STGOD 2K5 Main Game

[Kyle]

Code: Select all

From: Royal Navy HQ. HMSS Warlock
To: UTRN Command. Olympus Naval Base

Request for assistance receieved. We are scrambling relief forces.  Ships will transistion under Hyperfold once assembled.

Assume this was posted about the same time the Kzin scrambled their ships from Qu'NoS. I had to wait to get Phongs permission, plus my internet connection is acting very strange.

[Kyle]

The center of the Gorn Fleet was being pounded unmercifully by the advancing Fenari and allied ships. They returned the favor by concentrating all of the fleets firepower, and that of Fortresses, on the two Fenari Dreadnoughts leading the attacking fleet.

As the bombardment continued one of the Gorn Battleships exploded as a lucky hit detonated her magazines, one more ship fell out of action as the pounding she was taking caused her reactor to go offline leaving her nothing more then a floating hulk that would require serious repairs before being considered a spaceworthy warship once again. The third battleship stayed in formation but had obviously taken a beating. Eight Frigates were also destroyed and seventeen more fell out of formation after taking several serious hits. Both fleets continued to close to energy range.


The Terran fighters fell back quickly once they'd exhausted their weapons. They passed through the line of two Battlecruisers and sixteen Heavy Cruisers pounding the three remaining Issatran Battlecruisers with hypermissiles as they closed the range. Terran warships were energy combatants primarily and Muergens wanted to get his Battlecruisers and Heavy Cruisers in close where they could do the most damage.

Of the seventy five hundred fighters that had launched against the Issatrans less then three thousand returned returned and only about twenty five hundred of them were in good enough to condition to go out again. They landed on the carriers lurking behind the cruisers and battlecruisers, far out of missile range of the Issatran Force.

As the big ships closed on each other the fighters rearmed and prepared for a second strike. This strike would focus on the escort screen protecting the heavier ships. There was about to be too much energy flying around for it to be safe for fighters in the center. Fifth Fleets escorts closed with there counterparts and both sides began to tear into each other.

"Hyper Emergence. Looking like they're coming off the lane to Qu'NoS."

"Its probably the Kzin, but confirm it first."

"Yes Sir. ID Confirmed."

"Perfect. Ask the Kzin to close with the Fenari Main Fleet as fast as they can. Also ask for them to vector in some singleships to help us out with this fights."

The Kzin fleet almost instantly lept to high speed; racing towards the Fenari as fast as the gravity planers would let let them. Kzin tactics were based on the type of short range brutal fighting that they loved. They also brought their interdictors up to full strength as they closed. No one was going to escape this battle with a simple jump to hyperspace.

As they closed they launched every singleship they had, no Kzin wanted to miss this fight. The carrier groups from both Fleet Carriers and one of the Fast Carriers veered off to help Fifth Fleet with the trio of remaining Issatran Battlecruisers. The rest of the singleships rushed to attack the Fenari and their allies.

[Thirdfain]

-: Gorn :-

Even as the Kzinti fleet sped towards the coalition wall of battle, the deciding moments of the action occured.

The fore of the Coalition fleet rocked as volley after volley smashed into the lead Fenari dreadnoughts, but their advance continued. The Packmother's personal vessel took a pair of lucky hypermissile hits, venting one of her missile magazines, but the shielding and armor on the two heavy warships was truly impressive. One of the Polish battleships was not as lucky. It exploded spectacularly as a sextet of missiles rushed through a hole blasted in it's shielding. Two dozen frigate escorts and nine destroyer escorts had fallen as well.

Even as the Kzinti entered missile range, the Coalition war-fleet fell into gun range. The center of the Gorn fleet, already ravaged, was assaulted by volley after massed volley as the Coalition men o' war discharged their broadsides. Soundless eruptions of light and fury danced across the shields of the central Gorn vessels. Railguns, particle beams, SRM hypermissiles, plasma cannon, gravity primaries, and a dozen other varieties of weaponry tore into the Gorn fleet. Shields flared and broke as counterfire lashed up and down the Coalition line. The storm of Coalition fighters swooped back, returning to their mother vessels for fast reload. They'd need their munitions shortly, as the Kzinti warbirds would soon be entering the fray.

Weakness was showing in the Gorn center. On Gorn below, and on board dozens of Fenari fast assault transports, preparations were made. Soon, the true objectives of the Resolution assault would be reached. It would only take a minute more before the situation at the center of the Gorn fleet was such that the Coalition could make it's move.

The battlecruiser squadron was outnumbered, outgunned, and already well-ravaged by the fighter strike. Never the less, they pressed their attack. Fire was focused on just one of the battlecruisers of the UTR detachment. Damage was mounting, and the Issatran fleet would not last long against such overwhelming odds- but perhaps, they'd last long enough.

-: ENDRECORD:-

[Agent Fisher]

(ooc i have nothing to do and noone has posted for several hours)

-||-Near Sparata Space-||-
Captain Levinson Watched as the stars faded around him as they came out of hyperspace. Sparata was an uncommon sight to many a republican and allied naval officer. not just recently had a trade agreement been signed between members of the Admiralty and the leaders of the Confederacy. It was a new moment for all their people.
"sir we're being queried by a Sparata Border Patrol"
"understood, send word that we're the convoy bringing the trade goods to sparata and ask their commander if they would allow us an escort through their space."
"understood sir sending transmission."
"Also tell them we have our ambassadors onboard to start construction of our embassy"
"message sent, sir"
"good now we wait for them to respond"

"We have recieved your message. Please stand down on all weapon systems and lower your shields. Also prepare to be boarded for an inspection before being allowed to continue."

[Cabwi Desco]

"We have recieved your message. Please stand down on all weapon systems and lower your shields. Also prepare to be boarded for an inspection before being allowed to continue."

"Understood lowering shields and shutting weapons down, procede with your boarding."

[Agent Fisher]

"We have recieved your message. Please stand down on all weapon systems and lower your shields. Also prepare to be boarded for an inspection before being allowed to continue."

"Understood lowering shields and shutting weapons down, procede with your boarding."

Four Higgins Dropships flew and docked with Captain Levinson's ship. The marines filed out of the dropships and split inot four teams, one went to the bridge the others went to the cargo bay.

When the marine team reached the bridge, Gunnery Sergeant Tom Hartman walked to the Captain.

"Please give me a complete manifest of all cargo aboard."

The Captain handed over a list. Hartman then scanned it and transmitted it to the others teams. A hour later all the ships had been inspected and passed, and the marines had left.

"13 republics ships, you are will follow us to ROE Station. From there your cargo will be offloaded. Understood?"

[Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba]

Nua rubbed his chin anxiously. Interesting how he'd picked up that habit after only a few months of contact, after a thousand years of solitude.

He looked at the reports coming through the Solidarity. The Kzinti had launched their own fleet... to assist the rebels. It was far larger than the Shoom fleet. At present, there were no other nations sending military assistance to the loyalists. It was only his fleet against a much larger fleet.

He could not stand to lose half of his entire navy in a hopeless attempt to save some thirdstring nation's archaic government. And he had no hope of winning.

If he should fight, he would have many allies among the Fenari, and the others protesting the actions of the Terrans... But his military would be shattered. It would takes years to recover from a blow like this.

But a Shoom man was determined by his honesty, his honour, his loyalty to his allies.

Sometimes, there were more important things.

He sent a message throughout the fleet.

"All ships, change course. We're falling back Shoom space, repeat, fall back, we are returning to Shoom space. All ships recommence prior duties."

He collapsed his head into his hands. "May the Creators have mercy on my soul."

[Cabwi Desco]

Four Higgins Dropships flew and docked with Captain Levinson's ship. The marines filed out of the dropships and split inot four teams, one went to the bridge the others went to the cargo bay.

When the marine team reached the bridge, Gunnery Sergeant Tom Hartman walked to the Captain.

"Please give me a complete manifest of all cargo aboard."

The Captain handed over a list. Hartman then scanned it and transmitted it to the others teams. A hour later all the ships had been inspected and passed, and the marines had left.

"13 republics ships, you are will follow us to ROE Station. From there your cargo will be offloaded. Understood?"

"Quite, just give us the Coordinates and we'll follow you in."

[Agent Fisher]

Four Higgins Dropships flew and docked with Captain Levinson's ship. The marines filed out of the dropships and split inot four teams, one went to the bridge the others went to the cargo bay.

When the marine team reached the bridge, Gunnery Sergeant Tom Hartman walked to the Captain.

"Please give me a complete manifest of all cargo aboard."

The Captain handed over a list. Hartman then scanned it and transmitted it to the others teams. A hour later all the ships had been inspected and passed, and the marines had left.

"13 republics ships, you are will follow us to ROE Station. From there your cargo will be offloaded. Understood?"

"Quite, just give us the Coordinates and we'll follow you in."

The coordinates where transmitted and the ships made the jump. Once they reached the station they docked and began unloading their cargo.

[Cabwi Desco]

Captain Levinson watched as the last of the cargo was offloaded and then turned to the officer in charge of operations.
"Here you'll need this keycode to unlock the safety procedures on the shield generator unit and get it integrated to your systems."
the officer aknowledged his comment and took the datacard with the keycode uploaded to it.
"Right, before I go any idea when the Sparata Convoy will be out to the 13? I need to report to my superiors on the progress of the Agreement."

(Fill response here)

"all right thanks for the information, I'll get that data back to my superiors as soon as possible."
Levinson quickly marched off back to his ship and relayed first his comm to Command and then gave the order for the convoy to move out.
"ROE station. Thanks for the quick offloading. We're safely away and launching back to Republican space. This is ANS Dragon Claw out."
and quickly the convoy came up to speed and entered hyperspace."

[Kyle]

The Gorn Fleet was hurt, but they were holding, and thats all they had to do. Another two Battleships exploded, and three more dropped out of formation, as crippled wrecks. But they continued to hold. They were protecting there homeworld from the invaders, and that gave them all the motivation they needed. Eight cruisers were also severly hurt and forced to be scuttled as frie continued to pour in on them.

There was little in space that was as fast and manuverable as a Kzin Singleship. The small little ships reached range of the Resolution Task Force before the main fleet was even in missile range. They threw themselves at the two massive Fenari Dreadnoughts with a reckless abandon that would have seemed insane to someone who had never fought with Kzin before.

With the Kzin focusing on the lead Dreadnaughts the Gorn froces changed there targettting to concentrate all of there firepower on the Rakshasan battleship. Almost three dozen Gorn frigates were also lost. Most with full crews as they went down still fighting, trying to take as many of the invaders with them as they could.

Things were going much better for Fifth Fleet in its battle with the trailing Task Force of the Resolution fleet. TNS Normandy opened fire first. This is what the Terran ships had been built for. Short range slugging matches with heavy energy weapons.

The two Terran Battlecruisers concentrated all of there fire on just one of the Issatran Battlecruisers. The Terran Heavy Cruisers concentrated all of there firepower on the second BC, while the third Battlecrusier was left for the Kzin strikeforce to take care of. Normandy staggered as the Issatrans tried to cocnentrate all of there firepower on her. One energy blast gouged a trench down her hull and knocked out her point defense. Another hit destroyed one of her primary turrets, reducing her firepower by a quarter.

A third of the Kzin strikeforce was vectored off to help the Terran fighters and escorts in dealing with the light ships of the Task Force.


Kzin carrier complements.
7 capital points sent against main fleet
3 capital points against trailing formation.

[Thirdfain]

-: Gorn :-

The attack was crumbling, there was no doubt about that. Losses mounted across the fleet, and both of the lead Fenari dreadnoughts collapsed under the fire. Screaming furred bodies poured into the aether, some decompressing explosively as their spacesuits were punctured by debris. The Rakshasan Battleship was barely holding on; one entire flank had been rent asunder, and she had lost shielding over half her hull. Her time would me measured in minutes, if that.

The Gorn formation had lost much of it's capital firepower. It's center Wall of Battle was a tattered ruin, and it was then that the wavering Coalition fleet made it's move. The remaining heavy and light cruisers of the fleet sprinted forwards in tight formation. Fire ravaged their hulls, and one after another erupted under the fury of the Kzinti singleships and the surviving Gorn battlestations. At the center of the escort wall, a swarm of Fenari fast troopships lay. The Coalition vessels sacrificed themselves to intercept the incoming Kzinti strikes, interposing themselves between the vulnerable troopships and the swirling masses of singleships.

The troopships hurled themselves at the minefields with seemingly suicidal ferocity. As they closed with the defenses, a last, staggered volley erupted from the Coalition escort cruisers, aimed at the minefield. It was a bare hope, at best- the mines were well-hidden, and would make very hard targets for the cluster-warheads of the antifighter missiles. This was clearly a last-ditch effort, and would almost certainly meet it's end in the minefield's kill-zone. No one would call the Fenari anything but brave that day.
The battlecruiser squadron was on it's last legs. A bare handful of escorts remained alive and active. All of the remaining battlecruisers were shattered wrecks. The cruiser complement was down to four active vessels, only one undamaged.

-:ENDRECORD:-

[Agent Fisher]

Captain Levinson watched as the last of the cargo was offloaded and then turned to the officer in charge of operations.
"Here you'll need this keycode to unlock the safety procedures on the shield generator unit and get it integrated to your systems."
the officer aknowledged his comment and took the datacard with the keycode uploaded to it.
"Right, before I go any idea when the Sparata Convoy will be out to the 13? I need to report to my superiors on the progress of the Agreement."

The shipment will be there in two days."

[Kyle]

It had been a historic battle. Neither side had even considered surrender or flight. They had fought till the bitter end, and now it was that end. The Gorn fleets capital ships had been savaged unmercifully. Only three were still operational and those three were not in what anyone could realilistically call good condition. The Gorn cruiser and escort fleet had been hit even harder, relatively, then the capital ships. Only two Cruisers were still operational and less then two dozen frigates still stood in formation with the three badly hurt battleships, only the three forts could still be considered lightly damaged.

The Resolution fleet had been hurt badly as well but it was still doing much better then the Gorn, while they had lost both Dreadnoughts as well as one of the Polish battleships, and the Rakshasan Battleship as well, they still had a solid core of five Fenari Battleships and one Polish Battleship.

The Kzin singleships were hit hard by the remaining escorts. The captains of those ships had to know they had little chance of surviving the Kzin attack but they still threw themselves at the swarming Kzin in an attempt to slow them long enough for the Troopships to run the breach that the cruiser had created for them. Supported by the remaining Resolution carrier forces they did there best to inflict losses on the singleships and slow them down.

It worked. They took heavy losses, devestating losses to be honest, but the troopships made it through. When Admirał Floty Pilsudski saw that she immediatly ordered her few remaining escorts and cruisers to close in tight with her capital ships, and fort up to protect agaaisnt the swarm of singleships.

The Kzin singleships continued to throw themselves at the Resolution fleet but were soon recalled back to their carriers for rearming. Losses had been heavy, a little less then two thirds of the singleships returned to the carriers that had launched them and only half of those were capable of being sent back out for a second strike.

Fifth Fleets battle was basically over. When the Kzin singleships truck, it was over. The shattered wrecks of the few remaining Resolution starships were blasted by Kzin singleships. THe UTR would have been willing to let those ships surrender now that the fight was over. The Kzin disagreed, the only good enemy was a dead one. Soon there were a lot of good enemies.

[Kyle]

"Senator S. Juste. The President can see you now." The Presidents Chief of Staff continued, "If we'd had advance notice of your arrival we could hace scheduled you to see him much sooner. Unfortunately he was in an important meeting with a key Advisor."

He then pressed a button admitting the Senator into the Presidents office.

[Thirdfain]

-: Earth :-

Citizen Jaquiline St. Juste, Senator of the Commonwealth, Chef-Admiral in the Service of the Commonwealth (ret.), and hero of the Battle of Corneria strode into the office of the most powerful Human in the Galaxy. She cut a stern figure. At just under six feet, she was in fact a little short for her Belter heritage, but she stood out besides most Flatlander women. Her figure was wirey and strong, the product of stern exercise and the prolong treatments which kept her spry even as she approached a hundred. Her sharp features seemed carved from finest ebony. Intelligent green eyes glinted above high cheekbones.


Her jacket and skirt, cut in the Desjardins style, were simple and elegant, though made from the finest dark material. Her hair was pulled back in a severe knot at the base of her neck.

St. Juste was a product of the Von Braun era. It had been a time when the United Terran Republic and the Three Suns Commonwealth had butted heads as often as they'd worked together. Both powers had been in direct competition for the vast stretches of fragmented, wasted space which had once been the southern provinces of the pre-Cataclysm Republic. The prodigal colonies had scrambled against the mother-world, gobbling systems in a mad rush to attain supremacy in the region. Only 50 years ago, the Commonwealth had been rated a match for the still-recovering Republic.

The People's War had ended that. Von Braun had died at the hands of the Cornerian superweapon platform, along with most of the Senate and the cream of the officer corps. The old Desjardins military families had been wiped out, and the way ahd been paved for the rise of Delacroix and the the Osiran Muslim merchant clans as the voting and power blocs which would shape Commonwealth policy. Prolong ensured that some remnant of the Old Guard remained in place, men and women like St. Juste, who still believed that elan and martial strength were the true measure of a nation's power. Now that the trade lanes on which the merchant clans had relied were threatened, they turned, inexhoribly, back to the soldiers. St. Juste was hardly happy about the developements taking place in the Southern arm and the core, but it had given her new meaning.

Now, she stood before the leader of the most powerful Human nation in the Galaxy. When the Three Suns had been squabbling colonials whining to the local magistrate about mining rights, the United Terran Republic had strode across the stars commanding fleets of warships which made modern superdreadnoughts seem like overgunned escort frigates. Never the less, she displayed confidence. The opulence of Terra made even the lost city-world of Desjardins seem like a provincal village, but she was hardly impressed. The mighty had fallen at St. Juste's hands before, and she was unlikely to find architectural symbols of power and authority stunning. The President of the United Terran Republics offered a handshake.

She bowed slightly.

"Senator St. Juste, welcome. Take a seat, please. I trust your journey was pleasant?"

"Thank you, Mr. President." She said as she took the offered chair. "And my journey was not as pleasant as I might have liked, which brings me immediately to why I'm here."

The President nodded.
"The Fenris node. I assume they decided to allow diplomatic couriers through."

"Actually, I required a special request from President Delacroix to the Packs. Uou of course know that since the start, the Fenris Resolution has condemned all allies of the United Terran Republic in the invasion of the Klingon Empire." St. Juste did not sound entirely pleased as she outlined the difficuilties.

"Foolish, really." Said the President. "The Fenari are so drastically outnumbered, even with their alliance."

"Yes, perhaps- but it is obvious to me that the Fenris are drawing broad support, Mister President. They are recieving weapon shipments from a half-dozen foreign powers, and the Shoom have even declared military support. I also hear that the Gorn rebel fleet has been badly damaged by Fenris and Loyalist forces."

"One might say that. The latest reports indicate the battle over Gorn is far from over." The president smiled. "After all, the Kzinti fleet is in the region as well."

'I don't think it will be over for a long time, Mister President. I've been at the short end of the stick before, and I know the sort of desperate strength it can grant the outclassed and outnumbered. This situation is not one the Commonwealth can stand."

"Your trade routes, I presume? Don't worry, I'm sure we'll have the Fenari at heel soon enough, Madame Senator."

St. Juste's eyes flashed and her voice hardened.
"How soon, Mister President? How long? I saw the defenses over Fenris. They are quite strong- it will take a brutal and expensive operation to unhinge them, and we'd doubtless face years of guerilla resistance. Mister President, the Commonwealth's economy is entering a nose-dive thanks to your little operation. Our trade partners in the ERTC are feeling it, and the Western trade route through Rhea has been badly hampered."

"I'm sure it won't be much longer, Madam Senator." The President's tone was concilliatory. "Your ambassador has discussed this with me already. The situation is under control, and besides, you in the Commonwealth have treaty obligations to fulfill. You know the price paid when you called for the Entente over Desjardins."

"Desjardins was fifty years ago, Mister President. The Commonwealth has become reliant on those trade-lanes. Times have changed drastically, and your operation threatens everyone! This insanity in Gorn space has to stop, and it has to stop now. You tread over your allies as if they didn't matter one bit. I can't imagine you'll gain more from getting a finger in the Gorn pie than you would from maintaining friendly relations with the Eastern Rim and the Commonwealth, not to mention the August Confederation and the West."

"The Republic has interests, Madam Senator, and you are pledged to assist us in the achievement of those interests!"

"Our agreement is not a one-way street, Mister President, and you've tread too far this time. This is becoming too expensive, too inconvienent, and too bloody. Delacoix has bid me inform you, Mister President, that the Commonwealth requests that you withdraw from the Gorn Federation. Immediately. We request that you enter multipartite talks with the Loyalists and the rebels."

"And the Fenris Resolution? What about them, if we accede to these... demands?" The disbelief was palapable.

"I've got their word that once talks are established, they'll pull out."

"Madam Senator, I don't think you understand your position in this. The Entente is not jsut going to turn around at your say-so."

St. Juste shrugged.
"Not my say-so, Mister President."

She reached into her jackey, and produced a datafax. She pushed it across the table.

The President of the United Terran Republic picked up the sheet and looked it over. His eyes narrowed.

The United Terran Republics and their supporters have gone too far. This document, written by those powers to whom strength is new, agree to this simple fact. The undersigned nations wish to make the will of the Galaxy known to the United Terran Republics and their allies.

Firstly, the signature nations are united in the belief that the sovereignty of the Gorn Federation and the Klingon Empire has been violated by the Quadruple Entente. These violations are immoral, and will lead only to the subjugation of independent nations beneath the Entente boot. These actions, striking against some of the oldest and most respected centers of pre-cataclysm culture, are intolerable and reflect very poorly on the character of the leaders of the aggressor nations.

Secondly, the signature nations are united in the belief that the UTR’s support of an illegitimate government in the Gorn Federation, regardless of the politics of the Gorn nation, is a threat to the sovereignty of all star nations. The UTR is not the judge, jury, and executioner for any contention in a civilized nature, and it’s willingness to support a military coup against a duly elected government is a denial of the ideals of democracy and freedom which the UTR has long claimed as its own.

Finally, the signature nations are united in the belief that the actions of the UTR and her supporters in aggression have sparked inevitable consequences- consequences which have vast implications for the well being of all nations in the Galaxy. These consequences have seriously disrupted trade and threatened the security of a number of nations who, until now, have enjoyed peaceful and non-contentious relations with the UTR. The violence released by the UTR’s naked aggression has been of detriment to everyone but the UTR and her allies. This is unconscionable in the modern mutual economy.

The signature nations are united in these beliefs, and this being the case, have decided to publicly condemn the invasion of Gorn space by UTR vessels. This action has been a breach of both international law and the sacred trust we have placed in the guardians of old Terra. We call for an immediate removal of UTR and allied vessels from Gorn space, and the commencement of tripartite talks between the UTR, the legitimate Gorn government, and the rebels, to be monitored by members of all signatory nations.

Signed:

-Emperor Vigor Volga the First,
Emperor of Krytos

-President Andrea Harrison,
Republic of Nashtar.

-Grand Master Talen,
The Knights Templar

-Senior Admiral Richard Dassault,
Commanding Officer,
Sixth Cruiser Squadron

-The High Devouring Lord His Majesty King Drvr I,
Holder of the Sword of the Commonality,
Protector of Rpblksrpsk.

-Psilak
-Leader of The Aglatarian Hub

-On behalf of the Lady Protector,
Aji Saka, Prime Minister, United Vigoran Protectorate

-Below are the signatures of the Council of Sparata.
Michael Keyes, Chairman of the Council
Miranda Pride, Council member
Justin Thomas, Council member
Amanda Winters, Council member
Ryan Page, Council member

-Grand Eternal Overseer Nua,
Supreme Commander of the Enlightened Forces of Shoom

-Acheron Marik Vestal of the Sabai


August Confederation of Independent Nations

-Citizen Muhamet Delacroix,
President over the Senate of the Three Suns Commonwealth

"Every major power in the civilized Galaxy is against you on this, Mister President. Is this little adventure in the Gorn Federation really worth it?"

-:ENDRECORD:-

[Pablo Sanchez]

At times the Triad Head existed on an entirely different plane from what was so erroneously called "the real world." It was called the astral universe by some, the place where only the spirit existed and almost anything was possible. It was here that he went to observe the ley lines.

Every living thing had it's pattern of ley lines, over which chi flowed. The galaxy, each life-supporting planet, and every creature had their roadmap. The location of the galaxy's hyperlanes were no mistake. History itself moved along observable and roughly predictable lines of chi. One could not exactly tell the future, but approximations could be made, the major players in events to come could be divined.

In recent years, more and more, the ley line that led through the Black Alliance was strengthening. It was unmistakeable that they would play an important role in the Triad Head's plans for the future, and it would not have to be an opposing actor. There were certain troubling factors, especially the hole at the center of the equation, indetectable to his greatest efforts. Still, the benefits could outweigh the risks.

The operations in the Star Kingdom were progressing nicely--it would do to widen the field.

The Triad Head returned to reality. He was constantly attended to and guarded by servants, so he had but to speak his will.

"Send a message to the head of the Black Alliance through our channels. I will meet with him."

[Marcao]

Western Space
Sabai Territory/Sphere

Even as negotiations between the Corsair Republic, Stuart Corporation and the Sabai progressed to the north west, there was a frenzy of activity within Sabai Territory and its sphere of influence. The conflict to the south had been a catalyst for most of the movements. Nonetheless, these were moves that would have occurred given enough time. The moves by the UTR and their support by the Kzin and SKS simply made the moves possible and necessary immediately.

The UTR invasion of Klingon space had sent a chill through many nations. It was not that difficult to believe, when one of the nations of the greatest power in the galaxy moved, people tended to pay attention. Many analysts within and without the Sabai government pointed out that the move was not exactly a surprise. The UTR had its eye on the Klingon nation for decades, nonetheless, no one had anticipated when they would have moved. Many attributed the disappearance of several key Klingon officers to UTR special forces or UTR financed mercenaries. It was an explanation that made a great deal of sense.

The problems within Gorn space however were met with obvious skepticism by many. Many Analysts argued that if the Gorn had been so concerned about what was occurring within Klingon space, why had they not intervened when the Klingon forces were still capable? If the Gorn were willing to go as far as utilize their military why they did wait until the Klingon navy was decimated and UTR marines controlled most Klingon worlds? Many analysts considered the timing of the Gorn actions as entirely too convenient for the UTR interests. While nothing could be proven, the most popular theory was that the UTR had influenced elements of the Gorn government to their benefit.

The more that United Terran News tried to pain the UTR as the bastion of freedom and democracy, the more many within the Sabai and without saw such broadcasts as blatant propaganda. Since the invasion of the Gorn, the ratings of United Terran News had fallen by over thirty eight percent. It seemed as if the majority of the Sabai populace, was far more cynical than Terran news hoped they were. Of course, every action tended to have a reaction. In this case, it was not surprising that with the fall of the Klingon nation and the apparent fall of the Gorn nation, both at the hands of the Entente smaller powers and nations would sit up and take notice.

The Karis nation was one such power. The Karis were an important player in western space, one of the most mature minor powers and to this day still unaligned. The Indashani had offered friendship to the nation. When the Indashani left, the Sabai took their place. Like the Indashani, the Sabai believed that outright confrontation and annexation was usually not the best policy when dealing with one’s neighbors. The Indashani had garnered a great deal of good will from their area of space, purely for those reasons. The Sabai followed in their foot steps. Nonetheless, this did not mean that the Sabai were purely benign. Karis territory possessed within it a significant amount of intelligence assets, and in more than one occasion a mixture of subtle pressure both politically and internal had guided the Karis down the right path.

It was no surprise then, when high level Karis officials were inquiring as to the possibility of widening arm sales to their nation. Sabai shipyards were currently busy at work in producing the next generation warships for the Karis navy. Their concerns now were far more practical, revolving around a desire to modernize their ground forces and planetary defense infrastructure. These measures however, were only half of their desire. No single nation, could hope to hold back the UTR with the possible exception of the Corsair Republic. Even then, no single nation could ever hope to match the might of arms of the entente. As such, the Karis were well aware of the fact that if they did not ally themselves to one of the existing powers, they were at the mercy of any aggressor.

Negotiations between the Karis and the Sabai began immediately. The Sabai were the Karis closest ally, and due to their size and might their diplomatic ties were few to those outside of the West. Even as the Sabai and Karis representatives exchanged ideas about their future, other movements fluttered in the dark. In Indas, the Eye of the Sabai slid open and gracefully slid through the very fabrics of reality as it sought answers to questions that would undoubtedly come.

[Marcao]

Western Space
Stuart Corporation Space

The negotiations between the Corsair Republic, the Stuart Corporation and the Sabai proceeded as expected. The might of the Corsair Republic blunted through a combination of Stuart and Sabai naval force in conjunction with the threat of intervention by other members of the west as well as the corporate sector. There were those that believed that a conflict between the three nations, would have resulted in disaster for all sides. The might of the Corsairs was unquestioned, but even if they had been able to defeat the entire Stuart corporate navy, as well as the fourth and third Sabai fleets, their own naval assets would have been decimated.

Instead an alternative path was sought, and negotiations replaced the impending doom that would have been spearheaded by the mighty Psychopath battleships of the Corsair Republic. The negotiations were held in the Stuart capital, where the representatives for all sides struggled to come to an understanding. Stuart sovereignty was never in doubt, the Stuart and Sabai nations were dealing from a position of strength. Nonetheless, both sides made certain not to flaunt such a fact in the face of their Corsair counter part. The Corsairs were known to have long memories. Half way through the negotiations, it became apparent to the Sabai negotiator that a great deal of Corsair rhetoric about the west was genuine.

The Black Alliance, the precursor to the current Corsair Republic had been born in the west. The Corsair republic was also known to have some…issues with the entente which was a blessing and a curse. At this moment, with the Klingon and Gorn invasions the entente had proven that they did not want any friends. Their naval power however, assured the rest of the galaxy that did not need friends either. And thus negotiations were colored by the sudden threat of the most powerful single bloc in the galaxy threatening to consume any nation that did not carefully culture its alliances. It was the belief of many within the Sabai government that the presence of the Corsair Republic was generally positive; if for nothing else, than to keep the Entente’s attention firmly on their might.

An agreement was achieved eight and half hours after negotiations had started. The Stuart Corporation would remain untouched by Corsairs. In exchange, the Corsair doubts would be addressed and the western pact would be altered in order to accommodate the Corsair Republic. A further arrangement was that a number of Corsair ships would be detached in order to patrol certain areas of western space. In doing this, Sabai and Stuart naval assets would be freed up. In this manner, the Sabai and Stuart navies would be allowed to cluster more, since their patrol obligations would now be carried in part by Corsair vessels.

[Dahak]

Avalon System, Avalon Prime, Crystal Palace

CEO Gladstone actually managed to smile. She wasn't completely happy with this situation, but the deal with the Corsairs was better than going down fighting to the last man. Not that they wouldn't have done that.
In the end, only the Corporation mattered, all else paled besides it. And Consensus knew it.
Though she missed Stuart Plaza. But Crystal Palace was equally grand and powerful.

At least, she finally had the time to change her looks. She had always thought her body needed some upgrades and alteration, and after the departure of Stuart Plaza she had the opportunity to do just that with her new body.

The Corporation lowered the security arrangements to more normal levels and the huge organism that was the Corporation moved along as it never had happened. The research on Caladan station proceeded as planned, and the splicing of their telepathic abilities into the general pool was almost complete. Soon she might have to get another new body.

She had invited the representatives of the Corsair and the Sabai to stay for a small informal meeting, to smoothen the still less than perfect relations with the Corsair.

[Rogue 9]

Office of the President, Nashtar

"I must say, it's about time the House got around to approving the budget, Senator."

"The Gorn situation provided, shall we say, a sudden imperative feel to completing the military budget, Madam President. Some in the Free Market party were objecting to the increased military expenditures on the usual grounds, but with our involvement in pressuring the Entente, that cleared up," responded Senator Zzarnor of Zambar.

"Thank you, Senator. The expenditure orders are already drawn up and will be relayed to the appropriate parties shortly," said President Harrison as she signed the budget bill.

OOC: Build orders issued

3 Dauntless class battleships
5 Launcelot class attack carriers
4 cruiser points to the SPARTAN program
20 Polaris class destroyers
10 Sunburst class escort carriers
25 Bandit class frigates
2 Shadow class frigates
9 escort points to ODST companies

[Kyle]

Terra

President Weeichman studied the document in front of him. His first instinct was to tell the Senator from the Commonwealth to go to hell and go with the Omega Contintingency. Intelligence and Planning had wargamed this scenario, and he believed the Entente could win it, though not easily.

But he had to consider how his allies would react to this, they would support him publicaly but they wouldn't be happy behind the scenes. Plus there was the upcoming election for him to think about.

"Interesting Madam Senator. It seems I might have misjudged international feelings." He paused for a second to glance back down at the document on his desk. "If these nations truly feel this strongly about the situation the UTR will be willing to discuss the Gorn situation with all of them in open talks."

He could see the shock in the face of the Commonwealths messenger. She had expected the UTRs President to be more combative. Which only proved she didn't knwo the PResident. If soemone had to choose one word to describe Weeichman it would have to be pragmatic. The UTR had achieved its number one goal by securing its border from the Klingon threat.

"Let no one say I am unreasonable. I have done what I have done to help protect my nation and I regret none of it. As for these talks, might I suggest we hold them on Nemesis? I'm sure the SKS would be willing to provide us with a venue, and Nemesis position as a trade hub should make it convenient for all of your signatory powers."

Gorn Prime

The Fenari Troopships had made it through the minefield, but they had little chance to actually affect anything with the heavy losses they had suffered running through it.

. A hundred Kzin Divisions were heading towards the planet and would land only twenty minutes after the Fenari did. A provisional heavy Brigade of Terran Marines were already entering atmosphere and would land only five minutes behind the Fenari.

Dexxtrus had been warned about the incoming Divisions, and had called off his assault on Isstans position to block the Fenari thrust. He had to hold the Fenari off by himself only long enough for the Terran Marines to arrive. That would then give him enough manpower to hold till the Kzin arrived to bulldoze over the Fenari and GLC.

[Thirdfain]

-: Terra :-

Senator St. Juste was quite certain that Weeichman was interested only in the goals of the UTR, but she also knew she was a suspicious and unpleasant woman by nature. Perhaps she was just projecting that on to the Repulican president.

"That's good to hear, Monsieur President. Delacroix will be delighted, I'm sure. This is a marvelous sign of co-operation." She couldn't shake it from her mind that this slippery bastard wouldn't try to come out on top in any case. "Additionally, Nemesis would be well and good, but might I suggest some more... neutral territory? Perhaps, within the Corporate Sector? Their facilities are excellent, and their reputation is unmatched within the Entente. In fact, I must insist. Some of the signees would have it not other way."

The President waved it away. "We'll work out the details of protocol later. A pleasure, Madame Senator."

St. Juste took his hand and bowed graciously, then turned to the door, which a security guard held open.

She paused and looked over her shoulder.

"One more thing- I assume you'll call your men off over Gorn immediately? I hope you realise that no-one would be fooled should you have some trouble pulling your ships out in time to stop them from blowing Istvaan and his councilors off the face of the planet. The results of such an event would be- destabilizing, to say the least. Good day, Monsieur President."

-:ENDRECORD:-

-/OOC Talked+pre-planned with the mods about this- Since the loyalist Gorn have controlled the capital and the defense computers, not to mention the sensors in the defense co-ordination center, they have given the Fenris Resolution accurate and pinpoint data on the locations of the mine-fields and even individual locations of mines. They've been hiding the targetting data in the deluge of diplomatic communiques I've mentioned. The minefields will be of significantly reduced effectiveness.

-: Gorn :-

The Gorn minefield was of a semi-modern design. Vast stretches of space were covered in bomb-pumped lasers and other nasty warheads, carried in stealthed packages and distributed in arcane patterns to fool enemy point defense. Against any attack, they formed a formidable barrier.

At least, when the attacker didn't have access to the complete planetary defense files of the planet over which the minefield was stationed- and the loyalist Gorn had been sending information on the minefield's weak-points since they'd been informed of the Resolution plan.

Explosions rippled through the sky- even with detailed information, the "weak points" were still horrific gauntlets of computerized death. Bomb-pumped lasers sent coherent bursts of radiation to carve through shielded craft, spilling decompressing bodies into the depths of space. PD computers and missile guidance systems fought brutal wars at picosecond speeds, tracking and annihilating mines, thinning and weakening the chinks in the planet's armor.

The dropships roared through the minature hell, and a full fifth of their number met their end, erupting into clouds of shrapnel, plasma, and hard radiation.

The rest began their final approach. With the capital's air defense nets still in Loyalist hands, the planet-based flak was far weaker than it could have been- but Dexxtrus' SAM emplacements and mobile guns chopped another tenth from the elite Fenari formation.

The dropships settled, one by one, inside the loyalist-held capital. Swarms of Fenari Den Defenders emerged. Each one was a ferocious creature unarmored, a match for even a Kzinti, standing eight feet tall and baring a muzzle fulll of dripping fangs, combined with smell and hearing which put a poor human to shame- and these were elite Fenari troops, equipped in heavy power-armor. Smashing a Gorn's skull in their mailed fists would be child's play. The automatic gyrocket launchers they carried as shoulder-weapons could eviscerate a man with a single HE round, and the hardened iridium-composite vibroclaws which could spring from their gloves could rip through tank armor.

The remnants of only one division of these troops spread out- far less than should have arrived. Many of the dropships, it seemed, were empty.

-:ENDRECORD:-

[Kyle]

Mere minutes after St. Juste had left the Presidents Office Weeichman was talking to his Secretaries of War and State. "Elizabeth I need you too get Naval HQ to issue the ceasefire to our Gorn forces. I've already given our international reputation a beating, no need to make it worse. "

"Yes, Mister President." The Secretary of War turned and left to use a comm terminal in an adjoining room.

The President then turned to his Secretary of State, "You were right. I handled this the wrong way. Unfortunately the only reward I can give you for being right is a lot of hard work."

"I understand Mister President. I'll make sure everyone understands the situation that occured."

"I'm counting on you to do that, it was too easy for the major networks to just show this as the UTR flexing its muscle to add some territory. We need to get the PLC to explain its position and goals. Once people realize what the real situation is they'll understand why we acted. We can't allow uninformed reporters to skew reality."

-Gorn Space-

"We've got a ceasefire order." Major Williams studied the message he'd recieved. His marines ahd landed not long after the Fenari and had immediatly moved on the Fenari Division. "Pull back to defensive positions, and inform the Fenari that we will be abiding by the ceasefire, as long as they do as well. If they try to join up with the Gorn troops we will have to consider it a hostile move."

[InnocentBystander]

Blue Pointe Station
Command Pylon

Ships now came through the Blue Pointe region regularly; some local merchants even came trying to peddle goods to the station workers and ships passing through the area. Some stopped at Blue Pointe merely to recalculate hyper jumps, while others came to make transactions or look for new business opportunities. Blue Pointe was carefully placed, a short distance from significant number of reputable star nations, it was essentially in the middle of the south-western galactic arm; additionally, one could fly almost straight from Blue Pointe to Confederate space; from there the Core and the East were just a hop, skip and jump away.


*Boop* The intercom chirped.
The Station Commander winced, he disliked the Chief Engineer, he hadn’t decided why yet, but he was certain he disliked him. How long could he keep the Chief out there before he’d leave, 5 minutes maybe?
*Boop Boop* It was louder this time.
Agitated already? He took pleasure in this activity, it was childish, but he enjoyed it all the same. He continued to stare at the monitor on his desk intently, the screen saver was playing, but from the door it looked like he was watching something important.
*Boop Boop* Louder still.
Finally the Station Master looked up from his screen and ordered the door open. “Ah, Chief, sorry to keep you… waiting, but as you know I’m a busy man.”
“Of course, excuse me for taking you away from your work” the station commander noted the sarcastic tone.
“Well let’s have it, how is my station doing?” this would irk him!
“Your station….” The chief glared, “THE station is progressing nicely, all docking and habitation ring systems are in working condition, the industrial ring will be fully operational by the end of the week. And the defense systems are now fully integrated, we can begin our final diagnostics by week’s end.”
“Week’s end, is the construction of this station conflicting with your vacation plans, Chief?” he snickered under his breath.
“That is how long it will take, you know very well the kind of work that needs to be done... it takes time!” The Chief scowled at the Station Commander. The Station Commander just laughed.
“Is there a problem?” the Chief knew why he disliked the Station Commander.
“Oh? No, no, it’s nothing really… I was just under the impression that you were going to finish… you know, before the local stars go Nova.”
“I..” the station commander interrupted, clearing his throat loudly.
“When you are done lounging around, have a look at my completion schedule. That is when you will have the station completed, no later.” The Station Commander tapped his monitor where the schedule might have been, had the screen saver not been displaying a frog.
“But we’d hav….” Cut off again, oh how the Chief hated the Station commander.
“Thank you for your cooperation, I must be off now!” he got up and hurried the disgruntled Engineering Chief out the door, the Chief disliked the Station Commander, though... the pay was good.

The engineering team picked up the pace, the station would be finished ahead of schedule; it would make the Station Commander look good.


Later that day the station's vast hypercomm array became available, within hours streams of communications came in. Some people wanted in on the "ground floor", to set up shops manufactories and the like, some wanted to schedule stopovers for freighters of varying size, others desired to rent apartments for this reason or that. As busy as the trade lane was now, it was going to get a whole lot busier in short order.