Chapter 117: 115 Transportation

"Naturalization?" It was a new term for Titanyana, someone who was not yet embroiled in the world of governmental administration.

"It's the process through which an immigrant is given the rights and privileges of a citizen of said nation. You can't vote in elections or benefit from social programs unless you are a citizen, at least that is how I think we should set up our government." Diana started prattling off about what she wanted in a government. "Obviously the elected officials will have to be subject to our will, Donovan, but they should be able to handle some problems independent of our supervision."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves Diana."

More new terms, more confusion for the star struck young lady. "Citizen? Election? Social Programs?"

"I wouldn't worry about that sort of thing for the moment, young one. You have much more pressing concerns." Chestnut put down her cup, finally finished with her tea. "Now that your people, the Nekh, are officially considered subjects to the Terran . . . whatever you decide to call your nation in the future, I am now in a position to provide some materiel assistance."

"Aren't you already doing that?" Don received dagger eyes from Diana, this wasn't something he was supposed to bring up.

Chestnut sighed, Don's lack of tact was almost certainly going to be a problem in the future. "At the moment the Sanctum is supplying you with what you need. What I plan to do falls squarely on my shoulders. I am free to do whatever I please with the resources at my direct disposal, albeit with some limitations."

"But aren't you a part of the Sanctum?" Don once again failed to hold his tongue.

"Yes, but there are still people I have influence over and resources that can't be used elsewhere. I seem to recall that there was a small fleet of ships that were recently seized from some arrogant noble, alongside a small complement of slaves that crewed them." Chestnut tapped her cheek with her finger, looking to the ceiling as if to remember specifics. "Naturally none of them fit the Sanctum's standards for use in our navy, and we are not permitted to keep a large merchant fleet, and we cannot sell them out of fear they may once again return to his service, so they have been gifted to the Great Csillacra as matter of ceremony. I'm sure I could convince it to relinquish ownership to someone in dire need of them until they can create a fleet of their own."

Diana herself took a good hard think about this, was she referencing something?

"Why not just destroy them then?" Donovan, ever the realist, gave his honest opinion on the subject.

Chestnut shook her head. "Those ships are expensive, Donovan, not that I expect you to understand with your industrial capacity. It takes a team of experienced craftsmen a year to construct a ship capable of carrying only a single person across the stars, four years to make one capable of carrying a hundred, and a decade to make one that carries two thousand. Simply throwing them away like that would be an incredible waste, though I will say that the fact they are often left unmaintained in storage has not proven healthy for their ability to function."

"Lord Kelly!" Diana yelled it out as if she had just solved a puzzle. "The ships are from Lord Kelly!"

"Was that the name of that unpleasant rodent? But yes, those ships were seized from him." Chestnut knew his name, Lord Kelly stood out as being one of the most spectacularly annoying individuals she had run into, she just wanted to make her disdain for him clear. "I can also make use of the individuals permanently assigned to the Oberlux as they, with the exception of the Captain, fall under my direct employ. That said I must apologize that I am in no position to loan you the Oberlux as it is part of the Great Csillacra's body."

"Is the Captain independent?" Donovan was having a really hard time understanding the command structure of the Sanctum. The top echelons were pretty easy to understand, the Great Csillacra -> the Arboreal Maiden -> the Grand Elders, but everything beyond that may as well have been a mystery to him. 

"No the Captain falls under the jurisdiction of the Grand Elders. Seeing as they are privy to more detailed information on individuals and pay far more attention to matters than my station permits, they select the most capable individual for the job. His acting under their direction, even if that direction is to follow my orders, is a way for them to shift the responsibility for his failures, and in turn the failures of my subordinates, onto themselves rather than leaving it with me or the Sanctum as a whole."

Donovan really wanted to hold his head, the pain from trying to work this chain of command out. "So the crew of the Oberlux are your subordinates, except they act at the behest of the Captain, who is a representative of the Grand Elders, who work to maintain the Sanctum on your orders, while you serve as an intermediary of the Great Csillacra's will?"

Chestnut nodded in satisfaction. "That would be correct. Though I might add that even though the other members of the Oberlux's crew are also selected by the Grand Elders, they are my subordinates as a means to prevent other parties from influencing them." 

"That sounds like a nightmare to deal with."

"It isn't that bad considering that all parties involved usually follow my will whenever I ask of them. There have been some moments of resistance in the past, but as far as I can recall they have not been without good reason."

Donovan wanted to suggest streamlining her chain of command, but he recognized that politics and diplomacy were at play here.

"Anyways, back to the topic at hand. One of the crew of the Oberlux is someone who I truly have no right to order around, the Navigator. He, like myself, is a god, specifically the god of Navigation. However I believe that he will be perfectly happy with finding an efficient route between your two planets."

"He's a god?" Don was the one to be shocked this time around, he had spoken with that man incredibly improperly if that was the case.

Chestnut laughed in response to Donovan's surprise. "He certainly doesn't give off that aura, does he? He's got something of a one-track mind for navigating, such is the source of his divinity, but he has always struck me as being far more focused on it than most. Of course, that makes him the ideal candidate for the navigator on board the Oberlux, seeing as it's purpose is to delve into uncharted territory."

"Speaking of territory, what do we do about transit through other nations' space?" Diana brought up the question that had just come to mind. "Surely they wouldn't be happy about a convoy going through their territory unmolested would they?"

Titanyana's ears perked up again, more problems?

"I suspect that so long as you maintain a sufficient berth from their planets and make it abundantly clear that you in no way intend to bring harm to them, they should be fine with it. Otherwise, having crew aboard hailing from the Sanctum should serve as sufficient deterrence to armed seizure. The worst case scenario would probably be a small toll, but most nations do not place much emphasis on taxing transit through their territory, space is just too big and too hard to patrol to make profitable."

Diana nodded, satisfied, while Titanyana sighed in relief. If Donovan's words were anything to work off of, then even a second's delay meant the death of six Nekh.

Obviously the fact she still thought it meant that many implied she still held hope somewhere in her heart that all of her people could be saved.

"What about the Holifanians? Do you think they might be persuaded to help?" Donovan was just spit balling ideas at this point, but with a solid starting point it was time to look for ways to increase their logistical capacity.

"That will depend on you, I'm afraid. Time and time again, the Holifanians have proven themselves to be quite indifferent to the suffering of others, even those next to them, though I do suppose that is the galactic standard at this point. It was only at my urging that they ever mobilized to mitigate the more grand catastrophes, reluctantly so at that." Chestnut pursed her lips, disappointed in their performance.

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"Perhaps a trade deal of sorts?" Diana put forth a possible path. "I can't imagine what they would want, but we could probably afford to part with some technologies and production methods that are above but close to their level. We would only be borrowing it right?"

"That may prove difficult depending on their own logistical situation, but it is worth a shot."

"How do you mean, Donovan?"

"If we assume that they've gotten themselves down to a peacetime tempo then it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume they only have enough supply and transport ships running to maintain the system they have in place. It would take time to train crew and take their surplus out of mothball."

Diana sat there utterly baffled. "Why? Didn't they say their military is industrialized? Wouldn't that take a lot of maintenance?"

"Maybe, but they haven't used that military in ages. If we factor in the fact that their required power ratio to be competitive on the galactic stage, they probably have a far smaller military, and therefore logistical base, than you think. We might be better off just asking for the ships and a small group that will help train the crews."

"Alternatively, you might be able to request the services of some of their interplanetary merchant corporations." Chestnut dropped a bombshell they weren't expecting.

"Their what?"

"To the best of my knowledge they have a few independent merchant associations responsible for transporting merchandise and people from planet to planet. So long as you offer the proper compensation and receive clearance from their government, they may be willing to take on some of the burden." The Arboreal Maiden was really reaching into the depths of her memory now, this knowledge was ancient. "Just because their government enforces indifferent isolation doesn't mean that their people are heartless. I'm positive you would receive some volunteers if Titanyana made her case to them directly."

Diana scratched her head. "Would that really be okay though?"

"Is there something wrong with it?"

"I mean, not that I can see. . . but I can't help but feel like there's just something wrong with that arrangement. Like there's something we would be missing if we tried."

"Is it because we don't have any money?" Donovan immediately thought to their other pressing concern, economics.

Diana snapped her fingers. "That's it, we're broke." Diana exhaled, exasperated. Technically they weren't just broke, they were deep in the red. "Anything that we could sell to them to make a profit we could better use ourselves."

Chestnut's eyebrows furrowed. "I can see how that might be problematic, but are you certain that is really the case?"

"They are isolationists, Diana. That also applies to their economic systems."

Diana shook her head. "But it doesn't. Part of my diplomatic training with them is going to involve negotiation of their trade deals her in the Sanctum. Now I don't know exactly what it entails mind you, but it could spell disaster for us if we let something vital slip."

Don nodded. "Then for the moment we will consider them not to be an option, at least not until we learn more about how they work. Does that seem reasonable to you Diana? I don't want to strike them as a potential source of transport without being certain."

"That's reasonable. I will consult Montaug about it when next we convene."

"Good. What about you, Titanyana?"

"H-huh? Oh, um, yes. I'd like to save as many people as possible, so." She wasn't expecting to have a say in this conversation.

"Good to hear." Donovan scratched his neck before continuing. "Alright so our guaranteed sources of transportation come from our shipyard, whenever it gets up and running, and those ships that you 'own'. Our potential sources of transportation come from the Sanctum if we can convince the Grand Elders to add it to our reparations-"

"What gave you the idea that was on the table?" Chestnut interrupted him, externally a little annoyed but internally very pleased.

"Um, why wouldn't it be?" Donovan himself seemed to question his own judgement now. "We don't have the ability to perform actions we otherwise would have, what the hell else would reparations be for? If not to enable those actions to some degree?"

Unsurprisingly, Diana was nervously nodding along with him. This was a basic understanding of what reparations were, but it wasn't wrong per se.

"Hmm. If you manage to convince them, I will not veto the move."

"Alright so continuing, our potential sources of transportation com from the Sanctum, the Holifanian military if we can convince their government, and the Holifanian merchant guilds or whatever they are. Does that sound right?"

All parties (save the dog) gave some form of approval.

"If we are done with this topic for the time being, there is something else I would like to discuss, something I suggest you bring that boy in here for."

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