An Excerpt from the Diary of Ambassador Fu Chi
Ceto is a beautiful planet. From the canopy of the cockpit, the distant glow of a bluish-white star gives its surface the appearance of purplish land masses and silvery oceans.
Sadly, the adage about roses and thorns still applies even in the absence of both.
In just the few short months we've been marooned here, we've encountered many different challenges worth enumerating here for later consideration.
The Leireblomst
We've never actually laid eyes on them, but their influence is felt everywhere on Ceto. Even the dilapidated remains of this civilization's industrial facilities and mining operations boast technology leagues beyond anything else on this planet. Their robotic servitors yet remain, and those we've been able to repair told us a little about these "Lords and Ladies."
According to the records we've restored so far, it seems the Leireblomst are responsible for importing the Joss and the Talpids to this world as a labor force. The civilization is outside the influence of the Consortium, and makes a habit of colonizing worlds until they turn profitable and self-sufficient. They then take their leave, returning only to collect shipments of resources every so often.
Of course, no ship has been to Ceto for decades...so something's not quite right here.
The Leireblomst Remnant
Billy Laserfist entered into a trade agreement with the robotic Commandant who seems to be in charge of the Leireblomst's remaining presence here. To isolate Ceto's facilities from the larger civilization, at least in writing, we are referring to the Commandant's forces as the Leireblmost Remnant.
This agreement bothers me somewhat, as I wasn't consulted first and it may not have Earth's best interests at heart. However, I must admit it was necessary. Without Billy's treaty, we couldn't have bypassed the planetary cannons that effectively geofence Ceto and protect its airspace with sickening precision.
This above all else is why we must consider Ceto as a whole to be under the control of the Leireblomst Remnant, for even if they have abandoned this planet, they control the only means of coming and going.
I'm including a Leireblomst promotional video we uncovered here, both for posterity and because it introduces the other species of Ceto better than I could:
quote:
A hologram plays when you press the button:
"The Lords and Ladies came long ago," the Commandant's voice narrates. The image of the planet zooms out a bit further and begins to take on the qualities of a holographic video rather than a still frame. "The world was wild then, but the Liereblomst saw it for what it was: potential."
A trio of blocky starships enter the frame, breaking formation as they advance toward the planet and enter its orbit.
"Initial scans confirmed the lack of intelligent life despite the environment being capable of supporting it, and so the Liereblomst settled in to begin the process of observing and cataloging this world's native flora and fauna."
The starships adjust their orbit such that one orbits the equator in a wobbling band that takes it across diagonal latitudes to eventually pass over the entire planet. The other ships orbit at the poles.
"When the Liereblomst failed to find a suitable candidate to nurture toward sentience, as sometimes happens, the Lords and Ladies decided to resettle one of the many nomadic races that lack a homeworld of their own."
A flurry of alien headshots materialize and vanish, until it finally settles on an alien you've seen a few times throughout this facility's artwork and exhibits.
"Of these, the Liereblomst determined the climate and galactic neighborhood best suited a race called the Joss. They facilitated their relocation and created the building blocks needed for colonization."
Various Liereblomst ships can be seen coming and going, and many different settlements crop up on the planet's surface.
"But the Joss rejected the teachings of the Lords and Ladies. They withdrew from their cities, eschewed industrial activities, and consolidated their presence to a single vulnerable outpost."
The map zooms into a large mesa dotted with primitive buildings and cooking fires.
"The Lords and Ladies considered taking no further action, but worried that any extinction-level event would doom the race and the planet alike. And so they decided to bring in a second sentient species looking for a new homeworld—an industrious race that would not compete directly with the Joss for resources."
The alien headshots flurry around again, until they settle on another semi-familiar face.
"The Talpids. A subterranean race far more aggressive and energetic than the docile Joss. The Lords and Ladies built refineries, mines, and quarries to get them started, many of which were supervised by observers like the Adjutant. The Lords and Ladies were confident that both races would be the better for their cohabitation."
The overview of the planet is stripped away to show a variety of tunnels and underground cities.
"It was a rousing success, and the planet thrived. The Liereblomst invited other races to come work in the factories and mines and quarries, and see for themselves the richness of the world and the utility of its hardy inhabitants."
"When their presence was no longer needed, the Lords and Ladies took their leave, as they always do. Their ships return at regular intervals, during which they graciously receive a measure of the planet's production from its populace."
The holographic video ends with the Lierblomst logo and a lot of lens flare.
The Joss have been our hosts for weeks now, as we've holed up in their capital city of Hevetplata. They're hospitable enough, especially now that we've made their lives easier by implementing what Roger dubbed the Steamworks. We replaced that manual labor with more fine-tuned Duties, such as maintaining and repairing the Steamworks system, hauling water, that kind of thing.
The Architects were impressed, so much so that they granted us leave to stay in the guest house until Kayla gets back with the rest of our ships.
Oh, and some linguistic notes to record, while I'm thinking about it:
quote:
* glødekapsler - luminescent mushrooms
* soppoppslemming - fermented drink made from glødekapsler
* vepsedderkopp - dangerous flying pests. Roger calls these "waspers," which feels right
* landflyktige - Joss who have left the community and abandoned their Duty
* terrasque - large, dangerous, subterranean predator. Roger's seen one, but we haven't.
Happy as they are with the Steamworks, the Architects are less happy about our ability to solve their problems in the tunnels. Which brings me to the next species...
The Talpids
We haven't really made proper contact with these mole-like creatures yet, in part because their leadership is currently in flux. Roger spoke with a "Great Down Dweller" who ran their capital, but now there appears to be someone named "Ponce" calling the shots. The talpids Billy spoke with appear to be part of this latter faction.
It's not clear to me if this is a peaceful transfer of power or an ongoing civil war.
I don't want us to get involved until things settle down. If we make agreements with the faction that loses, we'll be unable to make inroads with this species from a neutral position moving forward.
The Wildlife
Roger claims to have spoken with something that calls itself the Spirit of Ceto, which represents the wilderness, native species, and the planet itself. None of us really believe him, but he speaks about it so earnestly it's hard to doubt that he experienced
something.
Personally, I think it was a hallucination from his time abandoned in the wilds and exposed to the elements while in a state of shock from his crash landing.
The Humans
This record wouldn't be complete without a listing of the humans who are already here. According to Roger, the Alliance of Sol fleet found the jump rings in Sol by accident years ago, and went through them. The exploratory fleet was ambushed and fled back through the jump ring, but didn't end up back in the Sol system.
They cobbled their damaged ships together into a single vessel, the
Nadir, and cruised aimlessly through space until they found Ceto. Upon approach, the
Nadir was shot down by Ceto's planetary defense cannons.
The crash site became a colony for the newly rechristened Children of Sol, which they have called
Invictus. Roger escaped from there with horrible stories of the colony's management, which seems to involve a military despot and militarized use of augers.
He estimates the population of Invictus to be about 10,000. Assuming some of them would like to get back to Earth, we've summoned the rest of our ships from the Sol System to try to accommodate an orderly evacuation.
Of course, we haven't really talked about it with the colony itself, yet. One problem at a time.
