STGOD 4 Game Thread

[Thirdfain]

<< The Hajr is not interested in argueing legalities with you, but it appears to be a necessity. We are in possession of these books. We came by them lawfully. We recognize the right of the Inisha Cluster to make the law as they see fit on their cluster. The Mages were living on Inishan territory, and as such, were subject to it's laws and the decisions of it's populace through it's leaders. We are very sorry for the loss this may have caused the Arcane Empire, but if they chose to place "state secrets" in another soveriegn power's territory, then so be it. We are pleased to accept the Inishan goods, and will keep them. >>

[frigidmagi]

Reply to the Hajr

As you wish. The United Protectrates will not bear the responibility of your actions. Be it on your head.

[Dahak]

Gladsheim System:
A small Baeloaren diplomatic convoy drops out of warp at the edge of the system, informing Gladsheim System Control of their presence, requesting coordinates for an intrasystem jump so that they might "drop off" the Baeloaren emissaries.

Coordinates were sent, and the incoming ship was watched carefully.

***

The Empress and several other high-ranking dignitaries led the Veithan delegation through the vast maze of corridors, plazas, gardens, and other locations of Imperial Plaza.
They were also shown several large rooms.
"This will be your quarters, for the time being. They have been modified extensively, so you can actually use them. But if you are moving around outside of them, don't go alone, you wouldn't be able to manipulate your surrounding alone..." one of the Empress' aids said.

"Mr. Munei," the Empress sope again as they walked some bridge over a large chasm of corridors, "what would you, or your nation, expect from this mission? We would, of course, be interested in knowledge about your culture, your history, your sociology. We like to know the people we're dealing with, especially should it ever reach another level."

[Straha]

Open Letter

From: The United Protectrates
To: The Hajr

Greeting, we send this note in regards to the spellbooks seized by recent Floaters who we dissatified with Arcane government. While they had every right to remove themselves from Arcane terrority and influence, we do not believe they had the right to seize the property of the mages living on their cluster. Case in point the spellbooks. Since the spellsbooks were not Floater property, it follows that any copies that the Floaters have kept posession of is not their rightful property to begin with and as such have no right to sell or profit from them.
We hope that a peaceful return of the all the copies can be managed swiftly. As it is in no one interest in encourage theft. We hope that you can aide us to a painless, moral end to this problem.

We send this note with full knowledge and blessing of the Arcane Empire.

From: The Monacoran State Deptartment
To: The UP

We find your letter most disturbing, if only for the fact that you assume that the spellbooks belonged to the Arcane mages. An investigation that would have determined that was never carried out, due to lack of Arcane co-operation. The compromise brokered dictated, however, that copies of the books would be made and given to both powers involved in the case to resolve the dispute. It then follows from that that the copies, which belong to the floaters, may then be bartered as the floaters would like, much as a private person can sell books that he has in his possession, wether or not they were written by him. As such your legal argument has no base.

We also find your letter disturbing in that you are acting as the mouthpiece of another soveriegn power, and we are having trouble trying to realise if you are merely articulating the Arcane decision, or if you are making the decision for them, or prehaps if your position is being set by the mages.

[Bugsby]

To: Hajr Cluster Eketrina
From: Krell Nexus
Re: Spellbooks
ENCRYPTED

To whom it may concern,
We here at the Combine have long been in the business of buying and selling technology, as is only appropriate considering our roots in scientific inquiry. The one thing that has disturbed us more than anything this past several years is the emergence onto the glactic scene of these Arcane Mages, using energies that we cannot duplicate in any of our laboratory tests. We have been trying to get an accurate scan of a mage casting spells to try and analyze the energy fluxes, but have thus far been unsuccessful. We believe you can help us in this.

It has come to our attention through informants in the Sol system that a number of Floaters obtained several copies of Arcane spellbooks. While we are more than aware that you are not Floaters, we are also aware that you have close ties with these cousins of yours. Should you obtain these spellbooks from them, we would wish to purchase some magic to study. We do not mean by this that we want to purchase these tomes per se, but if any of your people is able to obtain even a slight proficiency in magic, as much as one spell, allowing us to perform readings of the casting of that spell would be quite valuable to us. If you are capable of doing this, please respond, and we shall negotiate further.

[Thirdfain]

<Encryption-K11/B><< Krell. The Hajr does in deed possess books as you describe. These are precious possessions to us, of course, and would require a steep sum for the sharing of the information they hold. Considering the incredible rarity of these tomes, of which only a handful exist outside of Arcane society, we must ask the highest price for our co-operation in your experiments. If you wished to have copies of these tomes, which we are not yet prepared to make, then the price would be higher still. We would be pleased to meet and negotiate. We would allow you to send a representitive unto us for the purpose of haggling.>>

[Bugsby]

ENDRYPTED: K-11/B
<Understood, Eketrina. Our usual negotiatior, Faran Tor, is unavailable, but we shall send one of his staff to your cluster to negotiate. We do not require the books themselves, merely the ability to study magic in action in a controlled environment. You will be more than adequately compensated for your help.>

[Marcao]

Grand Empire Space
Gladsheim Prime

The delegation followed the Empress and her escort through the seemingly never ending maze of corridors, plazas and other locations. The Imperial Plaza had not been exactly what they had expected; the construct containing at times what could be argued was the perfect balance of high technology and planet side appeal. The gardens in particular were openly admired by the Veithan delegation, being much more planet bound than their Grand Empire counterparts, they enjoyed their presence. When their rooms were finally shown, eyebrows arched. Their hosts were being gracious with space; although considering the size as a whole of the Imperial Plaza it was not surprising. The words of one of the members of the Empress delegation were heard and readily acknowledged. “They are more than adequate.” There was a slight pause as thoughts were exchanged between the Veithan delegations before a continuation in the conversations. “That arrangement is more than acceptable.” They were not here to snoop around the construct; the times that they expected to leave the area designated for them, having an escort would be more a boon than a hindrance.

The Empress and her delegation began to move once more, and the Veithan delegation followed. It was when they walked over a bridge over a rather large chasm of corridors that the conversation took an interesting turn. The words of the Empress were heard and considered for a moment. As a diplomat, Veliam Munei understood that these were the sorts of questions that could not be truly avoided. The only thing that he could do was answer it as truthfully as he could, and hope that the little signs that the Empress had been dropping since their meeting had been interpreted accurately. “I believe that in this occasion, what I would want personally and what my nation would want would be parallel. My delegation is here because my people want to know more about yours. We have known of your existence for sometime now, and as I have said before you have handled yourselves admirably in these troubled times. Knowledge is its own reward. Nonetheless, I am certain that if as time progresses and our nations like what we see, we would try and cement our ties in a more…official manner.” He paused for a moment, hoping that he had said enough. His nation was in the market for allies, people that saw the current state of the galaxy and understood the threats inherent to it. The Grand Empire was as of yet not aligned with any power, part of his reason for being here was to try and convince those within the Grand Empire that the Veithan nation, was a better alternative than what was available.

[Rogue 9]

Farpoint Outpost

"Lieutenant, we're getting some strange signals here, emanating from Krell space. Its under a heavy encryption algorithm of some kind, sir. Could take the computers weeks to crack it."

"Best get it started then, Ensign. Punch it up and start decoding procedures. Best to see what those mercenaries are up to; don't know who they'll be hired against next."

[frigidmagi]

To: The Monacoran State Deptartment
From: The United Protectrates

We find your interest in our business disturbing. We also find your tact approval of actions that threaten to destabilize a member of our alliance and a major trading partner disturbing. We must also wonder why you have aided others in this action. The United Protectrates has members of the alliance reserves the right to protect and aide the interests and property of it's fellows.

[Dahak]

Gladsheim Prime, Imperial Plaza

The Empress smiled as the ambassador answered.
<<It is developing, that's for sure...>> her advisors voiced. <<But do we want to tie our fate to others?>>
<<As the latest war has shown, being alone isn't an alternative worth dieng for, either...>>

"We would be quite interested to pursue a more...offficial manner," she almost, but not quite, grinned. "If I may suggest something?"
The Veithan delegation motioned her to go ahead.
"It surely has been a long day for you, and youu certainly want to settle in a bit. You will have access to certain parts of Datanet, though only via...computer terminals." She slightly shuddered a bit at the thought of phyically interface with Datanet, using such ancient devices as terminals. "I would like to invite you for lunch tomorrow, so you have some time to yourself and can familiarize yourself with our culture, and history. And should you need something, a guide, food, or other things, just tell the room. Oh, and if you need larger quarters, it can be arranged. We know your current quarters are very small, but the refitting was done faster in that room... "
She cleared her throat. "But before you want to retire to your quarters, there is a rather hotly discussed topic among my people, so I may just ask you. Are you telepathic? Our analysis strongly hints to it..."

[Straha]

To: The Monacoran State Deptartment
From: The United Protectrates

We find your interest in our business disturbing. We also find your tact approval of actions that threaten to destabilize a member of our alliance and a major trading partner disturbing. We must also wonder why you have aided others in this action. The United Protectrates has members of the alliance reserves the right to protect and aide the interests and property of it's fellows.

You see, it is our buisness. You are threatening someone for merely having copies of books in their possession, copies that we also possess. So, as we see it, any threats against them also apply to us, and we do not like to be threatened. We do not approve, nor disapprove, any actions taken by the Floaters or the Ousters, as their interests and actions are their own. That does not mean, however, we will let you threaten them and us indirectly. We would finally like to ask you if you really need to help protect and aide the interests of another soveriegn nation if they are doing nothing to protect their own interests?

[Marcao]

International Deep Space
Serial Peacemaker

It had been totally expected by the Veithan aid that he would not be allowed free-passage about the Ravenlock ship. It simply would not have been a prudent choice in a first contact scenario, and thus when the door to the conference room opened and two obvious troopers awaited him there was no surprise. If anything, a ripple of pleasure danced through his mind as a silken whisper was offered to the rest of the Veithan delegation. ~These people are sharp.~ The thought shifted slightly as he moved, a closer look taken of his escort. An eyebrow was arched, curiosity crawling along his spine before he offered another thought to his companions. ~their troopers are certainly…unusual.~ With that thought out of the way, he continued on his way to the Veithan shuttle and the equipment he had been sent to retrieve.

On his way back, the Ravenlock troops produced what he assumed was a scanner of some sort and spoke. Their words answered quickly and politely. “It is perfectly understandable.” He stopped, the object in his hands extended towards the trooper in order to make her task a bit easier. Still, although the voice certainly sounded feminine the body seemed to suggest the opposite. The projection system utilized many components, none of which were hazardous enough to be considered weapons grade. If the projector was disassembled, some parts held a significant charge but that was to be expected; When his escort was satisfied that the projector in his hands was “safe” he nodded and continued on his way. He made it back to the room without problem.

It was not surprising that Ellana was puzzled and perhaps a bit concerned about the Dra`kol. Her people were all telepaths, and this was one of a handful of species that could conceivably mingle effectively among her people. The Empire was capable and her defenses for such infiltration were considerable. Nonetheless, a race of shape-shifting telepaths was something that should be in everyone’s watch list. When Da`Noth offered to answer basic questions, she jumped at the chance. Ellana’s words centered primarily on what the ideology of the Dra`kol was, how they existed now that the Ravenlock-Dra`kol war was in their past and more than a few questions about some of the steps a nation could take to minimize the risks of Dra`kol infiltration. Ellana was a diplomat, and chief above all else she thought of her nation.

Ellana’s aid arrived, the projector placed upon the table carefully and moments later after the information disk had been loaded, it began to project the information contained within the disk. The Veithans watched in silence, aware that this was not a moment that words should be employed. When Kallis finally began a conversation, it was promptly acknowledged. ~We are happy to assist you and your nation Kallis.~ The truth was that the Ravenlock consortium would have eventually gotten the information anyway. The following words met with a smile and a nod. ~That is a more than adequate exchange. You will be allowed to keep the projector so that you may access the data within it, until you can adjust your own systems to read the formats within.~ The projector itself had been meant for this task, part of the reason why it existed in the first place. It did not contain military secrets, and while its construction could hint at some of the material science and circuitry aspects of the Empire, it was little enough. The Consortium was capable in its own right, and this particular model of projector would be hitting the consumer market in less than two months.

The delegation hesitated for only a moment before deciding that there was only one more point to touch upon. ~There is one. If you are interested in establishing an embassy within our territory, we will be more than willing to accept your request. In turn, we would like to establish an embassy of our own in a location of your choosing within your space.~ There was a slight pause, before her right hand moved, disappearing into a pocket and retrieving a small data disk. ~This information contains within encryption information which will allow you to send and receive encrypted messages to our nation. It is custom to give this information to nations in order so that we may communicate without fear of interception by anyone that may be attempting to listen. ~ The disk was placed down next to the projector. ~I believe that this covers this particular meeting. It has been an honor and a privilege to make your acquaintance. We hope that we will be hearing from your people again soon.~

[Marcao]

Grand Empire Space
Gladsheim Prime

The Veithan delegation waited patiently for a response their minds joined as one and awash with activity. ~Do you believe that we will manage an alliance with the Grand Empire?~, ~The Empress seems to be receptive to the idea, which certainly makes our presence here a lot easier.~ ~Can you believe that we are standing in a construct that makes anything comparable built by Veitha almost insignificant?~. ~The Grand Empire likes to build them big, and their technology is obviously up to the task. They have far larger populations in space than we, it’s only logical that their orbitals are considerably larger than our own.~ ~Let us hope that we can manage to get them on our side rather than against us.~ With that final sobering thought, the unified whole broke apart into separate individual minds. A millisecond later, the Empress spoke.

There was a second’s hesitation as the Empress spoke before Veliam Munei composed himself and answered. “I am certain that my nation would like that Empress.” It was perhaps the understatement of the century, far more so than the so called “fanatical minority” that the Arcane Empire assured were the reason why their occupations of Covenant of God worlds had proved to be so difficult. When the Empress continued, the delegation listened as one; Veliam Munei nodding to her in a clear signal to please proceed. When the Empress finished speaking, there was no hesitation in forming a response. She was right, the delegation was nearing the point of exhaustion. Travel to the Grand Empire had taken a bit of time, and as pleasurable as the meeting had been the idea of settling down and relaxing for a time was very appealing. Furthermore, the Empress’ last words were both a trap and test. An answer could not be avoided, and a lie would doom the hopes for their future as easily as outright hostilities.

The people of the Grand Empire were a competent bunch, and their analysts had no doubt been paying attention to each and every move they had made while within their floating city. It was prudent, it was rational. Veliam Munei had two choices. He could attempt to lie, and be found out when relations between the Grand Empire and Veitha reached a certain point. Or he could tell the truth, verify what the Grand Empire already suspected and would sooner or later figure out anyway. There was no choice. If Veitha was to secure allies, it had to take chances. If it was up to their nation to take the first step to establish trust between nations, so be it. His eyes glanced at the Empress as he spoke. “Your analysts are very good Empress. The ability to use one’s mind to communicate to another is the birth right of every Veithan.” There was only a slight pause before he decided to try a parallel path of conversation. He had been honest to the Empress, he hoped the Empress would now offer him a boon. “We have believed that your people are like us gifted in that regard or found a method to accomplish a similar effect. Is this the case?” The delegation had been aware of the silence that dominated the construct as they moved through its corridors. Nonetheless, they had not been able to feel any psychic energy emanate from their guests. Veithan intelligence believed that the Grand Empire had developed a form of technological telepathy. But proving that had proven most difficult. Perhaps now, the issue could be settled.

[frigidmagi]

You see, it is our buisness. You are threatening someone for merely having copies of books in their possession, copies that we also possess. So, as we see it, any threats against them also apply to us, and we do not like to be threatened. We do not approve, nor disapprove, any actions taken by the Floaters or the Ousters, as their interests and actions are their own. That does not mean, however, we will let you threaten them and us indirectly. We would finally like to ask you if you really need to help protect and aide the interests of another soveriegn nation if they are doing nothing to protect their own interests?

You have already made an agreement with the Arcane Empire and you know it. As such no "threats" can be twisted around to apply to you. Those "copies" are a threat to our ally as such we will do whatever is decided nescessary. We offered to aide in a peaceful ending of this crisis, the Ousters rudely decided to come in on the side of piratcy. As whatever the Arcane Empire is currently doing, rest asured that this is not the action being taken by the allies at large to secure the interest of one our members. While we wish a peaceful end to this and would be willing to negogate for it, we will not just stand by while justice is ignored.

[Rogue 9]

Orodan

Orders from the RSC came through to the Orodan shipyards. Three new Claymore class battleships were ordered, along with two Venture class fleet carriers.

That same day, two of the civilian space stations ordered by the Psilons were completed. A call was placed to the Psilon government to arrange for pickup.

[InnocentBystander]

The baeloarens were quickly ushered down. After an intensive screening process they were brought to Andora. After entering the Parliment/Palace they were brought down deep into a subteranean bunker, a miniture version of The Bunker of Monaco, but dedicated to the Political Prince. After another security check the aliens were brought to a small conference room. Inside the Political Prince was sitting at a round table, with aides (none of them human) to his left and right. Standing he walked forward, bowed, and offered his hand in greeting.

"Hello, welcome to Monacora. What can we do for you?"

Tacer Drealaan looked at the political prince for a moment, his hand was extended; but why? Yes, of course, the hand was used for greetings by the humans, he had nearly forgotten. After shaking the prince's hand he spoke, "Thank you for your warm greetings; I am Tacer Drealaan, official representative of the Baeloaren Commonwealth. Our people have recently joined the galactic community and wish to establish relations with some of its nations, in the interests of peace, prosperity and trade, of course.” Drealaan waited for the prince’s reaction.

Coordinates were sent, and the incoming ship was watched carefully.

The transport carrying the diplomats and the ship’s escorts sped into the system and within minutes the ships where comfortably in orbit over the planet whose coordinates they had been given. Requests were sent for clearance from the planet below as the transport prepared itself for an atmospheric descent; it was designed to travel directly to the Archologies on Bael, the relatively calm atmosphere of the gas giant would pose no problem.
<<This is the diplomatic transport Credain to Gladsheim control, requesting docking clearance. Please inform your leaders that the Baeloaren Senate has scheduled a meeting in several hours and wishes to have a direct dialogue, the communications will be handled by the orbiting escorts>>

[Straha]

Tacer Drealaan looked at the political prince for a moment, his hand was extended; but why? Yes, of course, the hand was used for greetings by the humans, he had nearly forgotten. After shaking the prince's hand he spoke, "Thank you for your warm greetings; I am Tacer Drealaan, official representative of the Baeloaren Commonwealth. Our people have recently joined the galactic community and wish to establish relations with some of its nations, in the interests of peace, prosperity and trade, of course.” Drealaan waited for the prince’s reaction.

"We understand completley and are very interested in the potential of your nation, please take a seat."

After the Prince had himself sat down, he leaned forward from across the table.

"Now, what do you have in mind?"

[InnocentBystander]

Drealaan took his seat, "My friend, peace is our goal, is it not? And while peace is on our minds, we believe prosperity is its engine. We would like to open free trade between our worlds; I have no doubt that there are many goods and services our peoples can offer each other. There may be many light-years between our worlds, but it is of only minor importance, escorts can be built, shipping lanes guarded, yet these are all negligible compared to the possible gains." Drealaan sat back in his chair and waited for the Political Prince to reply.

[Straha]

Drealaan took his seat, "My friend, peace is our goal, is it not? And while peace is on our minds, we believe prosperity is its engine. We would like to open free trade between our worlds; I have no doubt that there are many goods and services our peoples can offer each other. There may be many light-years between our worlds, but it is of only minor importance, escorts can be built, shipping lanes guarded, yet these are all negligible compared to the possible gains." Drealaan sat back in his chair and waited for the Political Prince to reply.

"Free trade is in the interest of all, and such an agreement is highly agreeable to us, we will accept your offer with no hesitation. Prehaps we can build off of this onto further alliances between our two powers?"

[InnocentBystander]

Drealaan took his seat, "My friend, peace is our goal, is it not? And while peace is on our minds, we believe prosperity is its engine. We would like to open free trade between our worlds; I have no doubt that there are many goods and services our peoples can offer each other. There may be many light-years between our worlds, but it is of only minor importance, escorts can be built, shipping lanes guarded, yet these are all negligible compared to the possible gains." Drealaan sat back in his chair and waited for the Political Prince to reply.

"Free trade is in the interest of all, and such an agreement is highly agreeable to us, we will accept your offer with no hesitation. Prehaps we can build off of this onto further alliances between our two powers?"

Drealaan pondered for a moment, "Had I the power, I would not hesitate to suggest a full alliance between our nation, unfortunately the senate is not so open minded. They are always wary of public opinion. Trade, my dear prince, is the key for furthering our relations. The senate will go to great lengths to protect trade, but only if threatened. Never-the-less, I would be glad to present this suggestion before the Homeworld Senate," he paused, "These things will come, and faster than you might expect." the smile on his face had faded away by now, "protecting the shipping lanes will start the process of a full alliance." drealaan looked at the political prince, waiting for his response.

[Straha]

Drealaan pondered for a moment, "Had I the power, I would not hesitate to suggest a full alliance between our nation, unfortunately the senate is not so open minded. They are always wary of public opinion. Trade, my dear prince, is the key for furthering our relations. The senate will go to great lengths to protect trade, but only if threatened. Never-the-less, I would be glad to present this suggestion before the Homeworld Senate," he paused, "These things will come, and faster than you might expect." the smile on his face had faded away by now, "protecting the shipping lanes will start the process of a full alliance." drealaan looked at the political prince, waiting for his response.

The prince took a sharp breath.

"Oooh, you see now, that's the real kicker. Our Navy isn't that good, quite frankly it has trouble with concentrated pirate attacks, and it's so small that it's almost negligable. However, our Marines are not ineffective, and are not so negligable as to be useless. In return for, say, you patrolling the shipping lanes with ships we'd be willing to offer some of our marine regiments to randomly garrison trading ships. Would that be acceptable to you?"

[InnocentBystander]

Drealaan pondered for a moment, "Had I the power, I would not hesitate to suggest a full alliance between our nation, unfortunately the senate is not so open minded. They are always wary of public opinion. Trade, my dear prince, is the key for furthering our relations. The senate will go to great lengths to protect trade, but only if threatened. Never-the-less, I would be glad to present this suggestion before the Homeworld Senate," he paused, "These things will come, and faster than you might expect." the smile on his face had faded away by now, "protecting the shipping lanes will start the process of a full alliance." drealaan looked at the political prince, waiting for his response.

The prince took a sharp breath.

"Oooh, you see now, that's the real kicker. Our Navy isn't that good, quite frankly it has trouble with concentrated pirate attacks, and it's so small that it's almost negligable. However, our Marines are not ineffective, and are not so negligable as to be useless. In return for, say, you patrolling the shipping lanes with ships we'd be willing to offer some of our marine regiments to randomly garrison trading ships. Would that be acceptable to you?"

Drealaan grinned, "I think this is more than acceptable, I will, of course, have to clear this with the homeworld senate, but I will give you a tentative yes, if you'll allow me to return to my ship, we have a long rang communications array, I can have a definitive answer for you by tomorrow."

[Straha]

Drealaan grinned, "I think this is more than acceptable, I will, of course, have to clear this with the homeworld senate, but I will give you a tentative yes, if you'll allow me to return to my ship, we have a long rang communications array, I can have a definitive answer for you by tomorrow."

"I understand, and you are free to leave to your ship. However, if you would like, there are numerous open embassy buildings here in Andorra, each with access to long range communication systems of their own. If you would like we could give one of these to you untill further arrangements are worked out..."

[Straha]

The books were carefully watched, each copy was guarded by two soldiers and a mage, the originals had four soldiers to each one. After each transport was loaded, some with one book, some with two books, some with none, the transports lifted off. Immeadietly thereafter they flew to different places, books were transferred to different transports, or to submarines, or to fighter planes. Then the process was repeated. By the end of the next day, though, all the books were in well guarded secret bunkers in the mountains of South America. The Princes had not wanted the books so close to the two capitals of Monacora, and having them so far out of the way made them much safer from covert attacks. The mages would still be brought down, of course, but the location would be secret from even them till after the work was finished.