harmony Council Committee on Internal Trade Commissions" Cam says in agreement, a faraway look appearing on his face. "Oh, well, back to the grind" says Cam, gently touching his forehead to his fiance's before stepping away with a heap of chips in his hands.
Kuznetsova turns with an air of disappointment and shuffles to her next destination, "Right. Your turn again." she says to another odd looking Humanoid hologram. This one looking like a cross between a leech and an orangutan, combining the least aesthetically appealing traits of both inspirations, "Go ahead. Talk about yourself"
The creature nods as its facial tendrils move with apparent meaning followed by an audible translation, "I am a Moy. Cunning, resourceful, and patient, we owe our particular strain of ingenuity to an ancestral history as opportunistic arboreal predators."
"Our homeworld is called Mist, after the heavy fog that flows across its turbulent oceans and through our forest homes. Though it was once ruined by reckless industry and warfare, the Harmony has helped us restore our home to its original wild splendor."
That's an arboreal planet as seen from orbit alright, Kuznetsova thinks to herself. That or just a swamp planet. Mist is all blue seas and dark green forest coverage. Though lines of grey did breach that cover in places; bringing to mind the back of an undersea leviathan breaching the surface with the merest hint of its bulk.
"We were once a fractious, warlike people, divided into nation states who fought against each other and against our interstellar neighbors. Many of our factions during this chaotic era were little better than pirates." The holopillar abruptly became a chaotic mess, constellations of stars with a cacophony of symbols and lines, red numbers ticking ever upwards at an accelerating pace.
"When Moy raiders began preying on Horizon frontier colonies, the Harmony sent peacekeeping missions to help us restore order, and diplomatic envoys to assist in unifying our people under an equitable interstellar government. Though there were many Moy who fought against these changes, reason ultimately prevailed." Cheering Moy lined the streets of a war torn city, cheering for a line of (presumably) Harmony Peacekeepers marching in casual fashion, their bright white and red armor resplendent in the sunlight. Transparent faceplates let Kuznetsova see that Horizonians, Tseskiya, Lintrids, and yes, even Moy were part of this liberating force.
"Today, we are proud and satisfied members of the Harmony of Horizon. You will find many Moy among the ranks of the Speakers: scientists, bureaucrats, and peacekeepers all count us as part of their numbers as we try to give back to this great society." A brief montage of Moy follow.
Sadly, none Of those Moy are wearing a lab coat. Kuznetsova being the sort of woman who thinks all scientists should wear lab coats for easy identification.
"On behalf of my people, I would like to express my excitement to meet you, and my hope that we will enjoy a future of peace and mutual understanding
Yup. That refrain again.
"You too" Kuznetsova says, wishing that she had somewhere to set down her plate so she could take another look at her earlier notes from her last three cycles through these virtual agents.
Kuznetsova sighs as she walks towards the next glass pillar. This plate was probably going to reduce her efficiency by half until she found someone to pawn it off on.
Oh well. It's not like she had to be here. And had to be on top of her game tonight.
She wasn't even expected to be here. But some instinct told her that as soon as her team finished their current work on Klingon analysis they'd be plunged face first into the world of the Harmony of Horizon. It never hurt to start personally gathering information and letting it muck about in your head as early as possible.
The final holopillar species is, perhaps, the most controversial.
Well. No 'perhaps' about it. It was the most controversial. And was also the reason for the hundred or so protesters outside, a quite enthusiastic and boisterous group of sign holders, a group loosely and deniably organized by the Tauni embassy located only a few blocks away.
"Hi. I'm Tauni." says the Tauni. He's a pretty normal, if attractive, example of his species. Mostly humanoid, though his hair is a very bright white-blond like the rest of him. And he does have the other common Tauni feature: glasses.
For some reason that not even Kuznetsova can guess, the Tauni love to wear glasses. She can't figure out if it's a cultural thing, if Tauni have weak eyes, or what. But they like glasses. Odd fellows.
The Tauni continues chipperly, and way more enthusiastic on the subject of the Harmony than other Tauni (with the exception of the few she'd met tonight) that Kuznetsova had had the pleasure of meeting.
"Our homeworld of Kelowna is a world of Islands, temperate rainforests, and rocky mountains." Yup That's a nice M-Class world alright. A nice M-Class world that could plausibly pass as any other M-Class world with the right set dressing.
"Our people were a pre warp culture experimenting with with basic computing technology when we were first discovered by the Harmony. Our benefactors were unable to stand by as disease and disunity ravaged our world. The Singers revealed themselves to us and offered to lift us up to join them in the Harmony of Stars." This honestly matches part of the Tauni's own description of events to start.
"Poverty, disease, and inequality were eliminated virtually overnight and my people were even able to settle a number of colony worlds with the help of our Harmony friends. We even began to jointly excavate several precursor archaeological sites across our worlds" this also matches the Tauni accounting… from a certain perspective. The Tauni explain that from their perspective it was a trade of precursor ruins access for interstellar tech.
The Horizonians for their part seem to have decided that meant full membership in the Harmony with all the benefits.
"Over time part of our population decided that they would prefer to live outside of Harmony space. And while we miss our wayward cousins, we wish them all the best." And here is where the narrative tends to sharply divide, with the Tauni government claiming to be a resistance against callous and overinvolved masters, who use trickery, seduction, and guile to make you give up your traditions and freedoms.
For the Harmony, the official story is that when they realised that the Tauni really did want independence they granted it as fast as possible. Apparently so fast that most of their interstellar and spaceborne infrastructure went with them.
Unofficially, even the Harmony ambassador herself officially talks about "disagreements" and privately whispers of dark deeds done by both sides for the right reasons.
Which, in Kuznetsova's opinion is why the Harmony and Tauni should probably go into the Academy syllabus at some point as example A1 of "Why we have a Prime Directive".
It's not just plausible, but unlikely. It's actually a very good and very probable story. And yet….
"Today, the Tauni that remain in Harmony space, enjoy a level of peace and prosperity unknown to our people even mere generations ago. We are known across the Harmony for our broad imaginations and curious nature. Many of my people are found in the entertainment industry or even as Speaker students and scientists." interestingly there is no mention of how many Harmony citizens are Tauni.
The Harmony has provided few concrete numbers, tending to imply the bulk of the Tauni population live in their borders. While the Tauni government itself seems unable, even unofficially, to give a number that isn't bogged down in controversy and political infighting.
"On behalf of my people I would just like to say how much we are looking forward to sharing our stories with you."
They sort of already are, Kuznetsova muses, crunching heavily on a chip, the trick lies in figuring out to interpret those tales.
It might be that I've got ME:Andromeda on the brain after starting to play it, but that whole room feels very similar to the cultural exchange place on the Nexus.
It might be that I've got ME:Andromeda on the brain after starting to play it, but that whole room feels very similar to the cultural exchange place on the Nexus.
Putting a female human Science officer in command of a ship, esp. a new one, strikes me as a BAD IDEA. Damn Insaneway, and damn Admiral Paris for supporting her.
It might be that I've got ME:Andromeda on the brain after starting to play it, but that whole room feels very similar to the cultural exchange place on the Nexus
I quite possible missed someone, but at least five species represented. Text implies more?
Don't know how canon this omake will be, but gives an idea of the potential size of this polity.
It might be that I've got ME:Andromeda on the brain after starting to play it, but that whole room feels very similar to the cultural exchange place on the Nexus
I quite possible missed someone, but at least five species represented. Text implies more?
Don't know how canon this omake will be, but gives an idea of the potential size of this polity.
