As the various representatives passed the front gate of the Unified People of Thanda embassy they could see the open area surrounding the main building. It mostly seemed plain concrete, though black and yellow warnings marked various squares and rectangles spread across the terrain. The wall surrounding the compound was also very plain. Uniformed people were scattered across, some exercising, a few sparring. Some discussion seemed to be going on next to an armoured, though unarmed, vehicle.

The main building itself was rather plain as well. Little more then a large box. Though, it's simplicity was deceiving. As more military oriented minds would quickly deduce. Between the main building and the outer walls lay a large open area with no cover what so ever. It was also commonly accepted there was a large underground portion and many suspected hidden air defences as well as a shield generator. For all intense and purposes this 'embassy' was a fortress.

Once they entered the building, the representatives were lead to a large conference room. Across from the door was a large window, where the artificial light from Unity City shined through. A large table dominated the room. Various chairs surrounded it, including ones that were clearly meant for less humanoid species. Such as chairs that accommodated for tails and such. A carafe of water along with several glasses stood on the table waiting.

"Ah, welcome. I'm glad you could make it." Colonel Streth stood as he greeted the arrivals.

Senator Gwynine joined the meeting, quite impressed by the - to her mind - alien architecture. Smooth concrete walls, neatly hidden weapon platforms and large clear windows. Aethra had nothing like it.

"Thank you for inviting us Colonel" she curtseyed neatly to greet the Thandan officer according to her own peoples custom. "I was impressed by your peoples proposal and hope we have something to offer!"

With that, she moved to her assigned seat, or one that fit someone of her size if the seating was not assigned to the specific officers, setting down some notes she had brought along on the large table.

"You're very welcome, Senator. And I'm sure your people will." The Colonel replied, raising his stretched out hand and arm in a salute in response to the curtsy.

As the Senator took a seat the Colonel gestured to the carafe. "Please, help yourself." Though the table was large, the Senator should be able to reach it without trouble.

"It seems this is everyone." The Colonel noted after a while with no-one else showing up. No disappointment could be heard in his voice, it simple seemed like he was stating a fact.

He tapped a few buttons on the table near his position. An overhead holo-projector warmed and displayed a large model of the Sword of Thanda about half a meter above the table. The stretched diamond shape, one end flattened to accommodate for the engines.

"As you may know, the design of the Sword of Thanda allows for a large amount of space for fighters and other small craft while only requiring relatively little space for regular ship operations, such as engineering, crew facilities and storage."

As he spoke the hologram highlighted two large areas at the front and rear of the centre axis. The term 'havens' were attached to both areas. At the sides of these havens multiple, inward-facing hangerbays were highlighted next. Access to the havens was limited to narrow slits above and below the hangers.

"Seeing as the UPT wishes to reuse construction elements from the Sword, along with the available space, it was deemed most effective to adapt the original design. Removing most of the hangar space and expanding and adjusting most of the flight-crew accommodations for medical personnel."

The hologram changed to that of the hospital ship. The external shape was nearly identical. The hollow areas of the havens were gone along with half the hangers. The remaining hangers were now facing outward on one side of the ship.

"Any questions so far, Senator?"

Naval designs were well outside the Senators expertise, but for the meeting she had made an effort to read up on it as well as on UPT ship designs and the Sword of Thanda in particular as it had been mentioned in the invitation. Naturally the Senator would only have had access to the details that were publicly known.

"There is something poetic and wonderful about the repurposing of this design for a medical vessel. Swords to plowshares as it were." she smiled, no doubt referencing some obscure Caelaran text or such.

"You will have to forgive my ignorance though... but where are all the chapels and worship areas?" she inquired a tad confused "I understand the UPT has a separate religious caste, are they housed in the engineering areas?" she motioned to the engineering bays controlling the engines.

For all her study into ship design, it was hard for the Senator of a theocratic and highly religious people to wrap her head around the idea that space flight could be a secular activity.

The Colonel pushed a few buttons and two tiny blocks highlighted in the hologram one on each side, roughly midship. They were directly against the outer hull.

"For a ship this size there are two ship chapels. While the Sword of Thanda has a pair of Religious Caste members on board, the hospital ship will have none. We deemed a religion that worships death to be inappropriate for a hospital ship."

"Why would you think we let members of other castes on our warships, Senator?" The Colonel seemed genuinely confused by this. "Much less near any important areas."

The Senator seemed just as confused as the Colonel, though taking a moment she finally put some things together.

"Ah, I think there may be some cultural confusion." she began to explain. "You have to forgive my ignorance. The separation of religion into a single caste is hard for me to wrap my head around.

We do not have castes in the way your people do. On Aethra, such specialization of duty is handled by the different religious orders. Obviously we do not have a separate order for religion.

Since space-flight requires mystical rituals and religious worship, I presumed that would be the duty of your religious caste, as it is handled by the Consilia Astrologica on our ships... but from your reaction, I suspect this may be something the Military Caste can manage on its own?"

She smiled "When traveling to Unity, I was able to hear the voices of the monks reciting the sacred prayers of launch in the Engine Cathedral. It was most majestic."

"The Military Caste likes to maintain its independence even from the other castes. Even then the Religious Caste doesn't operate any part of any ship in the UPT. They are... not concerned with such worldly affairs as space-travel."

The Colonel finally spoke after a moment of contemplating what to say.

"At the risk of getting off-topic, I have to ask. I was under the impression the Ordo Caelara worshipped the God-Empress, in a monotheistic manner. Yet what you just said suggests your people also worship starships or at least parts thereof."

The Colonel seemed very interested in the topic.

"We do not worship the ship..." she explained. The senator seemed confused, trying to figure out where exactly the disconnect was.

"Worship is what we sometimes say to refer to prayer. It is how the engines are powered. Do UPT ships not require power to operate?"

It seemed improbable that the Ordo Caelara had invented a way to power hyperdrives by prayer.

"I will admit I am not very well versed in the Theological details. That is the domain of the Consilia Astrologica." she did note, referring to her factions religious naval order.

Whether the Colonel didn't mention prayer wasn't able to power anything because he was being diplomatic or because he knew it was useless to try and convince the Senator was anyone's guess. A look of astonishment flashed across his face. A look that seemed to turn into something else, right before it returned to the stoic expression it usually had.

"From what I've heard from my wife, our ships do require power. We don't use worship, but rather a Solar Furnace to provide it though. Or for most other things, for that matter."

The Colonel looked the Senator in the eye.

"Religion is only a very small part in Thandan society. We're mostly a secular people. Prayer, faith and worship didn't spare my ancestors from nuclear fire. And it doesn't save my people from radiation now. Only technology, along with order, discipline and hard work can do that."

The Senator nodded "And all those things have not just saved your people and made them great, but are also now making it possible for you to create this magnificent vessel, including its Solar Furnace, to help those who are injured or ill." she smiled. "It is most impressive, and we would like to offer our help."

It was clear that despite their different cultures - and her apparent lack of understanding of hyperdrive technology - the Senator held the Thandans in high regard.

"I do not know if there is anything specific that you need for this project that we can provide. Regardless, I think there is something valuable we can offer immediately."

The senator moved on from the interesting cultural discussion to the topic at hand.

"We could provide the ship with a well trained and highly disciplined nursing staff. We have several religious orders which train children from a very young age for this job. I believe they would be of value both in patient care and to support your medical scientists and doctors." she explained. "Would that be helpful?"

"That would be most helpful, Senator." The Colonel smiled. "In all honesty, one of the struggles we've had with the hospital ship was gathering enough medical personnel. So we would be most grateful for such aid."

"I must be slightly cautious though, considering the sheer amount of medical personnel a ship like this would require. Our engineers have estimated we would need a total between eighty-five and ninety-three thousand medical personnel. Though that number includes everything from doctors to nurses to lab-assistants. If the Ordo Caelara could provide a significant portion of that, it would allow us to keep the ship fully crewed at all times. Which would reduce the time required to deploy it to a crisis area."

The Colonel looked hopeful but still somewhat concerned.

"I must also note that, in my experience, different worlds have different methods of medical care and treatment. Though such differences generally don't lead to differences in quality of care and treatment. It can lead to confusion, or even frustration, for patients. In the worst case mixing methods may even increase the time to recovery. Would you have any idea to prevent or circumvent such issues, Senator?"

"I am sure we will be able to provide the necessary staff for the ship" she reassured "our religious orders are quite large" - that made sense, it was a theocracy after all.

"As for the medical treatment, I would propose that we can leave the medical decisions to the medical doctors and scientists - our nursing staff will be happy to follow their directives as best they can."

She thought a moment longer about it

"It might require your doctors to provide detailed instruction as to what they want, especially in the beginning, but we will adapt. We all have the best interests of the patient at heart after all."

"Of course, that goes without saying."

The Colonel agreed.

"Might I suggest the Ordos doctors spend some time working on Thanda with the Military Castes doctors before the ship is completed. This could allow them to become acquainted with our methods, equipment and personnel." He proposed after a moment of thinking.

"I believe instructing the nursing staff can wait until the ships maiden voyage. Considering the basic needs of most species are the same, basic care will probably be similar enough.

What do you think of this, Senator?"

The Senator nodded "That is an excellent idea. I will communicate with my homeworld so they can send a doctor to spend some time on Thanda to get familiar with your methods and equipment." she agreed "I am sure whatever other issues come up can be resolved as they occur"

It seemed that covered the basics, though the Senator had one more question

"Have your people decided on a name for the vessel yet?" she inquired "It is important for a vessel of this nature to have the right name." she noted, as if that was obvious but nevertheless needed to be said.

"That is indeed the last topic that needs to be discussed. We didn't want to unilaterally decide on a name for the ship."

The Colonel checked something before continuing.

"We do have a suggestion though. The 'Heart of Unity'. The name was suggested by a young cadet and it caught the attention of my superiors."

"Of course, we can discuss possible alternatives. After all, the idea is that this ship will represent the Union. It seems appropriate to come up with a name together."

"Our ships always have names that reflect the sanctity of their mission." the Senator noted. "Without such, our people would not trust the vessel."

She paused a moment. "Since this is not one of our ships though, but one on which we work together with others who may not share our beliefs, we should choose a name that our people can trust, but which does not imply alignment with any particular faith...

What you propose works for us." she concluded. "The Unity part of the name here touches closely on the spirit of cooperation in which it was created. Additionally, though it avoids any direct religious reference, the Heart part references the care for others, coming from the heart. That is certainly something I can rally our people behind. 'Heart of Unity' thus is a very fitting name indeed, Colonel"

The Senator smiled. It seemed they had reached an agreement.