STGOD 4 Game Thread

[Hotfoot]

Ravenlock Consortium Space
Ravenlock Sector
Corvus

The unidentified vessel was tracked coming into Ravenlock space before it even reached the outer colonies. Someone had spent a considerable amount of time coming out to the rim, a pity they didn’t spend any of that time reading the warning signs. Beta Fleet, at the command of Admiral Clay, was in charge of the defense of the Ravenlock Sector, and he had personally watched the path of this unknown, inbound target heading straight for Corvus. This was not good, not good at all. It could be a Mechanoid scout ship, or a Loyalist Dra’kol suicide ship. The battlegroup under Clay’s immediate command prepared an intercept course and waited, weapons charged and shields activated. The planetary shields were activated, and a general advisory was given to the population. If someone was coming here for trouble, they were going to get it.

When the Kitan ship appeared, it was facing down an entire Ravenlock battlegroup, lead by a Dreadnought, which immediately locked and brought weapons to bear on the ship. Admiral Clay opened a comms channel the second the ship appeared. <<Attention unidentified vessel. You have violated Consortium controlled space on an unapproved entry vector. You will shut down all non-essential systems and prepare to be boarded, or you will be destroyed. You will comply now, do I make myself clear?>>

[Darksider]

A ship popped into existance at the Krytos Star Empire's capital world.

The ship shaped like a long cylinder with a pole stuck through the center, and several half-ring like objects floating around it. The rings were not connected to the central body in any way, but maintained a fixed distance from it as it moved and turned.

It transmitted to the surfase below, audio only.
"Greetings, we are the Kitan. We come in peace."

::::Carulan planetary defense battlestation #3 of 8::::::::::

"what the hell?"

"What is it Lieutennant?"

"I'm picking up somthing wierd on the FTL sensors. It might be a ship"

"Well let me know when it shows up"

::::Ship shows up, message is played::::::

"Rodger that Kaitan, but you might not want to make first contact like this anymore. Known space is in a state of massive alert, and dropping in suddenly is a good way to get blown straight to hell. We will deploy a fighter patrol to escort you to the surface."

[Pablo Sanchez]

Temesvar
Casimir's Palace

The meeting was still awaiting the arrival of the Monacoran representatives, so the delegates already arrived were ushered into chambers provided for their convenience. It was naturally understood by all parties that the rooms were bugged, just as it was understood that the out-of-towners would be bringing counter-surveillance equipment.

Aleksandra su Jhalar was led into the audience chamber of the king, as a measure of greater respect granted to the Hajr. The room was very large and would have fit equally well in a castle keep or in a cemetary. There were a great number of courtiers absorbed in private conversations as she entered and only a few looked her way.

She approached the dais on which the throne sat. The rest of the room was dimly lit by Ouster standards, but the throne itself was shrouded in darkness such that she could barely discern the human-shaped figure sitting in it.

"Silence," Casimir commanded, and the room immediately fell silent.

He turned to her, features indistinct in the shadows, "Salutations, diplomat Aleksandra su Jhalar, I thank you for attending our meeting. It is vital that we settle this territorial matter in as peaceful and diplomatic a matter as possible, and your assistence in the effort is greatly appreciated."

His voice was deep, rich, and there was something behind it that reminded her of the discussions she had had with the Grand Prince Basil during the movement of the embassy onto Temesvar. Then, she had felt herself growing warm and her senses dulling, as if she was being wrapped in a comforting blanket. Now there was a similar feeling, but very different in its way. This time she felt an icy undercurrent of fear. She fought it down; diplomatic work with these immortals was difficult, especially when they were being theatrical.

She squinted into the shadows, "In the matter of the former Arcane territory we must adopt a policy of cooperation and conciliation."

"Yes," he said, "'cooperation and conciliation' are laudable initiatives in the best of times. But we are moving into the worst of times. It will eventually be necessary for governments to make a painful choice considering those words."

"Excuse me?"

"They are only words," he said, "but thank you for coming to the meeting, Aleksandra su Jhalar, may your initiatives be successful and your decisions wise."

Escorts came to escort her from the throne room, and the courtly conversations began to hum again. These people always threw her off her game when she dealt with them on their own territory. They were quite eccentric at times, though at their age she supposed it ought to be tolerated. Aleksandra might live to be fifty if she watched her health; she imagined that living for millenia would drive a person at least a little mad.

[lazerus]

A ship popped into existance at the Krytos Star Empire's capital world.

The ship shaped like a long cylinder with a pole stuck through the center, and several half-ring like objects floating around it. The rings were not connected to the central body in any way, but maintained a fixed distance from it as it moved and turned.

It transmitted to the surfase below, audio only.
"Greetings, we are the Kitan. We come in peace."

::::Carulan planetary defense battlestation #3 of 8::::::::::

"what the hell?"

"What is it Lieutennant?"

"I'm picking up somthing wierd on the FTL sensors. It might be a ship"

"Well let me know when it shows up"

::::Ship shows up, message is played::::::

"Rodger that Kaitan, but you might not want to make first contact like this anymore. Known space is in a state of massive alert, and dropping in suddenly is a good way to get blown straight to hell. We will deploy a fighter patrol to escort you to the surface."

"Understood control, will follow your fighters vector."

[Darksider]

:::::::::FTL probe #44629::::::::


The probe emerged from hyperspace and took a quick scan of the system. No silliconoids were detected.

Thousands of probes had been launched by all the powers of known space.

It would only be a matter of time before the Overseer was detected.

[lazerus]

Ravenlock Consortium Space
Ravenlock Sector
Corvus

The unidentified vessel was tracked coming into Ravenlock space before it even reached the outer colonies. Someone had spent a considerable amount of time coming out to the rim, a pity they didn’t spend any of that time reading the warning signs. Beta Fleet, at the command of Admiral Clay, was in charge of the defense of the Ravenlock Sector, and he had personally watched the path of this unknown, inbound target heading straight for Corvus. This was not good, not good at all. It could be a Mechanoid scout ship, or a Loyalist Dra’kol suicide ship. The battlegroup under Clay’s immediate command prepared an intercept course and waited, weapons charged and shields activated. The planetary shields were activated, and a general advisory was given to the population. If someone was coming here for trouble, they were going to get it.

When the Kitan ship appeared, it was facing down an entire Ravenlock battlegroup, lead by a Dreadnought, which immediately locked and brought weapons to bear on the ship. Admiral Clay opened a comms channel the second the ship appeared. <<Attention unidentified vessel. You have violated Consortium controlled space on an unapproved entry vector. You will shut down all non-essential systems and prepare to be boarded, or you will be destroyed. You will comply now, do I make myself clear?>>

The ship rushed though the sensor netowrk at speeps even a redlining warp ship would be hard-pressed to match. It poped into the system as the battlefleet was still scrambling.

++before the "surrender of die transmittion"++

"We are the kitan, we come in peace."

[Straha]

Temesvar

A van, unmarked and remarkably non-descript, pulled up infront of the Palace. Afte a minute's pause the doors on the side of the vans opened, guards jumped out, and a tall, pale, gaunt man stepped out behind them. The guards, members of the Marine corps. and Army spec ops, formed a honour guard around the tall man and his aides. When he entered the palace the guards stepped aside and the tall man stepped forward somewhat awkwardly.

"I am Ambassador Halifax, I represent the Political Prince of Monacora, where is it that we should go?"

[Darksider]

:::::::Emperor's command bunker, Carulan::::::::

"What is the status of the fleet increase?"

"It's taking longer than we expected. We're trying to avoid a strain on the economy, so we're going to have to build the ships slower than we first believed."

"How long?"

"It will take us two years at maximum wartime production to double the size of our forces by adding three new fleets."

"And the economic impact?"

"Negligable. It won't cause anything worse than a minor drop in the stock market. Actually, with all the new jobs opening up for shipyard workers, employment is on the rise."

"What about the colonization effort?"

"Of the ten systems that we established outposts in, six of them would be worth the effort of establishing major colonies, but the other four are only capable of supporting small mining operations."

"better than I expected."

"What about the probes? We have'nt found any trace of the silliconoids, dispite having searched at least a dozen systems at the edge of known space."

"I suppose someone will find somthing sooner or later, I just hope it's not too late to save us all."

[Rogue 9]

RSC destroyer patrol, Gamma-1437 system

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

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

"Sensors, anything?" Zzrinka was a patient sort, like many of his species, but this long patrol was beginning to grate on him. Normally he would allow his crew to report to him rather than asking, but he felt the need to do something.

"Nothing, sir. If the Siliconoids are in this system, the station isn't fitting the profiles of the others that have been attacked, sir. Every Siliconoid outpost come across has emitted a gigantic energy signature. These worlds are dead."

"We orbit every solid planet just to be sure. Helm, after we make our pass of the innermost planet, set course for Gamma-3658."

"Aye, sir."

[Darksider]

::::::::First and third fleets, Halo system:::::

The first and third fleets arrived to find the silliconoids already gone.

"Damn. We missed them."

"It appears so sir."

"Full burn for Krytos"

The Armada turned an leapt into hyperspace, heading straight to the Krytos system

[SirNitram]

OOC: Well, I might as well throw you guys some bones! Work out amongst yourselves who finds it, or maybe several searches find it at once.

One Week Beyond Known Space.
Unclaimed System.

It was beautiful. A tower stabbed towards the sky of the dead world, breaking atmosphere and spanning into the endless night beyond. The metal gleamed in starlight, a massive complex that spoke of the power of those who had built it.

It was terrible. Even on approach, well before orbit, the power signatures, the radio chatter between Programmers, the slow rising sight of more towers could be identified. It was the Overseer.

It was a nightmare. Three keels were laid, the size of Dreadnoughts....

[Darksider]

OOC: Well, I might as well throw you guys some bones! Work out amongst yourselves who finds it, or maybe several searches find it at once.

One Week Beyond Known Space.
Unclaimed System.

It was beautiful. A tower stabbed towards the sky of the dead world, breaking atmosphere and spanning into the endless night beyond. The metal gleamed in starlight, a massive complex that spoke of the power of those who had built it.

It was terrible. Even on approach, well before orbit, the power signatures, the radio chatter between Programmers, the slow rising sight of more towers could be identified. It was the Overseer.

It was a nightmare. Three keels were laid, the size of Dreadnoughts....

(OOC: guess i'm the first one here. Oh well. Early bird and all that.)
::::::::FTL probe #33467::::::

The probe entered the system, and detected the massive keels. It engaged its stealth systems and took several detailed scans before hypering out to return to Krytos with it's information

[Rogue 9]

Gamma-3658

The pair of escorts dropped out of hyperspace at the edge of the system, just outside the orbit of the last planet. The power spikes were immediately obvious.

"Captain, we have massive power readings from the fifth planet. It's off the chart, sir." The sensor technician worked his controls furiously. "There's an extra-atmospheric tower. Ground-based building, but its extending outside the atmosphere. Shipyards, looks like heavy warship keels laid. Three or four, unable to determine type at this range and that state of construction."

"Helm, get us out of here. That won't be undefended."

"Aye. Thirty seconds to jump. The Dusk Bandit is already heading out."

[Thirdfain]

Ezekiel
Colony World, Former Covenant of God Territory

That night, there was on transport more than usual in the weekly landings in the capital city. The small groups of traders who arrived were a rough lot, as only the most hard-bitten scum were willing to trade with a world at war like Ezekiel was. Bereft of the Arcanist warships, the traders had only to worry about the populace itself, and lately, the areas of the capital around the spaceport had quieted, with teams of armed mujahdeen with red and gold "Free Ix'agal" armbands patrolling the area. Skirmishes broke out frequently across the city, as the sectors controlled by the clerics and temple officials clashed with the Mujahdeen paramilitaries. Already, two High Deacons and a Psychopomp had died in bloody ways in their small but well-fortified temple.

People spoke of Mujahdeen soldiers who were like avenging angels of God, capable of breaching any defense to slay the leaders of those who stood against them- none suspected Ouster-trained assassins. It was a tense situation, one which would soon erupt.

Risha su Miitgar smiled. When it did, she would be ready. On the tarmac below, dockworkers were unloading offworld equipment- electronics, hovercars the local industry could not produce, pharmaceuticals from the local Floater cluster. The extra transport was armed, a pair of nasty gatling xasers hanging from turrets on her maneuvering struts, and a squad of spacers from a half-dozen species, in mismatched armor and weaponry, stood guard around her. Risha watched as a group of her fighters approached the vessel, passed a couple of crates to the captain, and then began unloading large boxes into waiting trucks. A crane was required for the last few peices of cargo- five large metal crates and a single huge loading pallet.

Without the Arcanist blockade, equipment could be imported in bulk.

Minmatar heavy weapons- five light tanks and twenty suits of medium power-armor, courtesy of the money the BIC has funneled our way.

The rest were weapons and flak-jackets, light equipment which would help turn the local paramilitaries into a force which could rapidly smash the Clerical militias. It would have been unpopular, if it wasn't for the fact that the local church officials had cowered during the occupation while the Mujahdeen fought and died.

One major victory, and the public support will turn totally towards us. Once that's out of the way...

Risha's predatory smile would have put any Vampire's to shame.

[Bugsby]

Nexus

Leego Diama stepped into Adar Krell's office for the first time since the Rape, for the first time since he had become naval commander. Nothing had changed and yet everything had changed. He took a formal "at-ease" position and waited for Adar to address him.

After a long while, Adar Krell looked up from the reports he had been perusing and turned his attention on Diama. "Welcome back to Nexus, Leego. What news?"

"I have just returned from the Hephaestus shipyards where our first wave of ships is just being completed. As we discussed, I gave orders not to begin the next wave of ship construction, and have instead the ships damaged over Toril repaired. Very few have been damaged too seriously, and I anticipate 80% of the damaged ships to be fully repaired over the course of the next three weeks."

"And when those ships are repaired?"

"We will complete the third and final wave of ship construction. Although I do have concerns about the funds needed to maintain this new fleet group."

"Our control of Sparta 5 and 6 is nearly complete, and our contract funds will start coming in soon, effectively making a 20% increase in our budget. Much of that will go towards your fleet. Also, plans are being laid for those worlds to contribute Titans of their own. As you know, every other planet is providing our fleet with a Titan. This initiative seems to come within the governments themselves. They want to feel like they are... contributing."

"Excellent news, sir. In the meantime, we are resupplying our carriers with drones from Sirius. We will be at operational strength in about two weeks, and, as I have said, a week after that we will be even stronger from the addition of newly repaired ships."

"No new news on the hunt for the siliconoids?"

"Well.... there is one thing. Our agents in Nashtar and the KSE report rumors of an Overseer presence far outside of known space. This intel is brand new, placed on my desk less than an hour ago. It is also unconfirmed, but the fact that agents in both the KSE and Nashtar have reported it makes me believe this is true."

"A location yet?"

"No, but by cross-checking patrol routes and drone deployment locations, we have a pretty good idea of where this presence was detected."

"And that is?"

"Out near Shi space, sir."

"Hm. Two reports of a siliconoid presence near Shi space, one confirmed and one not? It seems that this is where the siliconoids originated from. Send a message to Monacoran command. If they don't know about this yet, I want them to. Reccomend that they focus their search in that region of space."

"Yes, sir. And sir...."

"Adar."

"What?"

"You are the head of fleet command, now. We will be seeing a lot of each other, and I detest formal attitudes where none are necessary. Call me Adar."

"Yes.... Adar. Well, I was about to ask what you thought of the Toril situation."

Krell laughed. "We do their killing for them, and they spend their time bickering over who gets the Arcane systems without as much as asking us. Well, we don't need any more worlds. Let them fight it out. Still, it would have been nice if they at least said 'thanks.'"

"My thoughts exactly. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a lot to get done now."

"Of course. Go ahead. You did a good job, Leego. No one can replace Emir, but I do look forward to working with you in the future."

"Thanks, Adar."

[speaker-to-trolls]

Ix'agal system
Former Covenant of God

The Obedience class fast destroyer Scourge of foolishness jumped into real space less than one astronomical unit from the contested planet.
Captain Hitrek grey-tooth looked at the image shown magnified on the viewscreen. The planet looked lush and fertile, just as the astronomers had estimated, this would do him no end of good once he got the news back to Itsil. The first planet colonised by the confederacy in thirty years.
"Report".
"Captain, the planet appears habitable, but we are getting strange energy readings from it". Hekrit narrowed his eyes in a gesture of curiosity "what kind of readings?".
"Well they look like what the scanners pick up in an inhabited system".
Hekrit stared at the screen in disbelief
aliens he thought. That was indeed a worrying prospect, if the readings were correct then this planet could be as well defended as Retik or Teskit, and what's more it could be part of a larger empire, and that could mean he had opened up a can of worms on the whole confederacy...
But, if this was just one planet, just some sort of one-system fiefdom, that would not be any trouble, and the rewards of conquering an already industrialised system would be... well, it had never happened before, but Hekrit expected that it could be a great opportunity.
"Set a course for the systems asteroid belt, we will take cover in there and launch a probe to the planet to ascertain as much information as we can."

[Pablo Sanchez]

"I am Ambassador Halifax, I represent the Political Prince of Monacora, where is it that we should go?"

"You will be escorted to the appropriate meeting room," the dhampir guard at the gatehouse stated. Though orcish guards were traditional for the purpose, the palace walls were all about protection and the highest degree of efficiency was observed. Half-vampires were the personnel of choice.

A limousine was quickly brought to the gate to retrieve the ambassador, though room for only three guards was available. He entered the vehicle, now face to face with a severe looking man in black, probably a vampire.

"Your security measures and guards are unnecessary. No inhabitant of our territory would dare attack a foreign diplomat, and no enemy agent could penetrate our capital city so brazenly," he said, "you are the guest of our king. You need fear nothing."

"How far to where we need to go?" Halifax asked.

The man's wrinkled his nose, "You should have done as normal and simply landed a shuttle on the palace pad. Your circuitious process of approaching the palace was interesting for us to follow but it availed you naught in terms of security. It will take twenty minutes before we arrive at the central hub of the palace."

Halifax looked out the window of the limousine at the view whipping past. It was a vast, stunningly maintained garden. In the night darkness he couldn't distinguish colors, but he assumed it was all green and verdant. And it went on for miles apparently. As he looked at the serene surroundings he spotted a few lights zip past overhead. If one of those had picked him up at the gate, it would have only taken a minute or so to get to the palace.

"Why didn't we take one of those aircraft?" Halifax asked.

"This vehicle is more comfortable. I would gladly sacrifice twenty minutes in exchange for such an increase in luxury. Time is only in your perception of it," the vampire said.

Halifax shrugged and then leaned back to assess the seat. It was very comfortable.

...

The delegates assembled in one of the meeting rooms in the central hub of Casimir's palace, ready to begin the discussion.

[Rogue 9]

Gamma-3658

"Jump point reached. No sign of pursuit as yet."

"And I'd like it to stay that way," said Zzrinka. "Engage hyperdrive."

The Polaris jumped to high speed and flashed into the distance, followed seconds later by the Dusk Bandit, which had delayed for a few seconds to deploy a defensive minefield if necessary. It hadn't been.

Nashtar, Republic Space Command, Office of the Admiral of the Fleet

A captain walked into Fleet Admiral Blessinger's office with a large manila folder marked "Secret" and saluted. Blessinger looked up from the star chart he'd been leaning over and returned the salute. "What is it, Captain?"

"Just in, sir. Captain Zzrinka of the Polaris has sent scans of what appear to be a major Siliconoid industrial complex on Gamma-3658-E. Here is the original data, along with preliminary analysis from Fleet Intelligence." The captain extended the folder. Admiral Blessinger held up his hand.

"Give me the raw data by itself first, Captain. I'll see what the fine gentlemen in the analysis department have to say after I've gotten an uncolored first look. After all, its not their necks on the line."

"Yes, sir." The aide opened the folder and took out the sensor images and contact logs, handing them to the Admiral, who quickly walked into the adjoining officers' briefing room and inserted the sensor data chip into the war room holographic projector. The sensor data as it was seen live by the sensor officer on the Polaris came up.

"Hmmmm. We've got massive energy output. Orbital shipyards, too. Those are either dreadnought or heavy carrier keels laid." He zoomed in on the dockyard slips. "I'd say probably dreadnought; there's not much in the framing to suggest large hangars." His green eyes narrowed as he zoomed back out and refocused on the tower. "What possible purpose could this serve? Any ideas, Captain?"

The aide, just transferred to this office a few weeks ago when the five star position had been appointed after the Rape (a Fleet Admiral was only appointed during time of major war), was startled; he had not been on Admiral Blessinger's staff previously and was not used to the man's direct style. He covered it quickly. "Well, it could be for radiation purposes. The kind of energy readings we're seeing here must generate vast quantities of heat down there." He hesitated. Blessinger nodded to him in a way that meant "Go on." "I'm almost inclined to think that its for show, to impress us with the Overseer's power in its ability to construct such structures, except for two factors. One, this facility was obviously not meant to be seen by us, and two, the Overseer is a machine. I doubt that it has any concept of grandeur or human impressions."

Blessinger nodded. "The first part was excellent, Captain. Quite a reasonable hypothesis for the purpose of the towers. But the second, where you ruled out the possibility of it being for show, suffers from the lamentably common mistake of presuming that your enemy is incapable of something when the evidence does not actually point to that incapability. The Overseer is quite capable of deception, for example; look at how it played the representatives of most of the major powers at Alpha Prime. Its a subtle link, but an important one: If the Overseer can grasp the advantage in lying to us to keep up off guard, then it is highly unlikely that it cannot grasp the advantages of intimidation. Also, the Overseer is, by all indications, a very powerful AI supercomputer. It would not count on a facility like that being undiscovered forever, whether it wanted us to find it or not. It may be capable of wishful thinking of that sort, but presuming that it is attributes another weakness to it that it may turn out to not have when some strategist sees that attribution and incorporates it into a strategy. Therefore I presume that it would prepare for the eventuality of discovery."

The captain's face fell. "No need for that look, Captain. You spoke your mind; that's what's important to someone seeking advice. Too many of the smartest people in this building say what they know I want to hear, which doesn't help me at all. What's your name?"

"Captain Thomas Corven, sir."

"What is your current duty post, Captain Corven?"

"I am attache to the liaison between Intelligence and Fleet Command. The position is mainly that of messenger, sir."

"Well, your duty post is now adjunct to the Office of the Fleet Admiral, transferred to my personal staff. This extra star lets me do that, Captain," he said with a half-smile, fingering the top star in the pentagon pattern on his chest as he cut off the objection that was beginning to present itself in the other man's expression. "The bureaucracy will have to live with it. I need people like you on my staff, not the pack of pen-pushers that I was assigned coming in. Unless you have any objections?"

"No sir, I don't." The corners of Captain Corven's mouth began to creep upwards just a fraction; he was sick of running errands for the Intel weenies on his command tour. It wouldn't be the same as captaining his frigate, but at least he might get something other than endless droning intelligence briefs and file-carrying.

Admiral Blessinger broke into a grin. "Good. Your transfer is effective as of 0800 hours tomorrow. Welcome aboard, Captain."

"Thank you, sir."

"Now lets see what your soon-to-be ex-bosses have to say about this," said Blessinger, reaching for the rest of the package.

[Thirdfain]

Temesvar
Meeting Chamber, Palace of the Blood King

"Of course, lord Ambassador. I have it from the mouth of the Speaker herself that the next shipments of raw materials and equipment will be arriving in only another day or so. You must understand that our drive technology is limited compared to your own, and organizing these long-distance convoys is not always easy. I apologize, on behalf of my government, for the delay in shipments."

Aleksandra was using the ample spare time she had been gaining with the Monacoran ambassador's lateness to iron out some minor points of the recent trading treaties with the Realm. It helped pass the time, and she wanted to get used to the odd presence the Vampires exuded- she would need to dominate this meeting if she was to achieve the concessions the Council had bid her to obtain, and learning to ignore the odd, oppressive aura was vital to the completion of her goals. Inwardly, she seethed slightly. If they had been negotiating on a cluster, such use of power would be considered a grave breach of protocol; but she had heard that contests of supernatural will were a fundamental part of the Vampiric hierarchy.

"Which brings me to my next point-" She spoke immediatly, cutting off any possible response the Vampire may have levelled against her. "My superiors thought you should know that we have it from some excellent sources that a Machinist base has been discovered- by both a Krytosian and Nashtari patrol, at the exact same time..."

She heard the door open, and was already turning away from the Vampire. Halifax, the Monacoran Ambassador, entered the chamber almost twenty minutes late.

She sighed, cast a disapproving eye towards the tardy Earther, and awaited the opening words of the Blood King's emissary. This was his conference, and protocol required him to speak first.

[Pablo Sanchez]

She sighed, cast a disapproving eye towards the tardy Earther, and awaited the opening words of the Blood King's emissary. This was his conference, and protocol required him to speak first.

Duke Peipus was the standard choice for associations with other nations, and he was the ambassador in attendance. "Let me begin by thanking you all for attending this conference. Next, King Casimir again affirms his legitimate claims to the systems of Oerth and Aber-Toril, and to the planet of Ravenloft. Now I will open the floor to discussion."

[Thirdfain]

Aleksandra immediatly stood, cutting off the other delegates.

"I'm sure you have all heard, by now, of the altercation between the United Protectorates and our own fleet, near Aber-Toril. The tension their is quite indicative of our willingness to defend the Diaspora completely and unilaterally should the need arise. The systems now guarded by Hajr forces will remain under the sovereign power of the Hajr. We will not step back, or give ground, and we assert our rights to that space both legally, through the claims of the Inisha Cluster, an independent Unbound Republic, and through the right of conquest- our fleets there now reside, where no other fleets stand."

"Of course, we are willing to give somewhat in this, but the Hajr will not leave this conference room without the outer reaches of Ravenloft, as suggested briefly by our Second Fleet to the Realm, and three lesser colony systems. This is the least our Inishan allies are owed by the Arcanists."

"I believe, as does my government, that violence will not be necessary to assert these claims, at least not among the company present. Beyond that, we have no interest in to whom the rest of the Empire goes, as long as the regional territorial needs of the Blood King are met- we support his claims fully."

[Marcao]

Realm of the Blood King
Temesvar, Meeting Chamber

The Veithan delegation had been lead to the meeting chamber, where seats had been prepared. The delegates for the other powers involved in the meeting noted for a moment. He could see the blood king representative, the ouster representative, the Monacoran representative as well as any others. His primary concern was finding out the Ravenlock representative, which he eventually discovered a few moments later. Ah, so they were all here. As if on cue, Duke Peipus began to speak and all eyes were drawn to him.

Something had to be said about the innate power and charisma of the vampire lords as a whole. Under most circumstances, they demanded attention and it became exquisitely difficult to try and deny it to them. It was part of who they were, and it took a remarkable will to deny the vampire lords. He had been trained as a diplomat, and as such had been trained to have surprising control over his own mind. It was a struggle, but one that if he could not win he could at least hold at bay. When the Duke finished speaking, the Ouster representative seemed to jump in a rush to get her words in. It was more than a bit rude, but this was the essence of the Ousters. If she wanted to talk, so be it. He would listen to what he had to say and consider that which should be considered, while ignoring the rest.

It was when both the Vampire and Ouster representatives had finished talking that he looked around to his colleagues as politeness required. When it seemed that no one was willing to step up to the plate, he spoke.

"The claims by King Cassimir over the former arcane worlds of Oerth, Aber-Toril and Ravenloft are respected by the Veithan empire." It was not a terribly shocking revelation. The Vampire lords had documentation on the matter, and the last ditch efforts by the arcane empire to designate who would receive their territory would not be respected by any nation not in direct alliance with them before their betrayal.

His attention did not slide towards the Ouster delegate as he moved on to touch upon the topics she had brought up. His eyes continued to watch the Duke as he continued.

"The Ouster claims to arcane space in order so that floaters may return to the area are also respected. We are aware of some of the history involved between the territory and the floaters and feel that the ouster backed plan is more than adequate."

He paused for a moment, feeling that touching upon the right of conquest would be moot. Every nation in the conference understood that you could only hold what your military allowed you to hold. Legal claims and competent plans were merely the icing on the cake for such matters. A nation lived and died by the amount of force it could project and how elegantly it could project it. Subterfuge helped of course, but that was to be expected.

"The Veithan Empire plans on keeping the system of Al-quadim and two lesser colony systems as ceded to us by the Monacoran nation. We desire nothing more from these territories, except to support the Ravenlock and Monacoran claims to the territory formerly of the arcane empire."

He could foresee no real problems with the negotiation. The Vampire Lords had received what they wanted, the Ousters had received what they wanted and he expected that he and his monacoran and ravenlock allies would receive their due as well. If the Ousters and Vampire lords wanted to hinder that, they would have to give up some of their own claims. This was afterall a negotiation.

[Darksider]

(OOC: Let's thicken the plot a little, shall we?)

:::::::::Emperor's command bunker, Carulan:::::::

The emperor sat in a meeting with his head of intelligence, Drakyn Ragnor

"This is a bold plan Drakyn, perhaps too bold."

"We have no choice. The Ousters are spreading throughout known space like a plague. There is no real military chance of stoppin them on our own. More.....subtle measures are required to deal with their rampant expansionism, thier, "Diaspora".

"Very well, send your best team to the ouster controlled world of Hudson to perform a little recon."

Drakyn got up to leave

"Oh, and I trust your team will use civillian transports, and carry nothing that can ID them as Krytosian External Security agents?"

"Of course. That's SOP for us."


::::::::Hudson, four days after the meeting::::::::
Four men disembarked from a civillain transport at the Spaceport in Jormugunder's capital city. They were ready to start their assignment.

[/i]

[speaker-to-trolls]

Asteroid belt
Ix'agal system
Former covenant of God

Hekrit watched the images the probe sent back to his ship. Hidden in the shadow of a huge asteroid, the Scourge of Foolishness monitored the progress of its doomed scout.
As it approached the planet it sent back images that were definitely ships, and from the energy readings it sent back were almost certainly military in nature. What was more there were at least two different designs of ship, possibly indicating two seperate empires.
"Sir, we should order the probe to self-destruct, we cannot count on it being undetected for much longer". Hekrit raised his hand "no, wait a little longer, I wish to find out as much as possible. These are the first aliens we have encountered in more than a century, it would not be prudent to ignore them".

The probe drew ever closer to the planet.

[Darksider]

:::::::::Small apartment, Hudson's Capital City::::::::
Once the room had been adaquately swept for bugs and listining devices, the four KES agents, known only by their codenames of Sprint, Scimitar, Badger and Flash, got down to buisness.


"We've been sent to perform reconnisance into the Ousters ability to deal with covert operations. How should we go about doing it?"

"Perhaps a small test of their reaction times to a mock terrorist attack?"

"We aren't here to blow shit up Flash, you know that."

Sprint spoke up

"Perhaps a smaller test then? I've aquired an archaic projectile sniper rifle, I could hit a couple of guards on the street."

"Don't leave any evidence behind."

"Flash, I bet you could help me with that one."

"I'll rig up a bomb to destroy the rifle once the op is complete."

::::::::Abandoned building, Jormungunder secondary city::::::::
Sprint walked over to the window, taking care to leave no evidence that could be traced to him.

He set up his sniper's nest in ten minutes.

He spied a pair of Hajr soldiers walking down the street, it was time to go to work.

He moved quickly, lining up the first guard in his crosshairs. Because of the silencer on his rifle, there was no sound. The only sign that a shot had even been fired, was the soldier slumping over, a third of his head missing. Sprint quickly killed the other soldier, set the booby trap near the rifle, and ran out of the building as quickly as he could.

By the time the Hajr authorities arrived, the only thing they would find was the booby trapped rifle. He had left no other evidence.

Badger watched from the street corner, feigning shock at the death of the soldiers, and waited to see how long it took the Authorities to arrive on the scene.