STGOD 4 Game Thread

[Alyrium Denryle]

"Dont be so sure. I am one of the best Spikeball players on my homeworld"

And with that, they take a small shuttle over to the demonstration ship. And move into the huge demonstration ships massive vaulted holding area. The size of a football field, with tables, stands, and most mportantt, things sticking up and hanging in place.

And Vrell Krishsa Lept a good 5 meters into the air and extended his "wings" and landed on the wall, sitting there like some humanod gecko until the drones equipment was set up.

[frigidmagi]

"Right, I got an ex Marine drone pilot here, buddy. You're going to be 10 credits poorer, very soon."

The man in question slipped on his helmet which connected him to the drone in question. The drone rose up ready to go.

"On the count of 3. 1... 2... 3!" The drone screamed toward the Lizard.

[Alyrium Denryle]

Right as the drone was about to strike the Spikeball player pivoted on his hands and swung upward, dodging the drone. Then pushed off from the wall and sailed across the room at high speed.

[frigidmagi]

Using it's anti grav engine the drone reserved course right before striking the wall. It rotated on it's axis and zoomed after the nimble lizard, feet away from it's tail.

[Bugsby]

Yrt's shuttle dropped out of hyperspace in Veithan territory. He had spent the last few weeks in deep space, seperating himself from everyone else, making an effort to restore the damage done to his psyche during the last few months. It was a long, intorspective process. He slept a lot. In the end, he had regained control, more or less. He felt like his old self again, but there were some differences. He was more... twitchy. More on edge. But then, a little paranoia was always useful when you were an assassin.

He transmitted the codes he had been given and was allowed to approach the Vetihan world, with an escort. As he approached, he threw up his mental shields again, prepared for the mental rush he knew he would encounter when he got planetbound. He was pleasantly surprised.

When he touched down, no rush of psychic energy bombarded him. The planet was almost as quiet as deep space had been. As he stepped off the shuttle, a Veithan came to meet him. "Mr. Ztal? We have been expecting you. Follow me, if you would." Yrt complied.

As he passed into the spaceport behind his guide, the psychic noise resumed, but on a much smaller level. Instead of the constant shouting in his head, he heard nothing more than the murmur of conversation. No one spoke that he could see, yet inside his head it sounded as though he were hearing the buzz of a hundred different conversations within a crowded spaceport. He tried tuning them out, focusing on one of them. It worked, but the pair of Veithans he had focus on turned and glared at him. Yrt shook his head, and quickly cut out of the conversation. Eavesdropping in this manner was as taboo as in other cultures. Yrt was a bit embarrassed. There was so much he didn't know. Yet at the same time he felt a strange relief. These people had mental discipline, the same discipline he would need to survive in the future. If anyone could teach him, these people could.

-ooc- Take over from here, Marcao. I don't have time for a prolonged Elanie-style training, seeing as how I leave in over a week. When I go, you can work Yrt solo, and hopefully I will have a fully trained assassin when I get back. Just dont screw him up when Im gone.

[Alyrium Denryle]

Using it's anti grav engine the drone reserved course right before striking the wall. It rotated on it's axis and zoomed after the nimble lizard, feet away from it's tail.

The lizard grabbed a hold of a hanging flag and pivoted on it, then hit another wall and vaulted along it like a monkey, seeming to ignore gravity himself.

[Rogue 9]

First Carrier Battle Group, Third Fleet. Earth Orbit

"Montagesque, this is the NRS Excelsior. Our detachment to the hunts for the Overseer has ended with the successful conclusion of the search. We are breaking orbit to head back to Praetor now. We request a vector to a clear spacelane so we can safely move the fleet out of orbit."

[frigidmagi]

The lizard grabbed a hold of a hanging flag and pivoted on it, then hit another wall and vaulted along it like a monkey, seeming to ignore gravity himself.

The drone snapped a hard turn after it's prey gaining by inches on the Lizard, missing him by a half foot on his last dodge.

[Hotfoot]

Known Space
Ark Sector - Ravenlock Controlled Region
Trade Fair
Demonstration Ship

The staff on duty watched the aerial dance between the lizard and the drone with some mild amusement. They had let the two parties in because nothing was on the schedule at the moment, and they had some time to kill. It was pretty much a forgone conclusion as to who would win though. Glider monkey-lizards couldn't possibly hope to evade a VTOL sensor drone for long.

Unfortunately, the staff had forgotten to look at the time, having been entranced in the show of the lizard versus the drone, and a new contender was brought to the field, right on schedule, a Ravenlock Consortium mobile air defense hoverdyne.

<<Err, guys? What's going on? Are those holotargets or what?>>

<<Damn funny targets, hold on, I'll check with the staff. Must be a mix up somewhere.>>

<<Hold fire, hold fire, it's just a couple of hotheads trying to settle a bet>>

<<Wanna let them finish?>>

<<Only if they don't mind trying to dodge out guns. We've got tight schedule here.>>

<<We could always load safe rounds.>>

<<No time. Besides, we shoot live or not at all. Those are the orders from the boss. Now get those damn monkeys out of here!>>

[Alyrium Denryle]

"Oh shit, that drone is getting close!!!!"

As the drone got closer again, dropped around 15 feet, and pushed off again, gliding in zig zags before banking to grip a poll holding up a marque, and used it as a folcrum to change direction.

[frigidmagi]

"Yo! Spider squirrel! Time to go unless you want to be shot at. Don't know about you but I don't end up a stuffed trophy in a Ravenlock den or something." Ricks cried has the Drone screamed even closer to the lizard, buzzing it's tail. He turned the pilot.

"Hey, Game Over dude. Game called on account of guns."

[Alyrium Denryle]

He immeditly dropped from a height of 8 meters and landed uninjured in an open space.

"Damn combat drones"

[frigidmagi]

"Come on Spider Squrriel I know a good bar. We can complain about it there."

[Alyrium Denryle]

"Come on Spider Squrriel I know a good bar. We can complain about it there."

"Heh, booze equals good, Amazing how alcohol works the same no matter what species we are. The name is Vrell Krishsa, Captain of Varathrax's Spikeball tieam."

He extends a claw.

[frigidmagi]

"Daniel Ricks, Sellsmen. That's Nathiel Grant over there taking off the helmet." Ricks said shaking the lizards claw has they walked off.

[Hotfoot]

Ravenlock Space
Ravenlock Sector
Aequitas – Planetside
Pax Flumen Arcology

Major Vessal felt a chill ripple down his spine as he looked at the status reports. He had been here before, in this position, he just couldn’t remember when, the why, the how. Something just felt all too familiar about this. Visiting dignitaries, trade deals, and now something coming along to jeopardize it.

A hospital. The chill again. Hostages. Explosions, likely grenades. Probably setting up bombs in the store rooms and near the structural supports. Potential losses? Tons of medical supplies and clones, plus the hospital cloning facilities. Plus human life, but that was secondary at this point. Only deaths that made a difference were the deaths of the terrorists. Those would be the only ones that would stick.

“What kind of targets do we have, Tsu?”

“Can’t say for sure, Major. Looking at the intel, could be Augs or Dra’kol. Either way, they’ve got body armor, so we can forget playing nice this time. No explosives though, if you please.”

“No frags?”

“I won’t tell if you won’t, but Gabby’s gotta stay home this time.”

“I’ll pass it on. We’ll keep the shrapnel to a minimum. Straight L-Carbs then?”

“Yeah. Could go slug if you wanted.”

“I’ll keep it in mind. Got numbers?”

“Yeah, about twenty. You’ll be working with the locals on this one, though they’re pretty much just there to keep ‘em from disappearing while you and your boys are busy taking them down. Clean up crew and all that too.”

“Good. Don’t want a repeat of last time. Underground and nearby buildings are covered, right?”

“Made sure to bring that to their attention. They’re putting units in key locations as we speak.”

“Good. I’ll set up a sweep pattern with the boys. Get a squad of locals over to keep our backs dry just in case, we’ll fill them in on the plan as we go.”

“Right, see you in fifteen.”


***


“Figures, the day before we’re set up to get the brand new suits, something like this has to happen. Man, if we had that new gear, this op would be fucking over already,” Avery muttered as he fastened the last of his combat gear on over his op suit.

“You are too eager, my apprentice. You must focus on the here and now, not pine for what is yet to come,” Barry smirked as he reached for his weapons locker.

“Man, when did I become your apprentice? Last I checked, I still torpedo owned you on the target range.”

“Ah, yes, but you forget, I am still the Master at Trideo Monster Madness,” the powerfully built SENTINEL operative broke into a grin as he hefted his Automatic Grenade launcher into the air like a club. “OGRE SMASH!”

“Oh, oh, that’s how it is? Oh, you are going down when this op is over. You, me, TMM, Grand Tournament style. Nothing but ownage.”

“Yeah, that’s what you keep saying. Want me to take a handicap this time?”

~You’re going to have to, Barry, at least for the op. No Gabby.~ Major Vessal impressed as he entered the locker room of the Pigpen.

~What?~

~Hospital. Pricy pricy. No hurty.~

~Aw fuck, that’s right~ He sighed as he lovingly put his grenade launcher back into his weapons locker. ~Next time baby, next time~

~Touching. Anyway, that said, we are going lethal on this op. We can use some frags, but save them unless we really need them. Bad guys are in body armor, and probably have masks or filters in, so gas won’t do us that much good~

~So, what, Tinkerbells and Smogs? Not a whole lot of options there.~ Arnade impressed

~We’ll have to make do. Kinetics are also an option. Everyone should probably pack a KPDW in addition to your carbine. On the upside, we do have backup, and if we can get to the security centers, we can track movement, assuming they didn’t just disable the entire system~

~We can’t slice in from outside?~

~Nope, someone cut the external feed. Probably trying to use it to watch for us.~

~Shit, sounds familiar. Are these guys making demands?~

~Yeah, the usual huffing and puffing. Sounds like it may be amateurs, but it could also be a cover to keep us busy until they can plant all the charges.~

~So what’s the plan?~

~Start on the roof, split up into two teams. Deal with each floor as it comes. Only twenty targets, so we shouldn’t have to go too far. One team checks storage, the other team checks security. Barry and I will get storage, you and Avery get security.~

~Hostages?~

~If you have to shoot through them, don’t hesitate. We’ll worry about the spin later. Speed is critical. The faster these guys go down, the less chance they have of blowing the place to hell, and us with it.~

~Human or Dra’kol?~

~Can’t tell, doesn’t matter. Shock any flesh you see, just in case.~


***


Nothing ever went to plan, did it? Even something routine as a trip to the hospital after a rough op had to be slapped around a bit by Murphy’s legal team. Mikal Antoliovich’s jaw clenched. He knew they’d be sending in a SENTINEL team soon, he knew this wasn’t his job. He was supposed to be off duty, recuperating.

He wasn’t supposed to be shot at either. Mikal particularly disliked being shot at. Everyone who had ever done so had suffered exquisitely for their impudence. His augmented senses told him volumes. He could tell where the terrorists were through most of the walls of the hospital, avoiding them as he went. Without a firearm, he could not afford to be seen. He was good at that sort of thing, even without his stealth suit. Good enough to evade the punks who had taken the hospital, at least. Security was a breeze, it was homebrewed, the Consortium Special. His implants bypassed them effortlessly, tech even SENTINEL didn’t have access to, but then they didn’t have his clearance, or his jurisdiction. Few did. And rather than have to organize a retrieval team to pick up his corpse and all the expensive, black-ops enhancements it had, Mikal figured it would be best to help out the home team and give them an invisible helping hand. It was professional courtesy, and SENTINEL had pulled him out of a tight spot once or twice before, it was time to return the favor.


***


The top floor was breached and secured in under two minutes. The security system had been cut off from outside control, which made this floor the most critical and dangerous floor in the building. If SENTINEL failed here, the operation would have been over just as quickly as it had started.

~Radio detonator on a C12 platter. Cutting me a slice and taking the rest.~ Barry impressed

~Copy, make sure there isn’t a secondary~ sent Major Vessal

~Only make that mistake once, Chief~

~Only if you live. How’s the camera crew?~

~Stellar. Hope there wasn’t anyone downstairs~ Arnade sent

~Let’s hope not, but bet on it. We’re going double time folks. If all the bombs are like this, we lucked out. Slice and grab, leave the triggers active. Let them think we didn’t get them. How’s the slice going?~

~Slow, they did a number on the sec..wait…the hell?~

~What’s going on Arnade?~

~ We’re getting the live feed, but everyone else is getting recycled data~

~Good job, let’s go~

Arnade paused for a moment. That was what he was attempting to do, but he was at least three minutes from getting in to do it without the targets seeing him do it. Something weird was going on, something very weird. He opened up a tight-psi communications link with Major Vessal.

~That wasn’t me. We may have a pro slicer down there, Major~

~Fuck. Could you tell if we were being spoofed?~

~No, didn’t look like it, but depending on how good he is, it’s possible~

~Give me some good news here Arnade~

~We get new gear when this is over~

~Great. Well, stick to the plan, but hump it. If they’re blind already, we can move faster, and if they know we’re here, we’ll have to. You get structure points now, Barry and I will stick to storerooms. Anything with a gun and without a badge gets killed. I’ll let the locals know the status change~

~Sure thing~

~Okay team, on my mark, next floor. Let’s move!~


***


The radio’s signal was noted as the terrorist checked in. The sound of the man’s voice, the codewords used. It was enough. He couldn’t grab the radio, it was a subdermal job, somewhat like his own. Good thinking on their part, but utterly useless in the end. The signal from the terrorist’s radio was jammed, subverted by his own system. Nobody would know until it was too late. The takedown was brutal and efficient. He didn’t need the man awake, just alive. Like most of Division Six, Mikal was a potent telepath, one of the best the Consortium had to offer. The terrorist was just a mundane. There would be no lies. No interrogations. Just scanning. Everything the terrorist knew was laid bare for Mikal. He could maintain the façade long enough now, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was getting SENTINEL and the terrorists to the right place at the right time.


***


~Major, we have a hostile down~ Avery sent

~Good~

~We found him that way~

Major Vessal paused as he processed that. ~Check him. Human?~

~Copy, he’s static. Lots of broken bones though, and no gun~

~Internal problems maybe? Undercover cop at work?~

~Fuck if I know, but if he had a subdermal, chances are the others know about it. Might be spooked~

~Wonderful. Move faster boys, we’re in a race now. I’m telling our backup to handle the bombs. We’ve got to end this now~


***


Using the stolen frequency, Mikal was able to locate the positions of the other terrorists with relative ease. The new suits SENTINEL would get might have that capability, which he was sure they would greatly appreciate. Now, with a gun, he could properly hunt the fools who had thought him easy prey. One by one, the patrolling terrorists began to fall, each time their signals being replaced with Mikal’s, his voice synthesizer implant mimicking the voices of the downed terrorists. It wouldn’t work forever, but by the time the fools might have uncovered the deception, they would already be dead.


***


~Shit, more bodies. It’s like we were already through here before~ Barry sent

Major Vessal felt another shiver down his spine. The sense of déjà vu was back. He could not understand it, but the situation was almost like a dream. He had heard of some gifted reporting the ability of foresight, but it had never been proven. This situation made him wonder if there was any truth to the rumor, but he pushed it aside. They were halfway down the building, and still had a ways to go before they got to the hotbed of activity. ~What’s the total now?~

~Six down so far. Means twelve left, assuming intel was accurate. Maybe less if there is some sort of undercover bust or inter-group conflict.~

~Can we patch in to their frequency?~

~Sure, shouldn’t be a problem, but none of them had active radios when we found them. Everything was off, couldn’t find the frequency~

~This just keeps getting better and better, doesn’t it?~


***


The terrorists didn’t know it yet, but they had lost their eyes and ears. And entire company of Groundform could come down on the hospital now and they would never even know it until they were gasping for their last, dying breath. A pity, whoever had set up this operation had done so with some considerable skill. The terrorists themselves were…lacking, but the plan was solid, and the leaders rather competent. He almost hoped SENTINEL would take them alive, but chances of that were low. For now, he simply left them a hint, a piece of paper with a rough sketch of the concentrations of the remaining terrorists, left in the hand of a dead man. They would find it, if they were competent. If not, well, he had done all he was able to do at the moment.


***


Major Vessal looked at the dead terrorist. The count was up to twelve dead now, no clue as to how many were left. No clue except for a crudely drawn sketch on a medical report, crumpled up in the terrorist’s hand. It was almost too good to be true, and his first impression was to throw it away, but something, he couldn’t tell what, compelled him to hang on to it.

~All right, I think they may have some concentrations two floors down, in the cloning labs, and a floor below that, in the server room. Barry and I will grab the labs, Arnade, you and Avery take the servers. If we’re lucky, this will be the last of them, and everything from this point is mop up work. I’m letting the locals on the ground know they’ve got a go-ahead to disable the bombs on their level. Let’s move~

The twin two man groups maneuvered quickly and quietly into position. Guns were checked. Breaching charges were set. Flashbangs were made ready. Pumping air and blood were the only sounds the Black Pigs could hear.

~Now~

Each of the four doors of each room, eight in all, erupted in furious fire, propelling shrapnel from the doors along the shockwave of superheated air. A split second later, two flashbang grenades flew into each room, from perpendicular doors, followed closely by the bodies that threw them. Coherent high energy photons screamed from the laser carbines, sizzling armor, clothes, then flesh as they found their marks. No electrical stun, not this time, simply high powered pulses, more than strong enough to slice through the light armor the terrorists had donned. More than enough to penetrate flesh and bone.

Within ten seconds, it was over. Room entry operations were the single most dangerous part of the job, on both sides of the fence. SENTINEL worked day and night to make sure they did it better than the bad guys. That training had paid off.

The body count was at twenty. If there was a traitor, Intel hadn’t put him into the initial threat assessment. This bothered Major Vessal a fair deal, but he couldn’t dwell on it just yet. There were other things requiring his attention. In a few days, it might catch up to him, and that would be when the real worry would start.

For now, the mopping up needed to be handled, and the Black Pigs were needed at the security summit. Under his breath, he muttered, “I hate Mondays.”

[Hotfoot]

Veithan Empire
Vethia III

The Director was in a bit of a hurry, but he took some time out for the signing of the treaty. It was a relatively formal affair, with the Veithans present at the ceremony, and various people giving some pleasant speeches about the sign of unity and stability this was creating. VNN and GCN, of course, had the best seats in the house, and while the Director declined the press conference afterwards, he did extend an invitation to VNN for a personal interview at a later date.

A few short hours after the treaty had been signed, the Interesting Times departed Veitha III and set course for Earth. The Director was long overdue to meet with the Monacorans directly.

[Dahak]

Gladsheim Prime

The Battlecruiser HIMS Demonstration of Supremacy and her 3 destroyer escorts left their orbits and opened their wormholes. They were carrying ambassador Hanah de Grojte to the Ravenlock Consortium. They would arrive soon...

[Hotfoot]

Known Space
Ark Sector - Ravenlock Controlled Region
Trade Fair

Reminders were sent out to the Trade Fair attendees that a special announcement was to take place that evening in the main convention hall. What was to be revealed would surely be of great interest to several people.

Meanwhile, the Ravenlock Consortium Corporations were doing fairly well in their own displays. Foodstuffs were remarkably cheap, and though not exactly gourmet meals, they did contain essential dietary needs, and could be tailored to almost any race. Ravenlock military ships had not yet been showcased in full, but the commercial shipyards had demos of the RDF ships in action, in defense of civilian shipping. The civilian ships were even shown taking numerous hits from pirate vessels, to show Ravenlock durability, and authenticated records from civilian captains stood to show how easy it was to maintain, repair, and fly Ravenlock civilian ships.

Cybernetic implants also had a prominent point in the fair. They ranged the gamut of augmentations, from nanite-enhanced immune systems to full chrome total conversions. The standard slogan of the Cybernetics Corps had been removed after the Rape of Terra, as executives felt it was somewhat inappropriate to “Forget the Flesh” and “Oil your innards, not your pecs”. The Etern were watched with worried eyes by some, afraid that the unknown Cyborgs might cause a scene like they had at the Draconis booths. Others, however, wondered if the Cyborgs might be convinced to try a trial run of Ravenlock cybernetics. It would be a massive boon to have already augmented individuals giving live testimonials.

Meanwhile, the Consortium reps showed interest in a few different areas. The drilling equipment of the UP, and the Nashtar civilian stations being the most notable offers. Various other offers were made to test the waters, but nothing else was known for certain.

Meanwhile, the trade net of the meet was buzzing. Very little real product changed hands here, but orders were being offered and requested at a frantic pace.

When the time came for the announcement, a hush fell over the main hall as the master of ceremonies began.

“To all beings gathered here, I thank you. This fair has been wildly successful so far, and we’re only one standard day into it. It wouldn’t be possible without you all. Now then, on to business. The Ravenlock Consortium has a very special announcement to make. I’m sure many of you have passed our cloning and genetic engineering booths, but what you’ve seen already is but a taste of what the Consortium has to offer.

“For centuries, science fiction writers have speculated that cloning was a key to a kind of immortality, a way to avoid death. Yet, for almost as long, one thing has stood in the way of that possibility, our minds. Memories, experiences, and thoughts cannot be cloned, and so a clone is little more than scientifically created identical twin.

“However, Ravenlock Scientists have managed to devise a way to make a copy of a living brain, keeping the information in a storage device the marketing types like to call a ‘Soulcatcher’. From the information contained by the Soulcatcher copy, the information can be then 'written' into a new clone body. Offering protection against untimely deaths due to violence, disease, or accident, the Soulcatcher system is a boon to any sentient race.

“For the first time ever, the Consortium has authorized limited rentals of Soulcatcher facilities and services. I wish we could offer these services to every sentient being in the galaxy, but sadly, that is not possible. If you or your government is interested in this offer, please, send a transmission to the following address, and we will get back to you. Contracts regarding Soulcatcher services are available on the Fair’s network for public viewing and copy to take with you when you leave the fair, as is a full briefing as to the technology’s uses and limitations,” the master of ceremonies smiled as he finished. This would almost certainly be a very attention-grabbing move, both good and bad, but was there really ever such a thing as bad publicity?

The M.C. stepped away from the platform, leaving the audience to deal with this new development.

[Murazor]

"Of course if that is your desire. If you will follow me, Sir?" He said with a slight bow.

"Of course, I will follow you, Fleet Admiral. I have not crossed the void to see you freeze to death, ruining any future relation among our governments"

As Andersen guided him away from the frigate, the Ethereal noticed a carefully hidden cordon around the ship. Those humans weren't fools and understood that confidence was the most expensive commodity.

Soon, the admiral, his escorts and the councilor entered a lift that took them somewhere deep below the surface. After several minutes of walking, the Admiral opened a door and invited the alien to enter the room. The guardsmen were left in the corridor.

"This is a bug-proof room. Nothing said between this walls will be know beyond them unless one of us decides to tell it. Usually we wouldn't use this kind of security in a First Contact situation, but given the seriousness of the matter we felt that it was better to play safe" said the Admiral after closing the door.

"What matter are you talking about, Admiral?" asked the Councilor with a voice full of perplexity.

[Murazor]

Edean System
Ouster Occupation Zone, Former Covenant of God Territory

"It doesn't look as if they are boring, Porelat" hissed menacingly Sizartrax. "They have been searching for nine hours now. And they aren't stopping."

The bad mood of the captain had worsened when an Ouster raiding frigate had decided to stay still in the neighbourhood of the gas giant. The frigate wasn't an inmediate danger, as it was well outside any possible sensor range for a ship its size. But if it stayed in its current position, it could become a danger. A big danger.

The simulations run by the computer had allowed them to determine the shortest distance from the planet where the warp drive wouldn't blow them to smithereens. However, the Ouster frigate was in a position from where it might be able to intercept Sizartrax's ship before engaging warp drive.

The scout frigate might cripple the Ouster vessel with an alpha strike, but the Council had ordered to avoid combat at all costs. A war with the Ousters would be a certain disaster for the Confederation and if the lifes of Sizartrax and his crew must be spent to avoid it, they would be spent.

[admiral_danielsben]

Lastport

"Then you are a relative. I apologize for any mistaken impression.
Also, most of us are NOT broadcast telepaths, at least with non-telepaths."

Brian Mattews shrugged has he led the group deeper underground. They passed a massive mural craving of the Charge of Steven's Pass. Another 70 feet had a smaller craving of Lord Protector Joseph Mattews hanging Tyrant Godfrey.

"There is only one Mattews family in the UP. Same has there is only one Andersen family and one Boren family. If you meet someone with the same last name has a House Lord or the Lord Protector, it's because they are related. In my case I am the Lord Protector's cousin and closiest living relative. Not counting Uncle Andersen, but he's a Fleet Admiral. Like I said, keep your thoughts to yourself. Don't attempt to broadcast or read anyone. Ah, here we are. This elevator will take us down to the government levels." Brian led them in with a sweeping guesture.

"Intruiging. Only *one* family per name? your initial settlement base must have been small."

[Rogue 9]

Outer Ix'agal System.
Nashtar occupation Zone, Former Covenant of God Territory.

Three WSN frigates dropped out of warp in the outer system and continued their advance towards the planet Ix'agal through realspace. There was no attempt to hide their presence. All the reports pointed that the system was in convulsion and any unidentified ship trying to sneak into it would most likely end blasted to atoms.

The Council had decided that some force was to be showed there and finally the force dispatched had been two Grabia class frigates of solid built and a troop transport. When they entered sensor range, a message was sent.

From: WSN Authorities.
To: Local Nashtar Republic occupation authorities.
Re: Diplomatic relations.

We, the Council of Races of the White Sun Confederation, consider that the opening of diplomatic relations with you, the Nashtar Republic, will be most beneficial for both you and us. Discussion of subjects of the uppermost importance among our governments is in order. We will wait your answer.

[OOC: >_< Sorry I took so long.]

NRS Kensington

"White Sun vessels, this is Captain Wright of the Nashtar Republic cruiser Kensington. We are not the proper authorities to speak to for diplomatic matters unless you have information directly pertaining to our mission. The Republic welcomes diplomatic contacts, of course, but you will be better served by going through either Praetor or Pinnacle for clearance to proceed to the capital planet of Nashtar. We will transmit the proper coordinates for you if you wish."

[Murazor]

[OOC: >_< Sorry I took so long.]

NRS Kensington

"White Sun vessels, this is Captain Wright of the Nashtar Republic cruiser Kensington. We are not the proper authorities to speak to for diplomatic matters unless you have information directly pertaining to our mission. The Republic welcomes diplomatic contacts, of course, but you will be better served by going through either Praetor or Pinnacle for clearance to proceed to the capital planet of Nashtar. We will transmit the proper coordinates for you if you wish."

From: WSN Tablexia
To: NRS Kensington

"Thank you, Nashtarian vessel. I'm Naval Commander Velvorian and if you sent the coordinates, we will sent them to our authorities in order to start diplomatic relations with your nation. However, under my current orders I have to offer you any help you might need to keep Ix'agal under control. We are neighbours of the Covenant of God and ten years ago they almost invaded our Cluster. The Council feels that it is in our best interest to help you in keeping them in line."

[Rogue 9]

"Additional naval forces are not terribly useful at the moment, Tablexia. The ground-pounders are doing all the work here; the Covenant navy's been crushed these past few months. What we need are ground troops. Regardless, this is not my decision to make. It will have to be cleared through RSC and Army commands on Nashtar. Though I'm sure General Burnside would welcome more troops, you will have to establish formal relations with our government before we can accept your troops."