The Fruits of Our Labor (The Kathol Outback)

[Iron Giant]

A continuation of Second Contact.​

Some time later...​

​

A whole fleet of old Resu-Class Freighters had fled the Realm of Resu, following [member="Bryce Bantam"]'s ship Remy's Revenge out with Kathol Tech Students after discovering the nature of their plague. Their former home, not only infested with the Morossian Resu, was now under some unknowable new threat... but above all else, it was highly likely all their old waters had been poisoned in some manner to cause the Infertility Plague that threatened to drive them into extinction.

Despite their stubbornness to leave their ancestral home, especially when so many Resu were still left behind, the delegation which met with Mercury Tongue and Iron Giant herself, convinced them their best option was to find new waters. Though they promised they would make a return their homeworld, and put an end to every plague that has threatened them. By all means necessary.

Eventually, this haphazard fleet filled with alien refugees and their CybeResu escorts, would drop out of hyperspace. This system they found, possessed a Gas Giant... not as large as their old Realm, but it was still relatively significant. In addition, they were told it possessed a number of moons... once again, not as many as they would be used to. Everything would be new for them now. Many of the Lunar Resu would not be comfortable on a terrestrial world, unless it was exceptionally small (which would make oceans unlikely). So it was only natural their first instinct would be to find a sizable moon, preferably with a liquid ocean and a warm core. Failing that, they would have to drill their own caves of water, and heat them artificially. Either way, the moon would have to be sizable if they had any hope of growth, despite only having a few thousand survivors of the near genocide.

Iron Giant would find herself in the Remy's Revenge, among one if its medical bays now filled with some of the more extreme patients the CybeResu Asteroid had been rehabilitating. She had communicated a desire to speak with Bryce Bantam later, once her head cooled down. The shocking nature of the plague had been almost too much for her... although it wasn't in her nature to do so, she had learned a thing or two traveling the galaxy, and sought to apologize for what she could have done, if not for C.O.M.O.'s intervention. Describing the Resu as temperamental was an understatement of epic proportions.

Mercury Tongue was by her side, also observing the condition of many of the patients, and how the researchers studied the biology of the Resu alongside the massive frames of several key CybeResu medical practitioners. C.O.M.O. acted as the diplomat, given that effective translators were in limited supply after the destruction of Corellia. So naturally communication was slow, but nonetheless it was communication, and progress towards a worthy goal.

<<Iron Giant, your small companion is remarkable. Could you imagine what we could have done to our hosts?>> Mercury Tongue sparked a conversation between them.

<<I can. Vividly. Travelling alone in this galaxy is dangerous for a Resu... I have encountered beings too difficult to understand, and better killed than spoken to. It becomes more difficult when they hide and pretend they are innocent. We cannot tell.>>

<<That reminds me Iron Giant. You are an exile. Yet we hold your loyalty. What made you come back, knowing you might be killed for it?>>

<<Ghosts do not enjoy company, and my people were dying.>>

[member="Kira Vaal"]

 

[Bryce Bantam]

Bryce sat in his command chair looking out at the system that lay before them. It was a small secluded section of space, only known to price due to the report of Tibianna gas within the great gas giant of the system. With his newly inherited company needing to secure a steady supply of the gas to power his new prototype engines it had been on his list of systems to explore.

But this was not the reason he had led the Resu here. Why he had chosen this system was for the simple fact the moons that orbited the massive planet were Resu like, and one or more may be able to support the exiles as they try to rebuild their lives. One moon, in particular, was of great interest to Bryce, called Lozeg by the ones who first explored the system if their initial scans were right, the liquid ocean that sat beneath its' icy crust may be a suitable home for the beleaguered exiles who only wish find a new, safer home.

For now, though he waited. [member="Iron Giant"] had requested solitude while she decided how best to proceed for her people. Unless called to speak with her he would wait, and research, for both a cure to their plague and suitable homes worlds to rebuild upon.

 

[Iron Giant]

Some time passed observing the various procedures conducted to further rehabilitate and maintain the stability of her less fortunate in their present conditions, utilizing a mishmash of Resu medical technology and techniques, with foreign technology and techniques used for the purpose of understanding. It was therapeutic in a way, knowing her knowledge of the galaxy had brought the help these people needed. The Resu were not always machines of war... and Iron Giant was determined to make sure they would be never be made out as such ever again. War and their place in war, has marred them. Their reputation precedes them in a manner that is not good. They have been manipulated, and exploited, and now suffered permanently the effects of the gullibility, and their primitive vulnerability.

With help from the likes of Mercury Tongue and Steel Broker, she would make sure they were never so easily convinced, and never so vulnerable again. If she could, she would steer her people away from the self-destructive wars, and find fuel to expend the youths natural aggression into constructive crafts, to maintain their grudges in a manner that was no longer so gratifyingly lethal.

Enough Resu have died for meaningless reasons, no longer was death in battle glorious for the sake of battle. Death was a sin, and she would make sure to prosecute any who would seek it without considerable meaning behind it. A life grudge was no longer acceptable grounds for death, not if Iron Giant had anything to say about it.... not during these dark and troubling times. She would find incredible resistance, and it will take all of her strength and will... but the glory of a new beginning, is that it is equalizing. No longer was Iron Giant 'The Trusted Ghost', an exile of Resu showing them way out of a living hell. They were all exiles by necessity. They no longer held any right to the pride their species once possessed over her. They were all the same now, and thus Iron Giant won out on experience.

In all but name, she was their leader. She was Nobodies Empress.

She excused herself from Mercury Tongue's company in the usual Resu manner, namely turning about without addressing her exit, while visually displaying in her movements to ensure she knew she was leaving. The doors opened for her, and she walked the halls of the ship, stepping past busy humans and other beings sometimes momentarily frozen by the sheer size of her alien appearance. Eventually she would appear on the bridge, or within the same room that Bantam's Command Chair was present.

"Bryce Bantam? Iron Giant present."

[member="Bryce Bantam"], [member="Kira Vaal"]

 

[Bryce Bantam]

The Resu were a blunt, straightforward people, and Bryce respected this about them. Though communication was not always easy both parties usually knew where the other stood and this at least was helpful for meaning full communication. As the massive alpha female entered Bryce stood up to greet her with the proper respect a leader of her station deserved.

"[member="Iron Giant"] , you honor us with your presence. We have arrived in the system we have spoken of how can we further assist you?"

 

[Iron Giant]

"Iron Giant, honored presence. Arrival in system, further assistance?"

The Resu merely nodded deeply, agreeing with the humans statement. Not because she in some way arrogantly believed her presence was to be honored (much to the contrary actually), but merely because she had no desire or real use for utilizing advanced vocabulary to disagree with him. After all, she did recognize to some degree she was an individual who had a measure of honor... at least among her own kind.

"Truth. Priority: Iron Giant nearly killed Bryce Bantam, apologies." There apologies were made, moving on. "Secondary: Iron Giant observed galaxy. Resu die in isolation; galaxy thrives in Chaos. Hyperdrive incites chaos, truth? Resu possess technical secrecy in exchange for Hyperdrive. Exchange favorable?" Not one for words, the Resu were not. But what words they could convey, while sparsely used, could often convey enough. Purple prose did not exist in any meaningful translation from Resune to basic, as the more elaborate remarks were buried in unnoticeable subtle eccentricities in their frequency, body language, and thermal production. Often times, this came as a detriment to them, show cased by their most recent contact in which Iron Giant just admitted she had the desire to kill him before her droid could stop her and help her understand.

Would Bantam realize this? Probably not, but somehow they would manage well enough. At least, one can hope.

[member="Bryce Bantam"], [member="Kira Vaal"]

 

[Bryce Bantam]

Technology?

Bryce's ears perked up. He was not aware the Resu were interested in an exchange of technology but he had to admit some of the devices they had brought with them were pretty karking cool. Was made with some weird silver fluid that they just touched to control. He wanted to know more and with the facilities of Gallofree Yards at his disposal, he was more than willing to trade hyperdrive tech for the unknown.

"Interesting [member="Iron Giant"] , I would be more than happy to work something out with the Resu. Any chance we could see this tech in action before we came to a final arrangement?"

 

[Iron Giant]

"Interesting Iron Giant, happiness work with Resu. Probability observe technology action prior arrangement?"

The proposition made sense, one cannot offer something that they cannot see. Although this proved to be a problematic issue, considering they had just left her homeworld... and any remnants of the civilization she knew to control the technology. She doubted (perhaps with a great bias) that the Morossian Resu held the intelligence capable of harnessing the mines afloat within the Realm (a naive notion, considering the Morossian Resu did not suffer in intelligence, merely perception of belief).

Still though, she had designed the basic cybernetics of the CybeResu (like herself) with the Hydrogen technology. It was incredibly interesting to note, that the Resu had depended so much on hydrogen, from as basic as breathing to the very fabrics of their civilization. It was in essence, the life blood of their people. Hydrogen ran through their veins, and so to did it through their technology.

"Difficult. System possesses gas giant, truth? Demonstration possible post-extraction of Pressurized Liquid Metallic Hydrogen from atmospheric core. Energy field and dehydrogenated water insulation generate stabilizing medium for superconductivity in Pressurized Liquid Metallic Hydrogen, electrical current transit lightspeed processing unit, space requirements - " Iron Giant would then proceed to list off the basic dimensions necessary to maintain a mainframe utilizing the PLM Hydrogen for the purpose of advanced computation. "Miniaturized Pressurized Liquid Metallic Hydrogen processor exists in CybeResu augmentation in limited scale for supernumerary cybernetic reaction time. Expense: electrical disturbance and ionization protection for limited utility."

Let it never be said that a Resu couldn't spew out great amounts of words in a short time span. Resune could quickly create speech that was both short, concise, and to the point at the same time it could communicate incredibly complex ideas that couldn't be compressed. Such was the nature of a language primarily based off of electrical currents and frequencies. A short burst of energy could mean a lot, or very little when translated into basic, and a long burst was essentially the same in that regard. It was the collection of bursts that truly made a language.

Hopefully [member="Bryce Bantam"] or some of his technicians were taking notes on what she was saying, undoubtedly they would be important later for their research.

 

[Bryce Bantam]

As [member="Iron Giant"] spoke, Bryce was all ears. Literally, tech stuff fascinated the boy. Liquid metal, superconductivity, oh the applications were endless. Their was only one glaring issue, how to use it. Everything seemed to revolve around the Resu...

Everything revolved around the RESU!

"Madam Iron Giant, I think I have an idea. How open are your people to interstellar travel and ship control? As you may or may not know I own a company that makes starships, I believe this technology will give me an advantage and if I'm right increase sales. However, all this relies on your people to operate it. So can we both use your tech in out construction and hire your people on to operate it?"

 

[Iron Giant]

"Iron Giant, inspiration. Willingness interstellar travel, starship control? Bryce Bantam owns company manufactures starships, Bryce Bantam believes technology advantageous, profitable. Reliance on Resu operation. Utilize technology construction, enlist Resu operation?"

The proposition was simple enough, but there was still the slight problem of resources. The Resu could certain create the technology, or teach his company how to create it for their own ends in starship construction, but the necessary exotic material would need to be extracted first. After all, one cannot build a horse-drawn carriage without horses to carry it, the same was true of Resu-drawn starships, you needed the proper resources.

"Willingness insterstellar travel truth, starship control, truth. Enlist Resu operation, truth. Dilemma: lack of Pressurized Liquid Metallic Hydrogen mining facility. Suggest gas giant exploitation of lower atmospheric core. Orbital station in upper atmosphere storm shielded, magnetic pressurization tubes penetrate lower atmosphere, absorb Pressurized Liquid Metallic Hydrogen from core at distance. Posses necessary resources for construction?"

For a race so hellbent on familicidal civil war for thousands of generations, it appeared the exiled Iron Giant well into her Veteran years was for the most part, adept for civil discourse and communication... when she wasn't compelled to kill a man she couldn't understand. It was, after all, rather difficult to get upset when discussing technological innovation.

[member="Bryce Bantam"]

 

[Bryce Bantam]

Humm, she made a very good point. We did need the resourced to make the tech before we could, well make the tech. Everything though she was talking about was well withing already existing technology. In fact, the "Revenge" was an exploration vessel, made to travel to hazardous, like the upper atmosphere of a gas giant. Order in a few magnetic pressurization tubes from [member="Saffron"] and boom, we get us a makeshift mining vessel.

"Tell you what Ms. Giant, give me two weeks to get some equipment and I think we are in business. I can have us up and pumping hydrogen in about a month tops. So if I get ya the materials we got a deal?"

[member="Iron Giant"]

 

[Iron Giant]

"Giant, two weeks equipment think business. Pumping Hydrogen in month. Material possessed, deal?"

Though it was slightly difficult for her to understand, she had enough experience in the galaxy to infer a little of what he was saying. In two weeks he'd have his equipment or business, and in a month Hydrogen mining would begin. He then wondered about the deal. She wondered briefly if he meant a deal in which she would demonstrate the use of her technology as a prerequisite for obtaining hyperdrive accessibility upon obtaining the necessary resources, or if the deal referred to was one which included hypderdrive accessibility for obtaining hypderdrive accessibility with any necessary demonstration as a prerequisite. Which ever the case, she decided she would honor the deal, so long as it could be conveyed to her in a manner she understood properly at the time.

Once more she proceeded to initiate the alien "nod", which came off more exaggerated to the point it was nearly a short bow.

"Truth. Negotiations over." She was about to leave, before a very important question came to mind. This new lunar home was similar yes, but there was one issue which remained unresolved. The only reason why Shikyu's oceans were distilled with hydrogen at all was due to the plant life which evolved there... it was entirely implausible that this moon too would posses oceans distilled in hydrogen. They would have to construct something that would protect them from suffocating in these new alien waters... which meant a great deal of time would be spent in there freighters. That was an uncomfortable thought to think, that her refugees would be forced to remain in their vessels until the issue of breath-ability was addressed.

A planet's ocean's could not be just distilled with hydrogen over night... it would take time. A structure would have to be built in all likely just underneath the icy surface, or directly into it. Pockets of water within the crust reinforced by freighter scraps to protect from plate shifting, distilled with hydrogen and spacious and or numerous enough to fit all of them while the researched a more permanent solution. She had intended to ask about how they were going to live on their new home, but quickly realized that Resu pioneering ingenuity could come up with a solution without outside assistance. They had done it at least 120 other times over the past several hundred years, they would do it again here.

"Proceed with duties." She then turned, and walked out. Presumably to speak with Steel Broker in the hanger, who was analyzing the foreign design of the ships.

[member="Bryce Bantam"]