Operation Black Box, Rhodolites

Subspace Network Communications
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USS Tykera NCC-98701

To: CMDR Netal, T.
From: CAPT Zohl, K.
Subj: Diplomatic Profile – Rhodolites

XO,

We have received preliminary notice that Operation Black Box will necessitate limited deployment of sensor arrays within Rhodolite-claimed territory. Argo Fleet Operations has yet to supply comprehensive briefings on this polity, and I will not have the Tykera enter a frontier engagement blind.

Pull all available data from Federation Diplomatic Archives, Starfleet Intelligence, and any relevant border patrol logs concerning the Rhodolites: their political structure, known territorial claims, prior Federation contact, and any standing accords or warnings. Prioritise temperament, negotiation precedents, and threat posture assessments.

Bring me whatever you can find. Priority 3.

//SIGNED//
CAPT Kyhid Zohl
Commanding Officer,
USS Tykera NCC-98701

OOC

@Sam — curious if there’s anything to go on yet regarding the Rhodolites, or if you’d like us to develop some of their background and temperament going into the session to then ‘compare notes’… or something else in mind?

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USS Tykera NCC-98701

To: CAPT Zohl, K
From: CMDR Netal, T.
Subj: Re: Diplomatic Profile – Rhodolites

Captain,

Per your directive, I have reviewed what information is accessible about the Rhodolite species and their governing ‘Concordium’; drawn from Federation Diplomatic Service archives and Intelligence briefings, and data which Argo Fleet itself had on file: that datafile is available for review here:
Rhodolite Concordium – Species File.

To jump right in… Rhodolites are a consensus-based civilisation composed of semi-photosynthetic beings who communicate through both sound and bioluminescent patterning.

  • Their culture is fundamentally ecological, built around “blooms”. These are shared microbial and cognitive networks that synchronise thought and emotion. Each bloom operates as a collective mind; their planetary government, the Concordium, is an interlinked network of these blooms.

  • ‘Policy’ is achieved through resonance, and from what I’ve gleamed, absolute unanimity is often the status quo in representative “Nodes”. Anything less is considered unstable and therefore invalid. Those whose harmonics disrupt the collective are labelled Decoherents. As noted in Federation records, “these decoherents are isolated in nutrient-poor zones until their signal fades or reintegration occurs.”

  • While not viewed as punishment by Rhodolite standards, most sentient species perceive this as a form of capital sentencing. The act of enforced isolation and deliberate deprivation produces a severe visceral reaction among non-Rhodolites, particularly humanoid species. It serves as an instructive example of how the Concordium resolves internal disorder… not through confrontation or expulsion, but by allowing conflict to decay until harmony “re-emerges”. Their political and diplomatic behaviour appears to mirror this philosophy: tension is met with isolation, discord with decay.

  • Historically, relations with the Federation have remained stable if limited. Four major agreements exist, culminating in the Concordium Recognition Accord (2402), which confirmed Rhodolite borders and granted safe Federation passage through their territory.

  • The Rhodolites maintain a stance described as “amicably cautious”. They value informational and cultural diversity but are wary of physical intrusion, especially activity interpreted as ecological disturbance.

For any engagement, I suggest ‘patience’ and ‘precision of tone’ will be critical. Communication overlays should include visual interpreters to accompany the Universal Translator’s vocal output; otherwise, intent can be lost or misread.

Diplomatically, given the nature of the sensor array deployment underway… our phrasing should favour signal exchange as a communicable benefit, and avoid pitfalls in communication that could be construed as the sensor net being for observation or monitoring purposes; as those terms may evoke defensive resonance patterns in their language harmonics.

Recommendation: prior to any deployment of sensor arrays along or within Rhodolite space, initiate contact with their Department of Foreign Blooms to confirm scope and ecological assurances. Expect response latency too… consensus requires synchrony, not speed.

//SIGNED//
CMDR Thira Netal
Executive Officer,
USS Tykera NCC-98701

OOC

@Sam — included the Decoherent practice as a cultural and diplomatic insight here as it was most interesting to me and I feel it might shape how outsiders could ‘misinterpret’ Rhodolite methods. Let me know if that aligns with your take or if I should adjust my thinking.

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4
USS Tykera NCC-98701

To: CMDR Netal, T.
From: CAPT Zohl, K.
Subj: Post-Debrief: Further thoughts re Rhodolite Negotiations

XO,

Following our in-person debrief earlier, I wanted to commit a few further thoughts to record while the encounter remains fresh in mind.

The Atlantis handled the formal side of the negotiations with commendable precision. Captain Nimitz kept the exchange balanced, and Captain Tyrstoc’s diplomatic sensibilities ensured no inadvertent insult was given - whether by me or otherwise. Ensign Vemok proved invaluable in decoding the Rhodolite transmissions, and Lt. Commander Khet’s early insights into their appetite for idea exchange gave us an angle to open discussions.

Even so, the Rhodolites remain as opaque as ever. Their collective structure makes conversation feel less like dialogue and more like speaking into a vast chamber that replies only after internal debate. The consensus they reach is final… no dissent, no second voice. Their requests for material assistance, hydroponic reactors, and atmospheric processors could be read as pragmatic colonial support… but I can’t shake the sense that there’s something else beneath it. Their newer settlements lie beyond recognised borders, and they press for recognition not out of need, but as quiet annexation disguised as “balance” in my view.

Their talk of resonance, of harmony and equilibrium, sounds benign… until one realises it’s a form of control. A civilisation that thinks as one, feels as one, and acts as one leaves no room for individual will. There’s something deeply unsettling in that, Commander. It stirs old comparisons I would rather not make, but I cannot ignore them. A consensus that speaks for all is indistinguishable from a collective that consumes all. The Borg taught us what unity without individuality truly means, and yet here we are… dancing politely around another hive, afraid to disturb its calm surface for the sake of a few sensor buoys.

Starfleet will call this diplomacy, but I question how long we can afford to humour a civilisation that measures morality by enforced consensus. We’ll maintain our course under Operation Black Box in unaffected regions for now, but if these Rhodolite “colonies” continue to spread unchecked, we may find ourselves drawing whole new maps for a hive in bloom.

For now, keep the crew focused on cartographic calibration - I still haven’t wrapped my antennae around what we discovered recently… but ensure the Rhodolite encounter logs are stored with restricted access. There’s value in what we’ve learned… but there’s danger too, and I’d rather we recognise that before the rest of the fleet must.

//SIGNED//
CAPT Kyhid Zohl
Commanding Officer,
USS Tykera NCC-98701

OOC

This follows a live roleplay session featuring the Rhodolites, which can be found here: AAR: Diplomatic Disagreements