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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 19:53:57 GMT
The Beginnings of the Future Part 1:
INCOMING MESSAGE: ----- MESSAGE BEGINS: --- "This is Admiral James Hargun of the Union of Worlds, I am speaking to all those who are in command of the various nations in the Ancerious Galaxy. I wish to invite you all to a Conference in the Mirach system about the potential future of Ancerious and whether we can work together for the benefit of all. This is a crucial turning point for all our nations histories here and I hope you all will turn up, while here we will discuss many scenarios and work out a plan to keep this galaxy away from the chaos that it is currently in. Together we can forge a brighter future. I hope to see you all here. Hargun Out" --- MESSAGE ENDS --- REPLY?---
Port Asur : SSC Space
The message which originated from the Union of words made its way across the cosmos finding its reception in one of many SSC communications arrays. Through the transient systems the message echoed as though it were some stray message from a time long past. Optronic systems relayed and translated the message repeatedly as it was sent from relay to relay, ricocheting in part off the face of the universe itself. Here it rattled about a well hidden communications relay masked within a navigationally difficult asteroid field. There it bounced about a massive parabolic dish that utilized a gas giant as part of its amplification matrix. Unwitting Military freighters were part of the chain as their systems bounced single packets of the communication data to specific portions of the relay with their normal communications traffic. The Message even passed through R.U.S.E. being scrutinized by intelligence specialists to verify its authenticity before its origin trace was nullified and the message was moved physically to its final point of arrival, the desk of the first prime himself.
The response was a natural one, but the quandary of just how to respond remained undetermined…what personnel to pick? What means of travel to use? What message needed to be sent back if any? It would take several days to hammer out the details of which the DHR was included in the conversation on how to respond. Soon enough the response was verified…and somewhere deep within the enclosed internal docking bays of Port Asur someone flipped the switch. Blue-green lights flickered on at first dimly illuminating the object in the bay just barely not unlike a fluorescent lighting tube near the end of its life span flickered at first not really illuminating anything. As the assembled personnel watched the object slowly took clearer form as the bay’s lighting flickered from the blue-green into to a blue-white colour that resembled ‘white’ led lighting. There it sat, silent and waiting for someone to awaken it, Smooth lines imparted elegance to the beast that lay within. Alabaster armour plate cut in curves and gentle slopes gave the object an almost living air as if those assembled were not looking at a thing but rather a creature. Dim blue lamps began to glow from darkened portions of the hull as the object was cycled through a power up phase from its long-standing rest. A final portion of the bays lighting flickered into life illuminating the object’s name. There it lay etched in letters some thirty feet tall across the bow, SCS Illuminary. All that was left was to finish preparations and receive the DHR delegation and the diplomatic mission to the Union’s Conference could begin. Amongst those present one individual looked on the vessel as though it were an old friend, posted as the lead SSC representative for the conference Imperator Enrico Hess couldn’t help but notice the unnerved expression on the Acting Captain’s face.
“Something on your mind Captain?”
“It’s just… I can’t shake the feeling it’s looking back at us.”
“That’s cause it is, there are many things about the process that are not imparted to the public.”
“What, the process of armouring, we know they come from living vessels.”
“More than that captain; the Illuminary out there was one of a limited run before the curing process, the ‘tusks’ gain a few inches yearly, she increases displacement by a few tons every so often. If this conference goes bad this is the ship to guarantee everyone comes home safe.”
“You don’t honestly suspect the union might….”
“It’s not the union we need to worry about is the reason for this meeting that’s the concern, but of course time will indeed tell. I’ve already sent a short confirmation to the Union that we will be attending and the details on our travelling group.
Obascio System: Tenebrae Space
The union sent signal spread Across the Territories of the Tenebrean empire, Meer thousands of light years away from the Union territories. A short distance on the cosmic scale. but still one that took time to transverse.
the Transmission was quickly intercepted by the Satellites and non-physical listening Posts and relay hubs of the Ancient and arcane communications grid that served the Tenebreans. Being relayed and bounced by the System from point to point. Relaying it almost immediately into the Sealed Imperial Channels. The entities that dwelt within the complex Grid Verifying the Transmissions Origin and Validity. it was not often that the union sent out signals on such a Wide range frequency, and most of them were quickly made aware of it across the Colony Territories, taking it off the public channels in short order. Still, time was required for the Entities to Pass the Transmission and the message it contained through the proper channels and secondary scans and phonic Translation Motions in order to confirm that it was Legitimate. Filing it away after confirming it, before channeling it through the correct routes to the imperial Sectors of the Exceion system deep in the core of The Tenebrean Territories. Appearing on Projected screens in the Communications Center of the Capitals Government structures. The Personnel manned their Taking note of the message, before Relaying it to both the Archives, as well as the chamber of The Colonial administrator.
Within his chamber, Xtopher sat silently, His Administrative class V.E.A. Unit Uplinked with the Calvaras throne like Interface with the Grid, as Outside, the Sun had begun to set on the nearly completely Recovered city. The wounds inflicted by the sneak attack of the immortal empire on the city and Ecosystem having nearly been healed and repaired.
Streams of Data and Holo Screens of information and readouts Projected around The Administrative-Caste Calvara in a matter akin to the Time streams projected around the Flux’s council of five, forming a pillar of data streams and links above his seated form. Both he and his Supporting Entity Covering major aspects and Operations within the Empire.
Politically, he was Aware of things. Requests and Organizations being made and Argued on by Colonial councils and Military movements’ and organizations made by the system commanders not long after the War against the IE began, And while him and the Central colonial Council could not interact with them all to a major degree as they came in.
They could still keep tabs and stay up to date with what was going on with very little effort. Taking vey little time to sort things out with the councils through their representatives in the capital.
When the Union Transmission came through. Appearing as a high priority message on a screen in front of him, he was slightly surprised. Tilting his metal skull in curiosity. Turning over the Data streams and Request files to his entity as he did. Opening the Stored file and accessing the Transmission. Listening to the Union commander as he addressed the nations, his words melded to the Codex by the Translation functions.
As he listened he smiled, his Lower jaw tilting back in the Calvarian equivalent of a Grin.
“So the union wants a meeting of the empires.” He said to himself. The entity around his shoulders diverting enough attention from its duties to look at the Screen as he did.
“Interesting… Excellent.” He said Before Going back to the Streams of Data for a moment, bringing up several project Files to check on their progress, as well as a Special Link stream that he had established with the Drake king Helios. Not long before departing from the Drakes World.
He had recalled in his conversation with the Royal, that it was a Priority of his to establish ties between his fledgling Territories and the other empires in Ancerious. For far greater reasons then most in the other empires possibly knew, he thought as he Sent a copy of the Transmission to the Drake on the Relay before closing it off again, Sending a Request to get back to him on the matter.
Every reason to notify him of this development, it was something that he and his people would likely want to take part in.
For a moment he sat, silent contemplating on the recent developments in the Galaxy. Before turning his attention to the dragon-like entity that still watched him silently from its perch round his armored shoulders.
“Contact Galvez and the Central council.” He said.
“Tell him to gather Proper representatives, We have a meeting of Empires to attend to.”
Dimensional Pocket: somewhere outside Drake Empire Space
It had been an average day for Helios as he sat on his throne and reviewed the messages and notes from the lords. Most of which were basic political issues where they needed Helios’ approval. Glacian wanted to reconstruct a tower which reached into Vortexean’s airspace. Terran wanted rights to tunnel and construct new homes for the earth drakes deeper below the city. Aquadie was arguing with Pyracian over the rights to the newest humans who had wandered through the portals and whether they should be water or fire drake. All of this was simple enough for Helios to sort out within the hour. Then he noticed a message from administrator Xtopher of the D.C.I.
Helios quickly read the message and smiled.
“Perfect.” Helios said to himself and summoned High queen Circe into the room.
“What do you need of me, brother?” Circe asked Helios.
“We have been called upon for something most interesting.” Helios replied. “Make arrangements, I shall summon the lords. we leave at once.”
Korhal: Adectu Space Aboard the Liberty “Admiral!”
Alexandür looks up from the city he was building, a room-sized hard light projector displaying the game he was playing. Jay stood in the doorway, grinning slightly. “What is it?”
“We’ve received an invitation, admiral. A conference is occurring, soon, and they want us to join them for it.”
“Any indication that it’s a trap?”
“Well, admiral, I would say it most definitely is.”
“Any way around it?”
“No, I think you’re going to have to be the one.”
“Can’t Cinaed go?!”
“No, he’s busy trying to get his fleet in order out here.”
“…” Alex sighs, and says, “I guess I can’t get around it. Fine, I’ll play politician. But don’t expect me to like it.”
“No, Alex, I know you far too well for that.” Jay grins, and Alex smiles back, and they begin discussing arrangements for leadership, and for travel.
“Should we bring gifts?”
“Just alcohol- that’s usually enough, to most people.”
Somewhere in space near the IE warzone
As the message from the Union's Admiral Hargun reached a currently undisclosed prowler position in position a few AUs outside of the first ancerious war's current warzone, General Reik of the carnaithian empire made a judgment call on whether to go or to stay here.
"Rictuld! where is your prowler? I need you to take command!" he yelled, making sure the Royal Guard got the message. "I need to go to an allied conference hosted by the union, I will be back when it's over. I will be expecting a SitRep"
"Roger that Reik, Will hold the fort.'
Minutes later, Reik departed with a handful of the Ozark III-A cruisers that were serving as picket defences around the prowler command areas.
Lux Prime: Eramon Space
The colonization of Lux Prime was going as expected and no problems have been encountered so far at the department of councils Union engineers had just set Up a communication array on the planet and it seemed to work fine. The Newly formed high council of the Eramon Empire was just on its way to a meeting in the Eldrani J.C.R.S as a massage popped up coming from Admiral James H.
He wanted the council members to come to the Conference in the Mirach system. The four council members of (military, science and technology, economical and civilian affairs) All agreed to visit the conference, For a novice nation it is nice to be able to talk about important issues that play in the Ancerious galaxy.
The waypoint of the Eramon high council shuttle had been adjusted to rally with a Union fleet vessel Also going to the conference in the Mirach system.
Terra System : DHR space
After some time D.H.R. Command would receive S.C.C.'s relay on the matter, and soon preparations would undergo. Though there was much debate, as there has been, for days on the matter. Without much of a unified reply from the higher ups Rotkappchen sighs looking over to Counsler Rowan, and Scissorkitty and suggest they just go anyway.
She was a black furred wolf like being with green eyes and dark to light hexi patterned outfit of various blues and occasional gold trimming. Her dark plume purple hair parting to one side. At her side was Her pet, a four legged dragon like beast with no wings. Her scales black like rowans fur and oddly, her eyes just as green. Curious. Then there was Scissorkitty a tall and very muscled felinoid being, not hyper by any means but she was very stocky and had tribal like tattoos along her hips and down her legs getting more detailed around her shin and calve area. Her predatory amber eyes glancing around.
Rowan would consult with Ambassador Rotkappchen over the issue as if reluctant to the trip, but in the end. She finally agrees. Rowan and kitty would load onto a shuttle with a Marine PSD platoon and dock onto an un announced member of the Bismark line. The massive ship then makes contact with SCC and arranges a meeting place outside DHR terra. Once they link up, they would venture off to see what this was all about.
Somewhere in Space: Coalition main Fleet
The Coalition had been informed of the meeting no doubt in advance, and... were suffice to say somewhat perturbed by the events. Not only was the civilian fleet displeased with the possibilities this would have on tariffs and trade restrictions... it also disturbed the Military Branch in it's possibilities for a combined 'allied' government that would attempt to force all other governments to follow it's lead or join.
Due to this, the Coalition deemed it necessary to launch a delegation to meet with the Delegates of the Allied Forces to voice their concerns and hear out the plans for this association. The CNSV "Trireme", a Gato Mk. X Stealth ship was tasked with carrying the delegation to the meeting point.
"I'm not sure how this is going to go... but it's well known that the nations being gathered are Hot-Heads. I think the only sensible one we can truly count on is the DHR. The SSC is a possibility, but with so many overlapping alliances and 'friendships' I don't want to rely on them." The shorter, slim Therion Matriarch who went by the name 'Vech' remarked, in the Trireme's main meeting room. The Gadzu beside her nodded quietly, her arms crossed; "I'll agree with that, beyond this... so many delegates in one place is a definitely good target. Just one of the Delegates could see this as an easy way to knock out opposition." The Matriarch nodded and motioned to one of her Thrall; "Coeth, make sure your prepared for anything." The burly male nodded with a slight bow; "Of course M'lady."
The Stealth ship continued cruising towards the meeting point, tensions were high across the board. The gato kept its units in close proximity, the RRF prepping in the troop bay as the Delegates dressed up in their best clothes.
Nocturne System: Mars Empire Space Deep in mars empire controlled space the signal from the union of worlds was intercepted by many of the empire's communication and listening post located throughout the controlled space. They nearly all forward the message to the central communications centre for the entire sector where the message was viewed and inspected for any hidden messages by many analyst. Once the message was confirmed to be authentic it was then forward to the throne where Lord Order as well as General Templar reviewed the message. General Templar reviewed the message and said " Seams that the union of worlds might have made an ideal opportunity for your plans to have a greater success chance my lord." Order going through the message looked to Templar and several holograms appeared in front of him as he replied "It seems so indeed General however peace is something that is extremely difficult to make between empires. Each one having their own ideals and cultures however this does provide a perfect opportunity to put my plans to work." The holograms changed as Templar walked up to order and asked "Who will you send to represent your empire my lord?" Order looking at the different holograms for several minutes before saying "Send ambassador Drogon as well as yourself general." Order waved templar to move towards him and without hesitation templar walked up to where he was in front of order himself. Order then handed general templar a small device while saying "Use this when the time is right and it shall show my plan to the empires." Templar nodded his head and said "As you command my lord so shall it be." He then began walking towards the door when order called out "And general do not allow your anger for the politicians control you. They are merely people who act on words not actions." General Templar laughed slightly and said "As you wish my lord." and walked out of order's throne room. Templar was followed by two of order's royal guards as he made his way to his personal warship. Once there his ship began to make its way to pick up Ambassador Drogan on the farthest planet just on the edge of empire controlled space. Templar's ship as well as the escort ships then began to make their way past the massive defences that separated mars empire space from the rest of the sector. The massive cannons and hyperspace inhibitors and fleets and squadrons of ships that stood guard moved apart in front of Templar's ship and his escort ships giving them a clear path to go through. The opening then closed shut once the ships past and then made the jump to hyperspace to the Mirach system.
High Orbit over the Veil: Nex Space, On board the Might of Nexus
Laramar looked up as the transmission ended a stony grin on his face. He looked up at the small bridge crew. Each face turned to him, questioning their course of action. “It is a momentous occasion that all allied forces shall mass in one place for such a great cause. We will answer the hails of our ally and we shall assist them towards their goal of peace and maintain such peace. We will fight against our enemies and the enemies of our allies and forge this galaxy anew, based upon peace and justice. Plot in a course for the Mirach system, our allies will not only see our readiness to help but also the beauty and power of the Might of Nexus. Today we work to forge a better future, and bring peace to this new place!” “Understood my lord” the crew replied in unison and the colossal ship began to move out on a mission of peace as opposed to war.
Karvoskaya Military Fortress System: IRS Space Haphen sighed, this day had been long and he still had many hours to go before he could finally relax. Normally over the past months his desk had been filled with various reports on the what was now being called 'The First Ancerious War' of all the movements and actions of the various nations involved, monitoring them for any sign of an attack on the IRS. Now the war had calmed down to halt with all sides getting ready for another round the IRS high command had deemed the subject a low class matter. And now Haphen was back to the grind of daily politics... He was just filing another civil report when an aid walked in "We just picked up a message from Union Admiral Hargun Sir" The man said holding out a data slate. Haphen nodded and started to play the message, he was intrigued and smiled "Get my ship ready, I will be going to the Mirach system. Seems like we have a conference to go to" Haphen said a little relieved to be leaving the burocracy behind. The aid saluted "Yes sir" and left quickly. Haphen turned to the window and looked out across the city "A potential peace conference... Finally we are getting somewhere" Haphen boarded his ship the R.N.S Tapper and sat in the captains seat, he had a few other ships as escort but he felt fine, he knew the Union and knew there would be no trickery involved "All hands... Prepare to jump, our destination is the Union capital system Mirach. On my mark.... Jump!"
Bridge of the Sova Kol: Trinovan space "Now what I still don't understand is how they could blast though our shields that efficiently..." King William says to a leading member of Trinova's QuantumTech Industries on the comm line, his sentence interrupted by an incoming transmission. "Hold on a second," The king says, picking up the transmission on the bridge screen. As the message plays, William looks at Kristopher. Both of them converse telepathically for a moment and decide what must be done.
King William begins recording of a message to send back to those who sent the invitation to come to their meeting. "The Kingdom of Trinova has received your invitation. In light of recent events, we have decided to accept your offer. The Sova Kol will make all haste to your system, along with five Harbinger-class Escort Destroyers. King William out," He says, sending the recording.
"Once the Harbingers are assembled, set course for the system that the invitation originated from," William orders his pilot, who simply nods and goes about the preparations. "What about me?" Kristopher asks, sensing his brother has something else in mind than having Kristopher by his side at the proceedings. "You are to beam down before we depart. I hereby appoint you acting governor in my absence," William says to his brother. "Thank you, my liege," Kristopher replies. The pilot turns around and confirms that all the escort craft are assembled. William and Kristopher salute each other as Kristopher's body is engulfed in the light of the linear transporter, sending him back down to the surface of Azirah II. "All power to the phase drive, we depart immediately," William says to the pilot as he takes his seat. "Aye, my king," The pilot replies, commencing with his sovereign's orders.
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 20:00:19 GMT
Union High command Orbital: Mirach system: Union space
Hargun stood at the main viewing window on the Union High command orbital over Mirach Prime, beside him stood Captain Volkus and Captain Lydia, two of his high ranking officers. "Today is a momentous day my friends, the Union will help change this galaxy for the better, watch and learn, you are both my prodigies" Hargun said without looking at either, the redheaded Lydia merely nodded but volkus smiled "Then lets hope you don’t muck things up old friend" Hargun turned to Volkus and laughed "Just do your jobs and help the ambassadors and reps land safely, and make sure no funny businessmen happens, I'm guessing they suspect a trap but we have nothing to hide to them. All 3 of them looked up to see a message appear on the viewing glass "Sir we have multiple in bound jump signals coming in system" Hargun smiled "Many have come, today we shall forge a better tomorrow, now come we have work to do, once you have got them all in the hangar bay safely meet me there I will address the masses and then we shall begin the conference" All 3 saluted to each other and Lydia and Volkus walked off, Hargun took one quick look outside and smiled before walking off to the hangar bay to await the guests.
Aboard the CIGO Prowler: Mirach system Union space
Reik arrived in the CIGO prowler, four Orion VI-As in tow, and they immediately started sending off friendly IFF signals. the battleships held their ground, waiting for clearance, as Reik and the Prowler disengaged stealth systems and flew closer to the planet, some Union Firestorms pulling in close for escort.
Reik noticed the other jump-in blips and commented; "Hargun must have sent out a galaxy-wide message, huh? I wonder how many empires are here... in any case, this will be a major attraction for attack"
"I would agree sir" one of the techs on the corvette-sized ship answered
The Prowler, being small enough to dock at a small docking bridge, requested they did so and gained a spot in close proximity to the hangar where other delegates would-and probably were- be docking at. Reik exited the craft with only two CIGO agents, knowing the station was well secured. They walked down the hall which led to a door on the same level as the bay. Looking up, they saw Hargun on the podium.
Aboard the Sova Kol: Mirach System Union space
Several blue lights appear in space above Mirach Prime, materializing into the form of six Trinovan ships. The Sova Kol, grand flagship of the Trinovan Kingdom, and five Guardian-class Trinovan Destroyers appear out of phase space, establishing high orbit around the planet. "Orbit established, my liege," The pilot says to King William, who sits in the captain's chair of the bridge.
The Trinovan flagship follows the Union's escorts and docks at the hangar, King William denying a request for Trinovan security to escort him to the meeting. He touches the Spear of Destiny to the blue crystal on his wrist, making it disappear into energy storage. He senses that weapons and security will not be needed in this place. William walks the path down the hall to the hangar bay and stands next to the representative from Carnaith as he waits for the other delegates to arrive.
Port Asur: SSC Space
An incalculable number of maneuvering thrusters carefully nudged the Illuminary free of her berth within Port Asur. The move was almost an art form, a gentle tapping of the thrusters here, then there all in forward anticipation of the existing obstacles and other craft going about their daily business partly oblivious to the Illuminary’s slow maneuvers. The vessel crept towards an opened bay door through which the flickering darkness of space could be seen albeit slightly illuminated by the distant glare of a planetary body. Within minutes the Illuminary was outside and making a calculated turn the First destination was a designated rendezvous with the vessel selected as an envoy from the DHR and then, a joint trip to the destination region of the conference, a place called Mirach. It could have been called a momentous occasion; definitely the subject of great press had the press been told of it in advance. As it stood Press outlets such as Rothera were appraised only when calls came in claiming that the Illuminary was actually moving under her own power in the space lanes. But as the press mobilized the vessel of legend mostly in the debate of if or if not it existed had already disappeared into the clutches of hyperspace travel.
The trip itself across the myriad sectors and around countless astronomical features was surprisingly quiet and uneventful. For most aboard they barely knew the ship was moving; only those about the power cores felt any noticeable vibration or the minute effects of inertia and even then it was far more dampened then on other vessels. The emergence was no less smooth then the entrance to father than light travel as the ship entered the target rendezvous point to find the DHR’s own emissary waiting already just off the systems Nadir point. At first sensors didn’t quite identify the vessel instead categorizing it as several other vessels in part, sum or whole before Enrico himself saved the bridge crew the trouble.
“That is W-359, she’s a lot like us…the population has no idea she exists and of course a work quite far along in progress. Captain at your ready you can signal them and inform them we’re ready if they are…”
As the Illuminary slowed and banked gently to arrive on station beside the DHR vessel the two exchanged communications and information regarding the destination and nature of the meeting. More or less a final formalization of what the mission was, the two vessels were more or less symbolic, it wasn’t often nations sent out their flagships to conferences however this was important enough to warrant it. After some final calculations for navigation were made, and maneuvering completed to avoid any field effect entanglement the two vessels, the pride of two nations leapt into the void between the stars and made the trip across the face of the galaxy towards Mirach. Sometime later the two emerged at their destination; W-359 arrived first with the usual fanfare of hyper drive appearing in a burst of energy on the electro-magnetic and infrared. Milliseconds later as if in polar opposite suddenly the Illuminary emerged from her transit by merely flickering into existence without any announcing energy emissions save for the sudden change in local gravity fields. Once the confirmations of landing coordinates and such were completed the Illuminary launched a smaller flagged diplomatic vessel, too big to be a shuttle but too small to be a drop ship. The small vessel was more or less an especially large shuttle, typically referred to as a captain’s yacht for its accommodations followed the directives of traffic control as it neared its destination landing wherever directed.
Kui Xui system: DHR space
The large white bismark class would finally leave dock in the Kui Xui star system, where it had been secretly been held in military star port for a month in preparations safety from prying civilian eyes. It starts to reverse slowly as it then starts to angle to the side to bring its front to aim at the northern part of the galaxy. Power systems starting to charge up. Soon, a countdown begins. A massive flash of light and suddenly the ship was no more. then... Somewhere out in space.... W-359 suddenly appears in an un charted star system before setting a course to approach and cost along right next to a SCC vessel while they recharge there jump drive. A coded Allied communications burst spiking towards there counterpart as it drew near. The two large ships would stick together for the remainder of the journey. Passive and active sensors start to soak up the enviro and everything in it along the vast EM spectrum as it starts to aim itself.
After some conversing between the white bismark class and the escorts, the ship powers up its FTL and heads for the designated meeting place. Suddenly appearing over head of the possible other ships from various nations gathering at different places in the * air space * Counselor Rowan, Scissor Kitty, and her security detail make there way to the shuttle. Rowan grumps a bit as she looks one last time at the screen, then to a mirror as she adjusts her outfit. A bit different then normal, more of a business suit seeing not much was known about the other cultures" Bloody S.C.C. I blame them for having me sent here, i really do not trust so called meeting. But, to late to leave without hearing what they have to say now i suppose. "she thinks out loud a bit frumpled as she looks back to scissor kitty as she stands there with her arms crossed. She was wearing a sort of high tech body suit with an interesting combat belt where a new sort of PSU was attached, developed straight from the Din system.
After a moment scissor kitty shrugs, uncertain of it all herself as they both leave and head down the hall t words the shuttle bay. A strange looking brickish craft of large size and wings with internal repsulser rod matting inside glides on in. The high rearward cockpit with strange sensor works propped up behind it completing the strange design. It fly s over choosing a corner nearest the exit and comes to a landing. Counsler rowan soon departs and looks around crossing her arms and decidingly waiting for SCC to land.
Aboard the Might of Nexus: Mirach system Union space
The Might of Nexus appeared at the edge of system, glistening in the light of the distant sun. “All systems functioning correctly my lord” one of the crew stated as the ship began to move in system. “Excellent” Laramar proclaimed looking out at the Union system. “Take us towards the orbital but take heed of the smaller ships, wouldn’t do to crash into our allies!” The Might of Nexus made its way towards the orbital, slowing every now and then to allow the smaller ships in system to dart out of the way. It began to slow as it neared the orbital, allowing itself a relative distance so as to allow other ships to maneuver towards the orbital or other destinations. Laramar looked out at the orbital and some nearby ships whose markings he did not recognise. “Ah more allies of the Union” He boomed his voice near echoing such was its volume. “It will be good to finally meet the others who wish for peace!” With a final glance out, Laramar turned and walked towards one of the hangar bays upon the ship. Such was its size the Might of Nexus could not get close, let alone dock with the orbital and so a shuttle would be sent towards the hangar indicated by transmissions from Union control. Laramar stepped into the shuttle ready for him, gave a last nod to his crew, and began the journey to the orbital. As the shuttle left the ship a wing of Union Firestorms formed up around it to escort it to the correct hangar. At the last moment, the fighters broke off in a graceful maneuver and the shuttle entered the hanger, before reducing speed and touching down gently upon the deck. Laramar strode from the shuttle looking at the others gathered in the hanger, towering over any currently there. He still did not understand this human custom of ‘hand shaking’ but did so, greeting the other delegates with as much tact as a 9 foot crystalline being could, then stepped away, and took his place amongst the delegates, waiting for the others to arrive and the conference to begin.
Mirach Prime: Union Space
Alexanduer was usually a fairly impatient man. It was in his nature, all things considered, and few people could blame him. But it was unfortunate that none of that impatience showed through at this point. These were the musings of the Admiral's aide, Jay, as he sat aside him, while he thumbed through page after page of drinks. He settled finally on an emotional relaxing drug, which gently altered mental state to cause people to, in colloquial terms, chill out. "Are you done now, Admiral?" "You sound impatient, Jay. You can't rush a choice like that." "You can when your uniform's not set and we're about to Emerge." "Oh, relax." He glances down at the vacsuit he wears, and within moments, the colours shift from gunmetal gray to a combination of elegant blacks and whites, with the flag of the Adectu across one breast, and a scrolling display of a considerable haul of ribbons and awards on the other. On each shoulder gleams a single row of four golden stars, and seams of gold run down each arm and down his legs. He runs his hand through his hair, winks at his aide, and says, "Simple." The Liberty, his flagship, arrived followed by two Carriers and three battleships, all with volunteer crews. Despite his assumptions and reassurances, he was sure to bring enough ships to cover each other. The pilots of the fighters had volunteered personally to provide a screen should the capital ships need to retreat. The Liberty alone approaches, circling around the massive bulk of the Nexus, and avoiding the other ships, being guided directly into a place where they were able to hold, the singularity which yanked the ship along in its wake disappearing, a small shuttle detaching itself from the bulk of the larger- though still small, in the scheme of this gathering- ship. Alex sits aboard the shuttle, his aide at his side, and as they exit into the room, he looks up to the podium, and mutters, "I can't imagine this'll be exciting, as momentous and important as it is." Jay stares at him, and says, "Don't say that aloud, Admiral. Be more polite."
Mirach System: Union space
The shuttle of the Eramon council had Just rallied with a Union vessel Also going to the conference in the Mirach system. The shuttle was asked to dock inside the vessel, because it was crossing a potentially dangerous warzone. After all the shuttle hadn’t had enough fuel to go to Mirach Or a proper defensive systems against pirates raids.
Aboard the Union vessel a gentle man showed the councillors all the facilities the Vessel had to over, The Eramon councillors where just finishing the tour When an intercom gently said that the vessel was entering Mirach Prime territory. The tour leader asked the Eramon councillors to go to the shuttle bay as the Vessel was just entering the Mirach system. The shuttle was refuelled and ready to go.
The harbour docking positions where given Once the shuttle was in range of the coordination tower at Mirach Prime, a special docking terminals for civilian use was selected since the shuttle was quite small, After all it only had to transport four councillors.
Once there the councillors used a special device that enabled them to teleport to a given location at the meeting point that had been reserved for the Eramon councillors.
The teleportation did go successfully and they saw Hargun on a podium. The councillors said (telepathically) to an informant next to Hargun that they had arrived. The informant quickly responded and told Hargun the massage.
Mirach System edge: Union Space
Haphen watched as his ship jumped into the Mirach system, he stood up and smiled "So this is the Unions capital here... Very nice" He sat back down and was alerted by a proximity alarm but it died down as the ensign replied "Sir two Union escorts are coming on either side of us, we are receiving co ordinates to the docking area" Haphen nodded "Proceed" The R.N.S Tapper followed in the two Union escorts and as they got close to the Orbital Haphen gasped "That’s a Starship?" He said as ove the horizon of the planets orbit a huge crystal ship appeared "Lets hope they don’t do anything bad..." The Tapper navigated around the monumental ship and a load of other ships. it came in close and proceeded to dock with the command orbital, Haphen straightened his uniform and walked down the access corridor to find two Union marines, they gestured for him to follow them and he nodded. After a small bit of walking Haphen and some of his aids came to a large hangar bay. At the head of it he could see Admiral Hargun at a podium. He could also see many representatives of different nations, he could see the Carnaith General Reik talking to what appeared to be a young man in elaborate cloths with a blue and gold colour. He could also see others talking and many here he didn’t know, he was surprised when a huge crystalline man came up to him and offered his hand Haphen a little stunned shook it. "Your the owner of the ship outside?" Haphen asked The massive being nodded Haphen smiled "I’m the rep for the IRS nice to meet you..." Haphen then started to casual talk like the rest of the waiting reps before the conference started, he guessed there were more guests to come.
Outskirts of Union space
The Coalition's vessel, the CSV Trireme, entered the system under standard Gravitic drive. It had dropped out of slipspace nearly an AU outside of the furthest planet under full stealth and cruised languidly into the system... approaching what they deemed as the system's outer defensive rim... they began lowering the stealth systems bit by bit until the ship finally lowered it's LIDAR screen, becoming visual to the world. The Gato Mark X was one of the best Coalition Stealth ships there was, the very fact that the Coalition was letting one be revealed to the sensors of all the factions here was a wonder and a testament to how they were attempting to be trustworthy and open.
The cruiser scale stealth ship continued cruising into the system displaying the standard Coalition IFF that was used by the dozens of Coalition Escorts and Patrols that no doubt cruised the spaceways of Myric's realm escorting convoys or patrolling the space of the Coalition's trade stations. Inside of the ship, work was being made to bring the ship's Humpback into operation. The old Humpback was older than most of the Coalition personnel onboard the vessel... older than them and their fathers combined.
As the 'tiny' cruiser slipped into the system, it did it's best to keep it's own scans of the area discreet... But they could only do so much to hide the outright sensor sweeps of everything they passed, working to learn everything they could about the factions that had entered the system before they. Cruising towards the immense Crystalline ship the Gato's crew took it in stride, the Captain ordering the Gato to take up station almost against the Crystalline ship. If a faction was going to build a wall, they were going to hide behind it for cover.
Finally, the old Humpback grumbled to life and the Coalition Delegated gathered. The Lead Delegate, Matriarch Vech of the Therion Minarchy observed the group. A pair of short, stout Teruvians wearing standard Operational Dress Kakhis stood nearby chatting idly amongst themselves... the short, brightly coloured lizards were barely four feet tall and were commenting about the designs of the vessels they had witnessed while inbound.
Two more Delegates entered the drop-bay, it was the Gadzu and Sutfein delegates. The Eight foot tall Gadzu was fussing over her carefully tailored suit and trying desperately to get the zipper of the blouse up to secure her bust. The Sutfein was chuckling, the thirteen foot tall four-armed naga dressed out in a dress uniform that kept things 'secure' without flaunting like her Gadzu companion. The Gadzu and Sutfein were said to have come from the same planet long ago. Both were pirates and mercenaries before their small populations had been forced to join the Coalition due to the IDI advance.
The gentle smell of soot and heat assaulted the Matriarch's nostrils as she spotted the six and a half foot tall Phoenix approaching in his orange, blue, and red dress uniform. The Cinnabaran looked for the life of her like a fancied bird of fiery plumage stuffed into a Humanoid 18th century Naval Uniform... complete with a Tricorn! Chuckling gently, the Grey-Orange furred Therion Female turned quietly, arranging her uniform and eyeing her Thrall. The six males were dressed out in dress uniforms as well, all the Therions were attired in a slate-grey uniform with gold and silver piping. They all wore body armour underneath the uniforms and two of them wore 'ceremonial' dress swords that they knew how to use.
"Alright, let's get this going." She motioned, "If you will follow me?" The Delegates nodded and boarded the Dropship, joining the Jakeili's delegate who was sleeping... the muscular bat-fox hanging from his toes in the darkness. She chuckled, "Poul, please do wake up. We are leaving." The younger bat blinked wearily and nodded, nimbly dropping from the ceiling and positioning himself in a chair.
The Dropship slipped gently from the Gato X's drop-bay and cruised towards the station. It was a normal Humpback, any other day it would have been transporting a Boarding Party to a trade-ship for a security or customs boarding. Today, the slightly rusted, bumped, faded and flaking painted olive drab dropship lumbered into the station... easily a small-craft the vessel was designed to carry Main Battle tanks to the surface and it took up a huge portion of the bay's tarmac.
The front door of the ship dropped open and the Coalition Delegation came out, Matriarch Vech in the lead, flanked by her thrall of males, their hooves gently clanking on the ground due to their metal 'shoes' clamped to their cloven hooves. Under her breath she looked at the group of aliens behind her; "Alright. You know your mission. We got schmoozing to do. The trade fleet is counting on us, and Medical reports that we're facing another ration shortage. Get out there, and get us some trade agreements." The big group signalled affirmative and immediately dissolved to search for their assigned 'delegates'. Matriarch Vech smiled and began moving towards the main Podium, presuming that is where lead Delegates were to meet with the Union coordinator.
Deep Space: Near Union of Worlds Terratory
The Union of Worlds message was picked up by one of the Immortal Empire’s observation drones, operating in deep space near the Union’s territory. From there it was transmitted to one of the Empire’s data processing centres. Here it was scrutinized along with thousands of other signals, transmissions, and intercepted data by hundreds of personnel and C.A.B.A.L. From there it was sent to the Alane System, to one of the data terminals used by the Order of the Emerald Swords. Brought to the attention of the secretive order, the Emerald Swords decided to send one of their own to the conference of empires, to act as a proxy for the Overlord and represent the Immortal Empire. None outside the Council of Thirteen were made aware of the Order’s actions. So it was in secret that one of the Order’s members left the system, heading for Union space.
The defences at Mirach were formidable, designed to protect the empire’s capital against both massive fleets as well as subtle infiltration. Even with all of these defences, the Emerald Sword could have made his way into the conference undetected with only minor effort. But this was not his purpose in coming here. So it was that he announced his presence upon entering the system. Within minutes a Union patrol had surrounded the small craft. The Emerald Sword’s shuttle was taken aboard one of the Union’s vessels, where he was confronted with a stern looking man surrounded by more than a dozen guards. At least he assumed they where guards. They had weapons, but lacked anything that the Emerald Sword would call armour. The Emerald Sword turned his attention to the stern looking man. ”I am a member of the Order of the Emerald Swords. I’ve come to represent the Immortal Empire in the conference that your Admiral James Hargun has called for.”
Obcasio System: Tenebrean Territory
With a small and controlled series of bursts from the small Null thrusters mounted along its dagger shaped armoured hull. The TIS Comprica Carefully maneuvered away from the Imperial Sector of the massive orbital Orbital known as Obcasio city. Casting it’s shadow on the Superstructure below as it blotted out the suns rays as they shone past the halo of the Lush green planets curve below. Ship and Hovercraft traffic forming lines of Beacon lights that moved across it’s sprawling form.
Within the last few hours following the union Transmission, It had become Necessary for Obcasio to be the Departure point for the Assembled Tenebrean Delegates for multiple reasons. For one, it was the most direct route to the Mirach Prime system that they had. It’s Quantum Gate route providing enough direction to the union territories that navigation would be Relatively Straightforward, And for two. It was a system that a most of the delegates could easily reach from their appropriated factions and territories. There had been some natural commotion about in the public sectors, as news of Administrator Xtophers arrival in the system and subsequent departure had sparked interest across the territories, and the Systems news networks. Not being ones to let the situation develop without them had deployed a small fleet of News-Craft that followed the comprica along its Pre-Shunt course until it had Reached its Point of Departure from the system far from the Orbits around the systems capital planet. And watched with mounted lenses on their hulls as the ship Engaged it’s shunt systems, The Arcane Devices of the shunt making the vessel appear to collapse and implode on itself from a singular point as it exited Tenebrean space. Disappearing in a Burst of Static and Reddish light.
Mirach Prime system: Union Territory
The vessel Reappeared deep within the inner orbits of the Mirach system. The effect of the Warped space around the vessel as it seemingly unfolded from nothingness in a burst of static and red light appearing to make the stars Ripple in Waves as it shunted in. The Sleek hull of the Comprica Catching the light of the systems star as its conventional Null Drive systems began to carry it the rest of the way to the station. Unlike the other nations, Which had utilized forms of Warp or FTL Drives. The Tenebrean ship had entered largely unnoticed and unannounced due to the odd physics of the Shunt itself. Which Rarely, if at all, Gave Readable emissions. And would only have appeared suddenly on the unions Readouts of the system with no other signs that they were en route.
The Tenebrean interceptor class Vessel Closed the distance between itself and the Orbital where the conference quickly, It’s null drive carrying it across the bulk of the systems relatively vast orbits in the space of an hour. The other vessels already docked at the station appearing before long in orbit around the capital planet. The Vessel Skirted around the mass of the Gigantic Nex Vessel. Seemingly un-phased by either its scale or it’s Energy levels that were Effectively pouring off of it. Firing its forward facing Null Drive units to bring it to a gradually maneuvered stop next to the coalition cruiser. Synchronizing its orbit with the Argus stations so as not to drift away. Its entity immediately Establishing contact with the union Officials aboard to request Proper docking clearance.
As this happened, Colonial administrator Xtopher Stood in the Cabin where he and the other Representatives of the Collective had gathered pending to their shunt aboard the Station after Clearance was given. His Dragon like entity Wrapped around his shoulders, performing last minute checks to the systems that they had in place. Communication links had been established to the Coalition ship. And contact with their Representatives was in negotiations already in order to strengthen the already developing trade alliance that had begun to develop from the Trade system within the DHRs Territory.
It had been less then 12 hours sense he had received the Union Transmission from his Command Center in the Tenebrean capital system of Exceion. And upon the dispersal of his orders to Galvez. Proper representatives had been gathered from the Tenebrean territories accordingly. And Were now either sitting idly or speaking amongst themselves freely in the Chamber behind him, While others attended to their Dress uniforms. He sighed silently to himself,
He Turned away for a moment, Looking across the Cabin at the other Representatives that would speak alongside him at the conference.
Among them, one was Stromian, known as Strolm. Who was clad in the Stone Grey and blue armour of his bulking race. Representing the Stromian Claims within their Territories and their own.
Another was Tenebrean, clad in the military greatcoat and uniform of the tenebrean Style, A system administrator by the name of Pham that was acting to represent the Humanoid race of the Tenebrean population.
Another two were Rahdonain, one, a female clad in a flowing dress of segmented hexagonal tiles of a crystal-metallic nature, that glowed a faint blue around their edges. Going by Lorahah, and Voldoi a male Dressed in the Long Robes and Stylized armour of his clan. Both Were representing the clans of the Drake like species that had been the Tenebrean empires oldest known allies.
Another was of the Canid race of the Lat,Thanian, Dressed in Ceremonial armour and wearing a mask of dark Bronze over his face, his Reddish hair spilling out underneath it. Going by the name of Liburnus.
And one, Fleet Admiral Drogan. Who was, like him. A Calvara. Who was Clad, like Pham. In the standard officers greatcoat of the tenebrean military. The major difference being the military grade Armour he wore over it. He was Acting to aid in representing the Calvarian portion of their population, and already had some connections and familiarity with the DHR, having established the Current Trade alliance they now held.
They would be representing all of the multiple factions and major empires and races that made up the Tenebrean collective. The Calvara knew, as he contemplated how the conference might turn out as the Shunt into the station initiated. The cabin around him and the Group, first going Hazy with a reddish glare, before seemingly dissolving into chaotic patterns of static, Quickly reassembling itself into the form of the Stations hanger as they Were shunted aboard. Seemingly appearing in a burst of Reddish light and Static. Unlike the other nations present, they would not be using a Shuttle to get aboard the station.
“An interesting Collection of characters…. Should be plenty more on this station. All differing points of mind as well. We’ll have to tread lightly with those that we’re not yet aware of… make the right alliances and connections where we need to, and Strengthen the ones We already have secured.” The Administrative-Caste Calvara thought to himself as he glanced over the other representatives from the other empires, some already focusing on his group. Turning his head suddenly as the Entity on his shoulder nuzzled the side of his iron skull in order to get his attention.
Well, He thought. Not all of them… Before nodding to it giving it assurance that it would manage to make its protests heard among the other nations reps. Looking back at the assembled group. His towering armoured form creaking slightly before he spoke.
“We have some time before the conference is properly underway. Most of the representatives will be present in the docks, speak to them, figure out which ones we can trust, and which ones we cant.” He said, already well aware of the potential of the Conference to become violent if things became heated.
“And what of the Immortal Empire presence we picked up in system?” One of them, Pham, said. Crossing his arms in front of his chest. “they’re in the system, the Scans picked up one of their energy signatures and CABAL links… Are We to not assume that they may not become aggressive?”
“For the Immortal Empire, you can never not assume something.” Xtopher said in response. “We’ll keep our guard up, Listen well to whomever they’ve sent. And keep the assumption that something can and will happen… But until then, we keep our priorities straight. We’re here to develop our alliances, not make a war even worse… Besides” He said, as he looked back into the hanger’s main area, seeing the Drakes in their human forms walking towards them. “We have Visitors to speak to…”
“Greetings, Helios… Trying out a new look?”
Mirach Prime: Union space: Union Command Orbital Hangar Bay
The air began to ripple in the middle of the hangar like heat on a hot summer day, a sight hardly noticeable to the common spectator. From the large sphere of air 6 figures emerged from seemingly nowhere, all of them appear to be human, well dressed, young, and obviously possessing a very high status.
“Well, it looks like we made it just in time.” Helios said to his party, his human form dressed in a gold suit that almost looked like it was made of that very metal, shining and clean. He had his dark, blood red hair spiked back and his eyes had a golden hue to them. His face was young but still showed great wisdom and charisma.
“Yes, my lord. Although If Aquadie could’ve hurried and finished his grooming we could’ve been here much sooner …” replied a man in a red and gold suit decorated like flames, his hair was brown and messy and his eyes were an unnatural red. He had a mischievous smirk adorning his mouth.
“It’s not my fault that we need to make a good impression. I refuse to make a first appearance as a messy and uncivilized ash breather like you, Pyracian.” Aquadie quickly retorted only to get an inhuman growl in reply from Pyracian. Aquadie was dressed in a dark blue suit and robes with curving lines that resembled water and currents, his long black hair lied straight and clean over his shoulders and his eyes were a brilliant blue. He had a goblet of milk in his hand.
“Will the both of you quit your bickering? You’re doing us no favors with your petty arguments” replied a young man, much younger in appearance to the others, with pale skin and clean cut snow white hair. He wore a suit of pure white which blended in with the rest of his body. A chuckle could be heard behind the group, coming from the tallest of Helios’ company: a large, dark skinned and muscular man with a military cut for his black hair, dressed in a dark brown suit lined with what appeared to be wolf fur on one shoulder and a pauldron of bronze on the other.
“Does something amuse you, Terran?” the young man in white asked.
“I apologize, Glacian. But trying to get those two to stop arguing is a feat on par with moving continents. You spend too much time in the ice lands, my friend!” Terran replied.
“Why do we have to be in our human forms again?” asked a thin man in a black, purple, and green suit lined with dark green feathers. His eyes were a bright emerald green and his hair was spiky and black with a green shine. 3 grouped together strands of hair stuck out in the front dyed in a brilliant violet.
“Because, I don’t want to scare anyone away or make anyone feel threatened, Vortexean.” Helios replied. Another figure emerged from the portal, this one was a beautiful young woman dressed in an aquamarine dress with a collar and shoulder pads that resembled glass. She had long, blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes. The portal closed soon after she left it.
“Ah, Circe, there you are. Well, now that we’re all here, let’s get started, shall we?” Helios led the others to where Xtopher and the other D.C.I. representatives stood.
Just outside Mirach System: Union Space
Just outside of the Mirach system there was several small flashes of light that appeared and disappeared. After they did this a few time the flashes of lights disappeared completely. Then arcs of lightning shot outward as a large portals opened up and Templar's warship came through. Several smaller portals opened up as well and Templar's escort ships appeared.
Templar walked on the bridge of his vessel with Ambassador Drogan who was going through documents by his side. Templar saw the station as well as the other ships and crossed his arms saying "Well it seams more pathetic politicians flock to this so call peace meeting." Drogan looked up from the documents and said "Well General Templar its politicians that are needed to bring peace." He thought for a moment before chuckling and saying "Or in your case war."
Templar turned to Drogan and said with a not impressed tone "Of all the people i have to work with i get stuck with you..." He began walking towards the command chair as one of the captains walked up with a data pad and said "Sir we are approaching the union capital world in the Mirach system and have been hailed by the union escort ships." Templar grabbed the data pad and looked over the data and said "What did they say?" The captain replied "They welcomed us and are directing us to send our representatives to one of the station's hangars via a shuttle." Templar handed the data pad back to the captain and said "Bring the ship to these coordinates and inform the union that we need no escort." Templar then turned to Drogan and said "It appears it is time for us to go." Drogan nodded and said "Indeed general it is time." He fallowed General Templar who directed the captain to keep a watchful eye on the other races that were not allied with the union. They began to make their way towards the hangar as Templar's massive ship made its way towards the space station. Crew members kept to their stations and fighter and bomber pilots worked in the hangars ready to launch at a moments notice against the enemy. There was a shuttle waiting for Templar and Drogan who were escorted by four of Order's royal guards as well as Drogan's two personal guards. Once they boarded the ship it began to power it's engines and began to take off.
The shuttle launched from the hangar as well as two gunships and fighters as escort. The pilots talked to each other until the union's escort arrived and after several radio transmissions the mars empire fighters and gunships broke off from the formation and returned to the ship as the shuttle and it's union escort flew to the station's hangar.
When it landed its occupants disembarked and made their way over to the area where the representatives were gathered.
Mirach Command Orbital Hangar Bay
Hargun had been notified that the last of the reps had arrived, including a surprising visit that he would announce momentarily. This was the time... He cleared his throat and it echoed in the massive chamber due to his microphone. All the reps turned to face him. He saw allies and friends alike and some who he hadn’t seen before but he was glad they came anyway.
“Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome to Mirach. I am Admiral James Hargun the commander of the Union in Ancerious. Some of you know me while a lot of you don’t, but I am sincere when I say I am ecstatic for each and every one of you to be here. Before we begin we have another representative who has turned up today...” Hargun gestured to the side and everyone turned to see a member of the Emerald Swords from the Immortal Empire enter the hangar surrounded by armed guards. Hargun looked around to see the faces of the various reps and many were frowning or seemed uneasy. The Carnaith representative however seemed to be fuming however Administrator Xtopher seemed to be crystal calm. The Emerald sword merely stayed silent as quiet conversation erupted among the representatives. Hargun continued to stop the talking.
“We are all here for one reason my friends, Ancerious is in chaos. And we are the only ones who can stop it. We all have the power to unite to stop this and make peace, together we can make the galaxy a safe place for everyone, and we can work with each other to make a brighter future. This conference is just the start. And I hope it will go a long way. Now behind me is the main conference table, there will be seats for all of you, merely sit down and your name will appear on a holo tag. Then we shall begin with introductions. Now let us begin!” He said happily. And with a lot of talking and moving the Union marines either side of the hangar directed to the representatives to make their way to the conference table. The conference had begun.
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 20:03:57 GMT
Mirach Prime Command Orbital: Union space
He watched as the delegates assembled, there were many of them. Alot more than he had thought would turn up... It was amazing how the Union was able to get so many high ranking people in one place and Hargun definitely had the gift... Oh what damage he could do if he struck now... How many heads would role and how much confusion would rein... it would be... glorious. Or better he could just appear... and greet them all, reveal the backdoor dealings of the Union and watch as it all breaks open into mistrust and conflict...
However he couldn’t do that. As boring as it was to sit and watch he couldn’t break his word to Myric. High up in the dark corner of the hangar bay with all the assembled delegates Sotek half sat half laid on one of the causeways meant for hangar maintenance where nobody went. Nobody could see him of course unless he wanted them to, but he had an oath to keep. Besides Hargun would break down if Sotek made any sort of appearance and as a friend Sotek knew that wasn’t the right thing to do, though whether Hargun saw him as a friend was a different matter. He watched as the assembled Delegates talked and muttered and he watched as Hagun made his speech, however what caught his eye was an Immortal Empire rep walk into the room, he smiled as he watched the reaction from the assembled crowd however Sotek knew Hargun had it covered, unbeknownst to them Sotek could see the sheer amount of Skia that were crawling in phase around the place, standing guard in case of any sort of foul businessmen or attack. As the talk died down the people went to their seat and the conference began. He was annoyed he couldn’t watch the proceedings but he had a meeting to attend to himself.
Shaw had invited him to some backwater planet to meet some like minded individuals and show Sotek the 'grand plan' as he called it. Sotek was intrigued by what he meant and so got up off the gangway and stretched his body out, he didn’t need to but he felt like doing it anyway.
“Suppose I can come back and watch later. Besides I never was into politics”
The demon smirked and then disappeared into a shroud of darkness to meet with the others. All on a little planet named Tau Volaris.
Rubikon Dark Triumvirate staging ground, deep underground: Capitol Space
“So as you all know... Our next target is the Nex. There we will show ourselves to the galaxy. Its time we came out of the shadows and extinguished the light” The Capitol General stood pointing at the collection of stars belonging to the Nex on the holo map.
“And are you sure we will be able to make a big enough entrance?” The General of the ShadowBlade asked. The Capitol General nodded.
“How can you be so sure?” The Shadow Guard General said hardly visible in the darkness due to his crystal.
“Because gentlemen our new... freinds have organised something special to help us. Isnt that right?” He turned and the 3 Generals looked into the dark corner of the room. A figure stood up and walked forward into the small light, he was lightly armoured, his redish pink skin was clearly not human at all. His bald head and monocle revealed a far more alien nature. He merely nodded.
“You have our support in this venture. The galaxy will be sure to notice us all”
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 20:08:18 GMT
Union High command Orbital: Mirach system: Union space
Hargun after finishing his speech watched as the various delegates were led towards their respective seats, a holo tag appearing when they sat down to show who they were and their positions. Hargun also made his way to sit down with Lydia and Volkus at either side of him. He waited until the bustling and moving was finished and his eyes swept around each of the delegates "So gentlemen. We shall begin. Now... for the first on our agenda... I think we can all safely assume is one thing... The war" Hargun said looking at the Tenebrae and IE representative. Would the two of you kindly put forward your sides?"
Xtopher tilted his head thoughtfully, the calvaras glassy lens like eyes catching the light of the room as he turned his focus towards hargun, the other tenebrean diplomats sitting, largely stern faced in their seats. The raudonian male named aldarian sneaking looks at the teruvian known as Victoria sitting with the coalition diplomats. After a moment more, the Administrative-caste opened his jaws and spoke. "Sides?" He said curiously. "I don’t recall that we took sides. My people had little, if any relations towards his..." He said, giving a gesture towards the Emerald sword. "Yet despite that, they launch a sneak attack directly on our capital system, Glass our terrestrial worlds and orbitally bombard our cities and Destroyed our military command... We, having observed their actions with the cerabians only months before, Choose to defend ourselves, and launched appropriate repercussions as they were needed." he said, crossing his arms and looking at the union captain.
“is that what you would call a side, or an act of Reactive Defence?" He asked, aiming the question at the human.
Hargun made a gesture "Im sorry I was merely asking for your side so the races of this chamber who do not know of the happenings can guage a response or themselves. I didn't mean to offend only act as an intermediary. Besides you know our stance on this subject" Hargun said trying not to cause a argument.
“indeed." The calvara said, his skeletal face seemingly set in stone, his voice now heavy with suspicion following his receiving of the SSC transmission. "I know all too wel, Captain hargun." He finished. "it is of no offence... But Many under my care Died as a Result of their, unforeseen and unprovoked attack.... After Cerabia, And i know that there are those among you that witnessed that campaign. and utter lack of communications prompted by them, aside from their tasteless defacement of a lunar body in a taunting manner. we were forced to go on the offensive." The calvara said, pausing.
A Jakeili, the muscular, but slim Bat-like creature would lean forward, "I would like to interject at this point, and offer the Coalition of Shattered Star's assistance in helping aggressors, non-aggressors, and simply bystanders caught in this terrible fray. No matter the political aims, the mistakes, or the gains, no civilian should suffer the horrors of war. It is upon these tenants that we offer our goods, nd manufacturing ability to all sides at a remarkably low premium. The Coalition chooses no sides in any war, but the sides of the Innocent civilians who have lost life, limb, jobs, and homes in this terrible war. Our hearts go out to those on all sides, as does our offer. It's a truly remarkable sale price. I suggest all peoples to consider it." He leaned back with a gentle smile
Hargun looked to the side to see Lydia grunt with her arms crossed "Corporate dogs..." She muttered under her breath, he was also sure she had her privacy field up but he ignored the comment Reik had his head leaning into his right hand, elbow on the table, and was shaking his head slowly, for pretty much the same reason as Lydia.
Xtopher turned slightly to look at the coalition diplomats as they sat further along the diplomats, catching Aldarian sneaking looks at the female Teruvian sitting among the coalition members. giving him a slight look. "While we appreciate the offer, and may very well accept..., perhaps that a discussion best saved for a different period of time then the present one... " He said, the calvaras voice laced with the same tone as lydia and reik. After a moment, and a secondary glance at the male raudonah, he turned back to Hargun. "should we continue?" He asked.
Hargun nodded "Of course"
“What else would you need to cover?" Xtopher asked.
Well all we need now is the Immortal Empires response to this..." Hargun said looking at the Emerald sword who had been silent all this time.
Laramar sat back and watching the conversations of the humans intrigued by the distaste in the tone's of certain individuals. As far as he was aware they were here to discuss not childishly slander one another with hidden insults.
The Emerald Sword gave a small nod to Hargun before speaking. “First I’d like to thank the Union of Worlds for allowing me entrance. What the Tenebrae representative said was mostly true. It is true that we attacked without provocation or warning. But I think it worth mentioning why we acted so. Even without contact we had some information on Tenebrae. This is solely from the occasional stray signal, and very distant observations. These observations led us to believe one of two possible outcomes were most likely. The first, and most worryingly to us, is that at some point in the next several thousand years Tenebrae would attack, in desperate need of resources and space to contain their ever increasing population. The second was that the Immortal Empire and Tenebrae would form a sort of, neutrality pack. At worst we would avoid each other at all costs and at best we would be mildly friendly to each other. This was the most favourable outcome, but also the least likely of the two. Since we lacked sufficient information to make a proper decision, we decided to perform a test. We attacked you without warning to see how you would react. If you had sought to know why we had acted as such, attempted to inquire us on our motivation, we would have explained. We would have even lent resources and man power to restoring the system we ravaged. This would prove beneficial to us as we wouldn’t have to go to war and our two nations would at least be on speaking grounds. If you simply attacked in simple response, then we would be at war. This would benefit us as it would start the war now rather than later. Because the two of us aren’t as fully established as we would be in several thousand years, this would save countless lives, civilizations, and planets from destruction. No matter what you did we would benefit.” The Emerald Sword turned his attention from Xtopher to address all present. “As for the attack on Excion, it wasn’t as bad as you’ve been told. Yes, we devastated the planets and wrecked havoc on the local forces. But we didn’t target the cities. We attempted to keep civilian deaths to a minimum. The vessels we attacked, we did our best to merely cripple and not destroy them. Death was kept to a minimum. It was a test after all. If we had destroyed everything in the system, left nothing standing, then a retaliatory attack would be completely justified. But it was a test, we intentionally did a minimum of damage. Unless you think us incompetent, with that attack being the best we could muster. As for our actions in the subjugation of Cerebian space. You are aware they were on the verge of civil war, right? That the Drake were about ready to wage a war against the Furr, the Cog, and the Urdont? That our conquest put an end to it before it could spiral out of control? That we have unified them again, even if it is against us. We did so because, while it would be costly, it would benefit both us and them in the long run. We are not the mindless destroyers that Tenebrae makes us out to be.”
Reik at this moment raised his hand, wishing to speak.
Hargun nodded in acknowledgement to the IE and then turned to Reik "You may speak"
Reik composed himself before speaking, "according to the Comms between the CINS Aurius and IE commanders, you told the Captain of the Aurius that you and Tenebrae had been allies before, and eventually had a war..." he paused, "and to go against your words, you threatened to quote; 'have us burning our own worlds within a year'"...
Xtopher Looked at the Emerald sword, his expression softening to one of Deep knowing. "So, you attack was a Test then? and that you took over the cerabian empire as an Act of stability and good will. Would we all have to assume then, that your Race, or Rather, your faction of humans sees themselves as both the Judge and Jury of the Ancerious Galaxy? Are we to assume that, based on your reasoning?" he paused.
“You forgot executioner. But to answer your question, no. The Immortal Empire is only interested in what would benefit or harm us. There are worlds in ‘our’ space that we have intentionally not laid claim to because it would prove more beneficial for us to befriend the local populace after they have advanced to a proper point. At the same time there are civilizations that we destroyed because they would end up proving more trouble than they’re worth. And then there are those that we have accepted into our ranks, because it benefits the both of us. This isn’t because we feel we are in the right, or morally just in doing so. It also isn’t just to pointlessly increase our own strength or numbers or wealth. It is simply because we are stronger than those whose fate we determine. This doesn’t make everything we do right. After all, the right choice isn’t always the best choice. Before I address the issue about resources, let me clear something up. The Immortal Empire is not a human empire. It was founded by humans, but they get no benefit or preferential treatment over non-humans. They are just one of the races that make up the Immortal Empire. As for your point about not needing resources. We have similar technology, so I am well versed in its limitations and can with good authority say that you would still need resources. If things continue to progress as they have, then most of those assembled here would have expanded their holds in this galaxy to the point that we would be 'border to border' within ten years. Within a thousand or so years you would be forced to either export your ever expanding populace out of the galaxy or import massive amounts of resources in. Neither is particularly cheap. Or you could expand into the territories that surround you. Another option would be to use your own populace for the needed raw matter. But the likelihood of that happening was so remote that it hardly even bares mentioning.”
The Emerald Sword then turned to address Riek, "The admiral was giving a partial lie to you. He was attempting to turn Carniath against Tenebrae. No, we never had contact with Tenebrae before now. Yes, we believe that they will turn against you within the next several thousand years. As for the burning your own worlds thing, I would believe he is referring to the deployment of our Bio-weapons, where it would be easier to just burn your world than try to root them all out."
Counsellor Rowan sat somewhere on the side, perhaps in a corner simply observing the exchange. A look of appal seemed to form on her face once the I E exclaimed there rather alien, and grotesque form of logic concerning diplomacy. She shook her head and crossed her arms and leaned back, remaining silent as the floor seemed for the time being dominated by the Tenabrae and I E's rep. She looked over to see if the SCC rep was there to raise a brow concerning the convo so far.
Enrico Hess listened to the debate as it went back and forth. The bit between the Immortal Empire and the Tenebrae was interesting however it seemed odd that no one was addressing the how and who portion of the equation. The addition of the Carnaith delegate’s comments into the mix made for a hard means to interject a point of reference into the debate and then there it was. The emerald sword had clearly made a misstep. Enrico considered his words with a slight smile across his face as he took advantage of the silence to afflict a small measure of political damage. “The Rationality of such an act is not rational at all. To have assaulted a man because you thought he might compete with you ages down the line is an affront to all things civil. You would have no means to come to those conclusions, as no sane man would think thus…unless perhaps someone told you that is what would happen and in your common fear you bought it, the head, the tail the whole damn thing.”
The Coalition was known for being both random, and neutral in most things and the Teruvian male of the delegation leaned forward, "Taking that out of context, Mr. Hess, one could state that at times a pre-emptive strike while your target is weak is perhaps the most rational and logical point of view you can take. Seeing a nation rise quickly and powerfully... one might fear they would have imperialistic goals and plans... not that, I am going so far as to point such fingers at our good friends of Tenebrae, mind you..." He'd nod to the Tenebrean delegation gently, "But, we are in a Galaxy of many different, and varying backgrounds. Cultures differ, and in many ways... have completely alien idealisms behind them."
Xtopher would listen to the Teruvian male, before nodding solemnly. "Such a route of thought is not without understanding in that aspect... and we hold no offence to your statement." He said, giving a gesture towards the coalition Delegation.
“However, can I assume that, Other parties of a certain "Nature" Were not perhaps involved in reaching that conclusion" The Lah,thainian sitting next to the administrative-caste calvara asked.
The Emerald Sword stared at Enrico Hess for a minute before speaking. "An affront to all things civil? As the Coalition just pointed out, from our standard it is completely civil. What makes you the judge of what is and is not acceptable? Our intentionally weak test strike was unacceptable? That we wish to know more of those that surround us, and more importantly which are a threat to us, is unjust?"
"Highly." the Lah,thanian said in response. "enacting contact with those who surround you is Civil, Attacking them however, is not. actions such as "That" is universally seen as a gesture of extreme Aggression and imperialistic intent."
"And there lay the flaw in your argument. I notice you've not made one of these strikes against say... the Union they're as big as you if not bigger. No offence to our hosts of course, but the point must be made. Can anyone else but the Tenebrae say they were targeted for such acts to the extent the Tenebrae have been? If not, then your attack is illogical and fuelled by something other then paranoia of expansion and competition."
Hargun nodded in the validity of the point and gestured to continue. He wanted all the points out in the open before a solution could be found.
"It seems...you had something else in mind." Hess said.
The Teruvian sat back quietly, not exactly snickering... his point had been made... and admittedly, while going around attacking random people could be both good and bad, the people in the room did need to realize something the Coalition had to deal with every day. Races had different backgrounds, different evolutionary prospects, and different cultural idiosyncrasies that would make them 'different' from others. Sometimes it was easy to mesh, other times... not so easy to mesh. Watching the sexually rampant Gadzu interact with the generally asexual Teruvians were one such notable cultural conflict in the Coalition. Cultures viewed things differently, what could be construed as a rampant bar fight to one culture, was a blatant targeted attack to another, and to the other it was a challenge of honour to a worthy opponent. The Teruvian leaned over to the Gadzu and gently muttered these things under his breath, garnering a gentle chuckle from the entire Coalition delegation... trying to force one culture's idealism on others was a sure-fire way to end up with rampant arguments and fights.
The Emerald Sword turned to Hess "The Immortal Empire has worked to be able to predict the actions that a species will make based on nothing but raw data. This is not 100% accurate, but then what is? As it stands, the chance of Tenebrae forcibly expanding its boarders stood at 47.0045% before our pre-emptive test strike. As of right now, with the additional data, it stands at 73.7501%." he then looked towards the Lah,thanian "Universal is it? The Drake of the Cerebians treat any initial, unannounced strike as a simple way of showing power. This is true of many species. It is hardly universal." he then once again turned to Hess, being bombarded by points. “There was no need to attack the Union of Worlds. Attacking them would gain us nothing. It would not start any war earlier. It would not open the table for discussion. There would be no point to it, like there was with attack Tenebrae...” He paused slightly “…like there was with the attack on Tenebrae. And besides, the Union has already been tested by us. Unlike Tenebrae they passed their test.”
Hargun seemed to raise an eyebrow at the statement.
Counsellor Rowan watched the SCC delegate word fence with the I E delegate. Though she looked at the Coalition personal with a bit of a disappointed frown and nearly face palms. But, it was to be expected. That however did not prevent her from feeling what she felt. She rested her face in her paw as she just listened for now.
The Lathanian looked at the emerald sword curiously, not quite in a manner that suggested scolding, but also an amount of pity. Although the majority of its candid face couldn’t easily be read under its mask. "But would it change the fact that they would still view it as an aggressive advance in time, Even a race that follows a warriors Honour system would have to be able to recognize a tactical threat. in that way, while the initial response differs, the end result is usually the same among sentient species in the drive for self preservation, It "Is" Universal in that aspect if said race expects to survive."
“If the attacks continued, then perhaps, depending on what species. The species we called 303.121.4.1 found violence and war to be the greatest of pleasures. There was no ‘honour,’ as you put it. The only reason that they even survived long enough for us to discover them was because of an absurdly high birth and maturity rate. They enjoyed violence so much that even the extinction of their species wasn’t enough to dampen their mood. It was a shame too, they had such interesting architecture.”
The Tenebrean known as pham sat up After Listening to the Lah, thanian diplomat. turning towards the emerald sword from where he sat. making a Gesture that indicated that he wished to speak. "I will repeat the question posed that you have yet to answer." He said. not entirely glaring at the IE diplomat. "Does your civilization consider themselves to be the Judge and jury of the Ancerious galaxy, in their "Albeit poor" Judgements of the empires present, of which you have displayed a clear lack of understanding in terms of resources and territory, which brings up questions towards how much you actually know of us. or do you not? in which case, there would be no "Rational" Reason for the Actions that you have chose to take, which lends further support towards the SSCs argument, That there indeed, is a Secondary Drive to this past what you have told us?"
Hargun stood up “Perhaps then representative of the IE your people should have taken the diplomatic approach anyway. Not only would it have prevented a war between many nations which I may say you will not be able to win, if not for the fact you are outnumbered and out resourced. But it would of also increased your standing and gained you allies, which would mean more trade and the resources you would take in the war, would be gained through trade anyway. And if Tenebrae did turn on you the galactic nations would see Tenebrae as the instigators not you. As everyone here knows the Union of Worlds is one if not the most diplomatically active, well known and diplomatically respected of the galaxy. You could of easily came to us and still can to stop this war and set things straight, that is one of the options you have here open to you both. You must realise this war isn’t going to do anyone any benefits. And me and my superiors see this as a cover for something else, what does the Immortal Empire gain from a war against the galaxy?”
Xtopher turned to Hargun, Looking at him where he stood. "We of the Tenebrean empire would be more then willing to Work with the union in order to come to that conclusion. As its apparent that you Have a greater grasp of our Culture and Technological ability then they can, as it is apparent you don’t base your judgements off of your own follies and short comings. And we thank you for that. We would request it." The Calvara said. Nodding slightly towards the union diplomat respectfully.
Hargun nodded to Xtopher "We have the potential to save thousands if not millions of lives for BOTH sides of this war and all those who may be dragged into it, You do not have to ally however I would be more than happy to help negotiate a cease fire between you two. It all depends on the Immortal Empire now, what is your reply?" Hargun said looking at the Emerald sword.
Pham then turned his attention back towards the Emerald sword, "Xtopher has a valid point... From your own words, You've not given us a Single point of solid Reference towards us in your "Judgement." Of our race. Rather, you've only pointed out that you've used the Technological and cultural limitations of your own and assumed that they applied on a "Universal" scale. something, that is of No offence... A Poor Reference point by most, if not all. comparative standards. As the coalition rep stated, different races have different evolutionary and Cultural development paths. using yours as any sort of Reference of comparison and authority displays a strong deal of hubris on the part of your civilization that, Pardon my saying so, you done nothing to deserve... " the Tenebrean said. leaning forward slightly.
Xtopher paused for a moment as both Hargun and Pham spoke, before responding. "if they would be willing to negotiate a Cease fire, We would be willing to do the same, Provided they leave us and our population alone." The Admininstrative-caste said. Leaning forward to rest his hands on the table, a look of suspicion set on his skeletal face.
Alexanduer remains mostly silent. He didn't really join in the conversation, and merely listened, for the longest time. When he decides to speak, he clears his throat, and says, "If I may." He says, after a short pause to allow others to turn their attention to him, "I think that it's worth noting that a pre-emptive strike, while admittedly intelligent, is questionable morally. I don't think any one of us here can truly claim mastery of the future, of every future, and therefore none of use can say that we know exactly what is to come. Each and every one of us have free will, and each and every one of our people the same. So this war, to me, seems, while in the name of understanding and pre-emption, quite destructive, and rather needlessly. 'Testing the boundaries,' as it were, should come from free and honest trade of information, not from wanton destruction. Every person in each of our empires deserves his or her own choice in this world, and by waging war we eliminate their choices one by one. With every life snuffed out, every weapon fired- our future, the future of this GALAXY, changes irreversibly. When people such as us expand into this new galaxy, we must become more than we were, more than we ever thought we could be. We, here today, are the representatives of millions of years of history, of military might beyond all imagining- of races as old and as young as one could believe. And- no one of use should choose, due only to curiosity or fear, to disrespect this history and this power. So I think- and it's safe to say my people are behind me with this- that all of this needs to stop. That war, especially amongst peoples so civilized as us, needs to be curbed, and avoided at all costs." He finishes his speech, and having realized that's what it was- he hadn't originally meant to talk that long- he sits down, not remembering having stood up, and then says, "We should all want freedom and safety for our peoples- that should be the penultimate goal of all cultures. And war, plain and simple, countermands that goal."
"And if any of you decide that you disagree, then all I ask- is that you offer your civilians a choice. The offer of the coalition is quite kind, but I'll add to it- my borders are open to any and all who wish to escape this war, their nations. They will find refuge and safety in our homes and cities. And this offer will stand as long as war and oppression remains a factor in this galaxy”
Hargun smiled and nodded in recognition to the Adectu reps. The speech had been very good and Hargun admired them greatly “I concur, that and the Unions borders will be open to, I suspect we will be working close with the Adectu to help any civilians in Ancerious that are in need, If you would allow that of course?” Hargun asked.
The Emerald Sword turned from Hargun, to the Tenebraen Representatives, to Hess before speaking, “You three have accused the Immortal Empire of having an ulterior motive behind our attack. There was none. We enacted our test and waited to see the results. The result being the destruction of a planet, its population, and a system being ruined almost beyond repair. It was only through happen stance that we where able to repair the damage done. This result gave us all the information we needed. It would have been detrimental for us to use the diplomatic approach. If we had started with such a course, it would have only delayed the war. We would have eventually reached the same conclusion, and then have been forced to strike first, as to avoid a more massive war. This would prove quite detrimental to our standing in the eyes of others. Now we are not perceived in the best light, but the other course would be far worse for us. No one would wish to align or ally themselves to those that attack their allies.” He turned to Hargun once more “You wish to save millions of lives that currently live in the here and now, which is admirable. But we are acting to save so many more. I’m sure by now that the territories of the largest of us here are already capable of supporting trillions of lives. Think of how many more there will be in a thousand years time. How much more massive and destructive our fleets and weapons would be. How much more devastating this war would be then, rather than now. We will not be seeking peace at this time. We may at some point, when certain conditions are met, but not before.” The Emerald Sword then turned to face Pham “Then you misunderstood me. I merely countered the point regarding the ability to manipulate matter as a reason that a ‘war of resources’ wouldn’t happen. Nothing more or less. We use no scale, only data. When we lack data, our predictions become less accurate. So we work to gather more information. Hence the test.”
Laramar spoke at this point his tone resonating of every surface and echoing throughout the chamber. "I must agree with Alexanduer" he said nodding towards the mentioned. "This galaxy has seen enough war over its lifetime, enough hatred and destruction. Enough races annihilated without cause and enough civilians killed without warrant. Having lived through and seen many of these atrocities and wars, I ask you my friends, to end it with us. End this cycle of war and destruction and allow Ancerious to finally be at peace. Think of the lives we can save by preventing but one war, together we can work towards the peace of Ancerious and forge a future for all of our nations." Laramar finished, remaining calm and collected in stature.
At this point Reik was beginning to fume at some of the things being thrown around the room, especially the fact that an empire would use data compilation as an excuse for an attack. He waited to say anything, wanting some more to say before he said it.
Hargun frowned, an offer of galactic peace had just been openly rejected. They had the audacity to spit on the Unions offer... even in front of all these other representatives. Hargun looked to both of his captains, Lydia and Volkus. He knew what each was thinking as they looked back, Lydia wanted war. That much was wholly obvious as she wanted to execute the Emerald Sword right now. Volkus seemed more worried, he was thinking on war grounds, about casualties and the logistics of such a pointless conflict. Hargun merely frowned, he looked into the eyes of the various reps. He could see Tenebrae was furious, as well Carnaith. The SSC looked disappointed, so too did the Adectu, Drakes, Trinova and various others. Only the Coalition didn’t really looked like they cared. Hargun merely looked at the Emerald Sword “You do realise you rejected peace in front of all these nations here? Our aim here was to achieve peace between us, create a better tomorrow. But you have rejected that. That is your choice, but do not expect reprieve. Many of those here will base their opinions on that very move. Choose your next words wisely. Not for your sake but for the diplomatic sake of your empire and its people” Hargun said with a seriousness few had seen.
Hess watched the back and forth between the Tenebrae, IE and Union as it progressed. The central point of debate seemed to change, essentially evolve from the first open exchange to the current offering of a proverbial olive branch. "It is most certain that this would be the best time to put an end to a conflict that benefits the few and certainly stands to sow misery to the many. The alternative is unthinkable... however..." Hess found himself interrupted by the presence of one of his assistants who interrupted by placing a hand on his left shoulder leaning in to whisper something into the diplomat’s ear. “What are you sure?” More hushed whispers continued before the assistant handed Hess a moderate sized box of the sort that often contained data-rods for distribution. The short conversation was entirely enough to ignore whatever it was the emerald Sword was saying. Hess nodded to the assistant who seemed to melt away into the shadows of the room before turning back to the room clearly a bit shaken by whatever the news was. “I have just received word, of an incident… That is, I must now ask the Immortal Empire to explain why they felt it was a good idea to attempt to deliver numerous deployment devices across SSC territory all of which contained a virulent semi or completely sentient biological pathogen? I may add it is a waste of your time to deny such an action, I have here copies of the investigation of the launched delivery vehicles upon capture, the technology is clearly of your people’s manufacture.”
Hargun looked shocked at the sudden news "Is this true?" He turned to the IE rep.
"Have with me straight from High command twenty detailed copies of the incident reports and studies of the captured devices as evidence of this severe transgression. Any who asks may claim a copy for their own study."
Reik's eyes widened, as well as his assistants, the Carnaithian Fox one's ears perked, and Reik's face went from shock to anger, but he kept his mouth shut... for now. Reik sent one of his assistants across the room to the SSC delegate, and began reviewing it when it got to him.
Xtopher choose that moment to add the information that his own people had gained in the recent events of things back within their own home systems. "i would also like to interject with news of a Captured device that was recovered within our "Capital" system. A briefcase, which was recovered from an agent of unknown decent and name. a briefcase... Quantum storage field tech built into it... but further scans with Advanced equipment by Black blade units have Detected IE energy and equipment signatures within the storage unit. The agent killed himself soon after within custody, cause of death was a trained neural liquidation. would you care to Answer questions regarding that device?"
The Stromian sitting with the Tenebrean delegates raised a thick arm in a gesture towards Hess. "If we may request one?" the rhino like alien asked in an accent heavy voice.
Hargun nodded too "We would also like a copy"
"As would we" Terran called out from the drake's group
"And I" Laramar boomed.
"And we will too" The IRS rep shouted out. Despite staying out of the war the IRS still wanted more details on any potential event, especially the use of advanced chemical weapons. But for now they were content to sit back and watch.
"Of course." Hess nodded and his assistants began to distribute the data rods to the interested parties.. wait where did his assistants even come from? It was as if they appeared and disappeared as needed...creepy. None the less Hess would wait until the requests were fulfilled before commenting again. "A select few of the objects remain under stasis while all new occurrences due to the probable nature of the agent contained within are as I have been told being utterly irretrievably destroyed at an undisclosed site of an anomaly. Thus far...twelve such objects. all propelled by solar sails and designed to not be seen...all aimed at critical stations and planets..."
The door opened in the hangar and four figures made their way through and towards their respective spot. Two of the figures being much larger than the other two individuals but they moved as if they were one mind and stood just behind the two smaller individuals. Their armour was a clear indication of who they were from being none other than the Mars Empire's Royal Guard. The two smaller figures were then easy to identify being none other than Ambassador Drogan and General Templar. As soon as they made it to their respective spots Templar and Drogan sat down in their chairs while the two royal guards when to a guard like position just behind them not moving at all like statues but ready to defend Templar and Drogan from any sudden attacks though such a thing was standard procedure.
Hargun nodded "Welcome members of the Mars Empire, good to have you here, You have come at a rather high tension time of debate... over the current galactic war..."
(THIS IS EPIC AND IT IS GOING SO WELL THANKS EVERYONE WE CAN SERIOUSLY MAKE THIS MORE EPIC STILL)
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 20:11:03 GMT
Beginnings of the Future Part 4:
Union High command Orbital: Mirach system: Union space
Drogan turned towards Hargun and replied.
"Thank you Hargun. I am confident that my lord's empire might be able to aid in this since many situations have been solved in our territory of this region of the Ancerious galaxy." As Drogan spoke, General Templar simply watched what was happening.
Counsellor Rowan looks over her note takers notes so far. The conference was recorded of course by one of her two helpers, but one of them took short compressed notes on paper about the varying factions, their reps, and standpoints. She frowns seeing the two page summary on the Emerald Sword as the Immortal Empire’s representative seemed to be called. She hands the papers back with a sigh and re crossed her arms looking at them all.
"Oh? You all were unaware of the attempt to kill two birds with one stone?” She had a strangely amused look on her snout as she spoke.
“That’s right, someone tried to commit genocide unlike, as far as I know, anything in the record of history itself. As it could have even spread to elsewhere other then the target it was aimed at. And it could be attempted on any one of you... "she then looks around the room with a rather stern like expression.
"So if I were you, if you all have not done so already," she warns as she looks directly at the Emerald Sword agent, while speaking to the others. "Construct the most advanced array of sensors you can and always keep an eye out for such a cowardly attempt. For that is simply what it is, pathetic attempts at declaring it logic aside."
Rowan then withdrew herself from the conversation and talks in hushed whispers to the recorder.
Lydia nodded in approval at the DHR comment on the Immortal Empires’ cold logic, and smiled towards Counsellor Rowan. Hargun on the other hand was more reserved about it however but still slightly nodded in agreement trying to conceal his agreement of it all.
"That is an understatement, as you can see in the evidence two of the object trajectories would have landed near coalition space. The coalition trades all over the galaxy, all it would have taken was a few of their freighters to get infected...and then it's in everyone’s back yard and eventually even your own. Now I find it hard to believe with your 'predictive abilities' you are so proud of...that you failed to predict how blind this attack was. So I ask you again, what is your explanation for such incredible stupidity?"
Laramar spoke up after the DHR comment. "As terrible as these attacks are and could have been, I think your underestimate the genocidal capabilities of other races in this galaxy."
Pham sit up in his chair listening intently to the conversations that had begun to break out between the representatives, bowing his head and sighing slightly in disappointment as they began to deviate from the topic at hand. Presently he stood, waiting for the other arguments to die down before speaking.
"I would like to restate Xtophers question, in regards to the briefcase recovered in Exceion. I believe that the Union is aware of it for the reason that it was a Union Security team that aided in its recovery. Despite the severity of this… utterly cowardly and increasingly logic less movement of infection you attempted. I will ask again, what is in the briefcase?" he said, making as good eye contact with the Emerald swords masked face as he could.
"I agree, that is a important question to ask of the Immoral Empire, what is in the case? I do think coming clean now may help your position in the eyes of the galaxy as a whole somewhat."
It is important to consider just how odd this question was for the Emerald Sword. After all, a war was raging, and in his eyes these diplomats were more interested in interrogating (admittedly in a more civil way than most interrogations were want to go) the Emerald Sword for information than actually discussing diplomacy.
Hargun was noted suddenly by a quiet bleeping in his ear, he turned to look away and recieved the communication. It was short, just a notification of some more guests arriving, due to their nature of long range travel it made sense of their late arrival. Either way it would be good to have them "Everyone I have a small notification, the representatives of the Ostech Combine will be joining us shortly. Anyway continue."
Xtopher looked up at the mention of the arrival of the representatives.
"The Ostech combine..." He mused curiously, before looking over the other representatives in the chamber. Looking at the delegates of the Mars Empire where they sat.
"Long distances, right... " He said to himself, before turning his attention back towards the Emerald Sword, aware of the Stromian representative as it read over the files stored in the data stick it received. Whispering quietly to the Male Raudonah and the Lahthanian over particular details of the SSCs report.
Alex and Jay both remain silent, Jay listening attentively and Alex's mind wandering to the woman who had convinced him to come to this meeting, the representative for the union, as he plays a card game not unlike solitaire with his nano-implant, in his head, trusting the recording of his memories and Jay's fastidiousness to ensure anything important was remembered.
The Emerald Sword raised his hand calling for silence so that he might talk uncontested. “Alright, I’ll enlighten you. First, let me have one of those. I wish to know exactly what you’re going on about.”
As the Emerald Sword waited for a data rod to be handed to him, he turned to address Hargun.
“Why are you surprised that I rejected peace with Tenebrae? Are you so unaccustomed to being told ‘no?’ I have stated, repeatedly I might add, why we are at war with Tenebrae. That you would even suggest such a course of action means that you either only heard what you wanted from me, or chose to ignore what I said entirely. Or you're completely naive.”
The Emerald Sword took the data rod, and staring at it, turned it a few times over in his hand. “Oh, those. I rather liked those. I thought they were clever. Long story short, we found something, it infected our ships, we captured it, we studied it, we weaponized it. And then, the SSC declared war on us. Seeing as how we are busy enough as is with Tenebrae, Capitol, and Carnaith, the best course of action was to give the SSC something to worry about away from the fighting. And again, the damage that would have been done has been exaggerated. It is hardly genocidal in nature. It is meant to keep them busy. And do you really think that we would risk the involvement of a race that wasn’t our intended target?”
Here was an example of a miscommunication: for an empire as thick in the skin, as indomitable really, as the Immortal Empire, this weapon was just that: something meant to keep people busy. They had, after all, grown to twice the size of most other factions with the acquisition of the Cerebian territories; and with their uncanny luck (both uncanny and luck being slightly erroneous here) with finding rich solar systems to colonize, they simply looked at things on a different scale than the rest. What was potentially apocalyptic in the eyes of the other attendees of the conference was merely a diversion to the Emerald Sword.
The Emerald Sword turns to the Tenebrae delegation as he continues, “As for what’s inside the briefcases. It’s a surprise. Now, do remember that we started this war trying to keep civilian deaths to an absolute minimum, both ours and yours. Thanks to your actions in the Ambrosius system however, we no longer have any such qualms.”
Hargun’s eye twitched and he spun to the side to stop Lydia as she began to spew insults. She stopped with her mouth open and merely stood staring at the IE rep, she slowly sat down and kept her eyes firmly fixed. Hargun sat back down.
"No, we are not ‘customed to people saying no. But then again those are races with some sort of intelligence" Hargun let the insult slip, he had invited them here to put across their side. And all he was getting was illogical nonsense and excuses for potential genocide and unwanted war.
War unwanted by the Union, anyway.
"If the races you deal with are usually intelligent then how do you cope? I said the Immortal Empire wouldn't be seeking peace until certain conditions are met. You didn't even try to find out what conditions those were. Instead you focus on the refusal." There was certainly a degree of antagonism to the Emerald Sword’s words, though in sincerity the idea was an honest one; intended as a direct comment on the strange direction of the negotiations. For as undiplomatic as the Emerald Sword’s words were, this was more on account of conditioning than malice; his efforts here were sincere.
"Then tell me what are those conditions exactly?” Hargun replied evenly. “We have offered a cease fire to you. Surely that should be good enough."
Inside of his helmet, the Emerald Sword’s mouth opened as he prepared to respond, but the representative from the Tenebraens rapped his palms onto the large wooden table.
Xtopher put his hands on the table in front of him, now quite tired of the nonsense and the attempts to mislead the assembled groups there. Opening his jaws to speak.
"You claim strength, and you claim tests. But you are not the only race capable of them. Ambrosious was no simple attack, as it benefited you, so too did it us. Even more then it did you it seems from what the Tenebrean empire received from it and its aftermath... We stuck a sword in your side, but it was laced... So Tell me, Child. How long has your race been in contact with the Flux?"
Hargun immediately looked at Xtopher, with a look of mixed fear and surprise.
"It's not "your" conditions…it would be theirs wouldn’t it?" He said, turning to look up at Hargun, a look of crystal calmness on his skull. When he spoke, his voice was calm, but disappointment was clear in it.
"I didn’t want to believe it a first, but after information we received from the Altman incident, well... It all began to fall into place. Temporal radiation signatures from reviews of Exceion, ships blowing up despite not being near any Immortal Empire ships at the time... old documents from the Nightside war."
The doors opened, and in walked two beings quite alien in appearance even to each other. Both were reptilian and wearing metallic outfits, but one was quite short, barely four feet in height. His wardrobe, such as it was, was quite thick and covered much of his body; servos and hydraulics at each of the joints indicated it was an exosuit more for function than fashion. He resembled a crocodile, though his long head and thick tail were all that showed of it. His mud-colored hide, however, had not a single scale but was instead soft and moist, in fact almost slimy.
The other was entirely alien in comparison - thin, elegant and six feet tall. Her outfit needed no motorized joints to help with movement as the other's did, and was instead an elegant series of metallic strips wrapping around her body. The metallic aqua outfit complimented her rich sapphire-colored scales, themselves enhanced with swirling deep-lavender-colored patterns which swept around her body. Perched on her left shoulder was a small creature, practically unnoticed at first. It resembled a hairless rodent, and at just under a foot tall it seemed unremarkable. Aside from the mechanical prosthetics that had replaced both of its left feet, right eye, part of its jaw and half of its tail, and indicated it did indeed come from the Combine.
For the two people had come from the Ostech Combine, as well. The crocodilian representative was smiling upon entry, whereas the other showed no apparent interest. When the two had penetrated the room so far as to be sure they were all visible, the pair stopped. The shorter representative, a Kalhare, then bowed. "I take it that we've arrived in time to join the party?" a light, synthesized voice crowed. The Kalhare made something of an "Oh" sound, and the voice added, "My, my, aren't we in a foul mood today?"
"Can you blame them, considering the circumstances?" The elegant woman asked.
The Kalhare sighed, though it was overpowered by the synthetic voice as it said, "No, my dear, I don't suppose I can." As the Kalhare beamed again, the voice continued, "It is with great honor that we represent the Ostech Combine today. My name," the voice said as the Kalhare placed a four-fingered hand to his chest, "is Callous Romandi, and this fine lady here is Niett Hyrdane."
Hargun looked away from Xtopher a moment and smiled a fake smile at the Combines representatives, he was somewhat surprised as he had never seen their race before, only communicated from the Combine itself. However he nodded to them "Greetings, please sit down and join us... however its a bit of a strenuous moment..."
He turned and looked at the Emerald sword. "Your actions in Exceion may very well have doomed us all in Ancerious... What was on that moon was not something you can control... unless it wants you too."
The Combine representatives had just settled in. Callous, still smiling, made a rather obvious *harrumph.*
"While we have been monitoring the...situation in the conference, I haven't the slightest idea of what you mean. I suspect I am not the only one, hmm?"
Reik stood up slightly, only to stretch, he hadn't had much time in the lobby, and FTL travel was strenuous on the body, even if you don't need cryo freezing tech. He turned to one of his assistants.
"Go to the prowler, and have comms message the amethyst tower to authorize sending in D2 class forces, we're going to cycle some out..." he said, this meaning that there was going to be some new tech revealed by carnaith...
Reik sat down again, hoping he didn't distract too many people.
Laramar leant to one of his aids "Tell Azar he needs to be ready to command more forces, brief Lock on the situation."
Hargun also turned to whisper into the ear of one of his aids, out of hearing of everyone else he whispered a small sentence "Get a message for the Emperor ASAP, we have a Condition red."
Allready, things were getting complicated.
--oOo--
Xtopher sat down, tired at this point of the nonsense that he had been forced to endure. "I will speak to you in private captain, after the meeting." Before turning the Emerald sword. Looking at him, a knowing expression on his skull... "It's alright child... You can stop covering for them now."
Another miscommunication: where Xtopher said child, he was merely referring to age. Xtopher was ancient; in his heart he carried ancient ideas, ancient memories. When he said child, it was not a malicious statement so much as an earnest imploration of grace.
"You have clearly been listening to the SSC. I'd try not to believe everything you hear if I were you. I'll admit that the possibility that the Flux exist is there, but that is only because rumours exist. And rumours are usually based in reality. But we have never met any such species. Nothing even close. Well there was one species, but I very much doubt they were the Flux. They were far too flashy."
The Emerald Sword looked around seeing many representatives whispering to each other. "And what has warranted such whispering? “
The SSC’s representative found all of this highly unamusing, to put it mildly.
“I will say this your unending sea of arrogance will drown you. If the weapon is so unthreatening I suppose you will not mind if we return it to sender with a little interest, and see just how ‘harmless’ it is. We do not make claims without proof and now that you have not verified you were complicit in attempted genocide. The evidence contained on that rod is preliminary, but it is clear you have never acted alone; in fact I would put forth the probability that in reality the Great Immortal Empire is little more than a vassal state of the Flux Ascendancy. Maybe you should call your masters in here so they can answer for themselves, talking to a puppet like you is tiring.”
Snappily, the Emerald Sword retorted. “By all means, do. These weapons are hard to harvest and your returning them would save us so much trouble.”
"Like I said,” Xtopher continued, “we were heavily skeptical at first, so we turned towards the "DATA" as you put it. Naturally, it seemed heavily unfeasible that you would have accepted the help of another, being the proud strong intelligent empire that you claim to be. However, the data gathered at Exceion, showing "Temporal Radiation" sources throughout the system where ships were known to have blown up without engaging yours gave rise to our suspicions. So we looked into what we knew..." The administrative caste said. Giving a gesture and bringing up a screen containing a schematic of an oddly shaped vessel; organic and oddly sweeping in its shape.
"This is a schematic put together by archivists pending the end of the Nightside war of ships that arrived without warning and aided in the battle of Neo-Leng. The men who described the designs were noted to have forgotten about them soon after... this however." He went on. Bringing up a second file detailing a pict-capture of a highlighted area of Radiation Exposures. the shape roughly matching the shape of the ships shown in the designs. "Was taken by the entity of the Altman, a vessel of unknown design that first stalked them before ramming the SSC vessel heading the rescue convoy en route back to our territories after Ambrosious. It matches none of your known designs as correlated by RUSE. This is not to say that we did not consider it to be of coincidence. As it could have been a simple pirate vessel, this was not expected to be the likely conclusion though... Then, as the meeting commenced, our intelligence networks received long range scans of the invasionary offensive line. And low and behold... similar readings throughout your territories. Correlating to data received by one of our captains during the Altman incident. Too accurately and too large of a scale to have been falsified... that, coupled with your uncanny tendency of possessing knowledge of movements and developments before they were even conceived, helped us to reach that conclusion."
The Calvara paused, regarding the Emerald Sword.
"But perhaps further proof is required..." he said, turning towards the SSC diplomat and giving a nod.
"If you would have any?"
As the new evidence was being presented Hess was already asking one of his assistant to retrieve some information from the Illuminary’s safe storage just for such an incidence as was currently unfolding. “Actually as a matter of fact I have two specific pieces of evidence to add to the point you have made, the first piece contains two separate scans of two separate enemy vessels during the Altman incident.”’
Hess retrieved a small cube like device that slowly hovered above his hand spinning gently on unseen energies. The object was perhaps no bigger in any dimension then three inches and composed of an unknown material. The object’s sides were polished to a perfect shine which was accented by the shimmering dark material that the object was composed of. Hess spoke a few hushed commands to the device in a language that was beyond the ability of any translator in the room and the object spun a bit faster emitting a holographic projection. It was a bow view from the SCS Pontic of the first enemy contact during the Altman incident.
“As you can see, this vessel which appeared shortly after our taskforce began towing the Altman it took up an attack vector before hunting fleet elements engaged and brought it down. Note the immense amount of temporal disruption its very existence is emitting. This ship is clearly beyond the capabilities of the Immortal Empire and its target was clearly the Altman. But what happens next is also worth note.”
The image shifts to the sensor sweep as seen by the SCS Vicksburg. The curved shape of the Vicksburg stood in contrast to the Tenebrae ship in tow and the SCS Oradell up front. It was clear the Vicksburg was built with compactness and perhaps aerodynamics in mind as the trailing teardrop shape of the vessel was apparent even from a starboard view. A few seconds in the footage pass before in a glittering object hurtles across the frame maneuvering somewhat through the applied defensive weapons fire of the Altman and the few SSC vessels able to fire in time.
Whatever it was, it moved fast: so fast it seemed that it was quite difficult to make out what precisely it was. Truth be told, this was not the only cause for its glittering blurred nature; the Uller’s Boxes on the ship the Flux had called the Fortunate Son’s wingtips ripped, prodded, and mocked reality to such an extent that they not only defied the unrecordable nature of the Ascendancy’s technology, but corrupted the data stream remarkably. Still, thanks to the SSC’s remarkable techniques, a crude image of what had likely happened remained for the ambassadors to see.
Moments pass as the vessel disappears under the Altman and emerges taking a right turn, the seconds continue as it like an unstoppable juggernaut plows into the stern of the SCS Macon and both explode violently sending glowing shrapnel across the frame.
“That is the second ship, but of course I’m sure the Empire over there will claim it could be anything…the last three seconds of sensor data from the Macon however says otherwise..” Moments later the image shifted to the last few seconds of existence the Macon had in its career. At first the scopes were clear then something came about the Altman and there in the last few moments was the telling shape of a flux vessel of the same type as the one defeated earlier. As if to drive the point home the last second of footage shows the crumpling hull sections of the two ships before the sensor feed is ended by the collision.
“From that two conclusions can be drawn, either the Immortal empire is lying about its concerns about foreign activities because they allow temporal marauders on their borders…or they are in league with these marauders, who we know as the Flux. As if this is not damning enough there is the second piece of evidence.”
Hess typed a few commands into the objects controls through some sort of holographic keyboard only he could see. The object paused in its spinning, ended the currant file and begun spinning again as it projected a new image, this time of the Immortal Empire territory in modest detail as seen from above. The Tenebrae and Carnaith corridors appeared on a portion of the map and the image zoomed in to show the area in great detail. Images of the assorted sides vessels appeared in the image as they moved in miniature. Tiny weapons fire could be seen in battle zones and the time stamp for the image was set to months prior.
“This is the battle area from months prior when Tenebrae and Carnaithian forces moved on the Immortal Empire after the incursion of a nation recently revealed as Capitol also attacked. But this isn’t the evidence in question…just watch.” The image of the area suddenly had a green cross hatch applied over a roughly circular area enveloping the battle zone a d a number of adjacent areas within the Immortal Empire. As it sat there the battles continued on but something curious began to happen. Dozens of temporal distortions appeared across the affected areas and they were fleeing outward to other areas. Someone decided to get out of dodge and the included sensor analysis put the energy emissions at a match to the encountered vessels in the Altman incident. The Temporal marauders were residing within the Immortal Empire!
“So then, we now have clear evidence the Immortal Empire has been harboring these people, the Flux within their borders or are so blind they never noticed they had an infestation. I would like to think the Immortal Empire was smarter than this however…I’d also like to see what they’ve got to say to being caught with their pants down.”
The humour in the SSC representative’s voice was strangely out of place given the gravity of such accusations, but as out of place as that behaviour may have been, it would pale later on.
Neither Callous nor Niett said a word. The creature on Niett's shoulder made a brief noise akin to a chirp.
Xtopher sat back in his chair. "The continuous holes in your logic of course..."
A soft snoring was heard eminating from the Coalition Delegation, and it might have been seen that the Therion Matriarch was shaking the bat-like Jakeili representative awake where he sat on the 'remarkably comfortable' chairs as he so eloquently put it as he sat up and stretched, how little he could in aforementioned 'odd chairs' with his wings and all. The Matriarch rolled her eyes and began pulling open a combat ration she had brought along, offering the nutrition bar that came with to one of her male Thrall members, part of the 'security' detatchment. She then went about quietly eating a pouch of fruit while the Gadzu noisily absconded with the bag of chips... to which shi leaned over to the Sutfein, gently mumbling.
"It's alot like eating chips in a Jakeili Church, they all look at you with angry gazes, but deep down they want some too..." The statement earned a soft hissing snort from the gigantic Naga who sat back on the immense bed of coils shi had built for hirself during the beginnings of the preliminary talks.
The Therion Matriarch paused, halfway through overly lewdly eating a slice of a blue fruit to the amusement of the Gadzu representative... and wave gently, "Oh, don't mind us... carry on, carry on."
Reik raised his hand, asking to no-one in particular, more to anyone who Could answer him; "I wish to know... who are the Flux?" he asked with a grimace, they seemed to be VERY dangerous.
He was not alone in his confusion.
"As do I, I feel rather uninformed which is saying something for one of my age" Laramar remarked in a worried tone.
"Indeed, who?" Niett asked.
Circe shuffled uncomfortably in her seat and looked over to Xtopher.
The Administrative caste put his hands on the table, turning to look at the representatives as they raised their hands ad inquired on the nature of the secretive race, remembered and secretly documented largely by the archives and Archivist-castes of his race not long after the Nightside War. Sketches of their ships that had been drawn from memory by soldiers that had survived the final battle, which had eerily matched multiple points of description of the Altman incident. Even on the part of the SSC, a race that, acccording to their relations, should not have known.
"There is no clear answer to that...what we know of them is sketchy at best. But what we do know has… matched up almost perfectly..." He paused as he looked at Circe... "Is something wrong miss?" He asked curiously.
"No...no...I'm fine, Xtopher" Circe replied, her eyes flashing blue for a brief second before returning to normal.
Niett returned to her seat, saying nothing but looking directly at Callous. Callous only looked at his companion and nodded. The creature on Niett's shoulder softly chirped again.
Xtopher only nodded, looking a little unsettled. Before turning back towards the assembled delegates around the chamber.
The IRS rep after the sudden outburst of activity shuffled uneasily... After all if due to this very conference the IRS was to be targeted by either the IE or this... Flux then it would be a dark day indeed, he hoped to avoid the casualty counts, however if the IRS was forced into a conflict they would not shy away from it.
There was silence... Hargun heard some uneasy coughs before he stood up. The unease in the room was palpable.
"I think... that’s enough on the war for now...” He said feeling the tension in the air practically impacting him as he stood up "Perhaps we can move onto other pressing matters, like the Dark Triumvirate..."
"What of them?" Niett asked.
Hargun turned to the Ostech representatives "We have word that they are planning an attack on the Nex, and that they have”
“We are not done here.”
The Emerald Sword said the words without malice, of course; it was simply his effort to communicate. Naturally, his lack of grace was well received.
Hargun turned around. “How dare you! The war has had its part! Now sit down!”
Naturally, as anyone who knew how an Emerald Sword reacted to direct commands from someone not his superior, the Emerald Sword ignored Hargun. Furthermore, the extensive monologue that followed did little to further efforts at peace; though here too while seeming on surface value to be incredibly dense and somewhat bull headed, it was well calculated too. It was just as much as an opportunity for misinformation as it was an effort at negotations; albeit one not uttered in perhaps the most profitable of tones.
The Emerald Sword had stood silently, taking in the data put forth by both the SSC and Tenebrae delegations.
“This data is most grave, and for so many reasons. If, and that is a big ‘if,’ this data proves to be true, then someone or something is using the Immortal Empire’s war to further their own goals. An unknown variable. Most distasteful. I will bring this information to the attention of the Council of Thirteen, and we will investigate this infestation of our territory in this galaxy, and possibly our own. This will prove difficult as our knowledge of chronotech is admittedly… limited, compared to what your two empires seem to possess. Which is a shame, such knowledge being wasted on fools. And when I say fools, it isn’t myself I am comparing you to but the expectations I had of you. I had expected you to catch on to the subtle meanings to my words, but either the translator the Union has supplied is faulty or you’re intentionally thick. Having learned your languages, I’m going with the latter. So for your sakes I shall be blunt. No more word play, no more subtle meanings, no more witty banter. I attended this conference without announcing my intention to the Union of Worlds. This was so that I could see all of those attending this meeting when my presence was announced. It told me so very much. It told me who knew of the Immortal Empire, and what they thought of us. It was because of your reactions that I chose to humor you, and answer your questions. It was not my purpose in coming here, but I saw it as necessary. It was to put forth a reason for why we have acted as we have. I had expected condemnation, but not to this degree.”
The Emerald Sword turned to address Hargun. “You have gathered here those that you feel share, at least to a degree, your views and morals, correct? Those that you feel would work with you and you with them in a joint effort to better this galaxy for all those that inhabit it? I would not expect the Immortal Empire could be part of this ‘alliance,’ nor would it want to be. But that you would still allow Tenebrae to join, this speaks volumes. You would allow a nation that willingly destroyed a planet full of civilians to join? Some of those civilians, I might add, actually disproved of the Immortal Empire’s attack on Tenebrae. These people supported Tenebrae. They felt as many of you do, that we did not have the right to judge this alien nation. You would truly allow such people to join you in defending the galaxy? If so, then I pity you and the people under your care.”
The Emerald Sword turned again, this time to both the SSC and Tenebrae representatives. “Now listen well, for the fate of your people may depend on it.
To the SSC Representative Hess, there is nothing you can do. No action you make can stop what is now coming for your people. You have captured twelve of the weapons; the AC-Ws are what we call them. Twelve weapons, launched from just as many ships. Ships that I’m sure your people saw coming. As a matter of fact, we were positive that you would see them coming. Let that sink in for a moment while I address Tenebrae.”
Any attempt by Hess to speak was robbed by the Emerald Sword. The words erased even as they left his mouth, cancelled out by the Emerald Sword’s helmet.
“I’ll not be drowned out by your pointless objections and accusations, not when what I have to say is so much more important. Now then,” the Emerald Sword turned his featureless mask to focus on Xtopher, “I’ll repeat myself. What’s inside the briefcases is a surprise. Think about it. Analyze it. ‘Briefcases.’ Plural. There is more than the one. A lot more than one. I expect that to be clear enough for you. So here is my proposal. Accept the Union’s sage advice. You can end this war, you can save so many lives. All you have to do is surrender here and now, and your people won’t even have to worry about what’s inside those scary little briefcases. I believe our terms are reasonable, if you choose to hear them. Of course, if you simply reject my offer… well that’s entirely your choice now isn’t it.”
Ambassador Drogan and General Templar simply watched the different representatives bicker and argue over why the Immortal Empire reason's were not just and kept silent. Drogan waited until he would have a chance to speak which when it came he stood up and said with a slight grin on his face.
From a historic perspective, Drogan’s proposal would likely be regarded as the most even handed effort at improving the relations between these two most bitter adversaries. Peace is a very easy word to throw around after all; all men want peace, particularly the peace from those they oppose. But Drogan’s effort was remarkable in its earnesty and sincerity; while all other players in this game talked of peace in favourable terms, none had made so bold and honest of a proposal for how to accomplish it.
"Well I am pretty sure we are all aware that the Immortal Empire and the Tenebrae Empire are going to have a hard time finding peace. However may i propose a slow but most stable approach for a long term goal of peace?" A hologram like control scheme appeared on his hand as he lifted it up. "So far my Lord's empire has used this method to end aggression between two factions. Though the process takes some time I calculate that it would have a 75% success rate for bringing peace between the two nations minus the need for a pointless war."
Drogan the outstretched his hand and the hologram expanded to reveal a world which is currently in the mars empire territory as well as a zoomed image of one of the major cities that spand it's surface. Drogan then said looking at the Immortal Empire and Tenebrae representives.
"For this approach we simply make two colonies and place them right next to each other." A highlighted section that divided the two cities appeared in the image and Drogan continued.
“They are divided of course to prevent unwanted violence but in the middle section of this divider is another city one where the future generations of the two empires are put together. This causes some friction at first but after enough time we have seen that the populace (with some minor encouragement) slowly begin to accept one another and begin to for a more stable or peaceful relation to the other."
The highlighted section's influence slowly began to expand to the other cities as Drogan spoke. "This believe then begins to spread across the divider to the other sections and within several years begins to spread to other worlds thus removing the anger towards one another." Drogan then closed the hologram and said.
"If the Immortal Empire and Tenebrae are willing to perform this method then there might be a chance although a slow one mind you to spare the blood shed between the two."
For a brief moment, a notion of this scale was likely considered.
But then fate intervened. And then it all got messy.
--oOo—
Carnaith has a distinctly honour oriented culture, a throw over from the many battles in its illustrious history and the warrior’s code that had evolved from it. Without a proper understanding of the culture Reik originated from, what happened next would look only to be one thing: a blatant invitation for violence.
Reik pulled out his personal revolver, but anyone with quick eyes could see he was de-cocking it, and then taking the cylinder out, he then slammed his hand on the table and slid the pistol over to the union delegates; "hold on to that for me, will you?" he said, then giving a glare to the Emerald Sword. "If looks could kill..." said one of his assistants.
Now, from the perspective of an inhabitant of Carnaith, what was done here was thus: Reik was disarming. He was, in his own way, indicating both his strong dislike for the course of events that had lead them all to this room; the surprise attack, the massacres perpetrated by both sides, and these unsettling rumours of this so called Flux. But in unloading his revolver, he was also showing his unwillingness to fight further over the matter; this was a time for negotiation, not for bitter words which were now being flung by multiple parties.
Alas, few present had quite as fine a grasp on the finer points of Carnaith’s culture. What followed was suffice to say rather chaotic.
"GUN!"
The moment the revolver slipped from the holster, the Teruvian male was already moving... it hadn't even cleared the table by the time he was shoving the Therion Matriarch to the deck, with Victoria - the Teruvian Female - pulling the Jakeili down with her. At the shout, all five of the Therion males comprising of the 'security detatchment' that was the Matriarch's Thrall were moving... Immense, dinner-plate hooves slammed onto the table, causing items to bounce from the sheer weight as all five simply vaulted in table with the intent to full-body-check the Carnaith representatives to the ground and pin them... Five Therions, each nearly four hundred pounds of muscle rated for 4.3 Standard gravities and standing at an easy 7.5 Feet tall came at the Carnaithians like roaring freight trains. They were 'unarmed' in the sense that they didn't have swords or projectile weapons.... that didn't stop them from having the four-inch long sharpened claws on their finger tips as they put their immense weight on the Carnaith Representatives, one of them shouting; "Where is your security, HARGUN?!"
Multiple Skia phased in around the Coalition Therion males and grabbed them, each stopping the crushing weight and merely pushed them off of the Carnaith reps quickly. The black alien creatures then formed a wall around the Carnaith delegates and Hargun could be seen holding his head in his hand shaking his head.
When Reik pulled out his pistol revolver the two giant motionless royal guards of the Mars Empire raised their sheilds and moved them where Drogan and Templar would be most protected. They moved so fast that they looked like a blur and Drogan was slightly shocked before he could try to salvage the situation. Templar however remained unaffected and kept watch over the other reperesentatives. Once Drogan recovered from the sudden response of the royal guard he turned to Hargun and said with disappointment.
"Such a shame..... I had hoped things would have turned out better." He returned to his seat and not long after Templar raised his hand signaling the royal guard who moved back to their original positions. Their eyes however searched the other delegates keeping a watchful eye just in case the situation got even worse.
"ENOUGH!" he shouted. Everyone stopped. "THIS IS A PEACE CONFERENCE TREAT IT AS SUCH!"
Hargun grabbed the pistol and threw it away. As Reik sat down two of the Skia Hargun had assigned for security purposes phased in behind him and checked him over for other weapons, the whole delegations whispering to themselves.
Hargun was not amused.
"Settle down! They are a security measure for those who bring weapons to a peace conference..."
He gave Reik a very angry look.
"As for the Immortal Empire..." Hargun was silent for a moment.
"I invited you here to negotiate peace, not to dally about with your idiotic logic. Many w!re surprised by Harguns statement.
"Get out. You are no longer welcome here." At this a couple of Skia phased in and made gestures for the Emerald Sword to move back to his ship. "Go. I never want to see your likes again."
Peace, it seemed, was beginning to slip away.
Hargun turned to the Mars Empire "I’m sorry but your proposal will only fall on deaf ears..." If only they would listen.
So Hargun spoke. The chaos of the moment swallowed rationality; a chaos, oddly enough, derived from an earnest attempt at peace, and from a dramatic though equally earnest commitment to the process. Perhaps deaf ears was not the right choice of words; after all, only in the breath before, Hargun had commanded the eviction of the Immortal Empire’s representative from the proceedings. He felt a great sense of disillusionment about it all, at a moment like this; a great unification in this galaxy had seemed almost palpable earlier. He was a firm believer in the destiny of sentient races to come together under a common banner, a common ideal, but now the creeds that governed souls seemed vastly separated from each other.
Xtopher turned towards Drogan as the ambassador went about his description, listening intently to the full explanation before he would speak, his calm look and voice betraying the amount of frustration that the Emerald Sword had displayed.
"While I speak for the Tenebrean Empire in the fact that we would be willing to agree for peace and even more for a cease fire, They have made it clear that they are unwilling to go through with the proposal. They want a surrender and a weakly earned victory based on acts of terrorism, and implanted logic. I'm sorry, but that option is no longer a possibility." he nodded, clearly disappointed to a degree. But showing an amount of his appreciation for the gesture.
Defiant as any one of a specialized warrior’s caste may be, the Emerald Sword continued on calmly in spite of the Skia.
"I may be a guest here, but you did not invite me, you allowed me admittance. There is a difference. And as of right now you don't have the right to expel me from this meeting. Not yet. Not until I get Tenebrae's answer to my offer." He turned to Xtopher.
"This is your final answer?"
Xtopher turned towards the emerald sword, his voice and his skeletal face expressing what appeared to be pity of a genuine type.
"I pity your colonies, truly I do. You've allowed doom into them, but you've done it to yourself..." He said, Turning to look towards the emerald sword.
"But you’re not the only empire that can plant contingencies, i think that was a quote by someone in our history once, "Contingencies are a good thing." And we've had them in place sense the Cerabians fell and we observed your methods from afar, Ambrosious was a messy delivery of them, true. But in the end we did deliver. But if you've tried to weaponize what i think you have, then deploying it now would be a waste of our time... so, i have to decline... But if its of any consolation, I'm sorry, so sorry for what your people will have to go through for your foolishness." he said, sitting back down.
"Another thing to keep note of." He said, looking up one more time. "If our ancient files are true. it can infect bio-matter just as easily as it can metal." Before going silent and looking up at the the representative without another word.
Hargun looked at the Emerald Sword furiously.
"True we didnt invite you. Which means either two things are going to happen. The Immortal Empire is at war with the Union. You are currently on Union territory. You will either leave or you will be terminated right here and now. Which would you prefer? Do not take my easy going outlook as a sign of weakness, i can order your death as easily as a click of my fingers. Its due to my acceptance that you even got a chance to speak let alone get into Union territory. Now make a wise choice and leave."
As the room quieted down a few ongoing chuckles could be heard from the drakes, quickly going silent.
Laramar sat back in his chair cool composure on his face as he watched the brawling aliens and the strange phasic reatures.
Counsler Rowan seemed to be unphased by the revolver, the DHR was a very libertarian society and there citizians might argueably and collectively own more guns then any military organization. She paid it no mind, that and she wore a PSU not that anyone could tell unless they shot at her. She just sat there with her arms crossed as the Emerald Swordseemingly made more threats and hints to threats, her point of view anyway, and the entire original purpose of the meeting drowned in an avalanch of one star nation after another digging their holes deeper and deeper." I swear to bloody god, i am glad Deneb chose the location he did. As far away from all of you as fucking possible...” She said perhaps drowned out and under her breath.
Hess watched the chaos unfolding carefully having taken no action during any of it. The situation was deteriorating rapidly and it ws clear the Immortal empier had likely never intended to even negotiate on the current conflict.
"And as for you!" Hargun turned to Reik "Get out, i want another Carnaith rep here immediately. You have just disgraced the term peace conference. Your superiors will be noted on this. Now leave like the IE rep and have another replace you.”
The Therion Matriarch got up and pointed accusingly at Reik and then Hargun.
“This was a peace conference, was it not?” You have been ARGUING over all this entire time and now THOSE guys decide to break out a fucking weapon!" Shi snarled and slammed a fist on the table, "You want a PEACE conference, then you should make sure it REMAINS peaceful instead of overlooking a damnable REVOLVER. You claim to be able to keep galactic peace when you can't keep a simple slug-thrower off your own goddamn station?! Mr. Hargun, I'm quickly beginning to realize that you may not even have the power to keep your own STATION safe, let alone stop supposed galactic mass murderers!" She flung a hand at the Immortal Empire, "Half of the peoples here aren't even involved in this damned war, yet you've drug us here to listen to incesssant babbling back and fourth from a bunch of talking heads about who did what to who. WHY are we here, Mr. Hargun?!"
This was not a moment for a lesser man, and it was quite providential that Hargun was not one of that mold.
“I think,” he said slowly, keeping his composure far more in check than he imagined himself otherwise capable of, “that we ought to conclude our talks for the day. We can resume again in the morning,” he stated with such unsettling calmness that it held slightly more effect than one might have granted it at the hour. He shot a look at the empty seats where the Immortal Empire and the representative of Carnaith had sat so recently, before looking back at the Therion Matriarch. “Perhaps by then calmer heads will prevail.”
--oOo—
TO BE CONTINUED
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 20:12:37 GMT
Union High command Orbital: Mirach system: Union space
Hargun sighed, he was currently waiting along with both Volkus and Lydia. The previous day had ended badly, the entire conference had been dragged down with the Immortal Empire and Carnaith. He had been furious and called for a recess, rooms and quarters had been provided to each of the races and had been heavily guarded in case of any antics. It was 15 minutes until the conference was due to have its second session. Thankfully the Immortal Empire Emerald Sword and the Carnaith rep Reik would not be attending. The Carnathian and the Immortal Empire delegation having sent other reps in over night. There had been talk after the conference, with some races meeting to discuss matters entirely however Hargun had been too angry to converse with any others. Thankfully his trick was still in the bag and he could still turn this around, in fact. This event had helped seal his proposal with hard first hand evidence. He could see Volkus was somewhat stressed and Lydia was still angry, however she was always angry. The minutes counted down until he decided to make his was to the conference chamber in the hangar bay. His walk was one of a stern man and one with a purpose. He could see the other delegates arriving and many of them looked equally either anxious or annoyed. He would make them see... He stepped up to his seat and his two others sat down Hargun however kept standing let those walk in and get comfortable. He would wait to start talking.
As Laramar took his seat he looked to Hargun and saw the stress well concealed on the mans face but still hinted there. He gave a friendly nod then sat back and waited for the conference to resume.
Counsellor Rowan would finally make her way to the conference room and takes a seat. The look on her face showing a hint of unamusement as she soon forces it to face before looking around the room left to right. Her two note takers sitting on either side as she places her arms on the table and intertwines her fingers.
The Therion Matriarch had refused to speak to any of the Union representatives, having fumed afterwards over potentially leaving the Conference. However, cool heads did in fact prevail. The Jakeili had rather graciously turned down the food and lodgings offer by the Union under the pretence that various races of the Coalition needed special lodgings... considering the immensity of the Sutfein, it seemed reasonable.
The Jakeili led the Coalition Delegation into the chambers this time, the Matriarch coming in second to last with her thrall. The sutfein, as before due to her immense size, came in last to coil up beside the group. The muscular bat nodded with a gentle flourishing bow to Hargun before taking his seat, breaking out a small bag of fruit for breakfast.
The Templar and Drogan were walking towards the second session of the conference with the royal guard at their flanks. As they were nearing the door to go to the conference room Drogan was talking to Templar saying with disappointment "If war is soon to arrive will the Mars empire get involve? I know it's not our decision but the union is our ally and the other empire's will be demanding our help in this matter. Not to mention the immortal empire however bad they seam shouldn't be outright destroyed so there might be a chance they would ask us for aid if their destruction seams immanent...." Templar kept looking forward when he spoke " It is not our decision to get involved with others little wars. It is only Lord Order's you should know. However I have to find a chance to get Order's plans presented to the the representatives before their is no chance to." The entrance was coming up and Templar said as he checked one of his hologram data sheets that appeared in front of him showing him the status of the Mars empire military. " We will have to wait for the perfect moment only what we report to order will indicate if we will become involved or not." They entered the chamber and walked towards their assigned location. General Templar glancing at Hargun before sitting down and the royal guard returned to their statue like positions behind them.
The air rippled around the drake's seats as the drakes returned from their world, all 7 having decided to leave shortly after the events of the day before and return to take care of anything they missed at home. all of the drakes were just as they were before, still in their human forms and engaged in joyous conversation.
The Tenebrean delegates Walked into the conference chamber, having shunted on-board the station again, having returned to their interceptor For the night, some of them taking the few hours of reprieve to Communicate with a few of the other representatives present that they had managed to establish contact with prior to the councils commencement. At least one of them Disappearing during the time to speak to certain reps personally. Pham and Drogan appeared to be engaged in casual conversation. Which Xtopher Tossing in occasional input on the matter being discussed. While the others spoke in somewhat more quiet, but none the less casual tones. Refreshed from the strains of the night before, but still aware of the situation that their Collective was facing.
"You know as well as I, The Briefcases are a major risk at this point." Drogan said, directing the statement at pham, the tenebrean turning up his head as he replied. " Nor am I saying that they do not, But We now have new information on them, And we have to trust command back in the systems to Respond appropriately, the SSC have been notified, and Col-sec is on the lookout for the others. it'll be difficult. But We've faced worse threats on our own, we cannot rely on our allies to solve our problems."
"Agreed." Xtopehr said as they took their seats at the conference rooms centre table. "Enough of them already have the idea that We'll ask them for Assistance in the War effort, Despite the fact that we've actively discouraged them from doing so, at least on the part of the drakes and the DHR. they still think so... that point must be made, those who join this war, must do so out of their own choice."
As they sat at their seats, it became apparent that at least one of them. Notably, the Male raudonah known as Aldarian. was not present. Although this did little to surprise the other Tenebrean reps, as he, as well as a few members of the representatives had dismissed themselves from the group not long after the Previous nights, or days, "depending on the location of their orbit." conference was dismissed. Xtopher being among them.
As they sat, the Male Teruvian looked about before leaning over to the Gadzu, mumbling under his breath, "Say, where is Victoria? Some of the thrall said they saw her check out of the Drop Ship last night..." The Gadzu shrugged, "Something about intense negotiations or something. Sounded dreadfully boring, I am wholeheartedly looking forward to seeing who pulls a gun next. Watching the Matriarch's boys' asses lunge across the table was a delicious sight to behold. Have you seen their thighs?" The teruvian baulked and shook his head, grumbling under his breath; 'Ugh, -Gadzu-.' which caused a deep, soft, rumbling chuckle from the immense four armed Naga nearby.
Likewise, among the Tenebreans the Female Raudonah turned to face Pham, tapping the Tenebreans shoulder to get his attention, Speaking quietly. "Have you seen Aldarian? He dismissed himself last night for further negotiations." The Raudonah turned her head, the glowing edges of the hexagonal metal segments that made up her dresses outer layers shining slightly. "but he hasn't checked in sense. and he wasn’t on the ship this morning." The Tenebrean gave an odd gesture, signalling that he didn't know of the Raudonah drakes location. "Any idea who he was negotiating with?" The Female nodded, " one of the coalition members, the Teruvian Victoria... and from the looks of things, she's not around either." The Tenebrean only laughed slightly under his breath. "Negotiations" right..." He said, remembering how the raudonah drake and the teruvian female had talked and socialized the night before, just before the conference, not entirely being subtle on what was going on between the two. as well as the Looks they had been giving each other throughout the meeting.. "Give him some time. They should be back in a bit... once they're done." He said, smirking. Earning a slight look of annoyance from the Stromian, and a restrained chuckle from Libernus.
Counsellor Rowan just sat and observed everyone with her head supported by her hands. Elbows on the table as her ears perked up listening to all in the room.
Drogan looked around at the gathering representatives and opened several holograms going through the information about what was happening in the Mars empire. General Templar opened one as well however he sent a private hologram message to Hagun which said the fallowing " Though war is about to happen between the two empire's I cannot guarantee that my Lord will openly send aid in the matter. I can tell you that even though two empires will not be able to work on what I will present later there is still a chance to keep galactic peace and help strengthen it." The two giant royal guards remain on alert keeping a watchful eye over the other representatives.
Helios turned to Circe over at the drake's group. "how is the forecast for today's discussion, sister?" Helios asked her. Circe's eyes flashed blue before answering. "today seems interesting, dear brother, maybe more so than yesterday's events." "excellent" helios replied. "then we are ready. but what of Leithanon? any improvement?" Circe looked down. "no, dear brother. he remains ill, no signs of improvement." Helios' smile wavered as he ran his hands through his hair. "maybe i should've stayed with him...if only we knew what was wrong...what caused this..." Circe responded immediately to Helios to console him. "don’t worry, brother. maybe not today, but I’m sure he'll improve soon." Helios gave her a feint smile. "maybe you’re right..."
King William stood next to the new Carnaithian representative, listening to everyone else speaking and wondered if any other nation would care about Trinova's current situation.
The Emerald Sword, banned from the conference, was instead working in the hangar. The device he was constructing was mishmash of parts and wires. The Union personnel that happened by the construction project were either worried or curious. Sometimes both. And while there was no evidence that this was a bomb or weapon, the possibility still lingered in their minds. It took the better part of the recess before the Emerald Sword finished his project. He was rewarded by the almost imperceptible whine of reality being torn asunder. Several seconds later, Klester, first seat on the Council of Thirteen, Right Hand of the Overlord, the Dragon, and Ruler of Region 1 stepped out from the void portal. The Emerald Sword bowed his head slightly before speaking, “Greetings Lord Klester. Though I wish it hadn’t been necessary I’m glad you could make it.” Klester grumbled, “It’s quite the mess you left for me to clean up.” “Hardly my fault. Most present are hardly worth being called ‘diplomat.’ They lose their composer at the slightest lit…”
There was no wind up, no indication of impending violence. The Emerald Sword simply was there then he wasn’t. Future review of security footage would never reveal anything substantial. The most they could get is a smudge and a bright flash that appeared between the Emerald Sword and Klester. Any Union personnel watching the conversation where immediately distracted by an intense wave of heat followed by several explosions filling the hangar. Three fighters had just burst into flames. As the Union deck crew expertly raced to put out the fires, Klester could be heard over the fire shouting, “My bad. Sorry about the fighters. I’ll pay for those.” As the deck crew converged on the scene they were greeted by what one could only call a strange sight. The Emerald Sword, now headless and on fire, pulled himself free from the burning wreckage of the second fighter. As he put his burning armour out he made his way to the third burning wreck. Once there he began tearing at the fighter, pulling armour off until he found what was left of his head, embedded a full foot into the craft. As the Union dealt with the fires, the Emerald Sword, his head in hand, made his way back to Klester. The Emerald Sword slapped his head back on his shoulders, great gouts of steam erupted from his neck as his acidic blood melted the artificial flesh and armor back together. He tried moving his neck but found it difficult. He spoke, his voice plagued with static. “You didn’t ha-a-a-ave to punchchchch me so har-ar-ar-ard you know. My-y-y-y neck issssss going to be sti-i-i-iff for dayzz.” “Oh suck it up. You’re fine. Now if you don’t mind, I have to clean up your mess. Oh, and do something useful while you wait. Why not clean up my mess here?” The smirk on Klester’s face spoke volumes. The Emerald Sword turned and headed back to the now smouldering fighters to see if there was anything he could do to help with clean up.
<><><><>
Klester entered the conference chamber and immediately sat down. He didn’t even bother looking about. Truthfully he didn’t even want to be here, but if he wanted to protect his holdings in this galaxy then he had to attend. He just hoped that Carron didn’t find out about this meeting. The last thing the Immortal Empire needed was for that madman to show up now.
Hargun twitched as Klester walked into the conference chambers and quietly sat down, his presence caused quite a stir and Xtopher gave the member of the IE a cold look. Hargun had been briefed on the hangar situation the moment it happened and had decided not to kill both the IE members where they stood for throwing Harguns offer to stay in his face. He looked around and waited as the last reps entered the chambers with slight nods from the Eramons and IRS members, he looked to the side where the new Carnaith rep sat, a women this time and she looked far more diplomatically inclined than Reik had done... now if only she didn’t pull a gun... Hargun stood up.
He cleared his throat and began to speak "Welcome all again, i apologise for yesterdays... fiasco, I did not wish for it to turn that way at all. I brought you all to this conference to seek peace, and potentially end the war, unfortunately the civil discussion I wished to occur turned into an all out trial and so broke down... it was made worse but the incident with the firearm but you see... That was my plan" Hargun looked at each and every one of them "As each of you know none of you were searched when you came here. I made personal assurances to you all about security however I made no attempt to search you, our Skia friends where here to stop an actual event that would take place but I wanted to see who I could trust. And who would bring a weapon. Alas it turned out my ally was the one to pull the weapon and it descended into chaos. But this was to make a point. There is little trust between us, and if we trusted each other and worked together more tightly security would not be an issue, nor would any sort of attempt at fighting. I brought you all here to offer you peace, an offer to join a Galactic Alliance in which all will work together for peace, prosperity and protection. Any who wish to join are welcome and I hope to see as many of you as possible join the Alliance. Together we can destroy mistrust and insecurity, and also combat the TRUE threats of Ancerious, those who would seek to turn our freedom and peace into chaos and evil. I talk about those like the Eos Consortium, The Dark Triumvirate and also those rebels currently under siege by combined forces in Tau Volaris. That can be just a stepping stone! We can be so much more! Let us join together and become something greater! Together we can and we will bring peace to this galaxy!"
This speech about how he had intentionally dispensed with security to make a point was all it took for Klester to judge Hargun to be both a fool and terribly naïve in regards to how the universe really worked. That fact that all the representatives were not just meeting but also housed on the same station was just another example of the Union’s incompetence.
the drakes took a moment before answering, quietly discussing amongst themselves. Helios stood to give their answer. "your offer is most promising, Hargun, truly intersting. but such a decision is not to be made lightly. we do speak for millions of citizens after all and this affects every single one. the drakes are more than willing to act as allies to this alliance you propose, but we need time before we can say whether or not we will actually join. until then, you do however have our aide."
Hargun bowed to Helios "Excellent, I do not expect immediate joining as it is a very large decision to make, however any who join now will be accepted"
The Eramon representative in his flowing dark robes stood up "Hargun I speak for my people in Ancerious when I say that we will follow the Union in joining this grand alliance, we will be honoured to help bring peace and prosperity to the galaxy and we urge others to do the same" He bowed then sat down.
General Templar who had stayed quiet this entire time looked around as he rose up from his chair. His many honours hung proudly from his uniform chest plate and part of his shoulder plates and with a voice that spoke with a veteran of centuries of warfare said "I believe that this proposal will be of great aid to your plan for unification of the Ancerious Adrmial Hargun. A plan designed by Lord Order himself." He pulled out the device Order gave to him and he placed it on the table." The device was shaped in the form of the Mars Empire's black and silver machine eagle with it's wings covering it's chest. The device lifted from the table's surface on it's own before moving to the centre of the table and lifting up slightly. It then opened outward and there was a flash of light. Once the members recovered from the sudden flash of light there floated in front of them a massive 3D crystal clear hologram schematic of what looked to be a space station. General Templar then said " This massive space station was designed to be a symbol and a example of a united galaxy where many empires come together for the greater good and rather than their own selfish needs." *Several sections of the massive space station began to change to the respective colour of the empire that would have ownership of it as Templar continued " Though constructed by all of the united empires this station is divided between the empires equally where their culture and military might can reside and in the centre of this massive station the respective empire can be represented to express their concerns and ideals to the others." In the hologram a very small but noticeable object appeared like a size comparison that was one inch tall and was soon identifiable as the very station that this meeting was being held on revealing the true size of the massive space station. General Templar then spoke saying "Though it is a massive construction effort both in resources and man power my lord has calculated that if all the current empires contribute to this effort the time to complete this design would be between several to perhaps one year. He looked around before saying "Once completed this station will be self sufficient and would not require a constant supply of resources to keep functioning."
Hargun smiled "This is a truly excellent idea! This would go hand in hand with the Alliance! As well as serve as a HQ for it with room for all nations to have a section and a say on the Alliance council! I thank the Mars Empire for this i will gladly accept this to be integrated into the Alliance plan, will the Mars Empire be part of this alliance?"
General Templar returned to his seat and said "Lord Order has nearly completed both the centre section as well as our respective part of the station. The Mars Empire has kept its self mostly separated from what has been happening since our arrival into the Ancerious system. This was mainly because of both internal situations and also of other certain situations which are classified. However that being said my Lord has decided that the Mars empire shall no longer just sit by and watch and will aid in this alliance. The empire will provide both military and civilian aid to both your alliance and to the construction of this station. Though I do say this in advance to those empires here in this room that the Mars empire is not true allies with we will provide what support we deem necessary to aid you but we will be keeping a watchful eye. If you take this as a threat or offering I do not care but we will be open to political discussions and perhaps our empires will become true allies."
The IRS representative stood up and nodded "We would too wish to join however we need to consider the situation, we would be willing to send resources to help the construction of the station however discussions need to be made about the joint military aspects of this endeavour however our decision shall be made soon"
The CIN captain of the prowler stood up, "I only wish to say that we stand by the decision we made before Right General Reik took leave, we still wish to join, and with hopes that we all have our diplomats look into traditions of others as well." she said, no nonsense.
Laramars voice resonated throughout the chamber as he looked at Hargun. " My people are most certainly on board with this alliance Hargun, we shall join and stand alongside the other races. Well I suppose above due to our height" He said with a melodic chuckle.
Callous beamed. "Just shy of Unification. That's quite a proposal, Admiral. The Combine would benefit greatly under this alliance, and we'll do whatever we can for the other members of course." "Hard to believe many of these groups were in heated argument moments before," Callous murmured.
Alexandur, after a long moment of consideration, and after much thought over what had been said- despite his inattentiveness, he did hear what was being spoke of- he smiles, and says. "I can only speak for myself, and must contact those who have come with me to Ancerious, but... I'm all for joining this coalition. But- And though it went unsaid I suspect this rings true for other empires- if I find the choices of our allies and of this alliance questionable, morally, and those who I speak for agree, then we shall not hesitate to withdraw, or at least make our opinions heard in every way we know how." He looks deathly serious for a long moment, and then his face softens, and he sits back in his chair, speaking no further for the moment.
Hargun smiled as the various nations agreed to the plan in question, not all of them would of course, but with enough it would make a difference. He thought of a peaceful Ancerious... would be a lot easier to manage... but only a dream, however dreams are made on actions. And this was the foundation for that dream, however he sat back and let the various nations discuss further and for any others to agree.
As Hargun prepared to go on with his grand plan of sorts Hess was elsewhere, as a matter of intentional tardiness he was nowhere near the reconvened conference session. In fat in the very docking bay that held his shuttle which in truth was more intended as a mobile station for relaying updates and such he was overseeing an encrypted update to HQ regarding the state of affairs. The explosion in the bay that the IE was ‘borrowing’ to swap delegates sent a shudder through the station and caused Hess to look up from one of the many displays at his workstation in the shuttle. Hess’s staff all noticed it too as a slight at best vibration passed through the hangar and the shuttle by extension. The looks between each other were ones of interest or perhaps confusion but otherwise bafflement at how a conference could be so poorly run. “Back to it then…and if I catch a single one of you betting on who was responsible…though I figure we all know the obvious candidate I’ll dock you for it.” As it was the recordings of the conference proceedings and all relevant data on the participants was being sorted organized and compiled into a specific format for secure sending. The conference itself was of unique consideration, it had started fine, even if somewhat disjointed. Yet inevitably the current galactic war was made centre stage perhaps too early. After all what was the point of setting that up first and then trying to change the subject? The recording of Hargun’s reaction to the mentioning of the Flux Ascendancy was of specific note. Hess knew for a fact now that even the Union had dealt with the flux, that reaction spoke volumes, the look in the man’s eye told the story that his words avoided. The questions about the honesty of the union as a whole came bubbling to the surface, if they were dealing with the flux in what capacity? Could the Union be trusted or perhaps were they another puppet of this shadow organization? Many questions arose thus far but no answers were in sight as it stood. Perhaps Hargun was afraid of the flux…it’d explain why he briefly froze and had a bit of a ‘deer in the headlights’ moment as the humans often put it. The rapid declaration of a brief adjournment of the conference session and how fast those in attendance scattered also spoke volumes. No doubt numerous messages were being sent to various home offices in assorted nations. Though this business of a galactic alliance, the naiveté of that whole business only added to the baffling nature of the conference itself. Such an organization needed more than Hargun was suggesting members of equal status, a rotating elected position of someone to keep order and their direct attendants…more so the nationality bull would have to go. But then Hess’s final words in the heavily encrypted message summed up his sentiment to the proposal and the value of the conference thus far. ‘It is largely unproductive as the constituents are far to disorganized, war will likely proceed unabated. The proposal of a galactic alliance while having its limited merits is so underdeveloped as to have a high probability of being stillborn at enactment. Barring further developments it is my recommendation to remain uninvolved with such an agreement and remain focused on primary original objective. Also considering the Union seems to want to use the alliance to pursue other wars against nations it is thus not in our best interest to bother.’ The message sat there on the screen of the secured terminal before Hess hit the encryption confirmation and the words changed shifting at first to numbers then foreign characters then to acute geometrics and finally to something that realistically could not be described. The Intermediate dispatch messages were encrypted further into something else entirely and then again into a language that had no known match and slowly the progress bar ticked off indicating the send status. Granted the message was being sent to the SCS Illuminary and then using the compression pulse generator aboard, homeward to the desk of the First Prime himself. In moments the message was gone…and thus it was back to the regularity of the conference to at least hear the whole idea out. Hess disembarked from the shuttle taking stock of the SOMC guards posted about the vessel and about the bay as a whole. Given the Emerald sword’s behaviour a compliment of SOMC’s was stationed to secure the bay, an unfortunate necessity given the earlier events however…the union had damaged their credibility by claiming the gun incident was intentional. It almost seemed as if Hargun was oblivious to the fact he’d made the political error of tripping, falling face flat and, then saying ‘I meant to do that’. Needless to say Hess was headed back to the conference despite the added security. Fortunately one of Hess’s aids had remained if only to support the DHR contingent present so the recording of events was still ongoing.
Xtopher and the other present members of the Tenebrean delegation Sat in relative silence as the conference picked up. The Administrative caste Giving a momentary glance at Kesler as the IE representative entered the room and Wordlessly took his seat. His expression largely emotionless as he registered the man as being of the IE based on his attire and general nature. What might have been interpreted as a look of hostility, was in fact a look of intense judgement of character as the Calvara took a few moments to Weigh the man’s appearance, as well as weather on not he had anything to do with the small explosion that had echoed through the stations superstructure only minutes ago. Deciding that the former was the more likely, before turning his attention back towards hargun as he went about discussing his plans of a galaxy wide alliance. Recalling briefly the extensive discussion that the two of them had held after the last meeting.
It would have been an understatement to say that his trust towards the old human was reasonably dubious as a result of what the conversation had gleaned of the unions knowledge of things.
The Discussion confused him as he listened. And as he turned he could see that it was equally confusing towards the others among the reps. Particularly Pham, who sat with his arms crossed over his uniformed chest and a scowl across his heavily lined face. While the unions stance of situations within Ancerious was understandable, it was, rather blatantly. being shoved down their throats, the union rep apparently wanting to press the matter more then anything else that might have been of importance. Their opt to Simply Dismiss the matter of the war at hand, and the ability of a diplomat to sneak a basic weapon past station security was something that he had taken time to ponder on. the sudden shift in the temperaments of the attendants also being noted. His train of thought was broken as the members of the attending Mars empire spoke up, proposing their concept of a Station populated by civilians of the assembled Representatives empires in order to dull aggressions over time, and he had to give the concept a slight nod. It was a workable idea, and a concept close to that of the way stations and megalopolis stations that his people employed in trade and colonizations. wondering to himself for a moment as to why the Concept had not been brought up before Hargun's concept of an allied Navy force. something that would take up a considerably larger amount of individuals and infrastructure to bring to term. it felt considerably confusing in terms of priority. Naturally, his Caste instincts told him to be wary of the situation. before he opened his jaw to speak. "it is to be noted, that while a concept of a Cease fire between us and the IE are out of the question. We of the Tenebrean Empire and its Collective people would be willing to Provide some assets towards these ventures. The Concept of an inter-empire station is not one that we are strange to, and in light of its success for our people in the past. We will follow through with it if it is brought to term. In light of an allied Navy and Administrative force, We remains skeptical. notably as considering the cultural barriers between species and empires make such an endeavor largely counter productive in nature. However, considering Events and happenings of a deeper nature then the war at hand that i have discussed with Lord Helios."</I> he Said, Gesturing towards the Drake representatives. "It would be in our empires better interests to provide the manpower and Resources that we can manage for it."
It surprised Klester to see how many nations where blindly joining not only the Union, but this joint project as well. It was starting to become obvious what the Emerald Sword meant by them hardly being worthy of being called diplomats. “You’re kidding right? You speak of peace, prosperity, and protection. Peace for who, and how will you achieve it? Prosperity for who, and how will you achieve it? How will you ensure this protection you speak of? Who will run this ‘Galactic Alliance?’ You? There are a lot of questions that have yet to be answered and yet so many join. At least some here thought to discuss it with their peers before committing billions of lives to an alliance they had been given limited information on.”
Klester couldn’t stand it. The problems of such an undertaking where obvious to him, but no one else seemed to notice. Right now Klester was starting to picture a vast majority of those present as little more than mental lemmings; blindly following the leader. It comforted him somewhat that not everyone present seemed particularly thrilled by the project. “And how do you propose protecting this station? A joint fleet perhaps? It being your idea, will the Mars Empire handle all defence and security? Truthfully all I see here is a very large and tempting target. Well, that and an egregious waste of manpower.” He then turned to Xtopher “Now don’t say that. We could always discuss it after this meeting is over. Who knows, we might even come to an agreement.”
Counsellor rowan watched it all with odd interest. She had not said anything so far, to this point there simply was no need to. But she could not shake a bad feeling about it all, a feeling that only got worse when the I E rep spoke once more. Her elbows on the table, and her paws with finger under lock hiding a portion of her face. Her note taker would be recording short hand notes of everything as always, the other recorder of course recording everything via device. She looks over to the SCC assistant raising a brow while looking back to the rest of the room. She seemed a bit surprised at the I E rep at that last part though.
All this time, Haphen maintained a quiet position, speaking only to relay the IRS's stance on certain administration matters. At first, anger grew deep within Haphen's heart as he heard news of the Immortal Empire's reasons on attacking Tenebrae, a new ally of the IRS. Such reasons of 'data' and 'calculations' and the general superiority complex of the Emerald Sword Representative sparked provocation in the Civil Administrator of the IRS's Ancerious Colonies. However, as the conference went on, as the hated IE Representative spoke on, Haphen had the privilege to feel fear striking his heart, as he remembered the capabilities of the Immortal Empire. It's capacity to murder entire peoples in cold blood without a single thought nagged at Haphen's sub-conscious. It would wise for him to stay mum while others shout and scream, as a war between the IRS and the IE was the last thing he wanted. Let the others suffer, Haphen thought. As long as the IE doesn't set its sights on Singaporeans.
Up until now, the Coalition had fallen silent, completely and utterly uninterested in what the Union was selling. The Jakeili was sitting back, feet up on the table as he chatted idly about how this was all a 'joke' with the Gadzu sitting beside him. This entire time, the Therion Matriarch was having a good ole' time glaring daggers at both the Jakeili and Mr. Hargun. Conversations between everyone was all well and good, the talk back and fourth of creating some 'United Nations' that the Coalition had been forced to do so long ago almost laughable at this point.
The Male Teruvian was grinning at the Female, Victoria, and leaned over; "Did you have vigorous and strenuous 'Talks'? I hope any debates 'back and fourth' haven't resulted in your 'backside' in getting 'extra baggage' in a few months." His tail lashed back and fourth; "Did you use proper protection and protocol in your Negotiations?" He snickered at her practically glowing blush as she looked away.
This however, was all stopped when the doors to the room slammed open as a Male Teruvian came storming into the chambers, practically tripping and shoving multiple Union serving personnel and other people out of the way, shouting at the top of his lungs; "MATRIARCH! MATRIARCH!" He came stumbling up to the Therion who turned and looked at him with a confused and very angry glare at him exploding in and making such a scene, but he continued breathlessly;
"Matriarch! We just received word from Navcom! Ma'am, The Transponder has Activated! Navcom is putting out the call; Codeword Revelation, Protocol Zero!" He looked around, not at the other people in the room, but at the rest of the Coalition Personnel; "We need to go... NOW!"
The Matriarch seemed to pause, letting it all settle in before practically shouting; "FUCK! Go! Go! Get the drop ship’s engines hot, NOW! Message the Gato! Have them break parking orbit, and open the Nodes, Capture a Tachyon while we're prepping for launch!" She immediately shifted from an angry 'hand slapped' back burner to Command of the Coalition Personnel again; "Let's GO, people, move!" She waved and began issuing orders to her Thrall as she broke out a communication mote that hovered beside her, saying something about preparing the Gato's Weaponry for after they've left the system, and coordinating with the... evacuation? Of Coalition Personnel in Union space.
She didn't give Hargun or anyone else in the Chambers a second look as she practically pushed the Teruvians and the Gadzu out, and hopped out of the way of the immense Sutfein as it slithered out of the Chambers, the entire group looking agitated. Victoria paused, practically swept away in the rush of the Coalition to leave as she tried to catch one last glance of her Raudonah friend, Aldarian... if she got that look, her face would display a mixture of shock, terror, and sadness... before one of the Therion males swept her away as they all practically ran, or slithered, to the Dropship which was already undergoing emergency launch procedures.
The Bay control was given one statement; "Open your bay doors, or we will blow our way out. We're leaving – NOW."
Klester stared at the door the Coalition had just raced out of in their hurried state. He turned back to the table, "Well... That was certainly interesting. Anyone know what just happened? Or better yet, why it happened?"
the remaining SSC staffer that was recording proceedings looked up to watched eh sudden exit of the Coalition delegation with some surprise and bemusement. "Maybe there’s a hit sale on commodities at Sears and Kreebok Incorporated? I've heard they have rock bottom prices or whatever."
Hargun watched the Coalition leave, however he had also been given a sudden report that they were powering weapons on their ship, and that Coalition forces in Union space were doing the same. He would reply to Klesters question in a minute, this was more important. He hit the coms station and sent a message to the Coalition ship “This is Admiral Hargun what the hell do you think your doing? Power down your weapons immediately! You may leave the system but power down weapons! You are painting yourselves hostile! What is the reason of your sudden departure?” he demanded, the Coalition didn’t just 'run away' they new something the rest didn’t. And they knew it was coming to pose a threat, he looked to the side and Volkus had already noticed the same thing. From what he had guessed Volkus had sent a message to the fleet to put them on high alert as well as the system defences. They would take no chances.
Arcis stood on the bridge of the Might of Nexus listening as the Coalition delegates cursed and pushed their way out of the chamber, at this the sensor operator turned to him "Admiral the Coalition ship appears to be powering all systems, including weapons!" Arcis let out a resonating snarl, he had been tolerant to this point but this was one step to far. "They have tested us and our allies too much this day, charge guns and train them on their vessel, launch the drones and get me a hailing channel!" Arcis was not a man prone to anger but he was honourable like the rest of his race and the Coalition lacked it in abundance. "I am Admiral Arcis aboard the Might of Nexus, you have failed to respect anything to do with this peace conference and now you dare cause greater disruption? You will power down all systems this instant and await further instruction from Union personnel. If you fail to comply have no doubt I will wipe you from the face of this galaxy without a seconds thought." The message sent leaving Arcis awaiting a reply, with all guns trained on the minuscule vessel.
The Coalition Comms were, thus far, unprotected. Snippets of comms regarding; "Trap Fields" and then being open onboard the Gato came clear as suddenly... the Gato simply disappeared from everyone's sensors. The might of the Nexus was left squalling at dead-space, their threats and weapons locks searching for something that wasn't there. Meanwhile, the Coalition Delegation would rush onto the Humpback which immediately closed it's forward drop door and quite suddenly with a flickering roar... engaged it's Fusion Torches, the primal thrusters thundering with fiery heat as it shoved the heavy dropship aloft in the bay, off of it's heat-resistant landing jacks. The Graviton Drive was just coming online, revealing just how much of a hurry the Coalition was to leave.
Arcis and Hargun were given a simple response; "Codeword Revelations! Open the bay doors, now! You open them now, and there doesn't need to be any gunfire, or any hostility. You keep barring our way out and there will be! This is your last Fucking warning! Open the bay doors, or we space the Shuttlebay!" The Graviton Drive finally came online, as the Searing heat of the Star finally cut off of the Fusion Torches... having done far more fire-damage than anything Klester could have ever hoped imaginable, even the oxygen content of the outer shuttlebay was lower, with the air hot as a furnace. It would've made a pyromaniac proud.
Hargun watched as the Coalition ship engaged its thrusters, thankfully the shuttle bay was sealed off as the blast and flames roared all around in the bay, causing damage to some of the delegates shuttles as the fusion tourches burned and partly melted their hulls, the men in the control room as well had to duck down to avoid the bright glare of the flames and the engines. Hargun frowned, how dare the Coalition damage both Union and other races property out of a selfish act. He sent one final message "Delegates of the Coalition I hear your 'final warning' However you are damaging both Union property and others, I demand a reason why are wish to leave, give me that reason and I will authorise the opening of the bay doors" He looked around to see many of the delegates in anger as their shuttles were damaged by the blast of the engines. He could also see others looking in confusion and also Klester looking in amusement. He hoped the Coalition delegates answered him for if they didn’t and blasted the doors open the auto defence system would engage the shuttle and destroy it... It seemed like a bad situation indeed.
the drakes reactions were mixed but they remained seated and continued to watch and converse with themselves as the events unfolded. Glacian shook his head. "How disappointing." he said to no one in particular. "I expected as much." Aquadie added, taking a sip from his drink."isn’t this supposed to be a peace conference?" "it's a FUN peace conference!" Pyracian said gleefully, a bag of popcorn appearing in his hand which he happily snacked on. "primitive." Aquadie replied. Terran observed quietly with interest while Vortexean was distracted with his personal music player playing loud rock music that could be heard past his earphones. whether he was aware the conference had started yet was unknown. Helios and Circe remained silent, Circe more because she had already foreseen these events and made her judgements hours ago, and Helios because of his interest as to what would happen next. Helios leaned over to Circe. "you weren’t kidding..." "I rarely am" she replied.
General Templar looked at Klester with somewhat anger and annoyance and said "This STATION would be protected by a joint fleet as well as have a united security force from all the empires that have their respective standing on it. Though this was created by my lord that doesn't mean it is his empire's sole purpose to defend and provide security for it. You see it as a tempting target then does that make you and your empire a new threat? For one who represents a empire who prides themselves with logic, power, and reason you seam to me nothing more than the opposite. You would rather make an enemy of every empire here than an ally, as well as not clearly seeing that this is an effort where you have a choice to join or not. You see it as a 'target' a 'waste' of man power but are you still clinging to the fact that your empire is on the verge of war and your thoughts are clouded by confusion of who will be your enemy or ally? Or are they filled with thoughts and plans that your empire has in motion in preparation to strike as much as a crippling blow to your enemies before the war even started? If you plan on attacking it then i gladly ask you to tell your ruler not to hold back however I also ask you to tell your master this. If you are able to destroy it or even damage it beyond repair you will only condemn your entire empire to death and that the only one you will need to place the blame for such an consequence are those that gave the order to attack aswell as the person that represented you in this very room." Templar did not take his glowing red helmets visors gaze away for Klester when the coalition suddenly exit of the chamber. Drogan however turned to see them exit before looking back at the other delegates and saying "Well I say that they might be in a hurry for something which is apparently more important than this conference." Meanwhile outside of the station aboard General Templar's Flagship one of the sensor officers picked up the sudden activation of the Coalition’s ships cores and engines as well as the preparation of their weapons. They turned towards the Admiral in charge and said "Admiral I've picked up the Coalition’s ship powering weapons as well as engines." The Admiral immediately walked over to his command seat and sent a message to General Templar saying as the massive form of the ship slowly moved to where it would be in-between the station and the coalition’s ship "High Lord General the coalition’s ship has begun to power up their weapons and engines as by the looks of it seams that they are in a hurry. Shall I prepare for an attack?" The massive form of Templar's ship nearly dwarfed coalition’s ship with it's size alone slowly turned showing off it's many different weapons probably on it's hull most notably it's massive battleship class oblivion cannons above and below the ship’s main hull. The ship's communication officers were attempting to get a hold of the station's flight control operators as well as the Coalition ship itself.
Mean while inside the shuttle hangar the crew of the Mars empire shuttle noticed the coalition shuttle preparing for an emergency launch and saw the representative rush inside the crew looked at each other but before they could say a word the shuttle began to take off and the crew immediately began to power up the shuttle's defensive shields which spared it the damage from the fusion torches. The crew tried to contact both the flight control operators as well as general Templar to inform them of what was happening as well as what was the status of both their ship and what they could make of the others. Templar send Hargun a message saying that his ship was moving in position to provide assistance if needed.
Klester raised his hand, “Calm down. I'm not trying to make an enemy of anyone. You have clearly misunderstood me and are jumping to conclusions based upon faulty information. I assume you’ve heard the term ‘Devil’s Advocate,’ where one side points out the flaws and failings of the other side? We use it in the Immortal Empire all the time to exploit flaws that might have otherwise gone unnoticed. It is a standard for us in fleshing out ideas. But if you’d rather me keep my opinions to myself then…”
A few moments after the Coalition representatives suddenly exited the room, Haphen's communicator rang. Haphen picked it up, only to hear the frantic panting of Major Azar and the frizz of sparks in the background. His eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Major, what's the situation?" "Bad news sir, we don't have a ride home. Our shuttle apparently got fried," Haphen grit his teeth and clenched his fists. Blood started to violently pulse in his veins. "How did that happen, Major?!" "The Coalition shuttle tried to leave the bay and the heat from its thrusters melted through the hull, permanently damaging the propulsion and the engine completely. And repair is also out of the question, sir. The molten slag got inside and we can't remove them with what we currently have..." Haphen sighed and composed himself "Alright Major, are there any casualties?" "We were lucky sir. Only a few minor burns at worst. The medics are helping them out," "Alright just sit tight. I'll have the Tapper to send another shuttle to pick us up and a clean-up crew," Haphen turned off the communicator and slumped back into the chair. What a long day...
As the extreme heat blast impacted the shuttles many of them were damaged or rendered unusable, the Nex shuttle however took the hit in its stride, the hit had caused some damage which it quickly repaired, due to the energy transfer it was in an overpowered state and rapidly rose from the hangar deck. It turned to face the coalition shuttle, its engines crackling with the extra energy. It let out a loud shriek that caused any in the hangar to clutch their ears in agony, and launched at unbelievable speeds directly into the side of the Coalition shuttle, causing a sickening noise of metal being ripped apart as it impacted.
As the drakes watched, Terran began to grow concerned . while no action taken at this conference could possibly threaten the other drakes or himself, others didn’t share his invulnerability. "should we step in and help, my king?" he asked Helios. "someone could get seriously hurt if we don’t..." Helios took a moment to think before replying. "let's see how our hosts handle the situation. if it gets any worse, then you'll know what to do. otherwise, once this is over we can help those who were already wounded." "yes, my king..." Terran replied.
The Humpback was steady, the torches had just shut down as the Therion Matriarch shouted into the comms station up on the bridge on the third deck. "CODEWORD REVELATIONS; They are HE-" She was cut off by the screaming of the shuttle, and then the proximity alarms howling in the cockpit; "FUCK! BANK LE-" Shouted one of the pilots, a Jakeili.
It seemed to happen in slow motion as the graviton drive sluggishly heaved the tail of the immense drop ship around... catching the Carnaith shuttle briefly before impact as the Nex shuttle impacted the side of the Humpback in the side... caving in the side airlock. The pointed, jagged shuttle acted like a can-opener into the side of the Med bay, and right through into the galley and troop compartment. The Gadzu died. Impaled into a wall and gutted by a piece of shrapnel thrown by the impact. The horried scream of the Sutfein echoed through the drop ship as she watched her life mate get splattered across the interior of the shuttle.
From the outside, the immense, multi-ton dropship acted like an immense bulldozer as it slewed to one side, taking out the Carnaith shuttle, as well as another from the impact. The fusion torches automatically activated to stabilize the immense green Heavy Dropship, spewing star fire straight downward from the centre of the wings.
"FUCK! We have a fusion destabilization on the port wing... scramming!" The vertical fusion torched echoed a deep chested BOOM as flame shot up and down as the dropship began rebounding the impact in its attempt to stabilize itself.
The open comms network had switched to the pilot; "MOTHERSHIP, MOTHERSHIP! THIS IS DROP ONE-ONE, WE ARE HIT, HEAVY DAMAGE! TROOPBAY ATMOSPHEREIC STABLITIY LOST, MULTIPLE CASUALTIES. ONE DEAD, THE MATRIARCH AND VICTORIA ARE DOWN! PREP A TRAUMA WARD!" The time for quiet peace was long gone, they had not gone out of their way to wound anyone. Yet now they had one dead, and two in critical condition, with a Nex shuttle sticking out of the Humpback's armoured side. "Union control, we are leaving. Open the bay, if you do not, we are firing." The co-pilot's voice was matter of fact, they were done dealing with this shit. The AI began activating point defence lasers just in case, but not firing them as the missile and rocket pods on the gunship-esque nose began activating.
Inside, the male Teruvian was dragging the wounded Victoria into a airtight section of the drop ship. The Sutfein was crying as she tried to pry the metal out of her thoroughly dead love, the male therion's trying to haul the Sutfein into a safe section of the dropship...
Counseller Rowan was growing more and more bored of the proceedings and yes men like attitudes that seemed to flow around the place. She leaned back in her chair, not much really for her to say. Just sit, observe, and see how things unfold between the seemingly predictable dialogue and feather fluffing. That’s when she watched something rather wary. Every single coalition trooper running around and fleeing as if there was a pack of lions trying to eat them, and mutterings about code words. She looks down thoughtfully remembering the several encounters logged and sent to her desk." They seem rather, spooked about this boogyman of there’s.... Could it really exist? "she looks up.
Meanwhile in the main hanger. The D.H.R. large and blocky looking shuttle somewhere in the corner would be in a good spot, hopefully out of the way, to witness the rather hasty take off. The PSD squad would have been busy, split up, walking around the bay. Mostly just getting a close look at all the strange designs from the other empires. Perhaps even taking photos next to them. I mean, for the most part DHR has been secluded, and did not really get a day to day up close with other designs unless it was military hardware ordered via trade agreements. A few of the PSD squad troopers did not get clear in time. There forms charred as the powerful engines from a such a large craft nearly instantly overwhelmed there PSUs. >> Alert, alert, activating shield systems. CIWS online. << The shuttle computer bleeped as it shook and slide across to slam against the wall. Other alarms going off as suddenly the craft was bathed in a strange green and blue glow as the shields kicked in and little CIWS system points showing themselves. The on-board computer registered the sudden heat scorching as in bound plasma fire for a second or two. " What the fuck just happened Lieutenant! " The Warrent officer said rather angered like as he crawled back up into the pilot seat. " I have no idea. Suddenly there was some sort of loud noise, I look up and see the Nex shuttle ram into the Coalition drop ship. "the LT says as he scrambles up from the floor and try to get to the Comm station." No more actives, but several shuttles have sustained damage... and I lost signal with four of the PSD element. Contacting rowan now. "he then types away at the terminal. " Fucking christ. Get the medic out there now, Whats the situation on engines? " " Fully functional, only minor hull damage. We had some distance from whatever happened. " After a moment." Oh and we might need a wrecker, our lower left side seems to be impaled into the wall... Were stuck. "
Hargun turned to Laramar "Tell that shuttle to stand down or I will destroy it!" He shouted, he then opened up coms to the Coalition "I will open the bay doors, leave and tend to your wounded however if you a tempt an attack on this station with your ship it will be considered an act of war" He gave the signal to the control center who opened the bay doors, allowing the Coalition dropship exit however keeping the air in for people to tend to any wounded he turned to Volkus "Get me repair teams and medics in there ASAP I want all wounded patched up and all shuttles repaired, also tell the fleet to be fully aware and power up the defence grid and the extra shields" Volkus nodded and immediately began forwarding messages, Hargun turned to screen showing the dropship and waited to see what would happen next.
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 20:17:22 GMT
Union High command Orbital: Mirach system: Union space
The Tenebrean delegates had, by this point largely remained at their places. Drogan and Aldarian gone from their seats. The War-caste out on the hanger with tenebrean guards shunting in off of the intercepter to aid in the rescue efforts of the injured deck hands and crew men.
The raudonain was gone from the scene. Having utilized his personal shunt tech to join the passengers of the coalition shuttle as it had pulled away, contacting Xtopher on his intentions of making sure that the two empires economic alliance would remain intact, although his more obvious intentions could clearly be made out in his tone of deep worry. He knew that the female teruvian had been injured in the collision, and had wanted to remain with her. The Administrative caste shook his head and groaned in obvious annoyance at the diplomats affections. But Allowed the Zlato clan rep take his leave for the time being. Giving him the order to both report in as soon as the collation ship returned to its fleet, as well as proving an actual solid relation between their empires trading alliance in the time that he was with them. Shaking his head, he closed the comm-link. Mentally annoyed by the utter lack of protocol that had been the norm at this entire conference, as well as the general lack of both focus and sense at the requests that had been made. Some of them were standing up in mixed surprise and shock as the union captain was first accused, then publicly executed in front of them. Pham and libernus being the most shocked as her brains and fragments of her skull splattered across the conference room floor. the kanids armor ears going up at the sound of the impact. the others giving mixed looks of confusion and disgust. Many of them quickly changed in their tone as the mention of the Cults spreading corruption amongst the union was said. The tenebrean delegate and a few of the others sitting back down as news of the cult that had been plaguing their empire in the months following the natza kartania had spread so extensively among the other empires was spoken to them. While the Stromian and Xtopher remained standing as The Drake royal made his way to the center of the room.
The Administrative caste Listened as the drake explained to hargun and the SSC diplomat that was known as Hess, as what had been going on, as well as just what the scientists and salvagers in the natza kartania system had fallen prey to. Describing the horrible state that the remainders of the crew had been when they had been found. Reporths having been presented to him to review. Remembering pict captures of horribly mutilated bodies, some fused to the hulls of the ships themselves like some twisted pseudo organism. While others had been horribly mutated or twisted beyond measure... helios Explaining to the two diplomats what he had explained to him already when he had visited the drakes capital palace himself months ago. That something horrible had entered ancerious, and was set on leting chaos loose on them all.
He watched for a little bit more as the royal bent down, reanimating the captains severed head. Resisting the urge to smirk to himself as it started to scream in his hands... Claws? He wondered. Watching the union admiral start to question the severed appendage as it looked around. the deceased captain shouting out her thinly masked gloats and curses. The Union and SSC diplomats looking surprisingly unmoved by the fact that a head was screaming to them without any tech or cybernetics to support its functions. functions, that had, only moments ago, been smashed flatter then the flat cakes that the humans referred to as "A Pancake"
"So, Helios." He said. Interrupting the three as they spoke. directing what he said at the royal. "We are to tell them what We have discussed in our previous meetings then?"
Helios turned to Xtopher just as the other drakes returned from the hangar and into the conference room. "yes, withold no information you have on the subject, we need to keep these people informed if we are to stand a chance." He replied and returned his attention to the other drakes, Terran was not among them. they had stopped to after seeing Lydia's headless body still on the ground but as soon as they saw Helios they returned their attention to him. "The injured have been properly healed, my king." Glacian told the king, occasionally glancing at the new corpse. "Terran is still tending to the dead but he should be back shortly...my king, do you need him to-" "no, Glacian, ive already taken care of her, leave her body where it lies. make arrangements to have the head properly contained and silenced. we dont need her making a scene..." Helios replied. Glacian placed his hand over his chest in a salute. "as you command my king." with that, Glacian disappeared in a flash of white.Helios looked at the rest. "the rest of you may leave or stay as you wish, i'll take care of things here." Vortexean bowed and disappeared just as glacian had, Aquadie soon after. only Pyracian, Circe, and Terran once he returned, were left.
Xtopher turned to look at the drakes as they entered the conference room and spoke briefly to the royal several of them disappearing soon after. Returned back to their own worlds or home world most likely. Before turning his attention back to helios. "Very well." He said after a moment. his teneberean accent becomingly slightly apparent. "I'll share what we've uncovered." he nodded, before stepping forward towards the center of the conference room. His solid form harmlessly passing through the conference table and chairs that stood between him and the royal drake and the union admiral as if they were the consistency of smoke. Several strides being enough to bring him to where they stood. "And, as a passing note, in terms of Kartania ships. There are two that are missing. the ERVO is simply the most recent."
Helios glanced over to Circe who in turn looked to Xtopher. "actually...there have been new developements in regards to the ERVO..." she started to say. "but that should be discussed in a more secure location..." Helios added.
Hargun listened "Either way i would recomend all nations check their populations, they might not be as loyal as you think... Especially those who participated in the Natza Kartania attack, those had direct contact to this... corruption..." Hargun said heavily.
Helios turned to address the others after Hargun gave his advice. "good advice, Hargun. to add to that, I advise not killing those you find. there are a great number of undesireable consequences if you do." Helios followed.
"instead, i advise you either rehabilitate those who have not strayed too far into the darkness, or send them to be imprisoned in the drake world, where they can do no more harm."
Hargun looked at Helios "Mind melding would work right? Thats the method currently in place suggested by Volkus here" He gestured to Volkus who was furiously typing, probably to make war plans and other notes and was too busy to notice.
"no, i forbid the act on the grounds of survival. there are risks into 'mind melding' with these individuals. it may very well spread the corruption." Helios answered
Laramar looked up "What would these consequences of killing them be" he queried
"Damn..." Hargun replied. Volkus looked up at the Drake and grimaced at the reply, and went back to writing up new methods to implement.
"the drakes can provide the methods for determining the identities of the corrupted, no worries, they are quite simple. as for the consequences of killing these individuals." Helios addressed Laramar. "Lydia answered that for you. upon death, their souls and life forces go to their gods to use as they see fit. it's a consequence of worshipping one of the draconian, one my people consider most heinous. in doing so, you would give the draconian one more weapon to add to their arsenals."
Xtopher stood silently near the union and drake leaders. listening as they spoke their warnings towards the assembled representatives. Taking note of what him and the drake had covered months earlier. "So, capture over killing is a preferred movement. Stasis bursts tend to work, and putting them in it helps in their transport. But its best to be wary.. Not all of them are the same species as they originally were. and underestimating them will lead to causalities if your not careful. I've been working with helios for some time now on countering their movements. But they have proven to be more then capible of adapting to the situation."
Hargun nodded "In that case i suggest we work closely together Lord Helios, these are pressing times, i would consider your help invaluable both for the Union and for the greater whole"
Helios nodded. "this is good news, Hargun. the drakes will gladly aide the union and its allies who wish it against this threat."
As Drogan returned to his respective spot templar walked over the lifeless body and said with an very serious tone in his voice. "Who ever this 'APOPHIS' is they are most likely just a myth made up by those who seek only to satify their own greed. My lord's empire has sealed its self off from the rest of the Ancerious system since we have arrived though we are fully aware of situations like this." He walked over to his seat and continued as the royal guard returned to their postions. "My Lord's empire is currently at war back in our galaxy against many hostile empires. One of which serves a true being of darkness known to our empire as Cerberus. His armies spread his chaotic corruption like wild fire to world that are within his gaze. We have developed special 'methods' to prevent this spread. " Drogan opened a hologram that appeared in the middle of the table showing a unknown planet as he spoke "This is Domion II a prison world. It houses the majority of criminals aswell as those who wish to spread the corruption." Several orbital battle stations nearly the same size of the very station they were on started appearing around the planet as drogan continued "The prisoners are brought to the planet via high security prison ships which once in position orbital drop the prisoners to the planet's surface. The drop pods self destruct once afew minutes after landing preventing the prisoners from salvaging anything from it. The pod is also tracked by these orbital battle stations which also prevent any unathorized spaceship from entering or leaving the planet's surface."
The prison is self sufficent which removed the need for resupply and the prisioners run their own cities on the surface meaning that there is no need for any guards to watch over them on the surface. However we normally have one land fortress for 'questioning' as well as oher reasons." *a hologram image of a massive fortress on the planet's surface appeared in a location far away from any of the now appearing prisioner cities. There was also a two mile no mans land located around the entire fortress which showed that it was easy to keep it defended as well as secluded from the inmates. "We have received very useful information from these as well as other reasons and only once did the need arise to purge the planet anoter fail safe put in place in case the populace over ran the planetary fortress.
Hargun frowned "Do not be so quick to dismiss other evils Drogan, Xanthos was the very essence of evil in our home reality but was no less deadly. And this method... Is too brutal in my eyes i cannot sanction such actions for it is against the Unions way" He said looking over the schematics
Helios raised an eyebrow at drogan. "good for you. it will do you no good against this threat, but still, good for you."
Templar he turned to hargun and Helios saying still in a serious tone "We are no strangers to this kind of warfare and whether you deam it nesseary or not I do not care. Another thing i will tell you is that cerberus's armies will soon take notice of the chaos that is happening here and begin their invasion.
"Let them come" Laramar boomed. "Should we be sensible enough to unite against common evil's we shall previal no matter the odds!"
Templar turned towards Laramar and said shaking his head "I comend you on your optimisim but I can only tell you to prepare for them as well as high losses and casualties. Then then looked at the direction of the corpse body before saying "As well as traitors among your ranks."
"My people are used to high casulties templar, I assure you." Laramar's expression and tone had become cold, his usual happiness and optimism gone.
Hargun nodded "And this my freinds" He said looking at everyone "Is why we need a grand alliance. So we can tackle these threats together and destroy them"
Templar spoke not looking at Laramar saying simply and to the point "Then your people must prepare for even more." He then turned towards Hargun and said "What will your emperor do with those that have betrayed him? Bring them back to the fold? Or purge them from existence? My methods however brutal to you they seam are for the greater good of my lord's empire. War is not a lesson that doesn't leave scars. We must learn from these lessons and adapt.
"And there is no evidence that these forces are anything like what your used to." Xtopher added calmly. "i've seen sciences beyond what most human imaginations could encompass... But some of the reports i've seen still manage to puzzle me..."
Templar turned to look at helios saying "Chaos breads war the damage of this corruption must be repaired quickly before it becomes irreversable. Corruption leads to rebellions which then lead to civil wars. This may be peacekeeping for you Rep. Helios but sooner or later it will result to warfare." Templar then turned towards Xtopher and said "As for you rep. xtopher you do not know what 'i'm used to' in the service to my lord or what i am capable of imagining." His words towards Xtopher were filled with force and authority as he spoke. "You should know better than to compare one who you have never met to something else."
Xtopher made no reaction towards templar as he turned to face him in return. The Force and authority that the rep had made clear in his voice doing little to impress the Ancient Calvara as it regarded him with a glance that Spoke silent Volumes and Libraries worth of age and experience. " Then why are you comparing the cultists we speak of to the ones your own empire has faced? There are more realms then this, child." His calm words of response carrying even larger amounts of Force and authority of a silent kind as he replied. "I expect that you'll find that The same rules do not apply everywhere, as we've come to learn. Cerberus may be a force of great power where you hail from, but we know little of the powers of this, nagaetros that helios has told me of, or even these, Draconian. Among them, he may very well be one among their ranks... That option must remain open. We have to assume that we dont know the full extent of what we're dealing with." The Administrative caste narrowed his eyes slightly, tilting his skull forward to regard Templar. "Or is that something that your "Capable of imagining" as well?"
"you should know how to talk to those willing to help in the coming storm. the signs have become irrefutable, and if this should devolve into a war for whatever the reason, then i promise you it will be too late to turn back and regret." Helios added.
Xtopher nodded silently at this.
Templar looking at xtopher uneffected by his glance before saying "You walk on very thin ice rep xtopher though you have earned some of my respect. Unlike the many of the rep. here who failed to acheive that. When i speak about the corruption however where 'i hail from' It has been proven to lead towards the same outcome in many situations and simulations. I am fully aware that there are 'more realms then this' however this 'child' is simply laying down what you may deam the worst cast situation." Templar then turned towards Helios and said " Oh? Then tell me rep helios when i have been trying to help Hargun to eastablish his plan of a 'united acerious system' one which would have most likely help prevent this 'coming storm'. Why do many of you hold still and not support his plan? If you say you are are one of those who are willing to help then why didn't you act?"
(mars Empire) Drogan he cleared his voice and said "I know my fellow rep methods aren't one politions favor but i assure you that he and I are only trying to help resolve this situation. Perhaps a combination of ideas that our empries have come up with could work at resolving this corruption situation that we find our selfs in as well as work towards the joint ancerious idea that Admral Hargun has proposed."
Xtopher chuckled dryly for a moment, amused at the mistake of his association. "I have to correct you, Templar." He said. "I am of Tenebrae, The "Emerald sword." is of the Immortal empire. a rather distant comparison."
"you talk as though i have offered no aide to the greater good against a foe i am all too familiar with and have lost much to." Helios replied evenly. " that's quite the insult to a king who has lost countless lives of his people to this terror, since before many of you were ever born, and still brought his people up from the brink of extinction and into prosperity. ive said what needs to be done, and while i cant force you to follow it, i advise you do."
Klester leaned back in his chair before addressing the drake royal, "And what of those that are not allied with the Union? Are we to be left to our own devices, to inveitably fall to the clutches of this cult?" Klester grimmaced slightly. His last sentence dripped with sarcasm, but was still a genuine question. Of course, given how most here responded simple sugestions and honest questions he was almost certain that someone would take it the wrong way. He thought about Harguns response to the too brutal methods. A laugh escaped from Klester at Hargun's remark. Life imprisonment on a desolate world was too much for the Union, but a public excecution during a peace conference was hunky dory. He reached up and rubbed his temples as he tried to comprehend this lunacy. "Don't be naive, you would just end up with a horrible mess. Your methods are apparently too extreme for the Union's taste and not extreme enough for my own. Trying to combine the ideas of all or even most of those present would simply end with several sides taking up a position on the matter and refusing to budge, due to either national pride or basic differences in culture. No one plan is going to work. The factions assembled here are too diverse and varried for a single plan to work."
"we are also able to help those willing to cooperate, klester. whether we help your empire or not is entirely up to you. the relationships between factions is not a defining factor of those we help or associate with." Helios replied to Klester's question
Hargun nodded to the different nations, the Immortal Empire made sense, they were too different however there was no other choice. It was stand or fall "Klester you are correct, we are too different. However what would you rather us do? Stand alone? We have inteligence from the Tau Volaris system where a joint fleet is taking down a combined rebel threat. The fact this is a large joint fleet shows us when we have a common enemy we can stand together, however this is not the point. The rebels from our factions are not only working together, they are cooperating with other empires. They have ties to the Dark Triumvirate, as well as some other factions like the cults and some we dont know about. THAT is the problem, there are many enemies here but THEY are unifying and together they will threaten all of us"
"Why not stand alone? At least, somewhat alone. We are more familiar with our populations and therefore better suited to routing these rebels and cultists out of hiding in a way that won’t rouse the notice or suspicions of others. Of course this is just a small part of a larger plan. It is obvious that the Drake have a great deal of knowledge on these cults. It would therefore be prudent to ask them for additional information on the matter before even thinking of acting. This would deal with the internal affairs of each nation without them having to call upon the aid of others. I’m not saying you shouldn’t ask for help, but I would caution against it. After all, who your ally sends to help could have fallen to this cult without them knowing.” At this Klester gestured to the headless corpse. “As shown here you need to be exceedingly cautious with who you trust with this information.”
“As for the pirates, the rebels, this Dark Triumvirate you keep mentioning, those that are posing an immediate threat, a joint force may be called for. Just don’t include the Immortal Empire in your plans. Feel free to ask us for help though. We might say yes if we think it benefits us enough.”
The Carnaithian ship captain, having returned from the restroom after the head incident, with here stomach now being cleared of most contents, got a message. She made a quick adjustment to the hair hanging over her eyes, and checked the message. "sorry to interupt, but i would like to notify everyone that Reik is now being picked up from the station. He is not being shipped out of ancerious as originally planned, but you won't have to hear from him for a while." she said with the best composure she could muster. when she sat down, she let her breath out, put her head in her hands, and asked her assistant to grab her a drink, non-alcholic, but something to hold her up. this was stressful, considering there hadn't been a large meeting like this between interstellar powers such as these. at least it wasn't the conferences back in the Imperial Omniverse, by the gods those were stressful...
Laramar was irritated, not that he displayed it. All that was happening were veiled insults and general lack of co-operation between the nations that had the ability to save the galaxy or destroy it. He stiffened visibly in his chair as Lock's warning came through. There was nothing he could do to help but that didnt make it any easier on him. "Where would this station be built prey tell? It would be quite the mammoth task and many of us may not be able to quickly access it if the location is unfavourable." he finished waiting for someone to respond.
Hargun looked at Laramar "It would be best to contruct the station in a neutral zone out in open space, create jump lanes to all of the allies home systems for ease and also would hopefully aid trade between us all. And as a staging ground for any quick military action" He replied
Klester chuckled, "And create a convenient pathway from the station to your capitols at the same time, making the station an even bigger target than it was before."
Hargun laughed at Klesters comment "And how do you think one nation would be able to best all of the combined defences of the races and then have to brave those of our capitols? We would have blocks in place to shut down the gates at a moments notice"
The Captain had recovered for the most part, and decided to make her thoughts clear. "an enemy fleet may be to null effect, but what of someone using superweapons?" she asked, not to jab at anyone.
Hargun replied "Then the gates would be shut down by a automatic sequence, and again could be sealed on the capital system end too. Besides..." Hargun smiled "We would make to to be able to take such power and survive"
"Didn't you just say that there where forces gathering together, who wish for nothing more than to destroy you? If the station and its forces were to fall they would have access to the gates. Sure you place a block to stop them from using the gates. But what's to stop them from discovering a work around?"
Hargun nodded "A self destruct system to destroy the gates in the worst case scenario, besides it dosent have to be linked to the Capitols we could always just make jump anchors to the station so that people can jump to it from anywhere though it wouldnt be instant without the gates of course"
The captain smirked "very well. i guess i can't criticise it until the designs are made, and it is built" she said, leaning back in her seat. she noticed that the assistants hadn't grabbed the firing device for reiks' revolver, and rushed one out of there and onto a carnaithian travel liner that was in-system. While it is an interesting Idea admittedly....and I never thought I'd find myself saying this but the representative from the Immortal Empire has a point. For every system you build someone will always find an exploit...this system has quite a few means by which it could fall easily to your enemy. I am not convinced this is a particularly safe idea.
Xtopher smirked, leaning against the table slightly as he took in the arguments that were ebbing tossed between the various representatives of the empires and how utterly ridiculousness some of the conceptualized systems they were putting foreword. "I will interject at this point" He said, giving a small Gesture. "What competent Empire, or empire leading government would make such a foolish decision as making Gateway routes Directly to their capital systems. It's a foolish system at its very best..." He finished, putting down his arm and letting it hang by his side.
" I have to agree with Xtopher, this is a very risky concept" Helios said.
"MUST the gates go directly to a nation's capitol?" the Carnaithian ship captain asked, to go along with the other statements and arguments being posed
Hargun looked at the different reps "And dont you think this can all be changed? Perhaps some of you should put forward some ideas, seeming as you are backing the move yet criticising it?" He replied
Hess raised one eyebrow at Harguns comment as if the responce was out of place. "Actually, I am not backing anything at this point. I am merely raising the question of the logic behind such a seeming waste of resources that would potentially give your enemy a bridgehead in any cooperating allied territory. Would not such effort be better suited to finding means to inflict greater losses upon the enemy instead or perhaps finding a better way to isolate and protect against their corruptive effects?"
"I must say the idea of linking our home systems to the station is wise" Laramar began. "However if we all stop questioning and actually offer assistance as opposed to a barrage of questions this station could become a strong tactical asset for each of us. Joint science projects, a unified military force against those that would threaten the good of ancerious, these are but a fraction of the good we can do if we unify around this cause" he sat back in his chair.
Hargun turned to Laramar "The gates idea can be changed if needed, however we still need a location. I suggest open space, with jump anchors if needed or in a neutral system so the star itself can function as the jump anchor. With the nations currently committed to the Alliance we will be able to construct the station with relative swiftness. However if more choose to join it would be even greater" He turned to the others "But yes it is all up to those who are joining to decide"
Laramar nodded. "As for open space there seems to be little of that around nowadays" he laughed. "Perhaps establish the station, off the grid so to speak, outside of the majority of the galaxy, perhaps towards or even in the Uriel star cluster?" Laramar sat in thought as he surveyed the map of known space.
Hess found the sheer naiveté of it all disconcerting to say the least, as legitimate concerns were both brought up and rapidly swept under the rug by a select few with some unclear agenda. Individually considered the parts were innocuous but when considered in whole it presented a picture of complete arrogance to Hess. Why he remembered the last time a species was so arrogant…they ceased to exist eons ago according to record…and yet here was another bunch so cocksure that it was disgusting. Hess debated even bothering to stick around for the rest of it, SSC wasn’t signing on so why bother? But no, someone had to remind those locked on such a plan that no, the plan was a bad idea and needed to be re considered without just one representative working on the whole thing. “I have a better idea, how about we treat this nonsense of jump gates like you treat the very valid concerns of their safety…we ignore your proposal all together and move on? I do think this conference needs adjournment since it has failed to produce any progress.”
Hargun shook his head, these people did not even remotely understand. He had emphasied the joint work aspect yet they required the Union to feet them ideas only to be criticised? The whole point of a joint project was to each give ideas in turn. But there was none of that here. At least the alliance had been made with a few nations and the joint station idea would be built on and in time completed. However Hargun knew the reaction his report on this would give... Myric would personally intervene on the event. Perhaps if the Emperor talked to the respective heads of state instead of hotheaded representatives more would be done. While the arguments and criticisms at his ideas raged he merely ignored them and jotted down private messages which would be sent to the respective reps after the conference. Inviting them to a private leaders meeting, with less drama and tighter security. As he looked up he knew this wouldnt go any further. With a heavy heart Hargun stood up and spoke "My freinds i am sorry to say that this conference will not proceed any further. If criticism is all that is going to be forwarded instead of new plans and ideas then this is a pointless endeavour to try and satify your needs to make enemies. I have sent respective messages to some of you which you will rescieve shortly however this conference is at a close. You may all return to your respective shuttles and depart if you wish or you may stay here under surpervision for a few days. Any shuttles damaged or destroyed by the Coalitons... actions will be reimbursed by us on the house. However i do wish to talk to some of you alone. I hereby call this conference closed. Thank you for coming and good day" He turned away "And may creation have mercy on your souls..." He stepped down and sent the messages, primarily to Hess, Xtopher and Helios. Asking them to meet him in private.
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