"Attention unidentified vessel, you have violated Krytosian space. If you want to set up diplomatic relations with the empire, this is not the way to do it. If you wish, we could meet in neutral territory to discuss your proposal, but i'm going to have to ask you to leave immediatly."
"Apoligies, we did not feel an unarmed cargo vessel would be considered a threat. Is there a meeting point you can suggest?"
The sound of angry voices could be heard over the comm system
"Quiet Fool! are you trying to screw up ANOTHER first contact scenario?"
"I'm just saying, they should have at least announced themselves first."
"That's true but..... give me the damn headset"
"Unidentified vessel? The emperor will see you now, follow the encoded landing course exactly. Any deviation from the landing vector will result in your ships immediat destruction."
And this is why you don't watch anything produced by Ronald D. Moore after he had his brain surgically removed and replaced with a bag of elephant semen.-Gramzamber, on why Caprica sucks
"Understood. We are equipped with a ship-to-planet teleportation system and could beam the diplomatic crew down directly if you feel our vessil is a threat..."
lazerus wrote:Paranoid bastards.........I like them allready.
"Understood. We are equipped with a ship-to-planet teleportation system and could beam the diplomatic crew down directly if you feel our vessil is a threat..."
"Negative. You will adhere to the prescribed landing course"
And this is why you don't watch anything produced by Ronald D. Moore after he had his brain surgically removed and replaced with a bag of elephant semen.-Gramzamber, on why Caprica sucks
The diplomatic conference ended and the delegates departed the system to return to their respective homes. Drealaan was overjoyed with his success, mere hours later he transmitted his summary of the events to the Homeworld Senate. Twenty minutes later the station activated its long range communication array, the image of Tacer Drealaan now stood in front of the Homeworld Senate.
Senator Leenhau watched the recording of the conference with ire, she had read all the recent galactic news: two galactic powers had fallen in the past month, they had been relatively bloodless, but two empires, as large and grand as the Baeloaren Commonwealth, it was unsettling to say the least. She could not stand by and allow her hard work go to waste. Despite the original precept, Baeloaren space wasn’t quite as remote as most had thought, it was a mere week’s FTL travel from the “center of the galaxy”, a planet called Earth. Distance would prevent them from outsiders any longer; she considered every alien nation as a possible threat.
She had played her cards right early on, suggesting Senator Drealaan act as the representative for the Commonwealth; he was, after all, the most senior member of the Homeworld Senate, was it not his duty to represent the Commonwealth? It had worked wonderfully, Drealaan departed at once, leaving her as acting senior member of the Homeworld Senate, now all eyes turned to her for guidance and support.
“Senator Drealaan, the senate is pleased with your report, you have handled the situation most skillfully, and you are to be commended.” Senator Leenhau glared at the image of Drealaan, sitting there smugly. She loathed the situation, it had taken her forty standard years to stabilize the Baeloaren Commonwealth, she herself believed she had prevented yet another civil war, and now aliens came to ruin the universe she had worked so hard to create, needless to say, she was furious. Yet, as a civil servant, she couldn’t allow that side of her to be seen.
What followed was forty-five minutes of questions relating to the encounter, details about the conference, and questions to Drealaan on his opinion on absolutely every subject the younger senators could think of. Leenhau was the second eldest member of the senate, holding her seat in the senate for over fifty three years, but Drealaan was the eldest, and he had been on the Homeworld Senate for over eighty years and he was held in the highest regard by the younger members of the senate.
After Drealaan ended his communiqué the senate dispersed, there would be a meeting tomorrow to devise a foreign policy. As acting elder senator, she was expected to have a workable proposal. She had waited for the day when she could assert her influence over the senate; she was pleased that it had arrived, though it was unfortunate that it couldn’t be under better circumstances.
Leenhau’s plan was cunning, she would exploit the Commonwealth Navy using the aliens; they would be the first potential enemy the modern Commonwealth Navy has ever had, and would certainly see them as a potential threat. She would get the navy to demand more ships to help protect the Commonwealth, citing the fall of two galactic powers over the course of no more than a standard month; this could certainly be seen as a “threat to the Commonwealth”. The plan would also require a surplus of raw materials; mining had always been strictly regulated; limited resources where not to be wasted. The mining industry would explode, as such piracy would increase. The corporations would ask for grants to build new picket ships, and it would be given to them. It didn’t bother Leenhau that the corporations possessed smaller warships; it was good for the economy, as long as the large warships remained in the hands of the navy. She would come up with a foreign policy on the fly, it wasn’t important; this plot would require as much time as she had.
Before this plan could be put into action she would need the Commonwealth Navy to request more ships, she knew people in high places with the Commonwealth Navy, but the senate would never authorize the building of more Ship of the Lines, especially now that the old Classic s where being brought back. She pondered her situation, looked in on the evening news; there in front of her was the answer that she was looking for.
“Looking to further modernize its arsenal, the Commonwealth Navy has introduced a new line of warship, the Homeworld class Battlecruiser, a replacement for the Commonwealth Navy’s old workhorse, the Classic class heavy cruiser.” the journalist reported. Leenhau cackled with glee, she would arrange for a formal navy request; get one of the top admirals to make a formal request for more ships during tomorrow’s senate meeting.
Later that evening three convoys left Baeloaren space, their respective headings where the Nashtar Republic, the Arcanian Empire and the Empire of Gladsheim. On Bael, the Homeworld, final preparations were already being made, New Garid was the chosen archology. As archologies went on the homeworld, New Garid was fairly low density, home almost exclusively to the upper crust of Baeloaren society; the embassies would fit perfectly, comfort was certainly important, but in New Garid one could acquire almost any luxury good one desired; the upper class were always buying things they didn’t actually need, this would give the aliens a taste of the sort of goods their nations could trade for. Of course, its proximity to the Capital Archology was convenient, five minutes via the underground tramways; no air-transit was required.
Tacer Drealaan looked over the information he had been provided by his guests, the list of nations was fairly long and the explanations were obviously biased, but they gave a good enough indication. Drealaan was positive that trade was the key to peace and prosperity for his people, the more nations the Baeloarens could trade with, the better everyone in the known galaxy would be! Tomorrow a transmission would be broadcast to each of the other major powers, giving greetings and offering to open diplomatic talks. He reviewed the message one last time, tomorrow it would be sent; he closed the console and retired to his chamber.
frigidmagi wrote:"Well gentlemen allow me to outline what the U.P feels this alliance should be. If we agree the terms and actions of the alliance should be as follows.
One, an attack on one member is an attack on all members.
Two, sharing of intelligence and combined conterintelligence operations when seen fit by members.
Three, joint military operations and exerices.
Four, Free trade to be estblished between members. Is this acceptable to you gentlemen?"
"Always a pleasure Ambasador Shelton" Astinius said as he returned the handshake
"We engage in free trade with all nations regardless, and have no tarriffs at all on foreign goods. These basic terms are acceptable to us"
GALE Force Biological Agent/
BOTM/Great Dolphin Conspiracy/ Entomology and Evolutionary Biology Subdirector:SD.net Dept. of Biological Sciences
There is Grandeur in the View of Life; it fills me with a Deep Wonder, and Intense Cynicism.
Ambassador stranon adressed the assembled ambassadors
"The Krytos Star Empire would welcome an alliance with the other nations gathered here today, and would gladly accept the terms."
And this is why you don't watch anything produced by Ronald D. Moore after he had his brain surgically removed and replaced with a bag of elephant semen.-Gramzamber, on why Caprica sucks
The immolation of the mines was alerted to him via his suit’s wireless protocols the activation of the mines met with a silent sigh. Well, there went that idea. Nonetheless, the mines had been in place to deal with fools or the unwary. He knew by know well enough that his enemy was neither. He continued to walk down the narrow corridor, coming to a stop at a certain point and moving towards his right. His body pressed against a wall as he considered his plan. He could not see any flaws in it, but he did not fool himself into thinking that there were none. His opponent had managed to evade his attacks at every turn. This time however, it would be different. This time, he held nearly all the cards in his favor.
The truth was however that his plan revolved around location, and that was perhaps his greatest strength. The underground complex beneath the palace was controlled and regulated by the royal guards and the royal family; as such its capabilities and layout were not something that his prey would know about before hand. He on the other hand was well aware not only of the capabilities of the complex but was well aware of the dimensions of every path. He had no intention of giving any hint of his plan, and would not use his mind to focus outwards. The probability that his inner strength could act as a beacon to him was low, but he was not taking any chances. He did not need to.
This part of the floor was deserted of Manasan and Veithan personnel, the rest of the Veithan response forces were located well behind him, powered armor suits ready to repel any penetration. He frowned, reminding himself that he had never before failed to secure an objective. This bastard would not be the first stain his flawless record. He exhaled softly, willing the irritation within him to a far corner of his mind. He focused inwards, tapping his gift for precognition as he tried to glance past the veil of realities and see the futures that fate offered him. As he did so, a mental request was answered and the lighting in this section of the floor dimmed by fifty percent. He did not plan on using his eyes to find his prey, he had other means at his disposal.
This part of the complex had been mirrored after a starship, or so he believed. The similarities in the architecture were similar to the homegrown Manasan capital ships. Silence was absolute as he waited patiently for his adversary, the long and dark hallways of his current home offering an irresistible invitation. His enemy wanted the King, and in order to reach him he had to come through this place. A maze composed of fifteen meter long segments joined to various intersections. Some hallways led nowhere, to dead ends which existed purely out of stylistic reasons. Others led to closed doors which led to abandoned rooms. Only one path led towards the other half of the floor, the path that led towards the broadcasting area where even now the King prepared to give his speech. His enemy would not even manage to die within sight of that.
Without his Dark Cloak he was no longer invisible to the eyes, but his stealth suit made him nearly so to most forms of sensors. He was not moving, his back pressed neatly to a wall to the right of an intersection of halls. His mind was quiet, focused inwardly as his suit performed its symbiotic task with the systems around it. It was all a matter of time now. One way or another, this was as far as the intruder would go.
Arcane Imperial Freighter Golden Opportunity
Deep Space
Bearth System (remember this place? from pg. 1...), Arcane Empire
The Bearth system had been conquered only recently by the Empire, and with much of the imperial navy off dealing with the tumultous occupation of Covenant space, the local traders had been operating with less naval cover than they may have liked. Bearth still had occaisional civil disobediance- the conquest had been well-planned, but perfect. The local officials, for instance, were perhaps less loyal than they were in the core systems. That was why one of the minor traffic control officials had been amenable to bribery.
The Golden Opportunity dropped out of FTL, her iron hull ringing with the stress of FTL speed. Inside, her guidance mages manipulated her along an approach to the world. Her drop-in point was, of course, secret- Pirates would have to have access to the local traffic control systems to be able to predict her course.
Alarms sounded across the bridge. The vessel's burly Dwarvish captain, Glof Ironfoundersson was shocked out of his quiet revery, spilling his coffee. His slim Elven diviner shouted.
"Craft dropping from hyperspace right on top of us! I sense weapons powering up- I have incoming bogies! Missile-projectiles!"
Ironfoundersson's small, red face screwed up.
"All defenses, active! Order all defense guns to fire!"
The ship was a freighter, equipped at best with a small array of staff-guns. They lashed out, but their poor civilian targetting sensors failed to accurately track all of the projectiles. Two of the fast-moving missiles impacted against the ship's arcane walls. Shudders ran through the hull as some of the craft's defense-wards desintegrated, their runes bursting into flame with the concentrated effort of warding off the spectacular nuclear explosions.
"Enemy guns firing!"
Railgun shells followed the missiles, striking the Arcane mage-ship in a dozen places. It's shields died, spctacularly, the last of the defense-runes turning to cinders as their magic was spectacularly exhausted.
Lights went out across the bridge. The enchantments of half of the vessel's glow-stones had died.
"Damage report!"
"Engine room not responding, captain!'
"Decks 4 and 5 are open to the Void, captain! I'm not feeling any lifesigns!"
"REports of wounded on all decks!"
Ironfoundersson turned towards his elven diviner.
"Where is the enemy?"
"Sir, they are closing with us. I suspect they will be boarding us momentarily..."
His words were blotted out by the dull, booming sound of breaching explosions. The pirate vessel was opening up the freighter in a half-dozen places. Air rushed out of the peirced hull, taking with it the twisting, screaming figures of explosively decompressing spacers. Figures in bulky, old-model power armor thundered down the vessel's halls. The viper-like hiss-crack of fletchers spewing their deadly little needles faster than the speed of sound filled the vessel as the Floater pirates ruthlessly disposed of any crewmembers who got in their way. The vessel's cargo pods were cut loose and grappled by a pirate escort craft.
The system's defenders arrived just in time to see the Floater pirate vessel "Son of Sam" dissappear into the aether of hyperspace.
Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908 - )
The wind had stopped blowing out from the shaft. That meant the temperature was the same in the shaft as it was in the room. Thank god for a good ventilation system. It would still be stiflingly hot in the shaft, but that was something Yrt could deal with.
The guards had left the room a minute or two ago. Yrt had initially been puzzled by this, until he remembered the comm he still had, picked up from the first guard he had killed at the enterance. He reactivated it and listened to the chatter and heard the orders being relayed. The guards had moved out of the main lift chamber to secure other areas of the palace. No one had detected him with his stealth suit still on, so they had assumed he was gone, and had went to look for him. A standard compliment of guards was placed around the lifts. Five of them, jsut like before.
Yrt waited until none of the guards was looking right at him, then drew his pistols. The guards were oblivious to the silent, invisible figure in the corner. Yrt slowly targeted, 2 guards in his sights.He fired, targeted, fired, targeted, fired. The guards dropped. His comm crackled. "What was that!?" He had taken out the guards in front of him, and now more were coming in from the rear. Time for the lift. He ran lightly across the floor and leaped into the shaft throught he hole he had cut. He allowed himself to fall for several yards before activating his finger-grips and grabbing the wall. He slowed and stopped. The shaft was dim, unlit, but the neural implants had augmented his vision enough for him to see just fine. He looked down, spotting the disabled lift below him. Slowly, he made his way down until he was standing on top of the lift.
The metal was blackened, the door from above had warped from the heat and was lying on its side against the wall. That wasn't important. Yrt focused on the lift car itself. He drew his mage blade and cut open a hole in the top of the lift. As he made his last cut, he activated the finger grips on his fee hand to grab onto the section he had cut out so it wouldnt fall inside. He lifted up the one-yard-square sheet of metal that had recently been the ceiling of the lift car and slid through the opening, again landing lightly to cut the sound he was making. He turned to face the lift door. Through this door were the passages that would lead him to the King. He pushed the "open door" button. No repsonse, as expected, but worth a try.
Again, he drew his mage blade and began to slowly cut out a door for himself. He made it as large as he could. Again, he could not afford to waste time by scrambling through small holes. He latched onto his improvised door with his finger grips, pulled it inside the car and slowly lowered it to the floor. Still, not a sound. Time for caution. He resheathed his mage blade, then took four orb grenades out of his thigh pouches. He moved them to smaller compartments under his wrists. That way they could be in his hands in an instant, without the necessity of reaching down or reholstering his pistols.
Everything was secured. He drew his pistols and felt down the hall with his mind. He sensed threats, some close and some far away. He could feel the Veithan again, but the impression was faint. Either the Veithan was nearly dead, or he was focused within to avoid being detected. Yrt knew that his opponent was not nearly dead. This encounter would be different from the last. No wide-open areas here. This would be a battle of stealth and detection, reactions and resourcefulness. Yrt had all of these, but so did his opponent.
Yrt slowly stepped out of the lift car, seeing just as well in this dim light as he had in the lift shaft. His pistols drawn, he tried to feel for the sudden increase in danger that would tell him his opponent was on the move. The difference of less than a second could mean the difference between success and failure, life and death. 5 minutes left until the King's speech went live. Focused and ready, hardly daring to breathe, Yrt advanced down the dim passage.
In orbit over the former Covenant homeworld, a Goa'ould cargo ship dropped out of hyperspace. In less then 1/20th of a second, it's cloaking device engaged, and random course changes assured it could not be tracked with any accuracy. It quickly assumed orbit over the planet, knowing that even a perfect stealth would eventually be detected by the Arcane Empire ships. They performed a passive scan of the planet below........
"Can we detect their mages?" Asked the goa'ould in charge of the mission.
"Normally their life signatures are like that of normal humans, however we can detect the energy when they cast a powerfull spell." "And the arcane ships?"
"They don't know where here yet, and the modifications to our cloak will let us engage the ring transporter without droping the cloak......but it will only be seconds before the escaping energy gives away our position." "Will that be long enough to engage the hyperdrive?
"Yes my lord." "Then you may begin."
---------------------------
On the planet, Vix, a 13th level elven-combat-wizard, walked back towards the barracks. He was allready sick of this assignment, of the jeering mobs the glares of contempt he got from every civillian, and the fact that these backward savages didn't even have a conception of arcane magic. Thinking of the relitivly comfertable barracks, he began to mutter the words of a Expeditous Retreat spell to get him there faster......
"What the!?" Swore Vix as the rings appeared around him and whisked him up to the ship. Once inside, he began to mutter the words of an attack spell before the zat gun hit him and he colapsed.
Knowing that their time was measured in seconds, the cargo ship jumped into hyperspace.
"Set course towards the Jardanians homeworks, then turn back towards our planet once we are out of sensor range. They couldn't have gotten a good enough look at us to know for certian what we are, lets play off their paranoia.
She stared at the unconcious mage......
Get the simbyote........this is going to be interesting.
HISTORICAL DOCUMENT
FILE c/135 Known Space Datanet and Research Exchange
"Pre-Genocide Meetings, Briefings, and trade pacts"
-keywords "Parasite, Jaffa, Ring Teleporter, Staff Weapon,"
-: Fenris, Home World of the Fenari Packs :-
The figure strode forward in wearing bulky armour. The Dendefender suits are purely ceremonial, showing their willingness to defend their <guest pack members>. Like all "Den Defenders" she was considered a beta class.
<Greetings guests of the packs, friends from the DE Floaters, and the Skaven>
<I have been asked to appoint sisters of mine to act as protectors and bodygaurds, though we surely doubt amyone will attack you honored visitors, for to do such would be scuicide. In an hour's time I shall return for a demonstaration.>
The Fenari woman returned now looking much smaller in her natural two and a half meters of hieght. set up entering the room before her were several sealed boxes of ornate design, and a bench upon which lay various objects, some in dis repair, some recently recovered. Walking up to the first five meter tall box she activated a panal on the side.
<This is the Fenari's bother race the Jormungar, a humaniod upper body, with a serpentine lower body. They are very large, and given to great speed when the tempature is right. The Freezing system has kept these remains in perfect condition for centuries. They possess the ability to spit a digestive poison as well. They along with us were ment to fight these!>
*The smaller box revaled a leech like creature, the larger box revelaed a human with a curious wound to her stomach.*
<The leach like creatures host inside these slaves during their "Larval" stage, when fully grown they bond to a victim's spine and become insupperable without killing the host.>
<These first two are the weapons that they give their slave soldiers.>
the first is a staff device, it can be used for blocking, or can enhance the wielders own electricity to power a plasma bolt. this and the other weapon htat produces an electrical discharge are deisgned for intimidation, but do not require any form of ammunition as they use a core power amplifying design that lasts for centuries.>
<These weapons that they wear on them selves, enhance thier natural abilities of the Parasite. with this they can send people flying, cripple, injure or kill. We the Fenari have only faced these creatures in battle in the long forgotten past.>
<these are what you face, your scientists may share these "Crypts" for now.>
Manasan Space
Manasa IV, Government Bunkers, Level 7
There was no time for celebration as his adversary was finally felt not with his mind, but by the passive sensors that dotted the underground complex. Immediately, he was aware that the suit which his opponent wore was of surprising quality. Nonetheless, the disturbances that his approach made upon the air molecules in the hall were detected by motion sensors. The information was then uploaded into the internal security system of the complex, which in turn was passed to his stealth suit’s internal sensors and finally projected upon his retina through his neural implants. His target was cautious, approaching at a steady even pace. The man was not a fool; it was a pity he would not live much longer.
He let his target approach, aware of his passing much like an expert marksman as he hunted his prey. It was not enough to have surprise; it was not enough to simply prevail. He wanted to dictate where his target would live and die. Besides, his opponent had already proven to be capable. He was not taking any chances this time, and so he waited patiently. The red dot consuming everything in his mind as it approached what would be if all went well, his final destination. His back remained to the same wall, his breathing slow and constant as he waited for the right moment. When it came, he seized it.
There was a reason why the architecture of the floor resembled those of a starship so closely. Manasa was not the richest fiefdom in the area, but it was also not the poorest and their technological capabilities were substantial. It was the pride of Manasa that the core of their warships were home built. It was true that they were not comparable to major power in quality, but they were theirs. Manasan ships utilized internal localized force fields in order to slow intruders and create kill zones. They were also handy in isolating areas of the vessel exposed to vacuum. That technology was now employed in some of their most secure facilities. The bunker complex beneath the palace happened to be one of those facilities. Avery now used that technology to his benefit.
When the red dot was centered in the intersection before his own, his mind flipped a switch, the command carried from his neural implants to his suit and from his suit to the security network of the complex itself. Force fields flickering to life to the right and left of the intruder with a whispered hiss as the air ionized. With the formation of the fields, escape to the left or right was theoretically impossible. Within three quarters of a second he was moving, pushing off the wall and turning to his left his pistols aligning themselves by second nature. He peeked from behind the wall, fifteen meters before his target, a thin smile on his lips as he pulled the triggers on his pistols. Six ruby lances of energy were created in the span of two and half seconds, each traveling at hypersonic speeds as a handful of anti-matter atoms were accelerated. He was not shooting where his enemy was; he was shooting at where he should be. His neural implants had by now begun to try and adapt to the target’s reflexes, motion prediction software updated to match this slippery foe.
As quickly as his attack had come, it had gone. Within a second of having fired, he had ducked behind cover once more. His eyes closed, his mind widening for a moment beneath the micro-gestalt as he willed himself to a new location. He vanished, reappearing fifteen meters behind his target, out of sight behind a wall. He had practiced this form of attack, he did not expect his enemy to be able to adapt. And if he did…well, he would have to be creative then.
The dull sense of threat in the back of Yrt's mind became a scream of alarm and he knew his enemy was acting. He was currently in the middle of an intersection with openings to the front, the back, the left, and the right. He felt the Veithan come into motion to the front of him. Yrt dived to the side as the Veithan spun into view and ran straight into a forcefield. His face numbed as the energy field bombarded the nerves on his skin, but it only lasted a second before he was thrown away from the forcefield.
But even as he jumped to the side, the Veithan was firing, leading Yrt through his prescient knowledge of Yrt's action. The blasts streaked right for the shield that Yrt had thrown himself into. They would have caught up with him exactly had the shield not been in the way, but his contact with the shield made him fly away from his previous trajectory as the shots that would have intercepted his body perfectly hit and overloaded the shield.
Yrt flew through the air, propelled by the force of the energy field he had encountered and hit another field behind him. This field, too, threw him, and Yrt flew back across the hall towards the first shield, a human tennis ball in a game played by the random energy interactions within the fields. When the first bolts had hit the energy field, they had overloaded the localized power grid and it had blinked out of existance. Yrt, falling towards it, was throw to the ground in the area behind where the shield had operated. the rest of his opponent's antimatter bolts pounded into the hall behind him, but Yrt was safely out of his opponents line of fire.
Again, luck had saved him. While the Veithan could anticipate his actions, the combination of his blind leap and the random reflections off the unstabilized energy fields made his movements over the course of that short encounter far too unpredictable for the Veithan to anticipate his exact location. He was burned in a few places where the ionization trail from the bolts had touched him, but he had avoided a direct impact. He moaned, in pain, and searched for his enemy again. This time, he felt the threat coming from somewhere behind him, but again the trace was fuzzy. The Veithan was deep in thought again.
Yrt picked himself up off the floor. His stealth suit flickered, somewhat damaged by the energy discharges from the shields. He crouched on the ground, pistols out, breathing heavily. His mind raced. This entire complex was a huge grid, with countless intersections where he could be ambushed in that manner. He could take out the shield units with grenades before he approached them, but he wouldnt have enough grenades to make it all the way through this hellish maze.
The energy field across from him was still active. Yrt fired a shot at it. The bolt hit the shield and bounced almost straight up, hitting the ceiling. The swirling energy made the reflection angles random. That had saved him from the Veithan's precognition, and would also save him if he fired toward a shield in the future. The bolt would not bounce right back at him if he hit it square on. And he was in no danger of being hit from riccochets from his opponents bolts, which were powerful enough to take out the shields. He could hope that every encounter went the same way, with his opponent unable to track his bouncing off the shields, but that wouldnt; work. Even if his opponent never hit him, an unlikely proposition to begin with, Yrt couldnt take the punishment of being thrown around randomly by energy fields every 15 meters.
It was time to play his last card. He reached into one of his thigh pouches and pulled out a few grenades. Unlike the rest of the grenades he had been using, which were black, these were a livid green. He pulled his cloak up close to him, covering his mouth. He pushed in the seals, and soon he was breathing through the filters in his stealthsuit. Taking the grenades, he activated two of them, then rolled them both down the hall he had just been walking in, one in either direction. A few seconds later, they began to spray poison gas.
He had kept these until the last, hoping to use them to kill the King. A lungfull would incapacitate any opponent. He had two more left, which he would probably have to use to spread the poison gas if he got outside of the range of their effect. He now had 13 grenades left: 2 poison, 8 incendiary, and 3 smoke. He hadnt noticed any kind of breathing filters on his opponent, and hoped this would force the Veithan away from him, as long as he stayed within his cloud of cover. Yrt himself would be fine as long as the filters on his suit continued to operate.
Yrt reached down and pulled out a smoke grenade, rolling it down the hall he intended to traverse. It burst. Yrt could cleraly make out the force fields that were in effect by the way the smoke rebounded away from him. A red light on his stealth suit informed him that the filters were now working, actively filtering out the gas. He had made a killzone for himself, and hoped it would stretch far enough to reeach the King. Hell, if there were no airtight doors between his current position and the King's broadcast chamber, those two grenades might even do his job. But that was a stupid assumption to make, he had to move forward.
He stepped back into the hall he had just left, heading in the same direction as he had been before the encounter with the Veithan. He felt more danger ahead. That must mean more guards, and where there were guards, the King was sure to be. 3 mintues left. Pistols drawn, he continued his slow advance towards the King, under the cloud of haze and silent death his grenades had created. He hoped this would protect him until he reached his target because he was finally out of tricks.
The planet of Carmaro..........a small, independant planet just entering it's post WWII stage of devlopment. Tested it's first atomic bomb last week..........
A super-mothership class cruser and it's 12 escort motherships appear in orbit. Swarms of attack bombers and troop transports followed. Although this was the invasion, the attack had begun long ago. Key millitary leaders defected, prevent any real resistance (like it would have mattered). Swarms of Jaafa patrolled the streets, while the few millitary bases that held out were nuked from orbit.
With all central governments proclaiming their loyality to their new lord, and the planets forces vastly outgunned.....it was over in a matter of hours.
Hajr Command Fortress
Eketrina Cluster
Hudson System
Ouster Occupation Zone, Rimwards border of Known Space
Boundwoman Celicia su Elysium, Speaker for the Hajr's council and the most powerful Ouster in Known Space, reclined in her office, tingers holding her against the padded wall behind her "desk." Across from her hung a lanky figure with skin as black as pitch, wearing a ragged skinsuit and a jaunty leather jacket.
"Boundman el Sidayh, I assume that you have a good reason for appearing above our fine Cluster without first requesting permission to approach? I hear the team we sent to retrieve your vessel found you in quite a state."
The lanky Floater's almond-shaped green eyes flickered down in a momentary indicator of subservience.
"I came because I could think of no-one else to come to, Boundwoman Speaker. It has been a hundred years since there was an Unbound government with any real power. My people have always run from problems, never staying in one place long enough or being antagonistic enough to come across worse than the occaisional pirate attack. I have a story, Boundwoman Speaker. One which I think you would want to hear."
Celicia glared hard at the Floater. His rude arrival had been insulting, and she had little interest in wasting resources protecting the scattered tribes of primative Unbound that littered Known Space.
"So you told my subordinates, Boundman. I will hear your story. It had best seem as important to me as it seemed to you."
The man began his tale, a bead of sweat flying from his brow.
"I am the elected leader and representative of the Shadow Oasis Cluster. We are a nomadic group, once of the Banere Industrial Cluster of the great Floater Republic of Mohaim in the days of the Genocide Wars. We built weapons to fight the Beijing Alliance, supplying materials vital to the war effort. We cut loose from Mohaim months before the Alliance fleets, escaping the Genocide at the cost of our Bound honor- or so my great-grandfather said to my grandfather, for he was there."
"Today, we of the Shadow Oasis Cluster move from system to system, stopping to loot a wreck or steal a few comets to process into food and water. We have spent the last year over the independent world of Flanders, a world too low-tech to mind that we inhabit their asteroid field. We send scout boats to neighboring systems, trading with the local nations. One of my scouts was in the Camaro system, an early Nuclear age system, when it recorded these images."
With that, Boundman el Sidayh presented a series of pictures- Great, pyramid-shaped warships, bombing the world below.
The Speaker made a dismissive motion.
"So, the Bound powers make war on each other. The conquest of one feifdom by another is of little interest to us."
"No, boundwoman Speaker! I have seen ships like this before! This is not the action of one small feifdom. There are records, information given to the great Republics a century ago in their dealings with the race of warriors known as the Fenari. The Fenari were genetically engineered soldiers. Soldiers engineered to face a threat. A threat which perverts the body and mind in the worst possible fashion!"
Boundman Allan el Sidayh held up the image- an old flat-picture, a surgeon's autopsy of a human being. It could be clearly seen, burrowed into the human's abdomen- a snake-like creature a half-meter long, clinging to the man's spinal cord.
The Speaker's mind went immediatly to the messages she had recieved recently, to the reports of the power making overt contact with all of the galaxy's major powers.
"Boundman el Sidayh, I see fit to let you free. Know that we do not intend to provide you with any special assistance. We will do nothing, yet. We will, on the other hand, suggest that you immediatly head for Krytos. Perhaps they will hear your plee."
Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908 - )
The military prince was with the Army and Marine high command, they had been planning out contingencies for taking back the Asgard colonies, just in case, when the observer's tape had arrived from Ix'agal. The observers had been sent to the planet and had been ordered to observe, and send back reports every so often. The message attached to the transmission had said it was just raw feed spliced together, but this was bad enough.
In the projection a group of crazed civillians could be seen swarming over a Arcane soldier, about half-a-dozen had fallen when the soldier was finally killed, then the rioters stripped the body, and soon left the area. As did the feed, now it was showing a new area, marines with machine guns and tear gas, people cowering, while others fired guns or charged with swords.
Then the picture changed, it showed a Nashtarian tank commander announcing the arrival of his unit. The sober silence continued until a Durandalian general half shouting simply said, "Why the hell did they send tanks in to that city?"
The scene changed then, now it showed a tank rolling down a narrow street with four marines walking on either side. Suddenly a statue of a saint fell from one of the surrounding buildings, landing with a crash in front of the tank. Two of the Marines immeadietly scrammbled to the doorway of the building, only to find it was locked, while the two other marines guarded the tank. After a minute the marines surrounded the statue and tried to lift it, while this was happening two people, young people by the looks of it, snuck out of the doorway and placed two disks behind the tank's treads. The frame then started to shake, as the camera-man started running, then the image blurred, and a loud explosion was heard. After about ten seconds the camera started to move again, this time it came to focus on a burning hulk that was barely recognizable as the tank. Three Monacorans ran from the camera man towards the burning hulk, one of them began spraying explosive-eating phosphouros (sp?) over the burning hulk, intending to keep any ammunition from detonating, while the other two began checking the marines for pulses. After a marine was picked up from the wreckage they, the camera man included, began to run away from the tank.
The scene changed, this time there was just a man, who was the colonel that the army had sent as its chief observer, standing in front of the city.
"My prince, the situation here is grim. The rebels fight hard, and are well-equipped. They take every last thing they can find from the bodies of their dead enemies, and then use what they find to kill more men. This compounds, and makes this a relatively self-sustaining revolt. What makes the revolt worse is that the Republican troops deployed as if it was a riot, and the fact that the mages are... over-confident in their use of magic, and its revolt supressing uses. It is my guess, having done research on the situation, that other former covenant planets will be much harder to pacify. I do not expect to be sending another transmission for a week."
The prince leaned back in his chair, as the holograph blinked out.
"Fedayn, can you get anyone there, soon?"
"Yes sir, I have a company of men on the ground right now. I wouldn't have let the observers go otherwise."
"Good man, Drevail, is there any way we can get people on that planner in under a week?"
"Not unless we pull some of the floating regiments that we have ear-marked for Asgard operations."
"Right, I wanted to know because the state deptartment has recieved a request to intervene on behalf of one of the rebel groups, and wanted to know if it was even an option. On that note, when are the troops going to arrive for the Asgardian training?"
"Five hours, sir, ten regiments are being deployed to the ground, and we have forty deployed in space for safety reasons. The Monacan third is going to be first to land on Valhalla, as per your request and tradition."
"It is only fitting that the Valkyries are the first to land on Valhalla, no? Keep me informed, I have to go have a meeting with my brother."
'After 9/11, it was "You're with us or your with the terrorists." Now its "You're with Straha or you support racism."' ' - The Romulan Republic
'You're a bully putting on an air of civility while saying that everything western and/or capitalistic must be bad, and a lot of other posters (loomer, Stas Bush, Gandalf) are also going along with it for their own personal reasons (Stas in particular is looking through rose colored glasses)' - Darth Yan
Get the simbyote........this is going to be interesting.
Powergaming fuck.. you thought it would be that easy...
When the symbiote was inserted it fought for control of the magesd mind, but little did anyone know the mage was telepathic as wel, and he struck at the foreign conciousness with an Id insinuation, and its strngth was sapped and it could no longer continue. He enslaved the symbiote to his OWN will
A quickened energy buffer spell was already up before zat guns could fire again.
"Fools!"
The mage said, his eyes glowing
"You shall be made to suffer"
With a word and a gesture, every person in the immediate area was dead, felled by Circle of Death. Weapons fire bounced off his defenses as his own fireballs spewed forth from his hands like raindrops from a cloud.
Before shields could be raised he teleported outside into the vaccuum, and scryed on the vessll, noting its configuration he then Shifted back to the planet.... More powerful than he was before.
GALE Force Biological Agent/
BOTM/Great Dolphin Conspiracy/ Entomology and Evolutionary Biology Subdirector:SD.net Dept. of Biological Sciences
There is Grandeur in the View of Life; it fills me with a Deep Wonder, and Intense Cynicism.
Whil;e the mothership was being inspected a diviner put hsi hands to his ear, and whispered in his commanders ear. He snapped his fingers and the entire Customs station went on high alert. Swoards and bows were drawn, and cannons were once again facing the mothership
"Well, its a good thing that you have already alowed us to board. Seems your government tried someotng stupid, you are now considered a hostile vessel and your crew is to submit to interrogation. And no, you dont have a choice."
GALE Force Biological Agent/
BOTM/Great Dolphin Conspiracy/ Entomology and Evolutionary Biology Subdirector:SD.net Dept. of Biological Sciences
There is Grandeur in the View of Life; it fills me with a Deep Wonder, and Intense Cynicism.
frigidmagi wrote:
"Well gentlemen allow me to outline what the U.P feels this alliance should be. If we agree the terms and actions of the alliance should be as follows.
One, an attack on one member is an attack on all members.
Two, sharing of intelligence and combined conterintelligence operations when seen fit by members.
Three, joint military operations and exerices.
Four, Free trade to be estblished between members. Is this acceptable to you gentlemen?"
The Psilon ambassador stood up.
Those are acceptable terms, however we wish to make concrete the acceptable terms a member may leave, because any member would have valuable information on the others that may be bought for a price. There fore what circumstances would be acceptable for leaving need to be written. We do not feel that any member may simply leave when that power sees fit, as that fundamentally weakens the solidarity of our union.
There is also the issue with free trade possibly causing a degrading of a powers industrial might, s internal corporations out source jobs to other powers where perhaps labor is cheaper. ((((thinking of NAFTA))))) tariffs should be made legal to penalize internal companies moving else where, essentially weakening those powers might as their industry disappears.
Shelton nodded. "Agreed, though I don't think our industry's going anywhere. When you have an entire planetary system devoted to it, the benefits are far too broad to ignore for outsourcing."
Apparently out-source isn’t a particular issue for y'all, so its a simple fix. How ever the issue of leaving is a bigger issue. I feel that a power should only be allowed to leave if the terms of the treaty are ever compromised or during the admission of new powers. In addition, perhaps every 50 years or so there should be a period of freedom where no penalties are imposed.
That brings up another problem, the issue of penalties. If a member power should not abide by any rulings of the council, it will be necessary to punish it. Due to the sheer scope of people involved, trillions at least, punishments must be extremely severe. Occupation of the member powers planets and restriction of its military forces for a period of time ought to act as a sufficient deterrence.
"What sort of violations would bring the proposed sanctions into effect? I can see this upon attacking another member or neglecting another member's defense when the other nation is in need and one is able to help, but occupation of another member for a trade violation seems a bit dicey to me."
