Spider Friends

[Arthropoiddane]

This is my First Stellaris AAR although I have played it since it was released. This species is one of the first ones I made and although they have changed quite a bit since I first designed them (they weren't always void dwellers for obvious reasons) the original idea of "good guy spiders" was a thing from the very beginning however. The same goes for all the homages to David Bowie as he was an early pioneer in the work of putting spiders out in space and making them not bad guys. Still, it is important to note that the character named "Stardust" is not supposed to represent David Bowie in any way. It is simply a homage to Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars. I am very open to constructive criticism and I love fun remarks but please limit the "Nope" and "Kill it with fire" comments to a minimum. I am still learning exactly how this forum works so bear with me if things are a bit rough in the edges.​

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Part 1 Finding Friends in an unlikely corner​

Introduction 2200-01-01​

The newly elected Ziggy looked out the massive window in the habitat into the vastness of space. Starring back at him was a faint flicker of silver in the distance next to the second sun now known as Bowie B. This silver spark was the habitat known as I’Sab’S’Op, simply home in the local language, and it had indeed been his home for a long time until a decade ago when he was made the new governor of the three habitats. I did well, didn’t I, he thought to himself, that was why they call me Stardust, a badge of honour here in New Mars.

New Mars was the main habitat, the political and administrative center of the Spiders from Mars Irenic Commonwealth, also known as SMIC or simply the Irenic Commonwealth (the latter is usually preferred).

And now Stardust was the Ziggy, by a popular mandate. The origin of the name New Mars and indeed what or where “Old Mars” was nobody knew. Indeed, nobody knew how the three habitats had come to be or why they were populated by near identical sapient species.

At least genetically identical. Biologists on New Mars had long since established a recent common ancestor and the spiders from different habitats could easily breed with one another. Something spiders did readily due to their xenophile nature. The origin of the title Ziggy was easy enough; it meant victorious in Old Spideran. It did, of course, refer to the Ziggy being the victor of an election, but most importantly the election of a new leader was a victory for The Irenic Commonwealth and its people.

Culturally the similarities weren’t quite so apparent. The people on the three stations all had different names for themselves, here on New Mars they used the word “spider” or if they were being grand, they would say “Spiders from Mars” clearly indicating that Mars must have been a place once in the distant past. In Stardust’s native habitat of I’Sab’S’Op they called themselves Attercaps and in the third habitat named B’Nil’T.ka they used the name Araneans to describe themselves. Spider linguists had established a common linguistic root for the three languages, a theoretical proto Spideran.

As it was, the similarities were hard to hear for a non-academic and Spideran, also commonly called New Martian, had been adopted as the lingua franca of the Irenic Commonwealth after unification, as it had already been the main trading language for centuries since the habitats had “second contact” . Now New Martian often referred to the specific dialect of New Mars high society while Spideran was the pidginised form preferred by most spiders throughout the habitats. Indeed the New Martian dialect was looked down upon by many due to the egalitarian values prevalent in The Irenic Commonwealth.

Second Contact was the popular name for when the habitats rediscovered one another 2200 years prior and the event had become the founding year or the “year 0” of the New Martian calendar. Now the standard calendar for The Irenic Commonwealth.

Full political unification happened just 100 years ago and was largely attributed to three principles referred to as The Moral Foundation of The Irenic Commonwealth.

• The Irenic commonwealth will safeguard the liberty of all sapient beings
• All sapient beings have the right to live free within the Irenic Commonwealth
• Preserving peace and self-determination for all citizens regardless of origin is the moral duty of the state.

Stardust awoke from his train of thoughts when the monitor on his desk began to vibrate. “It is time for my speech” he mumbled to himself. “Well let’s get on with it”. Stardust pressed one tarsal claw onto a button which opened the door to the holo-platform. Outside he saw a sight that made his wax glands involuntarily activate; the whole floor beneath his platform was full of spiders calling his name. Many of them were even physically present but a large number were simply holograms of residents on the other habitats who wished to show their support of the new Ziggy and his brave new endeavours.

On the docks Be’K ra’Tov was preparing the ISS-Pu’K’Qo’Qa for departure when a massive hologram lit up on the exterior of the central part of the New Mars habitat. Wonder what our Ziggy has to say Be’K ra’Tov thought to himself as he pressed his pedipalps into the holo-feeler. “Greeting’s citizens. Today is a great day for our Commonwealth” the sound could easily be heard from the onboard sound system. As the hologram moved in concert with the speech Be’K ra’Tov could feel the sensation of spideran wax on his pedipalps. "Wax doesn’t lie" was a common saying among spiders and for this reason all political broadcasts were associated with holographic feeling devices.

“Today is the day the first exploratory vessel designed to leave our gravity begins its long journey” The holo-feeler revealed that the Ziggy had smooth wax with an almond-like odour. He is clearly excited, I would like it if he was a bit more nervous. Still, this is why the people adore the fool I suppose. Be’K ra’Tov had not voted for Stardust but he was very grateful for his new command.

“From the tough astro miners in my home habitat I’Sab’S’Op, to the industrious workers on the generators in B’Nil’T.ka and finally the great minds on our beloved capital this endeavour is proof of the strength of Spideran unity. I have promised to increase our mining capabilities and at this very moment we are making new mines on the asteroids and planetoids of Bowie, but this is not enough to feed the rapidly growing industry of our habitats. No, we must look beyond our own three stars”.

The economic argument is important enough I suppose Be’K ra’Tov thought to himself, but what about the excitement for discovery for breaking new frontiers for our people…” “Indeed, this is very well but for us as Spiders this day won’t be remembered as the day, we began mining asteroids around a neighbouring star. This will be remembered as the day we take our first step into a wider galactic community. Likely I won’t witness this, and neither will any of you. Perhaps not even the little spiderlings still in their egg sacks. But our grandchildren will, this I can feel in my hemolymph”. Be’K ra’Tov laughed and looked over at a nearby PhD student “he has no idea how fast this thing is, does he?”.

The hologram continued its speech in the background “And now let’s wish our brave science crew the very best of luck and a peaceful journey. The Irenic commonwealth is with you”. The massive image faded and Be’K ra’Tov looked to his crew “well you heard the man, we don’t wish to disappoint The Commonwealth now do we? Onward to the Castor system!”.

 

[Macavity116]

Welcome to AARland! I'm eager to see where you take the story from here after such an optimistic opening.

 

[MrReaper182]

Awesome. I love everything about this as I love when people play non humans and really role play. Not much of a David Bowie fan myself but I do like some of this songs. Also as a punk goth kind of guy who likes to some time dress up as a female I do understand how important Mr Bowie was to the punk, goth and transsexual scenes.

 

[Arthropoiddane]

Chapter 1 Space oddities 2200-05-16 to 2206-05-05​

2200-05-16 to 2200-12-25. The Castor System and journey there.

As the ISS-Pu’K’Qo’Qa neared the edge of the Bowie systems gravity well Be’K ra’Tov ordered his crew to ready the Hyperdrive. This would be the first time this marvel of engineering was used with a fully crewed ship. Everything could go wrong. As the engine began it’s strange humming Be’K ra’Tov looked out the rear-view mirror. He wanted a last look at The Trinary Bowie System as he would likely never see it again. The three suns looked like pale dots. The nearest, a yellow-white dwarf known as Bowie C, was almost painful to look at. While the farthest, a class-A star confusingly named Bowie B, was almost invisible behind the central star Bowie A. A class-B star and the biggest of the three Bowie A was the star the other two spun a centuries long orbit around. An appropriate major for the capital and the star of Be’K ra’Tov had been born in orbit of.

The ship entered hyperspace and traversed thousands of light years in a matter of days. And here it was. A foreign sun. The dim light of the red dwarf known as “Castor” was quite different compared to the combined light of three bright suns in the Bowie district.

“Congratulation’s ladies and gentlemen of all genders. You just made history. Let’s go make some more” Be’K ra’Tov’s pedipalps moved to expose his chelicera, a facial expression that signified elation among spiders. Still, he knew this wasn’t going to be an exciting adventure once the novelty of the light from a foreign star wore off. Ziggy Stardust had first and foremost gotten the support of the assembly for this endeavour so he could expand spider mining operations. I’m not here to get the attercap re-elected, still we have a job to do.

Castor was a system with very few planetoids but with a very large asteroid-belt. It was for the latter it was chosen. Stardust hadn’t wasted time, the propaganda victory of the launch of the ISS-Pu’K’Qo’Qa was apparently quite significant (Stardust preferred to call it PR). Another ship had been ordered constructed at the Bowie A spaceport the moment the ISS-Pu’K’Qo’Qa and its crew entered hyperspace. Be’K ra’Tov had been chosen for his adaptability. He had never been good at specializing, but he compensated for this by being a fast learner. Something quite valuable when traveling the unknown.

Imagine if my supervisor could see me now, he thought to himself. Still the guy commanding the new ship was more what you would call a traditional academic according to what Be’K ra’Tov had heard. He had mixed feelings about the appearance of competition; on one hand he knew that he wouldn’t be able to chart the whole galaxy alone and the common good of the spider people necessitated that more expeditions be outfitted. Still Be’K ra’Tov couldn’t help but wonder whether the new expedition would be charting more interesting systems than his own mission to Castor. Sometimes the amount of luck research requires is infuriating.

Indeed, the asteroid belt proved quite the disappointment. No minerals of any industrial value were found. Some ice asteroids had a certain flavour making them a worthwhile commodity but that was it. Not nearly enough to pay for the expedition. Oddly Castor itself proved to have some minerals with a high energy output that could be mined close to it. Just enough for Ziggy Stardust to keep his election campaign promise.
It was quite the surprise for everyone when Be’K ra’Tov and his crew aboard the ISS-Pu’K’Qo’Qa managed to make history a second time.

“Have you checked again” Be’K ra’Tov looked sternly at the holographic image of the young xenologist “yes of course, sir” the reply from the image made it obvious that the young spider was trying to hide her excitement. But wax doesn’t lie. “Then check again” Be’K ra’Tov answered his wax glands now producing an almost translucent wax with a strong odour of almond. “I did, ten times. The result is still the same” her wax was now so smooth it was slippery. The young female was obviously quite certain. “You do understand how improbable this is, don’t you?” Be’K ra’Tov asked firmly. He had no wish to be caught up in fantasies. “I have a rough idea, sir”. “I don’t think you do. An alien civilization existing in the first star system we explore after discovering the hyperdrive? These things don’t happen!”. “And yet they do, see for yourself sir if you don’t believe me” her honeyed voice tried to hide her annoyance, but the feel of the rough texture of her wax through the holo-feeler told a different story. She was getting annoyed. Be’K ra’Tov was perplexed “alright, but if you make me go planet side for nothing, I swear you will work on an observation post for the rest of your life!”.

Be’K ra’Tov was forced to apologize to the female when he landed. He almost forgot the uncomfortable feel of gravity press down on him from all sides when he saw it. On the barren wastes of Castor III was an ancient but nevertheless highly advanced building. The Ziggy would have to hear of this.

2200-12-25 to 2002-10-05 New Mars


Inevitably someone would ask what will we do if we meet an extant space-faring civilization? Stardust would call on an emergency meeting with the most influential members of the assembly in the morning. It shouldn’t be too hard to legislate about a hypothetical.

It’s a thankless job trying to get spiders to agree on anything, The Ziggy had been negotiating with the political leaders of spider-kind for exactly a month and this morning the news finally broke. Many of the news outlets skeptical towards the Ziggy were all asking how he could have known about this for a month and not done anything to study it closer! Some were even calling it “The Castor Crisis” asking for the Ziggys resignation.

Stardust's popularity among the spider people had been severely underestimated by his rivals and public opinion quickly turned against them. At the peak of media attention Ziggy Stardust gave a speech outlining the policy of the government. The members of the assembly knew they had to cooperate or risk losing their seats.

“You have all asked your government the obvious questions. And I sincerely apologize on our behalf, on behalf of the assembly and most of all on behalf of myself. You deserve answers and you shall have them. We now know what many of us had already expected. We are not the first sapient lifeforms in the galaxy, and we will not be the last. The discovery of a presumably extinct alien civilization means we must begin asking ourselves the hard questions; in a galaxy where many cultures likely exist side by side with our own only waiting to be encountered, is our society, our values and way of life adequate to deal with this? My answer to you today will resound into the galactic future. YES, YES, I say."

Giving the audience time to finish their applause Ziggy Stardust continued "Our society must act as a beacon leading all towards freedom, cooperation, and peace. The illustrious founders of our commonwealth included all sapient beings in The Moral Foundation and so must we. Some cautioned that we must wait and see but I tell you now trust is the foundation on which peace is built. And anyone we encounter we will trust until they prove to us that we should not. Some say this is naïve, others caution us to wait and let it be up to the generations who experience first contact with an alien, but I say it would be irresponsible to be unprepared. I promise you peace and I promise our trust in each other and in others will be rewarded. The Grunur are sadly extinct but I am certain that a species as advanced as theirs would applaud this message and the values of peace, cooperation and equality our society is based on”.

The Ziggy steeped of the holo-platform. His wax so smooth it looked polished. Now he thought as the wax began to fade it is time to enact the next policies so this Age of Exploration might be feasible. All I wanted was a few extra space mines, instead I got to be a part of history.

2201-02-20 The Meissa system

Be’K ra’Tov turned to his crew “we are going back to Castor!” the sound of chitinous limbs knocking against each other could be heard throughout the ISS-Pu’K’Qo’Qa. Be’K ra’Tov was pleased, he was tired of this boring star system called Meissa. He chuckled a bit to himself, how marvelous that exploring a completely new star system could be considered boring.

Still compared to Castor, Meissa had been quite the dull assignment. The red dwarf itself had proven interesting enough to the physicists onboard otherwise the most remarkable thing about the system was its complete lack of useful resources. Be’K ra’Tov and the rest of the crew had spent most of the last month of surveying talking about the Grunur.

And now they got a chance to find out who they were. The discovery had also spurred on a whole newfound interest in space exploration. The Ziggy had capitalized on this of course by declaring An Age of Space Exploration and Scientific Discovery. He always knew how to be grand. Be’K ra’Tov chuckled to himself a bit louder than he had thought as the sound of his chelicera made two nearby engineers look in his direction. “Carry on” he said while gesturing with his front tarsi. I seem to have a bad tendency of helping Stardust get reelected Be’K ra’Tov thought to himself as the two engineers returned to their work. Still at least we are getting state of the art engines as well as a few other tidbits.

New materials for on-ship lab improvements were waiting for them in Castor, the engines would come later. When Be’K ra’Tovs came to think of it this was the first time in his career he wasn’t worried about his funding. And that with another other expedition doing the same job in another solar system. And rumours of a third one underway. This was indeed a good time to be a science officer of The Irenic Commonwealth.

2201-07-09 Bowie System space station.

Leader of the third expedition into space for the Irenic Commonwealth, imagine that. Si’V po’Kar was deeply honoured as well as deeply nervous. The second expedition led by the biologist Ra’B tu’Vak had been largely ignored by the media after being completely overshadowed by Be’K ra’Tovs impressive findings. Now he and his crew were effectively stranded in Castor waiting for the completion of a space outpost before they could begin their year long dig.

Si’V po’Kars wax began getting sticky; was she really destined to be a footnote in history? Still, that is more than most people achieve she supposed and, in any case, the spideran future was bigger than her vanity.

2205-06-20 The Castor System

Be’K ra’Tov and his crew had spent the last few years excavating the barren world of Castor III. Over the years when he heard about the discoveries of his colleagues in the other ships, he couldn’t help but feel a little envious. Shortly after announcing The Age of Space Exploration and Scientific Discovery Ziggy Stardust had announced The Habitable Worlds Survey in the hope of finding planets able to support life, just like Castor III had done 7 million years ago. On this quest his colleagues had stumbled on quite a few amazing discoveries. Among others a planet experienced a complete magnetic reversal. Fascinating places planets, but I don’t know if I would dare live on one. Still Be’K ra’Tov was glad he had stayed on Castor III. Today his patience had paid off.

There had been a slight delay in the beginning of the excavation as the Ziggy hadn’t dispatched the construction ship immediately but rather waited until it had completed constructing a mining station in Bowie. Him and his damn election promises, still he did keep them. Not all politicians do that. Be’K ra’Tov wasn’t going to think about the Ziggy and politics. This was the day of the first breakthrough since they had begun excavating the ruins. And what a breakthrough; it seemed Be’K ra’Tov would not only be the one who discovered the first proof of alien life. He might be the one to discover proof of the second alien species as well.

2206-05-05 The Okopleron System

Science Officer Be’K ba’Riv, the niece* of now famed Be’K ra’Tov, was the leader of the fourth expedition on the ISS K’or’Te’Ko. It seemed someone in power had taken this whole “Age of Space Exploration and Scientific Discovery” quite seriously. Her expedition had been outfitted a few years back commemorating the passing of the 2204 comet.

Comets had always brought joy to spiders, a colourful distraction in an otherwise monotone habitat life. And they greeted each of them as old friends, or new ones if the comet in question was a new visitor to Bowie. For Be’K ba’Riv however it was a sign of the divine providence that guided her life from an early age. Recently more and more spiders had begun asking if there was something more out there, something that could explain... well the meaning of things.

Be’K ba’Riv was a propulsion engineer. She understood how things worked and how to make them work when they did not. At least most of the time. Spirituality on the Bowie stations had always been a highly individual affair since most spiders scoffed at organized religion. On her native station of New Mars most spiders were agnostic, in contrast the other two stations had a rich spiritual tradition. Something Be’K ba’Riv found quite stimulating. Sadly most of her colleagues, including her uncle, found it respectfully ridiculous.

Be’K ba’Riv had been tasked in surveying Okopleron due to the gravitational signals being very strange. When she arrived, it was clear why “By the spirits and all comets; a true space oddity”. Her uncle’s discoveries dwarfed in comparison to what lay in front of her. Quite literally...

*Spiders from Mars have a slightly different way of organizing themselves. They aren't monogamous but instead organize themselves in so called family groups. When a female wishes to reproduce she will gather willing genetically unrelated males from the family group. Sometimes several females will do this together. When Be'K ba'Riv is reffered to as the niece of Be'K ba'Tov it means he wasn't one of the males who helped her mother fertilize the eggs in the eggsack. These would all be refereed to as father she was from but that he helped raise her in the family group. Be'K ba'Riv has since founded her own family group with her crew on her ship the ISS K’or’Te’Ko as is quite normal for the crews on the various ISS (Interspace Spider Ship) in the Irenic Commonwealth.

 

[Arthropoiddane]

Welcome to AARland! I'm eager to see where you take the story from here after such an optimistic opening.

Thank you. AARland seems really cool. I have just begun reading stories here quite recently. I have wanted to begin reading your Stormbreaker series as well but I'm not totally sure where to start I have just posted the next chapter with a bit of difficulty because some of the stuff apparently activated the spam filter, but I managed to edit it out. The story is still quite optimistic, but we are only 6 years in so a lot can happen...

 

[Arthropoiddane]

Awesome. I love everything about this as I love when people play non humans and really role play. Not much of a David Bowie fan myself but I do like some of this songs. Also as a punk goth kind of guy who likes to some time dress up as a female I do understand how important Mr Bowie was to the punk, goth and transsexual scenes.

Thanks for the kind words. Great to hear you like it I feel quite similar about Bowie, I'm more of a fan of Space Spiders than Bowie although I do like his songs (Life on Mars is a real banger).. And yeah that is exactly why I'm trying to make them this really tolerant society as that is what I feel the culture David Bowie was a part of, and proponent of, really represents. Although it could be an idea to give them a bit of a gender-bender culture. I will have to work out how to do that convincingly with Arthropoids!

 

[Macavity116]

Ooooh, the Baol? I almost never see this event chain in my own games. Bad luck I guess. This should be interesting.

I have just begun reading stories here quite recently. I have wanted to begin reading your Stormbreaker series as well but I'm not totally sure where to start

Lucky for you, the stories of the Stormbreaker Universe are largely self-contained and the cast of characters is different with each story, so you could start at any entry in the series and go from there. But if you want to start at the beginning, might I reccomend After Everything -A Stellaris Story

 

[Arthropoiddane]

Ooooh, the Baol? I almost never see this event chain in my own games. Bad luck I guess. This should be interesting.


Lucky for you, the stories of the Stormbreaker Universe are largely self-contained and the cast of characters is different with each story, so you could start at any entry in the series and go from there. But if you want to start at the beginning, might I reccomend After Everything -A Stellaris Story

Weirdly i think it is one of the ones I see the most. Such is the will of RNG I suppose. Thematically it is one of my favorites although I almost restarted the game when I got it this time as the relic isn't particularly good when playing as voidborn. This isn't a min/max game in any way so I decided to run with it. I have a serious backlog so I expect to post the next chapter tomorrow evening or Wednesday morning. I will do what I can to make it interesting.

I am about halfway through After Everything and I must say it's quite cool and a great idea, I look forward to reading the rest of them after I finish this one. I would be very interested to hear about your writing process one day.

 

[Arthropoiddane]

Chapter 2 Scary Monsters and Super Creeps 2207-09-08 to 2210-09-08​

2207-09-08 New Mars Capitol Habitat, entertainment district

Damn you Be’K ra’Tov. Ziggy Stardust was accompanying his family group into the newly built entertainment district. The spiderlings had begged him and the other adults to take them to see the newest installation of the holoplay Grunur: The revenge of the Baol Organism. Essentially this was a massive holographic story created in the wake of Be’K ra’Tovs findings on Castor III. In the story so far, the mindless monster known as The Baol Organism awoke from a million-year slumber on an unknown planet.

The massive being begun to wreak havoc on the galaxy until a timetraveling group of Grunur heroes arrived and saved the day just as The Baol Organism arrived in Bowie. The Grunur had founded the three habitats originally for this express purpose it turned out.

In the next installation half Grunur and half spider heroes were added to the story, and they had to fight The Boal Organism once more, only this time it had help from henchmen known as “Baolinions”. This was only a very small part of the massive popular culture related to all things Grunur.

Spiritualist and xenophilic inclined spiders had even begun creating Grunur cults, believing them to have been the ones who saved the spider species from whatever calamity had befallen their home planet. This idea also had some support in the in the materialistically inclined scientific community.

Stardust couldn’t follow the holoplay at all. Damn you Be’K ra’Tov. He thought back to earlier this habitat cycle. The usually confident and straightforward science officer looked much humbler, even embarrassed on this occasion. Here he had told Stardust the uncomfortable news; his original hypothesis was wrong. The Grunur had invaded the Baol, not the other way around and it seems their motivation was simple greed. At best.

Be’K ra’Tov suspected much worse things but he needed to start an excavation elsewhere to verify this. Whatever the truth the spider people would be shaken to their core when this came out. As it was bound to do eventually.

Stardusts wax became more and more translucent as the holoplay went on- One of the half Grunur heroes had merged with The Baol Organism in an attempt to destroy it for good. Stardust never saw how it ended as he had to leave the holotheater early. There was work to do. Damage control had to be prepared to brace the spider society for the bad news.

2208-01-06 Yurus IV, The Yurus System

Be’K ra’Tov and the crew of the ISS-Pu’K’Qo’Qa landed on the barren world of Yurus VI. The Yurus System was only a single hyperspace jump from Castor but Stardust had taken his sweet time in authorizing the dig. Luckily for them both Be’K ra’Tov had begun the journey to the edge of the system early, minimizing the delay. He needs to know just as much as I do.

On the ground it didn’t take long to find well preserved fossils of once living organisms.

2208-07-08, The Bion Dazat System, ISS kor’Ni’Or

Ra’B tu’Vak fell onto the floor of the ISS kor’Ni’Or. Grabing onto the ground with her limbs she managed to pull herself of. Some segments of her abdommen were slightly bruised but it wasn't to bad. An emergency faster than light jump into hyperspace had never been attempted previously. The experience was just as unpleasant as she had expected. Thank The Great Comet for our new engines and protocols. Ra’B tu’Vak had hoped to make history just like her colleague Be’K ra’Tov. The whole ship reeked of the smell of cyanide exuded from the now very rough wax of terrified spiders.

The second mission, which she had been given command of on it's maiden voyage, certainly didn’t have the same celebrity status as some of the other ships. Still, she would have preferred her grand discovery to happen in a less scary way. Being a science officer wasn’t for the faint hearted, however.

“Play the feed” she said to a visibly shaken navigator next to her “y-es of course”. Trying to get a grip on himself the navigator pressed a shaking tarsus onto the holographic feed controls.

A three-dimensional image appeared showing a massive figure moving towards the ISS kor’Ni’Or. Moving with clear purpose at very high speed virtually disregarding the gravity of nearby planetoids. It was clearly an alien ship of some kind and a hostile one at that. Seeing the missiles sent towards the ISS kor’Ni’Or made it clear to Ra’B tu’Vak exactly how close to death her and the crew under her command had been. The missiles looked a bit like comets, but the movement was just as purposeful as the ship who had fired them.

Just like all other spideran civilian ships the ISS kor’Ni’Or was completely unarmed to avoid antagonizing any potential aliens. Whoever these aliens clearly didn’t need any antagonizing. Time to tell New Mars about this encounter of the slightly too close kind.

2209-04-21 New Mars Capitol, department of xeno diplomacy

It was about half a Bowie cycle since the Ziggy had burst into the office of xenologist Ar’I ki’Raw saying “The Irenic Commonwealth needs you. The peace is at stake”. After this Ar’I ki’Raw had been officially granted the title of Envoy to The Stars. A formality since a group of xenologists had already been selected in case aliens needed to be communicated with.

Still she was honoured by the trust the Irenic Commonwealth had placed in her since she was selected as the first of this group to head an attempt at first contact with an alien nation. A hostile one maybe, but with proper diplomacy that could change. This might well be the first day of a whole new chapter of spideran history.

Now Ar’I ki’Raw wasn’t so sure. These entities didn’t respond to any radio transmissions. They didn’t even seem to transmit any of their own. What kind of arcane technology did these creatures have. Were they even star ships? Perhaps biologists or maybe geologists would be more qualified to study this phenomenon.

2210-01-04 New Mars Capitol Habitat

Today was the day the election for a new Ziggy and seats in the assembly would be announced. This was also the day Ar’I ki’Raw had completed his investigation. The people would have to hear about both events. Ziggy Stardust steeped onto the holoplatform and begun his well-rehearsed speech.

“Fellow Spiderans, today is a momentous day as an election cycle grows to a close. However, I must first address a different issue. You have most likely all seen the images of alien creatures sailing through the ether. I regret to inform you that these are by all accounts not a sapient lifeform. Indeed, they seem to be void dwelling animals. Akin to the old myths of monsters. They are hostile and systems they dwell in are strictly off limits. Our scientists have informed me that they believe we can somehow pacify them. This is clearly preferable to wasting lives and resources on trying to if one wanders into one of our systems. They may not be sapient, but I do believe we will travel the stars side by side with them”.

The Ziggy took a short break in his speech to let what he had just said sink in with his audience “But enough about scary monsters, lets turn to the hunting grounds of super creeps. I am of course referring to politics as our election will take place within 4/12 of a full bowie cycle. 2210-04-01 will be the date you the spideran people choose who will represent you for the next 10 Bowie cycles. May you always enjoy peace and prosperity. If you honour me with another term, I promise I will do what I can to grant you this”.

2210-01-04 to 2210-05-01 New Mars Capitol Habitat

The election for Ziggy was quickly narrowed down to four primary candidates. The popular reigning Ziggy Stardust was one of course along with his second in command and long-time ally An’K se’Ska. An’K se’Ska was the governor of the capitol district who now believed it was high time the two of them switched places. Furthermore two “celebrity scientists” had entered their names. First among them Be’K ra’Tov who had become a true spideran hero after his discovery of the Grunur although his reputation had taken a hit after it turned out what warmongers the Grunur had truly been. Second was the previously quite anonymous Ra’B tu’Vak who had only recently gained fame by her discovery of the creatures known as “space amoeba”.

An’K se’Ska knew the election was mainly a choice between Stardust and the two celebrity scientists. They would make their bid however and hope the issues they raised would be heard by whoever became the Ziggy. An’K se’Skas main concern was that the hydroponic farms were running quite close to capacity, a food deficit would be a true disaster. The best way to mitigate this would be to grow more food on starbases.

During the debates it became quite clear to An’K se’Ska what their rivals campaigned on. Stardust drew attention to how reliable he was, he had kept his campaign promises once and would do so again. He also outmanoeuvred the two scientists by pointing out his grand endeavours to strengthen the sciences, first by reminding the public about his declaration of “an age of exploration and scientific discovery” and secondly with his new so called “Technological Ascendancy Programme” which gave the on-habitat science departments and their leaders a degree of autonomy previously unheard of. “With this we will one day be building wonders even greater than the ring world we have found in space”.

Ra’B tu’Vak aligned herself quite close to the Ziggy mainly talking about the need for increased economic and territorial expansion above and beyond what Stardusts government was already doing.

Be’K ra’Tov on the other hand was quick to denounce the Ziggy. Attacking the pacifist policies of Stardust, he said “The Grunur and the Baol have shown us that if you have peace and prosperity without the means to defend it you lose both. As it is our trade routes are being raided by criminals and you do nothing. True peace is only achieved at the end of a red laser”. Stardust hit back and said the violent ways of the Grunur may have inspired Be’K ra’Tov but it would never inspire the Irenic Commonwealth. The media caught onto this and began calling Be’K ra’Tov, Be’K “Grunur”’Tov or Be’K “red laser”’Tov.

With his masterful command of public opinion, making Ra’B tu’Vak seem unoriginal and Be’K ra’Tov seem like a warmonger, it came as no surprise to Governor An’K se’Ska when Stardust won another term. Still An’K se’Ska had done better than they expected, and the experience had been educational. Here a month after the election they had learned how to adapt and improvise under pressure, a useful skill anywhere. One day I will be Ziggy An’K se’Ska thought to themselves.

2210-09-08 Muscida system, above Muscida VI.

Be’K ba’Riv looked at the horrifying results of her last research “The other scientists were right; the spirits are a lie. Nothing exists beyond material reality”, her crew looked shocked as they watched her meltdown. Her wax was practically a fluid. Most of them understood the reaction of their commander. Their most recent findings had been truly disturbing. And super creepy.

The crew of the ISS K’or’Te’Ko had stumbled upon what looked like a miniature version of a habitat about half a Bowie cycle past. They had been delighted to find the fossilized remains of many different species and began categorizing them. Perhaps this would help solve the origin of the spiders? The first primitive habitats before the current three in Bowie had been conceived. If this was the case why were the three habitats a monospecies society?

Eventually Be’K ba’Riv had decided to work out how the inhabitants had died. Sentient life is cruel and monstrous. Be’K ba’Riv had tried to run the models again and again, it didn’t matter. Their actions were meaningless, just as the universe. Embracing this fact may be the only way I can ever recover. Fact was that if the distant ancestors of spider kind had been a part of this assembly they had committed a genocide against the other 14 species. If they weren't the fact remained that this had happened once and likely many other times in the lifespan of the galazy. Was all existence nothing more than different lifeforms exterminating each other on the of chance that space itself didn't do it to a species first? And I believed comets as agents of the divine. How many before me have had thoughts like this only to die without a trace in a merciless universe governed by matter?

 

[Arthropoiddane]

Chapter 3 Changes on Bowie 2214-03-25 to 2220-06-05​

A little note to begin with, for everyone who has followed my little story so far. Thank you, I hope you have enjoyed it. For any newcomers welcome. I have made a few edits to previous posts mainly clarifications and footnotes but also to strengthen the flow of the text. I will keep doing that in the future as well so if you read it again and it seems different that is probably why.

2214-03-25 New Mars Capitol Habitat

Ar’I ki’Rav entered the office of governor An’K se’Ska who looked up from their desk obviously startled. They quickly fixed all eight eyes on the envoy and said, “Can I help you?”. Ar’I ki’Rav slammed her tarsi onto the table “It’s happened, Stardust just told me!”. “You mean, an alien civilization? This means it is time to begin mobilizing. How did it happen?”. The envoy lifted four legs above her cephalon “it seems one of their ships simply flew past Si’V po’Kars science ship”.

An'K se’Ska knew this was the opportunity they had been waiting for; to form a new political party of diplomatically inclined individuals. An’K se’Ska would lead it as they had the most political experience while Ar’I ki’Rav was perfect as a second in command since she was already a well-known diplomat. The Xeno Awareness Forum was the name they had chosen or simply XAF for short. It has a nice ring to it Ar’I ki’Rav thought to herself

2216-04-20 The Yurus System

Finishing the dig on Yurus IV had been a bitter-sweet experience; on one hand this excavation had shed light on the nature of The Baol Organism and contained leads to a new dig site, on the other Be’K ra’Tov and his crew on the ISS-Pu’K’Qo’Qa would not be the ones to dig it out.

Ziggy Stardust had given the task of investigating the new dig site to a science officer, hundreds of thousands of lightyears away named Si’V po’Kar. She had analysed a lot of the data Be’K ra’Tov had unearthed and was considered quite the authority on ancient spacefaring civilizations in the New Mars academic community.

Still, Be’K ra’Tov could not help but feeling he was being punished for his harsh criticism of the government’s policies during the last election. Six years ago. He could take that; the disappointment of his crew however was unbearable to him. Some he had sent ahead to the Astinda spaceport so they could assist Si’V po’Kars excavation but most of them he had to bring on his new mission; to study an anomaly discovered a decade ago somewhere in the Athuna system. The recent recognition of Si’V po’Kar as an authority on archaeological matters was the excuse the Ziggy had been waiting for. Nevertheless, Be’K ra’Tov knew the next election wouldn’t be so easy for Stardust. He had begun gathering a broad coalition to oppose the Ziggy. It was called the Free Citizen Network or the FCN party.

A bit more optimistic about the future Be'K ra'Tov submitted his latest research for review and mentally prepared himself for the task ahead. The Grunur may have been simple brutes, but the Boal was growing on Be’K ra’Tov. They seemed fascinating.

2217-04-20 to 2217-07-24 The Athuna System

Be’K ra’Tov was amazed. His “penal mission” could very well be his most important one yet. The source of the strange readings emanating from Athuna was an advanced spacecraft. It had been hard to locate at first against the dim light of the star. As the ISS Pu’K’Qo’Qa approached, the disturbing truth dawned upon the crew; the alien ship had been melted. At this distance Athuna itself was an unlikely candidate. Although the physics team could not leave out an extreme solar storm or similar freak incident, it seemed strange that a civilization as advanced as this one hadn’t anticipated such events.

After the crew boarded the ship, it was clear that the luck of Be’K ra’Tov and his crew wasn’t over just yet; the logs were somehow intact!

A few months later the logs had been retrieved and translation had been completed. And what a find. The logs described the route to a star previously believed disconnected from the hyperlane network. This was quite interesting but not remarkable as such. The New Mars astronomers were quite aware that they didn’t know all the connections of the hyperlane. No, the artifact mentioned in the logs was what triggered Be’K ra’Tovs imagination; it seemed a lot like The Arcane Replicator on New Mars. Would Be’K ra’Tov be the one to discover the origin of The Bowie Habitats due to the Ziggy having a grudge?

2218-01-02. New Mars Capitol Habitat, Science District

De’B se’Ska, the head of the physics department on New Mars, stood before the Ziggy. With a steady voice she said, “After painstaking years of research we have found out how to pacify the creatures known as space amoeba”. Her excitement was clear from the wax running up and down her chitinous exterior even if her voice didn’t reveal it. “You and your team are to be congratulated for this service to the Irenic Commonwealth. Countless sailors in the trade fleet as well as the navy owe you their lives”. Stardust wasn’t sure but he was certain he saw her pedipalps move.

Still the main reason Stardust had ventured over to the, now quite large, science department wasn’t only to hear about the Amoeba. It was the order the outfitting of yet another research vessel. Be’K ra’Tov had made another great discovery. And I will be damned if I allow him to get all the credit once more. The fact that Si’V po’Kar had been acknowledged as a leading archaeological authority had been a stroke of luck. Giving command of the next Baol excavation to her had been the reasonable choice. Now the coordinates of this new system turned out to be in the opposite direction of what had been planned for Be’K ra’Tov. Changing the course of the ongoing expedition would seem inefficient, favouritism even. Equipping a new one on the other hand just added to The Irenic Commonwealths image as a nation of science!

The rubricator would be found but not by Be’K ra’Tov. I may be old, but does he think I don’t know about his so-called network? The moment stardust had heard about this he began the procedures of creating his own, comprised of liked minded individuals in the assembly and in the civilian population. He had opted to name it The Economic Development Council or EDC party. The name was a promise to the future he envisioned with himself as Ziggy as well as a reminder to the people of what their government had already achieved.

2219-01-03, Astinda Asteroid Belt

Si’V po’Kar held the piece of asteroid the mining robot of the ISS pu’K’Bo’Li had removed from the EUD-757. The strange fossils were clearly plantoid and many likely Baol. But this wasn’t what was at the forefront of Si’V po’Kars mind. How could the Grunur blow up an entire planet. That shouldn’t be possible. She would send a report to New Mars and afterwards start digging immediately. Was this the true fate of "The Shattered" planet beneath the New Mars habitat?

2219-02-30, New Mars Capitol Habitat, department of xenology

Envoy Ar’I ki’Rav stood in front of the hologram of the Ziggy. “Tell me once again exactly who we are dealing with exactly?” the holographic voice asked. The wax in the holo-feeler made it clear to the envoy that the Ziggy was both curious and highly excited. Wax doesn’t lie, particularly not to me. As an Envoy to The Stars Ar’I ki’Rav had been trained extensively in how to read spiders. Including wax and cephalon-expressions. She also knew how to control it, something very uncommon for spiders.

“They call themselves The Foundation of Oxinac. Their people are known as Ox’Braxi and they have a quite peculiar physiology” The Ziggy looked intrigued “How so?” he asked. “Well, it seems to be about how their muscles and skin attach as far as the biologists on my team have explained. They call it an “interskeleton”, basically the opposite of our skeletons. The bones are near the centre, so the bones attach on the outside of the bone rather than underneath it. The skin in turn covers the muscles protecting them from the stochastic physical events on a planet, like force of air or strong sun. This is likely also why their skin is scaly and tough”. The Ziggy moved a tarsus, in a friendly gesture “How remarkable life is. What about their way of life, is it like ours?”. Ar’I ki’Rav paused for a little while before she continued “as I said they live on a naturally formed planet rather than in space. This may account for the completely different direction their society has taken, personally I doubt it. We don’t know much as they weren’t fond of sharing. We know the planets they live on all have unbearable levels of humidity. Often nearing 100% water saturation even in the areas they inhabit. Their society seems to be as oppressive as the gravity and humidity of the planetoid they come from. The head of state rules for life and selection of a new one seems to be based on some metaphysical philosophy all citizens adhere to if they don’t wish for the state to punish them”.

Stardust was clearly shaken by this as he paused for a long time, the wax became more and more sticky. “Not ideal allies but I will do my best to show them we only wish for peace. You have the translation software ready?”. Ar’I ki’Rav exposed her chelicera. “Indeed, we do”. “Then let me talk to them, if they seem receptive you will go to their capitol”, Ar’I ki’Rav paused and looked at the Ziggy, her wax began flowing and the scent of almonds filled the office “I am going to a… planet? One with an atmosphere and... life?”. “Indeed, you are” the Ziggy looked pleased. This is a momentous occasion I must prepare my address to the Irenic Commonwealth.

2219-04-14 New Mars Capitol Habitat in front of the newly established Embassy to The Foundation of Oxinac

Ziggy Stardust stood on a podium flanked by the tow main leaders of the diplomatic expedition. Inquisitor Verixax and Bishop Xirax. Behind them stood New Mars very own governor An’k se’Ska. The holographic sensors activated and now the whole Irenic Commonwealth could see the four figures in full details. Only Stardust and An’K se’Ska were fully attached to the holo-feeler as the technical difficulties of attaching Ox’Braxi had yet to be overcome. Their physiology was simply too different, they didn’t even excrete wax!

“This is a historical moment for our Irenic Commonwealth. The first embassy of a foreign species has been established here on New Mars and a as we speak our own Envoy to The Stars Ar’I ki’Rav is on her way to supervise the establishment of a colony on the capital world of our esteemed guests. It is a planet, if you can believe it, named Oxinac, a good foundation for an empire and a good foundation for a friendship. The Ox’Braxi have chosen peace and we will set our differences aside for this most noble goal. Welcome to New Mars friends from a foreign star. Changes have come to Bowie.” With this Stardust shook the appendages of the two aliens with his own tarsi, an awkward affair due to them only having half the limbs of the Ziggy. Afterwards An’K se’Ska lead them inside. Not my best work, I might be getting old. Still I got the point across Stardust thought to himself as he entered the new Oxinac embassy. The first embassy of an Alien nation in recorded history. Great things were afoot in The Irenic Commonwealth.

2219-11-21 The Soval System above Soval VI

Fungi like organisms weren’t entirely unknown in New Mars. Yeast was used extensively to repurpose waste into nutrition that could be used for the lab grown meat on the hydroponic farms. This however was new, more like the organisms that existed on many of the planetary forests. Be’K ba’Riv wasn’t entirely sure how to explain their peculiar “signalling” behaviour. Her on ship biologist suggested it was quantum biological… thing. She didn’t quite understand what they meant. Despite taking courses in the new polytechnic education like all scientists she was essentially an engineer. An engineer works out how things function, even if we don't work out the abstractions of theory.

One thing Be’K ba’Riv was certain of; this had a material origin. Once she would have considered the supernatural. Now she was wiser. As a final act of defiance against her previous misguided spiritual beliefs she had formed an organization called the Association of Technocratic Reform. An organization that Be’K ba’Riv believed would have future political significance as the ATR party. The Irenic Commonwealth was already moving towards scientific supremacy. Why not take the final leap?

2220-01-01 to 2220-20-30

“Well, that is a bit of a hassle, but they aren’t hurting anyone?” the hologram of the enforcer stood with his pedipalps tightly clenched, the governor’s question clearly annoyed the officer if his wax was any indication. Which it was. “No but they are disrupting the public order and…” governor An’K se’Ska cut him off. “Keep an eye on any developments and report back but please don’t make any arrests when no crime has been committed, understood?”. “Yes governor”. “Very good. Carry on officer”. An’K se’Ska turned of the hologram that would be a much worse hassle than anything these “protests” could do…

The enforcers report had just arrived on the desk of the governor, and they couldn’t really decide if the contents were ominous or simply strange. Still, they weren’t going to arrest them unless they did something illegal. The election wasn’t many weeks of, and XAF should not start the election period with a scandal in the media. An’K se’Ska wasn’t going to sacrifice his chances at becoming Ziggy over a few strange artists.

2220-04-18 Astinda Asteroid belt

What remarkable tech! Si’V po’Kar was amazed. Grunur data crystals had been very similar to spider data technology, but this new find wasn’t really a computer and yet it was. An organic computer and it might have been an actual living entity at the time before it was fossilized. She would take this back to the ship and extract as much information as possible! What amazing creatures these Baol-Organisms are

New Mars Capitol Habitat 2220-06-05

Stardust had announced the election of a new Ziggy or in his mind the almost certain re-election of himself. The new political parties presented a challenge however as the clear-cut policies they presented ironically made it a lot harder for the Ziggy to navigate the assembly. His personal relationships with individual members suddenly held a lot less sway compared to the policies of the parties they were a member of. Still the conservative ideas of peace and slow economic growth of the EDC resonated with a large part of the spideran population. Of this Stardust was certain.

Meanwhile An'K se’Ska knew they were going to be Ziggy, they weren't simply the lapdog of Stardust no matter what the media thought. Diplomacy with alien empires was the way for proper economic growth, the trade agreement with the Obraxi Foundation had proved that. Their XAF party would lead the way for cooperation and lasting peace and prosperity for all.

The same day on two different stars two scientists pondered the political climate

Be’K ra’Tov was ready, he would do what he could to protect the rights of the people against any who would threaten it. And taking Stardust down a notch will just be a bonus. Still, he had to convince the people his policies wouldn’t ruin the economy and the label of “warmonger” still hung over the head of Be’K ra’Tov. Winning the election would be a hard fight but with the backing of his progressive FCN party it was a winnable one.

ATR was the only true opposition party to the Ziggy and despite what the other parties said Be’K ba’Riv knew the people weren’t fooled so easily. A true reform of the government making The Irenic Commonwealth focus all it’s attention on the pursuit of science was paramount. As it was robotic workers weren’t even in large scale use on any of the habitats!

One thing they could all agree on, this election would be very different to any previous election. Perhaps a lot tougher as well. They all believed the future of The Irenic Commonwealth depended on their victory. Changes had come to Bowie

 

[Macavity116]

The Manifesti! Oh, I like this event chain!

It got me to raise my eyebrows when I first saw it. I thought it was a cool little story all around and I'm currently trying to see if I can make some space for them in my next Stellaris Story.

 

[Arthropoiddane]

The Manifesti! Oh, I like this event chain!

It got me to raise my eyebrows when I first saw it. I thought it was a cool little story all around and I'm currently trying to see if I can make some space for them in my next Stellaris Story.

Yes it is a quite concept, they also fit quite neatly into the story I am trying to tell with my spiders here. They certainly shake things up. I look forward to reading your new story, I quite enjoyed After Everything. Although I still have a lot of catching up to do with all the other Stormbreaker stories

 

[Arthropoiddane]

Chapter 4 Heathen 2220-07-01 to 2223-08-24​

2220-07-01 to 2220-11-05 New Mars Capitol Habitat

Today was the day the Ziggy would be sworn in in front of the whole Irenic Commonwealth. This election had been a tough one. Everyone had expected Stardust and his EDC to be the winners although Be’K ra’Tov and his Free Citizen Network was sure to get some of the disgruntled Spiders on board who felt the recent economic boom had passed them by. The Association for Technocratic reform as well as the Xeno Awareness Forum of Be’K ba’Riv and and An’K se’Ska respectively were largely discounted; They seemed to appeal to the same well of and highly educated parts of the population. A comparatively large part of the vote, but even among Spiders an election can’t be won without the support of the common people. Both Be’K ra’Tov and Stardust had the popular appeal neccesary. Stardust was often seen as “the father of the nation” while Be’K ra’Tovs many discoveries had made a lot of people see him as a “true hero of The Irenic Commonwealth”.

The Ziggy placed one tarsus onto the primitive data storage device on which the Moral Foundation had been originally saved. “I be’K ra’Tov swear I will uphold the values on which our Irenic Commonwealth was built. I will preserve the rights of peace, life and liberty of all sapients”. Be’K ra’Tov knew this was a great moment, he had managed to completely outmanoeuvre Stardust as well as the two other party leaders. His dear niece had lost quite a lot of votes to his FCN party. Imagine running on a scientific platform against me. The poor spiderling, she had been confused lately. With the new revelations about the Grunur combined with the increased frequency of piracy along the trans stellar trade routes Stardusts accusations of warmongering against Be'K ra'Tov had completely backfired. Rather than making Be’K ra’Tov look bad it had simply made the old Ziggy seem out of touch. The conservatism that had seemed cautious for a long time now made him look indecisive. An’K se’Ska on the other tarsus had been completely dismissed as a real challenge by Be’K ra’Tov. The Xeno Awareness Forum hadn’t really raised any relevant issues or anything the other parties disagreed with other than hypotheticals, which the other parties had little to no policy about in any case. The XAF party had consequently been dubbed “a spaceship without a reactor” by several media outlets.

Yet the most remarkable part of this election had been the many strange happenings arranged by the so called “Manifesti”. They had viciously mocked poor stardust so much that the media thought Be’K ra’Tov or one of the other candidates had been behind them. At that point they turned their attention fully towards all the other candidates for a while only to stop any political events a few weeks prior to the election. Now they were fully dedicated to partying. A confusing lot to be sure. But quite harmless.

A few months later be’K ra’Tov visited the science departments of New Mars. This was something he had done a lot since becoming Ziggy. Part of the reason was practical; a large part of his popularity came from his scientific career and reminding the public about this in subtle ways like this was a good way of increasing his chances of being re-elected. The true reason was sentimental of course; being habitat bound had its perk but Be’K ra’Tov missed the explorer’s life. The ISS Po’Qo’Qa had been given a new commander from among the most promising on the crew. Be’K ra’Tov had picked out the scientist himself.

Seeing the research done here in the research districts let him be a part of this great project once more. Being Ziggy allowed him access to areas that had been of limits even to him back in the day. However today wasn’t a curiosity trip. One of his main election promises had been that he wouldn’t ruin the economy of the Irenic Commonwealth by spending resources without a solid monthly surplus. It was for this reason Be’K ra’Tov was currently at the department of engineering. To talk about new ways to mine asteroids.

The chief engineer named Ir’B Po’Kar approached Be’K ra’Tov “hello mr. Ziggy, you are here to talk about the chrich-chrack of the crunch-hrunch?” The nonsense words took Be’K ra’Tov back “What?” Ir’B Po’Kar was known to be one of the most brilliant spiders to have ever left the educational facilities of this esteemed district. “You know you slurp-burp to struch the crunch-hrunch for making alurpoits. We are working on this project cycle in and out!” You have finally lost it Ir’B po’Kar““You haven’t heard of Uslurp? I didn’t know you were so out of touch old friend. Almost every scientist speaks this way now. Read up a bit and then come back. The resources of the state are at your disposal after all”.

Be’K ra’Tov took Ir’B po’Kar up on it and ventured further into the research districts, towards the department of society. This was by far the most rapidly growing department, mainly since it contained the biological departments who had received a massive boost ever since alien life had been discovered. Bi’V ni’Var was of the old school; they came from a family group of military Araneans who had served aboard the spideran navy known as The Special Reaction Flotilla.

As it turned out they knew about Uslurp and they weren’t amused “Have I heard it! Half the department won’t speak about economy without using nonsense synonyms and whenever I tell them to speak proper Spideran they just tell me the name of one of my relatives or another captain and giggle! The lack of respect is infuriating. I tell you Ziggy if I had my way these Manifesti…” “Just a minute” Be’K ra’Tov held up three tarsi. The air in the office was suffocating with the smell of cyanide from the blonde Aranean. “Are you telling me the Manifesti are behind this?”. The pedipalps of Bi’V ni’Var moved down exposing their bright yellow cephaloid sclerites. “Who else?”. Bi’V ni’Var and Be’K ra’Tov had always had an understanding and their continued support was important for the Ziggy. At this moment they might be at an impass. In any case, it would be good for him to loosen up a bit. “In that case I want you to study it, who knows you might learn something about our rich culture”. Satisfied with the look of complete shock on Bi’V ni’Vars face Be’K ra’Tov left the office.

2221-03-30 New Mars Capitol Habitat, Leisure district

“Very entertaining in my opinion” Be’K ra’Tov looked towards the governor “but you don’t seem amused. I seem to recall us seeing eyes to eyes on this issue. Does it hit a little too close to home I wonder?” The holographic image was named The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars and depicted the party leaders of FCN, EDC, and XAF. Stardust and Be’K ra’Tov argued while Stardust excreted fecal matter, or De’B ba’Riv as it was called in Uslurp-Speak, out of his abdomen. In fact, he stood on a hill of faecal pellets while stars swarmed around his head like a halo. The holographic governor An’K se’Ska tried to shovel the faecal matter away with his tarsi but stars kept attacking the poor governor. If you moved over to the other side of the image it changed. Here Be’K ra’Tov was on top of the hill with lasers shooting out of his head. An’K se’Ska was doing what he could to avoid them while still removing all the dung while stardust was cowering in the corner with his tarsus covering all eight of his eyes. “Personally, I find it a bit cheap” An’K se’Ska looked towards the Ziggy “What worries me is this one over here” Be’K ra’Tov was manipulating the lasers on “his” head pointing them all towards Stardust and let out a pleased click from his chelicera accompanied by a sweet smell of almonds “Ha! his legs came of… that might have been inappropriate… What did you want to show me An’K se’Ska?” “This” An’K se’Ska gestured towards a quite large holographic image.

The name of the image was simply Heathen, and it was quite problematic if the outraged expression and wax consistency of governor An’K se’Skas wax was any indication. Be’K ra’Tov began inspecting it closer; it seemed to be a holograph of the day the Ox’Braxi delegation had arrived. Only it wasn’t really the Ox’Braxi ambassador who was shacking appendages with the former Ziggy. The Ox’Braxi Patriarch Xirgliss had been edited into the picture instead.

Be’K ra’Tov began interacting with the image. As he did the crowd began being getting replaced by Ox’braxi or spiders wearing the traditional religious garments of The Foundation of Oxinac. All the while energy-credits began accumulating behind Stardust. “You see, what will we tell the ambassador from Oxinac when he sees this?” as the governor complained his counterpart in the artwork began moving behind Patriarch Xirgliss and inserted his head into the cloaca of the patriarch. An’K se’Ska scowled at the image before turning his attention back to Ziggy Be’K ra’Tov who had now adopted a serious expression “You will tell them the way it is! We here in The Irenic Commonwealth believe in certain freedoms. Freedoms that are routinely violated by the government in Oxinac and whatever the rest of their colonies are called.” The governor opened his chelicera to protest “but the trade agreement…” but Be’K ra’Tov cut him off “…we have decided on a cordial relationship in the name of peace. Or rather my predecessor has. I find the whole affair distasteful. Other citizens of our commonwealth are bound to feel the same. As is their right. Now I agree this art is a little crude, bordering on xenophobic even. But I refuse to violate the spideran rights to free speech over the sensibilities of a planetary tyrant!” The Ziggys wax had become almost liquid. He wasn’t a male of grand speeches like Stardust, but the thought of infringing upon the principles of equality and freedom guaranteed by The Moral Foundation was anathema to him.

2221-09-06 Astinda Asteroid belt

The ISS puk’Bo’Li had been painted in accordance with manifesti regulations. Consequently, the whole ship looked like a chaotic medley of nonsense. As was the only real rule for manifesti spaceships. Si’V po’Kar and her whole crew had adopted the ideals of manefestism with a fervour, often using creative displays to showcase findings directly to the public often bypassing the Ziggy entirely. This day was no different, especially considering the important scientific implications of the information retrieved from the fossilized biocomputer.

With her crew jumping high into the air in a chaotic low gravity dance Si’V pokar began explaining while spinning on the spot occasionally throwing coloured dust onto the camera. “We have proven the existence of a hive mind today. This is proof that evolution favours conformity, now the battle for individuality begins. Munitions only have their chains to lose. No weapon will be fired without it’s express consent ever again! Good luck all you freedom loving De’B ba’Riv cephalons out there!”

The same day on New Mars, the Ziggy laughed harder than he had ever done before. “They are a political party now? By the comets, this is the funniest thing I have ever seen. Who was the leader again?”. An’K se’Ska looked annoyed at their boss “Si’V po’Kar, you know the archeologist who took over your digsite a few years ago”. Be’K ra’Tovs expression became more serious “Yes I remember. Stardust pulled a fast one on me that day. Still, he probably did me a favour; being isolated for that long seems to have taken its toll on the crew not to speak of the captain. Let’s wait and see what they do now, they just missed the election afterall”.

2221-11-15 New Mars Capitol Habitat, Department of Xenology

Newly appointed Envoy to The Stars Bi’V il’Tek was trying to coordinate his team in the now very brightly coloured offices of The Department of Xenology. A new unidentified Xeno had been discovered but all New Mars, as well the other two habitats for that matter, cared about were The Manifestists. Since their formation a mass movement had occurred away from the political parties. The Manifestists now accounted for about 40% of the spideran population!

Currently they were holding a rally outside the nearby scientific departments calling for the removal of the current leaders so they could be replaced with more “properly irresponsible individuals”: The protest was not so much a political happening but more of a carnival. The noise made it extremely hard to focus on any aliens. I wonder if the aliens speak Uslurp Bi’V il’Tek wondered to himself as he played with his newly mandated Uslurp holodictionary.

2222-10-12 New Mars Capitol Habitat

The Manifesti had been a strange experience, all the political parties had lost a very large chunk of their membership and consequently the other party leaders had frozen Be’K ra’Tov out of all parliamentary proceedings. Indeed, some of his own party had done that as well, the few who hadn’t joined The Manifestsists at least. They all blamed him for not dealing with the problem at all. This meant Stardust had been able to block all the Ziggys efforts towards expanding the Irenic Commonwealths Starfleet.

Today the consequences of this inaction had occurred. Just as Be’K ra’Tov had always warned everyone about. As it stood the so-called Death Pact had a fleet large enough to destroy all ships in The Special Reaction Flotilla along with the spaceport in Bowie. Be’K ba’Riv the leader of the materialist ATR party, science officer and niece of the Ziggy had discovered a cache of alien lasers the fleet could be upgraded with. But it wasn’t enough.

As it was, they seemed content to simply loot any trading vessels coming through the Yurus system. Which along with the Castor system was the most important route from for the prosperous trading posts in the galactic east to the consumers in the three Bowie Habitats. Something had to be done and quickly.

2223-01-27 Bistromar III archeological site, The Bistromar System

“Planetary civilisations are a violent lot, aren’t they?” Bu’S ba’Vir was more fascinated than appealed at the strange behaviour of these creatures. Since the discovery of the Ox’Braxi and the proof of an interskeleton it had become a lot easier to reconstruct planetary species. These were small compared to the tall Ox’Braxi as well as the spiders with their long thin legs. And they had all been killed, perhaps by each other?

The last orders relayed to every commander of every different faction had been GET THE RUBRICATOR. And various variations on that. This showed it was clear that Be’K ra’Tov had been right in his assessment. The planet contained an extremely important object, but, more importantly, the object appeared to still be present! “Come on comrades, let’s turn over some more rubble”. I knew that PhD in planetary colonization would come in handy.

The same day on the Astinda Asteroid belt Si’V po’Kar and her partying archaeologists made a troubling find. As they streamed the discovery of a new Grunur datacrystal directly to the spider audiences in the three habitats. It became more and more difficult for her to keep up the jovial exterior and the whole Irenic Commonwealth could feel her wax shift in the holo-feeler as she read aloud in full Uslurp the descriptions the Grunur had made of the poor Boal. Si’V po’Kar suddenly feel silent before continuing to her last sentence which she read in proper Spideran “but at least the filthy weeds tasted good roasted”.

2223-08-24 New Mars Capitol Habitat

The last few months had been bad for Be’K ra’Tov and quite strange for the Irenic Commonwealth at large. His niece Be’K ba’Riv had recently announced that she withdrew from her position as head of The Association for Technocratic Reform. When asked why she simply said, “I think we might have been wrong” and turned off the holo-call. Soon afterwards the party began a death spiral of internal power struggles. The same was expected to happen to any of the other parties within the next months or years if the popularity of the Manifestists continued its current trajectory.

To make matters worse the media were in an uproar over the fact that Be’K ra’Tov and his government hadn’t done anything to solve the pirate problem in Yurus. One good thing had come of this at least however; Be’K ra’Tov had secured the support of the assembly in expanding the Special Reactions Flotilla. The others know its only a matter of time before the media begins asking who blocked me from enacting my own policies that could have prevented this. “Even if the lot of them are in Stardusts pocket” he mumbled to himself before entering the holoconference room.

Here Be’K ra’Tovs mood soon lifted, it was one of his old students who had requested the meeting. The holographic image of the enthusiastic Aranean Si’V or’Tab, who had discovered the original Grunur ruins on Castor almost 20 years prior. Now she was the leader of the expedition on his old ship the ISS puk’Qo’Qa with Be'K ra'Tovs recommendation. And it seemed the luck of that ship wasn’t over just yet.

“It’s an ancient temple to The Untold, the god who according to legend destroyed the planet underneath New Mars…” Be’K ra’Tov interrupted the scientist with a click of his chelicera “Yes I am aware of the old stories, tell me why it is interesting” Si’V or’Tob looked confounded but quickly gathered herself “well it’s in space, far away from our own territory” “so, we are in space as well, that isn’t a discovery so why is this?” Si’V po’Kars wax began getting more rugged. She had obviously not missed this. “As I said, it is in space far away from where any spider has been before we got here. And it is old, perhaps as old as our habitats. Older even.” Be’K ra’Tov was suddenly quite interested. “I see, this might be quite important, analyze it and get back to me” “I already did Ziggy. And I think I know where we can find more”.

2224-04-23 New Mars Capitol Habitat

A year had passed, and things had begun to return to normal. The political parties had begun to stabilize in their reduced size and the Manifesti partay had lost some of their novelty, although protest carnivals could still be heard at regular intervals on the three habitats. The power struggle in the ATR party had seen the party disappear but a few months back it had been reformed by the scientist Ra’B er’Bik. A less well know but very eager science officer originally hired to dig out a minor dig site around the Peith star. The site had turned out to be a fluke since some ancient alien civilization had blown it up. Now his new reformed materialist party called itself The Committee for Higher Learning to cement a new era without internal conflicts. Be’K ba’Riv was now completely out and would run as an independent at the next election.

In all this Be’K ra’Tov had been granted a small win. He had doubled the size of the Starfleet, but it still wasn’t enough. His niece Be’K ba’Riv might have the solution to saving the Irenic Commonwealth; apparently, she had found an ancient alien shipyard. She had told Be’K ra’Tov it could be repaired by one of the standard spideran construction ships. And he had no reason to doubt that. She was a propulsion engineer after all. On a personal level he was glad to hear from her. The semi-public meltdown she had experienced had worried him and she had been hard to reach. Be’K ra’Tov had been estranged from his family group for a while now so he didn’t know who to ask. I am glad she finds some comfort in her work. I hope I can too.

2224-04-28

Si’V po’Kar and her crew faced the cameras appendages in the holo-feelers. All festive clothes had been removed and a slightly more serious demeanour had been adopted. “Hello citizens of our lovely Irenic Commonwealth. Today I officially resign as head of the Manifesti-Partay. And the organization itself is disbanded too. I thank you all for being a part of this amazing experience, and I hope our politicians have listened. If they act like clowns in the assembly only working for their own interests, we all suffer. And when we suffer, we party. Now they have seen that the people can take back power from them at any moment so long as we are aware and creative. Be’K ra’Tov you are hereby given back the control of our commonwealth but remember who you work for. And don't think for a moment that you have any power without us. Otherwise the parties might start anew.”

And just like that all events stopped. But the changes The Manifesti had brought to The Irenic Commonwealth would be felt for centuries to come. Sometimes in quite unpredictable way.

 

[Macavity116]

A new unidentified Xeno had been discovered but all New Mars, as well the other two habitats for that matter, cared about were The Manifestists. Since their formation a mass movement had occurred away from the political parties. The Manifestists now accounted for about 40% of the spideran population!

Currently they were holding a rally outside the nearby scientific departments calling for the removal of the current leaders so they could be replaced with more “properly irresponsible individuals”: The protest was not so much a political happening but more of a carnival.

Oh, I love me some chaos!

Hello citizens of our lovely Irenic Commonwealth. Today I officially resign as head of the Manifesti-Partay. And the organization itself is disbanded too. I thank you all for being a part of this amazing experience, and I hope our politicians have listened. If they act like clowns in the assembly only working for their own interests, we all suffer. And when we suffer, we party. Now they have seen that the people can take back power from them at any moment so long as we are aware and creative. Be’K ra’Tov you are hereby given back the control of our commonwealth but remember who you work for. And don't think for a moment that you have any power without us. Otherwise the parties might start anew.”

And just like that all events stopped. But the changes The Manifesti had brought to The Irenic Commonwealth would be felt for centuries to come. Sometimes in quite unpredictable way.

And in true chaotic fashion, it ends in just as enigmatic a way as it starts.