NationStates Jolt Archive

The day was beautiful with the sun shining brightly in the blue sky and a few white puffy clouds completing the picture. The trees as ever were tall and green and the Imperial Palace was polished and clean. In front of the Palace's front a stage was set up and a small crowd of elves were gathered at the front of it. All of these elves were setting up devices that looked similar to cameras but were still different. Clearly an important event was going to occur for so much press to be there.

A few minutes after everything was set up Taurevanimë walked up onto the stage. They wouldn't do something as silly as build up suspense by having someone address her. She gracefully walked onto the stage and stopped in the position so everyone from the press could get a good view of her. She then began to speak in a graceful yet powerful melodic voice, which seemed to be audible throughout the entire courtyard. Making everyone and everything stop what they were doing to listen.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the press, Taurenor and anyone watching this transmission. It is on this occasion that I would like to tell you that our scientific advances have been slow and uninspiring of late. Most people outside of Taurenor would not understand why this is of any importance. But we are proud of our technological advances. We enjoy knowing how the world around us works and seek to understand it as good as possible.

But when the greatest advancement in the past few years have only been improvements on what we already have it means that we aren't working hard enough. Often science needs a little motivation and drive to move it at a quicker pace. Usually this drive and motivation is supplied by war, but going to war over the slowing of technological advances is unjust. It is therefore that we will set a goal for ourselves and strive forward to achieve it.

And it is this day that I would like to tell you all that we have chosen a goal. That goal is to put an elf on the surface of the gas giant Nénar. Of course you would say that something like that is impossible. But nothing is impossible if we strive to get it.

Ladies and gentlemen of the press, Taurenor and anyone watching this transmission. I thank you for watching and wish you all a good life." She said with a smile smiled.
The crowd quickly started to applaud. Taurevanimë smiled and bowed deeply in respect to everyone present and watching. She then turned around and gracefully walked away and disappeared back into the palace.

OOC: Everything written in blue is in Quenya.
Also so you know. Nénar = Uranus.

OOC Uhm, you do know that gas giants have no surface until incredible depths, at which time most beings would be smashed flat by the atmospheric pressure?

And how much incentive to cause some elves to immigrate? rowr!

OOC: Of course I know that. But it's like the moon landing. We're doing it to just see if we can do it. And along the way advance science! \^_^/

Council for Sciences Yaggamead

“Lammas found this this morning, she flagged it as of moderate scientific importance”

the lights dimmed as the video and audio feed were replayed on a monofiliment screen which sat in the center of the oak table

“cooool! there either going to build something very pressure resistant, or, there going to float some kind of platform on the upper... safer levels of the atmosphere... that will be int....”
“yes Isthus, thank you.... dose anyone have a sodding clue where this Nénar. is?”
blank faces greeted the question
“well if it looks anything like that palace in the background it will be very pretty.”
“if its staffed by those people it will be the prettiest place in creat....”
“thank you Isthus..... i think we shall propose to aid in any way we can, not that they will need any help.”



Message broadcast to Taurenor

Greetings friends,
after watching the news feed that you broadcast earlier today, we as the learned council for tarren sciences would like to offer what little aid we can afford to this project.
we applaud you for finding such a bold and original goal to achieve in this age of scientific stagnation.
In Honor and Freindsip

ooc: i hate waisting posts on tags :P

Mordenkainen and Bigbi sat in the great office, staring at a holoscreen This apparatus is quite interesting" Said Mordenkainen "It seems to generate some form of animated illusion upon being activated"

Bigbi frowned, after opening his eyes and lowering his hands "And I can not seem to detect any form of magic emmanating from it. This is highly unusual. Not an illusion, apparently"

They were both intrigued by the artifact, and by the images shown in it. Apparently, the southern nation of Taurenor was preparing for some form of exploratory mission.

"They want to get out of here" Noted Bigbi "And I do not blame them. This bloody land is cramped to levels I can not even comprehend. Not like in the old days, when you could actually see some dirt and trees in your way from Adranor to the coast!"

As was known to a few people outside Taurenor who happened to have watched their broadcast. The elven nation was planning to send a manned mission down to the surface of the gas giant Nénar. (Uranus as most people know it) Of course they weren't going to send a manned mission immediatly, but a series of probes after probes.

The whole idea of the first probe mission was to see just how much pressure they could take with the current technology. Many scientists who worked on the project estimated at least 1100 bars can be reached and estimated a maximum of around 1400 bars.

The probe was being send down from the Nénar shipyard by a special line made out of carbon nanotubes. If at all possible they would like to raise the imploded probe to study it closely and see what the weak spots are. Slowly the probe started to descend into the turquoise cloads of Nénar and kept being lowered. Luckilly the winds on Nénar were a lot slower compared to other gas giants, especially Luinil. (Neptune)

The descend of the probe was pretty uneventful, much like the descend of a submarine down to the bottem of the ocean. The probe took a few readings of outside pressure, temperature, wind speed and took the occasional picture from within the gassy clouds.

Finally the outside pressure around the probe started to approach the 1000 bar mark and the engineers huddled around the screens to watch the readings. All seemed to go perfectly well and the probe showed to be able to withstand the great pressure easilly. And it continues to go down past 1100 bar without a problem and 1200 bar in fact.
But as soon as the probe reached 1236 bar it imploded and all the readings stopped. Quickly they started hoisting the probe, or what remained of it up to the station for closer study.

(ooc: What? You suspected something exciting from a simple probe mission?)

(ooc: yea where are the f**n alians!!! also, are you bordcasting this or is it for your science dudes only?... reserving spot for later post. (depending on wether uslads are allowed to see it))

#Galataq# \^_^/

OOC: Would a video feed of the probe mission be shared with the scientists on board the Ophelia? If so, I'll make an IC post about it.

OOC: First off the broadcast could be viewed by everyone. Including Melkor, but that's since we're ignorant and don't know he's there.

The feed won't be immediatly shared. But when probe #2 has bee launched you can assume the footage of probe #1 will be shared.

The second probe was launched this day. Unlike the first one they weren't going to see how far they could go. Instead they were going to lower the probe to about 1200 bars and keep it there indeffinately and collect data. This data would give a good insight to how the deeper clouds of the planet behaved compared to the top clouds and what kind of adverse weather effects might occur.

The first probe, or what was left of it, has been brought up and all they could tell was what they already suspected. The structure and metal couldn't handle the extreme pressure and collapsed in the weakest point of the construction. With this added data the third probe could be made to resist even greater pressures compared to the first probe.

The data and photographs the first probe collected has now been made open to the Federation of Autonomous City States and the members of the SFN.
The data and photographs the second probe collects will be shared with the same nations one day after it has originally been collected.

In space, off of Nenar, a Thelasi research ship hovered silently. They were observing the Taurenori, but other than that were doing relatively little. They mission involved siphoning off gas fromt the planet, and then annaylising it to determine its specific properties, as part of a massive geo/areo-logical study on the planets 'within and nearby the territory of the Thelasi Star Empire.

They watched with interest, taking photos of the Taurenori probes, 'Who knows? Maybe something useful can come out of this.'

[OOC: *sighs and prepares ressurecting the good ole 'Blow the Thelasi up' tradition of the defunt GDT* -_- ]

[OOC: *sighs and prepares ressurecting the good ole 'Blow the Thelasi up' tradition of the defunt GDT* -_- ]

OOC: HEY! I resent that! The Taurenori are fellow elves, I would never commit kin-slaying against them....

OOC: HEY! I resent that! The Taurenori are fellow elves, I would never commit kin-slaying against them....

[OOC: Better proact than react.]

[OOC: Better proact than react.]

OOC: Also, Siri and the C'tan would kill me....

Appologies for hi-jacking your thread Taurenor

"She said en elf on Nénar, right?. She didn't say a Taurenorian in Nénar. I think a little bit of competition will help our Taurenor cousins to improve their ways in the Science race", said the Everqueen to her assistant.

"Call the Admiral Lórindel, give him a briefing about the situation, and tell him that I want an elf on Nénar, an Aelosian elf, and I want him well before any Taurenor elf even approaches the planet. If he fails, he will pay dearly for his incompetence. We can't let the Taurenor elves to achieve something before us", said the Queen, again the flame of madness blazing strong inside her eyes.

"Have you ever seen that wretch in person?. She doesn't have manners, as any of the noldor, anyway. I grew alone in the wild woods of middle earth and anyway I have more education than that Fingolfindrim. Taurevanime, is her name, no?", finished Aelosia, turning to the window to look at the beautiful and artificial sky of her Craftworld residence.

The next day, a statement from the house Lórindel and House Cúthalion was released in a public broadcast

"Today we have decided to launch a new space program for the Empire of All Sindarin, and to offer a healthy sense of competition to our Taurenor cousins. They said they have planned to place an elf on the surface of Nénar the Gas Giant. We have the pleasure today to announce that the elf they're talking about won't be a Taurenorian elf, but an Aelosian, and that he will be the first elf and the only one over the surface of Uranus, as the Nightfearers call Nénar"

OOC: Theallas please don't just suddenly appear there. We don't lay claim to the moons of Uranus or much of the space around it. But the actuall planet we are rather possesive over. Mainly because our entire space fleet is being constructed there. Armed or unarmed no ship will be permitted their without clearence.
As for the gas we would easilly give you the samples you'd like.
As for photographing the probe, good luck. They are lowered from the bottem part of the shipyard which sits permanantly in the clouds. Makes it kind of hard to see them.

Aliria thank you for challenging me, it will make this so much more interesting and exciting. I hope you also plan on having this take longer then a month or two. ;)

IC reply will be posted later today or tomorrow. Feel free to spank me if I don't do it.

The Federated Concordat sends a congratulatory message from its colonies under construction on Miranda, Ariel, and Titania. The Ophelia, in particular, sends her accolades to the elves for their continued exploration of the inner atmosphere.

The Taurenori weren't so easilly fooled by the Thelasi's simple tricks to disguise their spying activities and quickly a group of ships were launched from the station and another two were called back from patrols. Quickly the ships move to the vessel taking up position around it so it couldn't escape out into space and only go deep into the planet's clouds. "Unkown vessel you are to turn off your engines and prepare to be boarded. Upon which your ship will be imponded and your crew put under arrest on charges of spying against the Empire of Taurenor."

Back at the station the second probe nicely settled at the 1200 bar mark were it stayed perfectly, constantly sending it's readings up to the station. Nothing of interest was worth noting, other then the fact it was at 1200 bar.

A message was fired back,

"Taurenori ship, this is the TIV Sojourner, you have not right to board a vessel of the Thelasi Impirial Star Empire. Last time I checked it was within every nations right to conduct scientific studies...

Now, to make matters blatantly clear, this vessel is property of Thelas, and any attempt to board with out our permision will be considered a hostile act. Now, last time I checked Taurenor was still building a Star Navy, and last time I checked, we are kin, and we are not supposed to be fighting each other.

So, let's put it this way, you leave us alone, we leave you alone? Sojourner standing by on ISC (Inter-Space Channel) 1024"

On board the scientific vessel, the Thelasi were somewhat worried. The Sojourner had a total of three mass-drivers... and said mass-drivers were built for firing sample pods into atmosphere's, not trying to blow up another vessel. And to add to that, the Sojourner had a total of sixty Star Marines, not a very big crew.

Her only real recourse was to send a message to Thelasi High Command...

"From: TIV Sojourner, Searcher Class Scientific Vessel, Assinged, Nenar orbit, Program TISC-0264
To: Thelasi Fleet Command, Military
Priority: Black-Code
Coding: 019345 Scatter
Scrambling: X Class

We are continuing exploration of Nenar. Stop. Taurenori ships aproaching. Stop. Intent to board. Stop. Request Assistance. Stop. Threat is High. Stop. Negotiation under way. Stop. Posible area of interest. Stop. Further investigation warrented/m. Stop.

Threat to military vessel. Stop. Low. Stop. Diplomatic measures/under. Stop. Success unlikely. Stop. Vessel Status, not ready. Stop.

Please Advise. End Message."

As the message was received at the Asteroid Base, it was shuttled up to the Sol System Force Commander, several minutes later, the Seventh fleet was ordered to launch...

On board the Thelasi vessel, things were somewhat chaotic. As the Taurenori ships awaited their responce. Techies began dumping the few, only about three or four, images of the Taurenori ship yard. Within seconds of the buttons being pressed, the images were gone, and their traces had been destroyed, even the activity logs where the deletion was registered, were whiped.

EDIT: Forgot to add something

"We do not follow the orders of the Thelasi Impirial Star Empire and you have violated our sovereign space and further more entered a no fly zone near our installation. Prepare to be boarded." The lead vessel send back and took up position directly in front of the Thelasi vessel, menacingly aiming it's weapons at the vessel and four other ships around it did as well. Every ship prepared shuttles with 24 marines in them, but only the lead vessel actually launched it. The other would be send if the Thelasi fired at them.

Gently the first shuttle flew to the Thelasi vessel, looking for a docking hatch or any hatch that would open on the outside of the hull. They certainly weren't going to board via a shuttle bay. Finding a suitable hatch the shuttle maneuvred into position and gently latched onto the hull and the started equalising pressure to the that of the Thelasi ship. When done they opened their hatch and the leader of the squad of the marines banged on the hatch.

As they knocked on the door, the door hissed open, swinging open twoards them. As they looked into the ship, they could see three scientists, behind them a Thelasi Marine, without his armor. The Marine commander spoke first,

"For the record, I would like to say that what you are doing is highly illegal, and may result in a diplomatic incident."

The scientist chuckled, "At any rate, welcome to our ship. And if you wish I can show you around. I assure you, you will get a complete tour of the ship."

Three SIV-101 "Wyvern" autonomous kill vehicles settled into a medium-altitude, slightly elliptic orbit that was inclined to just barely avoid flying into the declared Taurenor exclusion zone... but close enough and high enough to give the space intercept vehicles a good look down on the standoff with the Thelasi spacecraft.

Each Space Intercept Vehicle had its own AI and the three worked together literally at the speed of transmission. The lead SIV of the formation, under the command of Major Nightingale, sent the lead Taurenor ship a standard identification signal to let them know that they were there.

"The Federated Concordat recognizes the right of Taurenor to enforce its sovereign boundaries and sensitive installations against intrusion and espionage. This is Wyvern Flight, standing by."

The commander of Taurenor's boarding party scoffed at the Thelasi marine commander as he stepped into the vessel, carrying his rifle on his back unlike the rest of the boarding party that climed through the hatch. All of which held their rifles firmly in case the Thelasi tried anything. The commander looked at the scientist and spoke with a deep autoritarian voice. "A tour will not be needed. You shall accompany us to the bridge and then follow our instructions and be escorted to our facillity. There your ship will be impounded and the crew be placed under arrest on charges of crossing into souvereign space and spying. Do you understand?"

the relieced images of the probe shimmered across the thin filiment in the middle of the chamber, images of the ships entering and leaving the station also, greatley enhansed yet still only dimley visible with the poor quality of the viedo feed and the tarran sensors....

"cut away all the politics and the spear rattiling and its quite an interesting mission...."
"meah, they should have just used gassbags to float a more convensional platform further up"
"there not really ON the planet,, are they?"
"you cant be ON somthing with no surface....."
"it has a core you know... its bound to... all that pressure"

The scientists nodded, "Aye Sir, follow me." He walked off, followed by the Marine commander. As they reached the bridge, the captain stood.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS GOING ON HERE! I TAKE A TINY NAP AND YOU IDIOTIC SCIENTISTS AND MARINES GET MY SHIP AND MY CREW IMPOUNDED!" He looks at the Taurenori, he is a human, of irish decent, and looks like he was just awakened from pleasant slumber, he takes a drink from a glass and looks at the Taurenori again, "What in Mephet'ran's name is going on here?!"

Outside, the situation was just as confused. The Thelasi battlegroup, under the command of the Acharn came into range. The commanders had orders not to foster war, yet in a situation like this, better be cautious than dead.

Force Commander Kesarina opened a channel, "Taurenori station and ship. I am here to open negotiations with you about the seazure of our science vessel." Under normal sircumstances the Thelasi would have taken the seizure as an act of war... but with the Taurenori under C'tan protection, war was not an option...

Uranus,
Empire of Taurenor.

Just as the Thelasi battlegroup popped up in the area, a message was retransmitted through secure SFN channels by the TSF.

>>Have detected increased Thelasi presence in the area. Dispatching a Battlegroup for assistance, should it be required.

The message was short and clear. Mere minutes later, a full TSF Battlegroup materialized in the vicinity of the Taurenori station. It positioned itself between the Thelasi battlegroup and the station, actually. The ships were TSF standard designs, only that on the leading Thylacin dreadnaught several 'uncommong' modules could be spotted. As well as additional modules on the Emerald Spire cruisers. Well, the Thelasi would find out what these little and not so remarkable otherwise modules were for should they engage.

Meanwhile, a message was shot off from the Thylacin to the Taurenori station.

>>This is Commander Geenov of the TSF 9th Battlegroup, commanding Battlegroup Flagship 'Ad'. Have arrived into the area to provide assistance and will act upon your orders.

The Thelasi had no intent of engaging, in fact, their weapons ports were closed, and the usualy swarm of fighters were not surrounding the fleet. In fact, not even the magnetic defence screens were operational, the Thelasi were confident, the Taurenori would not attack.

"This is the Thelasi Battleship Acharn to Taraskovan vessels, we mean no harm to the Taurenori, we are in fact here to negotiate the release of several Thelasi citizens arrested by the Taurenori. Please stand down and allow us to open negotiations."

For any one who knew history, or had read about the Shadow War, it was ironic that the Acharn fleet was one chosen for this operation. In past conflicts the Acharn had always been the first Thelasi ship on the scene, and she had always been the spearhead of an attack. But now she sat in space, awaiting a responce for a request to open negotiations.

Uranus,
Empire of Taurenor.

The 9th Battlegroup of the Taraskovyan Space Fleet, did not respond to the Thelasi communications. After all, Commander Geenov did not have the mandate to enter into diplomatic talks. With the most recent events in the Taraskovyan Federation, the military field commanders were stripped off the right to enter any kind of talks other than those done with weapons.

As such, the ships continued to face the Thelasi battlegroup in total and complete silence...

Major Nightingale and "her" (the AI preferred a feminine image when dealing with biologicals) wingmen continued to watch the situation unfold from their parking orbit. The arrival on the scene of all these new spaceship classes would no doubt provide enough data to keep the military analysts busy for months. As no one had bared their weapons, the three Space Intercept Vehicles simply continued their quiet patrol.

The arrival of the Thelasi and the Taraskovyan battlefleets caused quite a shake up on the Nénar shipyard. Alarms went off to call every non-combat vessel back to the shipyard and all non-combat personel ran to safe areas as squads of armed elves got ready for a boarding. Meanwhile the crews of docked combat vessel ran over the docking bridges to man their station in the ships. Quickly the few ships that were still docked were launched to protect the shipyard, sadly not enough militairy ships have yet been constructed to adequatly protect it. Luckilly the Taraskovyans said that they would fight on their side.

"This is Olbaron, current commander of the Nénar Shipyard. Thank you Commander Geenov, your assistence is much appreciated. Our forces are no match for an entire battlefleet." Olbaron send to the flagship.

They however didn't reply to the Thelasi. Violating souvereign space with a battlefleet under the pretention of negotiating the release of spies would clearly have two possible endings. Either they give the spies or they get taken away by force.

Major Nightingale was entirely nonplussed by the rapid escalation of affairs. After all, who sends an entire battlefleet over what should be a relatively minor diplomatic incident? Even so, the three AKVs had their orders: Monitor the situation and aid Taurenorian forces if they were fired upon.

She opened up a channel to the Taurenor shipyard. "This is Wyvern Flight, representing the Federated Concordat Deep Space Command. We have been ordered by our government to monitor the situation and come to your aid if the other side opens fire. We are standing by, pending either hostile action or the conclusion of this affair."

Would their first mission be a trial by fire or an exercise in recon tactics? Only time would tell.

Battlegroup Flagship Ad(Hell),
TSF 9th Battlegroup,
Nénar(Uranus),
Empire of Taurenor.

>>No problems, Commander Olbaron. Just say when.

The ships remained silent, facing the Thelasi 'negotiators'. The Commander of the newest Battlegroup of the TSF was a rather experienced officer. Indeed, he commanded in the past the 'Sila' Emerald Spire Cruiser, that was assigned to the TSF 1st Battlegroup. His ship participated in numerous military campaigns and he himself was decorated with some of the highest Taraskovyan regalia. And all that at 32 human years. Yes, Voislav Geenov, a native Russian officer in the 5th generation, was young, was bold and was very pragmatic, balanced and very, very cunning. One could even say that he knew not of the word 'honour', for he did not mind doing some things that were usually forbidden by the Code of Honour of the TNDF (such as shooting at a retreating enemy or blasting civilian vessels out of the sky), but well... he did his job well and the High Command was more than happy with him. Besides, the Code was consultative and not compulsory anyway...

However, nothing escaped the attention of the 1km long Thylacin fleet killer and. The three craft that were 'roaming' in the vicinity did request some... 'clearing out'...

>> Unknown space capable craft, three in number at coordinates given, this is Battlegroup Flagship 'Ad' of the Taraskovyan Space Fleet. Identify yourself and state purpose of your presence. Thank you very much for your attention and for your cooperation...

The Thelasi Commander was annoyed, really annoyed. It was infuriating that the Taurenori had not responded… especially when he had stated that he was on a diplomatic mission.

“This is TMV Acharn to Taurenori base, we are here to negotiate the release of our crew members. Please respond. We mean you no harm… our gun ports are closed, and defense shields are offline. Please send a diplomatic envoy, or if you wish we will send a delegation to you. If you have any concerns, please voice them now.”

Major Nightingale was rather nonplussed with the Taraskovyans. These people came into Uranus space and acted like they could boss people around when they didn't even live here? Some humans...

"This is the Federated Concordat Deep Space Command's Wyvern Flight, out of Titania. Perhaps you could tell us why a battlegroup of the Taraskovyan Space Fleet is in our backyard."

Battlegroup Flagship Ad(Hell),
TSF 9th Battlegroup,
Nénar(Uranus),
Empire of Taurenor.

The Bio-Synthetic Intellect of the Thylacin wasn't overly impressed with the incoming transmission. The Federated folks forgot to answer the second part of the question...

>>Wyvern Flight of the Federated Concordat. State the purpose of your presence in the area. Thank you for your attention and cooperation...

All three AI of Wyvern Flight and the controllers back on Titania AFB were all rather annoyed with the presumption of the Taraskovyans. This wasn't Taraskovyan space.

"Taraskovyan ship, the Taurenor commanders know that we are here and why we are here. When they tell us that you have the authority to conduct interdiction in Uranus space against friendly forces, then we'll consider your request. Otherwise, our purpose is none of your business."

Battlegroup Flagship Ad(Hell),
TSF 9th Battlegroup,
Nénar(Uranus),
Empire of Taurenor.

>>Wyvern Flight, as you wish. Do not enter the Immediate Action Zone around the TSF ships and you will be fine. Maybe... Over and out.

The BSI closed the transmission uplink. Commander Geenov smirked as he listened to the conversation. If the Federated Concordat knew not of the Sisgardian Fellowship of Nations and that both the Empire of Taurenor and the Taraskovyan Federation were part of it, than why talk with such ignorant entities anyway?

He had more important problems to concentrate upon. Such as the Thelasi. And their customs of coming to negotiations with an entire fleet. Geenov thought for awhile how would the Thelasi react if the Federation, in a hypothetical negotiation, would be represented by a full SODAT Corps raining down Thelasi heads.

Empress Ithenril was annoyed as hell, she was furious witht he Taurenori, "Not only do they throw our diplomats out of a diplomatic party... they then have the gaul to ignore my ambasadorial fleet! Goddamn those upstuck, stiff necked, thick skulled Noldor!"

Ithenril continued to pace the floor watching the tactical displays. She decided that enough was enough, if these fools wanted to embarass the Thelasi Empire, twice, the Empire would embarass them. By winning the Taurenori's own competition.

Ithenril hurriedly wrote a speach, and then called a press conference.

"Ladies and Getlemen, following the lead of the Aelosians and the Taurenori, I hereby promise that Thelas shall land an elf upon the surface of Nenar and we shall be the first to do so.

We also would like to protest the Taurenori claiming of the entire planet of Nenar, seeing as how Taurenor does not have the ability, or the need, to hold such a large world."

Walking back to her office, Ithenril wrote yet another letter, this time to Lady Taurevanime.

"To Queen Taurevanime,

My fellow leader, seeing as how our two nations have been having diplomatic issues, I hereby invite you to Thelas for a diplomatic summit.

Your Friend,
Empress Ithenril"

Mean while, at an old mining station in the asteroid belt several large tugs began to move an old mining platform, recently refound. The station was to be towed to Nenar, and then used as a construction base for the Thelasi project.

The Secretary-General read the action reports from Major Nightingale and the Titania AFB commander concerning the situation around Uranus. To say that he was incredulous would have been an understatement.

"What the hell is going on out there? Those people are nearly prepared to kill each other to put an elf on a slushy core that's under so much pressure we think diamonds form naturally!" the Sec-Gen exclaimed.

"The Taurenori allies in the region also seem to think that their Fellowship of Nations entitles them to push other nations around on behalf of the elves, sir. I don't trust the Taraskovyans one bit. They are far too aggressive for anyone's good," the Undersecretary of Defense added.

The Secretary-General sighed and nodded in agreement. "As much as Deep Space Command is enjoying testing out the Wyverns, the Board of Directors at the Consortium is furious with this turn of events. They believe those childish games of one-upmanship pose a threat to unfettered gas mining operations. I was delivered a letter this morning politely reminding us that, while the government has primary defense responsibility around Uranus, the Consortium is prepared to protect its private interests as necessary."

The Undersecretary of State leaned forward in his seat and made a suggestion. "Perhaps you should make a public statement of your own, sir. Remind everyone that Taurenor has the right to enforce the sovereignty of no-fly zones, but that development of the planet's resources should be done peacefully and with respect to the rights of all nations."

"Get everyone ready. I'll make the broadcast in thirty minutes," said the Secretary-General.

<30 Minutes Later>

"The Commonwealth of Uranus Territories is one of two shining achievements for the people of the Autonomous City-states, the other being the Vista Sienna arcology on Mars. Even now, the colonists in the Uranus Territories are building up their cities and preparing our first atmospheric gas mining and processing station. However, some would rather engage in political brinkmanship than participate in that growing prosperity.

"Our friends, the Taurenori, intercepted and boarded a Thelasi ship for violating the no-fly zone around their shipyards in Uranus and are prepared to try the crew for espionage. Whether they will be convicted or not is a Taurenori matter, however, they are well within their rights as a sovereign nation to protect their installations against foreign intrusion.

"However, what truly disturbs me is the ease with which what would normally be a minor diplomatic incident has been escalated to the brink of open fighting. The Thelasi almost immediately deployed a fleet to the region. The Taraskovyans deployed a fleet of their own to counter the Thelasi.

"In fact, the Taraskovyans even demanded, without any display of credentials or coordination with the Taurenori, identification from our own patrol forces. I would note that our patrol was in orbit over Uranus in open space even before the Taraskovyans arrived and with the full knowledge of the Taurenori. That sort of presumption and willingness to display force is particularly dangerous in a potentially volatile situation.

"So, we ask the nations assembled around Uranus this. To the Thelasi, defend your people in the Taurenori courts and truly negotiate. Send your fleet home. To the Taraskovyans, your presence in Uranus space only destabilizes the situation more. Send your fleet home, also. To the Taurenori, we trust that you will treat the Thelasi crew with all the rights given to prisoners and we will respect your decision to enforce your sovereignty.

"If need be, I offer the services of the Autonomous City-states to act as an arbiter between the Thelasi and the Taurenori to ensure that both parties' interests are met. Our courts of arbitration have successfully resolved many a conflict in the past. Landing on the core of Uranus - which may not even be feasible - simply isn't worth killing over and we are prepared to do what we can to keep the peace."

The Secretary-General then wished the peoples of all nations well and ended his broadcast.

TSF 9th Battlegroup,
Nénar(Uranus),
Empire of Taurenor.

The ships did not move an inch. Well, figurally speaking, of course. But the point remained that the Battlegroup was still there, shielding the Taurenori station from the Thelasi 'ambassadors' and prepared to fight for its allies. And it was moreover silent. It was going nowhere while the Thelasi were still there...

***

TSF Rally Station 'Mainland',
High Orbit over Sisgardia,
Earth.

The 1st and 5th Battlegroups moved into formation, close to the station. Their Commanders had their orders.

***

Official Statement by the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Taraskovyan Federation condemns in the strongest means the recent irresponsible actions by the Thelasi authorities in the area under Taurenori jurisdiction. But, alas, it would seem that such deeds are only a routine in the Thelasi foreign policy. The Taraskovyan Federation lets the Empire of Taurenor handle the matter and stands ready to aid its SFN ally should the need arise.

More over, the Taraskovyan Federation is apalled by the statements by the so called Autonomous City-states. Indeed, whilst it itself has no means to ensure the safety and stability in the current situation, it allows itself the privilege to critisize the Taraskovyan involvement in the matter and, more over, to demand the withdrawal of the TSF 9th Battlegroup deployed to defend the Taurenori assets. The High Command of the Taraskovyan Space Fleet also remarks that the Federation has deployed only one Battlegroup into the area and not the full fleet.

The Taraskovyan Space Fleet states that its ships acted in full accordance with the directives in conflict situations, which means that the TSF assets will try to identify every ship in their direct vicinity or in the range of their hitting capability to avoid any innocent casualties. It would seem, however, that the Autonomous City-states is willing to foolishly risk its ships by refusing to cooperate with the TSF assets in place. The decision is, of course, not ours to make but all the ships present in the area should know that they will assume full consequences of their behaviour.

The TSF 9th Battlegroup will remain in the area until the Empire of Taurenor requests its withdrawal. The Federation acts in accordance to its obligations as allies. And having dealt with the Thelasi before, the Federation will take no risks.

Thank you for your attention.

[OOC: Aaaah... long time since I had a diplomatic row over something...
Feels like the good ole times :D ]

Commonality Space Administration Hall, North Telem; the Commonality Sol Orbital Colony of Vilya Elenosto

"It's not the feasibility, it's the expense," Professor Tur Dth'gar was protesting, waving a paper in the air at his fellow politicians-cum-scientists. "We cannot afford to waste good resources on a project that may never come to fruition!"

"But the space," Aglar ux-Rihad remarked, from his position as First Speaker of the House. Despite his position as the High Lord, he had as much right as anyone to run for office - and he had won his seat with a massive majority. His people trusted him. "The space available to us should we move forwards on this proposal... Look, Taurenor is not stupid. They can see the potentials. If they manage to conquer a gas giant, they have virtually limitless space. Air miners could provide all the minerals and gases they would ever need; Jupiter, for example, likely has vast amounts of water mixed with chlorine, ammonia, and several other elements. We could seperate those elements down using air miners such as those used by the Martians in the early days - you know, the big industrial jet engines that suck fines in and refine the minerals contained therein. Who knows what resources we could gain on Jupiter, or Saturn! And we already have a starting point, unlike many of the other nations who would no doubt attempt to catch up, once we had started this grand project. - We already use perfluorocarbon to protect our pilots from far greater stress than we'd experience on either of the primary gas giants in this system; we have experience building structures designed to tolerate massive pressure, thanks to our submarinal exploits of the last century. It's just a case of adapting and improving what we already have - surely anyone can see that?"

Many of those present were nodding, but some were shaking their heads; Aglar could tell just from glancing around the Hall that the vote would be split, and he would not gain the supermajority agreement required today. Not unless something drastic occurred, something to convince them. And no such thing would be forthcoming; he needed to prove that this was feasible, for it sounded so outlandish and impossible...

"You would expect our citizens to live in a fluidic environment? Even our pilots object to the PFC! Not everyone would be willing to drown just to have more space. My apologies, but the Right Honourable First Speaker does not know what he speaks of. The people will not stand for it. It is an expense beyond our capacity, and the return of resources is irrelevant: for nobody would be willing to go! - Would you be willing to go, First Speaker?"

Aglar balked at the question posed by the Minister for Agriculture, First Echelon; he doubted that any answer he gave to this question would be entirely sound. If he said yes, then it would not be believed - for he could not leave his post as the High Lord anyway for such a bland reason, not without incurring great dishonour to the Imperial Family. Nor could he say no, for that would be cowardice. "That is not the matter at hand," Aglar responded carefully, ignoring the jeers from some of his political enemies, "but yes, if I did not have my responsibilities, I would seriously consider it. As all of my Right Honourable Peers would, I'm sure. We are pioneers, here! Colonists, braving the dangers of the vacuum of space to make our home! And yet the Right Honourable Minister speaks of fears and concerns? This seems a double standard, to me."

"A double standard in the worst sense," someone muttered from the galley above. Aglar controlled the urge to smile; the observers at least were being swayed by his words. But were the politicians?

"I believe it is high time for a recess," the Prime Attendant let out, the words almost a sigh of annoyance.

* * *

Aglar paced the corridor slowly, thoughtfully. His people were not in agreement with him on this issue - yet - but he knew that the idea had merit. The People of Taurenor clearly thought so - or they would not be aiming so high. He knew full well that this was not a new idea; it had been expressed in literature for some time, by the science fiction writers.

Living on Jupiter!

He shook his head at the immensity of the idea; but was it really any more preposterous than landing on the moon? Going to Mars? Colonizing the space between the stars, and being self-sufficient in all but minerals with it? Building a mass transit system between Earth and Mars? All of those had seemed impossible to someone, somewhere, some time. Yet the argument 'we thought this was impossible and we did it' was so hollow, so empty; it proved nothing. He needed some form of proof...

And he had no idea where to find it.

The Deep Space Command office on Titania had its own statement to make:

"To our knowledge, the Taraskovyans have no authority in Uranus space and the Taurenori forces have certainly not communicated to us any such granting of authority to them. Our patrol craft do not pose any threat and are not required to identify themselves in international space. If they do so, it is as a courtesy and out of respect. Respect which was not shown to our Space Intercept Vehicles.

"We must reiterate that the SIVs were already on station and monitoring the standoff with the full knowledge of Taurenori commanders long before the Taraskovyan ships even arrived. We have to ask why we were not notified of incoming foreign reinforcements. Or is this Fellowship so loose that anyone can show up at any time unannounced and start trying to run the show?

"If anyone needed to be answering questions about why they are in Uranus space, it was the Taraskovyan forces. We were simply keeping an eye on our backyard, our home. Our spacecraft are under no obligation to identify themselves -- which they did -- or their mission to offworlders that have not passed on proper credentials.

"It is the official position of Deep Space Command that both the Thelasi and the Taraskovyans have escalated what should be a minor incident; and that they should both withdraw their battlegroups to reduce tensions. Let Uranians handle Uranus."

OOC: Okay everyone, I am going to bed now and I don't want to have to read 6 whole pages of war or mudslinging. So I'm asking you nicely to not post anymore IC posts untill I have posted after my sleep.
And feel free to harass me on IRC to post.

The situation wasn't going all to well. First the Thelasi fleet arrives and then the Taraskovyan fleet quickly follows it. And now the Autonomous City-States were offering to arbiter the situation, something which the other parties might find presumtious. Because of this Olbaron was no longer as seen fit to be the commander over this, he wasn't a militairy man as well so it was for the best.

"So this all started when a Thelasi ship was impounded and it's crew arrested on espionage charges?" Taurevanimë asked Uryon her close friend and Defense Advisor.
Uryon nodded. "And an entire battlefleet on his doorstep frightened Olbaron and the Taraskovyans as well. For now no one is doing anything, but we fear that it could change by a simple slip of the tongue or a tired officer."
"I see, then we will have to take the initiative." Taurevanimë said and rose from her seat. "Have the press crew ready." She said and went off to ponder on what to say.


Some time later Taurevanimë stood in front of a great and old oak tree and recording equipment was set up. This was going to be a live transmission to Thelas, Tarasovka, the Autonomous City-States and all the ships currentl in Nénar.

"Herir i herur," She spoke in a calm voice and all her graceful movements gave of a bit of a calming effect. "A situation has arrisen in the thick turrquoise clouds of Nénar. What should have been an easilly settled issue has turned into a militairy stand off with the possibillity of turning into a war. A war non of us wish to fight. Because of that I have taken the initiative to resolve this dispute without bloodshed. I would like to propose the following solution.

1. The Thelasi crew is returned to the Thelasi authorities where they will sit out a sentence for the crime of espionage by their laws.

2. The Thelasi get their vessel back but all data collected on Taurenori facillities, activities, ships and such will be whiped from it's memory core.

3. All ships of nations that do not have holdings on the Nénar system will leave peacefully.

I hope that all parties can agree on this issue. Thank you." She said and the recording stopped. She sighed deeply and hoped that they would accept.

((OOC: chipping in my bit))


Official Statement by the Knootian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The DDR fully shares Taraskovyan condemnations of Thelasi incursions into Taurenori territories. We are confident that the Empire of Taurenor is capable of handling this affair, but we will tolerate no actions that further the destabilisation of Sisgardian nations.

We call on the Thelasi whom, in the past, we considered to be our friends bound by treaty to us. Stop acting consistently against the interests of Knootoss and its friends and allies.

The ministry of foreign affairs calls upon Empress Ithenril herself to accept the Taurenor compromise as it is and make sure the current strains are resolved peacefully. Should the current standoff somehow escalate into the use of military force we will reconsider our relations with her nation.

Statement by the High Command of the Taraskovyan National Defence Forces.

The ACS Space Interveption Vehicles did not contact the TSF assets in place to ask for any information, as such, the initiative was taken by TSF assets to avoid any incidents. And considering that the ACS ships were behaving rather strangely, such as avoiding to enter Taurenori space and keeping silent, the Commander of the Battlegroup had all the rights to be suspicious. The High Command of the TNDF and of the TSF reiterates that its ships acted in accordance to the directives of behaviour in volatile situations and that the fault is fully that of the ACS assets that refused to cooperate. Yet again, we repeat that the Autonomous City-states are free to do as they please with their ships, but they must also remember that all acts have consequences to assume.

The ways of the SFN are not for outsiders to question. The deployment of the 9th Battlegroup was agreed by the Taurenori and the TSF assets are under their command. If the Autonomous City-states wish to see the ships withdraw, they should tell so to the Empire of Taurenor, not to the Federal Governement.

Thank you for your attention and have a nice day.

***

From: Ruling Council of the Federation
To: Empress Taurevanimë
Subject: Uranus stand off.

It would appear that our intervention within the bonds of the SFN has 'incited' a rather hostile reaction from your so called 'other allies'. The Federal Governement suggests that the Empire uses of its influence to calm the ACS authorities. Otherwise, the Taraskovyan Federation will take into consideration the recent events in its future dealings with both the Empire and the Autonomous City-states.

Empress Ithenril's responce was quick.

"I would like to thank Queen Taurevanime for her level-headedness in this matter, the Thelasi Star Empire accepts these terms and will withdraw our vessels imediately.

Although, we protest the escelation of the matter, mostly the result of Taraskovan intervension, we are happy that this situation has been resolvewd peacefully."

Near Nenar, the Thelasi warfleet slowly turned and made its way twoards the Sol system Slip-Point, heading for the system of Ishtar 1, where the rest of the battlefleets awaited.

Battlegroup Flagship Ad (Hell),
TSF 9th Battlegroup,
Nénar/Uranus,
Empire of Taurenor.

The twenty or so ships composing the Battlegroups remained and made sure that the Thelasi are gone for good. Once the Commander was sure that the danger was gone, he shot off a transmission to the Taurenori station.

>>Commander Olbaron, this is Commander Geenov. Now that the threat is gone, we will be withdrawing back to 'Mainland', unless you require further assistance.

State Quarters, Government Quarter, North Telem; Vilya Elenosto

Aglar waved a hand expressively as he told her of what had happened in the chamber when he returned, and Danielle tried not to smile too much. She didn't want him to think she was laughing at him - which she was. But he was so inutterably cute when he was bragging - and that was something he didn't do often. She didn't want to ruin it.

"And then I told them how we can solve it! I didn't think of it until I was looking out at the new MI core being installed on that module they're going to be fitting to the spacedock, but then I realised: MI cores create a false vacuum! We don't need to worry about the pressure - it's just the gravity that counts, and we can deal with that with the PFC."

"But... wasn't the PFC the sticking point?" Danielle asked with a faint smile, touching his arm gently to show she was proud of him. He needed little touches like that; he wasn't entirely as confident as he seemed - especially not with this new, 'normal' life. That didn't involve blowing people's brains up.

"Oh, of course, but the real problem wasn't the PFC. They didn't see it as feasible until I pointed out that little beauty of magnetic impetus. Imagine it, Danielle! Sentients on Jupiter! - I just hope the Jovian League won't kick up a fuss. But I bet they'd not mind one jot if we built them a Highway, like the Earth-Mars one. Perhaps between the Jovian moons, or something. I'm sure a deal could be worked out..."

He went on as he paced, and she settled back in the armchair, taking a sip of her drink. She enjoyed just watching him, really. He was so graceful, what with those Nenyan hollow bones.

"...and so we'll be heading out to Uranus soon. Well, I say 'we', dear, but I know I didn't ask you yet. I didn't say you'd be joining myself, the Science Minister and the Foreign Minister, but well..."

"I'd be glad to," she smiled. "I've always wanted to see the outer system." At least for the last ten seconds, she added silently.

* * *

VES Tigerhawk, Open Stellar Space

Nine Hours Later

"She's shiny-new still, sir, but she'll run just fine. New class, too. First of her kind. Took her out for her test-spin just a few weeks ago; she aced all of her tests. Even the new E-stream/cannon system works perfectly: range is improved slightly, we're up to 32,000km effective beam limit, now. Of course, that'd pack enough punch to carbonize a lump of sugar or thereabouts... but we're getting there. The attack envelope is getting smaller. - Yessir, this is the first Tigerhawk-class vessel. - Nosir, she's designated as an MRA - yes, that's Mid-Range Assault. - Yessir, she carries twenty-five direct-fire KKM ELS tubes. Yessir, typical gunport system..."

The voice droned on. Aglar tried not to be bored; his Foreign Minister was asking such a lot of questions as they stood at the rear of the bridge, though, that he had a wild urge to smack the man, and shout "SHUT THE HELL UP!" in his face.

That would be distinctly impolitic, however.

"We're preparing to Hop to a position three light-seconds from the current position of Uranus," noted the voice of the captain - one Captain Scott DeVaro, an immigrant. Not many of those got to command a Commonality warship - especially not a Vilya Elenoston one. The VE-CSF - Vilya Elenoston Commonality Space Force - was seperated from the rest of the CSF; they were responsible for all operations in the outer solar system. Not many of those actually occurred, unfortunately. That wasn't the point, however.

Aglar tried not to laugh at the strange sentence.

This ship was the new flagship of the VE-CSF; she was small, compact, but deadly - based on the Tyelca Tuo pocket cruiser. She even had the new armour which allowed her to move and be protected - in a limited fashion - from enemy fire at the same time, unlike the unfurling armour system being developed for the larger warships.

"Go ahead," Aglar affirmed. As the highest ranking officer on board, he had to give the go-ahead.

The ship made the Hop...

The Autonomous City-states are extremely pleased that Queen Taurevanimë has taken the initiative to defuse the situation around Uranus. Her candor and level-headedness should be an example to us all.

Deep Space Command has confirmed the Thelasi withdrawal and hopes that the Taraskovyan Federation complies with the Queen's wishes with all due haste.

I would also like to remind the Taraskovyans that our Space Intercept Vehicles did not refuse to cooperate. They were in open communication with Taurenori forces the entire time and had established a clear orbit in respect of Taurenori sovereign airspace. We simply did not presume to enter their territory without prior permission.

When queried by Taraskovyan units, our Space Intercept Vehicles identified themselves and referred to the Taurenori for further coordination. They were under no obligation to reveal their mission to an offworld -- or should I say "outsider?" -- force. Any attempt to portray Deep Space Command actions as suspicious or threatening is simply untrue.

Perhaps, now that those willing to display force of arms over diplomacy have left Uranus space, we can all get back to more important and uplifting things.

"You are free to leave Commander Geenov, and thank you for your assistence." Olbaron said and the communication link was cut. He slumped back into his chair and let out a deep sigh of relief. "That is settled then. What's the status on the probe 2?" He said, using the probe research to get his mind fixed on something else.
"It's holding out fine, no apparent signs of stress on the probe or cable."
"Excellent, prep the third and fourth probe for launch." Olbaron said as he rose from his chair.
"Sir, do you think it's wise to do two tests at the same time?"
"More then sure, it will require a little more carefull attention but we'll work ahead of schedule this way. And the faster we get this done, the better. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to have a rest." He walked out of the command center and to his room to have a nice long rest.

Battlegroup Flagship Ad (Hell),
TSF 9th Battlegroup,
Nénar/Uranus,
Empire of Taurenor.

>>Understood, Commander Olbaron. Good luck with your mission. Should you require any assistance, just whistle. Geenov over and out.

With that, the Battlegroup entered the needed formation and vanished from the area, leaving the itchy locals to themselves.

VES Tigerhawk, Open Stellar Space - inside the orbital path of Uranus

"Sir, there does not appear to be any reaction to our arrival. However, High Command has reported that Taurenor has requested that no ships that do not have a claim to Uranian space stay away and/or leave. High Command notes that we have no reason to take any notice of that request, as the Commonality does not recognize their claim to the entirety of Uranian space, as they are not utilizing the entirety of Uranian space," DeVaro reported to Aglar in quiet tones.

Aglar pondered for a moment. "Resume the Transitions to Uranian orbit, then. But keep us at least 300,000 klicks from the nearest Taurenori asset: that way, they can't really claim any breach of their space. If they do, then," Aglar shrugged, "it's nothing more than hot air, so far as I'm concerned."

"Understood," the captain replied, moving to murmour an order to his helmsman.

Aglar leaned towards Danielle to whisper, "This could be interesting. Do you think they'll do anything against us, dearheart?"

"I doubt it," Danielle replied with a small shrug, "as we're completely within our rights to go wherever we wish. Space is vast. They can't really complain that we're impeding their sovereignty by being near Uranus; especially seeing as there really isn't a tacit treaty regarding the claiming of actual space. Generally speaking, the Law - Commonality Law, that is - does not acknowledge any foreign claim unless they have direct utilization of the entirety of their claim. We recognize a claim only insofar as utilization occurs."

Aglar sighed quietly. "Yes, but will they see it that way?"

Danielle gave a shrug. "Our information is a little sparse; we don't have observation assets pointing at Uranus, so we really can only go on hearsay. But apparently they turned back some ships already - something of a standoff, according to our sources back on Earth. I sincerely doubt they would open fire on a ship carrying two foreign heads of state, however. That would be a little... hotheaded. Don't you think, dear?"

Aglar wasn't so sure that they would see it that way; he didn't mind throwing himself into danger, but thinking on it, he didn't want anything to happen to his wife. That would be... unthinkable.

"Take us in very slowly, one Hop every thirty minutes," he amended.

DeVaro acknowledged with a nod.

* * *

Every thirty minutes, the Vilya Elenoston warship moved a little closer... and then a little closer still. At this rate, it would arrive in Uranian orbit within three hours.

The third and fourth probes were launched and the tests started to commence. The third probe would look how their movement and directional control was in the high pressure enviroment deep within the clouds. And the fourth probe would be lowered to 1200 bar, then raised to the station and lowered again, repeating the proces over and over again to see how the metals handled the stress.

"Sir, you might want to look at this." The elf currently manning the long range sensors said to Olbaron who pressed a few buttons to put it on his screen. It showed the Vilya Elenoston, now only two hours away from the Nénar's orbit and all of it's previous locations.
"Interesting," Olbaron remarked as he kept looking at the screen. "How long till they get into orbit?"
"About one hour and fifty-three minutes."
"I see. Open up a channel to them."
"Done sir, you may speak now."

"Greetings unkown vessel. This is the Nénar Shipyard, property of the Empire of Taurenor. Please identify yourself."

Aglar listened carefully to the message; they didn't sound as if they were expecting hostility, so he relaxed as he composed a response, waving a hand at the CommOps officer to begin sending.

"Greetings from the Vilya Elenoston Ship Tigerhawk, representing the Iluvauromeni Orbital Colony of Vilya Elenosto, in turn representing the Iluvauromeni Commonality of Everlasting Light in the Outer System. I, High Lord Commodore Aglar ux-Rihad of the Commonality Executive Council, and I, First Speaker of the Commonality Space Administration, greet you with warmth and friendship."

He glanced at Danielle.

She smiled, and added, "Greetings. I am High Lady Danielle. We would much desire to speak with you face-to-face, for electronic communications are sorely lacking. Would this be appropriate?"

Aglar smiled: perfect. She always knew just what he had missed; he shot her a look - crinkled eyes, little smile, the flash of his amber eyes saying a million times more than any words could ever manage.

"Yes that would be possible. Will you be coming down with a shuttle or your vessel?" Olbaron said and waved to an officer which immediatly set out to start preparing things for the coming guests.

"Yes that would be possible. Will you be coming down with a shuttle or your vessel?" Olbaron said and waved to an officer which immediatly set out to start preparing things for the coming guests.

"I think we'll get a little closer and deploy a dropship... possibly," Aglar replied rather quietly, adding by way of explanation, "although... we only carry one dropship, and she doesn't have a PG drive, so we can only 'throw' her in your direction. I presume you have the capacity to get her back inside our MI field, so we can retrieve the dropship on our return?"

"I am sorry, we are not familiar with this system that you use. Perhaps it would be better if you dock your vessel instead."

OOC: Hey I woke up 5 minutes ago, don't complain :p

"I am sorry, we are not familiar with this system that you use. Perhaps it would be better if you dock your vessel instead."

OOC: Hey I woke up 5 minutes ago, don't complain :p

Aglar and the captain of the vessel exchange marginally concerned glances. Suspicious by his very nature, Aglar frowns just ever so slightly. Cautious-sounding, he replies, "That would be appropriate."

Danielle adds, "We're most glad of your hospitality."

"You're most welcome Lady Danielle." Olbaron said and ordered someone to send details about how they would be conducting the docking as well as appoint someone to take over command while he was with their soon to be guests.

ooc: Okay, the ship will be docking inside one of the freight hangars, it will not look very beautiful seeing the short notice they have. Awaiting the party will be Olbaron, Nísimiel and just two security guards. Nothing flashy.

Nosirin smiled as he stepped up to the podium, he smiled as he surveyed the assorted press reporters.

“Ladies and gentlemen, people of Thelas, today I am here to announce the Thelasi intention to place a Thelasi Sindarin Elf on the surface of the planet of Nenar. We do not wish to compete with the other nations, yet this project is merely an attempt for the Thelasi to spur forth our industrial capabilities.

Ladies and Gentlemen, today we will begin this operation with the movement of an old gass mining base to the Nenar area. This base will serve as a launching platform for our launch vehicles.

I now hand this over to the scientist heading the program.”

Another elf steps up, he is a scientists and seems to be very exited about this.

“After the platform is in position, a two probes shall be deployed, one will be allowed to fall, and will eventually be crushed after transmitting data back to us. The second shall be deployed on a tether, following after the first probe. It will be sent down to a safe depth, and report data such as whether there is weather deep on Nenar.

After this we will deploy the tethered probe, we will send down a tethered, manned probe. This probe will be to test whether our umbilical support tether is operational. Next, we will send another tethered vehicle the same model as the earlier manned unit, yet without a crew member. We will then test to see how far these vehicles can travel. Then we will proceed from there. Thank you, and good night.”

In space several large Thelasi tugs began moving the large two hundred man mining station to Nenar. As it traveled equipment and supplies were being loaded onto the station by long range shuttles. One such vehicle carried three probes, two of the unmanned vehicles, and the one manned version.

The probes were perfect spheres, around eight feet in diameter. The two probes were loaded with almost every type of sensor the Thelasi have, radiation sensors, temperature sensors, RADAR units, Infrared cameras, SONAR (passive and active), visual cameras, mass spectrometers, gas capture/analysis, and all the other equipment that could be packed into a probe.

Probe 1 was also equipped with a military grade high-capacity data transfer uplink, able to transmit telemetry data back up to the converted mining station. It also had thrusters to maneuver itself down, a relatively useless system included was a set of six landing legs that were folded into the probe. The Thelasi had included these just to test the idea, and would attempt to deploy the servo-powered legs during the decent.

Probe 2 did not have the long range uplink that P1 was equipped with, instead it had a cable tether that would transmit data up to the base. It has many of the same systems that the P1 unit has, with minor differences, a smaller battery, a much shorter range data-link, in case the cable is severed. P2 also carries a small data-recorder designed to separate with the cable should a separation be needed.

Probe 3 is the manned probe, almost exactly the same as P2, except for the fact that P3 is ten feet in diameter. P3 also carries a ‘entry plug’ this entry plug is a tubular unit that can be extracted and jettisoned from the vehicle, it carries the pilot. If an incident ever took place the plug could be jettisoned from the cell, seeing as how the entry plug is directly connected to a point higher up in the tether. P3 also is equipped with a larger thruster system and more sturdy landing legs. Ironically, it also carries a parachute.

As the mining base moved construction was already underway on another probe, P4 would be designed with an outer structure as one solid metal shell, with a hole for the entry plug. This would be accomplished by a new Thelasi tool, a new ‘welding torch’ this torch worked like most earlier welding torches, except this device had a series of miniature electromagnets. These electromagnets re-align the molecules after the welding is complete, eliminating weakening weld lines.

P4 would also be much more complex, having four movable ‘wings’ on the outside. In the dense atmosphere of Nenar these wings would allow the pilot to fly the vehicle farther down. Even with these improvements P4’s maneuverability would be hampered by the fact that it still had a tether, but at this stage, the Thelasi didn’t want to risk one of their craft not being able to get back to the base.

Other than that, the design of P4 were yet to be decided, as issues arose P4 would have systems to fix those problems.

The pilot of P3 would be Lieutenant Herniar, a Thelasi fighter ace. He would ‘fly’ P3 down to the target, and then sit back as the mining base pulled him back up by the tether.

The last idea that the Thelasi had come up with was another station, bound to the mining base by four tethers and an umbilical cord. This base, named Way-Stop One would be constructed by specialized versions of P3 vehicles (minus the sensors, but with those special welding torches and grasping arms). It would be composed of many spherical pods, and would be shaped as a ring.

A special ‘sled’ would be constructed to travel down those four tethers to the Way-Stop One. It would deliver its own pod (be it another probe, or a probe like vehical loaded with supplies), and then either unload supplies and return to the base, or transfer the probe to the base for preparation or simply for storage. A minor note is that as of yet the construction of WS1 is dependant upon the success of other probes, especial the P3 model upon which the construction of this base hinges.

Another idea is to have WS1 constructed on the surface and then lowered by its tethers, this idea is a back-up incase the on-site construction by P3 model, renamed Construction 1, vehicles is proved impractical to too dangerous.

The final idea that the Thelasi Science and Exploration Commission (the organization in charge of this little adventure) is exploring is the possibility of actually lowering the mining station itself into the atmosphere, although this is doubted seeing as how the pressure increases.

A worry that the TSEC has is that at lower depths the theorized liquid atmosphere combined with the theorized intense heat could melt, or simply crush the probes as they got farther down. Hence the reason for the RADAR and infrared systems aboard P1, P2 and P3 probes.

OOC: If any of this info is incorrect feel free to call me on it, my specialty is Law, not Astrogeology. And this base is being towed to the side of the planet opposite the Taurenori base. And is unarmed except for some basic defense armarments.

The ICEL ship makes an elegant landing on board the Taurenori vessel, and Aglar and Danielle disembark, accompanied by absolutely no guards whatsoever.

[OOC: It's a short post, I know, but I'm late posting so this is faster.]

After the base had been moved into position, P1 was slowly lowered by a tether down into the atmosphere. Then, with a clank the magnetic locks connecting the probe to the tether disengaged, and P1 began its uncontrolled decent towards its certain destruction.

Back at the base the Thelasi began to count the Bar rating the probe recorded,

“30 Bar”
Another officer turned, “Data-link stable…”
A second officer, “Receiving information from probe, RADAR is inoperable, air is too dense, SONAR is not yet operation… camera feeds are live, thruster control activated.”
Again the computer announced the depth, “100 Bar”
The remote pilot, Lieutenant Herniar, the same pilot who would take down P3 and remote control P2 in its decent, reported, “Command check, thrusters operable… small debris detected…”
The commanding officer nodded, “Very well, move around it if possible, we will have three more P1 model probes soon enough… good to know for P4…”
Soon the pod had moved down to 200 Bar, the science officer spoke up, “200 bar are holding steady…”
Several of the science officers looked at their screens, “Check, SONAR is operable… taking readings… Debris detected.” As the probe reached 220 bar a large rock, formerly a large asteroid that had broken up into several chucks. The probe came nearer, engine boosters out of fuel, Herniar looked at his commander, “Boosters out… Sir, I can’t do anything…” Seconds later the probes screens went dead one of the science officers smiled, “Well Sir, at least we know P1 based probes can safely go down to 220 bar…”
“Aye… Prepare P2 for launch… as soon as the cable has been retracted and re-readied.”

Around an hour later, the single P2 model probe had been attached to the umbilical cord. It had been hastily retrofitted with Fusion Torch boosters, hydrogen and electricity supplied by the tether. The umbilical cord, and cable, where now connected by much more than a simple magnetic clamp, in fact they were now attached by bolts. Indeed these bolts did have explosives around them so that the probe could be jettisoned, but still it is a much sturdier system that the magnetic clamp.

Slowly the probe was lowered by its tether down into the atmosphere. As it went lower and lower Herniar began to guide it past the cloud of debris that the Thelasi had accidentally placed their probes. He knew that this was good training for his own mission in P3. It was hard, controlling the tether descent speed was hard, but then controlling the boosters was also hard, it was all of this at the same time, the tether control throttle, the two booster joy-sticks, and the four control petals that controlled the stabilizing thrusters.

As the vehicle descended his science officers called out the Bar recording. There was no other mission commander, for this part, he was the mission commander. He was in charge of getting the probe down to two hundred and twenty Bar. Finally a science officer called, “P1 at one-nine-zero Bar”

Herniar slowly slowed the probe down, the strong cable slowing the decent of the probe, the scientist called again, “P1 at two-zero-zero Bar.” Herniar slowed it down even more, now actually applying brakes, it had been done carefully or else the cable’s connection to the probe might snap. Slowly applying the thrusters on the probe in reverse.

He watched as the speed reading dropped down, finally that same science officer confirmed what Herniar saw in his mind, and on his back-up HUD display. “Station at two-two-zero Bar, exactly.” Celebrations broke out in the crammed command center, the head scientist, a Dr. Comenar, walked in. The Doctor smiled, “Alright folks, enough celebrations we have work to do. You engineers, a want you to get cable two ready for deployment of P3…”

Herniar smiled, he rose, disconnected his helmet from the jacks that connected him to the probe, disabling the Direct Neural Interface. He went silently back to the simulators. The EA systems were already interpreting the data from P2 into a new simulation.

Meanwhile at the Asteroid Base construction was under-way on P4, they had decided to scrap the entry plug and simply use an airlock mechanism. The probe itself would be shaped like a bullet, with the airlock on the back end. It would have a thicker skin, not only with the pressure resistant plating of the P1, P2 and P3 series, but also a two foot thick layer of armor plate.

The vessel would be four stories high, with bands of reinforcement structure, four bands equally spaced within each story. In between stories would be a network of triangular structuring, with a gap in the center allowing another large airlock door to be placed, the theory being that if the hull was broken in one section the pilot could move to the even more heavily plated rear section where he could seal himself off until the pod could be retracted by cabling.

Already in the planning board was Suit 1, Thelas’ first design for a ‘UHPEVA’ Suit, ‘Ultra-High Pressure Extra-Vehicular’ Suit, enabling the pilot to survive outside the vehicle in 500 Bar. The suit was designed much like the old ‘hard suits’ of underwater exploration. The suit would be attached to a umbilical cord extending from a pod attached to the main umbilical cord. It also would have a tether to this same pod. The umbilical cord would supply the suit with power, hydrogen fuel, and oxygen. The UHP Suit would also have a tether to the pod.

If this umbilical cord had to be severed for some reason, S1 has about one hour of oxygen, one hour of power, and half an hour of fuel. But these reserves are only for an emergency situation, and should not be used under most situations.

The last thing in development would be Rescue One, a vehicle designed around the P4 unit, but with a nose based airlock, designed for universal docking with Thelasi and other docking rings. This vehicle is designed to be able to go down and recover Thelasi crew-men either in the wreckage or in S1 units.

Also at the Asteroid Base the Thelasi were constructing the large Way-Stop One base. They had decided that as of yet, they would not risk trying to construct a base in Nenars’ volatile atmosphere. As such they began construction back at the Asteroid Base, because until the construction facilities were finished at Research Base Alpha, they would not be constructing anything there.

One Way-Stop One was finished, it would be moved by a large freighter, and then lowered into the atmosphere.

All in all the Thelasi were forging ahead, they had to, they were at a disadvantage.

OOC: The Thelasi mining base is on the oposite side of the planet from the Taurenori base, and is in a geo-stationary orbit, in case you wish to know

Olbaron and Nísimiel bowed respectively to Aglar and Danielle as they disembarked their ship in the large hangar. "Greetings, I am Olbaron Nossé Lícuma, the current commander of this shipyard." Olbaron said and gestured to Nísimiel beside him. "And I am Nísimiel Nossë Lamana, Olbaron's aid. If you desire anything, feel free to ask me." She said with a bright smile.

Meanwhile the arrival of the Thelasi station was causing all kinds of commotion at the shipyard's control centre. "It's from the same people that were spying on us sir." Eruntalmo nodded and looked at the sensor readings and the list of available ships and slowly turned to the comm officer. "Contact Commander Geenov of the TSF 9th Battlegroup. Tell him our friends have returned and if he is interesting in giving them a very warm welcome."

OOC: There is no air on Uranus, FYI, Thelas. 83% hydrogen, 15% helium, 2% methane.

OOC: Not to mention any floating rocks.

OOC: There is no air on Uranus, FYI, Thelas. 83% hydrogen, 15% helium, 2% methane.

OOC: I know that, air=atmosphere in this case, and the floating rocks... well, a little artists licence....

OOC: Artistic license that will be ignored...

"Sir, we have no reply from Commander Geenov."
"That's not such a big issue, we'll just deal with these people ourselves." Eruntalmo said and turned to another officer. "Launch the ships and have them take up defensive positions and divert the patrol ships to sector 1446 G."

Over time the few ships the shipyard had were launched for it's own protection as the patrol craft were diverted to gather in an area where they were contacted by Eruntalmo, giving the small group of five ships the attack plan. After having recieved their orders ships slowly flew down into the clouds of the gas giant to about a depth of 200 bars. From their the ships moved towards the Thelasi station, maintaining a constant depth of around 200 bar.

Liscenon sat on the bridge of the lead vessel, looking over the plan again, occasionally glancing over at the sensor readings. It would take some time to reach the other side of the planet, but that wasn't minded one bit, it allowed the crew some time to prepare themselves without having to deal with the stress of a tight time schedule.

After some time of flying through the clouds the small attack group was finally nearing it's target and all the crew got themselves ready for the task at hand. It was going to be a swift easy attack, come out of the clouds and have two vessels attack and disable the station's means of communication while the other three tried to take out their means of staying up in the atmosphere, then retreat back into the clouds and observe the station falling down till it's crush depth before returning back to patrol.
"The station is now almost directly above us sir."
"Start ascending and hope this will be a swift and easy attack." Liscenon said.

ooc: Bit hastilly written while having slight writers block. Please talk to my on IRC before posting a reply Theallas, in case you have any questions about the weapon systems, armor etc etc etc. It's a request, not an order.

Olbaron and Nísimiel bowed respectively to Aglar and Danielle as they disembarked their ship in the large hangar. "Greetings, I am Olbaron Nossé Lícuma, the current commander of this shipyard." Olbaron said and gestured to Nísimiel beside him. "And I am Nísimiel Nossë Lamana, Olbaron's aid. If you desire anything, feel free to ask me." She said with a bright smile.

Meanwhile the arrival of the Thelasi station was causing all kinds of commotion at the shipyard's control centre. "It's from the same people that were spying on us sir." Eruntalmo nodded and looked at the sensor readings and the list of available ships and slowly turned to the comm officer. "Contact Commander Geenov of the TSF 9th Battlegroup. Tell him our friends have returned and if he is interesting in giving them a very warm welcome."

"A pleasure," Aglar, wearing the clean navy-blue of the CSF military dress uniform, began, "I am sure. I am High Lord Commodore Aglar ux-Rihad of the Commonality Orbital Colony Vilya Elenosto, and this is my wife, High Lady Danielle."

"A pleasure to meet you," Danielle offered with a smile. "This place is quite impressive," she added with a small bow of her head.

"Indeed," Aglar agreed quickly, adding, "may we find somewhere private and comfortable to discuss the matter at hand?"

"You may," Olbaron said and slowly turned around to let Aglar and Danielle walk beside him. "Please come this way." Olbaron led them through the shipyard, taking a route past 'windows' so their guests could enjoy the view of the clouds as the sun would be setting shortly. Aglar and Danielle were led to a large room with an long oval shaped desk in the center, transparent roof and walls. The carpet on the floor was clear craftmanship and small trees and bushes seemed to grow out of the floor of the room, rather then pots. Olbaron gestured to a pair of fine leather chairs in shich Aglar and Danielle could sit as he seated himself on the other side of the desk. "Before we begin, is there anything you'd like to eat or drink?" Nísimiel said in a soft graceful voice, trying to remain humble.

Aglar glanced at Danielle with a small smile as they sat, and waited for her to respond to the question; she was more polite than he, and he still sometimes was quite abrasive in his diplomatic 'style'. She was far more adept at dealing with people, in other words.

I'm blessed to be with her, he told himself for the quadrillionth time. For a moment, he recalled the heat on his back from the proximity of the nuclear explosion they had been relatively close to in the Federation of Sentient Peoples, back when he had still been a RISE agent; recalled the ridiculous way he had covered her with his body in the small boat upon the river which had terrified him so; ironic that when he had turned, and seen the mushroom cloud rising far in the distance, it had troubled him less than the sight of the water lapping around the rowing boat upon which they had huddled close against the terror of a nation gone mad. He had gone back for her, that day, after meeting her but once; he alone knew of the terror that was to come in that city, and yet he had warned almost none but her. He still felt no guilt for that.

"I'm sure my husband would most enjoy a glass water and a slice of cheese," Danielle replied with an infectious smile, "and I would dearly enjoy a glass of fruit juice, please."

Aglar wondered for a moment if such demands were out of the question aboard a shipyard; did these people grow food here, keep animals here? Or did they rely on frequent journeys of freighters to haul their materiel here from their homeland? Looking to the flora found in this very room, Aglar felt he had the answer staring him right in the face - literally, in this instance.

His mind turned to their purpose here; more importantly... would they begrudge his vessel and her crew their oppurtunity to... do what they had come so far to do?

Nísimiel simply nodded to Danielly and stepped through a side door, coming back a little later with a tray, upon which was a glass of water and three glasses of fruit juice, as well as a wedge of cheese much resembling Gouda in texture and taste. She gave everyone their drinks and placed the tray with cheese and a small knife in front of Aglar before sitting down herself.
"So what brings you here?" Olbaron said.

Aglar takes the knife and precisely cuts at the cheese. Without thinking about it, however, he Blurs his hand in the process, making the movements of his hand look excessively rapid to anyone in the room who doesn't block the weak empathic influence he exerts unconsciously. In fact, he's cutting quite slowly, and those who are aware of the influence and block it are only aware of a dim tingling sensation for a few moments.

He realises, and prevents his mind from reaching out further with a conscious thought. Danielle gives him a mildly startled look, and sips her fruit juice fairly gracefully, although she cannot match the smooth movements of the Elves or her Nenyan husband.

Danielle remains silent, for now, aside from a quiet thank-you.

Aglar, however, leaps straight in, following an offering of his thanks. Almost conversationally, he notes, "We intend to enter the atmosphere of Uranus in about three hours."

"I see," Olbaron noted and looked off to the side while pondering in though. "What are your plans and would they in some way have any effect on our own operations here?"

"I see," Olbaron noted and looked off to the side while pondering in though. "What are your plans and would they in some way have any effect on our own operations here?"

Aglar spears a piece of cheese on the knife, and lifts it to his lips to chew and swallow it thoughtfully. Just the cheese, mind. The knife would be too tough to chew.

"We only intend to go as deeply into the atmosphere as possible. That should be pretty deep, actually, but I digress... we have no intention of claiming any Uraniun space, if that's your actual question. This is a test run of a method we intend to put into practice, building colonies inside the Jovian atmosphere."

Aglar cannot help but smile at how odd that sounds.

"Well then I don't see any problems with that. My only question would be as to why do the tests on Nénar instead of Alcarinquë?"

OOC: Quick post before going to school. And I'm already late!

In fact, the attack went smoothely, the Thelasi base blowing up quickly, with several escape vehicals flying away, the only issue was this:


"To all nearby personel, this is the Thelasi research base orbiting Nenar... we have been *static* Taurenori fighters *static and explosions* Attack by Taurenori we are... *screams, explosions, and static, end of transmission*"

The message was received the by the supply ship on their way to the base at Nenar, the message was quickly fired off twoards the system where the Thelasi were setting up their new homeworld.

Minutes later Nosirin prepared a broadcast,

"Ladies and gentlemen of the Thelasi Star Empire, and the world. The last twenty four hours has seen an amazing act of dishonor and treason against the Empire. Today, the Taurenori attacked a Civilian Thelasi research base, under the administration of the TSESC, or Thelasi Star Empire Science Coucil.

In this action at least sixty Thelasi civilians were killed, if not more. I wish for peace, but I cannot let this action stand. I request an imediate dismissal of the officer who ordered this attack, reparations to the TSESC for equipment lost or damaged, and reparations to the family members for their loses.

We also request that the Taurenori Empire sease their un-inforcable claim upon all of Nenar, and size down their claim to something a little more resonable."

"Well then I don't see any problems with that. My only question would be as to why do the tests on Nénar instead of Alcarinquë?"

OOC: Quick post before going to school. And I'm already late!

Danielle appears to be about to answer, but Aglar cuts in before she can speak. "No particular reason. Suffice to say that the method we have in mind is as easily tested here as in the Jovian atmosphere."

Taurenor

After having viewed the Thelasi broadcast Taurevanimë was furious. Not because of the attack and loss of life, but the nerve for one nation to involve the entire world in affairs that did not concern them, as well as blame the Taurenórë for their own mistake of entering their claimed space.
"Clearly the days when one wouldn't be blamed for another's stupidity are gone." Taurevanimë said as she got ready for a reply broadcast.

"Herir ar Néri of the Thelasi Star Empire I would first like to personally give my condolences to the familly and friends of the people that lost their lives on the science station.
We claim responsibillity for the attack on the on the Thelasi Research Base, but we shall not dismiss the officer who ordered the attack. Nor shall we pay for any reparations. Because we are not responsible for the carelessness and stupidity of the people responsible for placing a research base in our claimed and souvereign ground.
We will also not decrease our claim upon Nénar. And as you have seen, our claim isn't un-inforcable.
The Taurórë wish for a peaceful and safe atmosphere in and around Nénar, and we are sure that all other nations with claims in the viscinity of Nénar wish for that as well. We only hope that the Thelasi will be kind enough to grant us our wish and leave us alone."

Nénar

Olbaron seemed to think for a while before a finally anwsered by saying "Well we can't stop you from doing your tests. And by coming to us and explaining everything before doing so is appreciated. However, as a scientist I would advice testing inside Alcarinquë instead of Nénar. The atmosphere's condition of one aren't exactly the same to that of the other. But you probably knew that already. Is there anything else you wish to discuss or would that be all?"
wish to discuss or would that be all?"

Danielle smiles and bows her head slightly for a moment, to the Second Degree of Respect (about 20 degrees angle). "Our humble gratitude for your great understanding in this matter," she offers.

Aglar goes on, "We are aware of the atmospheric differences, but shall we say that the 'atmosphere' - in a strictly sociological sense - is somewhat more... amenable... here, than there?"

Nosirin sent a return message, this time a private message,

"Lady Taurevanime, I do beleive that your hollow words might be insuficient to the people of Thelas" He he flips through a a series of letters, looking at them and not looking up, "These letters are from the Thelasi people, telling me how... well I should read one,

'It is a traversty that the Thelasi people should be insulted and wronged by a nation such as Taurenor. We, the people of Thelas demand that if the reparations that you have asked for are not met, we claim our vengance by destroying the Taurenori fleet base. An eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth.'

And yet another letter,

'We, the Thelasi House of Lords, through the power' he skips several lines, 'Do recomend that the Thelasi Empire respond to the Taurenori Act of War by conquering their holdings of Nenar, destroying their fleet base, and then abandon the palanet.'

Now Lady Taurevanime, I am a resonable person, I do not wish for war," He stands and walks around the table, the holo-camera follows, "But Illuvitar-damnit, I have several billion people screaming for Taurenori blood!" He throws his hands up in the air, "Now, I seriously wish to work this out, you must understand, even if you win the war, you would take heavy looses, and go down in history as a kin-slayer, in fact, so would I. You see, we both would loose. As such a propose this. You give us a little restitution, and we leave you alone.

This would sate the blood-thirsty factions in Thelas, and keep us out of war."

{Via encoded diplomatic channel 'ICEL ---> Thelas'; 1kb encryption}

"Thelas is required to modify its policy regarding the Nénar incident to a more moderate position.

"The Commonality currently has an interest in that area of space. Therefore, Thelas will acknowledge this requirement."

~ Ambassador Neurat

{TRANSMISSION TERMINATES}

Dear Nosirin, as much as I would like to help the familly of the survivors, I simply can not put strain on my empire's resources by paying for someone else's stupidity. I am dreadfully sorry that it had to come to this, but we already nearly went to war over your spies, and you knew then already that we had claimed Nénar as our own. Yet after that incident you still persisted and placed a station within our empire's borders. If you would have contacted us about it we might have been allowed you to place your station there after signing of a contract.
Again my condolences go out to your people.

Your's sincerely,
Taurevanimë Nossë Nolofinwë,
Queen of Taurenor


Nénar

"Well okay then." Olbaron said and drank the last bit of juice he had left. "If that will be all, I would like to wish you a safe journey back home and may Illuvatar smile upon you during your test." He said and rose from his seat and bowed to Aglar and Danielle, Nísimiel doing so as well.

The escape pods from the destroyed station are invited to land at Miranda Station and stay in the emergency shelters until such time as Thelasi authorities can retrieve them.

However, we would caution the Thelasi Government not to test the resolve of the Taurenori to defend their sovereign territory any further.

Danielle and Aglar stand also, both of them giving small bows. "Our thanks for your hospitality," Danielle smiles.

Aglar adds, "And your kind..."

There is a bare moment of pause here, almost too brief to catch; it's the merest glance at Danielle, but if the eye of a watcher were fast enough, they might catch the flicker of amusement that passes between husband and wife.

"...permission. - Ah, and I also have a communication to pass on from IsnCo, although this is probably not entirely inside protocol. Still, as you're here, I thought it would hardly matter. The Commonality government doesn't endorse IsnCo in this matter, however, I must note."

He hands over a small compact disc.

[OOC: The compact disc contains what amounts to an advertisement of IsnCo's proposed 'Stellar Transit Network'. Basically, they're just planting the seed for a future expansion of the current Earth-Mars Highway - eventually, IsnCo plans to link all of the major stellar bodies via similar high-velocity links.]

Olbaron nods and examines the disc before putting it in his pocket. "It has been nice to have some guests here. Please allow my men to escort you to your ship. I'm afraid I have much work to do." He says and nods to the two guards.

As soon as Danielle and Aglar give their polite farewells and return to the ship, the vessel requests permission to leave. And as soon as permission is granted, it exerts a tiny amount of thrust and drifts out and away; once it attains a distance of one hundred kilometers, it fires up its MI core fully and whirls away, en route to what appears to be a targeted high polar orbit.

CONFIDENTIAL
HIGH PRESSURE ENVIROMENT TESTING REPORT

Summary:

Testing on site 1 has continued according to schedule. Scientists are very happy with the results they have gotten so far and say we have made great steps forward, yet we still have a long way to go.
Probes 6 through 20 all claimed as succes. There was a fire on probe 14, but the probe remained fully functional. Emergency fire extinguishing equipment and procedures are found to be more effective then previously thought.
Testing predictions are off by 22,1%. The new alloy works better then predicted, putting off our initial predictions. Mathmaticians eagerly try to uncover ways of manipulating probabillty.
Record of withstood pressure now 3603 Bar. This puts breaks previous record by 1091 Bar. Engineers predict next probe to be able to withstand at least 5 times current maximum pressure.
Suggest to proceed according to schedule. Launching probes 21 through 34 from site 1 in coming months.

OOC: This is a secret document, that no one knows about unless I say so. Thank you.