Dark Fate, Book 13 prologue (Patreon)

Yes, it is time for more Trade Chat!

Prologue – Trade Chat

(Community Building and Civil Defense Chat, formerly Life in the City Chat Room)

abby_gail, bento, RainyDayze, GringottsGoblin, DoritoMan, D.VaLuvr69, RadicalEdward, FusionGal, NotACop, Scholar, RamblingWreck, Anonymous4, Anonymous6, SevenNationArmy, BagOTrix, DarkLord, Faraday, BackpageGal, FullServiceMassage, daytrader, shadow_clone23, THE_MERCHANT, jenny8675309, Rabbit, Angelus and Tracker are in the chat.

BagOTrix: Woohoo!

FusionGal: What’s so great? Something happen?

BagOTrix: Election night came in like a dream!

Scholar: It was a historical shift, yes. Average age of the House went from 58 to 30 years old, and the Senate went from 64 to 36. And President-Elect Harris is the both the first trans man to take up the office, and the youngest person to be elected in US history!

Anonymous6: Damn kids. This country is going to hell! The woke agenda needs to be stopped!

Faraday: Okay, Boomer.

Anonymous6: I’m not a Boomer! I’m just a good, God-Fearing Patriot that believes in Traditional Values and Making America Great Again!

DarkLord: In other words, you’re a racist bigot who is afraid of change, because you won’t get to lord some imaginary superiority over people.

Anonymous6: I don’t want to hear that from you! Fucking traitor, going off and making a kingdom instead of a democracy, like God intended!

DarkLord: The Kingdom of Ceres would be classified as an absolute monarchy with elements of a meritocracy. And which god? The System recognizes a lot of them, after all. In fact, just with the people under my command, I have people worshipping over two dozen gods. Not counting the workers at the Royal Shipyards who revere, if not worship, their long lost Triarch Prime.

DoritoMan: Hey, DarkLord, saw that press conference you held! You finally got a diplomatic first contact?

DarkLord: Yes, we were glad to finally be able to put diplomats to use dealing with things other than Earth drama.

jenny8675309: So, I know what was in the news, but what really happened?

DarkLord: Well, like the reports said, we saw bow wakes incoming, and sent ships out to be a proper welcome wagon. Because I have resources other people don’t, I knew the basic political situation in the area where the ships were coming from, so we could plan accordingly. The biohorrors got exterminated, while preserving as much of their ship as possible so that we can possibly advance our own technology, and the other ship powered down weapons and engines, so we were able to make first contact.

shadow_clone23: How do you make it look so easy? Like, you didn’t lose any ships, any people? While clearing out an alien vessel? That shouldn’t be that easy!

DarkLord: Who said it was easy? I have good people working for me. They’re well-trained, and well-equipped. They were able to run sims based on information we pulled from the System Shop. And they had shock and awe on their side. They knew exactly who they were facing, and what they were weak against.

DoritoMan: So, basically, you prepped everything and made it look easy?

DarkLord: Exactly. When a fight goes off without a hitch, that usually means that you were prepared to the point that even when the enemy tried to adapt to what you were doing, you already had countermeasures in place, and the training to use them. I recruited some of the best, and gave them some of the best gear you can get. And then? I put together a plan that relied on overwhelming firepower to do just that: overwhelm all possible opposition.

D.VaLuvr69: So, you really going to open up spots on this Si Vis Pacem ship to diplomats from around the world?

DarkLord: Oh, yes. Though there are limited numbers of berths available, so preference will go to those who already have an embassy on Ceres.

RadicalEdward: What makes it a diplomatic vessel, anyways?

DarkLord: Well, I started with a light cruiser’s hull, replaced most of the ship-to-ship weaponry with extra point-defense, upgraded the shields to dreadnought strength, and gave it better engines. So, it doesn’t have much, if any, punching power, but it can defend itself, and get the hell out of dodge, if need be. Reduced the crew requirements by increasing automation, which allowed the designer to convert more space to passenger quarters, conference rooms, and the like.

RadicalEdward: That’s… impressive. But why did you name it like that? Seems like a threat.

DarkLord: It is only a threat if you’re looking to take on the Kingdom of Ceres. The official motto of the country is “Si vis pacem, para bellum.” It is printed on all our official documents, and in the Royal Seal, and everything.

Rabbit: A translation for those of us who only speak American?

DarkLord: If you want peace, prepare for war.

Rabbit: How the fuck does that even work?

DarkLord: The same way as other sayings do, like “better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war,” or “better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.” The Kingdom of Ceres prepares for war, because we have already seen that there are groups out there who are hostile to us, and we will not simply hope that they don’t notice us.

RainyDayze: So, are you going to be going to this Commonwealth? What about Ceres? Will you be joining them?

DarkLord: Unfortunately, Sol System is too contentious to join the Commonwealth. Or, rather, too divided.

Scholar: So, they want to at least have a star system under one banner?

DarkLord: Basically. And since I have no interest in trying to conquer Earth, and anyone trying to conquer Ceres is going to have a very bad day, the only way that will happen is if the United Nations gets a bit more united, and actually starts functioning.

Scholar: So, sometime after the heat-death of the universe. Got it.

DarkLord: Of course, that’s just for groups that are limited to a single system. If you had someone go and make a colony in Alpha Centauri, they’d be able to claim sole ownership of the system, and would qualify, even if they still had holdings on a cradle world that they share with other nations. But considering that the pirates who attacked Earth came from Alpha Centauri, they’d be advised to have enough warships to protect the colony ship while they set up permanent defenses.

abby_gail: But weren’t the pirates defeated?

DarkLord: They were beaten back. But enough survived that they could try again. That was just part of the strength of a single clan from an entire species spanning multiple systems. And that’s not counting the other threats out there.

bento: Is it really so dangerous out there?

DarkLord: Moreso. And that’s not even counting the general hazards of working in the single most hostile environment imaginable, where any minor accident could spell death and disaster. Space makes Australia look cute and cuddly for how dangerous it is. The only place on Earth that compares would be the deepest ocean trenches.

D.VaLuvr69: Then why go there?

DarkLord: Because staying at home and bundling up is only the illusion of safety. If you aren’t prepared for something to knock your house down, then you’re going to be left alone in the cold. And if the thing that knocked your house down is hungry, you’ll be dinner. Si vis pacem, para bellum.