STGOD2 Main Story thread

justifier · Post by **justifier** » 2004-01-04 03:43am

Slothus IV:

With the help of commonwealth enginers the UUS Hero was redesigned as a 12.5 km long egg-shaped battleship.

Planned to include the following:
Hyper-space field generators(essential to CD-RoM style FTL)
Passive shield network
Refit sensor array
Second generation holocommunicator
Escape pods
2x Overlapped combat shield network
2x Plasma MACs
8x Duel railgun turrets
80x Shogun missile tubes
400x Point defense lasers
100x Planetary bombardment tubes
Triple sealed anti-matter self destruct
Living quarters/armory for 2000 O.D.D troops
2000 drop pods
Space for 20 dropships/contained APCS

Pablo Sanchez · Post by **Pablo Sanchez** » 2004-01-04 01:26pm

Kyle wrote:It was hoped that the initial strike would be so devestating that UTRN involvement would be minimal. Most profossional anval men thought otherwise.

No one knew what the Kzin planned yet. But that was usually the way with the patriarchy. They did as they pleased when it pelased them.

The Patriarchy's plan was somewhat different from the Terrans. The idea of going into combat in such a limit fashion and performing mainly tasks away from the front line was repellant to the psyche of a Hero. Three of the seven Black Prides were to be mobilized for combat in the Black Alliance, initially to aid their allies in the first punch, and then to envelope and overrun as much pirate territory in as short a time as possible.

Defense finances were not yet becoming strained for that fiscal year (the previous construction had been done with full attention paid to costs) but this mobilization had forced the Patriarchy to scrap plans for a second production run, at least temporarily. Between running a social welfare system good enough to keep the serfs relatively quiet, maintaining one of the strongest militaries in the galaxy, expanding the resource exploitation in new territories, and keeping taxes low enough that the market economy could survive, cash was always tight. Hopefully the expansion policy along the Norma Arm would begin to show some real profits soon.

Meanwhile, naval intelligence officers watching the Patriarchy were beginning to see scattered signs of an effort to produce a large class of ship, on the order of a dreadnought. The actual ship design bureaus were staffed by Kzin only and thus devilishly hard to penetrate (though rumors circulated that ratcats formerly from the old Atlantean Auxilia were inside). But when the naval yards put contacted free-market enterprises asking for designs and bids on non-combat systems sufficient for some very large warships, a conclusion wasn't too hard to make.

Pablo Sanchez · Post by **Pablo Sanchez** » 2004-01-04 01:48pm

phongn wrote:As they did so, the diplomatic envoys to each of the remaining fiefdoms returned to Nemesis Station and information exchanged. General Ambassador Nguyen then left for the Five Fangs, to a high-level and secret summit of the Entente -- with the proposal of Lord Andrews.

Speaker-for-the-Patriarch Mrrowlsst gave the official response of the Patriarch.

He said, "We find this proposal unacceptable; official recognition of a piratical federation in return for the very dubious prospect of a guarantee that they will not attack us. If they were an actual government which controlled a population of settled and industrious citizens, perhaps we would be more inclined to even consider the offer. As it is, their ability to control the actions of their auxilliary corsairs is unconfirmed, and I believe that this 'guarantee' from Andrews merely means that they will fly a different flag as they raid our shipping.

"On the other hand, in return for some concessions by this apparent 'Corsair Republic,' we would be willing to give consideration to their proposal. If Andrews would assist the Entente powers' anti-piracy efforts by granting us basing rights within his territories and an annual payment of ten percent of his government's gross income, the Patriarch would be persuaded of his sincerity in helping us combat the threat of 'independent' piracy."

Mrrowlsst's tail lashed in amusement at the counter-offer he had been handed from above. It had been designed to be unacceptable, of course...

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2004-01-04 02:53pm

"Four nations. I had not expected to merit such attention." A grim smile overcame Andrew's features as he considered the massive buildups. "It is clear the Kingdom was lying through their teeth and have no intent to seriously consider the offer. Honorless dogs, as expected."

Cold silence had filled the audience chamber. The intelligence pictures of the massing fleets had had their effect. They all knew that the Alliance had no chance even if united. The Republic would be even less of a speedbump.

Andrew continued. "The attacks on our territory will be swift. Our Psychopaths compare favorably with the other heavy warship designs of our foes, with the exception of the Sonoma. However, they will spread their heavies out, I expect, to prevent a focused attack on them. It appears there really is no way out of this except to evacuate."

The planetary leaders burst into noise now, but Andrews held up a hand. "We have little choice. Unless signs of reason appear among the Entente, this grand experiment is closed and we return to the ways of the pirate, once we resettle."

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-01-04 03:16pm

General Ambassador Nguyen was, as usual, stone-faced as he listened to Speaker-for-the-Patriarch Mrrowlsst, but the Kzin could see a twinkle in the old youma's eye. "The Corsair Republic would have kept their word, Mrrowlsst. Honor amongst thieves. And they will not accept this. A pity." Mrrowlsst could hear a tone of dissapointment ... but that damn twinkle in his eyes....

HMS Emancipator was once again assigned as a diplomatic courier vessel, much to the dismay of her captain. He could be doing quite a few other things, such as preparing for war, rather than babysitting a bunch of diplomats. The defenses around Umbar had improved -- far fewer holes in the defense line, now. But there was no need to alert them to this; the ship exited foldspace and awaited clearence into the system.

Lord Andrews was not pleased, seeing his latest intelligence reports, but he was a skilled politician and kept his game face on when General Ambassador Nguyen arrived. "Did you have any serious intention of averting war, Ambassador? My intelligence shows massive fleet buildups preparing to make their move against my people. My nation."

"The Kingdom had seriously considered your offer and was ready to accept it, perhaps with some other modifications of a minor nature to ensure ... compliance. Nothing major, of course, Lord Andrews. However, I do not speak for my Kingdom today, I speak for my Entente. The Kzinti Patriarch has demanded heavy concessions on the part of the Corsair Republic. In particular, they are demanding 10% of your Gross Domestic Product, paid annually and basing rights inside the Corsair Republic.

"I have managed to extract a concession on the part of the Patriarchy that the 10% will be used exclusively to fight pirate groups unaffiliated with your own. The Royal Bank of Enigma estimates that more than 10% of your GDP goes to crushing opposing pirate groups. You may indeed save some money. In addition, basing rights inside the Republic will be a boost to your local economy. We will also be able to contribute to your internal stability. "

What went unspoken was that as the Corsairs grew, they would spend much less than 10% on breaking the other groups -- a fixed tribute did not account for that. And basing rights would make them hostage to the Entente for however long they wished.

"Those are the final offers from the powers aligned with the Entente Cordial."

Andrews had a telepath attempting to scan Nguyen's mind, but it was closed to the psychic. But Andrews did not grow so powerful by being unperceptive; indeed, he did not see any trace of treachery on the youma's face. But it could also be faked, and he knew the opposite person was a master of it. Diplomacy demand it ...

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2004-01-04 03:46pm

"Ah, the Kzinti." Andrews nodded slowly. "As always, those who bray loudest of honor prove themselves to have none at all. Not unexpected. The Kingdom is pragmatic enough to know the losses will be painful. The Corporates know we would be good customers. The UTR.. Well. The Demil Zone means most of their shipping is off limits anyway. But always the Kzin. Their so-called 'Heroes' must think themselves brave for cajouling other nations into this."

Andrews seemed to be rambling again, barely connected with reality. "Worst of all, is the pity of what could have been. A pity that will be felt the most by the families of those who crew that cruiser you came in. Destroy it."

Without warning, the massive converted Fleet Tender swung around on it's axis, aligning with the Emancipator. It's axial superlaser spoke a symphony of energy, the red lance of power streaking through space and blasting the ship in half as it almost managed to avoid the hit.

"Displace the survivors and give them all the medical treatment they need. Keep them comfortable." Andrews added as the terrifying end to the cruiser was shown on the main screen.

Nyugen's eyebrows had raisec considerably. "Take us hostage?"

"Of course. I need bargaining chips to negotiate peace with the Triple Entente." Andrews said. "Triple, of course, because if there is to be peace, I must deal with the Kzinti. I wonder if they will screech for reinforcements.."

*******

Across the Corsair Republic and it's outlying neighbours, entire cities were Displaced. All that remained were massive craters with roads leading up to them. The pirates were evacuating.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-01-04 04:12pm

"Sector control bravo-alpha-two-four, this is listening post zero-gamma-eight. Superlaser transient detected in the Umbar System; transmission cessation from HMS Emancipator coincides with transient. Displacer events being tracked throughout the system. Reconnaisance attaches believe mass evacuation of the Alliance is in progress. "

CNO Calcite was unhappy about this turn in events; they had not expected the Alliance to move so quickly. Ah, well, it was time to interfere. "This is Warlock Station. Execute contingency Green-Golf-Four, varient Bravo. Disable the freighters only if possible. Commence primary offensive immediately."

At once, a vast portion of the Royal Navy activated their hyperfold drives and shattered the lightspeed barrier. Their destination: the former Black Alliance. Ships from allied powers too began their jump, but their slower drives meant that it would take longer for them ...

Thirdfain · Post by **Thirdfain** » 2004-01-04 05:13pm

FROM: Commonwealth Navy Command (Desjardins)
TO: Fleet Command Cygnus (Maharashtra)
SUBJ: Orders

-::-

Cygnus Fleet is to immediatly commence operations against the Grand Empire of Brisbane, as per battle plan 6/b.

Strike with speed and honor. Glory to the Commonwealth!

-: ENDTRANSMISSION :-

Pablo Sanchez · Post by **Pablo Sanchez** » 2004-01-04 06:39pm

SirNitram wrote:"Of course. I need bargaining chips to negotiate peace with the Triple Entente." Andrews said. "Triple, of course, because if there is to be peace, I must deal with the Kzinti. I wonder if they will screech for reinforcements.."

The three prepped Black Prides immediately leapt into hyperspace on their pre-calculated marks. They would hit Black Alliance space in a matter of hours, and hit it hard. The remaining four attack fleets, including the untried Seventh, were mobilized and set to patrol.

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2004-01-04 07:42pm

From the two primary fleet bases of the Corporate Sector, nearly seven hundred and fifty warships jumped to hyperspace. These ships had been pulled from the First and Second fleets to form a dedicated task force whose role was demolishing the former Black Alliance. The remaining portions of the First and Second fleets were carefully redistributed around the Corporate Sector to protect from any counterstrikes; planetary defenses all through the Sector were brought online, and many a Golan VII or Hirsch orbital defense platform were brought to full readiness.

The region of space surrounding the Corporate Sector had, of course, been hopelessly tangled by the gravity weapons employed by the Atlanteans in their invasion. So the fleet broke into smaller groups, vectoring along almost a hundred different hyperspace lanes towards the Black Alliance.

A little over a half an hour later, the CDFN arrived, shields up and guns at the ready. The largest group of them all, flagged by CDFS Vanguard herself, arrived at Umbar. It was a group almost fifty strong. And although weaker than her original specifications, Vanguard was no slouch. While she may have been build bereft of a thousand-odd turbolasers, their lack of load meant that the two hypermatter cores were free to power other systems. Such as the shields...

"We've located the superlaser platform," a sensor operator confirmed from the Vanguard's bridge. "As well as the remains of HMS Emancipator."

Admiral Harris glanced out the viewports at the former Black Alliance's home system. They had arrived with some element of surprise due to their close proximity, but it wasn't enough. The defenses had already been up when they had arrived, and already the former Alliance fleet was assuming formation.

"Target as many weapons as possible at the superlaser platform," Harris ordered. "Then send a broadcast demanding their surrender."

Pablo Sanchez · Post by **Pablo Sanchez** » 2004-01-04 08:20pm

Crayz9000 wrote:"Target as many weapons as possible at the superlaser platform," Harris ordered. "Then send a broadcast demanding their surrender."

The Kzin had hit hyperspace shortly before the CorpSec ships, but they had farther to travel. They arrived right on the heels of their allies, more than 550 line warships. Visually, the fleet could be described as nothing but ugly. The old dagger-shaped SRDC hulls had been heavily augmented and modified, the newer native designs had started out looking that way--totally utilitarian. It was ugly to sensors as well. The high-output gravity planers of the fleet scrambled and scattered scanning pictures just enough to make it hard to read, but not enough to hide the numbers and headings of the ships.

Seconds behind the bigger ships and the swarm of singleships disembarking the carriers, close to 800 little friends arrived. They were patrol corvettes, long range gunboats, and super-light carriers, normally used to search for smugglers and pirates. Now they were given different prey to hunt: Glory and death. They formed up into small squadrons and swiftly exited the system in all directions. It was phase one of the generic Kzin war plan. The light ships were cannon fodder and would probably just die, but during the transit to the creator they would keep the enemy off balance and reacting, and perhaps might even find undefended soft targets to hit. It wasn't difficult for even a small corvette to carry a gross of megaton-range "eggs," and the world's of the Black Alliance were not as well shielded as those of more "civilized" nations.

The Admiral of the Kzin Combined Fleet, Rrowl-Hssin, established contact with his allies from the Corporate Sector, but kept his fleet in a more or less dispersed formation. He had no large targets for the tender to shoot its main gun at, and he avoided clustering his smaller vessels.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-01-04 09:07pm

Her Majesty's Ship New Boston was one of the fleet's heavy cruisers, named after one of the larger colony worlds of Old Terra's Eight Wave. The Confederation's Expansion Era had absorbed it (more or less by gunpoint), but that had been long ago and now they were loyal citizens of the Crown.

The Royal Navy had dispersed, rapidly, to stop the massive evacuations being undertaken. They would take no pleasure in slaughtering billions of people -- even if they were mostly associated with pirate scum -- so they stuck by their orders. New Boston accelerated to maximum power as it closed the range, her heavy guns firing at the engineering section of the enemy Long Haul pinned against the planet. Her escorts were in a protective formation; the bombers already launched and on their torpedo runs. Enemy reinforcements were coming up to protect the evacuation transports, but the small taskforce should be able to disable the freighter before then...

It was a race, now, as RN and BA ships desperately fought, all the while as CorpSec and Kzinti forces massed over Umbar.

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2004-01-04 09:32pm

The fleets pinned in the Alliance offered no return fire, or transmissions. They simply exploded under fire. Those that attempted to board found empty, half-complete hulks. The superlaser-equipped 'Long Haul' simply broke in two, not even spilling atmosphere.

A ruse. Empty ships, battle-damaged or half-complete or a thousand other things, had been looted and left to delay the attackers. It would take mere seconds after the realization that there was no return fire, but it would leave the invaders realizing they had been thrown a bone..

******

A young officer reported to Andrews, somewhere above the Galactic Plane. "Seventy percent of our fleets escaped, though a number of ships in the outlying regions took damage from Kingdom warships. Initial reports, however, show the rest of the Entente did not even scan the decoy hulks we placed in orbit. We are safe for a little while longer."

"And what of our people..." Murmured Andrews.

"Some eighty percent of our population was evacuated, mostly aboard our Long Haul's. Food supplies will hold them out for several months before we need to resort to synthesis."

"It will have to do..." Andrew sighed. "Those colonies still in contact, give them orders to surrender to the first Kingdom vessel they can find on scanners. In the meantime, we must prepare our vengeance. The Kzinti seem to have thrown a large number of ships at our territory."

"I hope they like to play with Xenomorphs."

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2004-01-04 09:52pm

Admiral Harris sighed when the superlaser-equipped Long Haul cracked in two, not even venting gases. His mind raced as he tried to think along the same lines as the pirates... So they had already managed to evacuate. To where? Or more importantly, since it was clear that the bulk of the pirates' operational fleet had escaped, where had they escaped to?

"Signal task groups 15 to 25 to stand down and return to Deneb to reinforce the home fleets," he told a comm officer. "Then call in the salvage fleet. There's a lot of scrap metal here."

The rest of the Corporate Sector fleet, spread across the Black Alliance as they were, ceased firing on the abandoned ships and instead brought their sensor arrays to full power, searching the decoys for traps so that the salvage fleet would not have any rude surprises.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-01-04 10:00pm

"I trust your accomodations are sufficient?" Lord Andrews had just entered Nguyen's room. He knocked first, though both knew it a rather transparent offer of hospitality. "I do assure you that your people are being treated, those who survived, anyways," said Andrews.

"No doubt. And yes, the accomodations are fine. So, what have you come to discuss? If you're going to interrogate me, I suspect that you'll find me a harder nut to crack than you think. Buttering me up with a fine suite will not help you."

"No. Only to inform you that your little rescue party failed. Most of the Allianc and I are safely away."

"Most impressive, Lord Andrews. Or should I say Mr. Andrews? Quite difficult to be a Peer of the Realm when it no longer exists. Still, I must congratulate you. Your evacuation was superbly done. But you must have missed some, already. If I'm not mistaken, you've probably lost a quarter of your post-Trask fleet? Those losses you cannot easily make good, even with the captured shipyard.

"So. If I'm not mistaken, now that you're down and out, you'll attempt to take everyone else down with you. A fire raging across the galaxy, stopping only when it runs out of fuel. But I don't think you'll succeed. There are other forces at work here, forces working against chaos and for order. Things not dreamt in your philosophy, Andrews."

Pablo Sanchez · Post by **Pablo Sanchez** » 2004-01-04 10:11pm

No plan is ever perfect...

A thought bubbled to the top of the subject's head, and the telepath caught it. He was merely called Reader-of-Thoughts, for telepaths did not deserve the dignity of a hero's name. He was just a shabby-looking technician who served an important purpose. Right now, his sense of purpose was fading.

He hissed at the officer allocated to assist him, "Hypo..."

The officer had angry thoughts that he was being forced to spend so much time with a telepath. The thoughts snapped into focus as the sthondat blood extract flooded into Reader-of-Thoughts' bloodstream.

Stupid ugly telepath, why do I have to pull this duty all the time? he thought. The teep tuned him out and concentrated on the human.

Between bouts of excruciating headaches, the subject spent most of his time sweating and peeing himself. He was an officer in the Black Alliance navy--such as it was--but pirates could never get high marks for competence. A certain percentage of people always got captured in a full-on evacuation like this one, and when you employed disloyal privateers as your officers, then you couldn't be sure that they would take death before dishonor. This fellow had not committed suicide, and he had compromised everything. Little bits of the pirate population had been captured, but this was one of the very few ranking officer captured on the ground. Statistically, there were always a few...

Reader-of-Thoughts hit him again, full force. The monkeymeat was trying to frantically think of anything that would distract the telepath, but the Kzin was experienced and would not be so easy to trick. He pushed past the surface impressions and violated the subject's long-term memory. Thoughts flooded past, confusing and disjointed.

biological attack Aquarian Union hit the ratcats. Get home above the eliptic, they mumbled.

Reader-of-Thoughts focussed on the bit about the biological attack, Xenomorphs. That was all he got. Clearly this fellow was not too well informed. The telepath moved back to the thing about the eliptic.

Foggy images of an area highlighted on a galactic map appeared. It was a vague impression, but the best hint of location available. Get to new base above the eliptic, damn it hurts, what about my wife and kids? Oh shit, I'm monkeymeat!

The subject started to panic, but Reader-of-Thoughts felt he was close to what he needed. He siezed control. He needed coordinates, and after a moment he got them. Unfortunately, humans had ten fingers and Kzin had eight claws. Numerical systems of base ten versus base eight competed while the subject quietly expired of brain damage. Reader-of-Thoughts tried to get the numbers straight in his own mind, but the sthondat serum was fading and he was getting very tired and confused from his exertion. He gestured violently for a notepad, and when he finally got it he scratched out the numbers as best he could remember them.

He knew his conversion to base eight was probably inaccurate and he had forgotten the original numbers in the haze of post-reading fatigue. Anyway, the pirates would probably move by the time anyone could act, but who knew how close the coordinates might be? He began shaking as the serum finally ran completely down. He felt horrible, and now he would have to be debriefed by the Admiral. He felt worse...

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2004-01-04 10:18pm

phongn wrote:"So. If I'm not mistaken, now that you're down and out, you'll attempt to take everyone else down with you. A fire raging across the galaxy, stopping only when it runs out of fuel. But I don't think you'll succeed. There are other forces at work here, forces working against chaos and for order. Things not dreamt in your philosophy, Andrews."

"You misjudge me, Nyugen. I do not want civilization to come crumbling down, even if the so-called pillars of it destroyed the order I was creating. I spent two decades turning chaos to order in the Alliance.. While your friends have partially destroyed that, it does not mean I am going to turn to madness."

Andrews shrugged slowly. "You are correct. I cannot replenish my fleets, even repair will be straining me. Most of my supplies are going to the transplanted civilians. As for why you are being kept so well... I wish a witness. Someone to see what I do, for good or ill, for the survival of my people."

"So no. There will be no grand civil war. Only those who are responsible will suffer.. And those too stupid to stay out of other's business."

********

The BAS Turncoat had been masterfully handed off by the Commonwealth to the Alliance, but all the plans of uses for her were crumbling now. Her IFF beacon was changed out to mimic a true Commonwealth dreadnought, her weapons ensured to be the stock configuration.

And a suicide crew was assembled. None would be coming back, most likely. There was, of course, a plan for if they managed to escape. But they were going to rile the Kzinti, and that was a difficult task to walk away from. The crew was mostly slaves, driven to this mad mission by a love of home and a thirst for freedom, which was promised if they fought and the Republic was restored.

At 0400 local time, the BAS Turncoat, looking to sensors like the CNS Hathor, emerged from lightspeed over one of the Kzinti's largest industrial sectors outside of Five Fangs, and the dreadnought began to wreck havoc...

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-01-04 10:34pm

SirNitram wrote:Andrews shrugged slowly. "You are correct. I cannot replenish my fleets, even repair will be straining me. Most of my supplies are going to the transplanted civilians. As for why you are being kept so well... I wish a witness. Someone to see what I do, for good or ill, for the survival of my people."

"So no. There will be no grand civil war. Only those who are responsible will suffer.. And those too stupid to stay out of other's business."

"Civil War? Hah, you would not dare try such a thing, I know that. But a war that would sweep the galaxy, that is all too easy to do. Far too easy to do. You forget the alliance system that could easily spark your minor fire into a conflagration that would sweep the galaxy. And then the ashes have cooled and you remain, well, you will have Lordship over ruin.

And yes. You spent twenty years trying to fix your precious Black Alliance. Twenty years. Should I be impressed? I have spent millennia working for the order. Over four thousand years trying to stabilize civilization, only to see it wrecked time after time. Years of work, ruined in the span of four years when the planetoids came. Do not lecture me about work.

As for myself. I see you want a witness, and I doubt I have much choice over that. My people still in the bowels of this ship will almost certainly require compliance on my part, at least so much as I am not a traitor to the Crown. I have no wish for them to be given your tender mercies. So I will wait and record. And..."

With a fluid stroke a katana appeared from nowhere, startling Andrews. The blade swung out, and Andrews knew he would die, but it just thudded against his uniform. Not a cut, not even a bruise. And the blade ... it seemed to be glowing?

"A blade blessed by Serenity I herself. No, not the Queen I once served, someone more ancient and forgotten by most alive, but not all. It harms only those who are evil ... and it appears your soul has not been blackened yet. Take this."

A small dagger appeared, again out of nowhere. This was beginning to disturb Andrews -- what did that man have hidden on him? Sensors showed nothing when he arrived. Illicit sensors against an accredited diplomat. This one did not cut him either -- luckily for him, for he knew that the aged youma in front of him could easily kill him in the blink of an eye.

"This dagger I gift to you. If, by one day you find yourself cut on its blade, you will know that you have damned your soul."

Pablo Sanchez · Post by **Pablo Sanchez** » 2004-01-04 10:34pm

The Triad Head saw the events unfolding in his head, and they were shortly confirmed by his sources. It was fortuitous timing. He gave the go-ahead for Operation Calendar.

1. The attack did not take the Zodiac entirely by surprise, because they knew that the Triad Head was sneaking troops in. But they underestimated the scale of his endeavour, and his ability to hide his movements. By the time they realized their mistake, it was too late.

Their troops were magically endowed, to an extent, and tough in their own right, but they were hit by waves of Tao-using assassins before they could even begin to offer a response. Seemingly invulnerable, nearly invisible, and highly competent in the art of killing, they overwhelmed the Zodiac guards even as parts of that very organization turned on their former comrades. Even further, the Triad soldiers seemed too coordinated and confident to be real. An outside force was leading them on, improving their reactions, and at the same time dulling the abilities of the defenders.

The short war did not go undetected by the authorities, but openly acknowledging the hostile takeover of a criminal organization and fighting it with the police would mean admitting that the Zodiac had been allowed to survive--perhaps had even been supported by the government. No, this was a war for the shadows...

It was the middle of the night, but the Triad soldiers forced the Zodiac leaders to assemble anyway. Their leader, a Mongolian dressed as a monk, did the talking.

"Now, my friends... let us not be too full of pride. Perhaps you should have anticipated the duality of Gemini," he giggled and nodded at the inside man, "but what is done is done. Surrender to his ultimate authority now, save what is left of your organization, and the Triad will help you rebuild what was lost. Under our friend Gemini, you can move forward with us into more profitable days," he said, then waited for their response.

2. The chi line of Nguyen was not so bright as others that the Triad Head had seen, but he found it easily enough. It was another one that felt familiar. He had not brushed as closely to it as he had with the Venus Senshi (or rather, she had brushed with him), but he still knew it. He could locate Nguyen. He toyed with the idea of forwarding the information to the Kzin for a hefty fee, but he decided against it. It wasn't his style, and anyway it was better to have a potential enemy far away and the attention of the Royal Household focussed on him instead of the problem in their own sewer.

He whispered, "I can see you..." and broke the connection.

Pablo Sanchez · Post by **Pablo Sanchez** » 2004-01-04 10:54pm

SirNitram wrote:At 0400 local time, the BAS Turncoat, looking to sensors like the CNS Hathor, emerged from lightspeed over one of the Kzinti's largest industrial sectors outside of Five Fangs, and the dreadnought began to wreck havoc...

"Traitorous monkeys!" the defense station officer shrieked as he keyed the alert. Sensor information went to Five Fangs, a few light years away, but a fleet was already en route, and less than a minute away.

It hit the "Hathor" like a ton of bricks. Even the battleship gave no regard to caution, because that was the Kzin way. They got so close that they could actually see the other vessel and make out it's features as they fire bolt after bolt down it's gullet. The Kzin style had disadvantages, but it had other advantages as well. The Kzin ships were close enough to read the drive signature of the ship... and it didn't add up.

"It's not the Hathor!" the captain of a singleship called out over the comm, then he drove his little ship straight at the mocked up dreadnought. He was foolhardy and looking for a name, and hopefully he would get one. His ship's gun camera picked up footage from scarce kilometers away as he weaved between the fire from the defensive guns. Unlike most fighters, his ship could survive some point defense blows and still evade the bigger guns. He got away, by some fluke of the gods...

The dreadnought was outnumbered, outgunned, and outcrewed, and it gave up the ghost within a few minutes. There was confusion in the navy, because the disastrous rumors always fly faster than the good news, but however rash the Kzin looked on the outside, he was a very cold and wily predator within. The correct information was disseminated before anyone did anything... stupid...

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-01-04 10:57pm

Pablo Sanchez wrote:"Now, my friends... let us not be too full of pride. Perhaps you should have anticipated the duality of Gemini," he giggled and nodded at the inside man, "but what is done is done. Surrender to his ultimate authority now, save what is left of your organization, and the Triad will help you rebuild what was lost. Under our friend Gemini, you can move forward with us into more profitable days," he said, then waited for their response.

She wandered through the astral plane, the real plane and the matrix that defined the chi all at once. A physical and mental impossibility that could only be achieved by one who had transcended the mundane. The Zodiac had been...naive at the time. Fixed in their studies of the stars, they had neglected the other arts. The art of the chi was one they had neglected. They had also neglected that fact that words had power. Vast power. And they had spoken Words of such power incomphrehensible.

One had broken that. A demonstration would be made. One does not break an oath to her so easily. She grasped the lines of chi and fed her power into it.

The Triad's leader, monitoring the situation, bulged his eyes. The lines of chi for Gemini were vastly increasing. Such power! How? The man would be a match for him in raw power in moments at this rate.

The Zodiac too could sense something wrong, the stars shifting their destinies in a way not thought possible either. All turned to Gemini, and the hooded being screamed an unearthly cry as he was burned apart by the power. The flames consumed him but in a moment, horrifying all there and wondering what could do such a thing.

The remaining Zodiac felt a stern voice in their mind: "Remember the Oath. I grant you freedom of action -- but in the constraints of the Oath. Remember the Oath."

The head of the Triads was unaware of that, his perceptions limited to that of mere mortals, but he was instantly aware as someone tied his chi into an intricately-designed knot. It, in fact, resembled that of a giant caricature of a face, it's tongue sticking out. "Be wary of what you deal with, child." And the knot untied (not exactly pleasent, either).

He whispered, "I can see you..." and broke the connection.

Nguyen's meditations into the Astral had been interrupted by ... someone. Someone pulling on the lines of his chi. Who?

Post by **Alyrium Denryle** » 2004-01-04 11:00pm

UNN Special Report

"War has broken out btween the Black Alliance and the Triple Entente today..."

The news report droned in bringing news of the battles and casalty reports to the people of the Aquarian Union. President Carcarocles sat in his chair, hoping this war did not spread and that his recovering nation did not get caught in the crossfire.

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2004-01-04 11:09pm

This, is GNN.

Piracy Dropoff; Invasion Seen As Cause.

All across the Galaxy, pirate groups are abandoning their raiding and vanishing. Limited information is coming to us at this early time, but this massive exodus seems to have coincided with the Entente Cordial's invasion of the Black Alliance. Top analysts disagree as to the exact motives, but it seems definate that a connection exists between the two events.

Pablo Sanchez · Post by **Pablo Sanchez** » 2004-01-04 11:15pm

phongn wrote:The head of the Triads was unaware of that, his perceptions limited to that of mere mortals, but he was instantly aware as someone tied his chi into an intricately-designed knot. It, in fact, resembled that of a giant caricature of a face, it's tongue sticking out. "Be wary of what you deal with, child." And the knot untied (not exactly pleasent, either).

"Omnipotents can be so childish..." he mumbled as he tried to reorder himself. It hurt...

...a lot...

...but he had had worse things done to him at the hands of other senshi. He remembered Venus well.

ooc: you bastard... that was going to be a secret identity

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2004-01-04 11:39pm

Quite a distance away from the battle that raged inside of the Zodiac, Johan Ragle read through the information he'd gathered through a couple of clandestine sweeps in the fringe areas. Names, addresses, other mostly useless information... It had been as easy as using a holoshroud to walk into businesses, buy something trivial under an assumed name, and take a holocard.

Sometimes, he'd stop behind to root through the refuse. Most of the time he'd come out empty handed (although he had snagged a working food synthesizer, but that wasn't what he had been aiming for) but his real loot had come in one case, where he found discarded flimsiplast containing rather... personal information on some low-level scum.

He had, of course, been monitoring the Swiss account periodically in the meantime. But since the warning, it had been rather silent. No more warnings had come through it, which could have been either a good or a bad thing had Johan not received the initial warning. As such, he was playing the game as carefully as he could.

So it was that, sitting in front of him aboard the Lurker of the Shadows, was an array of vials containing various engineered viruses that, if ingested, would make subtle DNA modifications before expiring. Things such as changing hair color, altering eye color, other subtle things. There were other things that could not be accomplished by a virus, and that was what the nanomachines were for. They could re-work retinal patterns to match any pattern of the person's choosing, change fingerprints, or also modify DNA structures before self-destructing. Yet none of these were completely failure-proof.

Ragle glanced at the sheet of flimsiplast in front of him. The person whose identity he wished to assume, one Mr. Gene Wayne, was a mere errand man and courier for one of the nightclubs that operated under the auspices of the Triad. It could take a while, perhaps even years, for him to work his way up -- and there were probably many barriers along the way -- but if it worked, so be it.

He looked down at his arm, which at the moment appeared completely natural. It was, in fact, mostly natural with a few exceptions. It had been the most expensive artifical limb he'd ever purchased, at a whopping 110 kilocreds, but it was guaranteed for its purchase price to pass any existing security scanner undetected. A special alloy motor frame connected to a normal mount, and the outside of the limb could grow cloned flesh rather than cheap synthflesh. But most importantly, it had a hidden compartment where he could hide his lightsaber for when he needed it -- although it would be rather messy to get that compartment open.

The mercenary took one last look around his ship before programming the ship's slave-rig system to take it, via a circuitous route, to an uninhabited "safe" system, where it would await his return. Then he boarded a "borrowed" merchant freighter and left for Kzin space.

Somewhere over a week later, the merchant freighter dropped out of hyperspace in an independent system somewhat removed from the Patriarchy. He boarded a rather generic transport vessel there, donating the freighter to a local charity group (it was an old design and not worth much anyway).

When he arrived in the destination system, a small human-inhabited planet several hundred light-years from the Five Fangs, his first priority was finding out where this one Gene Wayne resided. A brief search (which was longer than he'd expected, since Wayne did not appear in any phone books) directed him at a small, crummy apartment/garage in the industrial sectors of the planet's main city. The local time was approximately five in the morning; Ragle took the public transport to the general vicinity of the garage and walked from there.

He knocked on the door.

"Go away," a muffled voice inside said. "It's too early."

Ragle knocked again, more forcefully this time. He heard some shuffling around inside, and Gene opened the door. When he saw the person standing on the doorstep, his mouth dropped in shock -- they were the same height, had the same hair color, the same eye color... and were even dressed similarly.

His shock was cut short as Ragle stepped forward, into the crummy apartment. "You will let me come in," the bounty hunter half-suggested, half-commanded.

"I'll let you come in," Gene repeated, blinking. As soon as Ragle was inside and the door was closed, Gene found that he had two powerful hands placed on his temples as if to crush his head. He wanted to scream for help, but found that he could not.

Johan forced himself to take a deep breath. He'd done this once before as a practice, and before that, in a freak transporter accident that he'd had when escaping from the NRMD, he'd inadvertently been stuck with the shadow of the mind of an alternate version of himself. But this time it was intentional.

He focused in the Force, boring through Gene's mind. Every memory, every mannerism, every secret was laid bare. In a sense, Johan became Gene, or one could say that Gene became Johan. Their two minds came to rest in Johan's head, while Gene's body, a lifeless husk, collapsed to the floor. Meanwhile, Johan reached down and took a sample of Gene's flesh, putting it into the small scanner that controlled the nanobots. After the bots had been reprogrammed adequately, he injected himself and walked over to a nearby mirror to watch the progress.

Bone structure slowly changed. Skin tones deepened. Fingerprints and retinal patterns were modified. In effect, Ragle looked as if he were a perfect clone of Gene.

But there were still more things to be done. Ragle delved into Gene's memories, which were now trapped in his head, and removed the memories of that morning's meeting. He then pulled out a compact, one-shot phaser, set it to maximum power, and disintegrated Gene's body. A faint cloud of carbon atoms floated to the floor; the phaser, spent, was self-destructed and disposed of.

After changing his clothing, Ragle lay down on top of Gene's bed and retreated. Moments later, Gene opened his eyes and listened to the alarm clock buzzing in his ear. He looked over and glanced at the clock, then shot bolt upright. "Shit, I'm late!"

Gene dashed out to his vehicle, a beaten-up clunker that probably ran better than it looked, fired it up, and sped off in the direction of his boss. Buried beneath the subconscious, Ragle would have smiled in amusement... but he was not in control of his body at the moment, even if he could regain control at a moment's notice. Right now, he was just along for the ride.

However long that would take.