"OMG, that's so cool! We want one."
The United Federation have unveiled a monstrosity.
On the border before the Neutral Zone, a barren planet now has a new moon. Upon closer inspection, it was indeed a moon, but also not. When it turned, we saw an abomination of a surface. Innumerable laser batteries, shield generators embedded within the core of the planetoid, endless rows of mass printers, underground hangars, and a constant supply of fresh pilots and crew from their subservient races.
The Galactic Coalition are not at war with them, currently, but this kind of provocation cannot go unanswered! We debated long into several cycles before the Human delegates joined us. They took one look at the images of the Federation Battle Moon and exclaimed all at once:
"Holy shit!" "That's awesome!" "It looks like a giant face!" "With GUNS!" "Fuckin' rad." "I want one!" "Yeah, same." "Can we build that?" "I dunno, probably?" "Quick, get the engineers!" "Right on!"
"Sorry, but we gotta show this to everyone, we'll be right back."
In a flurry of motion and excitement, the Humans left to contact the rest of Humanity. Their comments in the blur of the moment gradually filter through to us and we begin to worry. This Battle Moon is the largest structure anyone has ever built! Well, that is until the Humans finish their Planetary Warp Gate and Dyson Sphere...
Okay, the largest military structure. We suspect that will soon change though.
---[Aboard the Department of Strategy (Space Pentagon)]---
"Message from the Coalition delegate team, the Joint Chiefs have to see this."
As the message plays and the Joint Chiefs examine the documents, a variety of expressions hide deep internal thoughts and deliberations. Here they sit, the fifteen people responsible for all of Humanity's decisions and matters of import regarding our expansion and existence on the Galactic stage. Once silence began to reign, Grand Admiral Ekaterina is the first to stand and speak up:
"This is certainly an impressive display on the Federation's part, and further solidifies their stance as a likely aggressor. Given what we know, there is little chance for a diplomatic solution and a long-term peaceful coexistence. Thus, only two questions remain:
Which moon are we gonna use? And what's our Battle Moon gonna look like? I vote giant skull with horns!"
