Unknown Location
Level 42
The light of displays glimmered around the otherwise darkened room. A door opened, leaving a lance of light broken by the shadow of the intruder. The figure in the room looked at the open door with annoyance.
"Shit, is it always this dark in here?" the man in the door wondered, letting his eyes adjust as he shut the door behind him.
"I like it this way. Less glare. Better contrast. Tradition. Lower power bills. Take your pick," the figure responded.
"Right, sure. So, I heard you're trying to figure out how all this mess will end. Care to share?"
The figure paused, looking at the man carefully from behind his displays. A measured breath was taken. In, slowly, then out. "In fire. It always ends in fire."
The man shook his head and shrugged. "When doesn't it. So, how are things progressing?"
"As expected. The variables are always slightly different, the key is always to find the big similarities. We can act from there."
"Any sign of our friends?"
"None yet, but don't count them out. Our activities are bound to draw the wrong kind of attention. Speaking of, it's time to employ the Bear." The figure allowed the display lights to cast an unnatural shadow as it approximated a smile.
The man sighed. "Very well, I'll make sure that gets noted in the next meeting. Dare I ask who you plan on unleashing the Bear on?"
"That would be telling, now wouldn't it?" The figure laughed in the darkness. "Don't worry, you'll see. If we're lucky, this one move will be all we need to set things in motion according to the plan."
STGOD: DAS: Main Game Thread.
Moderator: Thanas
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Hotfoot
- Avatar of Confusion
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Do not meddle in the affairs of insomniacs, for they are cranky and can do things to you while you sleep.
The Realm of Confusion
"Every time you talk about Teal'c, I keep imagining Thor's ass. Thank you very much for that, you fucking fucker." -Marcao
SG-14: Because in some cases, "Recon" means "Blow up a fucking planet or die trying."
SilCore Wiki! Come take a look!
The Realm of Confusion
"Every time you talk about Teal'c, I keep imagining Thor's ass. Thank you very much for that, you fucking fucker." -Marcao
SG-14: Because in some cases, "Recon" means "Blow up a fucking planet or die trying."
SilCore Wiki! Come take a look!
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Starglider
- Miles Dyson
- Posts: 8709
- Joined: 2007-04-05 09:44pm
- Location: Isle of Dogs
- Contact:
Ruda Slaska, Polish Space
On the command deck of the Bootswellington Navy Blackblade-class cruiser Dreaming Doom, Captain Messervy watched the FTL traces of the enemy forces approaching. The display suddenly changed as the incoming ships dropped out of hyperspace and lit up their sublight engines. Though they were in one of the densest regions of the Bieszczady belt, the sparse scattering of tumbling rocks provided little to interfere with hyperdrives, and the enemy were almost on top of them. The sensors showed three cruiser-sized contacts and four smaller escorts, coming in at full speed; they would arrive within minutes.
"Still no signal?"
The communications officer shook his head. The question was rhetorical - he would not have hesitated to notify the captain had anything been received.
"Still getting various signals from the local colonies sir, some offering to negotiate, some begging us to spare their children, but nothing from Nowa Massovie or the incoming ships."
"Very well. Come about to face the incomings. Signal the Trident to form up six hundred kilometers off our port side. Then signal the fleet, if they don't hear from us in another twenty minutes, assume the worst. Once you've done that, burn the map chest." The last order reffered to a procedure that would destroy all sensitive material on the ship - all the navigation logs, signal records, even things as innocous as the engine performance monitoring logs. Rigorous adherence to this protocol was part of the reason why Blackmast had remained hidden all these years. Keeping the knowledge in the officer's heads from falling into enemy hands required a different protocol - though by the looks of the enemy ships, not one likely to be necessary in this battle.
"Light guns stand ready to destroy incoming missiles. Heavy guns to focus on this target." The captain selected the smallest sensor trace, which the computer had tentaviely identified as a Polish destroyer. "Status of repairs?"
The first mate responded; he had been supervising the damage control effort. "All guns ready cap'n. Starboard-Aft generator is running again but flakey. But cap'n, against that many ships... I doubt we'll even wound her before we go down."
"We can't run John. We're in too deep. All we can do is give a good account of ourselves." Messervy tried to smile again. "Besides we might get a lucky shot." He considered adressing the crew over the PA, but sentiment would be insulting. They knew the risks, better that they believed they had a chance right up until the end. Besides, there was hardly the time.
"Helm, when they launch, I want flank speed, maintain evasives but get us as close to that target as possible."
"Aye Captain" There was a drawn-out silence on the command deck as the Polish ships began their final approach; through the hull he could hear the shouts of crew and the pounding of feet rushing to action stations, the whine of the guns charging, the pulsing roar of the reactors ramping up to full power, the thousand distinct sounds of the ship preparing to fight.
"Sir, we're being painted."
Messervy looked at the EW display. The Polish had lit up their missile guidance radars. A part of him still desperately hoped that this was grandstanding, an attempt to intimidate them, but years of experience fighting Polish escorts told him better. They were a hard, ruthless people - and for a second Messervy wondered, 'Is it because we made them that way, pillaging and killing until there was only hate and determination left?'.
"Lock heavy guns on target. Fire on my mark." Messervy's finger hovered over a button on his console, a button that he had been trying not to look at for the last half hour. It glowing a sickly yellow. Bizarrely he found himself thinking 'it should be red - it's always a red button in the holovids'.
"Missile launch! Full salvo incoming sir!"
The ship lept ahead as the helmsman followed his last order, every compartment lurching as the artificial gravity struggled to adjust. Simultaneously, the captain brough his finger down on the control that terminated the continuous encrypted signal the ship had been emitting.
Between them the Dreaming Doom and the Cruel Trident had emplaced twenty-four fusion charges before the imminent arrival of the Polish flotilla put an end to their activities. Each ship had originally carried twenty of the devices, intended to destroy the infrastructure on Nowy Masovie after the Bootswellington transports had hauled away the highest value items. They were relatively crude, bulky weapons, streamlined metal shells a metre in diameter and three times that in length - but cheap and highly effective on defenceless targets. They closely resembled the strategic bombs of the early 'cold war' era, but direct laser-initiated fusion gave them a rather higher efficiency than those ancient multi-stage devices. One device had a misaligned implosion chamber and fizzled, but the other twenty-three blossomed into thirty megaton fireballs, instantly shattering the asteroids and space stations they were emplaced on into irradiated shrapnel.
The nuclear pyres consuming the nearest three asteroid colonies briefly provided brilliant backlighting to the two Blackblades as they charged forward into the hail of Polish fire, their own guns blazing and shields flashing with impacts.
---
In the orbit of Ruda Slaska III, Captain Seyburn of the Wolf's Howl chose a less romantic end to his command. A light carrier, a heavy cruiser and a trio of escorts were bearing down on his two cruisers.
"Target the Polski frigates sir?", the first mate prompted.
"Nay, why settle for one or two ships when we are surrounded by targets. We will keep tearing at their bellies, keep wounding these Polish curs to the end. All batteries, target civilian ships and plaforms. Aim for the softest targets. Helm, keep us close to that refinery complex. If we can make them fire on their own people, all the better."
"Sir! I've lost the Doubloon! She must've cloaked."
"Mangy cowards! They think they can hide?" Seyburn shouted. "They will die for nothing."
Telltales were blinking on the EW station. The second group of Polish cruisers were preparing to fire. Captain Seyburn saw the display and did not hesistate. His finger stabbed down on the fusion trigger, taking vicious pleasure in killing as many of the enemy as possible. Secondary monitors showing the exterior visual feeds whited out as the numerous fusion charges went off. As the Polish missiles streaked in, the Wolf's Howl did its best to exacerbate the orgy of destruction it had unleashed. Meanwhile the Wandering Doubloon was beginning its desperate, doomed attempt to escape the terrible wrath of the Polish navy.
(part II to follow shortly)
On the command deck of the Bootswellington Navy Blackblade-class cruiser Dreaming Doom, Captain Messervy watched the FTL traces of the enemy forces approaching. The display suddenly changed as the incoming ships dropped out of hyperspace and lit up their sublight engines. Though they were in one of the densest regions of the Bieszczady belt, the sparse scattering of tumbling rocks provided little to interfere with hyperdrives, and the enemy were almost on top of them. The sensors showed three cruiser-sized contacts and four smaller escorts, coming in at full speed; they would arrive within minutes.
"Still no signal?"
The communications officer shook his head. The question was rhetorical - he would not have hesitated to notify the captain had anything been received.
"Still getting various signals from the local colonies sir, some offering to negotiate, some begging us to spare their children, but nothing from Nowa Massovie or the incoming ships."
"Very well. Come about to face the incomings. Signal the Trident to form up six hundred kilometers off our port side. Then signal the fleet, if they don't hear from us in another twenty minutes, assume the worst. Once you've done that, burn the map chest." The last order reffered to a procedure that would destroy all sensitive material on the ship - all the navigation logs, signal records, even things as innocous as the engine performance monitoring logs. Rigorous adherence to this protocol was part of the reason why Blackmast had remained hidden all these years. Keeping the knowledge in the officer's heads from falling into enemy hands required a different protocol - though by the looks of the enemy ships, not one likely to be necessary in this battle.
"Light guns stand ready to destroy incoming missiles. Heavy guns to focus on this target." The captain selected the smallest sensor trace, which the computer had tentaviely identified as a Polish destroyer. "Status of repairs?"
The first mate responded; he had been supervising the damage control effort. "All guns ready cap'n. Starboard-Aft generator is running again but flakey. But cap'n, against that many ships... I doubt we'll even wound her before we go down."
"We can't run John. We're in too deep. All we can do is give a good account of ourselves." Messervy tried to smile again. "Besides we might get a lucky shot." He considered adressing the crew over the PA, but sentiment would be insulting. They knew the risks, better that they believed they had a chance right up until the end. Besides, there was hardly the time.
"Helm, when they launch, I want flank speed, maintain evasives but get us as close to that target as possible."
"Aye Captain" There was a drawn-out silence on the command deck as the Polish ships began their final approach; through the hull he could hear the shouts of crew and the pounding of feet rushing to action stations, the whine of the guns charging, the pulsing roar of the reactors ramping up to full power, the thousand distinct sounds of the ship preparing to fight.
"Sir, we're being painted."
Messervy looked at the EW display. The Polish had lit up their missile guidance radars. A part of him still desperately hoped that this was grandstanding, an attempt to intimidate them, but years of experience fighting Polish escorts told him better. They were a hard, ruthless people - and for a second Messervy wondered, 'Is it because we made them that way, pillaging and killing until there was only hate and determination left?'.
"Lock heavy guns on target. Fire on my mark." Messervy's finger hovered over a button on his console, a button that he had been trying not to look at for the last half hour. It glowing a sickly yellow. Bizarrely he found himself thinking 'it should be red - it's always a red button in the holovids'.
"Missile launch! Full salvo incoming sir!"
The ship lept ahead as the helmsman followed his last order, every compartment lurching as the artificial gravity struggled to adjust. Simultaneously, the captain brough his finger down on the control that terminated the continuous encrypted signal the ship had been emitting.
Between them the Dreaming Doom and the Cruel Trident had emplaced twenty-four fusion charges before the imminent arrival of the Polish flotilla put an end to their activities. Each ship had originally carried twenty of the devices, intended to destroy the infrastructure on Nowy Masovie after the Bootswellington transports had hauled away the highest value items. They were relatively crude, bulky weapons, streamlined metal shells a metre in diameter and three times that in length - but cheap and highly effective on defenceless targets. They closely resembled the strategic bombs of the early 'cold war' era, but direct laser-initiated fusion gave them a rather higher efficiency than those ancient multi-stage devices. One device had a misaligned implosion chamber and fizzled, but the other twenty-three blossomed into thirty megaton fireballs, instantly shattering the asteroids and space stations they were emplaced on into irradiated shrapnel.
The nuclear pyres consuming the nearest three asteroid colonies briefly provided brilliant backlighting to the two Blackblades as they charged forward into the hail of Polish fire, their own guns blazing and shields flashing with impacts.
---
In the orbit of Ruda Slaska III, Captain Seyburn of the Wolf's Howl chose a less romantic end to his command. A light carrier, a heavy cruiser and a trio of escorts were bearing down on his two cruisers.
"Target the Polski frigates sir?", the first mate prompted.
"Nay, why settle for one or two ships when we are surrounded by targets. We will keep tearing at their bellies, keep wounding these Polish curs to the end. All batteries, target civilian ships and plaforms. Aim for the softest targets. Helm, keep us close to that refinery complex. If we can make them fire on their own people, all the better."
"Sir! I've lost the Doubloon! She must've cloaked."
"Mangy cowards! They think they can hide?" Seyburn shouted. "They will die for nothing."
Telltales were blinking on the EW station. The second group of Polish cruisers were preparing to fire. Captain Seyburn saw the display and did not hesistate. His finger stabbed down on the fusion trigger, taking vicious pleasure in killing as many of the enemy as possible. Secondary monitors showing the exterior visual feeds whited out as the numerous fusion charges went off. As the Polish missiles streaked in, the Wolf's Howl did its best to exacerbate the orgy of destruction it had unleashed. Meanwhile the Wandering Doubloon was beginning its desperate, doomed attempt to escape the terrible wrath of the Polish navy.
(part II to follow shortly)
Last edited by Starglider on 2007-08-24 02:55am, edited 1 time in total.
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Starglider
- Miles Dyson
- Posts: 8709
- Joined: 2007-04-05 09:44pm
- Location: Isle of Dogs
- Contact:
CIC of the Admiral Ainsley,
Flagship, Bootswellington Strike Fleet
Polish Space south-east of Nowy Masovie
The message had said twenty minutes. It had now been thirty. Everyone in the CIC now knew that the squadron they had left in Ruda Slaska had long since become drifting wreckage and charred corpses - along with millions of the enemy on the Polish stations. The ships of the Kindgom had killed many Polish civilians over the years, on ships and outposts that refused to surrender when the Bootswellington raiders came calling, but never on anything like this scale.
"How did we end up here. Dragging each other down into hell." mused the ship's nominal commander, Vice-Admiral Thuule.
Captain Robertson snorted. He had little patience for the Duke's theatrics.
"Sirs, message from the Deep Eye, fresh contacts ahead. Coming through now." Lieutenant Cotton manipulated his controls, feeding the new telemetry through to the main tactical display. It was currently centered on the League and Bootswellington fleets, tearing across space in the headlong flight from the near-ambush. A huge cloud of ships was tailed them, consisting of several flotillas all trailing on slightly different vectors.
Ahead was the lone pulsing dot of the Deep Eye, it's enhanced engines allowing it to keep scouting ahead of the Kingdom fleet. No longer escorted by a quartet of Blackblades, it looked painfully vulnerable. A faint spherical shell moving with the ship showed the extent of its sensor coverage. An icon representing the new contacts blinked into existence on the forward surface of this shell.
"How many?" Thuule asked.
Lieutenant Swann responded. "Hard to say at this range... more ships than we have... probably less than our combined fleet though."
"Sir." she begrudgingly added.
Thuule's reaction was immediate. "So we can overwhelm them then? Excellent. Signal the League ships. If they attempt to intercept us, we will fall upon them, smash through and keep moving." The Vice Admiral looked delighted at the prospect of finally facing the inferior enemy force he had originally expected.
Robertson had a quite different perception of the situation but he he kept it to himself for now. The Polish preparations were impressive. Not only had they somehow managed to gather an overwhelming defensive force, they had sealed off the most likely avenue of escape. "Tell the Deep Eye to cancel wide-area scanning and focus all sensors on that new enemy force. I want to know as much as possible about it."
He wondered if the Polish had found the ships to put a similar force on the nothern border, or had just been tremendously accurate in predicting their actions. They had not moved to defend their colony, though they had ample time to do so - why not? But then Thuule had selected that target. The League were the ones who had demanded the Kingdom ships accompany them on this escape route. They had not known about Bitter Spring - and had it not been for that contingency plan, the Polish colony would be unscathed. Were the Polish controlling League actions somehow?
Cotton's voice jarred him out of his thoughts. "Sirs, a new coded signal coming in, appears to be from the Kiroter'nah. Copying to your terminals." The short text message appeared on a secondary display on the central console.
"So the Kiro claim it was the Kitaka? Why do even they bother to tell us? Too late to serve as any warning. And now they flee, pathetic little mice that they are." Thuule was stalking about the deck, apparently oblivious to the fact he was ranting in front of his command staff. "If it was them, the King will find a way to avenge us. But the Kiro are hardly blameless. They got those northern xenos involved, they should've have known what would happen. If it isn't malice then it's criminal incompetence."
As it happened Captain Robertson was also thinking about criminal incompetence but not on the part of the Kiro'ternah. Two silent minutes passed as the opposing fleets streaked towards each other. The close-up of the enemy fleet on the tactical display resolved from an irregular smear into a formation of trails as the Deep Eye's tight-focus sensors continued to gather data.
"I recognise that formation. I've seen it before... on a deep raid, into Portugese space." Thuule started at the older captain. "Twelve years ago, when the Polish put nearly all their forces on the north border to try and starve us out. The old King sponsored a long range raid, all the way over to Portugese space. My Nightblade was nearly destroyed by the Portugese Imperial Fleet. We cut drives just in time to avoid detection, and held position for six hours as they went past. The pattern of the escorts was identical. Looks like they're still playing by the same book."
"Yes, well, very good Captain, if it is the Portugese, what weaknesses do they have that we can exploit?"
"Vice Admiral, you are not listening. These are not Polish ships. We gain nothing by engaging them. All we will do is lose good men and gain another mortal enemy, assuming your slaughter at Ruda Slaska has not already made an enemy of the whole galaxy."
Thuule glared at Robertson. Suddenly there was a barely perceptible change in Thuule's expression, and something about it made the older Captain realise that he was in mortal danger. He began to drop to the deck just as Thuule's arm snapped up, sidearm in hand. The Vice Admiral's snap shot went wide, the burst of flechettes savaging a control panel on the far side of the CIC. Before he could take another step there was a crack and he jerked from the impact of a pulse rifle round to his shoulder. The pistol clattered to the deck as Thuule cried out and staggered back, blood pouring down his ornate uniform.
"Sieze him." Robertson snapped, though the order was redundant as the marines were already charging over to grab Thuule.
"Sergeant Brant, the Vice Admiral is under arrest on charges of treason. You will take him to the medical bay, where his wound will be sealed. You will then place him in an escape pod and lock his name and rank into its comm beacon. He will be stripped of his sidearm and all data inserts, but not his identicard. When this ship drops to sublight in... exactly 42 minutes, you will eject the pod immediately. Got that?"
"Sir yes sir!" Brant kept the moaning Duke of Wiesbaden covered with his pulse rifle as his men began to haul him off.
"You can't do this! I am in command of this fleet! This is muti..." The clunk of the pressure hatch closing cut off Thuule's words.
Robertston wasted no time in taking command. "Navigator Swann, you will plot a new set of trajectories for the fleet. The Deep Eye is to slow to 50% power immediately and rejoin the fleet. Calculate the maximum probable extent of the Portugese interdiction field and add 20%. On reaching this point all ships are to drop to sublight for a hard turn. The Krakens and the Deep Eye are to skirt the enemy field and break off on diverging trajectories, thirty degrees apart. Maximum speed, no holding back for their escorts. All Blackblades are to cloak and immediately scatter on random trajectories in a 180 degree arc. It will be every ship for themselves."
"Captain, the transports? And the interdictors? They have neither cloaks nor speed to save them."
"Signal them to scatter too. They will have to hope the Poles are too busy with the psykers and chasing us to bother with them."
Lieutenant Swann looked less than pleased about this but followed her orders. Meanwhile Lieutenant Cotton was clearly wondering whether to speak up. Finally he asked "Captain, shall I signal the League?"
"Negative. We owe them nothing, not that we could save them if we wanted to. They are on their own."
---
Less than a minute before the two fleets met, every Kingdom ship suddenly dropped back into realspace, creating massive distortions as their engines struggled to stop them short of the grasp of enemy interdiction. Thrusters fired, hauling each and every ship onto its own distinct heading. The twelve remaining Blackblades shimmered out as they moved off, their cloaks hiding the ships from the naked eye and anything but the most powerful and specialist sensors. The three Krakens and solitary Watcher sped away, their oversized engines flinging them away from the battle about to begin between the League and the Portugese fleets. Finally the eight Lamprey-class assault ships, four Reef-class interdiction cruisers and four Looter-class armed transports followed as best they could, desperately hoping to escape the notice of the overwhelming pursuit force. At the centre of this explosion of ships was left a single escape pod, its beacon transmitter repeating over and over 'Contents: Vice Admiral Damien Thuule, the Duke of Massovie. Urgent medical attention needed.'. Meanwhile the tight formation of League ships had been being forced to sublight and was streaking towards the Portugese force, preparing to match their terrible psychic energies against the Portugese guns.
Flagship, Bootswellington Strike Fleet
Polish Space south-east of Nowy Masovie
The message had said twenty minutes. It had now been thirty. Everyone in the CIC now knew that the squadron they had left in Ruda Slaska had long since become drifting wreckage and charred corpses - along with millions of the enemy on the Polish stations. The ships of the Kindgom had killed many Polish civilians over the years, on ships and outposts that refused to surrender when the Bootswellington raiders came calling, but never on anything like this scale.
"How did we end up here. Dragging each other down into hell." mused the ship's nominal commander, Vice-Admiral Thuule.
Captain Robertson snorted. He had little patience for the Duke's theatrics.
"Sirs, message from the Deep Eye, fresh contacts ahead. Coming through now." Lieutenant Cotton manipulated his controls, feeding the new telemetry through to the main tactical display. It was currently centered on the League and Bootswellington fleets, tearing across space in the headlong flight from the near-ambush. A huge cloud of ships was tailed them, consisting of several flotillas all trailing on slightly different vectors.
Ahead was the lone pulsing dot of the Deep Eye, it's enhanced engines allowing it to keep scouting ahead of the Kingdom fleet. No longer escorted by a quartet of Blackblades, it looked painfully vulnerable. A faint spherical shell moving with the ship showed the extent of its sensor coverage. An icon representing the new contacts blinked into existence on the forward surface of this shell.
"How many?" Thuule asked.
Lieutenant Swann responded. "Hard to say at this range... more ships than we have... probably less than our combined fleet though."
"Sir." she begrudgingly added.
Thuule's reaction was immediate. "So we can overwhelm them then? Excellent. Signal the League ships. If they attempt to intercept us, we will fall upon them, smash through and keep moving." The Vice Admiral looked delighted at the prospect of finally facing the inferior enemy force he had originally expected.
Robertson had a quite different perception of the situation but he he kept it to himself for now. The Polish preparations were impressive. Not only had they somehow managed to gather an overwhelming defensive force, they had sealed off the most likely avenue of escape. "Tell the Deep Eye to cancel wide-area scanning and focus all sensors on that new enemy force. I want to know as much as possible about it."
He wondered if the Polish had found the ships to put a similar force on the nothern border, or had just been tremendously accurate in predicting their actions. They had not moved to defend their colony, though they had ample time to do so - why not? But then Thuule had selected that target. The League were the ones who had demanded the Kingdom ships accompany them on this escape route. They had not known about Bitter Spring - and had it not been for that contingency plan, the Polish colony would be unscathed. Were the Polish controlling League actions somehow?
Cotton's voice jarred him out of his thoughts. "Sirs, a new coded signal coming in, appears to be from the Kiroter'nah. Copying to your terminals." The short text message appeared on a secondary display on the central console.
"So the Kiro claim it was the Kitaka? Why do even they bother to tell us? Too late to serve as any warning. And now they flee, pathetic little mice that they are." Thuule was stalking about the deck, apparently oblivious to the fact he was ranting in front of his command staff. "If it was them, the King will find a way to avenge us. But the Kiro are hardly blameless. They got those northern xenos involved, they should've have known what would happen. If it isn't malice then it's criminal incompetence."
As it happened Captain Robertson was also thinking about criminal incompetence but not on the part of the Kiro'ternah. Two silent minutes passed as the opposing fleets streaked towards each other. The close-up of the enemy fleet on the tactical display resolved from an irregular smear into a formation of trails as the Deep Eye's tight-focus sensors continued to gather data.
"I recognise that formation. I've seen it before... on a deep raid, into Portugese space." Thuule started at the older captain. "Twelve years ago, when the Polish put nearly all their forces on the north border to try and starve us out. The old King sponsored a long range raid, all the way over to Portugese space. My Nightblade was nearly destroyed by the Portugese Imperial Fleet. We cut drives just in time to avoid detection, and held position for six hours as they went past. The pattern of the escorts was identical. Looks like they're still playing by the same book."
"Yes, well, very good Captain, if it is the Portugese, what weaknesses do they have that we can exploit?"
"Vice Admiral, you are not listening. These are not Polish ships. We gain nothing by engaging them. All we will do is lose good men and gain another mortal enemy, assuming your slaughter at Ruda Slaska has not already made an enemy of the whole galaxy."
Thuule glared at Robertson. Suddenly there was a barely perceptible change in Thuule's expression, and something about it made the older Captain realise that he was in mortal danger. He began to drop to the deck just as Thuule's arm snapped up, sidearm in hand. The Vice Admiral's snap shot went wide, the burst of flechettes savaging a control panel on the far side of the CIC. Before he could take another step there was a crack and he jerked from the impact of a pulse rifle round to his shoulder. The pistol clattered to the deck as Thuule cried out and staggered back, blood pouring down his ornate uniform.
"Sieze him." Robertson snapped, though the order was redundant as the marines were already charging over to grab Thuule.
"Sergeant Brant, the Vice Admiral is under arrest on charges of treason. You will take him to the medical bay, where his wound will be sealed. You will then place him in an escape pod and lock his name and rank into its comm beacon. He will be stripped of his sidearm and all data inserts, but not his identicard. When this ship drops to sublight in... exactly 42 minutes, you will eject the pod immediately. Got that?"
"Sir yes sir!" Brant kept the moaning Duke of Wiesbaden covered with his pulse rifle as his men began to haul him off.
"You can't do this! I am in command of this fleet! This is muti..." The clunk of the pressure hatch closing cut off Thuule's words.
Robertston wasted no time in taking command. "Navigator Swann, you will plot a new set of trajectories for the fleet. The Deep Eye is to slow to 50% power immediately and rejoin the fleet. Calculate the maximum probable extent of the Portugese interdiction field and add 20%. On reaching this point all ships are to drop to sublight for a hard turn. The Krakens and the Deep Eye are to skirt the enemy field and break off on diverging trajectories, thirty degrees apart. Maximum speed, no holding back for their escorts. All Blackblades are to cloak and immediately scatter on random trajectories in a 180 degree arc. It will be every ship for themselves."
"Captain, the transports? And the interdictors? They have neither cloaks nor speed to save them."
"Signal them to scatter too. They will have to hope the Poles are too busy with the psykers and chasing us to bother with them."
Lieutenant Swann looked less than pleased about this but followed her orders. Meanwhile Lieutenant Cotton was clearly wondering whether to speak up. Finally he asked "Captain, shall I signal the League?"
"Negative. We owe them nothing, not that we could save them if we wanted to. They are on their own."
---
Less than a minute before the two fleets met, every Kingdom ship suddenly dropped back into realspace, creating massive distortions as their engines struggled to stop them short of the grasp of enemy interdiction. Thrusters fired, hauling each and every ship onto its own distinct heading. The twelve remaining Blackblades shimmered out as they moved off, their cloaks hiding the ships from the naked eye and anything but the most powerful and specialist sensors. The three Krakens and solitary Watcher sped away, their oversized engines flinging them away from the battle about to begin between the League and the Portugese fleets. Finally the eight Lamprey-class assault ships, four Reef-class interdiction cruisers and four Looter-class armed transports followed as best they could, desperately hoping to escape the notice of the overwhelming pursuit force. At the centre of this explosion of ships was left a single escape pod, its beacon transmitter repeating over and over 'Contents: Vice Admiral Damien Thuule, the Duke of Massovie. Urgent medical attention needed.'. Meanwhile the tight formation of League ships had been being forced to sublight and was streaking towards the Portugese force, preparing to match their terrible psychic energies against the Portugese guns.
Last edited by Starglider on 2007-08-28 04:58am, edited 2 times in total.
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Thirdfain
- The Player of Games
- Posts: 6924
- Joined: 2003-02-13 09:24pm
- Location: Never underestimate the staggering drawing power of the Garden State.
CVF-7 ORP Justyna Marcinkiewicz
Deep Space
Polish Southern Reaches
"The Portuguese have made contact with the enemy."
On the displays, the colored lights flared and met. Already, the EW network was tracking a veritable fireworks display of FTL engine gymnastics. The Pirate forces, it seemed, were abandoning their allies and running at their best speeds.
"30 minutes to intercept." A lieutenant fiddled briefly with the controls.
Marshal Sosz keyed the tac-comm.
"Order the 3rd Fleet Corps to prepare search-and-destroy operations against those fleeing Pirate vessels we can track, to split from the main fleet on my express command only. The rest of the Fleet will continue on course to assist the Portuguese."
Forces En Route to Assist the Portuguese
2nd Fleet Corps
Base: Nowy Gdynia Fleet Base, Solidarnosc
CO: Marshal of the Fleet Magdalena Sosz
3rd Carrier Battle Group
----3rd Fleet Carrier Division
2 Jan III Sobieski-class Fleet Carriers:
CVF-7 ORP(Justyna Marcinkiewicz, CVF-8 ORP Marek Karpinski)
-8 "Zbik"-class Frigates
-2 "Wilk"-class Destroyers
-3 "Orzel"-class EW Destroyers
----3rd Battle Division
2 Powstanie Warszawskie-class Fast Battleships:
BB-2 ORP(Bitwa pod Grunwaldem, BB-3 ORP Odsiecz Wiedeńska.)
-6 "Zbik"-class Frigates
----5th Cruiser Division
1 Stanislaw Skalski- class Light Carrier
1 Husaria- class Heavy Cruiser
-2 "Zbik"-class Frigates
-1 "Orzel"-class EW Destroyer
----6th Cruiser Division
1 Stanislaw Skalski- class Light Carrier
1 Husaria- class Heavy Cruiser
-2 "Zbik"-class Frigates
-1 "Orzel"-class EW Destroyer
4th Carrier Battle Group
----4th Fleet Carrier Division
2 Jan III Sobieski-class Fleet Carriers:
CVF-2 ORP(Kazimierz III Wielki, CVF-6 ORP Lech Wałęsa)
-8 "Zbik"-class Frigates
-2 "Wilk"-class Destroyers
-3 "Orzel"-class EW Destroyers
----4th Battle Division
2 Powstanie Warszawskie-class Fast Battleships:
BB-4 ORP(Cud nad Wisłą, BB-5 ORP Odsiecz Szczecin.)
-6 "Zbik"-class Frigates
----7th Cruiser Division
1 Stanislaw Skalski- class Light Carrier
1 Husaria- class Heavy Cruiser
-2 "Zbik"-class Frigates
-1 "Orzel"-class EW Destroyer
----8th Cruiser Division
1 Stanislaw Skalski- class Light Carrier
1 Husaria- class Heavy Cruiser
-2 "Zbik"-class Frigates
-1 "Orzel"-class EW Destroyer
2nd Support Division
----2nd Interdiction Brigade
1 Sęp- class Interdiction Cruiser
-2 "Zbik"-class Frigates
-1 "Orzel"-class EW Destroyer
-Total point cost: 474 points
Forces Dispatched to Ruda Slaska
----1st Light Carrier Division
3 Stanisław Skalski-class Light Carriers
1 Husaria-class Heavy Cruiser
-3 "Zbik"-class Frigates
-1 "Orzel"-class EW Destroyer
-1 "Wilk"-class Destroyer
----9th Cruiser Division
2 Blyskawica- class Light Cruisers
-2 "Zbik"-class Frigates
Roughly 80 points
Forces Dispatched to Hunt Down Pirate Ships
3rd Fleet Corps
Base: Nowy Gdynia Fleet Base, Solidarnosc
CO: General of the Fleet Alicja Stanislawski
----2nd Light Carrier Division
3 Stanisław Skalski-class Light Carriers
1 Husaria-class Heavy Cruiser
-3 "Zbik"-class Frigates
-1 "Orzel"-class EW Destroyer
-1 "Wilk"-class Destroyer
----10th Cruiser Division
2 Blyskawica- class Light Cruisers
-2 "Zbik"-class Frigates
(Attached from the 4th Fleet Corps, on patrol, arrived on-station due to delayed enemy movements and "spiral" technique)
----4th Light Carrier Division
3 Stanisław Skalski-class Light Carriers
1 Husaria-class Heavy Cruiser
-3 "Zbik"-class Frigates
-1 "Orzel"-class EW Destroyer
-1 "Wilk"-class Destroyer
----1st Raiding Division
1 Sęp- class Interdiction Cruiser
1 Husara-class Heavy Cruiser
1 Blyskawica- class Light Cruiser
-2 "Zbik"-class Frigates
-2 "Orzel"-class EW Destroyers
-1 "Wilk"-class Destroyer
Roughly 180 points
Fleet Train at Nowa Masovie
3rd Support Division
----Support Regiments 11-13
(Numerous missile colliers, supply ships, transports, and recovery craft)
----Support Regiments 6-10
(Numerous missile colliers, supply ships, transports, and recovery craft)
Deep Space
Polish Southern Reaches
"The Portuguese have made contact with the enemy."
On the displays, the colored lights flared and met. Already, the EW network was tracking a veritable fireworks display of FTL engine gymnastics. The Pirate forces, it seemed, were abandoning their allies and running at their best speeds.
"30 minutes to intercept." A lieutenant fiddled briefly with the controls.
Marshal Sosz keyed the tac-comm.
"Order the 3rd Fleet Corps to prepare search-and-destroy operations against those fleeing Pirate vessels we can track, to split from the main fleet on my express command only. The rest of the Fleet will continue on course to assist the Portuguese."
Forces En Route to Assist the Portuguese
2nd Fleet Corps
Base: Nowy Gdynia Fleet Base, Solidarnosc
CO: Marshal of the Fleet Magdalena Sosz
3rd Carrier Battle Group
----3rd Fleet Carrier Division
2 Jan III Sobieski-class Fleet Carriers:
CVF-7 ORP(Justyna Marcinkiewicz, CVF-8 ORP Marek Karpinski)
-8 "Zbik"-class Frigates
-2 "Wilk"-class Destroyers
-3 "Orzel"-class EW Destroyers
----3rd Battle Division
2 Powstanie Warszawskie-class Fast Battleships:
BB-2 ORP(Bitwa pod Grunwaldem, BB-3 ORP Odsiecz Wiedeńska.)
-6 "Zbik"-class Frigates
----5th Cruiser Division
1 Stanislaw Skalski- class Light Carrier
1 Husaria- class Heavy Cruiser
-2 "Zbik"-class Frigates
-1 "Orzel"-class EW Destroyer
----6th Cruiser Division
1 Stanislaw Skalski- class Light Carrier
1 Husaria- class Heavy Cruiser
-2 "Zbik"-class Frigates
-1 "Orzel"-class EW Destroyer
4th Carrier Battle Group
----4th Fleet Carrier Division
2 Jan III Sobieski-class Fleet Carriers:
CVF-2 ORP(Kazimierz III Wielki, CVF-6 ORP Lech Wałęsa)
-8 "Zbik"-class Frigates
-2 "Wilk"-class Destroyers
-3 "Orzel"-class EW Destroyers
----4th Battle Division
2 Powstanie Warszawskie-class Fast Battleships:
BB-4 ORP(Cud nad Wisłą, BB-5 ORP Odsiecz Szczecin.)
-6 "Zbik"-class Frigates
----7th Cruiser Division
1 Stanislaw Skalski- class Light Carrier
1 Husaria- class Heavy Cruiser
-2 "Zbik"-class Frigates
-1 "Orzel"-class EW Destroyer
----8th Cruiser Division
1 Stanislaw Skalski- class Light Carrier
1 Husaria- class Heavy Cruiser
-2 "Zbik"-class Frigates
-1 "Orzel"-class EW Destroyer
2nd Support Division
----2nd Interdiction Brigade
1 Sęp- class Interdiction Cruiser
-2 "Zbik"-class Frigates
-1 "Orzel"-class EW Destroyer
-Total point cost: 474 points
Forces Dispatched to Ruda Slaska
----1st Light Carrier Division
3 Stanisław Skalski-class Light Carriers
1 Husaria-class Heavy Cruiser
-3 "Zbik"-class Frigates
-1 "Orzel"-class EW Destroyer
-1 "Wilk"-class Destroyer
----9th Cruiser Division
2 Blyskawica- class Light Cruisers
-2 "Zbik"-class Frigates
Roughly 80 points
Forces Dispatched to Hunt Down Pirate Ships
3rd Fleet Corps
Base: Nowy Gdynia Fleet Base, Solidarnosc
CO: General of the Fleet Alicja Stanislawski
----2nd Light Carrier Division
3 Stanisław Skalski-class Light Carriers
1 Husaria-class Heavy Cruiser
-3 "Zbik"-class Frigates
-1 "Orzel"-class EW Destroyer
-1 "Wilk"-class Destroyer
----10th Cruiser Division
2 Blyskawica- class Light Cruisers
-2 "Zbik"-class Frigates
(Attached from the 4th Fleet Corps, on patrol, arrived on-station due to delayed enemy movements and "spiral" technique)
----4th Light Carrier Division
3 Stanisław Skalski-class Light Carriers
1 Husaria-class Heavy Cruiser
-3 "Zbik"-class Frigates
-1 "Orzel"-class EW Destroyer
-1 "Wilk"-class Destroyer
----1st Raiding Division
1 Sęp- class Interdiction Cruiser
1 Husara-class Heavy Cruiser
1 Blyskawica- class Light Cruiser
-2 "Zbik"-class Frigates
-2 "Orzel"-class EW Destroyers
-1 "Wilk"-class Destroyer
Roughly 180 points
Fleet Train at Nowa Masovie
3rd Support Division
----Support Regiments 11-13
(Numerous missile colliers, supply ships, transports, and recovery craft)
----Support Regiments 6-10
(Numerous missile colliers, supply ships, transports, and recovery craft)
Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908 - )
-
Redleader34
- Jedi Knight
- Posts: 998
- Joined: 2005-10-03 03:30pm
- Location: Flowing through the Animated Ether, finding unsusual creations
- Contact:
The hum of ions was loud as the Cruiser docked with New Mombassa Heights, as Al Chinachu waited for the Transport to land. The Journey from the Outer Planets to Earth was a short one, but it felt like it could take ages. He sighed as the massive docking clamps locked on to the cruiser, holding it tightly against the O’Neil cylinder. He would welcome the military commanders, and update them on the current situation, explaining how the troops were to be based from Uganda Sector, to go into the Congo River Basin to assist government forces. It would be an interesting operation, as the rebel military moved to the forests, hiding in the old terraforming equipment used to help stave off global warming.
He looked at his memo, the confidential paper stating an analysis of the Africa situation
FROM THE OFFICES OF SECTOR INVESTIGATIONS
West Africa: Surprisingly untouched, main command centres in Adis-Abbas, and New Mombassa mostly untouched, with cleaning efforts working well. Southern Sectors mostly green. Civilians move on as normal, but agents are watching for signs of random terrorist act. Advise, keep patrols up, but shields and other defenses are all Green in case of invasion. Shields are kept up to reduce risk of fallout
South Africa: Nuclear Impact Area. Mines are hastily converted to hospitals, hoping the aid from the Oberon can help the situations. Ships are using their transporters to move radioactive material to the Orrt cloud. Situation critical. No fighting, due to the area’s lack of security. Water is being imported from a giant comet in the Orrt Cloud. Grave
West Africa: Rebel area, troops from all over known space are assisting in putting down the rebellion. No nukes, however the airburst did massive damage, as the shield took the hit. Several office towers, as well as the unprotected missile arrays were damaged. Fallout is limited, due to its source as matter-antimatter explosions. No gamma rays dictated as well. Situation, Bad, but Salvable
End Earth Report
The man sighed, as he heard the Oberon’s request over his com, and said quickly “Get Madame Karoica, She’ll be in charge of these goods when they get here. He looked as he saw the Oberion representative arrive. “Hello sir, I am Al Chinachu of the TGA, and I welcome your aid. We have our person on the ground, Miss Karocia, and she’ll deal with your transport logistics, and handle any inspectors you wish to carry. We can use our space Elevator to assist your downloading of goods.”
He looked at his memo, the confidential paper stating an analysis of the Africa situation
FROM THE OFFICES OF SECTOR INVESTIGATIONS
West Africa: Surprisingly untouched, main command centres in Adis-Abbas, and New Mombassa mostly untouched, with cleaning efforts working well. Southern Sectors mostly green. Civilians move on as normal, but agents are watching for signs of random terrorist act. Advise, keep patrols up, but shields and other defenses are all Green in case of invasion. Shields are kept up to reduce risk of fallout
South Africa: Nuclear Impact Area. Mines are hastily converted to hospitals, hoping the aid from the Oberon can help the situations. Ships are using their transporters to move radioactive material to the Orrt cloud. Situation critical. No fighting, due to the area’s lack of security. Water is being imported from a giant comet in the Orrt Cloud. Grave
West Africa: Rebel area, troops from all over known space are assisting in putting down the rebellion. No nukes, however the airburst did massive damage, as the shield took the hit. Several office towers, as well as the unprotected missile arrays were damaged. Fallout is limited, due to its source as matter-antimatter explosions. No gamma rays dictated as well. Situation, Bad, but Salvable
End Earth Report
The man sighed, as he heard the Oberon’s request over his com, and said quickly “Get Madame Karoica, She’ll be in charge of these goods when they get here. He looked as he saw the Oberion representative arrive. “Hello sir, I am Al Chinachu of the TGA, and I welcome your aid. We have our person on the ground, Miss Karocia, and she’ll deal with your transport logistics, and handle any inspectors you wish to carry. We can use our space Elevator to assist your downloading of goods.”
Dan's Art
Bounty on SDN's most annoying
"A spambot, a spambot who can't spell, a spambot who can't spell or spam properly and a spambot with tenure. Tough"choice."
Bounty on SDN's most annoying
"A spambot, a spambot who can't spell, a spambot who can't spell or spam properly and a spambot with tenure. Tough"choice."
OOC: This post is a collaborative effort between Starglider and myself.
----------------------
Kiroter'nah Diplomatic Quarters,
NGTO Council Complex
Avee'kamee perched near the windows, deep concern etched into her pointed face. "You're certain?"
"Certain that the messages were sent, yes. Certain that it was Special Operations that send them, no, but it is over 95% probable." Kononaa'iit had just relayed a summary of his findings to Avee's shell memory, and had been waiting for her to digest them.
"We must find out what they've been doing. If they were behind the Herald probe incident... who knows what else they might have done, or are planning to do. Perhaps that Herald outburst was not random at all, perhaps it was provoked by some hidden event."
"I will keep trying Avee'kamee, but I have exhausted all of our best sources. It is unlikely that I will uncover more through internal channels, not unless whoever is behind this makes a serious mistake."
"Then we have no choice. We must ask the FEA Emissary to dilvuge the content of those messages."
"Is that wise? If the FEA is in contact with these ackazaits, we will be revealing that we are investigating them. They may go further into hiding."
"As you say we have little to lose. If they are as paranoid as they seem I would not be surprised if your inquiries have already tipped them off."
Comms-net access: transmitt to FEA diplomatic secretary, 'Meeting requested with the Emissary of the Brimafel at her convenience, about a confidential matter of some urgency. From Tanah'ki-Orpalo#21-Avee'kamee, Xeno Relations Group, Kiroter'nah Overflock.
---
Secure meeting room in Opomari Tower
Avee'kamee gazed at the tall, slender, hairless form of the Emissary. The strange spidery markings on her red skin were oddly fascinating, vaguely reminiscent of circuit patterns, making this completely organic creature seem slightly cybernetic to Avee's eyes. i am not sure if that is reassuring or disconcerting fortunately Unlike the humans, there is no known 'stare taboo' for this species.
"Greetings Emissary. Thank you for agreeing to see me on short notice. I hope your people are prospering, and that your colonisation efforts are proceeding well."
"Greetings, Avee’kamee. Your concern for the efforts of the First Expansionary Armada is well noted. Our preparations for the arrival of the colonial fleet are proceeding well, despite escalating diplomatic uncertainty near the borders of our space."
does she mean the insane machines or is there something more
"Yes, we must move forwards with action against the Heralds while this threat of genocide is still fresh in the minds of sapients everywhere. I am glad to see that even the Coalition of Nations is finally recognizing them for what they are."
The Emissary's impassive features betrayed nothing but mild interest. "It is heartening to see that the Kiroter’nah Overflock has finally acknowledged the true scale of the threat that these Heralds pose. Do your people intend to neutralize them fully?"
'Neutralise them fully', what a charming euphemism Avee thought.
"Neither the charter of the NGTO, its governments or its people countenance unnecessary killing, much less destruction of an entire race, unless absolutely necessary. I am sure that the present situation with the Heralds does not demand such drastic measures. Indeed stooping to xenocide would make us little better than them."
"Instead my flock supports the Trans Genetic Alliance's proposal for a joint expedition to remove the Herald's ability to make war. We can remove their fleet and blockade their worlds. Then we will have plenty of time to search for a way to restore their sanity, or make them sane if they never had it in the first place. The Nephilim seem optimistic about the prospects for this."
For a split second the Emissary looked as if she would argue with this assessment, but then her features were impassive again.
"If such a course of action is what you and the other signatories of the NGTO deem prudent and necessary, then the FEA will support your actions. However, I must urge you to act soon. Our observers have been watching their space closely since the attack on this colony, as yours surely have as well. We both know that they have bent the entirety of their civilization towards war against the NGTO. Their proclamations to the assembly on Earth were not mere bluster. Do not regard these machines lightly, or think that they can be easily pacified."
"I believe our forces alone are quite sufficient to control and if necessary destroy their fleets. Furthermore a joint operation with the CON would be an ideal way to reduce galactic tensions and further reduce any military losses. It would allow the CON to demonstrate their claim they will not support or tolerate genocide. But they must move quickly. We cannot afford to wait months for the CON to approve action. If necessary the NGTO will have to move ahead alone."
Avee’kamee paused for a moment, considering exactly how to broach the real subject of the meeting.
"But this is not the primary reason I asked for a meeting with you. Emissary, it has recently come to my attention that you have been in communication with elements of my government... that are not authorized to conduct any kind of negotiation, or enter into treaties. I have evidence of at least two unauthorized and unreported signal exchanges between Kiroter'nah communications relays and your ship in orbit above us."
"Emissary you may of course communicate with whoever you choose to, but the same cannot be said for our military personnel. There are... elements of the Overflock... that suffer from a troubling lack of... discretion. If you have been contacted about participating in unofficial operations, I must ask you to give me the details."
The Emissary showed no surprise, but it was several seconds before she replied.
"I will not deny that I have been in private communication with certain Kiroter’nah representatives, but I have never been given any reason to believe that they were not acting authorized by your government to engage in such discourse. I’m afraid I have vowed to keep the content of our consults in the strictest confidence. Unless you can provide proof that I have been communicating with some sort of rogue faction, I cannot disclose to you what information we have exchanged."
Avee’kamee turned to look at Kononaa'iit, who had been listening silently so far. In this case the expression 'understanding passed wordlessly between them' was particularly precise, in that Avee prompted Kononaa with a shell-to-shell radio message.
Kononaa'iit spoke at last, staring intently at the Emissary and leaning forwards across the table, his wings hooked around his chair.
"Emissary, you must understand that there are a great many irregularities surrounding earlier incidents with the Heralds. Although not apparent at the time, later investigation by the Overflock revealed serious issues with the original version of events. There is concern that the unidentified vessels that destroyed the Nephilim border stations were not Herald at all. The possibility that those were FEA ships must be given serious consideration."
The Emissary tensed very slightly, a new undertone creeping into her voice.
"I can understand your distress at the recent encroachments near your space, but I resent the implication that the FEA has been involved in hostile military action against any member of the NGTO, covert or otherwise. If you are still in need of a perpetrator of that attack, I suggest you turn your suspicions northward, to the reclusive civilization sometimes known as the Kitaka. They have already proven themselves both dangerous and treacherous. Although I have not yet publically announced the circumstances of the contact, a fleet composed Kitaka warships and vessels of one of their allies recently surrounded and destroyed a task force of FEA vessels."
Avee’kamee cocked her head, motioning Kononaa'itt to pause as she tried to recall any relevant information about the Kitaka. Known member of the Coalition of Nations, isolationist, no formal contact with the Kiroter'nah, suspected to reside somewhere in the far Galactic north. the outsiders are at war with a friend of earth and they did not tell their allies?
"The Kitaka? We know little of them... though I believe they are a member of the CON. You say they may have been the ones who destroyed those stations?"
The Emissary nodded, clearly disinclined to repeat herself.
Kononaa'itt did not seem inclined to let up the pressure. "How did this happen? Was your task force in their space?"
The Emissary paused again before responding, seemingly unperturbed by Kononaa'itt's aggressive tone.
"The FEA did not initiate the conflict, no. We were engaging in joint military operations when the Kitaka turned upon our vessels without provocation. Up until they fired weapons, we were allied, albeit provisional ones. The Preeminence has no interest in antagonizing the cultures of the Galactic North. We must be united if the aggression of those within the Terran sphere of influence is to be quelled."
"Allies for what purpose?" Kononaa'itt pressed. "What was the goal of the operation?"
The Emissary seemed not to hear him, staring at Avee’kamee instead. Avee struggled to read the alien woman's pitch black eyes, with their dancing white pupils. The Emissary seemed to be challenging, but not overtly hostile. Finally Avee spoke.
"You must know that the NGTO will under no circumstances help you prosecute a war of conquest. If you are truly the victim of unprovoked Kitaka aggression, the nations of the NGTO stand ready to come to your aid. But if you wish us to do that you must tell me everything now. There can be no alliance without trust."
There was a fresh silence that lasted even longer than the previous intermissions. The Emissary seemed as impassive as ever, but Avee’kamee was sure that she was deciding how much to disclose. When she spoke again it was with the mild, friendly enthusiasm that she had exhibited at the start of the meeting.
"I can only assure you once more that the FEA holds no hostile intent towards the Kiroter’nah Overflock or any affiliate of the NGTO. We still hope to one day secure membership into your alliance, and we would never compromise the trust that I hope to help cultivate between our peoples. However, I must reiterate, unless you can demonstrate implicitly that my recent communications have been with unauthorized factions within your government, I cannot disclose what was been said."
disappointing... but at least we have some of the pieces now... hopefully enough to lead us to more elsewhere Questioning has likely achieved as much as it can at present. Further pressure now can only damage relations with this species.
Avee spoke brightly; "In that case Emissary, I hope to be in touch with you again soon. Thank you for your time today. I invite you to bring up your problems with the Kitaka in the council sessions as soon as you are ready to do so."
Her voice took on a darker tone as she continued; "But I must warn you, if you put your trust in rogue elements, you are likely to be sorely disappointed. We are investigating and if there have indeed been unauthorised negotiations or military operations, we are sure to discover the culprits and bring them to justice."
i wish i was as confident about that as i sound
The Emissary drew her hands together. "I hope that this meeting will not negatively influence future relations between us, and I apologize that I cannot be of greater help to you. If you acquire the evidence which I have requested, I will be happy to discuss this matter further, but until then, there are other affairs that require my attention. I wish you well, Avee’kamee. Good day."
With that she rose, turned away and left the two Kiroter'nah alone in the meeting room.
---
Kiroter'nah Diplomatic Quarters,
NGTO Council Complex
"I hope that opens up new avenues of enquiry. The FEA at war with an isolationist CON member! We must find out everything we can about this. If there is a conspiracy, I strongly suspect it is linked with this battle somehow."
Kononaa'iit looked energised by the prospect of new attacks on the problem. "Indeed. I will start immediately. I assume I have your permission to inform the appropriate members of the sky flocks?"
Avee'kamee was pacing agitatedly again, fluttering her wings with excitement. "Yes of course. The real question is whether we should try and contact the Kitaka directly. I am sure we will only hear one side of the story from the FEA."
"Surely we should wait until we've found out what we can covertly first? There is no point proceeding with a less complete picture than necessary."
"Perhaps. We may have less time than we might like, if this violence between the FEA and the Kitaka escalates. In any case it takes time to set up a first contact."
Avee'kamee stopped pacing, a look of determination in her eyes. "Proceed with the internal investigation. I will contact Cahaan'nol on the Earth Embassy station. He will try and set up a meeting with the Kitaka ambassador there. We will brief him on what to say later, assuming the Kitaka are interested in talking to us at all."
----------------------
Kiroter'nah Diplomatic Quarters,
NGTO Council Complex
Avee'kamee perched near the windows, deep concern etched into her pointed face. "You're certain?"
"Certain that the messages were sent, yes. Certain that it was Special Operations that send them, no, but it is over 95% probable." Kononaa'iit had just relayed a summary of his findings to Avee's shell memory, and had been waiting for her to digest them.
"We must find out what they've been doing. If they were behind the Herald probe incident... who knows what else they might have done, or are planning to do. Perhaps that Herald outburst was not random at all, perhaps it was provoked by some hidden event."
"I will keep trying Avee'kamee, but I have exhausted all of our best sources. It is unlikely that I will uncover more through internal channels, not unless whoever is behind this makes a serious mistake."
"Then we have no choice. We must ask the FEA Emissary to dilvuge the content of those messages."
"Is that wise? If the FEA is in contact with these ackazaits, we will be revealing that we are investigating them. They may go further into hiding."
"As you say we have little to lose. If they are as paranoid as they seem I would not be surprised if your inquiries have already tipped them off."
Comms-net access: transmitt to FEA diplomatic secretary, 'Meeting requested with the Emissary of the Brimafel at her convenience, about a confidential matter of some urgency. From Tanah'ki-Orpalo#21-Avee'kamee, Xeno Relations Group, Kiroter'nah Overflock.
---
Secure meeting room in Opomari Tower
Avee'kamee gazed at the tall, slender, hairless form of the Emissary. The strange spidery markings on her red skin were oddly fascinating, vaguely reminiscent of circuit patterns, making this completely organic creature seem slightly cybernetic to Avee's eyes. i am not sure if that is reassuring or disconcerting fortunately Unlike the humans, there is no known 'stare taboo' for this species.
"Greetings Emissary. Thank you for agreeing to see me on short notice. I hope your people are prospering, and that your colonisation efforts are proceeding well."
"Greetings, Avee’kamee. Your concern for the efforts of the First Expansionary Armada is well noted. Our preparations for the arrival of the colonial fleet are proceeding well, despite escalating diplomatic uncertainty near the borders of our space."
does she mean the insane machines or is there something more
"Yes, we must move forwards with action against the Heralds while this threat of genocide is still fresh in the minds of sapients everywhere. I am glad to see that even the Coalition of Nations is finally recognizing them for what they are."
The Emissary's impassive features betrayed nothing but mild interest. "It is heartening to see that the Kiroter’nah Overflock has finally acknowledged the true scale of the threat that these Heralds pose. Do your people intend to neutralize them fully?"
'Neutralise them fully', what a charming euphemism Avee thought.
"Neither the charter of the NGTO, its governments or its people countenance unnecessary killing, much less destruction of an entire race, unless absolutely necessary. I am sure that the present situation with the Heralds does not demand such drastic measures. Indeed stooping to xenocide would make us little better than them."
"Instead my flock supports the Trans Genetic Alliance's proposal for a joint expedition to remove the Herald's ability to make war. We can remove their fleet and blockade their worlds. Then we will have plenty of time to search for a way to restore their sanity, or make them sane if they never had it in the first place. The Nephilim seem optimistic about the prospects for this."
For a split second the Emissary looked as if she would argue with this assessment, but then her features were impassive again.
"If such a course of action is what you and the other signatories of the NGTO deem prudent and necessary, then the FEA will support your actions. However, I must urge you to act soon. Our observers have been watching their space closely since the attack on this colony, as yours surely have as well. We both know that they have bent the entirety of their civilization towards war against the NGTO. Their proclamations to the assembly on Earth were not mere bluster. Do not regard these machines lightly, or think that they can be easily pacified."
"I believe our forces alone are quite sufficient to control and if necessary destroy their fleets. Furthermore a joint operation with the CON would be an ideal way to reduce galactic tensions and further reduce any military losses. It would allow the CON to demonstrate their claim they will not support or tolerate genocide. But they must move quickly. We cannot afford to wait months for the CON to approve action. If necessary the NGTO will have to move ahead alone."
Avee’kamee paused for a moment, considering exactly how to broach the real subject of the meeting.
"But this is not the primary reason I asked for a meeting with you. Emissary, it has recently come to my attention that you have been in communication with elements of my government... that are not authorized to conduct any kind of negotiation, or enter into treaties. I have evidence of at least two unauthorized and unreported signal exchanges between Kiroter'nah communications relays and your ship in orbit above us."
"Emissary you may of course communicate with whoever you choose to, but the same cannot be said for our military personnel. There are... elements of the Overflock... that suffer from a troubling lack of... discretion. If you have been contacted about participating in unofficial operations, I must ask you to give me the details."
The Emissary showed no surprise, but it was several seconds before she replied.
"I will not deny that I have been in private communication with certain Kiroter’nah representatives, but I have never been given any reason to believe that they were not acting authorized by your government to engage in such discourse. I’m afraid I have vowed to keep the content of our consults in the strictest confidence. Unless you can provide proof that I have been communicating with some sort of rogue faction, I cannot disclose to you what information we have exchanged."
Avee’kamee turned to look at Kononaa'iit, who had been listening silently so far. In this case the expression 'understanding passed wordlessly between them' was particularly precise, in that Avee prompted Kononaa with a shell-to-shell radio message.
Kononaa'iit spoke at last, staring intently at the Emissary and leaning forwards across the table, his wings hooked around his chair.
"Emissary, you must understand that there are a great many irregularities surrounding earlier incidents with the Heralds. Although not apparent at the time, later investigation by the Overflock revealed serious issues with the original version of events. There is concern that the unidentified vessels that destroyed the Nephilim border stations were not Herald at all. The possibility that those were FEA ships must be given serious consideration."
The Emissary tensed very slightly, a new undertone creeping into her voice.
"I can understand your distress at the recent encroachments near your space, but I resent the implication that the FEA has been involved in hostile military action against any member of the NGTO, covert or otherwise. If you are still in need of a perpetrator of that attack, I suggest you turn your suspicions northward, to the reclusive civilization sometimes known as the Kitaka. They have already proven themselves both dangerous and treacherous. Although I have not yet publically announced the circumstances of the contact, a fleet composed Kitaka warships and vessels of one of their allies recently surrounded and destroyed a task force of FEA vessels."
Avee’kamee cocked her head, motioning Kononaa'itt to pause as she tried to recall any relevant information about the Kitaka. Known member of the Coalition of Nations, isolationist, no formal contact with the Kiroter'nah, suspected to reside somewhere in the far Galactic north. the outsiders are at war with a friend of earth and they did not tell their allies?
"The Kitaka? We know little of them... though I believe they are a member of the CON. You say they may have been the ones who destroyed those stations?"
The Emissary nodded, clearly disinclined to repeat herself.
Kononaa'itt did not seem inclined to let up the pressure. "How did this happen? Was your task force in their space?"
The Emissary paused again before responding, seemingly unperturbed by Kononaa'itt's aggressive tone.
"The FEA did not initiate the conflict, no. We were engaging in joint military operations when the Kitaka turned upon our vessels without provocation. Up until they fired weapons, we were allied, albeit provisional ones. The Preeminence has no interest in antagonizing the cultures of the Galactic North. We must be united if the aggression of those within the Terran sphere of influence is to be quelled."
"Allies for what purpose?" Kononaa'itt pressed. "What was the goal of the operation?"
The Emissary seemed not to hear him, staring at Avee’kamee instead. Avee struggled to read the alien woman's pitch black eyes, with their dancing white pupils. The Emissary seemed to be challenging, but not overtly hostile. Finally Avee spoke.
"You must know that the NGTO will under no circumstances help you prosecute a war of conquest. If you are truly the victim of unprovoked Kitaka aggression, the nations of the NGTO stand ready to come to your aid. But if you wish us to do that you must tell me everything now. There can be no alliance without trust."
There was a fresh silence that lasted even longer than the previous intermissions. The Emissary seemed as impassive as ever, but Avee’kamee was sure that she was deciding how much to disclose. When she spoke again it was with the mild, friendly enthusiasm that she had exhibited at the start of the meeting.
"I can only assure you once more that the FEA holds no hostile intent towards the Kiroter’nah Overflock or any affiliate of the NGTO. We still hope to one day secure membership into your alliance, and we would never compromise the trust that I hope to help cultivate between our peoples. However, I must reiterate, unless you can demonstrate implicitly that my recent communications have been with unauthorized factions within your government, I cannot disclose what was been said."
disappointing... but at least we have some of the pieces now... hopefully enough to lead us to more elsewhere Questioning has likely achieved as much as it can at present. Further pressure now can only damage relations with this species.
Avee spoke brightly; "In that case Emissary, I hope to be in touch with you again soon. Thank you for your time today. I invite you to bring up your problems with the Kitaka in the council sessions as soon as you are ready to do so."
Her voice took on a darker tone as she continued; "But I must warn you, if you put your trust in rogue elements, you are likely to be sorely disappointed. We are investigating and if there have indeed been unauthorised negotiations or military operations, we are sure to discover the culprits and bring them to justice."
i wish i was as confident about that as i sound
The Emissary drew her hands together. "I hope that this meeting will not negatively influence future relations between us, and I apologize that I cannot be of greater help to you. If you acquire the evidence which I have requested, I will be happy to discuss this matter further, but until then, there are other affairs that require my attention. I wish you well, Avee’kamee. Good day."
With that she rose, turned away and left the two Kiroter'nah alone in the meeting room.
---
Kiroter'nah Diplomatic Quarters,
NGTO Council Complex
"I hope that opens up new avenues of enquiry. The FEA at war with an isolationist CON member! We must find out everything we can about this. If there is a conspiracy, I strongly suspect it is linked with this battle somehow."
Kononaa'iit looked energised by the prospect of new attacks on the problem. "Indeed. I will start immediately. I assume I have your permission to inform the appropriate members of the sky flocks?"
Avee'kamee was pacing agitatedly again, fluttering her wings with excitement. "Yes of course. The real question is whether we should try and contact the Kitaka directly. I am sure we will only hear one side of the story from the FEA."
"Surely we should wait until we've found out what we can covertly first? There is no point proceeding with a less complete picture than necessary."
"Perhaps. We may have less time than we might like, if this violence between the FEA and the Kitaka escalates. In any case it takes time to set up a first contact."
Avee'kamee stopped pacing, a look of determination in her eyes. "Proceed with the internal investigation. I will contact Cahaan'nol on the Earth Embassy station. He will try and set up a meeting with the Kitaka ambassador there. We will brief him on what to say later, assuming the Kitaka are interested in talking to us at all."
The Rift
Stanislav Petrov- The man who saved the world
Hugh Thompson Jr.- A True American Hero
"In the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope." - President Barack Obama
"May fortune favor you, for your goals are the goals of the world." - Ancient Chall valediction
Stanislav Petrov- The man who saved the world
Hugh Thompson Jr.- A True American Hero
"In the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope." - President Barack Obama
"May fortune favor you, for your goals are the goals of the world." - Ancient Chall valediction
K.R.S. Word Bearer
Edge of Golden Sky Combine Sovereign Space
Galactic East
A curious ripple in space signaling its approach moments before its arrival, a sleek, seed-like ship glided back into realspace on the edge of the Golden Sky Combine, white-painted hull glinting in the harsh starlight and maneauvering thrusters glowing brief blue as the ship checked systems after its jaunt through n-space. A carefully-hidden communications array pulsed briefly, signaling its origin and status as a diplomatic ship.
Deep within the ship, on its polished sterile-looking bridge, a pair of Khurl watched data and visual feeds on the main viewscreen. One, the smaller of the two, wore the robes of a High Diplomat; simple gray adornments lacking any but the simplest insignia. The other, a more robust creature, wore the deep blue robes of a naval officer, and his uniform sported far more in terms of insignia and medals. Even a casual observer could tell who the key individual here was, however: it was in the way the naval officer hung behind the diplomat, in the way he occasionally glanced over with an eye or two, even in his scent, though this lattermost feature was perhaps only meaningful to a fellow Khurl. Nonetheless, the bridge was calm and each of the two powerful figures relaxed, old comrades from many rovings across space.
The crew of the ship reported in; no hostiles detected, all systems green, comms systems online and ready. He of the blue robes, Captain Bal-mar-Turl, spoke to his companion in a warm, relaxed tone, "Well, Ghurn, the bridge is yours. You may begin when ready."
High Diplomat Ghurn-lo-Tun gathered his thoughts; this would doubtless be an important moment for the Republic. Indeed, when the Emperor had ordered a diplomatic envoy be deployed to the Golden Sky Combine and Straltoc Federation both, many within the Diplomatic Corps' top ranks found themselves with little explanation besides the mission's importance. Some speculated that the envoys were a response to the machinations of other nations, others that it signified a coming bold move on the Republic's part. High Diplomat Tun suspected it might be a bit of both.
Smiling inwardly, he decided to fall back on an old maxim of the Diplomatic Corps: the best approach was the simplest.
"This is the K.R.S. Word Bearer, diplomatic vessel of the Glorious Khurlassian Republic. We wish to meet from an envoy from your nation so that we may discuss relations between our two peoples."
Tun nodded to the comms officer and the link was closed. No doubt a similar message was being broadcast to the Straltoc by the vessel sent there, the K.R.S. Civilization.
Edge of Golden Sky Combine Sovereign Space
Galactic East
A curious ripple in space signaling its approach moments before its arrival, a sleek, seed-like ship glided back into realspace on the edge of the Golden Sky Combine, white-painted hull glinting in the harsh starlight and maneauvering thrusters glowing brief blue as the ship checked systems after its jaunt through n-space. A carefully-hidden communications array pulsed briefly, signaling its origin and status as a diplomatic ship.
Deep within the ship, on its polished sterile-looking bridge, a pair of Khurl watched data and visual feeds on the main viewscreen. One, the smaller of the two, wore the robes of a High Diplomat; simple gray adornments lacking any but the simplest insignia. The other, a more robust creature, wore the deep blue robes of a naval officer, and his uniform sported far more in terms of insignia and medals. Even a casual observer could tell who the key individual here was, however: it was in the way the naval officer hung behind the diplomat, in the way he occasionally glanced over with an eye or two, even in his scent, though this lattermost feature was perhaps only meaningful to a fellow Khurl. Nonetheless, the bridge was calm and each of the two powerful figures relaxed, old comrades from many rovings across space.
The crew of the ship reported in; no hostiles detected, all systems green, comms systems online and ready. He of the blue robes, Captain Bal-mar-Turl, spoke to his companion in a warm, relaxed tone, "Well, Ghurn, the bridge is yours. You may begin when ready."
High Diplomat Ghurn-lo-Tun gathered his thoughts; this would doubtless be an important moment for the Republic. Indeed, when the Emperor had ordered a diplomatic envoy be deployed to the Golden Sky Combine and Straltoc Federation both, many within the Diplomatic Corps' top ranks found themselves with little explanation besides the mission's importance. Some speculated that the envoys were a response to the machinations of other nations, others that it signified a coming bold move on the Republic's part. High Diplomat Tun suspected it might be a bit of both.
Smiling inwardly, he decided to fall back on an old maxim of the Diplomatic Corps: the best approach was the simplest.
"This is the K.R.S. Word Bearer, diplomatic vessel of the Glorious Khurlassian Republic. We wish to meet from an envoy from your nation so that we may discuss relations between our two peoples."
Tun nodded to the comms officer and the link was closed. No doubt a similar message was being broadcast to the Straltoc by the vessel sent there, the K.R.S. Civilization.
Edge of Golden Sky Combine Space, Northwest
Seconds after the message from the Khurlassian Republic ships had been sent, space began to shimmer about a kilometer away from the ships. A second or so after that, three ships seemed to fade into existence like ghosts - a small, unarmed craft easily distinguishable as a diplomatic vessel, flanked by two larger, armed craft.
A message was sent shortly afterward. The speaker was a calm, warm-looking Gliesan with darker skin than normal, though a gentle smile on his face. "This is Archon Mantruo, ambassador for the Golden Sky Combine, and I bid you welcome and greetings. I consider your envoy fortuitous, as mine was on our way out to greet your people."
He paused, and inclined his head with quiet pride. "We welcome you to Golden Sky Combine space. Please follow us to the Gliese system - we can land on the planet Prometheus's moon station, and be at ease during our discussions."
With that and numerical coordinates to the destination, the message ended, the three ships wheeling smoothly about in almost the opposite direction. They waited for the Khurlassian Republic ships to signal their acceptance before shifting into hyperspace.
Autochthon
Golden Sky Combine Space
With the sudden arrival of delegates from the Khurlassian Republic as an unexpected but welcome surprise, one of the four envoys that had just finished final procedures was greeting the new guests.
The other three prepared for final departure, the last of the supplies and crew having finished a few hours ago. Each envoy consisted of the obligatory diplomatic ship, flanked by one Shamshir-class ship and one Ragnarok-class ship each.
The first, headed by Archon Bestillo, was headed to Oberin space. The second, led by Archon Fenoxa, departed for the Kingdom of Isdenestilom space. The third, directed by the Archon Toloa, left for the stretch of space called home by The Wanderers.
Seconds after the message from the Khurlassian Republic ships had been sent, space began to shimmer about a kilometer away from the ships. A second or so after that, three ships seemed to fade into existence like ghosts - a small, unarmed craft easily distinguishable as a diplomatic vessel, flanked by two larger, armed craft.
A message was sent shortly afterward. The speaker was a calm, warm-looking Gliesan with darker skin than normal, though a gentle smile on his face. "This is Archon Mantruo, ambassador for the Golden Sky Combine, and I bid you welcome and greetings. I consider your envoy fortuitous, as mine was on our way out to greet your people."
He paused, and inclined his head with quiet pride. "We welcome you to Golden Sky Combine space. Please follow us to the Gliese system - we can land on the planet Prometheus's moon station, and be at ease during our discussions."
With that and numerical coordinates to the destination, the message ended, the three ships wheeling smoothly about in almost the opposite direction. They waited for the Khurlassian Republic ships to signal their acceptance before shifting into hyperspace.
Autochthon
Golden Sky Combine Space
With the sudden arrival of delegates from the Khurlassian Republic as an unexpected but welcome surprise, one of the four envoys that had just finished final procedures was greeting the new guests.
The other three prepared for final departure, the last of the supplies and crew having finished a few hours ago. Each envoy consisted of the obligatory diplomatic ship, flanked by one Shamshir-class ship and one Ragnarok-class ship each.
The first, headed by Archon Bestillo, was headed to Oberin space. The second, led by Archon Fenoxa, departed for the Kingdom of Isdenestilom space. The third, directed by the Archon Toloa, left for the stretch of space called home by The Wanderers.
Last edited by rhoenix on 2007-09-01 04:05pm, edited 1 time in total.
High Diplomat Tun spoke again, and the comms officer engaged opened a link without having to be asked, "We thank you for your warm welcome, Archon. Following the received coordinates. I look forward to speaking eyes to eyes," with that, the comms link closed, Tun gesturing with his left hand in a way that approximated a nod to Captain Turl.
"Drives," the intership communications system automatically opened a link with the officers on the engineering deck, "you have coordinates, Engage drives and follow the Combine vessels as instructed," the engineering deck replied with an affirmative, and the bridge crew braced themselves for entry into n-space, their digestive tracks churning with brief nausea as space warped and rippled around the Word Bearer, allowing it entry to the somehow-unsettling, undescribable blankness of n-space. The journey did not take long, the ship's crew once again experiencing mild nausea as their ship once more slipped into realspace, this time in the Gliese system. Sensors reeled off information and the main viewscreen displayed points of interest as the Word Bearer followed its hosts.
"Target system orbits a red giant star. Planets of note include an apparently-uninhabited world, Gliese III. It looks to be a barely-inhabitable ice world, but it possesses an orbital defensive ring, likely consisting of shield generators and gun platforms. My guess is a prison planet. Gaia's coming up as a likely agri-world. There's also Gliese I, which appears to be a manufacturing world; its moon is entirely industrialized. All planets appear to possess defensive rings."
The comms officer glanced down as his panel beeped softly, "we're being instructed to redirect to Gliese I's moon due to our drive system outputs. Captain?" the large Khurl gave an affirmative gesture immediately, focusing attention on the comms officer again only when he seemed to have something else to say.
"Something wrong, lieutenant?" he asked of the younger Khurl.
"Not exactly sir, it's just that we're picking up no radio comms at all, just tachyonic bursts," the officer replied.
The weapons officer spoke up, "We're not detecting any target locks or weapons directed at us, sir," he said simply.
"Then we're dealing with equipment problems or a technological fluke. I'm inclined to accept the latter," the captain said calmly, "very well then, notify our guides that their instructions have been received and move us to dock at this factory-moon."
The crew obeyed.
"Drives," the intership communications system automatically opened a link with the officers on the engineering deck, "you have coordinates, Engage drives and follow the Combine vessels as instructed," the engineering deck replied with an affirmative, and the bridge crew braced themselves for entry into n-space, their digestive tracks churning with brief nausea as space warped and rippled around the Word Bearer, allowing it entry to the somehow-unsettling, undescribable blankness of n-space. The journey did not take long, the ship's crew once again experiencing mild nausea as their ship once more slipped into realspace, this time in the Gliese system. Sensors reeled off information and the main viewscreen displayed points of interest as the Word Bearer followed its hosts.
"Target system orbits a red giant star. Planets of note include an apparently-uninhabited world, Gliese III. It looks to be a barely-inhabitable ice world, but it possesses an orbital defensive ring, likely consisting of shield generators and gun platforms. My guess is a prison planet. Gaia's coming up as a likely agri-world. There's also Gliese I, which appears to be a manufacturing world; its moon is entirely industrialized. All planets appear to possess defensive rings."
The comms officer glanced down as his panel beeped softly, "we're being instructed to redirect to Gliese I's moon due to our drive system outputs. Captain?" the large Khurl gave an affirmative gesture immediately, focusing attention on the comms officer again only when he seemed to have something else to say.
"Something wrong, lieutenant?" he asked of the younger Khurl.
"Not exactly sir, it's just that we're picking up no radio comms at all, just tachyonic bursts," the officer replied.
The weapons officer spoke up, "We're not detecting any target locks or weapons directed at us, sir," he said simply.
"Then we're dealing with equipment problems or a technological fluke. I'm inclined to accept the latter," the captain said calmly, "very well then, notify our guides that their instructions have been received and move us to dock at this factory-moon."
The crew obeyed.
Main dock 4
Valhalla, orbiting Prometheus
Golden Sky Space
As the ambassadorial procession exited their ship, Archon Mantruo greeted them with a bow - left hand clenched into a fist, right hand covering it. "I bid you welcome to Valhalla. I apologize for your inconvenience in docking here, but your emissions from your ship's exhaust we consider harmful to a planet's ecosystem. On the other hand, we can welcome you properly to Prometheus, our capitol world."
High Diplomat Tun dropped his front two walking-tentacles, and bowed forward in return, then solemnly offering a hand outward to shake.
Archon Mantruo looked at the hand for a moment, before reaching out and shaking it firmly. "I apologize; shaking hands as a custom hasn't bee done among our people for centuries. I shall remember in the future. Please, step onto this lift with me," he said, as he straightened, and indicated a large, flat, silently hovering object near him. "I can show you a brief tour of our home system before we get down to discussion."
High Ambassador Tun agreed, and his entourage stepped onto the lift with him - a few reptilian soldiers in combat fatigues, looking carefully around with their rifles held easy. To their surprise, a field flashed into existence above them, and the lift silently lived up to it's name; at first slowly, and them more swiftly. Soon, they were out of the moon Valhalla, looking below at both planet and moon.
"This is our first settled world, now our capitol, the world Prometheus. As you can see, it has one and a half times the gravity of our original homeworld, though it is nearly four times as large. It is now a world-large city, built alongside the nature of the world, so as to not forget it. The moon Valhalla was mineral-rich, and we got the idea to change it after it had been hollowed and cleaned into a large factory and industrial station. We began the project, and it became the work of technological engineering known as Valhalla."
The lift suddenly gained speed, though the occupants barely felt it. Soon, the green world of Gaia came into view, and sooner still, they were hovering over the northern part of the world. The Archon spoke up again. "Gaia was a rocky, desert world when we first arrived. After we settled Prometheus, we tried to terraform this planet with great success. Now, it is a major agricultural producer for our worlds, giving fresh produce, meat, beverages, and intoxicants all over the Combine."
The delegates nodded, and the the lift began to accelerate away from the lush green planet Gaia, and toward the inhospitable ice world they had seen on the way in. Soon, they hovered over the northern hemisphere. "This is Jotunheim, where the armed forces, including the Jotun corps, live and train. Colleges of military warfare, combat, and tactics are common here. They test themselves constantly, and a planet such as this seemed fitting for such a way of thinking. Besides - in old Norse mythos, Jotun are frost giants."
High Delegate Tun asked, "Your people actually live and work down there? We had assumed it was a prison world."
At this, the Archon smiled. "Oh no, we have no need of such things. And yes, they all work and live on that planet the entire time they train there. There are other military colleges springing up on the newer settlements, but for pure nostalgia, I doubt the ones here will be supplanted anytime soon."
The lift began to accelerate back the way they had come, achieving remarkable acceleration for such a small lift. Soon enough, they arrived back at Docking Bay 4. The Archon indicated their ship as he asked, "Now, I can take you to a more comfortable meeting place for more formal discussion, though I do formally invite you to stay a few days as our guests."
Valhalla, orbiting Prometheus
Golden Sky Space
As the ambassadorial procession exited their ship, Archon Mantruo greeted them with a bow - left hand clenched into a fist, right hand covering it. "I bid you welcome to Valhalla. I apologize for your inconvenience in docking here, but your emissions from your ship's exhaust we consider harmful to a planet's ecosystem. On the other hand, we can welcome you properly to Prometheus, our capitol world."
High Diplomat Tun dropped his front two walking-tentacles, and bowed forward in return, then solemnly offering a hand outward to shake.
Archon Mantruo looked at the hand for a moment, before reaching out and shaking it firmly. "I apologize; shaking hands as a custom hasn't bee done among our people for centuries. I shall remember in the future. Please, step onto this lift with me," he said, as he straightened, and indicated a large, flat, silently hovering object near him. "I can show you a brief tour of our home system before we get down to discussion."
High Ambassador Tun agreed, and his entourage stepped onto the lift with him - a few reptilian soldiers in combat fatigues, looking carefully around with their rifles held easy. To their surprise, a field flashed into existence above them, and the lift silently lived up to it's name; at first slowly, and them more swiftly. Soon, they were out of the moon Valhalla, looking below at both planet and moon.
"This is our first settled world, now our capitol, the world Prometheus. As you can see, it has one and a half times the gravity of our original homeworld, though it is nearly four times as large. It is now a world-large city, built alongside the nature of the world, so as to not forget it. The moon Valhalla was mineral-rich, and we got the idea to change it after it had been hollowed and cleaned into a large factory and industrial station. We began the project, and it became the work of technological engineering known as Valhalla."
The lift suddenly gained speed, though the occupants barely felt it. Soon, the green world of Gaia came into view, and sooner still, they were hovering over the northern part of the world. The Archon spoke up again. "Gaia was a rocky, desert world when we first arrived. After we settled Prometheus, we tried to terraform this planet with great success. Now, it is a major agricultural producer for our worlds, giving fresh produce, meat, beverages, and intoxicants all over the Combine."
The delegates nodded, and the the lift began to accelerate away from the lush green planet Gaia, and toward the inhospitable ice world they had seen on the way in. Soon, they hovered over the northern hemisphere. "This is Jotunheim, where the armed forces, including the Jotun corps, live and train. Colleges of military warfare, combat, and tactics are common here. They test themselves constantly, and a planet such as this seemed fitting for such a way of thinking. Besides - in old Norse mythos, Jotun are frost giants."
High Delegate Tun asked, "Your people actually live and work down there? We had assumed it was a prison world."
At this, the Archon smiled. "Oh no, we have no need of such things. And yes, they all work and live on that planet the entire time they train there. There are other military colleges springing up on the newer settlements, but for pure nostalgia, I doubt the ones here will be supplanted anytime soon."
The lift began to accelerate back the way they had come, achieving remarkable acceleration for such a small lift. Soon enough, they arrived back at Docking Bay 4. The Archon indicated their ship as he asked, "Now, I can take you to a more comfortable meeting place for more formal discussion, though I do formally invite you to stay a few days as our guests."
For several moments, High Diplomat Tun, his aides, the guards, and even the reserved Khurl diplomatic ship captain eyed the various vistas the lift past with frank appreciation and open interest, remaining relatively silent. As the lift turned back towards its origin point, though, the Republic representatives focused their attention on their hosts once more.
High Diplomat Tun turned his eyes in a polite smile, responding to the Archon warmly, "We would be happy to accept your invitation to stay on longer than today alone. It is somewhat important that we speak of official matters as quickly as possible. You see, there's been something of a mild ideological shift in the Republic: normally, we isolate ourselves to a fair degree, accepting diplomatic relations as they come to us, rather than seeking them out. However, as I'm sure you know, known space has grown to be a tense place lately: accusations of imperialistic behavior, bizarre planet-eating parasites, nations suddenly going dead silent, threats of genocide; these are busy times. The Emperor and Senate have thus instructed us to pursue diplomatic relations more aggressively, so that we may better understand and be better understood by others," the Khurl paused briefly, his eyes flicking to the vista around the lift in genuine appreciation, "of course, that doesn't mean we aren't open to trade agreements, research treaties, and that sort of thing. Indeed, I have a few proposals that you may be interested to hear about these matters."
High Diplomat Tun turned his eyes in a polite smile, responding to the Archon warmly, "We would be happy to accept your invitation to stay on longer than today alone. It is somewhat important that we speak of official matters as quickly as possible. You see, there's been something of a mild ideological shift in the Republic: normally, we isolate ourselves to a fair degree, accepting diplomatic relations as they come to us, rather than seeking them out. However, as I'm sure you know, known space has grown to be a tense place lately: accusations of imperialistic behavior, bizarre planet-eating parasites, nations suddenly going dead silent, threats of genocide; these are busy times. The Emperor and Senate have thus instructed us to pursue diplomatic relations more aggressively, so that we may better understand and be better understood by others," the Khurl paused briefly, his eyes flicking to the vista around the lift in genuine appreciation, "of course, that doesn't mean we aren't open to trade agreements, research treaties, and that sort of thing. Indeed, I have a few proposals that you may be interested to hear about these matters."
-
Shinn Langley Soryu
- Jedi Council Member
- Posts: 1526
- Joined: 2006-08-18 11:27pm
- Location: COOBIE YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS
Sol
Between Mercury and Sol (Bloodbath Debris Field)
Kanemitsu Corporation Ship Daigo Kotoshiro Maru
Quite surprisingly, the aftermath of the First Battle of Sol was not perceived as a boon for junk merchants; considering that the Terran forces did not sustain heavy losses, there wasn't much to salvage in the first place. The only salvage crew that made a serious attempt to explore the debris field was on the payroll of the Kanemitsu Corporation, a megacorp based out of New Japan in the CCS.
The Daigo Kotoshiro Maru discreetly entered the Sol system and made its way to the debris field, in the company of multiple unarmed tugs, tenders, and other support craft. In its past life, this boxy hulk of a space ship was an American Farragut class destroyer (Chretien class in Canadian service), recovered from a derelict Canadian Union shipyard by Kanemitsu's salvage division; this particular ship, which was once known as the St. Laurent, was stripped of most of its weapons, up-armored, and modified to become what basically amounted to a glorified cargo barge.
On the bridge of the ex-St. Laurent, Yasunari Tokita looked out upon the debris field. While other junk merchants would have dismissed the aftermath of the First Battle of Sol as a bona fide zero-g trash heap unworthy of their attention, Mr. Tokita saw treasure and profit; even if a hulled Zbik or Durado Levantou-Se would be worth next to nothing to most everyone else, at least he and the rest of Kanemitsu could turn a decent enough profit stripping these blasted hulks of any intact components and selling off the remains to Space Command to train rookie gunners on how to use their coilguns and glasers effectively.
"Mr. Tokita, all I'm picking up here is dust and echoes," a sensor operator called out. "If there was anything of value in this field, it was pulverized by debris hits long ago."
"Well, that just means you're not looking hard enough," Tokita retorted. "Try and filter out all the static and see if you can pick up anything that's inorganic. Those space bugs really left a huge mess out here with their corpses."
"We'll keep trying, sir."
"Excellent. Keep me posted on anything you see." Tokita looked back up to the debris field. With all the flotsam drifting around, it was indeed difficult to separate the chaff from the wheat, as it were. Given time, however, they were bound to find something good; Tokita was a patient man, and he and his crew had plenty of time on their hands to comb the field thoroughly.
Between Mercury and Sol (Bloodbath Debris Field)
Kanemitsu Corporation Ship Daigo Kotoshiro Maru
Quite surprisingly, the aftermath of the First Battle of Sol was not perceived as a boon for junk merchants; considering that the Terran forces did not sustain heavy losses, there wasn't much to salvage in the first place. The only salvage crew that made a serious attempt to explore the debris field was on the payroll of the Kanemitsu Corporation, a megacorp based out of New Japan in the CCS.
The Daigo Kotoshiro Maru discreetly entered the Sol system and made its way to the debris field, in the company of multiple unarmed tugs, tenders, and other support craft. In its past life, this boxy hulk of a space ship was an American Farragut class destroyer (Chretien class in Canadian service), recovered from a derelict Canadian Union shipyard by Kanemitsu's salvage division; this particular ship, which was once known as the St. Laurent, was stripped of most of its weapons, up-armored, and modified to become what basically amounted to a glorified cargo barge.
On the bridge of the ex-St. Laurent, Yasunari Tokita looked out upon the debris field. While other junk merchants would have dismissed the aftermath of the First Battle of Sol as a bona fide zero-g trash heap unworthy of their attention, Mr. Tokita saw treasure and profit; even if a hulled Zbik or Durado Levantou-Se would be worth next to nothing to most everyone else, at least he and the rest of Kanemitsu could turn a decent enough profit stripping these blasted hulks of any intact components and selling off the remains to Space Command to train rookie gunners on how to use their coilguns and glasers effectively.
"Mr. Tokita, all I'm picking up here is dust and echoes," a sensor operator called out. "If there was anything of value in this field, it was pulverized by debris hits long ago."
"Well, that just means you're not looking hard enough," Tokita retorted. "Try and filter out all the static and see if you can pick up anything that's inorganic. Those space bugs really left a huge mess out here with their corpses."
"We'll keep trying, sir."
"Excellent. Keep me posted on anything you see." Tokita looked back up to the debris field. With all the flotsam drifting around, it was indeed difficult to separate the chaff from the wheat, as it were. Given time, however, they were bound to find something good; Tokita was a patient man, and he and his crew had plenty of time on their hands to comb the field thoroughly.
I ship Eino Ilmari Juutilainen x Lydia V. Litvyak.
Phantasee: Don't be a dick.
Stofsk: What are you, his mother?
The Yosemite Bear: Obviously, which means that he's grounded, and that she needs to go back to sucking Mr. Coffee's cock.
"d-did... did this thread just turn into Thanas/PeZook slash fiction?" - Ilya Muromets[/size]
Stofsk: What are you, his mother?
The Yosemite Bear: Obviously, which means that he's grounded, and that she needs to go back to sucking Mr. Coffee's cock.
"d-did... did this thread just turn into Thanas/PeZook slash fiction?" - Ilya Muromets[/size]
Main Dock 4
Valhalla, orbiting Prometheus
Golden Sky Combine Space
He walked to the side of the lift, looking out over Prometheus through the windows of the station. He looked back after a moment, and smiled again. "I speak for my people when I say we are intrigued regarding your offers of trade and research agreements, though I'd have to look at each agreement in full personally before I can agree to any terms. I would be interested the proposals you speak of as well."
Unclaimed Space
Near Oberin Space
The envoy neared it's destination, fading into realspace smoothly. They neared the outer limit of Oberin Imperiate territory using their gravitational engines, slowing to a stop half a light minute from the border. The message they sent was unencrypted, in American English, sent in wide-band, and unencrypted. "My name is Archon Bestillo, of the Golden Sky Combine. I come to you in peace, and wish to discuss matters of peace and trade with you. I shall remain at these coordinates for your answer."
Valhalla, orbiting Prometheus
Golden Sky Combine Space
Smiling at this, Archon Mentruo replied. Those present heard a faint reverse-echo for a few moments as he spoke, though it faded as he continued. "Yes, I understand we caused some concern already among other peoples when we entered our Deepening, but we had not predicted it would be this much. As for your other concerns, High Diplomat Tun, I can sympathize, and agree that they are cause for concern."Tanasinn wrote:High Diplomat Tun turned his eyes in a polite smile, responding to the Archon warmly, "We would be happy to accept your invitation to stay on longer than today alone. It is somewhat important that we speak of official matters as quickly as possible. You see, there's been something of a mild ideological shift in the Republic: normally, we isolate ourselves to a fair degree, accepting diplomatic relations as they come to us, rather than seeking them out. However, as I'm sure you know, known space has grown to be a tense place lately: accusations of imperialistic behavior, bizarre planet-eating parasites, nations suddenly going dead silent, threats of genocide; these are busy times. The Emperor and Senate have thus instructed us to pursue diplomatic relations more aggressively, so that we may better understand and be better understood by others," the Khurl paused briefly, his eyes flicking to the vista around the lift in genuine appreciation, "of course, that doesn't mean we aren't open to trade agreements, research treaties, and that sort of thing. Indeed, I have a few proposals that you may be interested to hear about these matters."
He walked to the side of the lift, looking out over Prometheus through the windows of the station. He looked back after a moment, and smiled again. "I speak for my people when I say we are intrigued regarding your offers of trade and research agreements, though I'd have to look at each agreement in full personally before I can agree to any terms. I would be interested the proposals you speak of as well."
Unclaimed Space
Near Oberin Space
The envoy neared it's destination, fading into realspace smoothly. They neared the outer limit of Oberin Imperiate territory using their gravitational engines, slowing to a stop half a light minute from the border. The message they sent was unencrypted, in American English, sent in wide-band, and unencrypted. "My name is Archon Bestillo, of the Golden Sky Combine. I come to you in peace, and wish to discuss matters of peace and trade with you. I shall remain at these coordinates for your answer."
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InnocentBystander
- The Russian Circus
- Posts: 3466
- Joined: 2004-04-10 06:05am
- Location: Just across the mighty Hudson
[ooc: White Haven if you have any problems with this let me know]
Polish Territory – Deep Space
Interception +2 minutes
“All batteries report ready, all ships report positive firing solutions; fleet entering the edge of weapons range.”
“Thank you captain, order the fleet to launch opening salvo.”, virtually every ship larger than a frigate in the fleet opened fire, destroyers launching anti-capital ship missiles and decoys, cruisers blanket firing their snub-rifles and Battleships firing their long-rifles and long range missiles created an impressive wave of fire directed at the enemy pocket battleship formation.
Alarms sounded, “Incoming Admiral! Significant amounts of enemy are being directed against this ship”
“Evasive action, comms order group center to focus its screening on us. Helm, turn our nose into the fire, shield focus forward!” though incredibly massive, the battleship was still capable of turning amazingly fast, decreasing the available surface area exposed to the enemy.
Telekinetic destruction pulsed through cruiser group center; an unlucky frigate caught fire from one of the League battleships. Her shields flared for less than an instant, its armor cooked away, explosions ripped the bare bones of the ship apart as magazines and high yield reactor fuel ignited, the frigate was lost with all hands. Another frigate caught the tail end of shot from a league battlecruiser, tearing its aft section clear off, fires engulfed the front section, there might be a few survivors, but the ship was otherwise unrecoverable.
Surprisingly very little fire hit the Portuguese command ship; instead it found its way to the Interdiction Cruiser NIP António Sampaio, unprepared for the amount of fire leveled against it, the somewhat cumbersome cruiser was torn apart viciously by the cruel thoughts of the League psykers.
Cruiser Group East better, one of its destroyers had been pinned as an interdictor, for this reason it was turned into several large smoking pieces of debris. The volume of fire directed at Group West was somewhat less than the other two groups, and only managed to knick the shields on two of the groups strike cruisers.
Interception +8 minutes
The Fleet Admiral watched as the interdictor directly in front of his ship went up in flames. “Reorient us at once, get all guns firing again. Order our remaining interdictors to fall back behind, and move up the firing line. We’ve got to keep our interdictors alive.”
“Admiral, Polish defense fleet is about twenty minutes from our position, I suggest we fire to suppress them, we need to give our interdictors as much cover as possible. We only need to hold them down long enough for Polish forces to arrive.”
“Thank you Captain. Comms, order our cruiser groups to go for maximum target disruption and all line ships to fire to suppress; they’d have to be crazy to charge this kind of fire.”
Polish Territory – Deep Space
Interception +2 minutes
“All batteries report ready, all ships report positive firing solutions; fleet entering the edge of weapons range.”
“Thank you captain, order the fleet to launch opening salvo.”, virtually every ship larger than a frigate in the fleet opened fire, destroyers launching anti-capital ship missiles and decoys, cruisers blanket firing their snub-rifles and Battleships firing their long-rifles and long range missiles created an impressive wave of fire directed at the enemy pocket battleship formation.
Alarms sounded, “Incoming Admiral! Significant amounts of enemy are being directed against this ship”
“Evasive action, comms order group center to focus its screening on us. Helm, turn our nose into the fire, shield focus forward!” though incredibly massive, the battleship was still capable of turning amazingly fast, decreasing the available surface area exposed to the enemy.
Telekinetic destruction pulsed through cruiser group center; an unlucky frigate caught fire from one of the League battleships. Her shields flared for less than an instant, its armor cooked away, explosions ripped the bare bones of the ship apart as magazines and high yield reactor fuel ignited, the frigate was lost with all hands. Another frigate caught the tail end of shot from a league battlecruiser, tearing its aft section clear off, fires engulfed the front section, there might be a few survivors, but the ship was otherwise unrecoverable.
Surprisingly very little fire hit the Portuguese command ship; instead it found its way to the Interdiction Cruiser NIP António Sampaio, unprepared for the amount of fire leveled against it, the somewhat cumbersome cruiser was torn apart viciously by the cruel thoughts of the League psykers.
Cruiser Group East better, one of its destroyers had been pinned as an interdictor, for this reason it was turned into several large smoking pieces of debris. The volume of fire directed at Group West was somewhat less than the other two groups, and only managed to knick the shields on two of the groups strike cruisers.
Interception +8 minutes
The Fleet Admiral watched as the interdictor directly in front of his ship went up in flames. “Reorient us at once, get all guns firing again. Order our remaining interdictors to fall back behind, and move up the firing line. We’ve got to keep our interdictors alive.”
“Admiral, Polish defense fleet is about twenty minutes from our position, I suggest we fire to suppress them, we need to give our interdictors as much cover as possible. We only need to hold them down long enough for Polish forces to arrive.”
“Thank you Captain. Comms, order our cruiser groups to go for maximum target disruption and all line ships to fire to suppress; they’d have to be crazy to charge this kind of fire.”
The plain-robed Khurl bowed his frame slightly in emulation of a humanoid's nod, "of course, Archon, I understand. I have the authority to work with you on shaping and defining such agreements so that your nation and my own may each be comfortable with the end result," the Khurl paused for a moment, "such agreements can be as formal or as loose between or nations as is necessary."
The Khurl diplomat fell silent, waiting for the lift to arrive at its destination.
The Khurl diplomat fell silent, waiting for the lift to arrive at its destination.
Near Nathais Space
A cruiser dropped out of hyper near where the Kitaka estimated was near the edge of detection range. It pulsed a message toward the center of the nation's space. It stayed there waiting for a response.
A cruiser dropped out of hyper near where the Kitaka estimated was near the edge of detection range. It pulsed a message toward the center of the nation's space. It stayed there waiting for a response.
"preemptive killing of cops might not be such a bad idea from a personal saftey[sic] standpoint..." --Keevan Colton
"There's a word for bias you can't see: Yours." -- William Saletan
"There's a word for bias you can't see: Yours." -- William Saletan
-
Stormbringer
- King of Democracy
- Posts: 22678
- Joined: 2002-07-15 11:22pm
Lord of the Void Al-Donish was the officer in command of the outposts combined defenses. Few ships ever bothered to trade within the Imperium from outside and the appearance of a warship caused a minor stir.Beowulf wrote:Near Nathais Space
A cruiser dropped out of hyper near where the Kitaka estimated was near the edge of detection range. It pulsed a message toward the center of the nation's space. It stayed there waiting for a response.
"Lord, the warship appears to be waiting for a response to it's message. It's holding steady." reported the sensor watch officer.
"Very well." Lord Al-Donish replied. "Have Planetary Defense decypher the message, I want to know exactly what they said. In the mean time send the usual first contact message. Peace, friendship, all that stuff."
The high officer paused.
"And have the defense shift to a responsive formation."
Conference Room Proudfoot
Prometheus
Golden Sky Combine Space
The lift silently swept out of Valhalla once more, though went instead toward the large planet Prometheus, looming large below them. The friction of heat of entry into the planet's atmosphere began to cause the particle shielding around the lift to glow with an unearthly fire.
The lift landed smoothly at the foot of what appeared to be a modest meeting-place, formed out of the rocky mesa. The Archon stepped down from the lift, and invited the delegates to join him on the planet's surface. The atmosphere, mix of air, and even some of the sounds reminded them of Earth, but the birdcalls were different, and if what little noise the lift gave as it operated was any indication, even the spacecraft's noise doesn't disturb the overall feeling of peace from the planet. Even if the gravity is half again what denizens of Earth are used to. "If the gravity bothers you, you are welcome to use the lift," the Archon said graciously.
They walked as a group toward the meeting-hall carefully and subtly built out of the rock, the Archon walking with slow strides to keep pace with the delegation, his hands clasped behind his back. The group noticed other lifts, entering and leaving the planet, even spotting Valhalla in the sky - resembling a glowing, spherical machine with it's own thoughts. As if echoing their thoughts, the Archon spoke up once more. "We are in the process of constructing a planet-sized version of Valhalla, though it is not fully complete. However, it is complete enough to now assist with it's own construction, which was a significant milestone."
Motioning them to walk into the room before them, the Archon walked into the smaller conference room; a oblong table seemingly made out of the same rock as the mesa above them, and the building as well, though polished to a mirror-like shine. Comfortable chairs surrounded the table, each in front of a small computer monitor. They also saw larger monitors on each wall, though all the screens were dark, for now.
Seating them all with quiet grace, the Archon went to one of the walls, and withdrew a large carafe of rich tea, and an assortment of cups. He poured each member of the delegation a large cup, even the guards. After everyone had been seated, and had sipped the tea appreciatively, the Archon moved the conversation back to the business at hand. "High Diplomat Tun, I brought you and your entourage to one of my favorite meeting places to go over the wants and needs of our two nations, and I am quite interested in hearing your proposals. I believe our two nations have much to offer one another."
Prometheus
Golden Sky Combine Space
The lift silently swept out of Valhalla once more, though went instead toward the large planet Prometheus, looming large below them. The friction of heat of entry into the planet's atmosphere began to cause the particle shielding around the lift to glow with an unearthly fire.
The lift landed smoothly at the foot of what appeared to be a modest meeting-place, formed out of the rocky mesa. The Archon stepped down from the lift, and invited the delegates to join him on the planet's surface. The atmosphere, mix of air, and even some of the sounds reminded them of Earth, but the birdcalls were different, and if what little noise the lift gave as it operated was any indication, even the spacecraft's noise doesn't disturb the overall feeling of peace from the planet. Even if the gravity is half again what denizens of Earth are used to. "If the gravity bothers you, you are welcome to use the lift," the Archon said graciously.
They walked as a group toward the meeting-hall carefully and subtly built out of the rock, the Archon walking with slow strides to keep pace with the delegation, his hands clasped behind his back. The group noticed other lifts, entering and leaving the planet, even spotting Valhalla in the sky - resembling a glowing, spherical machine with it's own thoughts. As if echoing their thoughts, the Archon spoke up once more. "We are in the process of constructing a planet-sized version of Valhalla, though it is not fully complete. However, it is complete enough to now assist with it's own construction, which was a significant milestone."
Motioning them to walk into the room before them, the Archon walked into the smaller conference room; a oblong table seemingly made out of the same rock as the mesa above them, and the building as well, though polished to a mirror-like shine. Comfortable chairs surrounded the table, each in front of a small computer monitor. They also saw larger monitors on each wall, though all the screens were dark, for now.
Seating them all with quiet grace, the Archon went to one of the walls, and withdrew a large carafe of rich tea, and an assortment of cups. He poured each member of the delegation a large cup, even the guards. After everyone had been seated, and had sipped the tea appreciatively, the Archon moved the conversation back to the business at hand. "High Diplomat Tun, I brought you and your entourage to one of my favorite meeting places to go over the wants and needs of our two nations, and I am quite interested in hearing your proposals. I believe our two nations have much to offer one another."
Last edited by rhoenix on 2007-08-29 07:34pm, edited 1 time in total.
To see a Khurl drink tea was a bizarre and perhaps somewhat amusing thing; the high diplomat accepted the cup with one delicate, gloved hand in practiced grace, the Khurl captain doing the same. Each passed the cup from a slim hand to a silently uncurling mid-tentacle, passing the cup beneath their robes and under their frame. The cups reemerged moments later, drained of their contents and mildly slimy; a Shultakk aide set his own cup down and produced a small cloth, cleaning each cup before setting it on the table. The aides and guards drained their own glasses in a more conventional manner, one Shultakk guard giving a low chirp of appreciation as he finished.
This done, the aides found their seats; High Diplomat Tun and Captain Turl each remained standing, their quadrapedal frames ill-suited for chairs designed for humanoids.
"My apologies for not taking a seat, Archon," High Diplomat Tun said, "I understand that we Khurl are...somewhat awkward to plan for," the Khurl briefly gave a smile with his eyes; his tone conveying good humor. Expression returning to its inscrutiable norm, he spoke, "I indeed have little doubt our nations can offer each other much, as you say. The most basic proposal I have been instructed to offer is one of preferred trade partner status: what this means is that goods coming from and going to the Combine would be given top priority by our trade security forces, speeding their approval and allowing them to reach shops and turn a profit more quickly. It further means that, in times of war, we would continue to provide your nation's government with supplies in spite of risk to trade vessels. If you find yourself inclined to accept and reciprocate such an arrangement, we would also be interested in each of us expanding our territory towards each other, effectively connecting our nations with a corridor of communications boosters, resupply stations, and detection arrays, providing further protection to both of our nations' traders and expediting communications," High Diplomat Tun ceased speaking and a Shultakk aide produced a small datapad from one sleeve of his robe, "That datapad contains all of the formalities and technicalities of what I am proposing," Tun said before moving on, "the second thing we are proposing is a mutual non-agression pact at minimum, a mutual defensive pact at the maximum," again, the Shultakk aide produced a datapad, "the former would be a simple agreement not to interfere with each other in any manner military unless expressly asked. The defensive pact has a bit more bite, but is obviously more of a dedication: each of our nations would agree to protect the other if asked, provided the requesting state had been attacked by an aggressive foreign power. Both of these proposals present an obvious advantage: presenting a united front. With military aggressiveness on the rise, it would not be unlikely for an ambitious state to attempt to turn nations here in the galactic east against each other or to attempt to take nations for their own one at a time. A defensive or non-aggression pact would help to prevent anyone from even trying, potentially saving lives," again Tun paused, perhaps to allow his host to think on each issue briefly.
"Our third proposal involves research treaties: each of our nations excel at tasks the other may or may not; agreements to share methods and technology could potentially give us each others' benefits in various areas," the Shultakk produced a third and final datapad, "I have a variety of proposals outlined in detail in that pad, many involving offering our skills in medical research and information distribution, to use a polite term for propaganda," the Khurl's eyes curved in the ghost of a smile at this small jest.
This done, the aides found their seats; High Diplomat Tun and Captain Turl each remained standing, their quadrapedal frames ill-suited for chairs designed for humanoids.
"My apologies for not taking a seat, Archon," High Diplomat Tun said, "I understand that we Khurl are...somewhat awkward to plan for," the Khurl briefly gave a smile with his eyes; his tone conveying good humor. Expression returning to its inscrutiable norm, he spoke, "I indeed have little doubt our nations can offer each other much, as you say. The most basic proposal I have been instructed to offer is one of preferred trade partner status: what this means is that goods coming from and going to the Combine would be given top priority by our trade security forces, speeding their approval and allowing them to reach shops and turn a profit more quickly. It further means that, in times of war, we would continue to provide your nation's government with supplies in spite of risk to trade vessels. If you find yourself inclined to accept and reciprocate such an arrangement, we would also be interested in each of us expanding our territory towards each other, effectively connecting our nations with a corridor of communications boosters, resupply stations, and detection arrays, providing further protection to both of our nations' traders and expediting communications," High Diplomat Tun ceased speaking and a Shultakk aide produced a small datapad from one sleeve of his robe, "That datapad contains all of the formalities and technicalities of what I am proposing," Tun said before moving on, "the second thing we are proposing is a mutual non-agression pact at minimum, a mutual defensive pact at the maximum," again, the Shultakk aide produced a datapad, "the former would be a simple agreement not to interfere with each other in any manner military unless expressly asked. The defensive pact has a bit more bite, but is obviously more of a dedication: each of our nations would agree to protect the other if asked, provided the requesting state had been attacked by an aggressive foreign power. Both of these proposals present an obvious advantage: presenting a united front. With military aggressiveness on the rise, it would not be unlikely for an ambitious state to attempt to turn nations here in the galactic east against each other or to attempt to take nations for their own one at a time. A defensive or non-aggression pact would help to prevent anyone from even trying, potentially saving lives," again Tun paused, perhaps to allow his host to think on each issue briefly.
"Our third proposal involves research treaties: each of our nations excel at tasks the other may or may not; agreements to share methods and technology could potentially give us each others' benefits in various areas," the Shultakk produced a third and final datapad, "I have a variety of proposals outlined in detail in that pad, many involving offering our skills in medical research and information distribution, to use a polite term for propaganda," the Khurl's eyes curved in the ghost of a smile at this small jest.
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Academia Nut
- Sith Devotee
- Posts: 2598
- Joined: 2005-08-23 10:44pm
- Location: Edmonton, Alberta
Crulmax
Crulmathi
Palace of Transcendence
The past week had been absolute chaos for the Straltoc Federation as they scrambled to find out what had happened to their senior political and military leaders on Crulmax. When it was discovered that the entire Fortress of Infinity's End was simply empty, if slightly more radioactive than before, the already panicky rumours caught like wildfire and several riots had to be put down as the junior members of government sought to figure out who was in charge.
As martial law was declared, the entire Federation teetered upon the edge of civil war as various factions began to execute plans to bring them to power that were often half formed at best. Demagouges and firebrands tried to rile up the masses while the military teetered between being a defender of Straltoc democracy and its executioner.
Through it all, the Gliesan diplomats were housed hospitably, as was Straltoc custom. Every day they asked who they could talk to, and every day they were given the response of, "We don't know."
Finally though the squabbling, bickering politicians from the extremist parties managed to agree with the moderates that an election was in order to legitimize their positions. While not so great an undertaking as for some species and nations, the interconnectedness of the Straltoc guaranteed such things, it would still take a day or two to get everything in order, especially when things were already so disordered.
Still, their security had been repeatedly assured. Even if a government hostile to outsiders were elected, the embassy would be asked to leave, and escorted out of Straltoc space quietly. It was considered an abomination to betray an ally. Severe ties and then turn on them later, yes, but never attack while they still thought you friends. Such a crime demanded punishments worse than death.
Thus, it was with some alarm that Archon Brea was woken in the middle of the night by someone saying, "I do apologize for not finishing our conversation."
Waking up, Brea finds a dark skinned man in a uniform from the German space forces of centuries past sitting across the room in a relaxed position, cup of tea in one hand, saucer in the other, with a fine tea set laid out on a tray on a nightstand beside him. To all psychic probes, he is as a void, not even there.
Sipping his cup delicately, the man then says, "Tea? It's a very fine blend, and exceedingly hard to find considering the only place that made it was nuked almost three hundred years ago. A shame really."
Crulmathi
Palace of Transcendence
The past week had been absolute chaos for the Straltoc Federation as they scrambled to find out what had happened to their senior political and military leaders on Crulmax. When it was discovered that the entire Fortress of Infinity's End was simply empty, if slightly more radioactive than before, the already panicky rumours caught like wildfire and several riots had to be put down as the junior members of government sought to figure out who was in charge.
As martial law was declared, the entire Federation teetered upon the edge of civil war as various factions began to execute plans to bring them to power that were often half formed at best. Demagouges and firebrands tried to rile up the masses while the military teetered between being a defender of Straltoc democracy and its executioner.
Through it all, the Gliesan diplomats were housed hospitably, as was Straltoc custom. Every day they asked who they could talk to, and every day they were given the response of, "We don't know."
Finally though the squabbling, bickering politicians from the extremist parties managed to agree with the moderates that an election was in order to legitimize their positions. While not so great an undertaking as for some species and nations, the interconnectedness of the Straltoc guaranteed such things, it would still take a day or two to get everything in order, especially when things were already so disordered.
Still, their security had been repeatedly assured. Even if a government hostile to outsiders were elected, the embassy would be asked to leave, and escorted out of Straltoc space quietly. It was considered an abomination to betray an ally. Severe ties and then turn on them later, yes, but never attack while they still thought you friends. Such a crime demanded punishments worse than death.
Thus, it was with some alarm that Archon Brea was woken in the middle of the night by someone saying, "I do apologize for not finishing our conversation."
Waking up, Brea finds a dark skinned man in a uniform from the German space forces of centuries past sitting across the room in a relaxed position, cup of tea in one hand, saucer in the other, with a fine tea set laid out on a tray on a nightstand beside him. To all psychic probes, he is as a void, not even there.
Sipping his cup delicately, the man then says, "Tea? It's a very fine blend, and exceedingly hard to find considering the only place that made it was nuked almost three hundred years ago. A shame really."
I love learning. Teach me. I will listen.
You know, if Christian dogma included a ten-foot tall Jesus walking around in battle armor and smashing retarded cultists with a gaint mace, I might just convert - Noble Ire on Jesus smashing Scientologists
You know, if Christian dogma included a ten-foot tall Jesus walking around in battle armor and smashing retarded cultists with a gaint mace, I might just convert - Noble Ire on Jesus smashing Scientologists
Conference Room Proudfoot
Prometheus
Golden Sky Combine Space
After High Diplomat Tun had gone over the legalities of each proposal, the Archon nodded, and appeared to be thinking deeply for a moment. He looked High Diplomat Tun in the eyes with a smile as he replied. "Well, I'll address your proposals in order. As for your first proposal - that of 'preferred trade partner,' this interests us greatly, as does extending our borders toward one another to present a united front."
He looked thoughtful again, and replied momentarily. "As to your second proposal, that of a non-aggression pact with the possibility of defense pact, we would be more comfortable with signing a non-aggression pact to begin with. Please do not take this as hesitancy or an insult - we will consider extending this pact into a defensive one in time."
Archon Mentruo smiled a bit before replying. "As for research pacts, we will consider trades of knowledge on a case by case basis. Your medical technology would be worth looking at, and in return, I would propose trading you for our graviton drive - it would make traffic through our systems significantly less messy." He said the last with a warm smile.
Crulmax
Crulmathi
Palace of Transcendence
After getting repeated responses of "I don't know" to repeated inquiries made by either Archon Brea or her aides, she decided to attempt being a less annoying guest, and have she and her aides keep quietly to their quarters, waiting patiently, though she privately wished something would happen to break this tense silence.
It was barely a few days later that she got her wish - being visited by a dark-skinned ghost of the German space fleet.
Archon Brea looked at the figure in the eyes for a few moments, before smiling and nodding once to herself, and pouring herself a cup of the now-extinct tea. "For a ghost, you seem rather familiar," she said to the dark-skinned figure in the German space naval uniform.
She took a sip, and savored the flavor for a moment before continuing. "This truly is exquisite - I shall enjoy this. Now, to what do I owe the pleasure of being greeted by a specter, shortly after such an upheaval?"
Prometheus
Golden Sky Combine Space
At this the Archon chuckled. "These things can be accounted for swiftly."Tanasinn wrote:"My apologies for not taking a seat, Archon," High Diplomat Tun said, "I understand that we Khurl are...somewhat awkward to plan for," the Khurl briefly gave a smile with his eyes; his tone conveying good humor.
After High Diplomat Tun had gone over the legalities of each proposal, the Archon nodded, and appeared to be thinking deeply for a moment. He looked High Diplomat Tun in the eyes with a smile as he replied. "Well, I'll address your proposals in order. As for your first proposal - that of 'preferred trade partner,' this interests us greatly, as does extending our borders toward one another to present a united front."
He looked thoughtful again, and replied momentarily. "As to your second proposal, that of a non-aggression pact with the possibility of defense pact, we would be more comfortable with signing a non-aggression pact to begin with. Please do not take this as hesitancy or an insult - we will consider extending this pact into a defensive one in time."
Archon Mentruo smiled a bit before replying. "As for research pacts, we will consider trades of knowledge on a case by case basis. Your medical technology would be worth looking at, and in return, I would propose trading you for our graviton drive - it would make traffic through our systems significantly less messy." He said the last with a warm smile.
Crulmax
Crulmathi
Palace of Transcendence
After getting repeated responses of "I don't know" to repeated inquiries made by either Archon Brea or her aides, she decided to attempt being a less annoying guest, and have she and her aides keep quietly to their quarters, waiting patiently, though she privately wished something would happen to break this tense silence.
It was barely a few days later that she got her wish - being visited by a dark-skinned ghost of the German space fleet.
Archon Brea looked at the figure in the eyes for a few moments, before smiling and nodding once to herself, and pouring herself a cup of the now-extinct tea. "For a ghost, you seem rather familiar," she said to the dark-skinned figure in the German space naval uniform.
She took a sip, and savored the flavor for a moment before continuing. "This truly is exquisite - I shall enjoy this. Now, to what do I owe the pleasure of being greeted by a specter, shortly after such an upheaval?"
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Academia Nut
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Crulmax
Crulmathi
Palace of Transcendence
Chuckling lightly, the man says, "Spectre? Perhaps. I like to think of myself as alive in some sense, but perhaps that is merely an academic discussion for a later date. There is certainly enough time for such discourse."
He then gets a somewhat far away look in his eyes, shimmering slightly, almost like an old CRT interrupted by electrical noise. When he regained some more semblance of incorporeality, he smiled and said, "Definitely another time."
Waving it off, he says, "In any case, I have you at a disadvantage Archon Brea, for I know your name, but you do not know mine. I am Commander Diedrick Wilhelm, Executive Officer of the experimental star ship Escape Velocity. Of course, when we first met, I was wearing a different face. Was in fact merely one memory amongst many. You called us Alraszi Mylis then."
Crulmathi
Palace of Transcendence
Chuckling lightly, the man says, "Spectre? Perhaps. I like to think of myself as alive in some sense, but perhaps that is merely an academic discussion for a later date. There is certainly enough time for such discourse."
He then gets a somewhat far away look in his eyes, shimmering slightly, almost like an old CRT interrupted by electrical noise. When he regained some more semblance of incorporeality, he smiled and said, "Definitely another time."
Waving it off, he says, "In any case, I have you at a disadvantage Archon Brea, for I know your name, but you do not know mine. I am Commander Diedrick Wilhelm, Executive Officer of the experimental star ship Escape Velocity. Of course, when we first met, I was wearing a different face. Was in fact merely one memory amongst many. You called us Alraszi Mylis then."
I love learning. Teach me. I will listen.
You know, if Christian dogma included a ten-foot tall Jesus walking around in battle armor and smashing retarded cultists with a gaint mace, I might just convert - Noble Ire on Jesus smashing Scientologists
You know, if Christian dogma included a ten-foot tall Jesus walking around in battle armor and smashing retarded cultists with a gaint mace, I might just convert - Noble Ire on Jesus smashing Scientologists
(OOC - Forgot to include my two other envoy ships, and get their "Hello, anyone there?" posts done)
Crulmax
Crulmathi
Palace of Transcendence
Chuckling now, Archon Brea nodded in understanding. "Given the history of your people, that is certainly plausible. Was this your first form, before your people entered the rift?"
She shook her head. Curiosity seemed to emanate from her, though it was mostly restrained through calmness. "I apologize - that was rude. Forget I asked. I do have a thousand and one questions for you, and I am honored that you wished to speak to me again, Alraszi. I too am anxious to resume our conversation, but to change topics from last time to begin with - what happened to you, and your people, if you don't mind me asking? Additionally, what can I or my people do to help you, should you need or wish it?"
Outside of the Kingdom of Isdenestilom Space
At the command of Archon Fenoxa, his small envoy faded into realspace from the ether of hyperspace, sensors mapping and cataloging as they emerged, half a light-minute distant from the border proper. Shortly after the ships slowed to a stop, a greeting message was sent: "Greetings, denizens of the Kingdom of Isdenestilom. I am Archon Fenoxa, of the Golden Sky Combine, on a mission of peace and understanding between our peoples. We wish to discuss such things with you - we will wait at these coordinates for your answer."
Outside the borders of The Wanderers
Taking a deep breath, Archon Toloa ordered her ships to come out of hyperspace a full light-minute from the border of the space called home by the enigmatic people known as The Wanderers. She had only small amounts of information about them, but was determined to make the first contact between the two peoples a peaceful and beneficial one for all involved. She sent a greeting message, both through standard ship-borne channels, and through a telepathic calling: "People of The Wanderers, I wish you peace and harmony. I am Archon Toloa, of the Golden Sky Combine. I wish to meet with a sending of your people, so that we may discuss matters of peace and trade. I will remain at these coordinates for your reply."
Crulmax
Crulmathi
Palace of Transcendence
Chuckling now, Archon Brea nodded in understanding. "Given the history of your people, that is certainly plausible. Was this your first form, before your people entered the rift?"
She shook her head. Curiosity seemed to emanate from her, though it was mostly restrained through calmness. "I apologize - that was rude. Forget I asked. I do have a thousand and one questions for you, and I am honored that you wished to speak to me again, Alraszi. I too am anxious to resume our conversation, but to change topics from last time to begin with - what happened to you, and your people, if you don't mind me asking? Additionally, what can I or my people do to help you, should you need or wish it?"
Outside of the Kingdom of Isdenestilom Space
At the command of Archon Fenoxa, his small envoy faded into realspace from the ether of hyperspace, sensors mapping and cataloging as they emerged, half a light-minute distant from the border proper. Shortly after the ships slowed to a stop, a greeting message was sent: "Greetings, denizens of the Kingdom of Isdenestilom. I am Archon Fenoxa, of the Golden Sky Combine, on a mission of peace and understanding between our peoples. We wish to discuss such things with you - we will wait at these coordinates for your answer."
Outside the borders of The Wanderers
Taking a deep breath, Archon Toloa ordered her ships to come out of hyperspace a full light-minute from the border of the space called home by the enigmatic people known as The Wanderers. She had only small amounts of information about them, but was determined to make the first contact between the two peoples a peaceful and beneficial one for all involved. She sent a greeting message, both through standard ship-borne channels, and through a telepathic calling: "People of The Wanderers, I wish you peace and harmony. I am Archon Toloa, of the Golden Sky Combine. I wish to meet with a sending of your people, so that we may discuss matters of peace and trade. I will remain at these coordinates for your reply."
Last edited by rhoenix on 2007-08-30 06:52pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Academia Nut
- Sith Devotee
- Posts: 2598
- Joined: 2005-08-23 10:44pm
- Location: Edmonton, Alberta
Crulmax
Crulmathi
Palace of Transcendence
Chuckling, Alraszi/Diedrick says, "As so often as has happened throughout our history, we honestly do not know. Give us and our children a few decades and I am sure we will understand the whats and hows, if perhaps not the whys.
"For the moment though, I will explain to you, and dozens of others, what we do know. During the gathering of Elders in the Fortress of Infinty's End, a rift to the Outer Realm opened up, drawing us all within. What exactly caused this, we are not quite sure, but the leading theory is that the gathering of so many powerful individuals triggered the event by overstraining the fabric of the universe. In any event, we were sent tumbling into the chaotic, otherworldly place that spawned our species in the first place."
He pauses for a moment to allow a pained look cross his face and to regain his temporarily lost corporeality before saying, "As always, we adapted, changed, and 'evolved', to abuse the term. Instead of being torn apart by the place, we merged with it, completely shedding the physicality of this universe."
He held up a hand and lines began to appear in the air, describing various geometric shapes that began to grow fractally and twist weirdly.
"The human brain can be described at times in a crude fashion as a fractal tree folded in upon itself in three dimensions. The Straltoc brain is similar, but larger and more complex in its connections as neural tissue can also serve as muscle tissue in adults. For this new, fourth stage of life, tissue no longer has meaning, but our beings can be described of as an N-1 dimensional fractal folded in N dimensions, where N is some large number we are still trying to figure out."
A pained look crosses his face as he says, "Time and linearity has lost much meaning to us, yet it has still taken us quite some time to figure out how to project such avatars into the realms of our children. We are still learning our place in the multiverse. Only the sparks of life drawing upon the energies of the Outer Realm have kept us tethered to this place instead of retreating into our own dreamings. They are... they are as brief sparklings, warmer than the cold hiss of the stars to us. One day they shall fade away and we shall retreat from this place, content to our dreamings... but not today, as we now understand 'today'.
"Tomorrow we shall begin to manifest avatars as our children remember us, but today we practice with smaller forms, the images of the beings we once were. Thus Commander Wilhelm. My message to you is two fold. The first you have already heard, for while your people do not shine to us, we remember your curiosity and strength with sticking by your allies, so we felt you deserved to know what had happened along with our children. The second is that we ask you stick with our children. We wish to ensure that they are alive and sparkling within this plane of existence as long as possible, yet there are so many branches where they grow cold and quiet too soon."
Crulmathi
Palace of Transcendence
Chuckling, Alraszi/Diedrick says, "As so often as has happened throughout our history, we honestly do not know. Give us and our children a few decades and I am sure we will understand the whats and hows, if perhaps not the whys.
"For the moment though, I will explain to you, and dozens of others, what we do know. During the gathering of Elders in the Fortress of Infinty's End, a rift to the Outer Realm opened up, drawing us all within. What exactly caused this, we are not quite sure, but the leading theory is that the gathering of so many powerful individuals triggered the event by overstraining the fabric of the universe. In any event, we were sent tumbling into the chaotic, otherworldly place that spawned our species in the first place."
He pauses for a moment to allow a pained look cross his face and to regain his temporarily lost corporeality before saying, "As always, we adapted, changed, and 'evolved', to abuse the term. Instead of being torn apart by the place, we merged with it, completely shedding the physicality of this universe."
He held up a hand and lines began to appear in the air, describing various geometric shapes that began to grow fractally and twist weirdly.
"The human brain can be described at times in a crude fashion as a fractal tree folded in upon itself in three dimensions. The Straltoc brain is similar, but larger and more complex in its connections as neural tissue can also serve as muscle tissue in adults. For this new, fourth stage of life, tissue no longer has meaning, but our beings can be described of as an N-1 dimensional fractal folded in N dimensions, where N is some large number we are still trying to figure out."
A pained look crosses his face as he says, "Time and linearity has lost much meaning to us, yet it has still taken us quite some time to figure out how to project such avatars into the realms of our children. We are still learning our place in the multiverse. Only the sparks of life drawing upon the energies of the Outer Realm have kept us tethered to this place instead of retreating into our own dreamings. They are... they are as brief sparklings, warmer than the cold hiss of the stars to us. One day they shall fade away and we shall retreat from this place, content to our dreamings... but not today, as we now understand 'today'.
"Tomorrow we shall begin to manifest avatars as our children remember us, but today we practice with smaller forms, the images of the beings we once were. Thus Commander Wilhelm. My message to you is two fold. The first you have already heard, for while your people do not shine to us, we remember your curiosity and strength with sticking by your allies, so we felt you deserved to know what had happened along with our children. The second is that we ask you stick with our children. We wish to ensure that they are alive and sparkling within this plane of existence as long as possible, yet there are so many branches where they grow cold and quiet too soon."
I love learning. Teach me. I will listen.
You know, if Christian dogma included a ten-foot tall Jesus walking around in battle armor and smashing retarded cultists with a gaint mace, I might just convert - Noble Ire on Jesus smashing Scientologists
You know, if Christian dogma included a ten-foot tall Jesus walking around in battle armor and smashing retarded cultists with a gaint mace, I might just convert - Noble Ire on Jesus smashing Scientologists
Crulmax
Crulmathi
Palace of Transcendence
Nodding thoughfully, Archon Brea took a sip of her tea before replying with a wry smile. "I believe I have a small inkling of what you and your people might be going through, though not as much as I'd like. This transformation of your people began with your contact with the realm you have your other foot within, even now - ours began as obsessive tinkering with all aspects of knowledge, like children with a full chemistry set. We only truly began to understand the ramifications of what we did to ourselves those many years ago recently, during my absence. It has marked us irrevocably and blessed us, both at once."
At this, she seemed to be remembering something painful for a brief moment, before bringing herself back to the present. "I am deeply honored by your words, Alraszi, or Commander Wilhelm. Though I do not entirely understand what it is you mean by us not 'shining' to you, I stand by my earlier promise - our people will stand by yours, as you ask. Certain details of things should be discussed to ensure harmony - as always with politics - but we will treat your people as brethren."
Crulmathi
Palace of Transcendence
Nodding thoughfully, Archon Brea took a sip of her tea before replying with a wry smile. "I believe I have a small inkling of what you and your people might be going through, though not as much as I'd like. This transformation of your people began with your contact with the realm you have your other foot within, even now - ours began as obsessive tinkering with all aspects of knowledge, like children with a full chemistry set. We only truly began to understand the ramifications of what we did to ourselves those many years ago recently, during my absence. It has marked us irrevocably and blessed us, both at once."
At this, she seemed to be remembering something painful for a brief moment, before bringing herself back to the present. "I am deeply honored by your words, Alraszi, or Commander Wilhelm. Though I do not entirely understand what it is you mean by us not 'shining' to you, I stand by my earlier promise - our people will stand by yours, as you ask. Certain details of things should be discussed to ensure harmony - as always with politics - but we will treat your people as brethren."