Sagittarius spiral arm Ji Kara home planet, underground palace chamber.

The ministers of the various institutions have arrived: the magistrate, the military officer, the scientific officer, the civil officer, the colony chief, the court chief. The meeting was presided over by the chief of the court, and it stood beside a high seat, (the Zerg did not have the concept of a stool, and when sitting down, they used a vertebrae pillar with a pointed tail, and the hind limbs were bent to the ground, and the body was supported at three points, looking like a living chair) Everyone stood on both sides, waiting for the empress to arrive.

The Empress was supported by a young attendant and ascended to the podge that symbolized nobility.

The first thing everyone saluted was the Empress. I saw their vertebrae on the ground, their limbs spread out in the air, their antennae drooping, and their whole bodies looked like martyrs crucified. During these three seconds of silence, the individual recalls a certain sentence that the Empress said one day, the great proverb of embracing His Holiness with his limbs and feet open. After three seconds, the hind limbs are lowered, bent to the ground at 90 degrees, and the sitting position is resumed.

The chief of the court called the meeting to order. The theme of the meeting was to discuss "the next step of the Jikara race in the post-stargate era". ”

The divergence on this issue was evident very early on. Conservatives, led by the Science Officer, emphasize the limitations of the first stargate. Due to the very rarity of the construction material silica metal, although the stargate device is successful, but the space specifications and warping equivalent can only be regarded as miniature, to put it in layman's terms, the current stargate can only transport small things, if you want to relocate an interstellar battleship or a large-capacity transport spaceship, there will be a great risk, it is very likely that the transported material will lose control after being converted into energy, and even leak out of the high-energy pipeline formed by the curved space and cause an accident.

The radicals, led by the military officers, are only concerned with the current state of the galaxy and the mission of the race. They thought that the Expedition across the Spiral Arm was a must, because it was the raison d'être of the entire race, and that it was better to do it later than to do it sooner rather than later. Here's why: the Sagittarius spiral arm was formed by the first ejection of interstellar material after the merger of two archean galaxies into the Milky Way, most stars have reached the end of their lives, and many planets that were originally suitable for life have either been swallowed up by the flames generated by the expansion of red giants, or have become ice harder than rocks after the dwarf star runs out of fuel. The ancient Sagittarius spiral arm both gives us time and allows us to evolve a high level of intelligence, but at the same time it murders our limited living space. The reproduction of the race is inseparable from liquid water, but as time goes by, the planet with water is shrinking, and now the water resources of the entire galaxy have become the bottleneck of Jikara's development.

The Science Officer objected, and the only way he offered it was to continue to send sappers to the vicinity of the Silver Heart, the birthplace of the Spiral Arm, in order to create a second gate as soon as possible, and then the two gates would merge, at which point the expedition would be the complete strategy.

The other officials listened quietly and did not express their opinions, and of course the Empress was not committal for the time being, and the meeting became a debate between the scientific and military officers.

The military officer came up with a killer idea: "The empress we admire is close to the limit of her life, if she can see with her own eyes the expedition of the race set out to a new realm, this is something that no previous emperor has done, and this will be full of sacred significance for your majesty's life." Do you really want to look at Your Majesty and regret it for the rest of your life? ”

This move was indeed lethal, and immediately caused the empress to bow her head, and the weight of the balance seemed to be tilted in favor of the radicals at once.

"What do you think? I want to hear from everyone. The Empress finally spoke, and this induced tone added to the oppressive atmosphere of the room.

The colony chief winced and said: "The situation reported by the military officer is basically true. On the one hand, the number of planets available for colonization is nearing the limit, and on the other hand, new individuals of the race are constantly being generated, and the number of individuals in many colonized worlds has reached saturation, and if this state continues, the whole spiral arm will be overwhelmed, after all, the planet with liquid water is too limited. ”

"You mean to stop individual reproduction?" The Empress asked casually, but the listener was thunderous.

The colonist lowered his tentacles to show his fear: "The inferior do not dare, the inferior means planned reproduction, otherwise the ......"

"It's not a long-term solution." The administrator interrupted the colony chief: "The individual symbolizes our share of the universe, and one of our missions is to assemble as much inorganic matter as possible from the genetic code of the race, because our genes are the most perfect in the universe. Slowing down reproduction is contrary to the highest purpose. ”

"What do you think?" The Empress turned her attention to the civil magistrate again.

"I hope to improve the quality of life of individuals, so that the life process of each individual can achieve harmony with the spirit." The civil officer replied.

"What I want is your attitude, your attitude towards whether or not to send an expeditionary force to colonize the new realm immediately?" Obviously, the Empress was not satisfied with the civil officer's evasion.

The civil magistrate has secretly sensed the empress's inclination, and in this case, he should take advantage of the situation: "The best way to solve the problem of people's livelihood is to open up new galaxies, only in this way can the problem of water shortage be fundamentally solved, and new breeding areas can be cultivated, and the speed at which Jikala will occupy the universe can be accelerated." ”

"Good!" The Empress glanced at the participants with affirmative eyes, and finally even the scientific officer died down: "Okay, since what to do has been decided, let's solve the problem of how to do it, I believe you will have a way." Let's start with the scientific officer: "The empress is in such a hurry to draw conclusions, in fact, it is selfish, it wants to be the pioneer of an unprecedented expedition, so that its merits can surpass the previous emperors and be planted in the annals of history."

Now that the Empress has been named, the scientific officer has no way to avoid it, after all, there is no good fruit to eat when dealing with the spiritual leader: "Since Your Majesty has decided, I will do my best to assist the military establishment in fulfilling its mission." ”

"Do you have a specific plan?" The military officer seemed to be unable to wait, and it seemed that it was getting closer and closer to the ideal in its heart.

The Science Officer replied, "My idea is this, since the stargate can't be changed, let's make a fuss about warships and spaceships. ”

"What are you going to do?" Everyone turned their attention to the Science Officer, who became the centerpiece of the meeting: "We can design a detachable spaceship, like a building block for a child to play with, and then teleport one by one, and then assemble it when it reaches its destination." ”

"That is, the ship's parts are transported first, and then assembled." The military officer seemed to have an understanding, but soon had doubts: "Without the protection of ships, individuals cannot survive in space for a long time, and even if they wear protective equipment, it is very difficult to assemble large warships." ”

The Science Officer laughed, and the laughter came from the resonant below: "So only a small advance team can be sent first, and this journey is one-way." ”

"What do you mean?"

In other words, it can only be transmitted to the destination, but not back. This is a point of no return, unless a stargate is created at the destination. ”

The military officer raised his tentacles and stared at each other, thinking that it would be better to send a small advance team over there than to wait here, and when they got there, they would be their own world.

Thinking so, it came to the foot of the empress's bulge, saluted for three seconds, and said, "Your Majesty, as the military director, I request that I personally lead the expedition of the leading contingent and dedicate myself to the great cause of Jikara. ”

"I'm glad you have that in mind. Okay, now I'll make you the commander of the expeditionary force and lead the detachment to open up territory for the race. ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty, I will live up to my mission!" The military officer saluted again.

At the end of the meeting, the chief of the palace made a concluding remarks: "The meeting unanimously approved the sending of an advance team to the new region, and the former military officer served as the commander of the expeditionary force. ”

The greatest gain from this meeting was the military officer, who was so eager to facilitate the expedition and was willing to condescend to take risks for other reasons.