59Dominion Summons
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Starcraft, Gate: Thus the JSDF Fought There, or Summon Japan as they are the properties of Blizzard, Takumi Yanai, and Minoro in relation to their intellectual property.
"Talking"
Thoughts
Ch. 8
~ Idunn ~
Bozes was hard at work going through documents as quickly and efficiently as she could. Today her schedule was fully packed with inspections, meetings, and information updates.
For international news in the most blunt way of putting it, this world was a mess. There was still quite a lot of civilizations they haven't investigated yet. But for those they did, it was constant conflict. Wars being declared, conquests of other lands, shady backdoor dealings, coup attempts, the list was getting absurd. If the residents of this world had access to W.M.D., this planet would have been a lifeless rock by now. Not that she had much room to criticize as she wasn't much different to them decades ago. But still, this level of aggression was lunacy.
However the full account with Louria advertised both their diplomacy and military strength.
As much as they needed friends right now, it would be foolish to just accept anyone considering what plans they had moving forward. Hence the need for their intelligence groups to scrutinize every little detail of their potential allies to insure that there was no unforeseen pitfalls in such a relationship.
So far they had made contact with countries in proximity to them as they are showing their delegates around giving them a taste of Dominion culture.
Among them were those who showed statistically safer relationships. Sios and Topa were already on board as they wanted this to work. The former due to growing tensions with Parpaldia. The latter due to supposedly a greater threat with 'demons'. Their intelligence wasn't sure if it was a parable for something they didn't understand or it really was some kind of horrific life form. But for the time being they were welcomed.
Awan and Mao were on the wary side which was understandable. Parpaldia was a threat as there was no doubt about that. However the Dominion with it's military power could give rise to something worse. As an old Terran saying went, 'better the devil you know than the devil you don't'. However Awan was more pragmatic as the situation couldn't be worse then it already was. Besides, based on the current evidence, if the Dominion was as bad as Parpaldia then Qua-Toyne and Quila would have already fallen. The fact they haven't was a plus for them at the very least. But for Mao, they were not exactly in a hurry. Although they were being threatened they had some buffer room as Riem kingdom served as their shield from attacks.
But for Riem itself, they might prove problematic. Although they were interested in diplomatic relationships they were exceedingly opportunistic. In terms of military power, they were not at Parpaldia's level. But were strong enough to avoid being openly challenged by them. But due to their nature there was a high chance of betrayal if someone antagonistic to the Dominion offered them a better deal. From what they knew thus far, there was no one on Elysia who could compare to their technological superiority. But as history has shown, greed can easily create terrible situations. Thus for the time being they would turn them down until something in the situation has changed.
Then there was the nations of Fenn and Altaras. Being the closest to Parpaldia's border, they were being pressured into joining. Thus Dominion delegates would be sent to them along with a protection detail to study their situation. This was scheduled to take place a week from now.
But then there was the matter of Mu. This nation was considered one of Elysia's super powers as they existed in the second zone. Based on their rough estimates, they were equivalent to early 20th century Earth. At first they had sent messages through merchant ships which was painfully slow. But once formal contact had been established, delegates were dispatched to make first contact with them.
Based on first impressions, they were friendly enough. However much to the amusement of their delegates, Mu tried to show off how advanced they were in terms of their technology and knowledge wanting to see their shocked faces while gauging their reactions. Whether it was rudeness or pride, it was up to interpretation.
But then came the shocking part when they toured their history museum. Mu was in fact originally from Earth.
Looking at their globe and comparing it to Dominion logs, there was no mistake it was Earth.
Thus the Dominion and Mu shared common ancestry and in a way perhaps made them natural allies. However to Bozes and those of Falmartian descent, it didn't mean much. Though for the Terrans she talked too, their feelings on the matter were a bit complicated. Due to their ancestors being banished and later invaded by the U.E.D., it didn't exactly give them any warm and fuzzy feelings.
However this was well after Mu's time and obviously had no part of the blame. With everything they knew about the universe, it might not have been the same Earth in the first place. Thus there really was no point in holding a grudge against them.
But with an industrialized nation like them as an ally, it would be beneficial to them. Bozes would be meeting with Mu's representative later in the day before going on to other meetings.
~ Idunn ~
Engineers and technicians had their work cut out for them as there was much to do.
They had recently finished their space base. It was basically a heavily modified starport as it's core with other add-ons for living spaces, supply depots, repair stations, training areas, and launchers for orbital drops. With these adjustments, they needed to account for long term use and functionality. Thus the installation of orbital elevators, gravity tethers, and tractor beams. With this they could set up a steady supply line from the surface as well as recall troops from the ground.
Additionally weapon platforms were being built in. In the event air support was not available, they needed something that could step in to assist ground forces. Thus missile silos and laser batteries could fill in this role.
Once diagnostics and checks had been cleared it was ready for active duty.
But as discussed by Idunn's higher ups, a new military project was put into place. A project that got an old dwarf miffed.
Gimli sighed deeply as he looked over the schematics notes. It was a new battleship that he and several other designers put a lot of hours into. These plans were to be submitted before authorization was given. Once passed, their industrial grade fabricators will get to work building the hull and core super structure of the ship. From there, their miniature army of mechanics and engineers will assemble the delicate pieces that requires a more hands on approach.
However what got Gimli so peeved was that this was not a space faring vessel but a ship that only sailed on the water.
Dwarfs prided themselves on being the best of the best when it comes to any craftsmanship. Of course there have been exceptions to the rule based on an individuals artistic value or preferences. But in the end depending on who you talk too, it would be insulting if not considered borderline heresy in their culture to send out anything that could be viewed as faulty product.
Before Falmart was annexed, his kind were revered for their work. Whether it was building a house or weapons of war, dwarfs were the first people anyone would want.
But upon meeting the Dominion and knowing what was out there in the galaxy, it only served as a painful lesson to them to how little they actually knew. However they were equally thankful with how revolutionary it was as their knowledge and skills can now go much further.
After forty years, the dwarfs entire society had transformed fully embracing Dominion technology and science as they made it their own having developed their own twists on it. Aside from playing catch up, they'd like to think they were nipping at the heels of Terran engineers keeping them on their toes or else they were going to surpass them. Thus their generation had built many wonders that would leave their ancestors absolutely green with envy.
Hence why this ship was considered a travesty. It was quite advance by comparison to everything they've seen on this planet. Armed with several types of weapons, support systems, multiple sensors, this was a good battleship. But by Dominion standards and more importantly dwarf culture, it was laughably obsolete by centuries. Though a few of the systems were more modern, much of it's capabilities would be considered lacking when put side by side to their other military vehicles and vessels.
As irked as Gimli was, he understood as he had a preview of the Dominion Protectorate initiative. So all he could do was endure it. But at least the job was simple as this would allow him and his team to get back to researching their other stuff.
~ Idunn ~
Myrus felt like a kid at a candy store.
Although his official job was a technical officer, he was given the task to analyze the newly emerged nation that appeared in the third zone. From the outlandish stories being told with how the Dominion crushed Louria, it should've been treated as nothing more then fantastical tales of some insignificant nation trying to make themselves look stronger then what they really were.
But nevertheless it was something that they at the very least should take a glance at no matter how preposterous it sounded.
After trading messages through merchants, the Dominion was given authorization to enter their borders.
When their delegates came to Mu, he was surprised at the ship they came in as it was unlike anything he had ever seen before as he didn't understand the concept behind it. But regardless, he would put his best foot forward in showing off the greatness of his country's scientific and technological abilities.
Taking their tour, he showed off some of their military equipment.
The Marin, their most cutting edge fighter plane that was propeller driven powered by a reciprocating combustion engine.
La Kasami, a dreadnought class ship with it's intimidating number of guns.
And their infantry training using bolt action rifles showing how effective their weapons were.
Yet the Dominion delegates didn't even seem phased as they only gave brief comments like 'interesting' or 'I see'. Frankly he wasn't sure what their reactions were. But if anything it seemed like they were trying to hold back their amusement like watching a child showing off their favorite toy. Straining his ears, he even heard comments of 'how classic' and 'cute' it all was.
As Myrus thought about it, either the Dominion didn't understand the things he was showing them or possibly though improbable that they were more advanced themselves.
Taking them to the museum to exhibit their history and knowledge of astronomy, he finally got them to react. Seeing the globe of their home world, they must've been surprised to learn about the concepts of celestial bodies like stars, moons, and planets. Yet it wasn't what he thought it was. Upon discussion with the delegates he learned the Dominion were from Earth. To him, they now had much to talk about like catching up with long lost family or old friends.
Thus he was invited to Idunn to have a more in-depth talk with the higher ups.
To accompany him was Lassan a tactical officer to assess the Dominion's military power.
It would take five days for the La Chaos passenger aircraft to reach Idunn. Their delegates offered to use their ship to transport them. But their offer was turned down. Aside from it being a matter of pride, it would give them time to prepare themselves. Knowing they had radio technology, they gave them their frequency so that they could communicate upon their arrival to where to land.
Bringing them to the present, Myrus and Lassan eyes were glued to the window as they had a sky view of Idunn.
Just looking at the mega structures all over the land mass was already a good indicator of how advanced they were. But the more they saw the more Myrus and Lassan mouth's could only hang open wider in disbelief.
Fleets of flying vehicles.
Three dimensional projections of light constructs.
Many other things they couldn't even begin to wrap their heads around.
Although this was just a small taste, this was all just so outrageous. They had asked if the Dominion used any magic based technology only for them to affirm they were mechanical based. Yet looking at all this, how could any of this be mechanical based?!
"La Chaos, this is Idunn landing station. Do you read us?" the radio buzzed out.
"We read you Idunn station. Give us our landing coordinates".
"Roger that" as the pilot soon spotted light signals as they were given additional information of elevation and wind speed so that they could land as softly as possible.
Upon exiting Myrus and Lassan were welcomed by a group of people.
Standing in front of them was a beautiful woman with long blond drilled hair as she wore what they assumed was a high ranking uniform. "Greetings envoy of Mu. We welcome you all to Idunn. I am governess Bozes Co Palesti as I will personally be the one to show you around. I do sincerely hope you enjoy the sights as we can then form a friendship between us".
"We are honored that you would come out to greet us like this" said Myrus. If her title was as they thought it was, it was not something to scoff at.
"Come and take some time to freshen up" as Bozes waved them to their vehicles.
To the technical officer, it was yet another example of their incredible ingenuity as he had so many questions about how it worked but needed to put off for later. After some time to clean themselves up and getting something to eat, they met up with the governess in a meeting room. Starting things off casually, the best way was to start from what they had in common. "It was a great surprise for us that the Dominion is also from Earth. Thus we would like to learn more of the history of our former home world".
Bozes could only give a stiff smile with how incredibly cumbersome such a simple question was based on what she knew. "It's a little hard for me to say as Terran history is very long and complicated" as she was bracing herself for the less intricate but more awkward part of what she was about to say. "Although I am human, I'm not actually Terran".
"Terran?"
"It's the name for humans who come from Earth".
"So . . . . You're not from Earth?"
"As I said, this is where things get complicated. Correlating with Mu's history files and comparing it to our own, hundreds and hundreds of years have already passed since the time Mu came here to Elysia. Although it's difficult to pin point how much time has passed based on the accuracy of historical records, Terrans had long since expanded beyond the Earth colonizing several solar systems across the Milky Way galaxy".
Myrus and Lassan had gone silent waiting for Bozes to claim she was joking. But seeing how serious her face was, it was anything but. Thus it really turned out science fiction truly wasn't fiction anymore. For if her claims were true then they didn't just possess technology that conquered the skies but also to sail the stars.
This then spawned a whole new set of different thoughts.
For Myrus, he needed to know all about their science and technology. Though initially he now felt embarrassed for touting out Mu's accomplishments. But putting that aside, what the Dominion could teach them would be revolutionary. If they decided to share this knowledge it would open up an entirely new frontier for his people. He would do everything in his power to insist that Mu's government officials make this relationship work.
As for Lassan, he could only give out cold sweat. The advantage of any war has always been decided by a few key factors as proven by history. Namely distance, sophistication, and logistics. He hasn't even seen any of the Dominion's weapons of war. However none of that actually mattered. If they truly had space ships then they will always have the overwhelming advantage as there were no weapons or defenses in this world that they knew of that could counter such a thing. Thus in his report he would do everything in his power to insure that Mu's government officials doesn't make an enemy out of them.
But that was not the end of their surprises.
"During the course of the Dominion's exploration and expansion, they had encountered many alien things out there". Although surprising to Mu's observers, it really shouldn't have been since it wasn't a far fetched idea that alien life did exist out there. "But about forty years ago, that's when the Dominion came upon my home world of Falmart".
This then spawned another set of questions.
There were humans who evolved independently from Earth?
Were the Dominion actually violent and conquered her home world?
Should they expect retaliation if they didn't bend their knee to them?
Seeing their complicated expressions and guessing what they were thinking, Bozes once again could only give them a strained smile as she continued her story. "It is true that my home world was annexed by the Dominion. However it was not done out of force or fear. Forty years ago, our people were nothing more then barbaric savages who only knew how to grow through destroying and taking from others. For there existed an interesting piece of alien technology there we called 'the gate'. It was capable of opening up doorways across inter-stellar, inter-galactic, and even inter-dimensional distances as the purpose of my home world was to create a rich ecology with an astounding bio-diversity. Frankly, no one really knows who the original natives of the planet were anymore".
Giving them a moment to digest what she said, Bozes continued.
"For a time, an empire known as Sadera was the dominant power on Falmart as our civilization was quite similar to Louria or Qua-Toyne. In our greed and arrogance, we sought to conquer lands beyond our own by using the gate. That's how we met the Dominion as our armies marched onto their world baring threats of slavery and death. However we were quickly repelled. Instead of meeting us with the same violence we showed them, they offered us mercy. They only ever used force when it was absolutely necessary. I'd rather not bore you with the details. But in the end, the empress of Sadera had united all the races under the banner of peace and understanding as we soon became part of the Dominion. Thus we will forever be thankful to them for showing us a better way as they ended the fighting and bloodshed on our world as we are now able to prosper and grow. In fact, Falmart is one of the wealthiest world's in the Dominion being a central trading hub. It's also has several major tourist attractions".
Hearing how genuine Bozes sounded, Mu's observers could only feel skeptical about it with how fantastical it was. They needed to rethink their stance. As also noted by history, it was written by the winners.
Perhaps some of what she said were accurate accounts. But was the Dominion truly as benevolent as shown on paper?
From their perspective, as pragmatically pessimistic as it sounded, it was more then likely that the Dominion with it's superior technology forcibly subjugated her world all for the purpose of attaining such a rare and powerful alien technology in the gate. They would then exploit the world for it's many exotic oddities and material resources. For those born under this new regime, they were fed this version of history while those of the old were kept in the shadows away from prying eyes.
However it was easier to know what the truth was as they have seen some elves around. If they were like the elves of this world, then they would have lived through it to give them a definitive answer. To them, Bozes was roughly in her twenties. So she would only ever know of the world after the Dominion had taken over.
On the same page as each other, they weren't quite sure how to broach such a topic. But like any type of interrogation, they would use a simple and innocuous question to gauge the situation. "We have to say it's rather impressive that someone as young as you would be a governing such a large territory like this".
"Well actually it used to be a lot more as we won a bid to develop a planet. Skipping over a lot of details, the Dominion with the cooperation of two other alien races were capable of building entirely new solar systems. Among them, Idunn was one of the worlds that was created. So more accurately, this country wasn't named Idunn as it was actually the name of the entire planet as my full title was planetary governor. As for young . . . . " as Bozes couldn't help but give a bashful chuckle, "it's been a long time since I've been called that as that's rather flattering".
Out of impulse unable to stop themselves, "how old are you?"
"Roughly speaking I'd be around sixty to seventy years old. But who's counting anymore" Bozes playfully shrugged.
Having even more information to digest, it was all getting too much for the Mu's delegates to take anymore as their emotions were getting the better of them. Unable to keep it down, "what?!" they both shouted as they now had more things they needed to ask.
To be continued . . . .
Author's notes: I am a serious fan of culture shock moments in any story. Whether it's introducing a new idea, technology, or way of how things are done. To me, it's always fun to see them give a big reaction and becoming mind blown at the potential possibilities that has opened up to them in the world. With that out of the way, now onto some commentary.
Other nations outlook to the Dominion would not have changed in relation to canon since this was their opening debut on the grand stage. If anything they probably would've been more wary considering how quickly they overpowered Louria in relation to canon as it took Japan about a week to do it while the Dominion did it within a day. As for the countries that were introduced, they would've been the first ones they made contact with or contacted them back in relation to chronology.
There were other nations in the third zone talked about that does appear later in the story. But not sure if I should officially introduce them or leave them as footnote. But unless I have a reason to introduce them then more then likely will leave them as a footnote.
Don't have an official name yet for the new nautical battleship the Dominion is building. So I am open to suggestions. I have a rough idea about what it will be equipped with. But it should be pretty obvious why the tech on this ship was purposely down graded. If not, it will be apparent in the next chapter.
Honestly from every story that has featured dwarfs, this seems to be one of the unifying ideas when it comes to their craftsmanship. They will always produce quality product. Equally so, they would find it beneath them to be going backwards in terms of design and function unless they really had too. Otherwise everything they would build would be the best of their abilities. The LN/manga 'Mezametara saikyou soubi to uchuusen-mochi datta no de, ikkodate mezashite youhei toshite jiyuu ni ikitai' would give a good idea on how they would look and act in this story.
Giving a Mu's perspective on things as they talk to the Dominion. For their analysis, I'd say it's fair that they are on the side of skeptical as things that sounds too good to be true generally is. Hence why Mu would be approaching them in such a wary way. For Myrus, sure he would be ecstatic to the amazing technology they possess. For Lassan, scared as hell with how easily the Dominion could flatten them. But they would both be in agreement in their danger assessment from how Bozes was describing the Dominion empire on how they acquired Falmart.
But by next chapter, they are going to be even more surprised with how far their science and tech goes. More so what they are planning moving forward.
If there are any questions or concerns feel free to ask as I'll try to answer them.
So thank you for reading as I further extend my gratitude if you can review as well.