Azguardian Enlightenment to the Galaxy. (NR)

[Dolash]

Dolash, High Lord of the Azguard people, looked to the sky.

For a hundred millenia, his people have looked to the sky, and have seen nothing but stars. Dolash looked up, and saw oppourtunity. His people, The Azguards, had lived on their world of mountains and rivers, unaware of the vastness of the galaxy around them, but times had changed.

After his election to the post of High Lord of all Azguard, he decided it was time to take a stand. Working for long months, often with little progress, scientists launched probes further and further afield, using more advanced technological systems then ever before. Technologically, their world was still climbing the ladder, but all that was to change when probe X-34B crashed onto a passing merchant ship.

It was twenty years ago, and the merchants were intrigued. They followed the probe back to Azguard, and found a people willing to pay ten times the value of their trade goods. Unbeknownst to them, they had started a people down a road of amazing technological advancment and achievement. The simple devices they were given were broken down, examined, and created vast new technological and scientific theories based on their findings.

Armed with this knowledge, it was not long before their first hyper-space capable vessel came about, the Yunos. It took long trips deep into the galaxy, recording countless messages and facts, listening in on the news of the galaxy. It was a vital link to the galaxy, what people hoped would be the first of many.

Then, finally, a scientist confirmed that they had created a hyper-space drive that could be mass-produced, along with ships that could withstand Hyperspace for prolonged durations. This meant that, if they so chose, the Azguards could begin exploring the galaxy. There were many opinions on the matter, and it was felt the safest way to join the galaxy would be to join with a larger, galactic government.

So, after months of listening to the passage of words across space, Dolash decided that he would journey to the lands of the New Republic, and speak to their leaders. They seemed to be champions of liberty, truth, and justice in this galaxy, and were as such just the people to talk to. Leading by example, he and a crew of experts in the use of space-vessels and hyperspace boarded a simple ship built to take them into the galaxy.

They were, even now, floating above their homeworld.

"Are all systems green?"

"Yep, 100% systems operational."

"Excellent. Are the coordinates set?"

"Yes sir, we're ready to go."

He took one last look at the planet below, so familiar, his home. And one look above to space, a sky which held infinite possibilities, and flipped a small switch to his right.

And the galaxy twisted and stretched before him, before hurling their tiny craft into the darkness of the void.

[Dolash]

Their journey through hyperspace was a rough-and-tumble one indeed. Passing through rough patches of nebulai gas and making sharp turns to avoid planets, the artificial gravity generator was hard-pressed to keep up. After what was certainly days of such torture, they finally returned to normal space, overlooking the planet of Coruscant.

Dolash dragged himself to the bridge, and flopped into the pilot's chair in a most un-lord-like fashion. Ships were approaching him, requesting all sorts of information and asking countless questions. His crew were still shakily making their way to their posts from their quarters, and Dolash answerd the customs people to the best of his ability.

"Name?"

"Dolash"

"Race?"

"Azguard"

"Planet of origin?"

"Azguard"

...

"Um, our computers show there is no Azguard."

Dolash, who was regaining his composure, replied a little more steadily then before "Well of course your computers don't. I'm here to speak to the Republic."

There was a moment of confused silence amongst the customs officers. Dolash realized how stupid that sounded, and decided to clarify. "As Lord of the planet Azguard, I am on a diplomatic mission to speak to representatives of the Republic."

The customs officials still seemed unsure as to how to act. Eventually, the crew of the Yunos received word from the again:

“You are clear to proceed. A New Republic official has been dispatched to meet you at landing dock 65.”

Dolash felt mildly annoyed by all this. Here he was, leader of an entire world, who had travelled from distant Wildspace to get here, and they were putting him through the many levels of bureaucracy before he’d get to talk to anyone of importance. But it was to be excpected, the New Republic was a huge organization. A single planet is small in comparison.

His ship was escorted to the surface, where there was indeed an official waiting, in a clean government uniform. Their ships had a rather rough touch-down, but they were relatively secure, so the shuddering was more an inconvenience. The doors of the ship opened, and his guards stepped forth to make sure the landing was secure.

Once they were sure, Dolash and his right-hand man Regrad walked out onto landing dock 65, and stood silently before the official sent to meet them.

He was a thin, reedy man, who seemed slightly nervous as they approached. Once they stood still, he reached up with a hand-scanning device, and much to the curiosity of Dolash, scanned his face. There was a moment of silence as the tiny scanner whirred and hummed. Finally, the official nodded.

“You’re definetly a new race. And you say you’re the, um, leader?”

Dolash nodded solemnly.

“Ah, well, that’s good. Come this way.”

He lead them through a variety of checkpoints, closer and closer to a collection of administrative buildings in the core of the planet. Their escort kept asking questions, like where their planet was, and what their intentions were.

Eventually, they were let into a mighty tower, where guests of the Republic stay. They were asked to please wait patiently as they investigated his planet and race. Dolash, a patient person at heart, waited contentedly in the provided room with his crew.

[Dolash]

Dolash was standing on a patio, looking out on the one big city that is Coruscant. A polite knock on the door came from the front of the little Republic-provided state-room, and his guards opened the door.

In stepped a man in a slightly more resplendid uniform then the last official. He bowed gracefully to Dolash, who turned to face him, and bowed in return.

"I have heard you journeyed a long way to speak with us." said the man politely, as he held forth a data-clip for one of the guards to take. "I am the minister in charge of membership to the Republic. I guess I am the one you wanted to speak to?"

Dolash turned, and gave the man an appraising look. "Yes, yes you are. We Azguardians are not an industrial people, but we are wise. It's not safe to journey the galaxy alone. But you Republicans, you look like good people. Honest people. And that's what we need, someone we can trust in the galaxy. I have a simple proposition for you. We will serve under the New Republic flag, and in return you give us access to science, technology, schematics, knowledge, the lot."

The minister was taken aback. "That's rather a weighty request, I will need time to discuss it with the other ministers."

"Take your time." said Dolash, who turned back to the patio view.

The minister waited for a few more seconds, and then left the room. Dolash looked out onto the planet's surface far below.

__________________________________________________ ____________________

The sun rose, and it's light glinted off the windows of the government's towers. Dolash was, once again, looking out on the city, as it changed from night-life to day-life in a swift and clear switch. Once again, someone knocked on the door.

Dolash turned, and smiled as the minister returned.

"All right." he said, his voice on the nervous side. "It's well within our laws and proceedures. We'll provide you with the data, and you'll join the Republic."

"Excellent." Said Dolash, his smile wide. He went over to where a pair of glasses and a bottle stood. He filled both glasses, and handed one to the minister. "You won't regret this, I guarentee. Give us time, and the Republic shall have its' greatest bastion from our lands."

And in one mouthful, he drained the glass.

[Dolash]

Dolash observed as his small crew took stock of the crates of data-pads, chips, and files that were coming in a seemingly unending flow. The scientists he had brought along were thrilled, and every box they peeked into revealed new laws of science and new sorts of technology they had never thought of. Dolash, however, looked on indifferently. There was one last thing he had to do before he left for home to tell his people of this monumentous discovery.

Moving through the Republic's security doors, he was allowed into the great library and record-keeping section of the tallest tower in the government compound. Moving silently, he began to select specific files and tomes from those stored here. A hapless librarian asked if he wished for assisstance, and was ignored.

Dolash sunk into a comfortable seat, holding under his arm a collection of books describing the past thousand years of the history of the galaxy. He opened the first one, hunched over its' pages, and began to read.

__________________________________________________ ______________________

It was three long days in that library before he left. Food and drink were brought to him by his loyal guards. At first the record-keepers protested, but Dolash would not answer their complaints. He seeked, and he learnt, and ever so slowly the shape of galactic history revealed itself. He looked at the pictures of great men, standing mightily at the forefront of great battles or in moments of famous political discours. He poured over records of battles, and over obscure mentions of alien life.

He took great interest in the fall of the Old Republic, the rise of the Empire, and the teetering conflict between them to this very day. The Yhuzan Vong, and the chaos they had wrought, was a historic moment in the history of the galaxy, and Dolash took careful note of it.

Finally, as the sun set on the third day, he rose. A stack of read books lay at his side, and he left saying not a word. His crew silently prepared the launch, and later the jump to hyperspace, as Dolash considered what he had read.

A history of war, of chaos, of pain. Azguard could not honestly conted with this, could it? They would be slaughtered to a man before they were even ready to defend themselves, surly. Eventually, Dolash resolved that upon his return, he would have to make changes, and to prepare his people for the shock that he had tasted while reading the history of this galaxy. But for now, he left the ships' bridge, and went to rest.

[Dolash]

Dolash stood before the General Provincial Assembly of Azguard. He had returned home, and called for an immeadiet session of parliment to discuss his decisions and discoveries. The general concensus amongst the people was one of trust in Dolash and his decisions, but there was also a strong sense of anxiety. Dolash needed to sooth those feelings before he engaged his plans for industrialization.

The chamber was full to the brim. The six tribal leaders, all the ministers, and many administrative members stood shoulder to shoulder with the press and onlookers, as they waited for the meeting to begin.

An Azguard watched an old sundial, until finally the shadow passed over the middle-mark. He then struck the table once with his fist, and proclaimed "This meeting is now called to order, High Lord Regrad bringing up the first issue of the day, which is galactinization and industrialization."

Dolash stood, and there was a definit hush over the crowd now. He cleared his throat, and spoke. "Members of the general assembly, I would like to begin by saying that the trip to Coruscant was a smooth one, there were very few problems with the hyperdrive system, and I must commend our people for their stirring work on the -"

"Get to the point!" Shouted someone in the back. There was assorted mutterings of agreement from the people in the back.

Dolash rolled his eyes, and spoke again "All right then. I applied on behalf of Azguard for membership to the Republic-"

"You never told us about this!" gasped Governor Yogle, of the Fire Tribe. "On what authority did you sign over our nation?"

Dolash became a bit harsher with his crowd. "It was debated all last week, or perhaps you were a little preoccupied with those damned comic books you keep bringing to each meeting! If you had a complaint, you should have said it then!"

Everyone quieted down. Dolash sighed, and continued "All right then, as I was saying, I spoke to NR officials, and everything's cool. We'll get member rights, and all the shiny techno stuff we want, we just have to follow their rules and hate Imperials-"

"Um, which Imperials?" Said a journalist, the only one with the guts to snap off pictures while Dolash was in such a mood.

"Any Imperials, ok? Anyways, we've got the data, and if you gentlemen would all just relax, read the report I filed on the trip, and see the data we brought with us, we can take it to a vote as to what to do next."

There was a certain amount of mumbling and shuffling as everyone in the room took a packet of papers from a pile at the end of each table. Inside were pictures, files, records, and all the little official documents stamped intriplicate. There was a general silence as people read, and quietly discussed the different articles within.

After a while, Dolash tapped on the desk lightly. Everyone looked up. Pleased that he had their attention, he said "All right then, voting time, all in favour of immeadiet industralization of the planet, say aye. All opposed, say nay."

There was a chorus of Ayes, and Dolash nodded. "Excellent, we'll start work in the morning. Now, I'm off to bed."

[Dolash]

Dolash sat in his office chair, and watched as - outside - a team of twelve Azguards dragged a newly crafted generator system along the ground with long ropes. From his window, he could see similar sights across the city, from robot parts being pushed about in wheelbarrows, to men in forgeries smelting hydrospanners and the like using hammers and anvils. Once the parliment had gotten round to paying attention to him, they'd actually got a lot done. Step one of their Government Plan For Industrialization was underway, which was when they used conventional tools to craft the more advanced tools they'd need to build the devices they've got instructions for from the Republic.

Of course, like any good plan, it didn't survive first contact with Azguardians unscathed. As it was, organizers were running about, trying to keep people from blowing themselves up, setting buildings on fire, or tearing a hole in the space time continum. But Dolash had complete faith in their abilities, and Azguards are very enthusiastic, so sooner or later they'll catch up to the galactic standard of technology. He also had faith in the thick layers of armour protecting the government house.

Boom

Well, some faith.

As the day wore on, he worked tirelessly to assemble the assorted information he had been given into ordered proceedures and lists. There was so much to do, and he seemed to be the only one who cared enough about it to make sure it got done. Oh well, sometimes that happens. But he was still annoyed about it. Every so often, someone would come and take away the lists he'd finished thus far, and the noise outside would grow tenfold.

Everywhere, across the planet, Azguards were making robots, generators, tools, devices, lights, stamps, lifters, benders, cutters, diggers, processers, computers, and a lot of other things that ended in 'ers'. It was a chaotic process at best, but Azguard was rich in natural resources, so as long as the Azguardians kept at it, sooner or later it's stick.

Finally, as the sun went down and a day of work ended, Dolash looked out of his window. There was very little improvement, overall, most of the few things they'd actually built were lying around on the grass, dragged around with very little direction. Someone had read the power cable instructions backwards, and large burn-marks covered the ground in all directions from where the generator stood. Dozens of half-assembled robots and tools sat in the forges. But then, it could have been a lot worse.

Dolash sighed. This was going to take longer then he thought.

[Pierce Tondry]

Starlines flashed into tiny pinpricks of light and Pierce nodded in satisfaction. They had arrived.

"That Azguard?"

"No, it's a different planet that's just requested entry into the Republic," Pierce rolled his eyes. He got up to check his comm system's encryption frequency. "What is it with you and obvious questions, Grainier? Where else are we going?"

Alan Grainier, Tau Team callsign Torch, somehow managed to look embarassed. "Well, I thought maybe we had another jump or something."

"I told the entire team this was our last jump before I made it." Pierce replied. "Unless you were the only one not listening, there are twelve people on this ship who know where we are."

Alan shrugged his shoulders and turned to check a nearby monitor. At just that moment, a head appeared in the cockpit entryway. "Hey boss," said Nick Weimar, callsign Hemline. "Where are we?"

Pierce grimaced. Make that eleven. "We're at Azguard. The place we were ordered to check out. Remember?"

"Oh." Nick turned in the same direction Alan was looking. "What've we got?"

Alan shrugged. "Not really sure. Take a look Boss Monkey?"

Pierce made his way over to the tactical map that would display all nearby ships and structures as points of interest. Although the Republic only had rudimentary data on the Azguardian ship designs from the all-too-brief visit they'd paid Coruscant, the tac computer still had enough sophistication to determine objects under thrust and class them as ships. It was also clever enough to figure powered structures were defensive stations.

Based on the 'First Contact' style visit the Azguardians had paid to the Republic, however, it was unlikely the exploring Tau Team would find any defenses that might be threatening.

Pierce frowned. Actually, he didn't see anything at all. "Just the planet. That's pretty odd. Usually Firsties have some orbital satellite network, or a moon base or something. I'm not reading anything at all."

"It's possible we could just be polar opposite from 'em," Hemline put in.

"Or miscalibrated," Torch added.

"Even miscalibrated, I should be getting something," Pierce said. "Unless they're lowerer tech than our brief indicated. I'm going to try altering our signal to broadcast over some more primitive frequencies, just in case."

He turned, then drew back just in time to avoid hitting the face of another Tau Team member. "Dammit, Vadgrin, say something next time."

"Sorry, sir," Lucious "Magic Fingers" Vadgrin apologized. "Where are we?"

Pierce stared at him, aghast. "Do none of you listen? We're at Azguard! Az-guard!"

Vadgrin blinked.

Pierce threw his hands into the air and turned to the comm again. "I give up. You boys are either dense, or screwing with me." With a flip, Pierce finished his adjustments. "Calling, the planet Azguard, repeat, calling the planet Azguard. This is New Republic scout vessel Long Shot requesting a response. Is there anyone out there?"

[Dolash]

It was mid-day on Azguard, and Dolash reflected on the unusual appearance the work had taken on. With some robots done, some towers completed, and some systems operational, it was now an ironic combination of traditional methods and devices and modern ones that laboured outside to industrialize the world. Right now, he could see a freshly build robotic arm device lifting a bar of metal being nailed in place by a half-dozen Azguards with large hammers and nails. As he observed, several sparks flew from a recently-added transmission tower, as it began to recieve a message.

Slapping on a hard-hat and weaving through the jostling crowds of workers and organizers - two groups with constantly conflicting agendas - Dolash made his way to the base of the tower, where he could see several frazzled scientists reading off the report that was being written by the tower computer.

"What's going on? What are we recieving?" Said Dolash curtly, as the scientists adjusted nobs to clarify the image. One of them stepped forwards.

"It appears we have recieved an incoming message from a Republic vessel. They request contact with us, it appears."

Dolash stepped up to a mic, and spoke slowly into it. "This is High Lord Dolash of Azguard, we can hear you loud and clear down here. Well, loud at least. We have an area cleared for landing at coordinates-"

He paused, and turned to the scientists "What are the coordinates?"

The scientist spoke several numbers into the microphone, and passed it back to Dolash "If you want to land, that's the best place for it. I'm afraid our transmission tower is unreliable at best - oh bloody hell!"

A pair of droids, trying to balance a stack of power-cells between them, had just tripped and sent them rolling in all directions. Dolash and the scientists threw themselves to the ground as a weird and wonderful assortment of colourful explosions filled their vision. After a moment, Dolash got up. Everything seemed all right...

"Yes, well, all right, I'm going to go back inside now. Dolash Out."

[Dolash]

Dolash didn't have time to lollygag around, and decided that instead of waiting for these guys to get their act together and land, he would instead go and see how construction was getting along on a little side-project for the military.

He hopped into a new speeder, which wobbled dangerously as its' brand new repulsorlifts strained against itself. He zigg-zagged his way out of the city, that was beginning to take on the apperance of a modern town. Power lines were now up, and only sporadically discharged bolts of electricity into the atmosphere. Droids now had at least two legs each, and were speaking Azguard now instead of all in ones and zeroes. Even the architecture was chaging, as people got into the sci-fi mood and slapped big sheets of silvery metal over everything they could. Crude holo-projections lined the streets, with such inspired messages as "Hello, I am a holo-projection!"

Once he was out of the city, it was only a short trip over the rocky landscape and along a few shallow rivers before he made it to Base Camp 01. There, a huge crew of engineers, soldiers, contractors, organizers, robots, and holo-projections ran back and forth, shifting everything from stacks of data-chips, to massive coils of wire, to lumps of metal the size of a shed. In the center of it all, was a massive holo-projection.

The holo-projection was displaying the framework of a life-size Shipyard, a gigantic space-station. And his crew were, even now, assembling the framework of the massive station according to where the holoprojections fell. It was brilliant, and required a lot less planning and worker supervision then conventional styles of building, and with a little luck it'd be ready for launch shortly after the government industrialization plans came to fruitation, allowing them to start work immeadietly.

He pulled up a chair, and observed the work. The design was huge, big enough to contain and construct even the largest of warships. The biggest, flattest area on the planet was in use for this construction, and it barely fit as it was. He was already browsing crew rosters for the launch, but took a moment to look up to the sky. He wondered if he'd be seeing those Republic types any time soon...

(*COUGH COUGH*)

[Dolash]

It had been several days. The Republicans had left, and Regrad had been too hard-pressed reading reports and sending out instructions to bother checking why.

After much chaos, things were beginning to stabalize. The power system was up, which was impressive considering most Azguards still didn't understand what it did. Several companies were beginning to turn out modern appliances and luxuries, like holos and speeders, although a lot of them didn't work quite right. Droids were being manufactured and programmed to build what was too complicated for Azguards to build. The military was passing in spears, swords, and suits of armour for blaster, vibro-weapons, and energy-absorbing suits.

Watching the space-effort, however, was like watching a not-so-flying circus. People didn't quite grasp the concept of space travel, and their "ships" were anything but space-worthy. Dolash let them try, as no one was getting hurt, and focused his attention more on the shipyard.

Construction was under way, and it promised to be a most magnificent station, once it was finished. It was a good thing they had finished a lot of mining equipment and droids, because they had to keep up with the heavy demand for resources.

For now, Dolash waited, and kept everything in line. Just a little longer, and he could begin the next phase of his plan...

[Dolash]

Everyone in the count-down room held their breath. It had been such a short measure of time from his return to the launch of the first orbital space station and shipyard of Azguard.

A behemoth of a station, it could hold thousands comfortably and was designed to construct and support a vast plethoria of warships, merchant ships, commercial ships, and the like. Regrad sat silently, giving the shipyard a hard look as the countdown approached zero. They had been working on it constantly and without respite, it should work. But then again, a lot of things "should work."

The countdown-reached zero. The room shook as the massive space station lifted off on huge thrusters, gouging massive holes in the rocks beneath them. Everyone grabbed on to monitors and cables to keep them from falling away. Regrad was almost willing it to take off, and ever so slowly it did. Finally, as it left the ground, the room stopped shaking and a ragged cheer rose from the command staff. The crew aboard the station radioed in their success mingled with hoots and hollars of triumph, and Regrad breathed a sigh of relief. Everything was going according to plan.

Shortly thereafter, he retired to his chambers. The station would get into orbit, and he would call another meeting to discuss what is planned to be built at the station. He already had plans to churn out a warfleet of ships, fighters, and support, and once the council approved it, Azguard would be a most fearsome fortress world. He was no warmonger or expansionist, but he knew the vast forces under the command of the Imperials, and worse, and he wanted to make sure his people would be protected.

As he rested, he looked out a window, and observed the changes once more. Azguard was a modern world, albeit a patchwork one. He looked proudly at the speeders and towers, the droids and Holograms, all of it so wonderful, strange, and new, and was pleased with this accomplishment. But it was only the first. He had plans, and this was just a small step towards their completion...

[Dolash]

"Sir, the station is in place!"

"Excellent, we begin phase two of our plan!"

The mighty shipyards was divided into different "Yard Zones". Some were reserved for government construction, while others were rented to private businesses who wished to make use of the facilities to make ships for sale. Dolash had overseen the composure of the first wave of ship-construction, which consisted of proto-types of the Azguard Mechanoid Combat Unit, the one man combat suit twenty metres tall he planned as the mainstay of their forces.

But what was taking most of his time was organizing the private zones. Every business on the planet wanted one, or more if they could get it. He was constantly reviewing schedules and making sure each company got a fair amount of build time. He knew, however, that it would be some time before the populations' insatiable appetite for new technologies subsided, and until it did the government and the companies would just have to try and keep up with the demand.

Once he was sure that he could leave the shipyards as they were without everything going to hell, Dolash went back to reviewing the data collected on the galaxy. What a place, he reflected. Full with mystical forces, dark foes, and chaos.

The one thing that had struck him most from his earlier readings was the might of the forces that would gleefully make war on a place like Azguard. The Empires, the Pirates, the fanatical faiths, the darkside of the force, all of these things would have torn them apart if they’d merely come across Azguard. Dolash wasn’t going to run even the slightest risk of that happening. If anything, he was going to see Azguard turn into a bastion for the New Republic, a light in the darkness of wild space. This militarisation would not be the first Azguard had seen, but it would be the most important.

There came a knock at his door. He was still reading silently as Regrad, his lieutenant, entered the room. He saluted, and handed over the completed schedual for review. A few moments of silence passed, before Dolash spoke.

“Regrad” he said “How far would you follow me?”

“Anywhere, sir” Regrad responded, in respectable form.

Dolash sighed “But I don’t mean into battle or adventure, Regrad. I’m changing things, I’m putting our necks out into galactic affairs. Maybe even overstepping my bounds as High Lord.”

Regrad paused as he mulled this over. “We trust you, sir.” he said in simple honesty “What you think is right, we shall do.”

Dolash sighed, and smiled, and politely accepted the report from Regrad’s hands. Regrad saluted once more, and left the room. Dolash looked over the report, which would put into production the first hundred mechanoid units, a force designed for space combat and exploration. He hesitated but a moment, his hand hovering over the document, and then signed it in silence.