[STGOD] Primary Story Thread

[Stormbringer]

A large passenger shuttle bearing Floater diplomatic codes dropped to the European Alliance meeting. The sleek craft glided slowly through the air. It was a short distance from the destination. It maneuvered slowly over the conference, waiting for the right instant.

The word came. Its transmitter warmed up and sent a final message.
________________________________________________

The aging bulk freighter drew into the Floater Cluster's cavernous docking bays. Its cargo holds were strangely empty for such a vessel. Inside was a very small, but very important cargo.

It sent one message only as it landed.

________________________________________________

No sooner had the words "Sic Semper Tyranus" died than both craft vanished in thermonuclear fireballs. Their crews and the men behind them had planned it well. Loss of lives and damage was incredible.

[weemadando]

ATTN: All ITA members.
From: ConglomoCorp PR.
Subject: Convoy.

A ConglomoCorp convoy consisting of 750 freighters and 300 escorts will be departing our systems today bound for a central distribution point in neutral space. We have enclosed a waypoint listing and hope that any unfortunate events can be curtailed. This shipment is intended for the ConglomoCorp restaurant stations in the area and any surpluses will be placed on the open market at 50% markdown.

Thankyou in advance for your cooperation.

[Cpt_Frank]

To: NBA members
From: OU CentCom
Re: Strike Force

Agreed. The ships should remain under their control until an emergency which requires the strike force is declared.

So, I guess we have an agreement then?

[Thirdfain]

Freewoman Alexandra Stephanopulous was so excited. In less then half an hour, she would be Lovebound Alexandra Stephanopulous. The chapel she had chosen was in the Cluster warehouse district, oddly enough, on a low-rent residential asteroid overlooking a spread kilometers wide of huge freighter hangers, massive cargo storage bays, and hollowed-out asteroids packed with goods waiting for shipping. Most people received their Binding at the temples and chapels around the garden district, overlooking the groves of spheretrees, and the green growths of the Floating Gardens of Zarathrustra. Not Alexandra- She had been a freighter crewwoman for years, and she had learned to love this view, lit by a million tiny lights, made spectacular by the clear view of the burn-out area beside the Cluster, were the warships and heavy liftes lit their torchdrives, springing into the depths of space on spectacular, kilometer-long lances of purple fire.

She smiled radiantly. The groom would be arriving any moment, and the ceremony would begin.

She was vaporized so quickly, she never even knew what hit her.
----------------------------------------------

The blast was a perfect sphere of white fire in the midst of the massive tangle of the Cluster, insignificant until you realised that the blast itself had consumed a cubic kilometer of the Cluster. Two million died.


ATTN: GENERAL FREECAST
FROM: UFR Department of Diplomacy and War
SUBJ: Kokand terrorist attacks

We are officially offering an award for the captureof the Kokander terrorists. We offer 1 billion Z$ for the capture of these monsters. If any of their officers or enlisted men can arrange to turn them in, we will offer them a full pardon and 3 billion Z$.

Half the reward will be given to those who can give us information leading to the death or capture of the terrorists.

[Alyrium Denryle]

ATTN: FLoater Republics
FROM: DE
RE: Relief efforts

We will immediatly send any relief ships we can spare. These attacks have spread our relief forces thin.

ATTN: All
FROM: DE
RE: Terrorists

We will also pay the price the Floaters listed in addition to the bounty the Foaters have placed.

ATTN: Asgard
FROM: DE State Department
RE: Terrorists

How many lost lives will it take? We are withdrawing ou agreement to turn them over to your custody if we capture them. Two million people just died alledgedly by their hand. That is not mutiny, that is not dissertion(sp) that is murder, not only murder but mass murder...that was an act of genocide on par with the actions of Nazi Germany on your homeworld. This will not be tolerated. The Floaters our are allies no our brothers and sisters.

If it was the Kodand terrorists who did this, we will not allow them to ever harm another life. They will be tried, and if found guilty, will spend the rest of their lives in a penal colony. To ensure the fairness of our courts, you will be welcome to attend the trial. And in the same courtroom prosecute them in a militry court.

[Pablo Sanchez]

If it was the Kodand terrorists who did this, we will not allow them to ever harm another life. They will be tried, and if found guilty, will spend the rest of their lives in a penal colony. To ensure the fairness of our courts, you will be welcome to attend the trial. And in the same courtroom prosecute them in a militry court.

OOC: Do you even have courts?

[Alyrium Denryle]

OOC: We do not need them for our own people. We have civil courts for disagreements, and a set of written laws for international relations including terrorism and war crimes etc. These include courts. Our laws are of course based on secular humanism and critical intelligence....so crimes commited by our people are...very rare.(yes it is my ideal society...shut up)

[Alyrium Denryle]

In the event that a Fel Theth causes objective harm to another sentient, theyare tried in the civil courts to determine guilt, using the same procedures as any criminal court. From there, the punishment is based on the nature of the crime, and the circumstances under which it is commited. Laws that are written for such things are too inflexible, and constrain the judges...judgment.

External affairs however are set in stone.

[Companion Cube]

OOC: Forgot to repost this, I sent a destroyer and some frigate to Hinesica (KSE mining colony in OA space) to help Darksider in case of attack.

[Straha]

Also Article Four would be worded differently, not including training together among other things, nor would the treaty include article two, that's for the ITA not for a Military Alliance.

Alright, so change article 2- how about reduced shipping taxes between alliance members

Again I point out that this is not a tradinng alliance, but a military alliance. We need to make sure that we do not make it necessary to include trade requirements in the upkeep of the treaty as that could cause much friction between us in case you ever need to raise taxes to supply your government.

As for the joint training, I think it is important for our fleets to train together. Floater admirals just don't know how to work alongside Roman admirals effectively, and joint fleet training would be important for a joint task force.

The article does not ask for, say, Monacoran combat training for all our troops.

I understand that we have to learn how to combine tactics in space combat, that's why we would have an admiral comanding a fleet, and manuevers to ensure proper co-hesion, same as on the ground. However training, teaching the crew of the ships how to work more efficently, should not be necessary unless they need it really badly, and then it should be done by their governing power not us..

Yes, we would like to continue this discussion, also I would like to point out that in the Formal treaty Article 3 is not going to be included because we not only have two other treaties on the subject, but we would not join any treaty as such because our last resort plans include using Bio and Chem weapons.

Most powers, including my own, are not signtories to the anti-WMD treaty. By including this clause in the treaty, it is assured that such destruction will not happen again. Note that you can still use your WMDs to smash an enemy planet's industry and military capabilities, you just can't conduct general bombardment.

Prehaps I did not make it clear enough, it has been our policy for centuries that if we ever were on the verge of annihalation we would release Chemical and Bio-Chemical weapons on the opposing force, and if necessary their population.

[Thirdfain]

I understand that we have to learn how to combine tactics in space combat, that's why we would have an admiral comanding a fleet, and manuevers to ensure proper co-hesion, same as on the ground. However training, teaching the crew of the ships how to work more efficently, should not be necessary unless they need it really badly, and then it should be done by their governing power not us..

I suppose I misworded. Joint maneuvers are what are needed.

Prehaps I did not make it clear enough, it has been our policy for centuries that if we ever were on the verge of annihalation we would release Chemical and Bio-Chemical weapons on the opposing force, and if necessary their population.

If you were brought to the verge of annihilation, it would mean that the alliance had been smashed, and it wouldn't matter anymore.

As long as the Alliance is intact, it will be the largest collection of military power (in terms of naval tonnage,ground numbers, and population number) in Known Space. Do not fear annihilation while the Systems Alliance stands.

[Darksider]

Onboard the Pride of Covelan, admiral connor spoke with the emperor via hologram transmission

"How bad was it?"

"Very bad, my old friend. First reports coming in state the death toll as two million"

Admiral connor had a look of shock on his face.

"Two million?"

"Yes. You are being deployed to assist the Floaters in the reconstruction efforts we have relief transports standing by at Kassion four, your job is to escort them over to the floater cluster"

"How many ships?"

"fifty transports, your ship, two destoyers, three cruisers and seven frigates."

"I'll depart as soon as i can"

[Beowulf]

From: The OU Dept. of State
To: the Floater Republics
Re: Recent terrorist attack

We would like to have a sample of the debris to analyze. We may be able to determine where the fissile material for the bomb came from.

[Beowulf]

Kali, OU military R&D base:

"Captain, I think I figured out the reason for the anomolously high energy release of our missiles when set to Explosive mode."

"Oh?"

"When the missile explodes, all the various subsystems in the missiles get destroyed too, right?"

"Yeah..."

"So what happens when the AMR* gets destroyed? The missile suddenly increases in mass a couple hundred fold, correct?"

"OK..."

"So, since the mass suddenly increases, and momentum must be conserved, the velocity has to go down. Since the velocity goes down, the kinetic energy also goes down. Now, the total energy has to remain the same, so where does the extra energy go? It turns into heat, which increases the explosive yield of the missile."

"You're a genius! You're going to get a promotion out of this!"


OOC:
*AMR - Apparent Mass reducer. Device which allows the missile to reach the high acceleration and final velocity that it does.

Also, this seems to apply to Star Trek as well...

[HemlockGrey]

ROMAN NEWSNET
BROADCAST FROM NAPLES
EMPEROR ROMULUS AUGUSTUS ANNOUNCES, 'THE SAND HAS RUN DOWN'

In a speech today to the Senate and Assembly, Emperor Romulus Augustus reassured the fears of the citizens of the empire. He spoke for over two hours, on the Reconstruction, on the fleet, and on future plans for Octavian defenses. Finally, he closed with this segment:

'And to the pirates and war criminals, the mutinious Kokander fleet that plagues our space, slaughtering innocents and soldiers alike, butchering men, woman, and children in their cowardly assaults- the sand has run down. No longer will we tolerate these attacks. I say to you, the people of Rome- two days hence, the Kokander fleet will surrender their ships and stand trial for their crimes- or they will cease to exist.'

[The Yosemite Bear]

---Deep Space---

the sight of the telepath sickened and disturbed admiriall Chall-Tang (Thresher of fury). It was most unbefitting, but then again, traveling 100 cycles under stasis, and operating under cloak the whole time, had also take a toll on him, Soon they would have enough information and would capture one of the animal's warships intact, with the more effeiciant FTL drives, then the Pride of Kzin would be able to strike not just throught one tiny wormhole but across the whole of the sector.

[Raptor 597]

MENSIA-DORIAN SEIZES THE NATION OF ANGANBAND
the Royal News Corps

The Mensia-Dorian Hegemony has finally united the brothers of those left mars to colonize space long ago. However, after the Hegemony's take over the cousin of the Regent, Valdes Alchemiad declared war aganist the MDH and began to fight a guerilla war when 6 frigates, 2 destroyers, and 1 light cruiser were captured from MDH Taskforce 10 at Anganband II. A war conference has been called and there has yet to be a statement from the government.

[Thirdfain]

ATTN: ITA Chancellorship
FROM: EFR Department of Diplomacy and War
SUBJ: Fleet reallocation

Due to the recent attack on the Cluster of Zarathrustra, URN elements assigned to defending trade lanes are being recalled, besides a force being sent to cover the ATJ Corp convoy later this month.

Our fleets are being consolidated and redeployed to begin a sector-wide search for the Kokander pirates, ans to provide protection for our colonies.

The lives of our people, our innocents, depend on it. As long as the Kokander terrorists operate, we must dedicate our military might to hunting them down. Every day they live, they bring more death ans destruction. This must stop.

We will return our forces to ITA protection duty as soon as the pirates are destroyed.

[The Yosemite Bear]

To The Floaters/DE
From: <Fenari Packs External Trade/Intellegence>
Re: Offer of Assistance

The Fenari External Intellegence corporations, would like to offer you assisstance, in pursuing these terrorists, who have attacked the Dens of your packs. While the Fenari are very "Spartan" in their treatment of their own children. they still hold this as an appaling assult to their "Laws of the Pack". The Fenari can not at this time provide any military support as all resources not being used for trade, ITASF, or Defense of the Wormhole Junction with the Patriachy are presently being used to facilitate repair/Upgrades of all Fenari Insustrial/Refining/Manufacturing facilities.

Additionally based on our knowledge of your basic transport design, we offer to replace for your two empires any merchant shipping lost. In the next year or so the Fenari Merchant marine should be able to handle that request with little or no problem. (Think WWII, building small merchant ships faster then U-boats can sink them.)

[Alyrium Denryle]

To The Floaters/DE
From: <Fenari Packs External Trade/Intellegence>
Re: Offer of Assistance

The Fenari External Intellegence corporations, would like to offer you assisstance, in pursuing these terrorists, who have attacked the Dens of your packs. While the Fenari are very "Spartan" in their treatment of their own children. they still hold this as an appaling assult to their "Laws of the Pack". The Fenari can not at this time provide any military support as all resources not being used for trade, ITASF, or Defense of the Wormhole Junction with the Patriachy are presently being used to facilitate repair/Upgrades of all Fenari Insustrial/Refining/Manufacturing facilities.

Additionally based on our knowledge of your basic transport design, we offer to replace for your two empires any merchant shipping lost. In the next year or so the Fenari Merchant marine should be able to handle that request with little or no problem. (Think WWII, building small merchant ships faster then U-boats can sink them.)

Thank you.

[Cpt_Frank]

From: President Li
To: Asgard
Subject: Navy

Since I will be gone for the next week (OOC: until the 6th), the PIR hereby transfers command of our fleet and army elements based within Asgard territory, to the Asgard.

[Alyrium Denryle]

The DE would also like to announce that it is recalling all ships not used in reconstruction of planetary defense, and they will be searching the sector for the Kokander terrorists.

OOC: Te ships I have dellegated to this, number around 200 SCF(think) And the bombers that accompany each of these are FTL apable.

[Alyrium Denryle]

Th curent draft of the alliance presents no problems to the DE. We will sign it when the minor details are hammered out.

[Stormbringer]

ATTN: Asgard
FROM: DE State Department
RE: Terrorists

How many lost lives will it take? We are withdrawing ou agreement to turn them over to your custody if we capture them. Two million people just died alledgedly by their hand. That is not mutiny, that is not dissertion(sp) that is murder, not only murder but mass murder...that was an act of genocide on par with the actions of Nazi Germany on your homeworld. This will not be tolerated. The Floaters our are allies no our brothers and sisters.

If it was the Kodand terrorists who did this, we will not allow them to ever harm another life. They will be tried, and if found guilty, will spend the rest of their lives in a penal colony. To ensure the fairness of our courts, you will be welcome to attend the trial. And in the same courtroom prosecute them in a militry court.

To: DE State Deparment, UFR Department of Diplomacy and War
From: Asgard Foriegn Office
Re: Attack

Firstly, we would like to offer our aid to the Floaters and all affected. We would like to do all that we can, should we be allowed.

Secondly, isn't it rather premature to blame the Kokand for this? The attacks were completely out of line with an attack by the Kokand forces. Both the method and means do not fit with those of the Kokand Guerillas.

They have onboard a hundreds of missle's which have warheads several orders of magnitude mopre powerful than the puny 25 kiloton weapons used? The missles are both more powerful and they have in ready supply rather than the crude, ineffective weapons used. Clearly you have overlooked such a critical clue.

And they used Floater secure diplomatic codes. Something the Kokand Guerillas have no possible way of obtaining. That alone sinks the theory that they are to blame. There is one group that potentially has both. The Krytos revolutionaries; their methodology also fits with the suicide attacks.

During the Roman War we lost a freighter bearing refined uranium from the OU. At the time we believed it was attacked by a Roman privateer (which it might have been, they were none too discrete in their hiring). When we found the wreck Krytosian weapons had been used. The same goes for the Floater transport recovered by the AIS Templar. The Floater diplomatic transport clearly lost to Krytosians and potentially containing codes such as those used.

We ask that a thourough and impartial investigation be undertaken. And we would hope you would accept the OU's offer of assistance in the investigation. Given the potential source of the material, it makes sense. Obviously you have overlooked a number of points, please do not rush to judgement.

[Stormbringer]

From: President Li
To: Asgard
Subject: Navy

Since I will be gone for the next week (OOC: until the 6th), the PIR hereby transfers command of our fleet and army elements based within Asgard territory, to the Asgard.

To: President Li
From: Asgard Admiralty, First Space Lord Danville
Re: Transfer of Command

Thank you for placing such trust in us. We will take the chance to engage in mutal exercises. We will transfer them back your command as soon as you return.