NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC
Events in this RP are in regards to the Universalist Totality history thread (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=346130). These are past events, not present.

It was the winter of 488, Eness Common Era. Eighteen months had passed since the colonization of the Shertaeth star system, the last of the dissenters.
The Technate was a happy place. To be unhappy in the Technate would be a sign of mental illness - it just doesn't happen. Who could say no to a guaranteed, universal income? Who could be against real equal rights for everyone?
Well, it seems that there are certain groups out there that do not follow the Palladian doctrine of logic and reason. Certain groups, like the Capitalists, who don't think everyone should be treated equally. Groups like the Ninjaons, who can't bear to live with other races. They bruise our egos and disturb the peace, but we continue to tolerate them. Eventually they give up their fight and colonize other worlds. We are fine with that.
But there are still more groups, groups known as the Honoka, which are different. Religiously-motivated revolutionaries. It takes a certain amount of insanity to think that you know what is best for another billion people, and something even more to act on it. Honoka groups have never been a problem, but times change. What was a problem twenty years ago is, today, beneficial. What didn't even exist twenty years ago is, today, going to be on our doorstep at any moment.
A large purchase of weapons had been tracked. Thousands of guns. Of course, nobody gets their hands on guns in the Technate and gets away with it. There were arrests made, but only six. Six out of thousands. Something was up.

The Six arrested were part of a rapidly growing Honoka. I will not bother with repeating their name here or explaining where they came from...you will all know that soon. These people are not sane like we are, these people wish to form the Technate into something it isn't. They will not leave. They will not remain complacent.

"That was a fine speech, Director. So, guns, then. Thousands of guns. Do you have any idea how many guns we have?" Shogun Kitai arrogantly lauged off the Director of Social Relations' warning.

"It is not a question if we can survive this, Shogun. We already know that we can. But...the loss of life may be staggering. If we have to kill off every single one of these...Universalist wackos, that's practically genocide. Now, I hardly sympathize with these God-fearing sociopaths, but they have a right to their lives as much as we do." The Palladiate's thunderous yet compassionate voice filled the well-lit conference room.

"Kill them all. Find them now before they do anything stupid. It's obvious that they want to try some idiotic revolutionary...thing. Maybe if they're lucky, they'll get to be martyrs! You have to think like they do, here take some of these." Kitai exclaimed, handing the Palladiate a bottle of antidepressants.

"Heh. No, no. Remember what we always do? Diplomacy first. Of course, if that doesn't work then we can shoot them. First, though, we negotiate. Try to get them to leave. I'm sure we can knock some sense into them."

Xessa Tir-Valla stood at a makeshit podium overlooking the premisis of a warehouse bustling with life. The warehouse, located somewhere in an obscure part of Sky City, was under the administration of one Kor Settmus, and was meant to be a gathering point for the collection and redistribution of certain textiles. Kor was a rarity in the technate, one of the few remaining humans to administer to the robotic system which had dominated almost all labor throughout P4lladia. He loved his work, and could not imagine living his life as most P4lladians did these days, idely. It was this love for personal productivity, and a great fear of loss, which had originaly lead Kor into the Universalist ranks, almost five years ago. Then there was the intensive religious and political indoctrination, the motivational sessions, the seminars. Today, Kor was what most Universalists had been conditioned to become, a blind fanatic, prepared to lash out at a government that refused to acknowledge his needs. He was also one of the few members who had the know-how needed to surpass the streemlined system, to get around the P4lladian security and productivity monitoring programs. He was able to do that which was crucial to the success of the impending Universalist revolution. He was able to provide meeting places for his comrades, storage for their arms, and keep the P4lladian authorities completely oblivious.

The warehouse made quite the chaotic scene. Deactivated robotic workers lined the walls, storage compartments were alternatly filled up with either textiles or arms, crates filled up with devious goods were stacked in dangerously high and unstable piles throughout the warehouse. Desks filled the space, all invariably covered in a mess of papers and charts, laptop computers, and other such things. And in the midst of all this were over a thousand Universalists, crammed into tight groups, all looking up at the make shift podium, eager to hear their local leader speak.

Xessa Tir-Valla looked down at the congregation, and she was highly pleased. There were thousands of such gatherings throughout P4lladia, millions of people had answered the Universalist call, and were now prepared to fight and die for a better tomorrow. It was truly a heartening thought. Xessa had no doubt of victory. How could anyone hope to stem a tide of such fine and dedicated people? They would destroy the Technate, and give the P4lladians their freedom. With a broad grin on her usually grim face, she pushed her jet black hair behind her ears, leaned forward, hands resting on the podium, and addressed the gathering.

"The time has come for us Universalists to finally rise up against the evil Technate, and bring it down. The time has come to liberate P4lladia from the decadent spawn of Satan which denies hundreds of millions of people truth. The vile scum that runs this nation does not fear God. They openly deny the King of Man, Jesus Christ, and refuse to live according to his teachings. They have made society a parody of what it once was. Under the Technate we cannot find fullfillment, we cannot ever taste real success, we are made to be ashamed of that which we are. They would have us believe that to be a productive, God loving human being is abnormal. They would have us fester and fade away into nothingness along with the rest of mankind. Will you stand for that?"

"NO!" came the ringing reply from the crowd, a thousand throats shouting the one defiant word in unison.

"No indeed! Soon, we shall rise up. And when this thing is over, the devil's spawn will be held accountable for their works! They shall be made to explain...."

Kor was no longer listening to Xessa's speech. He had heard it a hundred times before, and would hear nothing new this time around. He smiled grimly and contemplated his own thoughts, looking out onto the crowd. He had spent five years of his life waiting for the promised revolution. Sweet Victory would be theirs, soon, he hoped. He itched for the thing to finally start.

OOC: Like you said, my government is oblivious right now. As such, this post has nothing to do with the Technate. Rather, a sympathetic group! The Technate won't know about anything until "later"...
Oh yeah, and sorry about the pseudo-storefront, I couldn't think of a better way to "express my ideas", as it were. :D

The SkyCity underground. Well, no, not underground. What we in the city call the "underground" is, in fact, the first ten stories of the rest of the metropolis. Down here is what one could call the "seedy underbelly" of the entire Technate...where else would the "slick and highly efficient black market in gambling" take place? All the light down in this place comes from the 3-foot spaces between the elevated roadways and buildings. Naturally, it's a bit dark down here.
"Why the hell would anyone want to be down here?" you ask. Yes, I admit, it sounds more than a little crazy. Why would I leave the safety and comfort of my nice, big apartment - complete with robotic servant - to come down into this dank hellhole? Why, because there is business to be made! Yes, business, in the Technate, the Enesian financial desert.
I am Patricius Avarus. Sent by the corporation that owns me, AvarTech, I ply the often overlooked markets of the SkyCity underground for my company, based in Shertaeth. I make my living selling military hardware to greedy nutjobs, revolutionaries and pimps. Tonight, a revolutionary group. Let's see how much they buy from me before charging to their deaths like a pack of berzerkers against, uh, a futuristic army of giant robots. Damn, and I meant for that to be a metaphor, too.

"Well, this looks like the place..." Avarus looked down at the card he was carrying, then to the matching, rusted sign on the side of an old distrubution center. "I guess even pants-sorting robots need guns, too."
http://images.noyuo.com/ut.gif
[i]The door of the old building slid open heavily, alerting the occupants of the entry. The large, cavernous interior, now filled with desks and people, drew silent and a thousand pairs of eyes stared at Mr. Avarus. Kor immediately greeted the guest, whom he had called for the day prior.

"Settmus, eh? Patricius Avarus, from AvarTech Military Contracts. As the leader of a growing revolutionary party, I'm sure you--" Kor cut the salesman off.
"You don't need to pitch this sale to me. Whatever you have, it's sold already. Besides, I'm sure you want to get back to your family on Capital...and a few extra wakas will surely help you out in that regard."
"Very good, Mr. Settmus, it would seem as if you already have in mind what you want. May I venture a guess?"
"Of course, be my guest!"
"Starships. As I'm sure you know, the Avar Shipyards are purpose-built, manufacturing exportable fleets of only the highest quality--"
"Sold. The only thing is--"
"Here's an example of one of AvarTech's fine products:" The salesman cut off Kor, producing a small catalogue.
http://images.noyuo.com/avar_cruiser.jpg
"Notice the two large weapons on the front, these will tear through any hull like nothing! Guaranteed, or your money back!"
"Uh, that's very nice, very nice indeed. But...how do you expect us to pay for this? All we have are are the clothes in these boxes..." A dejected Kor notified Mr. Avarus of the Universalists' financial woes.
"Oh, that's fine. I know you bought guns, too. Why not put those to some good use, 'acquire' some wealth, and then we'll talk, eh?" Avarus slipped Kor his business card and walked away.

A harsh voice called Avarus from the dark recesses of the warehouse, stopping him in his tracks. He turned to see a woman walking his way, dark haired, attractive, wearing what seemed to be something like formal military dress. Xessa spoke:

"My good sir, if you hope to retain my organization's business, I reccommend you change your tone immediatly. I shall give no comment on your behavior save this; I find it highly disagreeable. If you should prove incapable of humbling yourself, and treating my people with the respect and dignity which they deserve, I would be more than happy to inform your employers that you have lost them our business."

Xessa paused for a short space, awaiting a reply from Avarus. Seeing he did want to speak, but was having difficulty gathering his wits after her unexpected outburst, she continued with what she had to say.

"We have money, my friend, and plenty of it. That Kor did not know this is of no concern, that you attacked the first man you stumbled upon with your salesman's slander is highly unsatisfying. Do you really think your employers would send you here if they thought we were broke? I didn't think so.
Now, you will go back to whatever upper-level hole you crawled out of, and bring me back a catalogue of the goods your fine organization has to offer. Your organization does have catalogues, yes? Good. You will return here with said document, we will look over it, and then, if you're lucky, will be intouch. There are many others like you, you know? Now, be on your way."

With that Xessa spun on her heel, and walked briskly away, back into the darkness of the warehouse.

OOC: The new AvarTech Catalogue is hither (http://www.noyuo.com/wiki/index.php?AvarTech)

"Huh. Looks like some sort of malfunction..." A night-shift automation supervisor remarked to his partner, sitting at a desk a few feet away.
"What? Wait - we actually have to do work now?" Supervisor number two groaned, looking at the status display on his desk.
"Yeah, the system's reporting that an entire distribution center is shut down. I'll send a crew down to check it out."

The repair crew - three men and two robots - made their way down into the SkyCity underground. The distribution center, specializing in random paper products, at the corner of Artery 77 and Street 343, was now flooded under the glow of several large floodlights, deployed by the crew. It was probably just a small system error, they'd reboot the control systems and everything would run smoothly again in time for the morning distribution to the city's many shops.

One of the repairmen noticed the cryptic, rusty sign outside the main entrance, but gave it no further thought.

"Funny," The repairman said, punching the access code into the door a second time. "Damn thing won't let me in."
"Eh, let's try the side." Another crewman remarked, and wandered over to the other side of the building, where a small, circular hatch was. The hatch opened using a special tool, and led to a small passage which terminated inside the building, right behind a rather surprised Mr. Admiratio, leader of the Universalist chapter inside this building.

"What the...who the hell are you!?" The UT leader jumped, yelling at the emerging repairmen.
"Whoa! What are you doing here...what is all this!?" An equally surprised repairman remarked, hundreds of eyes at hundreds of desks now staring at the intruders.
"I'd like to ask you the same question...so I will. What are YOU doing here?"
"Us? We were just sent by the Automation Supervisors. This place wasn't working right, and now I can see why..."
"Well, good, now you can leave."
"You're not supposed to be here! Why don't you leave?"
"We don't want to, and you can't make us."
"Well then I'll go get someone who can!" The repairman turned around, heading for the small exit. A large, armed guard grabbed him from behind.
"Not so fast, Technate drone. We can't have you arousing suspicion about us, now can we?" The guard angrily said to the repairman, holding a submachine gun to his head.
"Uh, well, you know, I didn't come alone. The rest of my crew is probably going back above ground right now to get the police!"
"What? Ah, find them!" Admiratio yelled at the guards, who quickly fled out the main entrance, only to see a repulsor vehicle speed away.

To make a long story short, the rest of the repair crew got away and called the police. Upon hearing that not only was a distribution center occupied by a large, armed force of civilians, but that they were also holding a prisoner, a task force of some ARC-enhanced infantry took a trip down to "pacify" the criminals. Bullets were exchanged, there were casualties on both sides, the Universalist guards were destroyed, the leaders taken as high-level politcal prisoners and shipped off to the Red Desert planet, the rest detained in the SkyCity prison, their weapons destroyed and the Distribution Center returned to normal operations.

Hours Later

"Well?" Cyn Palladius smirked at the Palladiate, who was choking down yet another round of sake.
"Eh, you were right. What can I say? It is more than unfortunate what happened...even more so that we couldn't save the hostage." The bleary-eyed Palladiate read over the report in his hands yet again.
"What do you suppose we do? Everyone left is in prison, the higher-ups are offworld...the Social Relations Sequence's part is over."
"You're implying that military action should be taken, yes?"
"Unfortunately, yes. The building that the PTA raided had a list of established meeting places. Unfortunately, about half the list was wiped in an emergency purge, but we have O-through-Z, still."
"Alright. Get the list to me, I'll look into it. I'd say we're looking at a forceful dissolution of the entire Universalist Honoka, perhaps we can force them to take up a colony somewhere."
"Good luck with that...remember: they believe that they are 'liberating' the continent. They don't want to move."
"Yes, but it never hurts to try..."

Xessa sat comfortably at her desk, legs up ontop of it, leaning back in her swivle chair. She flipped through the AvarTech catalogue which Avarus had brought her, and let out a content sigh. Everything was going well. Soon, they would have their glorious revolution. What else could she ask for? For a short while, Xessa had actually had herself convinced that everything would go smoothly and painlessly.

Edmund burst through the door of the warehouse, a paniced look on his face. Xessa started from her chair, almost falling out of it. "What?!" she shouted, agrevated by the rude awakening. He ran toward her, wildly waving some piece of paper. With maximum effort, he managed to force out one sentence between heaving breaths, "The Technate....has struck......we've been compromised." He handed her the paper, and flopped down in a chair near by.

Xessa studied the report, and her face went grave. She quickly scribbled down something on a piece of paper:

1 Jomon
2 Rapiers
4 Defenestrators
4 Wakizashis
8 Defenders
16 Personnel Transports
16 Cargo Transports
155 F-5As

She then addressed Edmund;

"Does the boss know?"
"I would assume so, ma'am."
"You haven't received any word from Central?"
"No ma'am, not a peep."

This worried her. What if the Technate had actually gotten to Central? What would the cells do without a command structure? She handed the piece of paper to Edmund, and said to him:

"Get this order to AvarTech, and contact Kor for the account code. Have Cassius gather up the men, and contact every cell within our vicinity. And for God's sake, try to get a hold of Central."

With that, she threw her coat on, and stormed out of the warehouse, leaving Edmund alone to contemplate the barrage of orders he had just been given.

ooc: Since our nations have the same technology, I was wondering if you could give me information on production costs, please? I don't mean just for the space ships, I mean for all of your military equipment. I need to figure out how much of what I can afford to produce on a yearly basis. I'd really appreciate it. :)

OOC: Er, well, I'm not particularly great at assigning monetary values to things that don't even exist. However, if you notice, I have rates of manufacture for everything on my military page (for spacetech stuff, I don't even bother...too much to consider. I'm quite certain that my fleet is godmodingly huge, too...). Using the Thirdgeek GDP calculator (http://thirdgeek.com/nseconomy.php?nation=p4lladia), and some middle school math, I have determined that your military budget is about 14% of mine. As such, you should be able to produce about 14% as much as I can. Of course, this is likely to fluctuate wildly, so it's really just a guideline. So, you should be able to produce around 180 (we'll say 200) Paladins a year, another 200 with missile things, 130 or so walking tank things, and so on. If you want to use other calculators to come up with larger numbers, be my guest. :D

Oh, and what kind of structure is "Central"? Yet another warehouse, an actual building in the City or in some backwoods urbanate or what? I'm planning on making an appearence. ;)

ooc: I see, I see. Well, it looks like I'm going to have to do some number crunching. Wake up brain, I need you!
Central isn't a place, its the inner group which coordinates the Universalist's actions. 10-12 people, Xessa is one of the members of Central. If you do want to capture members of Central, that's fine. But you should keep a couple of things in mind. First of all, they are seldom together in one place. All of them being together, well, that would require some total freak accident. Sometimes however, two or three of them will meet. Secondly, if you did capture any of them, it would take some major torture to actually determin their rank and identity, as they are well trained to resist interogation. It is possible to crack them, after all, they are only human, but they would probably not survive the intense interogation this would require. Okay, just some thoughts. On with the show!

"Kaisen-san?" The large man stood in the front doorway of Kakumei
Kaisen's small apartment, dressed in a black suit and tie. Obviously,
a Technate drone. The man was drenched from the torrential rainfall
that had been going on all day, and was obviously displeased.
"Can I help you?" Kaisen smirked, bracing himself against the door frame.[i]
"Yes you can. I am Second-Tier Investigator Kaku, Section 1012-772. I
have a warrent for your immediate arrest." [i]The man flashed an ID
card.
"They sent you all the way from SkyCity for this? Slow news day, eh?"
"Hardly. Don't pretend like you don't know why I'm here. You've been
charged with conspiracy...may I come in? Of course I can. Please sit
down." The Investigator, with a smile on his face, pushed Kaisen
back into his apartment and directed him towards the couch. "Ever
been in space? That's where we take violent political dissenters. The
Red Desert." Kaisen's eyes darted around the room. He had weapons strewn about, hidden under cushions and whatnot. He saw, by the light reflected off their armour, at least two armed military guards. Kaku-san was wearing a wakizashi and a small SMG. Perhaps, as they say on that strange Earth television program, resistance was futile.
"...How did you find me?"
"Ah, well, you know. Someone's bound to leave a post-it note around somewhere. And we found that in one of our newly re-acquisitioned distribution centers. Surely you have heard of this?"
"No! You mean...damn it!"
"Yes, so you will be coming with me. You can walk calmy into my vehicle or I can drag you kicking and screaming. For the sake of your neighbors and my own sanity, please choose option one..." Kaku stood up, offering his hand to the sitting Kaisen.
"Alright, fine." Kaisen stood with the aid of the Investigator's offered hand, and began to follow him out the front door. Kaku walked through the doorway first, giving Kaisen ample time to smoothly remove an imported pistol from one of the hiding spots around the room. He pulled the gun on the Investigator, who turned around to stare into the weapon's barrel.
"So, option two, then?"
"Oh no, I don't intend on leaving..." The door separating them by a few inches closes, catching the Investigator's tie in it.

"Agh, what have I gotten myself into? That was potentially very dumb."

Kaisen ducked into the next room as the two guards perforated the door with a few clips of bullets. All three of the men who wanted to take Kaisen away then entered his apartment, swords drawn.

"John Woo move and die or get captured?" Kaisen pondered the various possibilities of what he could do next before springing into action. He pulled a cellular phone (which is condensed into the form of a wireless headset and holographic control panel) from his pocket and punched in Xessa's number.

"You'll never take me alive, you bastards!" [i]Kaisen leaped sideways across through the doorway, guns blazing (as he had procured a second one in the next room). The bullets that he fired bounced harmlessly off the ARC suits, the wearers of which stared, confused, as Kaisen hit the wall with a painful-sounding thud.

"Sure we will." A guard walked over to Kaisen, who fired a few more rounds at him before giving up. "You can't fight us."

"No, but I can die trying." I will spare the grisly details, but we'll say that Kaisen took a few stabs to chest and head areas, trying to decapitate a soldier with a fireplace poker.

And Xessa heard it all over the phone.

"Gah, what have we turned ourselves into?" The Palladiate looked around at the finely decorated walls of his office. A geisha closed in on him, offering more 'refreshments'.
"Ah, no thanks. I think I've had enough..." Caru-sama stared out the window at the other end of the table, vaguely aware of Palladius' entry to the room through the sliding door to his left.
"Yes, please!" The old, bald man squinted out the window, grunting as he sat, answering the inevitable question; 'would you like something to drink?'
"You know, my title is remarkably similar to your surname. I bet some people get confused by that." The drunk Palladiate gurgled at Palladius.
"Hmm...I see you're deep in 'thought'. What's on your mind?"
"What are you, a psychaitrist?"
"Actually, yes, I am a certified katra fixer-upper."
"Eh, I just read that report thing about some police grunts killing a suspect. This whole Honoka bullshit recently is getting way out of hand! What the hell are we doing? Is this right?"
"It is our job to ensure the security and harmonious operation of the Technate and its population. As painful as it is..."
"And we've already gone halfway, right? Too late to turn back?"
"Indeed. If you're having second thoughts, perhaps you should resign your position..."
"Now you're just trying to scare me, Palladius."
"Hah! You know me too well! I suppose what I'm trying to say is this: you were selected to occupy the Office of Palladiate because it was determined that you would be best for the job. You obviously can and will take care of this problem, and I will be around to help you."
"You're turning into a penguin. Stop that."
"Lay off the sauce, too."

Xessa stood atop one of the great skyscrapers which dominated Sky City, and listened grimly to the whole drama unfold over the phone as the rain beat down on her. She was not alone, a tall man in a deep hood and robes stood beside her, sometimes straining to hear what was going on. The signal cut out, and Xessa's eyebrows came together in a sign of rage. "Splendid." she said, more to herself than to her companion. With a swift move, she removed the battery from her cellular telephone and tossed the two pieces out into the darkness of the night. The last thing she needed was for Kaisen's phone call to be traced to her personal line.

"Your orders?" she said to the man standing there with her.
"A difficult matter, I did not expect the Technate to catch on." he replied, pulling the dripping hood further down over his face.
"Some idiot forgot to mask the inactivity signal coming from his location. A routine repair crew stopped by to check the problem, and it got ugly. Believe it or not, that same idiot kept member lists around for anyone to see. That's most probably how they got Kaisen's name."
"And what has happened with said idiot?"
"He was captured, along with half of his cell."
"Wonderful." It was all the man could muster before going into a long, deep silence. After a few long moments, Xessa finally spoke.
"Could we at least get out of the rain? The last thing I need is to catch a cold."
"Hmm, oh yes, of course, my apologies."

With that, they entered the building, and walked down emergency stairs. They entered a washroom, and took the towels from it. They then followed a corridor into some random office. The room had a panoramic view of the whole northern side of the city, and Xessa looked out onto the bustling metropolis as she dried her hair. Her companion removed his soaked cloak, revieling the attire of a high ranking Technate official. He made himself a drink, and sat down in a large, comfortable swivel chair.

Xessa turned from the window, and looked upon her companion. A thousand thoughts ran through her mind, none of them on the matter at hand. She had known the Boss for ten years, and still did not know his name. She knew he was a high ranking member of the Technate, but did not know what position he occupied. Truly, she knew nothing of her mentor, the man that had taught her so much, the man who had put the fire of revolution into her heart. He was a true proffesional conspirator. Not even his second in command knew anything about him. This was how it had to be, she knew that well enough. There would be time for names and life stories after the revolution. Still, it was hard for her. It was hard to think of a person she knew nothing about as her father. She grimaced at the thought. Luckily, she was not given time to dwell further on these thoughts, as the Boss looked up at her, and decided to speak.

"What of the ships, how long before they are ready?"
"The required funds have been wired to Avartech, and our off-planet harbor is prepared to receive the armada. We now only await word from the company, and the arrival of the goods. Are you sure these people can be trusted?"
"Of course they can be trusted, half their BoD are Universalists."
Xessa's eyes widened in surprise. After all these years, he continued to surprise her with facts that betrayed how far the movement had actually spread its influence.
"We must wait for the ships to be prepared before we make our move. I know it is painful, but we must secure our point of exist, as it were. Once the armada has been preped, we will strike, and strike hard. We will do this exactly as we have discussed. Throw in everything you have at once, don't hold back any of your people. There will be no second chances. Go for the head. Do not allow yourself to be distracted by minor objectives. If this is to succeed, we must kill every member of the administration in our first night, destroy all their buildings, their centers of communication. No compromise, no prisoners. If we manage to utterly destroy the head, the rest will fall apart. Until that time, take your people deep undercover. Get them out of their homes. Use our safe points in the wastelands. I don't want to lose any more people. Understood?"
"Yes, Boss."
"Excellent. Listen for my signal, Xessa. And be prepaired to strike at any time. When I call you, there will be no time to lose."

With that, he put on his soaked robes, and disapeared swiftly from the room, leaving Xessa to contemplate his words. She walked over to the bar, and poured herself a drink. "Charming bastard, aren't you?"

Captain Fune watched out the main bridge windows of the Class-3 Shuriken at the Eness-system Interstellar Highway gate. The Gate Fleet never saw much action, but was a necessary precaution. Fune leaned back in a random chair, closing his eyes.

The gate sprang to life. A perfect, waterlike sphere erupted in the center of the huge machine, eventually dissipating and leaving behind an AvarTech Jomon-class carrier.

"Gate activity, captain." The ensign manning the Ops station boredly announced.
"I'm overjoyed." Captain Fune glanced at the carrier, which was now slowly creeping out of the gate. "Hmm... I wonder what that's here for. How many more are coming?[/i]
"It looks like...around 20 ships. Someone must have ordered a fleet."
"Hail the carrier." A confirmation beep sounded and the Captain continued. "This is the Palladian Class-3 Destroyer 'Shuriken' calling the unmarked AvarTech carrier to our port side."
"This is Jomon Nine, continue." The carrier responded.
"You seem to be leading a rather large fleet from Capital. Would you identify the purpose of it for us?"
"No can do, Shuriken. Our client has requested anonymity." The captain muted the voice-comm temporarily.
"Hmm...we can't do anything about that, can we?" The helmsman looked back at the captain.
"Nope. International Law...unmarked, unarmed vessels are not to be persued by the gate fleet. And their guns and shields are off...we have to let them go. Turn the voice back on..." A confirmation beep sounded yet again. "Jomon Nine, this is Shuriken again. Do you require docking facilities or escort?"
"Shuriken, Jomon Nine. Negative, do not follow us. It's a free system..."
"Very true, Jomon Nine. You may proceed." Another ship came through the gate, and another ten minutes later and so on. The next hour and a half was a tense time.

"This is awfully suspicious..." The Executive Officer remarked to the Captain.
"Indeed it is. Ah, I wish I could just shoot a tracking device at them..."
"Yeah, but I'd hate to have to explain that to the Websterians, or the Ninjaons or whoever these things belong to..."
"Oh yeah. Well, it looks like they're all through now. We'll just watch where they go. Tell the Excelsior to keep tabs on it."
"Right, I'll call them up." The XO got up and headed for his office. The Class-7 powered up its powerful sensor array, as the AvarTech fleet grouped together in a standard Shertaethan formation. The ships then disappeared, flying off at near light-speed using their Bias drives.
"...Ops? Where'd they go?" The Captain poked some buttons on a nearby control panel.
"Looks like...Eness V orbit?"
"Five? What the hell? You think command would have told us if they were ordering foreign ships."
"They would have. I'm going to report this." The XO once more left for his office.