STGOD 4 Game Thread

Marcao · Post by **Marcao** » 2004-05-20 03:21pm

[VNN] Veithan News Network

Allegations of Collusion between the Mechanoids/Siliconoids and Arcane Empire

In a shocking development allegations that the arcane empire and the enemies of humanity the mechanoids have been working together has caused concern throughout all of known space. The allegations caught many by surprise and several nations have been noted demanding answers from arcane representatives. The information which began these inquiries has not been corroborated by outside sources. Nonetheless, the claim was more than enough to worry many nations. It is believed that the arcane empire will be asked to allow full access to its information sources in order to clear itself from these names. One of our analysts had this to say. “The idea that the arcane empire and the mechanoids were working together his hard to swallow; the mechanoids appear to be anti-life, at least life not their own and thus one would expect that this would include the lives of the citizens of the arcane empire. That the data is a forgery is a possibility. There are dozens of technologies available that could manage such a task, this is why full and unfettered access to arcane records is so crucial. The arcane empire has made a series of blunders over the last months, but a mistake of this magnitude is hard to comprehend. The data is disturbing enough to warrant direct and firm demands for access. It is expected that the arcane empire will cooperate with the demands, considering so much of its international credibility is at stake.”

Veithan/Grand Empire defensive alliance announced

In a move that did not surprise many, elements of the Veithan government announced the formation of a defensive accord with the Grand Empire. The announcement had been expected for sometime, considering the establishment of a Veithan embassy in the Imperial Plaza of the Grand Empire and feverish diplomatic activity between both nations over the last few weeks. The news was received well by the Veithan populace, many considering the Grand Empire a good match for the interest and ideologies of the empire. Professor William C. Mishta, one of the best known educators about intergalactic politics in the University of Caille had this to say. “It is not surprising that the Veithan government would choose to ally itself with the Grand Empire. The Grand Empire has handled itself well on the galactic stage, it has not shown a strong desire for expansion and its military is quite capable. I view this alliance not only in a positive light, but with real potential to exist for a prolonged period of time.”

Taxes on the increase

The veithan government has announced that taxes will be increasing in the next quarter. The exact increase is believed to be somewhere in the five to ten percent bracket, the largest such increase in over two years. The news although expected still managed to rattle the markets a bit, the muran fluctuating slightly before stabilizing. The government had been dropping hints at its planned action for weeks, citing the increasing conflicts in the galaxy and the expansion of its naval assets as the primary needs for the increase. A senior government official had this to say. “An increase in taxes was unavoidable with the pressing needs of the veithan military. The galaxy is no longer as safe as it used to be, the constant threat of a mechanoid attack is something that cannot be discounted. These tax increases are needed to help safeguard the future of our people.”

Ouster territories in unknown space found?

An electronic message sent to VNN and numerous other news agencies as well as government agencies claims to outline the unknown space holdings of the Ouster star nation. The information has not been corroborated by the Ousters themselves, and as such can not be confirmed at this time. Nonetheless, astrologists and various other scientists that have managed to take a good look at the data admit that the information seems to be accurate. The coordinates lead to systems and planets that would look as expected, and the depth of the data suggests that this is not a hoax. It is believed that the data was retrieved from scout drones sent to find the elusive mechanoid threat, although no nation has come forward to claim responsibility. Every step shall be taken to independently confirm the data in the future, we shall keep up with this story as it unfolds.

Veithan Space

Voice 1: “This information was all derived from the drones?”
Voice 2: “Yes.”
Voice 1: “hmm, have you been able to identify what the spatial disturbance is in grid 7-58?”
Voice 2: “we have run its parameters through our data networks and have come up with an answer. There is a eighty seven percent probability that it is a wormhole.”
Voice 1: “a wormhole. Where does it lead?”
Voice 2: “Unknown. The drones were tasked with finding as much information as possible about the siliconoids threat and space they visited. They were not tasked with exploring celestial phenomena.”
Voice 1: “pity. I want you to bring this up in the next meeting.”
Voice 2: “do you think this was what Lilandra talked about?”
Voice 1: “It’s possible. I have a feeling we will want that system.”

Captain tycho · Post by **Captain tycho** » 2004-05-20 03:30pm

Deep Space, Stargate facility
The stargate begain dialing, and a small sensor probe extended, scanning for any signs of siliconoid technology. The R'hllorans knew that the Overseer's had captured a pair of Kryntori stargates, and they had only had 50. It would take less than 500 seconds to find the right one...
They got lucky on the 8th try.
The second the sensor alerted the AI, a missile blasted through in a millisecond, and detonated in the middle of the siliconoid ship.

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2004-05-20 03:32pm

Captain tycho wrote:Deep Space, Stargate facility
The stargate begain dialing, and a small sensor probe extended, scanning for any signs of siliconoid technology. The R'hllorans knew that the Overseer's had captured a pair of Kryntori stargates, and they had only had 50. It would take less than 500 seconds to find the right one...
They got lucky on the 8th try.
The second the sensor alerted the AI, a missile blasted through in a millisecond, and detonated in the middle of the siliconoid ship.

++ Iris has absorbed missile strike. Tracking Gate of origin. ++

The Gate used by the Rh'llorans pulsed as an unscheduled offworld activation began...

lazerus · Post by **lazerus** » 2004-05-20 03:36pm

A data disk was dropped on the presedents desk.
"Here it is, all of Chyane Mountain mission reports. The terrans actually had these in a public library."
"Unsuppising, given that the stargate network in this galaxy isn't what it once was......"
"Good, anything usefull?"
"Most of the planets have either been colonized or stipped of anything usefull, but I was able to find a few.......interesting reports."
"Good, list them."
"Well for starters......"

Pablo Sanchez · Post by **Pablo Sanchez** » 2004-05-20 03:39pm

Thirdfain wrote:"I have two simple conditions. First, I will not slay any members of the Hajr's high councils. I still hold loyalty to my people. Secondly, you will teach me everything. Nothing will be held back."

"So, Lord- do we have an agreement?"

Basil stroked his chin, "I must refuse. A deal has already been made."

"I don't think I understand," Elanie said.

"In willfully and voluntarily accepting your rebirth as a vampire, you became a citizen of our kingdom with all that entails. We are not in your cluster now. There is no servitude within our people, that is purpose of the lesser races. Even in our relationship with our king, we follow him for one reason alone: he is the strongest, the most intelligent, and the most cunning. If he was not, Ysevelod would still be king," Basil explained, "as for your conditions, you're lucky that I am an indulgent lord. Many of my type and stature would be rather offended at that presumption. But those conditions are acceptable to me. I already intended to teach you what you needed to know. As for your loyalty to what you were, I will respect the feeling until it has passed or the nation has ceased to exist. I am patient."

"I... see."

ooc:
I don't really feel like going through the training in detail. Can we just assume that it's going on and check in every so often?

frigidmagi · Post by **frigidmagi** » 2004-05-20 03:39pm

To: The Union
From: United Protectrates State Office

We would like to exchange ambassadors and formalize relations. We are interested in trade and culture exchange as well.

State Office in the name of Lord Portector Sir Joshua Mattews.

Captain tycho · Post by **Captain tycho** » 2004-05-20 03:40pm

Deep Space, Stargate Facility
After the missile had fired, the iris sealed the R'hlloran stargate shut, as a precaution to siliconoid retaliation. It was unlikely that the missile had gotten past the siliconoid iris, but the R'hllorans had a little something else up their sleeves.

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2004-05-20 03:42pm

Captain tycho wrote:Deep Space, Stargate Facility
After the missile had fired, the iris sealed the R'hlloran stargate shut, as a precaution to siliconoid retaliation. It was unlikely that the missile had gotten past the siliconoid iris, but the R'hllorans had a little something else up their sleeves.

A solid THUMP indicated something solid had tried to come through, and failed miserably.

++ Sensor drone did not rematerialize. Fire weapons; potential deterioration of Iris would allow for rematerialization. ++

Three Deathstrikes, ready to surge through if the Sensor drone had made it, lifted their cannons and opened fire with Microfusion cannons set to a continuous beam.

Captain tycho · Post by **Captain tycho** » 2004-05-20 03:45pm

Deep Space, Stargate Facility
Iris melting. Redirect
The stargate was turned, facing into deep space, and the iris opened, allowing the beam to pass through harmlessly.[/b]

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2004-05-20 03:50pm

Captain tycho wrote:Deep Space, Stargate Facility
Iris melting. Redirect
The stargate was turned, facing into deep space, and the iris opened, allowing the beam to pass through harmlessly.[/b]

The beam maintained itself for another twenty minutes, nearing the end of the time the Gate would be open.

++ Launch sensor drone. ++

The beams cut off just in time for a drone, flying on repulsors, to burst out and take a scan of it's immediate area, transmitting back through the Gate. It lasted mere moments, however, before the CoG units blasted it into dust.

lazerus · Post by **lazerus** » 2004-05-20 03:57pm

++I know skpping ahead 4 day is usally bad practice, but since this ship is headed away from known space at maximum warp, it shouldn't matter++

P3X-119
The Jardanian Drednaught, having redlined it's engines for the last 4 days, was actually venting minor amounts of coolant into space as it fell into orbit.

The science officer looked at his control pannel.
"P3X-119, stargate recorded as sealed. Surfase shows the remains of a civilization, also shows signs of massive bombardment at one point.......surfase is still slightly radioactive."
The weapons officer blinked.
"Still radioactive? After 15,000 years? Dammmnnnnn."
"Enough chatter, start scanning for that underground facility."
"yes sir."

Captain tycho · Post by **Captain tycho** » 2004-05-20 06:59pm

Halo
The First Speaker sent another message to the Overseer fleet:
We have considered your proposal, siliconoids, and the answer is still no. Bluffing or not, we shall not surrender. We'll be destroyed before we aid the likes of you.

lazerus · Post by **lazerus** » 2004-05-20 07:03pm

The goa'ould symbote writhed on the table, it's jaws and wings moving randomly.

Across the room, a Jardanian hefted a staff and mutted the command word under his breath.
"Elotas."

The brilliant blue beam of a Polymorph: Other spell shot out and struck the symbote, in a flash of blue light, a pixie was sitting on the table.

The Jardanian black-ops officer whistled.
"Not what I was looking for.......Still. We are gonna have some FUN with this........"

Pablo Sanchez · Post by **Pablo Sanchez** » 2004-05-20 07:38pm

Temesvar
Estate of the Grand Prince

They were in a sort of gym or training room beneath the manor garden. It was somewhat familiar to Elanie, it had the same sort of fixtures that she had seen in gymnastics and sports gymnasiums when she was a girl... although of course these were designed at least in part for an environment with gravity.

"As I told you before, every power is an expression of your will. Telekinesis is no different. The rubber ball across the room, command it to fly to your palm and it must obey," Basil said, turning to look at the objects in question. One of them sprang up from the floor without preamble and he snatched it out of the air as it passed him.

Elanie took this to mean it was her turn to try. She reached out to another of the balls. This one wobbled into the air in an ungainly fashion and suddenly accelerated to smash into the wall. It bounced away, mocking her. Still, she was a little surprised at it. Telekinesis was another unknown quantity for her; it wasn't something she had done every day.

"Good, good. You have the basic principle. With the same sort of effort you can make thrown objects more accurate and deadly, deflect projectiles and melee weapons away from your body, and add powerful effect to your own weapon of choice," Basil expanded.

"How do you mean?" Elanie asked.

"I once slew fifteen men with a fire poker. I commanded it to have a cutting edge, and invisibly it gained keenness and hewed them as well as any sword. Of course when coming into contact with enchanted armor or certain beasts such a weapon is only as good as it's source," Basil explained again.

Elanie grabbed the ball more forcefully and this time it went toward her, but at probably more than 200 kilometers per hour. She cringed at the wholly unexpected explosion of movement and decided to try and deflect it. It hit an obstruction a few feet away from her and bounced off to her right.

"Good, you're becoming more advanced. We'll keep practicing with telekinesis for today, it's a prime combat skill for vampires of your age," he said.

"Can it be used to attack people directly, without an intermediate object?" she asked.

Basil shook his head, "Not easily or effectively. A being imparts a certain resistance not present with inanimate objects. At my level it is possible to do such things, but you have a long way to go before you can do that."

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2004-05-20 09:23pm

Captain tycho wrote:Halo
The First Speaker sent another message to the Overseer fleet:
We have considered your proposal, siliconoids, and the answer is still no. Bluffing or not, we shall not surrender. We'll be destroyed before we aid the likes of you.

++ Your proposal is acceptable. ++

The planetary shields reached their point of saturation, and feedback blasted them apart. The Overseer fleet moved in, blasting the gun positions with railgun fun, ripping them to shreds. The primary Naquadria vein was under a much less powerful theatre shield, but the Master Programmer didn't feel like waiting to see what forces were coming valiantly to aid the beleagured planet.

One of the massive Heavy Cruisers, it's lineage as a megafreighter still obvious, tilted towards the planet and accelerated to ramming speed at Manifold.

Captain tycho · Post by **Captain tycho** » 2004-05-20 09:38pm

Luckily, Manifold was the first to be evacuated, and was devoid of life. Only a few straggling robots remained behind. The cruiser, of course, utterly obliterated the city and some of the less well protected subterranean structures, but there were few deaths. When the power grid finally overloaded, small regional backups kicked in, providing at least marginal power to the planet. But the destruction of property mattered little to the R'hllorans. Towers could be raised again, factories restored, power grids repaired. And soon, none of it would matter at all, for the entirety of the R'hlloran fleet was less than 3 hours away by now.

frigidmagi · Post by **frigidmagi** » 2004-05-20 10:08pm

Fleet Admiral Anderson watched has the first batch of probes were lauched off into the void. There were about 300 of them, each about a meter or so in diameter. They seemed to be such frail things to pin such great hopes on.

"Do you think we can count on any of the other powers, Sir?" Asked his aide Captain Flowers. Her brown eyes were worried. Most citizens of the UP didn't put much trust in forgein governments save the allies.

"The Mono's and the allies sure. The Shi and the Ravens also. Hell the Bloodsuckers seem to have thrown in. The others... We may not want their help after what happen to the Arcanes." The Admiral said with a shrug watching the light show.

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2004-05-20 10:09pm

++ Invade the remains of Manifold; occupy the mines. We will see how eager they are to destroy their own territory around such an unstable element. ++

The Master Programmer commanded without fear of being contradicted. A dozen Destroyers landed in the crater, offloading Constructs into the mines beneath Manifold. Deathstrikes went first, and Programmers and Replicators brought up the rear. This world too would join the 'Infection' the Organics crowed about. It was just too bad the Rh'lloreans couldn't be painted in the same colours as the Arcanists.

While the offloading was conducted, extensive use of chemical and nuclear warheads was employed against farmland and water supplies. There was, sadly, no time to completely ruin this world for usage. But it would be terribly uncomfortable for the short term.

The fleet, with hours still on the clock, prepared to leave.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2004-05-21 12:20am

Veithan Empire Space
Veitha III, Capitol

~As soon as you can get your people together, we’d be ready to have them. We’ll be ready by the time they arrive.~

~Thank you again. It is a difficult search, and one we have to put on hold for the time being to search for the Siliconoids, but every step is one closer.~

~Excellent. This should be the beginning of a very profitable partnership, for all our peoples.~ With that stated, the meeting continued to the eventual conclusion. Minor points were discussed and ironed out, and with it all, one request, that the Veithans keep relatively silent on the existence of Soulcatcher technology, at least publicly for the time being.

((OOC: Rather short, once again, I know, but now we have this part wrapped up and can just get on with other bits

))

Shark Bait · Post by **Shark Bait** » 2004-05-21 02:38am

Aber-Toril
Hectori's carrier had been pushing the D-flux systems as hard as they could since leaving New St. Paul he absolutly needed to get to the arcane worlds as soon as possible, especially since his people had been handed the arcane's worlds. Finally he arrived and immediately sent a message to all other ships in the area "Greetings whe have traveled her uppon the request that the Arcane worlds be handed over to us as a neutral third party, we wish to learn exactly how the Arcane and the Non-Organics were tied. As well as finding a propper fate for these now abandoned worlds once inspections are complete"

he then stood by and wated for a response

New St. Paul
Inia stood behind the pilot of their transport watching the planet slowly rotate beneith them, in the back ground she could hear Lutris' mournful cries she was allready begining to feel her sadneess creeping into the back of her mind. In these cramped quarters soon everyone would be feeling it and that could be very bad.
Looking at the pilot she hummed "Allright time to get started on this project of ours, lets make this look good. I want a fast gracefull, but controled, dive directly into the water and as little of a splash as possible."
With that the pilot began an imediate decent, like some predatory bird he swooped allthe way down into the atmosphear as flames licked the sides of the hull which easily dissapated the heat. He aimed the craft carefully at their landing sight then in the last portion of the decent he began to slow, untill just before he broke the surface of the water where he was almost stopped. The somehow the entier ship slid gracefully into the water making bairly a ripple. "Perfect" Inia purred happily "scan the water and prep the team to set up a perimiter." As the ship began scanning the chemical and biological composition of the water she went to see Lutris about that translation program, and to perhaps destract her from the ache of sepperation.

Thirdfain · Post by **Thirdfain** » 2004-05-21 03:10am

The 2cnd War Cluster Speaks to the Aquarian Vessels

<<The former Arcanist systems of Ravenloft, Esgaroth, Seiben, and Chul'suroth are under the auspices of the Hajr. The wishes of the traitorous Arcanists are of no consequence, and their sytems will be put to good use in returning sovereignity, dignity, and power to the Unbound of Known Space. Your request is denied. Should you wish to contest our claim through violence, we invite you to do so now, while civilian populations are yet low and only a handful of Unbound have began colonization.

Your inspection teams will be allowed onto the abondoned worlds, and they will go accompanied by Hajr soldiers. The dead worlds will remain under our protection, their dimensional gateways fortified against the return of the Arcanists.

As for the ties between the Arcanists and the Machines, it is apparent that they maintained a Machine fortress in their very home-system, maintaining it as secret from the Unification powers, informing no-one. Records of Arcanists consorting with the Machines have been found, and while their veracity has not yet been verified, the evidence points strongly to an Arcane connection. Add to this the simple fact that the Arcanists, rather than face investigation, simply fled, we are quite certain of their complicity with the Machines.

You are free to do as you please in those systems we maintain no presence in, we will not hinder you.>>

Dahak · Post by **Dahak** » 2004-05-21 09:39am

Aber-Toril system

<<They really believe that, do they?>> she shook her head. They were either very sure of themselves, or very arrogant.
<<Should we reply, Admiral?>>
<<Just for the fun of it, yes. If we're stuck in this shit hole here, we can at least have a good laugh.>>

"To Aquarian ships. We advise you to check your sensors and re-adjust your requests to the current situation. It is rather clear that your claims to this system are rather...thin."

Apart from that, the Gladsheim ships choose to stay behind, and watch.

Rogue 9 · Post by **Rogue 9** » 2004-05-21 10:13am

"I would point out that other claims to the systems are similarly thin, if not more so." Fisher leaned forward in his command chair. "I fail to see what claim the Ousters hold upon the Arcanist systems. The Ousters were neither allied with the Arcanists nor included in the Arcanists' ceding of territory. If one nation cares to cede territory to another, it is no business of any third party to casually take the territory in question."

Rogue 9 · Post by **Rogue 9** » 2004-05-21 11:00am

RSC destroyer patrol, Gamma-1437 system

Captain Zzrinka of the NRS Polaris sat back in his command chair, folding his four lightly furred arms across his chest. His Starfire class destroyer and the Dawn Raider class frigate Dusk Bandit off his port quarter had spent weeks patrolling outer systems pegged by the Astrographical Survey as likely points for Siliconoid outposts; uninhabited systems with solid surface worlds. So far, they'd turned up nothing. Now they'd try their luck again. "Pick up scanning of the fourth planet. We'll move inward. Signal the Dusk Bandit."

"Aye, sir." The men at the sensor stations began to focus their sensor arrays as the helmsman moved the annunciator forward to one third power. The Dusk Bandit followed. If any non-allied military activity, Siliconoid or otherwise, was detected, the two ships would jump to hyperspace and not attempt to engage.

Pablo Sanchez · Post by **Pablo Sanchez** » 2004-05-21 01:35pm

Thirdfain wrote:You are free to do as you please in those systems we maintain no presence in, we will not hinder you.>>

Admiral-Marquis Belisario de Valencia got on the comm immediately as the open transmissions were intercepted, "As representative of King Casimir the Demon I dispute your claim to the Arcane systems. Some 40% of our vampire population originally hails from these planets, including the majority of our highest rulers. I myself was born on Ravenloft. As we are refugees from these systems we have legitimate claim to the habitable planets therein. I request immediate negotiations to determine the fate of these planets."