Interplaneterial Fleet Frequencies.

[Iss'fayn]

Noise. Always noise. Millions of frequencies available, and the Interplaneterial has claimed the middle that means everyone has to skim past the communications bands they use to find their own or get a line to someone else. Day and night, in Spanish, French, Lingala, Hausa, Akin, Twi, more Creoles than you can count, English and Chinese round the edges. They're always talking about this and that. About the role of God, about which god. How liberation theology applies to the repair of vessel reactors. The noise is endless, ceaseless and augmented by a lively debate that swallows up a great deal of bandwidth. And there's the music too. They're always shuttling parts from one ship to the next. Anything smaller than a picquet is moving between the floating constellation. The larger ships hang and move in a in loose but close formation unless something changes to make them shut up. Image, sound and colour are a constant part of the IP fleet, with ships painted in bold colours, shades of red and green predominant. Many voices speak many tongues, and not all of them speak when they should. However the babble, the hue and cry does fall quiet on some occasions. When the tac feed goes red and the alarm blares, that is when the IP shuts up and puts up.

+Aboard IPV Marcus Garvey+
+++MESSAGE RECEIVED+++
+++PRIORITY ONE+++

Francis pinched the bridge of his nose. The socket jack at the base of his skull itched as he read the message from Captain Kalle as it ran across his sensorium. He blinked it away and then ordered himself decanted from the shockgel. He always felt like shit when this happened, but it had to be done. Had to appear for the guests.

"Shaniqua, you've got flight control. Don't turn me into paste by pulling a sharp move when our guests here, girl."

A muted laugh from Shaniqua's tray and Francis unjacked from the flight socket. He left the network feed in at the base of his skull. The only time that came out was when he slept, otherwise he dreamt in vectors and tac solutions, God and sabots. One of the Congolese political officers was just off the operations deck, playing a hand of cards with a couple of soldiers. Francis pointed to them. "Best dress blues gentlemen. We've got the Russians coming to pick up our friend Major Ivan Corpsicle."

Francis abstracted his thoughts for a moment and then subvocalised onto the Garvey ship feed. "Maelcum, Aeron. I want two platoons of soldiers in Hangar 6 in half an hour. Jah rule."
He heard their responses without using his ears and then grinned to Yavu, the Congolese Politico who had been rather quiet. "Excited for guests?"
"Dey Russkies. I'm no happy to see dem, but it be good to get de corpse off de ship. Bad juju."
"I agree. Having that Russian on ice isn't a very auspicious start."

[Iss'fayn]

The Interplaneterial has the dubious distinction of operating some of the oldest interstellar vessels in known space. The warships of the IP adjunct to Prometheus are a healthy admixture of newly made, and refitted so many times the original core of the vessel has been cannibalised and rebuilt somewhere else completely. Their designs are by necessity horrendously efficient and constantly being improved. But, between the fusion reactors, shielding, and the production and storage for fuel purposes of ice, they still manage to be humid. Heat flows in languid, sweaty waves between decks and through superstructures as radial vanes and reflector-armour blocks try and radiate the warmth of tens or hundreds of bodies and the mechanisms that preserve life aboard. Shock gel itself helps mitigate some of the worser excesses of sensation, with many IP crew spending their time under even when unneeded for the simple chilling effect. When they are not 'taking a dip' as the argot goes, physical exertion and labour keep the sailors busy. The soldiers on the other hand are drilled. In their free time, and indeed for their work as well, there is constant internal and external communication between vessels. Those who aren't socketed onto the network can still participate with physical terminals, overhead speaker systems and of course, the oldest way of all - by finding their colleague and speaking to them face to face. To properly board an IP ship is to have to navigate a warren of multi-use spaces, as beyond the hangar bays and designated secure zones, the ships corridors themselves are in constant use as meeting halls, places of worship, theatres, arts centres, recreational hangouts and markets. Music and voices and noise clamour together, in defiance of the cold, airless dark outside the hull.

[Iss'fayn]

UN RESOLUTION XXXX
MOVEMENT TO PRESERVE PEACEFUL FIRST CONTACT

RECOGNIZING that the Prometheus Expedition has discovered an alien planet and peoples
RECOGNIZING that this alien species is sentient, sapient, and civilized
RECOGNIZING that first contact with these peoples has been made

Also

RECOGNIZING that seditious factions have committed a Class I Biological Crime during first contact
RECOGNIZING that Interplanetariál and Russian Federation vessels have begun construction of structures on the surface of this alien world
RECOGNIZING that the Interplanetariál fleet has deployed a VLA of autonomous munitions to deny a significant region of LPO from other arms of the Prometheus Expedition

The NAU Fleet Arm of the Prometheus Expedition proposes:

ARTICLE I: NON-AGGRESSION

-Prometheus Expedition members will refrain from military action against these alien peoples, except in cases of self-defense
-Prometheus Expedition members will refrain from military action against each other, except in cases of self-defense

ARTICLE II: FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT

-Prometheus Expedition members will be allowed free movement across the planet and its orbital regions
-Should the Interplaneteriál fleet wish to maintain their VLA for surveillance purposes, all ships must be allowed passage without regard to nationality

ARTICLE III: CESSATION OF ILLEGAL SETTLEMENT

-Prometheus Expedition members will make no effort to create permanent structures on the surface of the planet unless explicitly given permission by the appropriate planetary authorities

Signatories:
Ryo-Long Kim Co., CECO TPP-NAU Prometheus Expedition

+Aboard IPV Patrice Emory Lumumba+

Mani Kalle leant back in the shock-gel and sucked softly on the tube that put distilled water between his lips. He read through the text in silence one more time, and then sent a flash through to his commanders. Within five minutes, the simulacrum of the command deck was filled with avatars of his commanders, as well as the luminescent ball lightning floating at head height that Adroa chose to appear as. On the screen behind him, he called up the map of Bozito, with the overlay of the VDA and the intel relating to the polities of the natives. He also cut in some footage of the naval vessels of the awantu that he hadn't dispatched to the UN. Sub Lieutenant Clementine Nzuji of the Leonie Abo spoke first.

"I understand this command meeting is important, but I was in the middle of analysing the layout of a new craft that had just arrived at Sun Yat-Sen."
Mani Kalle smiled.

"This is very important. The NAU imperio-capitalists have tabled a resolution to the UN that is directly aimed at us. I relay the text for you now, but Adroa will provide a precis"

The AI's voice had a soft, harmonic quality about it which was marred by a low humming discordance at the baritone end of the frequency.

"Thank you Captain. Essentially they claim the VLA to be a minefield, demand we allow free passage through it for all UN nations. They also claim that the Sun Yat-Sen's operations are illegal settlement. Apparently the Russians are doing the same elsewhere."

Morales clucked his tongue softly. "Well they would say that. Settlements are always illegal unless you're backed by the corporate interest. Just look at the Zapatistas, or Israel. Do they wish to starve in space? We are taking direct action here to put food into mouths. We purposefully avoided disrupting the land-scape of the awantu of Bozito as minimally as possible!"

Mani Kalle nodded his concurrence as Arshia Javadi cleared his throat. "Direct action to put food into mouths, I agree with. But the idea of asking the awantu for permission is not so bad."

Adroa chimed in. "I estimate that myself and the linguistics team on Lumumba will have translated the awantu messages we have been exposed to in two to three months. Until then, we have no way of legitimising or otherwise communicating with the awantu, aside from physical means of coercion."

Mani Kalle took a silent suck on his water tube and then nodded. "I am of the opinion that we can get this resolution blocked. The NAU have arrived late at the party, and so are calling for precedent and political behaviour. It is not impossible that some of their requests are that unreasonable. Still, I want a show of hands. All in favour of voting no?"

As one the commander's avatars hands rose. Mani Kalle nodded and then added his own. "Very well. Thank you for your time.Adroa, I would like to prepare a statement..."