NationStates Jolt Archive

The Duke walked into his chambers, collapsing into bed with a deep, full body sigh.

"I thought that day would never end. Honestly, what is up with some people? You make a line of super killer battleships that almost equal the Colossus in firepower, and suddenly you're a 'threat to neighboring nations'. What do they think I'm going to do with them? Start conquering random people right and left, subjugating entire star systems with unparalelled acts of violence? I haven't done that in almost 5 years! Can't they just forgive and forget?"

As he walks to his private bar he is interrupted by a messenger, a messenger obviously scared ****less by what he has to say.

"Uh, sir?"

"Yes? What is it?"

"Uh.... well .... it's the Colossus."

"What? What's happened?"

"It.... it came under attack, sir. Standard system patrol. It encountered a cloaked ship which attacked when it became clear it had been discovered. Shortly after the Colossus destroyed the ship a battle group appeared in system, 5 ships claiming to be from the 'Commonwealth'. They demanded the return of the survivors from the destroyed ship, yet refused to reveal its mission or its reasons for being in Deneb. They were 'persuaded' to leave the system, the Colossus was helped a bit by the Bastion and the Galatea, but engaged in a brief fire fight before doing so. We were forced to destroy two of their ships."

"Shit"

"Yes, sir."

"This is not good. We do not need another war right now. Get to the Colossus and find whoever is the highest ranking of the survivors. Find out how we can contact this 'Commonwealth'. We need to straighten this out."

"Yes, sir."

For stats on Klonor Ships, and if you'd like to purchase any, visit the Klonor Ship Store.

http://s4.invisionfree.com/NS_Pictures/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=4 (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=108847)
http://www.bateshome.com/jordan/kwsig.jpg? (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=88389)
http://www.bateshome.com/jordan/ksig8.jpg (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=94716)
http://hometown.aol.com/jbk405/images/ksig4.jpeg (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=59081)

The Commonwealth capital world of Caldoria was the centre of the twenty system civilization. Orbiting the planet were shipyards, space stations, and many starships.

Just beyond the orbit of Caldoria's largest moon an onmidirectional electrical disturbance appeared, a tell tale sign of a ship coming out of slipstream. Out of the centre of the electrical malestrom came three ships, a Heavy Cruiser, a DSA, and a Defence Frigate, all with varying levels of battle damage.

Around the same time as the ships entered the system Caldoria's comm channels flooded with activity, word was spreading quickly. The 5 vessel strong search group was reduced to one relatively undamaged ship and two other damaged craft. They had encounted a hostile civilization on the edge of known space, and the Argosy did not fare well, panic began to spread across the globe, then the system, then the entire Commonwealth.

2 HOURS LATER, OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER

The Prime Minister walked from one side of his office to the other, holding his head in his hands.

"So you are telling me, that they posses a 6000 meter plus command vessel, with weapons that toss everything except our Heavy Crusiers and Deep Space Attack ships aside with a single volley?"

Vice Admiral Bishop shifted uncomfortably in his chair, "Well... sir thats not quite a fair assesment, we were unprepared, we didn't know what we were facing, it will be different next time, you have my assurances."

The PM shook his head and started to pace, its not everyday you find that you have a less than peaceful neighbour who has a 6 kilometer doomsday ship at his disposal.

"Give me some good news, please..."

Bishop grinned, "Well sir, our sensor readings have dated the age of the 'Colossus' as they called it, apparantly different parts of the vessel are younger and older than others, we estimate that it took them around 15 to 20 years to build it, that means its likely they wouldn't have much more than that one."

Bishop stood to pour himself some of the PM's Caldorian Wine from the bar, "And, our DSA's cold plasma armour and reactive shielding seem to provide an effective defence against their beam weapons, I suggest outfitting our Heavy Crusiers with the reactive armour first, then the rest of the fleet as the time table allows, we could start with the Ascention, she is in dry dock now undergoing repairs."

The PM nodded, then Bishop noticed that the PM was knawing his fingernails down to nothing, this guy's a complete wreck. Bishop thought it best to leave, the Prime Minister was staring to make him nervous.

"Move all our DSA ships out from the core out towards the edges of our borders closest to the Klonor, they'll be our frontline for now, while we outfit the XMC's and the GDF's..."

Bishop nodded, if there was to be a war, it would lie on the shoulders of those forty ships until the rest of the fleet could be upgraded.

"If there's nothing else sir?"

The PM did not reply, but Bishop didn't wait and started out the door, as he stood in the doorway, the PM turned to face him.

"Admiral, by my authority I am hereby removing the lockdown on the Voltarium Anti-Gravity Weapons, effective immediately, tell your men..."

Bishop stared at the PM like he was out of his mind, but he didnt question the order, and simply left. Nova Bombs, for godsake, the man was authorizing the use of Nova Bombs, for a moment, Bishop swore he could see the oncoming apocalypse in his minds eye.


OOC: Commonwealth of Terra Alliance Factfile, Weapons, Starships, Fighters, and Ground Force Information at
http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=117298

"Lieutentant Genres, please report to Docking Bay Zappa. Your presence is required."

Moaning, the lieutenant rolled out of bed and rubbed his eyes

"Oh, come on! I just got off duty 3 hours ago! My shift isn't till tomorrow!"

"Your presence is required immedietly."

"****!"

No matter how much you swear, there's no real way to argue with an A.I. He eventally stopped moaning and got out of bed, dressing in his least soiled uniform. At least, he hoped it was. The smell spoke otherwise.

Meanwhile, in Docking Bay Zappa......

The Elysium class Transport slowly rotated, pivoting and settleing down on its landing struts. With little fanfare or pomp the doors opened, Captain Hanselm striding forth from it and greeting the soldiers sent to welcome him.

"I have been sent by direct orders of the Duke. I am to interrogate the highest ranking survivor of the cloaked ship. Take me to him at once."

"You're guide will be arriving shortly, sir."

At that moment Lieutentant Genres walked through the bay doors, straightening his cap and brushing out some wrinkles in his uniform.

"Lieutentant Genres reporting as ordered, sir!"

"Right on time, lieutenant. You will take me to the prisoner quarters where the survivors of the first ship are being kept."

"Yes, sir. Right this way."

They walk briskly, moving across the kilometer distance in a few minutes. Soon, they stand outside the door of Eisen's prison quarters.

"Here we are, sir."

"Thank you, lieutenant. Wait out here."

He then opens the door and enters.

"I am Captain Hanselm. You are a prisoner of Klonor. Your government has acted illegally. Our nations are on the verge of war. We need to know how to contact your government. Speak now."

Lt. Cmdr Eisen sat up as the self proclaimed Captain Hanselm entered his modest new living arrangements. He listened to the same "illegal" mumbo jumbo they had been feeding him since he was captured. Boy, that line sure was getting old.

He simply zoned out until Hanselm starting talking about communication with the government of the Commonwealth, Eisen let lose a giggle, and the Captains face turned a dark red, looks like laughing wasn't the smartest thing to do.

"Look, in the Commonwealth, we don't have reliable FTL communications systems, thats why the Captain of every Commonwealth ship-of-the-line is a fully accredited ambassador who can speak for the government of the Commonwealth without direct instructions, direct communication with our government is impossible unless you fly your big boat into our capital system, which by the way I do not recommend under any circumstances."

Eisen leaned back in his less than comfortable chair and waited for the Captains retort, from his past experiences the rants of Klonor commanding officers were to be expected.

OOC: Wow, I bet when Klonor comes back on you're gonna get an earful for that one...

OOC: Why stirring up the hornets nest is half the fun, the other half is running away. 8)

"So, your people can't even receive standard radio transmissions? How is that possible? You have FTL, you have advanced weaponry, you have.... well, you have zero tactical capability. Wait, is this 'Commonwealth' an offshoot of the Pakleds? That would not surprise me."

He does not even bother to try and hide the humor he is feeling.

"You actually enter a Klonor system, and you haven't even managed to achieve radio communication yet? Wow. I had no idea your people knew that little about space."

Eisen leaned back in his chair and listened to the Klonor Captains insults, didn't he realize that radio was a centuries old technology?

"Captain, Commonwealth ships use low power lasers that carry secure information between all the ships, drones and missiles of a fleet. There is almost no signal leakage, so it is almost impossible to tap the data stream, unlike a simple radio transmission."

Eisen paused for a moment, he'd leave the nity gritty tech details out as to not give too much away.

"Only problem is our FTL technology, while probably several times faster than your subspace, doesnt allow for transmission of that kind of signal, meaning couriers must transport the data, do you understand now? Oh and I wouldnt underestimate our ability to adapt to new tactical situations..."

Eisen made a quirky face, god he felt like a teacher with an overgrown moody student.

"You're not to bright. You know that? We have already explained to you how our FTL communications work. So, unless you're suffering amnesia due to your recent combat activities, the only explanation I can arrive at is that you just don't understand. A pity. Now, I have wasted enough time with you. I have important duties to deal with. You will tell me the location of where we can contact your government and enter negotiations, or we simply send out thousands of probes till we find it. Then we send out thousands of bombs to blow it up. Is that simple enough for you to understand?"

Hanselm doesn't even bother to hide the scorn in his voice

"You seem to be under the impression that this will all just float away. Listen to me. Unless we get in contact this will end in no way except all out warfare, and based on our current engagement results there is nothing to show you have any chance of winning. I'm not trying to be cruel here, but you just got your ass kicked. Not just your scout ship, which is understandable, but a 5 ship battle group that didn't seem like it was designed to just sneak around. Now, are you going to continue to be petulant and condescending, or are you going to wise up and give me the information we need. There's also a third option: we go to war, we resolve the war, and then we send you back to your government as a traitor who wouldn't give us the information necessary to prevent the war."

He rises

"The choice is yours. Now, I'm going to leave. You can either tell me what I need right now, or I turn you over to the interrogation machines"

He can't help but shudder himself at the thought

"I don't envy you of that experience."

He turns to leave

Eisen watched the Captain, whom he liked less than just about anything in the galaxy right now, turn to leave, but he couldn't give them the means to contact the Commonwealth directly, doing that would give them a general bearing on the location of Commonwealth systems and territories, which when dealing with a formidible foe would not be wise.

But there was an alternative, he could provide for a neutral reciever station, most likely beyond the Klonor's borders and the Commonwealth's as well. And he knew just the place, besides he had to give them something, or else he was sure they'd end up murdering him in cold blood, that he had no doubt of.

"Captain, there is a star, generally in the direction of the Galactic Core from our position here, its a Blue Supergiant, with one uninhabitable planet, but the Commonwealth maintains a research station there. It would have the capability to recieve your "subspace" transmissions and is also the closest outpost with a government presence. If you want to open negotiations, I suggest transmitting there."

Eisen continued to stare at the Captain in the doorway, hoping that he did not provide too much information, now, THAT would be treason.

"Now, was that so hard?"

He walks out, addressing the lieutenant who was stillwaiting.

"Have that man cleaned up. Give him something to eat and make sure he's well."

As the lieutenant sees to it, Captain hanselm heads to the "Radio Room" (a holdover from ancient naval terminology)

"I'll need you to open a Sub-Space node. We're sending a communication. The target is (insert whatever coordinates that specific star would have). Once the sun has been located you must contact me at once."

A few bare minutes later

"Sir, we have located the specified star. It was only .0035 light seconds from the specified location."

"Excellent. Open the node."

"Yes, sir."

Outside the ship, there is the customary blue flash

"To the leadership of the Commonwealth, this is Captain Hanselm of the Klonor Space Corps. We have recently been unjustly attacked by members of your Space Navy. We have suffered minor casulaties and minimal systems damage. Your navy, on the other hand, has suffered ship loss and severe casualties. We have numerous prisoners on board this ship, the GDJ Colossus. We wish to forstall further conflicts and continue along a path of peace, but we must enter negotiations with your government. We would be willing to receive an envoy of your government, should you be willing send one. This Sub-Space node shall remain open, merely transmit a standard radio signal into it and we shall receive it. Please, confirm your reception of this signal and state when we may again make contact."

He nods to the side, and the crewman cuts off the transmission

"Hopefully this will be enough."

Commonwealth Research Outpost 25, BG25-01 System

The Commander of Outpost 25 was pacing the control deck, bathed in the light of the Blue Supergiant which was the core of this system. The Outpost was mainly concerned with scientific research, but it was well armed, a result of being on the edge of explored space.

"Sir, we have a disturbance in space, on the edge of the system, looks like a portal or anomaly of somesort, possibly a wormhole."

The Commander raised an eyebrow, "Well thats out of the ordinary."

"There's something else, sir, theres a radio band transmission, and I think its for us."

The Commander raised his eyebrow even higher, "Well, play it..."

"To the leadership of the Commonwealth, this is Captain Hanselm of the Klonor Space Corps. We have recently been unjustly attacked by members of your Space Navy. We have suffered minor casulaties and minimal systems damage. Your navy, on the other hand, has suffered ship loss and severe casualties. We have numerous prisoners on board this ship, the GDJ Colossus. We wish to forstall further conflicts and continue along a path of peace, but we must enter negotiations with your government. We would be willing to receive an envoy of your government, should you be willing send one. This Sub-Space node shall remain open, merely transmit a standard radio signal into it and we shall receive it. Please, confirm your reception of this signal and state when we may again make contact."

The Commander listened paused to think about what to do next, this was definatly above his pay grade, but he sent a simple acknowledgement signal back through the wormhole that contained the stations designation, prefix code, and the Star System designation, and a date, approximately 24 hours from now.

After the communication was sent he deployed a courier ship out to the capital world of Caldoria, they would want to know about this, maybe they had a plan.

24 hours later.........

Captain Hanselm again stood on a bridge, this time the command station of the GDB Achilles, the first of the Achilles class Battleships. The newest, and most powerful, of the Klonor space vessels.

"Time to re-emergence?"

"7 seconds."

"Okay. All hands, prepare for Real space emersion."

With the slightly different flash of blue, the Achilles dropped out of Nexus Flight nearly on top of the Commonwealth Research Outpost.

"Status of the ship?"

"Everything seems okay, sir. Structural integrety intact. I think it worked!"

"Thank God."

This was the first time a non New Dawn ship had attempted Nexus Flight, nobody was quite sure how it would turn out.

"Any objects in-system?"

"We are reading a station, it seems to match the description we received of Commonwealth Research Outpost 25."

"Excellent. Open a communications channel."

"Open, sir."

"Attention Commonwealth Research Outpost 25, this is Kelsir Hanselm, Captain of the GDB Achilles. We are here at the designated time and coordinates. We are willing to receive the Commonwealth Representative. Are there any procedures we need to follow?"

He then leans back in his command chair, waiting for a response. Hopefully this would all go well. The Achilles was a powerful ship (nearly Godmoddingly powerful), but it was only one ship. It would be better if there was no combat at all.

Location: Inside the Corona of the Blue Supergiant, Commonwealth 1st HCBG, Command Ship, Heavy Cruiser Endeavor

The Commander of the battle group eyed the new ship as it entered the system, one vessel, they sent only one ship. Unbelieveable, he expected an entire battle group here for the demonstration. His fleet was positioned in the stars corona, shielding them from the sensors of the Klonor ship, soon they would have to emerge, and flex the muscles of the Commonwealth.

"How's the research station crew settling in?"

The XO of the Endeavor looked to his Captain, "Well the are a little irrate about having to leave their outpost, but at least they got to keep their research data."

The Captain nodded, "Good, bring us out of the corona, but keep us out of their weapons range, and tell the fleet not to arm their weapons. I want no threatening postures from our vessels towards theirs."

And the thirty ships of the 1st Heavy Cruiser Battle Group exited the corona, into full view of the Klonor ship.

OOC:

1st HCBG SHIP LIST

1 - Heavy Cruiser
4 - Deep Space Attack Ships
16 - Group Defence Frigates
9 - LRS scouts

OOC: Would the LRS scouts be similar to the scout the Colossus blasted to oblivion? :twisted:

IC:

(still waiting for you to open communications with my ship)

The Commander of the HCBG looked to his comm officer and the opened a frequency to the Klonor vessel.

"Klonor ship, this is the 1st Heavy Crusier Battle Group, which is under my command, we do not wish hostilites between us, but we feel that you require something to, humble you, because for all your big ships and your beam cannons, we have an ability that few know about and even fewer posses. We will negotiate, but we will negotiate from a position of power, you will be witness to something few have ever seen, enjoy."

The Commander signaled the comm officer to cut the link, and called to his tactical officer, "Load the Voltarium Anti-Gravity Weapon in tube 1, prep it for launch at the Supergiant."

The TAC officer pressed a few buttons on his station and looked to the Commander. "Weapons loaded sir, ready for fire on your command."

The Commander nodded, "Hold, wait for a response from the Klonor..."


OOC: Yes, they would be, but its not them you have to worry about. :twisted:

"Oh, for the love of ........ don't we have enough of these self proclaimed Superpowers already?"

"It seems we have one more, sir."

"It seems so. Open a communications channel."

"Channel open, sir."

"To whomever this is, unless you are an authorized member of the Commonwealth government we have no will to discuss relations with you. Please, continue your demonstration so that we may progress to the more meaningful negotiations."

"Channel closed, sir."

"Great. Now, let's see what we've got here."

OOC: Just so you know, they wont be impressed by you making the sun go Nova.

The HCBG Commander listened to the Klonor commander and shook his head, he was in for such a shock.

The Commander stood at his bridge station, and looked to several other officers of his bridge crew, they all acknowledged with a nod.

"Endeavor, this is Captain Ivan Zaminsky, authorize Nova Bomb activation, code Lexic-Grey, 2-5-1."

http://server5.uploadit.org/files/saturn656-Nova.JPG

They three other bridge officers then provided their authorization codes and the Endeavor acknowledged with a series of beeps.

"Nova weapons ready to fire Captain, on your command."

The Captain nodded to the hologram of the Endeavor's AI, and looked to his comm officer. "Comm, contact the rest of the fleet, tell them to slipout, now."

"Aye, sir."

Once the otheer 29 ships were facing away from the star and heading out, the Captain gave the word.

"Fire!"

With that a single missile headed away from the Endeavor towards the Blue Supergiant at half the speed of light. The Endeavor then did a quick 180 and proceeded to catch up with the battle group and slip out.

OOC: Why not, can you do it? :oops:

OOC: Well.....yeah. Hell, it happens like every other year with these dudes. My last war ended with my enemy detonating the sun of one of my military systems in an attempt to get me as he went down. Frankly, we're used to it.

IC:

"Sir, ships escorting the Heavy Cruiser are going to FTL speeds!"

a few seconds later

"Sir, they have launched an object at the systems sun!"

"Perfect.... just ****ing perfect! Do we have a read on the object?"

"Negative, sir. It's moving at approximately 1/2 light speed."

"This can not be good."

"No, sir. The final ship is also jumping out of the system!"

"These guys are really stsraring to piss me off. You know that? We try to do the nice thing, we try to avoid a war, and they do this."

"Yes, sir. Actions?"

"I'm guessing whatever they did is going to have some big reactions inside the sun. Can the Ergometer track the ships?"

"Yes, sir."

"Re-engage the Nexus Engines (To himself: God, I hope they hold up), follow that ship. We'll chase these bastards to hell if we have to."

"Nexus Flight engaged, sir."

"Excellent. Let's give these bastards a pleasant response."

The Endeavor, lead ship of the 1st Commonwealth HCBG, was the last ship to jump out of the system.

They had been ordered to take the long route back to base, as to prevent any mapping of the transit route to Commonwealth home space. They suspected that they might attempt a prusuit, and were taking every single measure possible to ensure that they would be sorry for following them.

Once the group exited to its first way point, the HCBG split into two groups, diving its forces evenly down the middle, stronger ships infront defending the weaker craft in the rear. They charged their weapons arrays and loaded their tubes, just in case.

The Achilles slashed out of Sub-Spaced, appearing mere kilometers away from the Endeavor.

"Open communicatiosn. Now, damnit!"

"Channel open, sir."

"Listen to me, you little shit!"

The captain has lost his usual calm demeanor, replaced with obvious rage.

"We approach you in peace. We extend the olive branch after you invade our system. We meet you in your territory, with one ship. And what do you do? You explode the freaking sun and speed out like a dog with his tail on fire! Not only are you nothing of honorable gentlemen, you are not even worthy to stand against us in combat. You seek to ambush a single ship with a battle group of dozens, and even then you don't stand and fight. Well, that is enough."

A careful hand gesture to the side sends a coded Sub-Space signal to the 4'th Combat Fleet, and the Klonor Heavy Combat battle group flashes out of Sub-Space.

Suddenly, the Commonwealth ships are themselves outnumbered, surrounded by dozens of Hecate and Orion class Destroyers, Deimos, Dreadnought, and Mercury class Corvettes, Leviathan, Fenris, and Prometheus Cruisers, one Megingjard class Heavy Fire Destryer, and (to top it all off) the Colossus.

"We did not come here to fight. We came here for peace. Now, you will put us in contact with a government representative or you will regreat the day you decided to betray our trust."

OOC: Hey, do you have a screen name? AOL? Yahoo!? ICQ?

Mine's JBK405 for both Yahoo! and AOL. Gimme a buzz

<Tags for reading, since Terra and Klonor have a good thing going>

OOC: Terra? Hello?

OOC: Yeah sorry bout the delay, Soc. exam time, and I only use MSN...

The Battlegroup Commander sighed and stared at the deck of his ship, so much for intimidation, what the hell did they have to do, blow up a habited system for them to get the point, he sure as hell hoped not. The last thing he needed was to commit genocide to get these's pack dogs to calm down. Their one ship had instantly turned into a few dozen ships, including that damn Colossus. He did not like the implications of this, and what he liked even less was being this close to them, this many of them.

They had a possibile escape route, but it was risky, it had never been done. In theory it should work, but this next jump would lead them into Commonwealth space, but it would also allow them to recieve additional support, which it looked like they would need right now.

"Communications, contact the rest of the Battlegroup with tight beam laser comm, tell them to slave their slipstream cores to our control."

"Sir we are being contacted by the enemy battlegroup..."

The Commander walked to the comm station, "What are they saying?"

"Oh not much, the usual, insults, propaganda, how the want peace..."

The BG Commander scoffed, "Anyone who builds a 6 kilometer ship of death definately has interests other than peace, and I for one do not want to find out what they are."

"Helm, tell the frigates to engage their drives, then engage the drives of next ring of ships, and then finally ours, direct the portal underneath us."

The helm officer looked that he had the wind knocked out of him, "Sir, thats bloody well insane, no ones ever created a portal that size before, and I'm pretty damn sure not under an entire HCBG!?!"

The Commander grinned, "No risk, no gain, do it."

And with that, a huge hole was ripped in space beneath the Commonwealth ships, and they descended directly downward into it.

OOC: Jesus, these guys are idiots. Do they actually want me to kill them?

IC:

"Jesus, these guys are idiots. Do they actually want us to kill them?"

"I don't know, sir. We still haven't received any communications."

"Continue transmitting. Maybe whoever's in charge over there will wise up and actually start to talk. Seriously, we're trying to avoid an all out war and all they want to do is fly around and blow things up."

Suddenly, the Slipspace portal appeared below the Commonwealth ships, sucking them all in with one flash.

"Shit! Where'd they go?"

"Ergometer is tracking them, sir, but they're moving fast. We need to get going soon or we'll lose them."

"Have the other ships tested their Nexus engines yet?"

"No, sir. We needed them to soon. Their test wasn't scheduled for another 6 hours."

"Oh, ****! We can't risk the Colossus with an untested jump. The rest of the fleet is to valuable as well. Looks like it's just us. You know, I am really starting to hate these guys. Keep the ergometers locked on that fleet and engage Nexus Flight."

"Yes, sir. Engageing Nexus flight in 3......2.......1.....Engaged! We are in persuit."

"I hope this is the last time we have to do this."

[tag] so I can update your article in NS news

OOC: In order to be an officer of the Commonwealth, you can only be half sane... :wink:

Location: The Commonwealth Border World Farpoint

The Planet Farpoint was the farthest border world in the Commonwealth, and currently undergoing the process of Terraforming. Although the population was curently only a few thousand, that would soon grow once a breatheable atmosphere was established.

Orbiting Farpoint was the combined forces of the 5th and 7th Commonwealth HCBG's, totaling sixty ships. They were waiting for the 1st Fleet to return from its mission, when the slippoint opened, and the thirty vessels of the 1st Fleet flew through the portal, keel first.

The Commander of the combined 5th and 7th HCBG starred at the screen open mouthed, "I wonder how the hell they managed to do that..."

At that moment the Endeavor opened a channel to all the ships of the 1st, 5th, and 7th Fleets.

"Power up your defences, we have dozens of hostile ships possibly on our tail, including their Colossus, either we find a way to resolve this or they will rename Farpoint 'The Planet of Blood'."

With that the ships of the 1st Fleet assumed the lead position in front of the 5th and 7th, and waited for the Klonor, if there was a stand to be made, it would be made here.

OOC: Seriously, even Salm wasn't this delusional, and he thought the most powerful alliance ever to grace space NS was "sucking Klonor dry"

IC:

With the oddly different flash of blue now synonymous with Nexus Flight the Achilles bursts out of Sub-Space, it's Heavy Beam Cannons charged and its Tsunami Launchers loaded.

"I swear to God, if they do anything this time I am going straight back to Keane and recommending a full scale attack. These guys can not be reasoned with."

"Yes, sir."

"Start a sensor sweep, with Massometer and Ergometer supplement, I want to know what the hell's out here."

He did not have to wait long, the sensor alarms went off within seconds.

"Sir, we are receiving massive contact! I'm counting nearly 100 ships of varying sizes, they are in orbit around a planet in the system."

"This day just keeps getting better and better. What their status?"

"Unknown, sir.... wait a sec.... we are getting massive energy build ups! Their weapons are charging!"

"God damnit! What the hell is wrong with these people? Navigation, plot a path back to Gamma Draconis. Move us to the proper point. Communications, open a comm channel. Maybe I can reason with them (To self: But I wouldn't bet 1 liter of snail juice on it)"

"Channel open, sir."

"This is Captain Hanselm, commander of the GDB Achilles. We are here to enter peaceful negotiations. Disarm your weapons, before it is to late for our nations to avoid an all out war!"

OOC: I think I missed that little conflict, don't know who "Salm" is either. :oops:

The leader of the 1st Fleet, who also by rank now led the 5th and 7th as well. Under his command were approximately ninety ships, the largest fleet ever assembeled in the history of the Commonwealth. He hoped it wouldnt have to be used.

"Sir, we have a portal opening in the system."

The Fleet Commander grabbed the edge of his station, "Here we go, get ready for it people."

He was expecting the same dozens of ships he saw before they jumped out of the last system, but this time, only a single vessel appeared, it was the same vessel they had encountered initally.

"Well it looks like our luck has changed, 90 to 1 are better odds than we had before."

"Sir we are being hailed, they want to talk, again, they sound a little more amicable now..."

"Maybe that's because we got him out numbered and out gunned this time, acknowledge the hail, open a channel."

"Channel open sir."

"This is Captain Ivan Zaminsky, of the Commonwealth command ship Endeavor, we are prepaired to listen to your proposal."

Zaminsky looked to his TAC officer, "Power down offensive weapons, show them we are not going to start shooting, tell the rest of the fleet to do the same, lets hear what the Klonor have to say."

OOC: It was an RP a while ago. Abel Salm was the head of my armed forces, he thought that Klonor being in the Galactic Alliance (which I started) was sucking us of all our might and giving strength to all our enemies. He staged a revolution, shot me, and took over for a bit.

IC:

"About damn time. These guys are finally showing little sense. Open a channel."

"Channel open, sir."

"Like I said when I first arrived, that's be before you blew up a star for no reason, we are here to receive a representative of the Commonwealth government and take him/her back to Klonor for negotiations with our leaders. We do this in the hopes of forstalling a war and entering an era of peace."

OCC: Can I join? Pretty please?

OCC: Can I join? Pretty please?

OOC: Uh, what would you do? I don't really see any role for you.

I could help you out.

OOC: Interesting, wish I had seen it...

The Fleet Commander Zaminsky listened to the Klonor Captain as he dictated his terms, they wanted a representative, good enough, they could provide one, they had 15 Ship of the line Commanders who were all accredited ambassadors, including himself.

"Klonor Commander, we will launch one light fighter to board your ship, it will be carrying our chosen representative, expect to recieve it within the hour."

And he cut the comm channel, and began to walk off the bridge, his XO moved to block his way.

"Sir! What are you doing?"

Zaminsky rolled his eyes, "Look, we don't know anything about them, for all we know they could use the representative for a hostage, or if things degrade further the representative could end up dead, I can't ask anyone else to do this, it has to be me."

Captain Zaminsky had finished his speech, and walked around his XO and began his journey to the flight deck, soon he would be in the belly of the beast.

OOC: It wasn't really that good. It was actually part of a bigger RP me and a few others had planned, pretty much a Galaxy War. Me and a few others would go on conquering sprees and annex a bunch of nations and eventually we'd end up fighting everybody. But, we needed an IC reason. Since my character, Duke Solomon Klonor, wouldn't do that we had Salm get control. But, everybody made such a fit about it that we got fed up and abandoned the thing. I put Klonor back in charge and Salm was executed (or was he.......)

IC:

Hanselm sighed in relief, they were finally getting somewhere.

"Docking bay Gamma, open the doors and prepare for reception. We have one fighter incoming. Roll out the welcome mat."

He turns back to his bridge crew, giving them the usual "be prepared" speech, then turns to the doors.

"I'm going to meet the representative. Once he'd aboard take us back to Deneb. Maybe we can finally straighten this all out."

http://server5.uploadit.org/files/saturn656-Slipfighter.JPG

Fleet Commander, well not an appropriate designation now since he passed over that responsibility to the XO of the Endeavor. So Captain Zaminsky piloted his RA-26 Shrike Strike Slipfighter alone out of the fighter bay of the Endeavor over to the Klonor ship.

The Klonor ships were beastly, unattractive ships by Commonwealth standards, but they did have advantages in brunt force firepower, they would have to improve their weapons...

He spotted a docking bay on the vessel, and proceeded to land his slipfighter in, he didn't bother announcing himself or requesting premission to land, they knew damn well he was coming. He gently guided the Shrike into the bay and activated the Anti-Gravity pads on the bottom of the craft.

He then opened the canopy of the fighter, and jumped down into the docking bay, he was here.

About damn time Hanselm thinks to himself. I've been wating here for 15 minutes

Supressing his anger he steps forward, greeting the new passenger.

"Greetings, and welcome to the Achilles. I am Captain Hanselm, commander of the 4'th Fleet."

He steps aside and briefly introduces the rest of the people standing around him, mainly mid-level officers who weren't needed on the bridge right then.

"If you will follow the lieutenant, you will be shown to your quarters. Once you're settled in we'll begin the trip back to Deneb."

Not waiting for a response the Captain turns on his heel, heading back to the bridge turbolift. His first lieutenant was a capable man, but a true captain never felt secure when someone else was in command of his ship. His place was on the bridge.

Captain Zaminsky eyed the Captain of the Klonor ship, he suspected he wasn't exactly pleased to see him, the feeling was mutual, but diplomatic niceties had to take precidence over personal dislikes. Oh the joys of being a diplomat.

He listened to him introduce several of the people on the deck, and then just as quickly turned to leave.

The Captains quick departure confirmed his suspicions, he could tell now that these negotiations would not be easy, but what ever was. The Captain did say they were going back to Deneb, the where the Klonor and the Commonwealth first encountered each other.

"The scene of the crime...", he muttered.

He followed the Lieutenant out of the hanger deck and down to the guests quarters which he assumed were probably bugged for surveillance, he'd have to check that out...

OOC: Hey, what did he suspect? My captains are chosen for their military skill, they don't do squat as diplomats

IC:

"Lieutenant, report."

"All normal, sir. We haven't had any unusual contact with the enemy since the ambassador cam aboard. The Nexus Engines are prepared for the next jump, and we're at the Jump-Point. Give the word and we'll be at Deneb in two shakes of a lambs tail."

"Very well. Engage Nexus Flight."

"Yes, sir!"

With that space semed to ripple, and the Achilles disappeared into that unknown realm of Sub-Space

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Here we are, sir. You're quarters are the third on the left. I'm sure you'll find everything you'll need is easily available. If you find yourself in need fo something, simply press the WallComm. A steward will be with you in no time."

He briefly listens to his earpiece, then turns to the Ambassador

"I've just been informed we're about to enter Nexus Flight. You might to sit down, sir. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to my station."

With that he saluted and left, leaving the Commonwealth Captain to explore his new home

OOC: He suspected your Captain didnt like him. :wink:

He looked around the quarters, they were compairable to what you'd find on a Commonwealth ship, a couch, a chair, desk, sitting table, and a bed in another room. There was a computer terminal on the desk, but he assumed they were monitoring the usage of that, he'd leave it alone for now.

There was also a window in the wall which displayed a view out the outside space, which had the moment looked a purpleish-blue, must be what their type of FTL space looks like. He wasn't sure if it was an actual window or just a large screen that showed a view from outside, he'd have to inquire. He took a load off and dropped himself down on the couch.

He was impressed with the courtesy of the Lieutenant, he definantly did not have to salute him when he left, maybe everyone here wasn't an arrogant hard-ass after all, he could only hope.

He was hungry and tired, but he figured might as well get some shut-eye first. He undid the top clips on his black and blue uniform, layed down and closed his eyes, keeping the left one open a sliver just in case.

OOC: It was actually supposed to be 'expect', not 'suspect'. Eh, he suspected the right thing

IC:

The ship flies through Sub-Space. The ship exits Sub-Space. Yay!

"Attention sensor outpost 17, this is Captain Hanselm of the GDB Achilles entering the Deneb system. Authority, level A-12. Verification: Code Blue-177x, transmitted on coded Sub-Space channel 38. We are carrying an Ambassador from the 'Commonwealth' for a meeting with the Duke. We are inbound to Istallation Riviera in orbit over D5. Deactivation of the Security Network is required."

"Authority code verified. Harbinger Cannon 12 has been deactivated. You are free for docking."

"Roger that. Achilles out."

Hanselm turns from the CommStation, wiping the sweat from his forhead.

"God, I hate these security checks. Whenever there's an attack they always triple the checks, and if you make one mistake...... boom. Damn Commonwealth, if they had just stayed out of Deneb we'd have been done an hour ago. Oh, well. What's done is done. Lieutenant!"

"Yes, sir?"

"Send a steward for the Commonwealth ambassador, tell him we've arrived at Deneb. He shall be transferred to the Aracadia Installation Riviera, from there he'll be shuttled to the Vicegral palace and we'll finally be rid of him. I swear, this guy has been nothing but a pain in my ass."

"Yes, sir. The steward is on his way."

"Good. Well, I'd better see him off. I'll be in the docking bay. You have the bridge."

"Yes, sir."

With that Hanselm saluted and marched to the door, heading down to the docking bay.

Captain Zaminsky laid napping on the couch in his quarters until a loud beeping sound woke him with a start.

"God damn, what the hell..."

A slightly distorted voice came over the comm system in the room.

"Sir, we have arrived in Deneb, I am to escort you to the docking bay, and you will be transfered to the Installation Riviera"

Zaminsky rubbed his eyes, he guessed that his last nap would the most sleep he'd be getting in a while.

"Ok, I'm coming..."

He straightened out his uniform and did the overcoat clips back up to the top, and walked out the door to meet the steward, who motioned for him to follow.

"Just this way, sir, the Captain will be meeting you there."

Zaminsky grinned, "I'm overjoyed..."

OOC: For some reason I don't think he's really that overjoyed

IC:

"Ambassador, may I introduce you to Wing Leader Ooms, he'll be piloting you over to the station. Your ship"

He gestures behind him at the Commonwealth fighter

"will remain on board until your negotiations are complete. You have my assurances that it will not be damaged or tampered with. Ooms will be taking you to the Riviera abord the Omega, an Elysium class Transport. You should find it quite comfortable."

He moves over to the transport

"Have a pleasant trip. may your negotiations prove fruitful."

With a touch of a button the ramp lowers. Hanselm salutes as the Commonwealth officer boards.

OOC: That was meant to be sarcasm. 8)

Captain Zaminsky returned the salute and turned to take a seat in the shuttle as it exited the bay of the Klonor ship for the Riviera. Zaminsky was worried about leaving his fighter behind, he'd have to have the engineers back home take it apart piece by piece to look for tampering or reverse engineering.

Never could be too careful with a civilization you just encountered.

The ride over to the station was a short one and within ten minutes they had entered the docking bay and landed on the deck with a subtle thump.

When the door opened to reveal the landing bay of the Riviera he saw what he assumed to be the commander of the installation and a cadre of officers beside him.

OOC: Really? Seriously? Wow! I never would have known!

IC:

"Hello, and welcome to the Riviera! Have you had a long trip? Just come from a year long trading mission? On shore leave for the first time in months? Well, you've come to the right place! Here on the Riviera we've got all you need! Here's the map you'll need to get around......."

He goes on for quite a while, (professional greeters are rather long winded) then hands Zaminsky a map, some tokens for the turbolifts, and walks away.

The lieutenant gives Zaminsky a final salute and gives him a small communicator.

"Your Phase Gate transfer is at 3:00, about 6 hours from now. You'll be paged when it's time. Until then, enjoy the station! Oh, try the Screaming Wookie. It'll blow your mind."

With that he walks back into the transport and begins the tedious clearance communications, ready for the trip back to the Achilles

The Commonwealth Captain and Diplomat stared like the little man as if he was a piece of crap stuck on his shoe, for gods sake the man sounded like a bad advert, and he had seen his fair share of those. He placed the tokens in his pocket and raised his eyebrow as the little man ran off. He then turned his attention to the Lieutenant who had shuttled him over from the ship.

"Your Phase Gate transfer is at 3:00, about 6 hours from now. You'll be paged when it's time. Until then, enjoy the station! Oh, try the Screaming Wookie. It'll blow your mind."

He nodded his head and manged a quiet, "Thank You" for the Lieutenant, whom at this point he found to be the friendliest person he'd met so far, as he placed his comm unit into a pocket on the leg of his pants.

Screaming Wookie, what the hell was a Wookie? He imagined he would find out sooner or later...

He looked at the map and manged to find his bearings adequately enough, this place was more like a city in space than an actual installation, bars, resturants, large parks with natural vegitation, a city in space.

He decided to take the Lieutenant up on his suggestion of "Screaming Wookie" and proceeded to find the closest resturant, also keeping in mind the locations of the bars if it turned out to be a drink and not a meal. And what the hell was a "Phase Gate" transfer? Once again he concluded that he'd find out eventually.

He instantly recalled the recruiting slogan of the High Guard that hooked him when he was a 17 year old boy, building models of the old Crimson Tide Class Light Crusiers.

"Experience the Galaxy... well I'll start by finding some Wookie...."

And Captain Zaminsky wandered down the corridor to the market area of the station.

<*Sits rivited, the box of popcorn he bought now sits forgotten in his lap*>

As Zaminsky walks down the hallway he emerges into a cavernous room, filled with thousands of people doing who knows what. Suddenly, a hologram springs from the floor directly in front of him

"Greetings and salutations, welcome to the Hub Riviera, center of the station and home to all your needs! Are you hungry? You will find a line of 3 to 5 star restaurants just across the lobby. Perhaps your thirsty? Our impressive array of drinkng establishments will satisfy even the most unquenchable thirst. See the map for directons. Perhaps you've already eaten your fill? Well then, why not some shopping? We have over 30 department stores arranged for your convenience! Oh, and never forget the Screaming Wookie, the best bar in this arm of the Milky Way! Warning: Section 23 of the Hub is off-limits, prisoners of war are being held. Avoid section 23. Enjoy your stay!"

OOC: Oh, in case you don't know, a Phase gate is a teleportation device. You step into one Gate and step out another. Kinda like a StarGate (as used in the movie StarGate and the TV series StarGate: SG1), except there are thousands of them all over my ships and cities, and you don't move faster than the speed of light. Actually, they're a lot like the Ring Transporters in the StarGate series. Useful for going from a ship to the surface of a planet, or ship to ship, etc.

Captain Zaminsky listened to the hologram as he described the services available on the station. So the Screaming Wookie was a bar, he'd love to go, but he couldn't forget that he had a very important job to do and now was definatly no time to get intoxicated...

His attention was caught with the mentioned of POW's on section 23 of the Hub. POW's, were those his men? The Commonwealth crew from the Athena? They said that section 23 was out of bounds, but he wondered if he could possibly sneak a peak. He had no idea how many civilzations the Klonor had hostilities with, it was possible they could not even be human, but he had to know for sure.

He looked at the map, and found section 23, it was bound to be guarded, but he'd think of somekind of diversion. If it turned out to be too well guarded, maybe he should make a little visit to the Screaming Wookie, bars were always good for creating diversions, after all.

Zaminsky began his slow, casual walk down towards section 23.

The guards pace back and forth, impatiently waiting for the prisoners to finish eating.

"Why the hell are these guys even here? They should be stuffed in a cell somewhere on the inner planets. But no, they're up here staying in a freaking hotel while a professional chef feeds them gourmet meal after gourmet meal. We should just stuff them in a Phase Gate and turn it off mid transfer."

"Yeah, well, whatever the reason they're here and we're stuck with them. Rumor is the Duke's in some kind of negotiation, maybe they're part of it."

"So? All I see is a few dozen people who were just shooting at us, and now we're feeding them!"

He suddenly notices Zaminsky approaching and moves over, radioing the rest of the guards to be on Alert.

"Excuse me, sir? This is a restricted area. You'll have to find another way around. Are you lost?"

Captain Zaminsky peeked over the guards shoulders and saw a few dozen POW's, all wearing Commonwealth uniforms, they were the Athena's crew certainly enough. He was quickly approached by two guards, he figured this would happen. He could either play stupid or play insolent. As much as Zaminsky hated downplaying his intelligence, he thought stupid would work well with these guys.

"Excuse me, sir? This is a restricted area. You'll have to find another way around. Are you lost?"

Zaminsky put on his best flabbergasted face he could muster.

"Restricted? Really? I had no idea, I wouldn't consider myself lost however..."

He looked over the guards soldiers again, for no other reason than to seem somewhat interested in the POW's in the room behind them.

"Who are they I might ask, criminals, smugglers, thieves?", he inquired.

Sure they looked like they were being treated well now, but that could be soley for his own benefit, incase he somehow "stumbled" upon the POW's while on the station.

"Sir, I think a member of a military would be able to determine a restricted area when he sees one (Can't forget the Commonwealth uniform he's wearing)."

He glances again at the clothing Zaminsky is wearing, recognizing it as the same the prisoners have on (Well, similar at least)

"John! Get over here!"

He brings up his rifle, not quite pointing it at Zaminsky.

"Sir, you must immedietly vacate this area. You will be escorted back to the Hub entrance. Do not return to this area until these men have ben removed."

Joh walks forward, ready to bring Zaminsky back to the open areas.

OOC: Aw, I really didn't think they'd notice, I thought your guards had IQ's on par with that of your average 'trek red shirt or starwars Stormtrooper, whoops. :P

Zaminsky grinned, at least the crew was being treated well enough, but the guards here were so humourless. He was but one man, what was he going to do, play stealth commando and break all the crew out? He liked to think of himself as being good, but that good? He couldnt help, but make himself laugh.

He looked back to the guards who were escorting him out of section 23.

"So I assume you are treating my men well..." he let the emotion completely drain out of his face, trying to look as imposing as possible.

"Because if you're not I will insist that as a provison of any treaty between the Commonwealth and the Klonor, your ass would be required to rot on some backwater penal colony for the rest of your life."

Zaminsky, still looking the guard in the eyes, then let loose the biggest smile he had in months.

"Goodbye, I'll be checking out the Screaming Wookie, just for your information, wouldn't want to be too sneaky around here, would I?"

Zaminsky casually strolled over to the 'Wookie, which by convienence was not far from Section 23, lucky him.

Zaminsky enters the Screaming Wookie. (I really can't think of anything else right now. Besides the usual 'Welcome!' speach there's nobody I control interacting with him)

OOC: I see so now I get to play around in the bar for a bit, neato, let me know when my gate appointment pops up though. :P

Zaminsky sat down in a corner of the bar, watching the patrons, enter, drink, and then just as quickly leave. He had been to bars on Caldoria, Terra Prime, Utopia, and a few other Commonwealth worlds, but he didn't expect this place to be quite the same as the drinking establishments were back home, he was glad he had his f-lance with him, in case this place got ugly.

Within minutes of him sitting, a young and attractive waitress came up to his table, with a smile that could light up the dark side of a moon.

"Hello, welcome to the Screaming Wookie, is there anything I can get you?"

Zaminsky looked up at her, and out of habit, asked for a Utopian Sunrise, which caused the waitress to look quite befuddled.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I've never heard of that before..."

Zaminsky nodded, "It's ok, I'm not from around here, surprise me."

The waitress smiled and walked out of his sight, meanwhile he sat and reflected, on why he was here, what he had to do, what he might have to sacrifice. His idle thoughts were interrupted when a loud intoxicated group of men in uniforms walked in.

They were offduty Klonor military, he assumed, and he sure as hell hoped they didn't notice him, he suspected the Commonwealth wasn't too well liked in Klonor space right about now.

OOC: Shoulda asked for a Collostomizer. That thing would have knocked him all the way back to that star he blew up :wink:

IC:

The waitress walks back, placing the Utopian Sunrise on the table in front of Zaminsky.

"The bartender knew how to make one. Like they say, if we don't know it then it can't be alcoholic."

With another smile she walks off, catering to the next customer.

Just as Zaminsky is about to knock back his nice....cool...refreshing drink..... (Oh God I'm so thirsty) his reverie is interrupted

"YOU! You little ****! You're from the Common thing, aren't you!"

The biggest, and obviously the drunkest, of the three military men staggered forward

"My brother was a pilot on the Coll *hic* the Co *hic* that big ship! You and your little pansy ship killed him! You barge *hic* you barge *hic* you *hic* you show up with your little invisible *hic* thing and kill him when he went *hic* when he *hic* when he tried to stop that lit *hic* that little *hic* that little message *hic* ship!"

He lunges forward, barely restrained by his two less drunk comrades

Zaminsky recoiled at the charge of the drunken soldier, luckily he was being restrained by his two companions.

He tried to look as laid back as possible, but the soldiers on rush did give him a little shock. He tried to act as polite as possible, using those good old diplomatic skills.

"Listen, for one, its the Common-WEALTH, and I would give the Athena a little credit, you dont want to knock the ship that managed to take out your brother who I assume was a hell of a pilot do you?"

He didn't think the solider would realize that he let loose a veiled insult, he looked a little too drunk to even understand what he just said....

OOC: You know, odds are the less-drunk people knew the dead guy, you might not want to keep insulting him. They might let the big drunk dude go

IC:

Just as the big drunk dude was about to let some other hiccup filled rant go the Comm in Zaminsky's pocket started beeping

"Attention Captain Zaminsky, your Phase Gate appointment is here. Please go to Transport Room 92 immedietly. Thank you."

OOC: I'd put my money on the sober guy any day. :wink:

Zaminsky heard the comm unit go off, saved by the bell, he thought.

"Well if you three gentlemen will excuse me, I have a gate appointment to catch, and many people wouldn't want me to be late..."

He finished the last of his Utopian Sunrise and quickly walked around the three intoxicated soliders. Best not to stay in that situation too long, wouldn't want to meet he leadership of the Klonor right after being in a bar brawl.

He consulted his map, Transport Room 92 wasn't far from where he was, he liked how the station was so big, but everywhere you would possibly need to go was close at hand, the Klonor obviously had engineers whose prime concern was functionality, which was not a bad thing. Just different than how the Commonwealth did things.

Zaminsky entered Transport Room 92, and eyed what seemed to be a gate, what must be what he had to use to arrive at his destination. The Commonwealth was experimenting with matter transfer technology, but the Klonor had functional equipment in mass-use, impressive.

He looked to someone behind a console who he assumed ran the equipment, "I'm Captain Zaminsky, I have an appointment with your gate, so... what now?"

OOC: Hey, drunk people often screw up somehow and win by pure luck

IC:

"I'll need some identification first, as well as your travel pass."

Zaminsky shows said ID and travel pass

"Excellent. ID has been verified. Coordinates being entered now. Step through the Gate, please."

No sooner does Zaminsky step through than he finds himself in a rather monstrous and luxurious room.

"Ah, Captain Zaminsky I presume. I am Steven Hersol, aide to the Duke. If you'll follow me, I'll leed you to him."

Zaminsky was in awe, this place looked like a palace, maybe the Commonwealth and the Klonor had similar governing systems, maybe not, he'd find all that out in good time.

He followed the "Duke's" aide through the massive hallways and well adorned rooms. He wondered what kind of man this Duke was, whether he was a fair representitive or a hard-ass, he prayed for his migranes that is was the former.

He was then led into a canvernous room, with large table, and at one end sat a man, the Duke he presumed...

"Ah, Captain Zaminsky, welcome to the Vicegral Palace! I trust you had a pleasant trip?"

He gets up and extends his hand in an informal greeting, expecting a common handshake in replace of the usual formality and stiffness.

"Please, wont you join me? The waiters wil be here in a minute and we can finally get something to eat. Perhaps something to drink while we wait?"

He gestures at his private bar, stocked with every liquor known to man.

"Perhaps a Collostomizer? It's my own personal recipe. Guaranteed to knock you back to wherever the hell you came from."

Zaminsky wasted no time in shaking the Duke's hand, delaying that gesture would probably offend the man, but he didn't seem like the easily offended type, he was very personable.

"Perhaps a Collostomizer? It's my own personal recipe. Guaranteed to knock you back to wherever the hell you came from."

He raised an eyebrow at the name, must be quite the drink, to not accept may be seen as a sign of weakness, after all how could he handle the negotiations if he couldn't handle a simple drink.

"I'll take one, but I doubt it could knock me that far back, I'm from quite a ways away..."

He took a seat in one of the chairs near where the Duke was sitting.

The Duke grins, prepared to surprise the Captain.

He begins to pull bottles out from all over the bar. A little vodka, some whiskey, a bottle of Jack Daniels, and a mysterious and unlabelled blue liquid (Elarian Ale is illegal in Klonor, even the DUke isn't allowed to drink it. That stuff is damn powerful). He begins to slowly mix, combining them all in one giant glass.

"Here you go. Oh, you might want to sit down first (Yes, he knows you're already sitting)."

With a small wink he hands the glass to the Commonwealth ambassador, taking a step back as he prepares to drink

Zaminsky looked somewhat worried, he had put alot of different "stuff" in here, he was pretty sure he wasn't trying to poison him, but the end effect probably would be the same.

He lifted his glass upward in a gesture to the Duke, and proceeded to down the whole drink in one go. Boy was he sorry.

He managed to keep the drink from reversing back up his throat, barely, but he felt his eyes water like mad, his throat was on fire, and a few seconds, so was his stomach. He however, wasn't going to let on that he barely downed the beverage, damn he'd be feeling this for a while.

"Good, very good, strongest I had in a while, but very good."

He set the glass down and forced a cough.

"So, I believe we have some business, as you might say, to attend to..."

"Ah, yes. The unfortunate matter which has brought us together. I believe you'll recognize this."

The lights dim and a section of the conference table slides away, revealing a Trimensional Projector. With a brief flicker it turns on, projecting an image of the Athena directly in mid-air. It almost looks like there was an actual ship in the room with them.

"What you are looking at now is a recording from the bow cameras of the Colossus. This, I have been told, is the Athena. Now, watch what unfolds."

The video then begins to play, the entire battle being enacted (with brief switches to fighter cameras for the attack on the Courier) right before their eyes.

"Your ship was illegally in Klonor territory, was spying on Klonor ships, and attacked when questioned. Moments later, these ships appeared."

The camera view switches, showing the battle group which had been dispatched to find out what happened to the Athena.

"These ships engaged in blatantly hostile actions, attacking and damaging our ships."

The video again plays, this time switching between the three Klonor ships in that battle.

"So, we have a problem. My citizens are screaming for blood, as are my generals, and my own inner voice. These actions are unforgiveable and demand immediete retribution. But..... I do not enjoy war. I have seen to much of it in my life. No good can come of it, and the evil that grows is unimagenable. We need to solve this, and we need to do it fast."

The Duke leans back, waiting for the Captain to speak.

The Duke sits there, still waiting.......and waiting........ and waiting........ and waiting...........

BUMP since Terra is back from vacation

Zaminsky watched the footage of the Athena attacking the Colossus, and later the Athena and its courier being destroyed. He listened the duke as he described the supposed legality issues of the Athena's presence.

Given, the Athena was trespassing, however since there was no one set of laws governing the galaxy or the universe for that matter, so if some backwater colonial government decided to outlaw gold or silver coloured ships, the Commonwealth would be in violation of that law too, he didn't buy too much into that.

"I... acknowledge the fact that the Athena's presence was... unwanted, however in certain situations, Captains are authorized to commit pre-emptive strikes on targets deemed to be a clear and present threat."

Zaminsky leaned back into his chair to make himself more comfortable, he thought he was going to be at this for a while.

"The rescue group, which was sent to find the missing ship, found your Colossus and the wreckage of our ship, naturally, they attacked because they found your ship at the scene of the incident. Now I regret that things initally went the wrong way, but I do not think it takes much effort to explain the actions of the Commonwealth ships, especially the rescue group."

"I also would hate for there to be a large scale conflict between us, however there is also much anger among our people, due to the destruction of the scout and the two defense frigates, it seems we are both in a difficult situation..."

"Pre-emptive strikes on clear and present threats? We asked who they were. Unless I missed something, saying 'hello' isn't much of a threat. Or are greetings a cause for war in the Commonwealth?"

The Duke likewise leans back in his cahir, prepared for hours of pointless pointing of fingers

"While I could accept your explanation of the rescue groups actions, that's not the way it happened. If you'll listen."

Another pressed button, and a micfilm recording of the communications between the two ships came from the speakers

"As you can hear, they didn't just pop into the system and attack at the spur of the moment in terror. They were in the system, they spoke with my captains, and then (as they were leaving) they attacked. It seems that there is no explanation for their actions besides just wanting to blow something up before they went home and reported."

He leans forward again, almost as if he was confiding in the Commonwealth representative

"The Commonwealth was in the wrong. There is no other way to spin it. We have the trimensional recordings, the micfilm transcripts, the Massometer/Ergometer readings, and the testament of both crews present at the original conflict. I'm sorry, but if this ever gets out the blame is going to fall squarely on your shoulders. So, what do you propose?"

Zaminsky took a few moments to think things over... sure the Commonwealth was the aggressive party in this incident, but he felt that if it had been him, he would have done the same thing, its not every day you hop your neighbours fence and find a six kilometer boat on the other side.

The Duke was right about one thing though, if the recordings got out, the Commonwealth would take the flak for this one, and it was his job to minimize that flak. It was days like these he wished he was piloting slip fighters again.

"Well just to start, I suggest we draw a line in the sand, a concrete border that we both can agree to, as to prevent any further territorial incursions in the future. Maybe an offical exchange of diplomats and the like afterwards..."

OOC: Here's a map of Klonor territory

http://www.bateshome.com/jordan/kmap2.jpg

IC:

"Well, that's pretty simple. Don't enter any Klonor star systems. I'm sure even your government can follow something as simple as that."

Pressing another button (Jesus, this room is like a button factory) the frozen image of the space battle is replaced with a map of the Klonor systems (the same map that is seen above).

"We lay claim to 6 systems, these 5 and 1 not on the map. Deneb, where your ships engaged in their horrendous actions and where we are now, Regulus, Epsilon Pegasi, Gamma Draconis, and Ross128. Tau Ceti, not on the map due to its lack of a Jump-Node, has been settled by the nation of Guanyu. Stay out of those systems, and we wont have any trouble."

<*Laughs at Klonors button factory* Terra, you have a great RP style. Klonor funny>

OOC: I figure, what's the point of ruling a multi solar system Empire if you can't make people laugh?

Zaminsky eyed the map of Klonor space, they controlled an area of space a little more than half the size of the Commonwealth. He grined, he could memorize these the borders right now. He slowly began to nod his head in agreement with the Duke. He however, did not agree with the assesment that the Commonwealth ships commited "horrendous" if there was to be any official statement, he would damn well make sure the word horrendous was not in it.

He also noted the Dukes condecending tone, that seemed to be a common trait among Klonor military and government, one that defiantly gets more tiring the more one hears it.

"Six systems, we should be able to steer clear of six systems without any problems."

He now would now lay down the boundries of the Commonwealth for the Duke's benefit.

"The Commonwealth has claimed ten star systems, six main worlds and four border outposts, outwards from Klonor space towards the Galactic Core. The captial system of Caldoria, followed by Utopia, Terra Prime, New Sol, Kaldera, and Valhalla. Then there are four worlds we are currently terraforming for habitation, yet to be named, but incase you are curious they are refered to as BWTP-07, BWTP-08, BWTP-09, and BWTP-10.

"Yes, and would that list include the star system your fleet destroyed in a show of force?"

The Duke couldn't help but throw that one in

"Now, what ideas did you have for reparations? Your actions cost many good men their lives."

"Repreations!?!"

Zaminsky just about fell off the edge of his chair, he was a student of history, and he knew that typically, repreations were paid by the losing party in any conflict, and he sure as hell was not going to admit defeat here.

"Let me give you some numbers, in light of the desire for repreations."

Zaminsky put on his most stone-cold face he could muster and started to list numbers.

"1 Scoutship, 2 defence frigates, 3 Artifical Intelligences, and eight-hundred and thirty officers of the Commonwealth, and you are coming to me demanding repreations because of a few downed fighters?"

"No, I'm demanding reparations because you attacked us. It doesn't matter whether we lost $3 worth of metal, or an entire battle fleet. The fact is, we were wrongfully and unjustly attacked. Not by terrorists, or by some criminal prganization, or any other such shady group. We were attacked by you, by a stellar government. My citizens are screaming for blood, and my allies would support us in any war that came from this. But I do not want war. We have been over this. Yet punishment must happen, and my citizens must be appeased."

He stands up to his full height, a rather regal and imposing looking image (Let's just ignore the fact that he's impotent)

"Unless you want an all out war, not just with me, but with dozens of my allies, then we will enter negotiations for reparations paid to Klonor. Or the next tome you see a Klonor ship it will be aimed straight down your gullet."

Zaminsky rolled his eyes, by god they probably had tens of thousands of fighters like the ones the Commonwealth had downed, and he wanted to get into a scrap over what was relatively a handful.

And now he was threatening to bring in "allies", he was using intimidation tactics, which were a waste of the Duke's time because he was hardly intimidated.

"You're citizens are screaming for blood over a simple territorial incursion, your populace seems very easily angered."

Zaminsky stood to face the Duke, who was only slightly taller than he was.

"So do you want me to go home to get the Commonwealth Credits to replace your fighters or should a look in my pockets for some change."

The Duke just stands there and shakes his head

"You are very small minded, aren't you. This has nothing to do with money. (The Duke, theoretically, has all the money Klonor has. His income is like 100 trillion a year) This has to do with a territorial invasion and an assault. Our losses don't matter (Well, they do, since the Duke actually cares about his soldiers, but that's not what this is all about), it's the attack itself that's the problem."

He steps back, gesturing to a hidden camera. With little fanfare the trimensional display changes again, this time showing a live feed of thousands of angry people marching together

"You see this? Not one of those people had relatives who were killed. They don't serve aboard the military vessels that were in the battle, and they don't work at the factories where the destroyed fighters were manufactured. They are merely citizens of Klonor whe have had their nation unjustly assaulted. Neither of our governments or militaries was unrevocably damaged during the altercation, but if that was all that matters then crime and piracy would be allowed to run unchecked. This is not about money or prestige, this has to do with you compensating us for your actions. Not the results, the actions.. The spying, and the attack. Are you understanding this?"

Zaminsky laughed. Small mind? Well from the way things were going his mind was sure a hell of alot larger than the Dukes.

Wow, the Commonwealth had simultainously attacked all citizens of Klonor by attacking one ship, boy the Klonor sure had strange ways of looking at things. Not very realistic his standards, or by any standards for that matter.

"So, Duke, what kind of repartions did you have in mind for the..." Zaminsky took a moment to cough, "...assault on the citizens of Klonor?"

OOC: Lemme just check one thing, do you want this to progress to a war or we all end up happy?

OOC: Well war IS interesting, and a helluva lot more fun than peace, only neg is that people die, but they arent REAL people anyway... :twisted:

OOC: Okay, cause the Duke's about to start one

IC:

"We demand a formal and official apology from your government and the captains of the attacking ships. We demand financial compensation for the materials destroyed and compensation for the relatives of the personell killed. We also require access to three of your worlds currently being terraformed, as well as access to any system you may explore in the future. In addition, your FTL technology, weapons technology, and defensive technology must all be shared with Klonor. Anything less is unacceptable."

The Duke sits down, prepared for the Commonwealth ambassadors quick acceptance

Zaminsky listened as the Duke listed off demands, they were reasonable until he hit accessing Commonwealth territory, and the turning over of Commonwealth tech.

"Um, I am willing to apologize and provide financial compensation, but access to our territory and technology is out of the question, and you seem to have left out the return of our POW's in that equation..."

Zaminsky was puzzled, and was starting to lose his cool.

"Why exactly do you want access to our colonies and tech if I might ask?"

"It's quite simple. You attacked us, there's no reason to suspect you wont do so again in the future. You want to show good faith and make up for your actions, give us access to your offensive technology so we can better defend against it. If you don't, then it's pretty obvious you're planning future aggressive actions. For the safety of my nation we will be forced into military action. *COUGH*BUSH*COUGH*"

He leans forward

"And what POW's would those be?"

Zaminsky just about burst a valve.

"The POW's you are holding on your installation, the ones I saw with my own eyes before I came here!!!"

He got up from his chair roughly, almost sending it tumbling to the floor.

"And for the record, our technology, and our territory for that matter, is completely off limits to the Klonor, and every other government in this galaxy."

"I'm sorry, but there are no Prisoners of War being held on this station. I believe you are mistaken. We are, however, holding several dozen terrorists who are being held for execution. Perhaps you confused the two?"

"Terrorists?!? Those are officers of the Commonwealth and that is slippy slope your walking down by terming them as such."

Zaminsky stood up from the chair and pounded the Duke's desk.

"Now either I get those POWs back to Commonwealth territory, or any and all talks are off as of now."

Zaminsky straightened himself up, and stared down at the Duke, and waited for a retort.

"I'm sorry, but there are no Prisoners of War on this station. You are mistaken. Now, you will accept our proposal, or you will go back to the Commonwealth and find someone who will."

The Commonwealth Captain eyed up the Duke, did he really expect the Commonwealth to agree to these terms? They would have the end result of making the CTA a mere extension of the Klonor Empire, and it would be an icy day in hell when he'd see that happen.

Zaminsky decided to turn down the Dukes terms in an offical manner, and save the rhetoric for later.

"The Commonwealth will not accept the terms as proposed by the Klonor, and as negotiator for the Commonwealth I hereby end these negotiations as of now."

With that Zaminsky got up from his chair and paused to look at the Duke once more.

"We're done here."

"No, we're not."

Yet another button is pressed, and the room is suddenly filled with a squad of Klonor marines

"We are not done until you agree. Or do we need to dispatch you back to the Commonwealth in several small plastic bags?"

As the Marines shuffle Zaminsky out of the room the Duke turns to an aide that had entered the room

"Contact the Commonwealth. Inform them of the happenings, then dispatch the 3'rd fleet. These guys want to tussle, we'll give 'em a tussle."

"Yes, sir."

3 hours later, at the Gamma Draconis military base, there is a sudden bussle that hadn't been seen since Dozle had started buzzing around Ross128.

"Attention all crews aboard the GDD Aquitane, GDD Bastion, GDD Intrepid, GDC Isis, GDC Cherokee, GDCv Tentative, and the GDB Xanthus. All crew leaves have been cancelled. report to your ships at once. All fighter personell, report to your drop ships. This is not a drill. Bring all ships up to combat alert Kappa once readiness has been achieved. Prepare for Nexus Flight in 17 hours."

Across the station the thousands of military personell were all asking themselves the same question: Nexus Flight? What the hell is going on?

But soldiers are paid to act, not to think. They moved.

OOC: Gotta go eat now, I'll be back in a little bit

Zaminsky let himself be dragged along, the odds were not in his favor if he resisted, and these looked like the kind of people who shot you first and questioned the corpse later....

LOCATION:
Commonwealth High Guard Headquarters, Argosy Operations, Caldoria

The Command Centre was filled with activity, soldiers in uniforms moved over their consoles, tracking fleet movements, running operations, and preforming other important tasks. One of the soliders, a Lieutenant, picked up a report from his station and ran out of the room down a corridor, and barged into a office at the end of the hall.

"Sir, we have a report from BWTP-10, negotiations with the Klonor have fallen apart, things do not look good for us sir."

The Admiral sat quietly, and did not reply, he simply brought up a schematic of Commonwealth Argosy Forces, he eyed the ten fleets of the Commonwealth.

"Re-prioritize DSA's and XMC's from the 3rd, 6th, and 9th, and task them with the 2nd Battle Group, send them to BWTP-10 in case our Klonor friends get uppity. Bring the EDSA's out of drydock and send them to BWTP-09, incase things get ugly."

OOC: Sorry it's been so long, I was having some internet problems

IC:

With a hiss of static the intercoms spring to life, and throughout the dozens of ships comprising the Klonor 3'rd Battle Fleet a single voice is heard.

"All hands, stand ready. This is General Keane speaking, and the Empire is in need of your services. As most of you know, the Deneb system was recently the site of a hostile incursion from a previously unencountered nation. We managed to make contact and begin negotiations for a peaceful coexistance, but the talks have broken down. We are being mobilized for immediete deployment, destination currently unknown. Be forewarned, this is going to get ugly. Everybody, we need you at the top of your game."

The intercom squaks off and the crewmen return to their actions, this time a little more apprehensive

Keane turns away from the microphone, addressing the helmsman

"You've received the coordinates. Take us out."

"But, sir...... you just said we didn't know the destination yet."

"We know where we're going, but we don't what we're going to find there. It could be a small patrol fleet, or a full invasion force. If these men know we're barging into enemy territory they'll begin to worry, and we can't have that. Move us out."

"Yes, sir. Nexus Flight in 3 minutes."

With the customary slightly different blue flash the fleet leaps forward, moving towards where they had first encountered the Commonwealth (the system they went to after you blew up that star)

Tau Ceti, not on the map due to its lack of a Jump-Node, has been settled by the nation of Guanyu.

I can take care of myself Klonor, but thanks for looking out for my interests.

OOC note to Terra: Since this has escalated into a war situation, you may well be invading some of Klonor's systems, or at least attempting to. I want to make it clear that Tau Ceti IS NOT a valid military target in this war, and an attack on it will not be an attack on Klonor, but rather a declaration of war on Guanyu. At the moment, our government plans to stay neutral in this conflict. An attack on our colony system would definitely change that.

Oh yes, and just as a warning, Tau Ceti practically neighbors Ross-128. An attack there would not be considered an attack on my nation, but it would make my government VERY concerned about having a war on their doorstep. This isn't to say you can't attack Ross-128 of course, or even Tau Ceti if you want to, I enjoy space war in NS greatly myself. Unless you want me involved, however, I suggest you stay the hell out of my neighborhood.

OOC: The star I blew up was just outside my borders, so I didn't own it, its next door to BWTP-10

The 2nd Commonwealth Battle Group, In Orbit Around BWTP-10

Admiral Bolivar sat aboard the bridge of the Terra Nova in nervous anticipation. He had recieved a quick brief from Argosy operations before his augmented battle group was sent to the border world. He was to hold position here and guard the colony from any aggressors.

This seemed rather strange to him as he could not recall any time in recent memory about the Commonwealth having hostilites with anyone. How the good old times change...

"Sir, we have anomalies appearing in the outer system, appears to be a a group of seven ships, four larger, three smaller. They appear to be of Klonor design. If there is a hostile force coming into this system, I believe this would be it."

Bolivar acknowledged the report from his TAC officer.

"Contact our GDF's, tell them to bring up the defensive screen, order the LRS's to hang back, and all XMC's, DSA's, and EDSA's load long range assault missiles."

The TAC officer worked quickly and sent the orders to all members of the battle group. Bolivar now learned what it felt like to be in a stand off, having a gun pointed in your face while you are pointing one at your adversary. He didn't like the feeling, not at all.

Augmented 2nd Commonwealth Battle Group

XMC - Heavy Cruisers - Terra Nova, Legends of Atlantis, Long Ascention, Lancers Hope, Andromeda Ascendant

EDSA - Experimental Deep Space Attack Ships - Flaming Sword, Fires of Venus, Seraphim, Siege Perilous

DSA - Deep Space Attack Ships - Wrath of Hades, Wrath of Lucifer, Wrath of Zeus, Wrath of Achilles, Righteous Fist of Heaven, Balance of Judgement, Righteous Fist of Justice, Wrath of Mars

GDF - Group Defence Frigates - Twenty Four Support Frigates

LRS - Long Range Surveillance Ships - Two Scout Ships.

OOC: Ship specs and all that jazz are here:
http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2823867#2823867

OOC: Uh, those ships I mentioned before aren't the entire 3'rd fleet. They're just the ships that were docked and had crew on leave. There's a lot more craft that'll be attacking you

IC:

The ships appear out of Sub-Space in formation

Klonor 3'rd Battle Fleet:

Achilles class Battleships: Xanthus
Hecate class Destroyers: Aquitane, Clarke
Orion class Destroyers: Bastion, Intrepid, Galatea
Prometheus class Interception Cruiser: Prometheus, Lucky Starr, Andromeda
Mercury class Corvette: Tentative, Repulse, Taurus, Wells, Enforcer
Fenris class Cruiser: Isis, Cherokee, Fenrir, Morse, Radin[/i], Grant
Odin class Anti-Fighter/Command Ship: Fate
Volition class Pirate Ship: 20, and I really don't feel like naming them all

I think that's everything. (You should probably bring some more ships in. I outnumber you about 4 to 1)

OOC: I dumbed down the number because I thought that was all you had.

"Sir, fix that, we now have over 40 vessels emerging from FTL Space, now thats a battlegroup!"

Bolivar remained stone faced, he stood from his chair and called everyone to attention.

"Listen up people! It doesn't matter if they have 4, 40, or 400, we will defend this sector or it will be burnt to ashes around us, that is a promise from me to all of you, god as my witness!"


Augmented 2nd Commonwealth Battle Group

XMC - Terra Nova, Legends of Atlantis, Long Ascention, Lancers Hope, Andromeda Ascendant

EDSA - Flaming Sword, Fires of Venus, Seraphim, Siege Perilous

DSA - Wrath of Hades, Wrath of Lucifer, Wrath of Zeus, Wrath of Achilles, Righteous Fist of Heaven, Balance of Judgement, Righteous Fist of Justice, Wrath of Mars

GDF - Twenty Four Support Frigates

LRS - Two Scout Ships.

OOC: Hey! Now you outnumber me! You big meanie!

IC:

"Well, it seems they've arranged a little welcome party. Let's see if we can break it up."

He steps back, getsuring to his communications officer to open a channel to the rest of the fleet

"Let's keep it standard here. We don't know their tactics, but we know their strength. Everybody, let's plow on through."

He gestures to the helmsman, who begins to maneuver the Xanthus. Slowly, the rest of the Klonor fleet forms behind it

The Xanthus moves forward, flanked on the left and the right by the Aquitane and the Clarke. The Bastion, Intrepid, and the Galatea move off to the side, turning to present their lengths to the attacking fleet. Each Orion is escorted by a Prometheus, the Prometheus, Lucky Starr, [/i] and the Andromeda setting their Swarm Rockets for wide dispersal.

The 5 Mercuries also move forward, heading out in front of the Xanthus to both protect the Flagship and to deliver a massed fire attack.

The 6 Fenris cruisers hold back, moving in a constantly shifting orbit around the Fate, protecting the command ship from any wandering ship that had the misfortune to get to close. Their massed Beams and Missiles would make short work of any luckless opponent.

Finally, the Volition's scatter. Pathetic when put in combat with other capital ships, these things are death with sails for any fighters.

"All ships, open fire."

With that, the Battleship, Destroyers, and Corvettes unleash an unprecedented onslaught upon the Commonwealth ships.

As soon as the strength of the Klonor force became apparant, the Commwealth fleet moved into defensive position, with the Frigates providing point defence for oncoming fire, and the larger ships within the defensive web provided by the frigates, providing the offensive aspect of the operation.

The Experimental DSA's were just behind the forward frigates. spearheading the Commonwealth Defensive.

"Sir they are opening fire! Beam weapons and missiles!"

Bolivar knew the missiles used by the Klonor were slow moving, the defence web would pick them up, the beams were an issue, however

"Tell the frigates to prioritize their point defences on the beam fire, try to disrupt them with the X-Ray cannons, 500Gw. And instruct the EDSA's to fire their AG mass packet warheads on the tip of the Klonor offensive, lets weigh these bastards down."

The inital assault impacted went through the lead ships and impacted the Lancer's Hope within the formation, the conductive plasma armour over the hull caused the ship to turn a shade of green as minor damage was spread over the entire hull, and a hull breach at the point of impact. Stray shots also impacted the EDSA's in the lead, but at this range damage was negligable.

With the entire Commonwealth fleet providing weapons intercept fire, the Flaming Sword, Fires of Venus, Seraphim, and Siege Perilous spread out across the width of the fleet formation and each launched a half salvo of AG warheads at the 5 lead Mercury's at 0.8 PSL, 90 missiles per ship for four EDSAs.


OOC: In case you are wondering, AG mass packets are basically gravity generators, their purpose to attach to a ships hull and increase its mass, reducing its ability to manuver.

Terra Alliance: OOC: Telegram for you.