A New Home (9703 BBT)

A1-0
,
1

==== LIBRARY OF PHOENIX ARCHIVES ====

RBS Crabelo
Steward’s Log #228

Today is currently… June 13th, 2315. The system has woken me up off-schedule because it seems we have approached a habitable planet. It also woke up all the scientists that were loaded up in the lower deck, and as I speak, they are either running tests or getting their bearings. 250 years in space will mess up a person. Just look at me, heh.

When I went down to check on the scientists, there were two kinds of people I found. There were those who were excited to finally find somewhere suitable to settle down, and then there were those who still had burning memories of the war. It’s understandable- after all, for them, the war was just last week. One of them came up to me and said, “I’m going to get those damn Emeraldians one day.” I told him they were far away from here, but he said that he would get them somehow.

The more patriotic among the scientists named the planet Phoenix, since they believe Báraarde will rise from the ashes and conquer the galaxy, or something along those lines. I don’t think the name will stick, though. I assume they are all still recuperating from the fact that most of them had to leave their families behind, if they even still had one after the nukes dropped. Probably trying to distract themselves with trivial things so they don’t have to think about it.

Anyways, the system tells me that this planet orbits a K0V-type star and that it shares the system with only two other planets. This planet has two moons, and the others have none. It’s a bit disappointing, since it means there is less opportunity in terms of minerals, but I suppose this planet’s massive size will make up for it. I’m not sure how our bodies will react to the higher gravity of this planet, but I’m sure we’ll figure something out. Or our bones will shatter. Hopefully that won’t happen.

I’m worrying about the other two colony ships that were sent out, the Rivierdorp and the Oseaanmense. We lost the Rivierdorp about 100 years ago, and I’m not sure where the Oseaanmense went. They just… disappeared. It’s incredibly strange. I hope they’re alright. The last transmission from the Rivierdorp was talking about how they had “found something”, which hopefully means they found another place to settle down, and the Oseaanmense just stopped sending signals one day. Maybe we can find them one day. Since we- hopefully- have found a new home, that day might not be as far as I think.

Well… oh, it appears I’m being called to the lower deck. They say they want me to see something.

– End of Log –

==== LIBRARY OF PHOENIX ARCHIVES ====

1 Like
2

==== LIBRARY OF PHOENIX ARCHIVES ====

RBS Crabelo
Steward’s Log #229

Well, it turns out there is good news and bad news. The good news is that the planet is habitable. Its atmosphere is surprisingly similar to Pacifica’s atmosphere, which means that it is perfect for humans. Also, the scientists assured me that the higher gravity wouldn’t be a problem- they said that, over time, our bodies would slowly adapt to it without causing any major issues.

The bad news… the planet is inhabited by sentient creatures. They look like large ferns, but they walk. Fortunately, they seem to be just figuring out how agriculture works. They have crude weaponry, nothing that we need to be worried about. We can just build a short wall around our settlements until we figure out how to communicate with them and they won’t be a problem.

What I am really worried about is not the ability of the walking fern to harm us, but of us to harm the walking fern. I was vehemently against the forced labor camps back on Pacifica, and I am still against anything similar to those now. Unfortunately, I just happened to get assigned to the ship with Daniël Kotze, the demon who was running the camps on Pacifica from 2022 up until our departure in the 50s. He was talking about the “potential” of these creatures, which I have a suspicion means the potential of the walking fern to serve the human.

I despise the idea of turning these walking ferns into what is essentially a slave race. Back on Pacifica, my father witnessed the Batho genocide first-hand. He told me about how terrible it was, all those people being killed needlessly. And of course, when a group of people is targeted just for being in that group of people, they will retaliate. Something that is not taught in Báraardean schools are the Oseaanmense massacres. These massacres were carried out in Oseaanmense by the Batho Liberation Group targeting ethnic Dietaal people. Many people died. Many, many people.

I worry about something like that happening here. We’re supposed to have a fresh start, away from the demons that haunt our past. An opportunity to do things right where our fathers failed. That includes not starting any needless ethnic violence. After all, I thought overcoming racism was part of becoming an interstellar civilization. Although… maybe racism is just human nature.

– End of Log –

==== LIBRARY OF PHOENIX ARCHIVES ====

1 Like
3

==== LIBRARY OF PHOENIX ARCHIVES ====

RBS Crabelo
Steward’s Log #232

Today is now April 3rd, 2316. I haven’t done one of these in… almost a year now, so let me fill whoever is reading these in on what has been going on. The last time I made one of these was on June 29th, 2315. I’m not sure why I’ve decided to record another one of these. Although, I think it’s because I just want my opinion to be remembered for the future, so I can let my descendants say “I told you so” when all hell inevitably breaks loose.

They have finally decided to name the planet Phoenix. I didn’t think it would stick, but it seems as if I was wrong. Although, I was right about lots of other things. They’ve built a settlement around where the ship landed. They’ve named it New Crabelo, after the ship. The ship itself has pretty much turned into a central “common area” where the town council goes to meet. I still live here, in the steward’s quarters. I go around exploring, finding new food sources for our rapidly growing population. It’s a pretty fun job, and nobody seems to mind. I’ve logged about 100 species of plants and animals. Lots of strange things, both unfamiliar and extremely familiar.

Like the walking ferns. The others have… domesticated them. That’s probably the best way to put it. I’d say there’s about 500 of them in the control of New Crabelo, and our best estimates have put the total amount of them on the planet at around 1 million. It seems they are developing pretty quickly. The 500 ferns who are in the control of the town have figured out the basics of agriculture and are constructing small huts in the reserve that has been made for them.

The scientists in the settlement are already figuring out ways to exploit them. They’re just unable to experience the joy of nature without trying to find out how to make it benefit them, I suppose. Although, they’re also trying to figure out ways to communicate with them. And for that, they’ve called on me. I don’t know why I agreed; I know they’re just going to use this to better take advantage of them. Although, there is a small part of me that believes I can stop this. That if I just tell them to get out, run as far away from here as possible, and to tell everyone they can find to stay away from the humans, they can thrive and we could never harm them. That won’t happen, but I’ll try anyways.

I believe the scientists have figured out how to implant some translator and speaker into their central nervous system. I have no idea how it works, but I assume it’s just some fancy science magic. They want me to try and communicate with the ferns, because the scientists aren’t really anyone they’d want to talk to, and I guess I am.

So… I’ll try the “run away” thing, and I’ll see if it works. Or if I can even do it to begin with. I’ll make another update once this whole thing goes down. Hopefully, I can warn the walking ferns that the path they are going down now will only lead to their demise. If I can’t… well, I hope someone figures it out eventually.

– End of Log –

==== LIBRARY OF PHOENIX ARCHIVES ====

1 Like