NationStates Jolt Archive

‘Which one are we going to choose?’

The display shone in the darkened control room, dots, possibly millions of them, all flickered in their own way, continuing in their unknown and simple existence.
Several of these stars were ringed, noted for a reason; each was marked with a single letter and a series of numbers, one ringed in purple was marked O-001, “home”.

‘Which one are we going to choose?’

The two figures stood in front of the screen, they were humanoid, yet slightly taller than the average human being, and one was staring at the screen, the other at the console below it.

‘Well?’ asked the figure, her hair was long and brown, flowing gently down her back, her large Green eyes reflected some of the stars that shone on the screen.
‘I don’t know Canna; there are so many potential systems.’ Replied the man hunched over the console, Draze Dorvin, he was similar in height to Canna, and sported blond hair and long brownish robes.

‘What about this one? S-079? The logs say there is a lot of radio traffic from there.’ She pointed at the yellow ringed star.

‘We have done this countless times, and what have we ever found? Either races so far behind it is pointless to make contact, or dead systems. It also costs a lot to send these things on a one way trip y’know.’ Draze replied rather irritably.

‘Now now, no need to let emotions get in the way is there?’ she replied softly.
‘Fine, one droid, no more, no less.’

The droid was flung from the ship as it drifted on the other side of Gnarr, the moon that followed the planet Ondarri like a small dog to its master.

The droid, bleeping as it was thrown from its home made several course calibrations, then, it appeared to stretch and vanish into space.

Around an hour later it hit the system of S-079, the small hyper drive stored inside it flinging it across the expanse of space at an incredible speed. It floated past Pluto, taking in the small amounts of Data it could find on the planet, a small settlement of some kind, it drifted, bleeping, sending back this information to the home world, gathering information on this strange system.

Fleet Colonel Nephil sat lazily in his command throne, reclined and half asleep. He had always hated these deep space sweeps and cursed High Command for damning him to these operations for the rest of his career. Colonel Nephil snapped up in his seat suddenly, coughing violently. He scrambled into his pockets and not too soon after he produced something. Khat. As you might have noticed, Nephil was a drug addict. When Fleet prefect Thames heard of this he should've taken away Niphel's command, but instead, Thames chose to assign the old Colonel to the outreaches until retirement.

Soon the cramped bridge of the Au-170 was filled with the sickly sweet aroma of the narcotic, the crewmen simply took it, as they themselves weren't the most reputable people in the fleet. 'You're all a bunch of lazy, stupid, punks!' slurred Colonel Nephil as he fell back into a drug induced stupor.

The sensor officer rubbed his eyes and did a double take at his screen, thinking the blip he was receiving was a result of being exposed to the Khat. The officer leaned over and nudged the comms specialist 'Hey Daro, do you see a blip on my screen or am I just seeing shit?' Daro, the comms officer leaned back to get a clear look at the sensors and was shocked at what he saw. 'Well blow me! You got something on sensors Yan! exclaimed the Comms officer. Both men looked back at the passed out heap that was their C.O. and sighed. Both men knew what kind of hell he would give them for waking him up.

The droid bleeped loudly as it sighted the ships far away, it bleeped again and sent back a message through the void.
On the ship the message was recieved after a few minutes, the light speed lag causing slight problems with communication. Canna jumped.
'It's made contact, hit the camera button!'

Draze stabbed the button and the camera flickered on the small droid-probe.
'Wow, another civilization who can traverse space.' They stared and watched the ships as the droid continued it's way through the great black void of space.

Also patrolling the outskirts of Sol was a Patrol Cutter. The ship was a modified light frigate and only had 30 crewmen, but the ship was overpowered and overgunned, being on par with a light cruiser.

The ship was only using a bit of that power as it slid through space, powerfull sensors bombarding the area and examining the data. The droid was noted, but was logged as a drifing piece of peice of debris, that somehow still had some power to it.

Course took the cutter close, crossing it's path at a distance, as it continued on it's ever present search for privateers and the like. To the droid, the ship would appear quite clearly, two large engines glowing brightly, the rest of the ship illuminated by spotlights on the hull and on it's surface was lettering. PC-43.

(ooc you any place nere the astorid belt? i might join if you are )

(ooc you any place nere the astorid belt? i might join if you are )
[OOC: We're at Pluto now, but it could get to the Asteroid belt. might wanna watch for a bit and wait.]

The Armed Trader class supra light Heavy freighter “Vincent Williams” was behind schedule due to loading issues on the resource platform “Upward Pointing Widget”. Carrying 1.3 million tons of bulk freight and ore in her holds she was a leviathan. Her huge bulk was slashing through space at full and expensive deep space transit drive till it came into jump range with shock bubble drive of its destination. Slamming into existence several thousand kilometres from the droid the bulk of the huge ship blipped into appearance. The huge transit drive fins retracted in pairs as her bulk nudged itself to point vaguely in the direction of Earth. Captained by one Jonathan T. O’Brien she was over 23 years old her hull peppered with space dust strikes. Deep within her hull in the spacious if somewhat spartan command centre was at the moment filled with an argument over who lost last nights poker game to the engineering crew chief. Over the intercom tradmetpop was booming, as the command staff went about their tasks. In the centre of the room a short stocky figure reached out from a crash couch presently configured into a chair to stab at some controls before his voice following a startling loud electronic beep washed across the ships PA cutting out the music stream and the conversation of the command staff.

“BEEP! This is O’Brien, prepare for shock bubble jump upon my mark”

Devices swung into action, energy was diverted, and the ships reactors roared for a moment and the music flowed back before once again before after a few moments O’Brien stabbed the console infront of him again.

“BEEP! Jump”

The Vincent Williams once more ceased to be upon the normal plane of relativistic space as it translocated to its next jump site. As it left the faint blue outline of its shock bubble slowly expanding from its jump point washed over the droid imparting a small charge.

The Droid bleep and wailed slightly as the camera crackled for a second as the charge washed over it, throwing one of the small thrusters momentarily on for a second the droid span, it had registered the huge bulk of a vessel a few moments ago, now it wasn't there.
Confused, the droid sent its findings back to its homeworld.

'What on Ondarri was that? It was like the ship ripped into space.' Draze frowned and looked at the droid's current status. 'It's also likely we may have to send another droid, that burst just messed the Camera around, it's jumping terribly now.' he clicked a few more buttons and bought the droid and its status up onto the main screen.

Droid status 56% operational.

'Hrm, we're ok for now, see if we can get a tad closer to those ships.'
Playing with a small display infront of him Draze activated one of the thrusters and bought it steadily towards the great metalic bulks.

After a lengthy discussion on who should wake up the Colonel it was decided that neither Yan or Daro would do it. 'Uhm...Engineering, this is the bridge, we're gonna need you to send up an electrician as soon as you can.' said Daro into the headset of his vox caster. Moments later a small man burst through the hatch leading to the bridge and loudly asked 'Whats the problem in here!?' with that Colonel Nephil turned in his seat to see what was making all that racket. Niphel narrowed his eyes at the electrician and barked 'Get out!' as the electrician scurried away Yan seized his chance and said 'Sir! we have a contact on sensors, its movements are sporadic and organized.' Colonel Nephil rubbed his eyes for a moment 'Ping it then... he said absently.

Yan deftly manipulated the control panel before him and before long sensor readings brought back a wealth of information, of course if the probe was hostile it would know the exact location of their ship, it was generally assumed that it wasn't. Yan couldn't believe his eyes. It was nothing ever registered in Aumanii or MIDAS databanks. Too small to be a manned craft and too organized to be a hunk of debris. 'We've got a drone...Yan muttered, thinking to himself. 'Sir, what ever it is no one in this solar system has seen it before. So there are two possibilities here. Its something new or its of an alien origin.' said Yan. Colonel Nephil cocked a brow 'Oh really now... Nephil scratched at his chin for a moment. I wonder how much we could get for it he thought.

'Its our solemn duty to our government and our people to keep harm from coming to our great society. It is my decision that we will capture this drone and return it to Auman for, uhm...study.' said the Colonel in a daze. 'All crew go on combat alert, knock that thing out and bring it in...I want it intact!' commanded Nephil.

Though the crew of the Au-170 was a poorly disciplined rabble, they were still trained to the standards of the fleet. The gunnery crews had, in short order, aquired a firing solution and fired a Maser blast directly at the probe. Hopefully the Maser would fry the electronic systems in the probe and make it much easier to catch.

The Colonel, in his drug addled state, had taken a proverbially rock to the Ondarri windshield and was about to steal their car radio.

'This is absolutely fasinating, you getting it all down? Draze?' Canna tapped Draze on the shoulder.
'Yes yes.' Draze irritably snapped back.
'The ship, its moving.' Canna peered a little closer to the screen.
'Perhaps coming to say hello?' chuckled Draze.
'Just make sure it's sending this stuff to the holocron.' she replied, batting the back of his head lightly.

The ship suddenly stopped, then the camera went static, and refused to return, regardless of what Draze did, the screen now read.
Droid Disabled

'What the?' Canna stared, then clicked up another droid.
'It's gone.'
'Yeah, which is why I am sending another droid after it.'
'And if that one gets captured too?'
'Then we send one of our Squadrons.'
'If you think its worth it.' he muttered.

A slightly larger, heavier drone was now fired off into the ether, it had better sheilding and some light defensive capabilities, unlike it's predessesor.

Soon after it was confirmed that the droid was disabled the Au-170 fired tow cables into it and dragged it into its drone bay.

The Colonel was getting nervous, he practically robbed who ever the drone belonged to in broad daylight. 'Get us the hell out of here!' barked Nephil, a slight jitter underlining his voice. The order was met with a chorus of acknowledgement and the Au-170 turned tail and raced back to the asteroid belt.

FLASH Action Message:
From: Last Hope Naval Station, Charon
To: Admiral Nicholas Ortiz, 5th Fleet

Aumanii Vessel registered as approaching toward Pluto, Charon area. Vessel is of unknown registery, deep space scan indicates warship,Aumanii vessel has fired its weapon within patrol zone. Deploy in force and identify Aumanii vessel for naval intelligence. If situation becomes hostile, do not fire unless fired upon. Do not fire unless Aumanii Vessel has entered Charon exclusion zone.Unknown object detected passing through patrol Pluto patrol zone from FTL, identify and record. RoE is once more do not fire unless fired upon.

Admiral Ortiz recieved the message in his room and looked it over with a grumble and a sigh. Leaning over he pushed a button on the intercom which gave instant communication to the bridge. "Captain Kubaysi, order the Battleships Norville and Utica to intercept incoming unknown Aumanii vessel. They're to take their respective combat formations with them. They are not to fire unless they have permission from myself or Chimera Navy Headquarters."

"Aye Aye Admiral." The intercom went dead within 15 minutes the twin Lance class Battleships Norville and Utica got underway along with a minor escort of Cruisers, Destroyers and Frigates heading toward the direction of the Aumanii vessel. It wasnt long before Commodore Roberts was blaring over the communications channels. "Aumanii vessel, this is not Mars..this is Pluto..are you lost,boy? Do you need an escort to point you in the right direction?" The thick accent of someone from the south would mean each emphasis was clear, to the point and not to mention not the least bit diplomatic. "You've reached Federal controlled space, identify yourselves...your reason for weapons fire, and your mission, over."

The Imperator class light cruisers served as the forward screening vessels being faster than even the smaller Frigates in the fleet. The eight Cruisers would be the first ships atop of the Aumanii vessel once the combat group reached its destination. From the Battleship Utica a single squadron of SA-43 Hammerheads was deployed, the five fighters moving ahead toward the direction of the probe they were going to do a fast flyby in an attempt to get as much intel on the unknown piece of hardware as possible before returning back to their homeship. It was unfortunate the Aumanii were closer.

"The Aumanii vessel is turning and running with the unknown device..they've violated the patrolzone with the tow cable to get it.." The sensor officer called out on the Utica and Commodore Jefferson cursed aloud. "Get me on the communication lines.." After several seconds Jefferson was nodded to by the communications officer. The stout dark skinned color aged warrior said in a voice that could be constituted as a growl, "This is the Battleship Utica, to Aumanii vessel, you will halt your engines and answer questions. Repeat, you will halt your engines and answer questions. This is non-negotiable Aumanii vessel."

Stadt Deslichtes, Charon

As the patrol ship cruised through space it watched the first droid pass. Threat was registered as minimal. The captain stared at the terminal with little emotion.

The hours passed as another floated by. Threat was again registered as minimal but the captain was a little curious. He called upon his XO and ordered that a transmission be sent to send a search party for the source of these vessels.

Four Scipii Destroyers were detatched from the orbital dock and they headed out. Four more were sent to watch for mor incoming vessels and if necissary eliminate them.

As the hours passed the destroyer's systems registered a vessel in the right area, far from the system.

##Begin Transmission##
##To: Unidentified Vessel##

Greetings from the 101st Largentian scouting party. We will be requesting information on your vessels you have been sending into our controlled space.

##End Transmission##

A small Squornshelan gunboat (small meaning only 150 m long) cruised into the general vincinity of the droid and the Crimmond Patrol Vessel, as well as the Aumanii and NY&J vessels. Anyone looking at a visual scan of the ship would see a small vessel shaped roughly like a stylized knife, with enough weaponry to discourage most vessels close to its size.
Commander Robert Arnez tapped nervously on the arm of his chair. "Sensors, ID all vessels in the area."
Lietenant Hamil Onara pressed a few buttons on his screen.
"I have on scopes a two New York & Jersey Battleships, ID'd as Norvile and Utica, also a ship that is a partial profile match for a Crimmond Patrol Cutter, reports itself as PC-43. There is an Aumanii patrol craft outbound for the inner system, but the two NY&J ships have moved on intercept vectors."
He paused and scanned the scopes, "The droid that we originally detected has vanished, but there is another, with the same technology characteristics."
Arnez rubbed a hand over the stubble acumulating on his face. "Take us in for a flyby on the droid. I want a full scan in every spectrum you can think of." He paused, glancing at the two blips representing the battleships, "If anyone queries us tell them the truth, we've got nothing to hide."

'Colonel, we're being intercepted by multiple inbound targets.' Yan said clippedly. Colonel Nephil sat stooped, chewing on his index finger, his leg bouncing like a piston. 'You gotta radio High Command, we need an escort back...tell them we got ambushed by some pirates or something.' said the Colonel, a look of near horror plainly obvious on his weathered face.

The comms officer grimaced as he heard the message from the New Yorkers. Those arrogant Americans, who do the think they are? Daro thought. Daro Aphragar was a student of early human history, only serving his tour in the fleet to pay for college, and he was less than impressed with these, Americans...these New Yorkers. Because even now, hundreds of years after their "United States" had crumbled and failed, they still knew exactly how to annoy someone.

'Aphragar! Call HQ and request an escort damn it...we cant risk being captured.' screamed Nephil 'Aye' said Daro as he started to tap a message back to the Fleet HQ at Freehold Station.

The ships ECM were jacked to their highest settings, hopefully this would confuse the enemy just enough to afford them some distance. Other counter measures were deployed. Decoy drones were fired and sent in various directions, and to make the plan work the Au-170 zagged away from its previous course.

----------

Freehold Station

It was an unusually calm day in the command center of Freehold Station, Auman's largest fleet base. Lord Admiral Yinsenza paced the dark, halls of the base, making his way to the mapping room. The mapping room was typically Aumanii, dark and brooding, though still exquisitely decorated. The admiral was greeted by his adjutants and they updated him on the situation.

'Lord Admiral, it looks like one of our long range patrols have run into a bit of trouble.' said one of the adjutants, handing the admiral a data slate which was promptly accepted and read over. 'Ambush and pursuit? I knew it was too quiet today, god damn those pirates!' exclaimed Yinsenza. 'Deploy the 2nd and 7th fleets to escort the Au-170 back to Freehold and if those pirates show themselves then they are to be shot down immediately. Yinsenza deployed the fleets based on their proximity to the Au-170, the 7th fleet was the closest, being forty five minutes away and the 2nd more than two hours. That of course is with out the use of their Jump drives, which weren't useful for much in-system.

The captain of the patrol vessel, Annisquam, watched as the Squornshelan ship moved in for a fly by. Largent was friendly with the Squronshelans as they were aiding them with a pirate problem. It was a little odd how everyone seemed to be handling the situation.

He soon received word that a suspected source vessel was found. It was getting a little rediculous. They should be working together not grabbing evidence and making fly by's. He would give it a minute and then decide whether or not to intervine. However, he did make contact with the Squornshelans.

##Begin Transmission##
##To: Squronshelan Vessel##
##From: LSS Annisquam##

Seeing as you have been aiding us with other situations we have some information we wish to disclose to you. We have located a vessel we suspect has been launching these droids. With this message I am sending you coordinates. We already have vessels closing in and will update you as soon as possible.

##End Transmission##

Freehold Station

It was an unusually calm day in the command center of Freehold Station, Auman's largest fleet base. Lord Admiral Yinsenza paced the dark, halls of the base, making his way to the mapping room. The mapping room was typically Aumanii, dark and brooding, though still exquisitely decorated. The admiral was greeted by his adjutants and they updated him on the situation.

'Lord Admiral, it looks like one of our long range patrols have run into a bit of trouble.' said one of the adjutants, handing the admiral a data slate which was promptly accepted and read over. 'Ambush and pursuit? I knew it was too quiet today, god damn those pirates!' exclaimed Yinsenza. 'Deploy the 2nd and 7th fleets to escort the Au-170 back to Freehold and if those pirates show themselves then they are to be shot down immediately. Yinsenza deployed the fleets based on their proximity to the Au-170, the 7th fleet was the closest, being forty five minutes away and the 2nd more than two hours. That of course is with out the use of their Jump drives, which weren't useful for much in-system.

(In response to this)

Charon/Pluto Space

The captain of the Annisquam had seen enough. He ordered that Walker Station deploy two battleship fleets to watch and report back to base. It was an interesting situation and he was in the interesting position of being the eyes and ears of the Largentian military. He knew he would have to make his decisions carefully.

Walker Sation

The massive battleships were slowly detatched, cable by cable. Then they slowly drifted into the abyss of space. Just behind them eight destroyers and two missle cruisers followed. They could see the target zone ahead. Now they must watch and wait.

The PC-43 had stopped it's patrol and had taken up a stationary observation position. After a while it accelerated, going past Pluto, blatently ignoring any and all mesages from the area of the planet. They proceeded to the point where the droid was first detected and simply stopped and waited.

The small cutter was no match for anything else in the area, save fighters and frigates. That didn't stop them from proverbally slapping all the commanders in the area right across the face. Not surprising really, considering the fact the ship was automaticly broadcasting it's IFF code marking it as Crimmond.

"They're attempt to jam, Captain!" the electronics warfare officer aboard the Imperator class Light Cruiser Venture said as he compenstated for it adjusting the LIDAR emissions until the static of it disappeared. Similar events occured on the other ships which consituted the Imperator class. The ship designed to be an electronics warfare vessel and a cruiser wrapped in the same blanket. Thus when the patrol vessel tried to jam they encountered ships dedicated to burning through said jamming and even creating their own. Checking his watch Captain Holland grew tired of this chase, but it was quickly going to come to an end.

FLASH EMERGENCY ACTION MESSAGE
From: Chimera Fleet Headquarters
To: Admiral Nelson Ortiz(Naval Clearance C-6)

We believe the Aumanii recovered a top secret spy satellite they had deployed to get scans of the fleet moblization point, and of Nomad Moon Research Fleet. Naval Command Earthside and Naval Intelligence are in agreement that the Aumanii vessel posses a thread to Republic security. You are ordered to jam and disable Aumanii and recover probe, then you are to destroy Aumanii vessel along with all logs of what has occured of the incident. If Aumanii vessels respond, you are cleared to defend yourself. The 2nd and 3rd Fleet will be under weigh from Mars shortly and 14th Battlegroup of the 4th Fleet is in your general area. God speed Admiral. Dont let the Aumanii know our secrets.

The lead Impreator, the Playa was the first to recieve the message from the Forrestal. It wasnt a welcomed message, going into combat never was and as the jamming came online, the air waves were flooded with static to prevent radio communications. Electronic scramblers activated on each ship attempt to prevent sensors and other beams from escaping the patrol cutter. It was overkill but the message was clear. Secrets were being protected and someone had to keep those secrets safe. As seconds ticked away and the jamming reached one hundred percent, the rail guns were brought online. The medium plasma guns took energy and thus werent conductive to the jamming effort.

The rail guns themselves werent built for heavy ship to ship combat but fired rounds large enough to cause damage to Destroyers and under in combat capabilities. But that wasnt something that mattered much at the moment, eight Imperators firing their forward turrets in the same general area of the engine. No warning shots, no more vocal warnings, this was beyond the point of no return.

In orbit over Mars, the 2nd and 3rd Fleets had recieved emergency departure orders. A rarity to be given, the fleets generally were given well warning before being expected to be uprooted and deployed. Given the location of the 5th Fleet and its movements they were given the command to rondevous with the fleet somewhere away from Mars. If that were at all possible. The 4th Fleet had yet to recieve any orders and so the closet support, the 14th Battlegroup remained spread out on piracy patrol between Pluto and Mars. Snowballs had nasty habits of getting bigger as they rolled down mountains, and this was quickly turning into an avalache.

Down on Charon, an ISSAPC was loaded up with a crew of engineers and scientists scrambled at the very last moment. The monitoring station had picked up the second indentical probe and they wanted a jump on it. Of course the Crimmond vessel was in the area, and they had ignored all calls in the area. Beneath the surface of the planet a squadron of SA-43 Hammerheads and several bombers were being prepared. They would deploy should the Crimmond vessel prove hostile. For the moment though they'd try diplomacy..again.


Identified Crimmond Vessel, this is the Federal Republic Monitoring Station on Charon. We advise you not to take the unidentified object, we are currently deploying vessels to take the probe, and we request that you do not interfer in our sphere of control. Over.

The enemy ECM was powerful. Aumanii ships emphasized counter measures and stealth, but unfortunately for the crew the Au-170 was no match for the combined onslaught of the American space fleet. The sensor system was disabled by the power of the jamming, the viewing screen burst, targetting computers malfunctioned, electronics caught fire and worse life support was destroyed. Rail shot pelted the hull of the Au-170, eerily, it sounded like hail bouncing off of a tin roof. Sitting, unarmed in the dark, the crew of the unnamed Au-170 awaited its fate.

With the ships engines knocked out and all navigational systems destroyed the ship had no means of stopping itself. The laws of physics dictated that an object in motion will stay in motion and thus, the Au-170, remained as it was, flying blindly through the void, cutting its way across the black canvas.

"Aumanii vessel is not slowing down, repeat, the Aumanii vessel is failing to slow down. Engines have been knocked out." Captain Holland took a few moments to think about the situation..he could allow the patrol cutter to continue on its course..it could crash into the sun..or into an errant asteriod..or be rescued. Then he realized his job required him to make sure he destroyed the information. It no longer mattered if they could stop or not. With engines offline their ability to manuver was now hampered. "Send a tight beam transmission to the Coronado and the other Imperators...time to end this chase." It took a minute before every ship in the chase group got their orders and the Imperator's shifted their fire. The Venture and the Playa continued to fire at the engine area while the other six shifted their shots across the entire hull of the patrol cutter.

As the chase seemed to come to an end, the 5th Fleet began to slow down entirely. The 15th Battlegroup continued to give chase while the 16th turned around and proceeded to head back to Charon. The 2nd and 3rd Fleet continued to prepare for departure and soon the first two battlegroups were ready to get underway. They'd go in seperate battlegroups as the transports in New Huntington rushed to ferry supplies to the orbiting warships of the Federal Stellar Navy. Soon though the 10th and 11th Battlegroups were making their way to join up with their fellow sailors and every 20 minutes after that another Battlegroup departed until the remaining six in both the 2nd and 3rd fleets were underweigh to join up with the 5th Fleet.

'Whoah, seems there's more than one civilization out there, look. Those ships appear to be fighting, and here's yet another vessel of a different design, its incredible.' Canna looked at the steady gathering of information that was getting more and more by the minute, barely in the system and they had found all this.

'The D's suffering some more static, they trying to jam us?' Canna frowned at the camera as it crackled, again.
'I'd like to see them try, this stuff has the strong AECM unit in it. It could also knock out quite a few ship systems if they try to steal it again, I think the power cell on the module lasts a couple of minutes after it is disabled before it emits the charge, either that or the proton core goes critical, either way, they don't really want to touch it, if they bother scanning it they might notice, but I doubt these things are advanced enough to understand the systems.' Draze shook his head, then, once again, began playing with the thrusters, sending it to a similar spot to watch the small battle that was now evidently taking place.

The PC-43 ignored the incoming message. Well, actually it employed an age old Patrol right. It hoisted the Yellow Jack, red and green lights on the hull startring to flash. The ancient international message of heave to, not only meant that the New England ship was being ignored... but that the Cutter was hereby taking authority over the space in the immediate vicinity.(OOC: conisdering that New England cutters first used this, your commanders may know more of this than others)

The cutter moved towards the probe and into it's path, broadcasting on several frequencies and in a dozen different translations, including the squelch of binary. An image of the bridge, a small, tight space with five people in it, one much older than the rest. He stepped forward. "This is Captain Santanta, of Patrol Cutter Number 43, Crimmond Third Fleet. I am sure you can see me, as you sent another probe after the first was lost. If you would be so kind as to respond..."

The 101st scouting party heard the Crimmond vessel send its message. They had yet to receive a response so they archived the coordinates and moved back to the Sol.

Upon their arrival and meeting up with the battleship fleets they saw the drama unfolding. It was definatley a concern. They needed the vessel the Aumanii ship carried. It would prove a testy situation.

The ships decided to move to the edge of Largentian controlled area and prepare for a strike on the NY&J and Aumanii ships if necissary. International relations were second in importanceto finding out what the hell that satellite was.

The Largentian message was recieved just as the Squornshelans completed their flyby. Arnez quickly sent a reply:

Transmission Commences
-------------------------------
To LSS Annisquam
From SSV Razor

We have just completed scans on the second droid and have confirmed that it is of unknown origin. A technical readout of the droid is being sent along with this transmission. You should be able to see if its technology matches that of the vessel found at the coordinates you sent us. We appreciate your help and cooperation here. We will advise you of any further developements.

-------------------------------
Transmission Ends

The Razor then sent a tight beam transmission to the Squornshelan Space Command orbiting Earth. Within 20 minutes, mostly due to radio lag, a small group of three gunboats like the Razor were on their way to the coordinates of the alien ship.
Arnez ordered the helm to trail the droid and keep him advised of any ships mving to intercept it. PC-43 filled the viewscreens. A second message was sent, this one to the Crimmond vessel.

Transmission Commences
-------------------------------
To PC-43
From SSV Razor

We have noted your interest in the droid here and respectfully inquire about your intentions. It is our opinion that this probe be permitted to continue on its course unmolested and we will oppose, to an extent, any who try to stop or capture it. We request that you do the same.

-------------------------------
Transmissiobn Ends

The cutter's comm officer responded to another ship finally, but only to explain that the PC-43 was taking control of this international space for the time being and that any course of action resulting in violence in it therefore represents an act of war commited on Crimm soil and will be responded to as such.

No mention was made of the Auman vessel, probably as the cutter could do absolutly nothing to any of the other ships in battle, but the size of the ship doesn't matter in international politics...

'They're contacting us.' Draze frowned.
'Send a hello back then.'
'I can't' replied Draze as he shook his head.
'...what?' Canna stared at Draze disbeleivingly.
'We kind of, took out the communicator in order to fit in the proton explosive in, it was either take out part of whatever stole our drone, or yell irritably at who ever stole it.' Draze Shrugged.
'Fine, get Mando Sarn to go there, speak to these beings, see what we can do.' Canna motioned idly an organization console to the right, which the long suffering Draze turned to.

Squadron 134

'This is the system you'll be heading to, we've appear to have other beings that are capable of space travel, you should go there, recover the droid, make contact, and find out what on Ondarri happened to that other droid, is this understood?' Canna's small green tinted image jumped slightly on the holographic plate.
'Yes fleet commander.' replied Mando, a small blond haired woman with fiery yellow eyes, she saluted as the plate died.
'Guess we got to do, what we got to do, shall I have the squadrons at heightened readyness?' Brith Gantu, Mando's first officer was a tall thin young man with a small wiry moustache and a thick mane of brown hair.
'Yes, don't charge the weapons just yet, wait untill after the jump, and if, and only if we are threatened, understood?' Mando spoke rapidly, then turned to the Personalised Intellingence [and] Guidence Unit, the ships computer.
'Pingu, you should have received some co-ordinates to-'
The computer merely chimed, and the three ships, two cruisers and a Cruiser-Destroyer shot off into the ether before Mando could finish.

Sitting down into her chair Mando and sighed.
'Bloody computers, so impaitent.' she muttered as she watched the screens and monitors of the Cruiser-Destroyer Unquestionable

OOC: Happy picture fun, yay.
Cruiser-destroyer: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v160/Midlonia/Ondarri/CDOndera.png
Cruiser: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v160/Midlonia/Ondarri/Gnarrcruiser.png

To: SSV Razor

The technologies seem to be very similar, not totally identical. They are, however, close enough to deem it the source of the droid. It also appears that they have called in military ships for some unknown purpose. Our scouts have been removed for the moment since the sol seems to be the center of the aciton. We will keep you posted.

Aboard the Annisquam the message was once again intercepted and was considered to be rather hostile. One of the battleships was told to move into international space along with two destroyers. If the PC-43 got out of line they knew their orders. They would incapacitate and board the ship, it would be all too easy, but violence would be a last resort as tensions grew greater.

(ooc: battleship (http://www.wolfsshipyard.mystarship.com/Drawings/Centauri/Octurion.gif))

The size of the vessel never mattered in international politics...but the affiliation sure as hell did. It took several moments before the small intelligence section at Last Hope Naval Station realized the larger affiliation as Arda. This set off alarms within the naval station, which triggered alarms in the research facility, and on the ground base. With Admiral Ortiz having gone to chase down the Aumanii vessel, Captain Hertz was in command of the Last Hope Naval Facility, and he knew exactly what the rules of engagement were for the handling of Ardan vessels upon contact with them. It was something which carried on since Melkor was removed from the surface of Mars in the much celebrated Operation Roundhammer.

"Communications, get me in contact with Rear Admiral Horche on the Ranger, the 15th is returning to Charon, lets see if they cant give a welcoming party to this Crimmond vessel. In the meantime, let the Hammerheads and Baracudas out into space." Hertz looked over the squadrons sitting ready and grumbled alittle, he would once again plea with Admiral Ortiz to petition the Earth gov for the newer SA-59 Star Sharks but in the meantime he watched from the bridge of the small oribiting port facility as the SA-43s launched from their bays a total of fifteen in all followed by three B-10 Baracuda Bombers. A message was sent on clear channels uncrypted so that if the Crimmond vessel were paying attention, they'd most definately pick up on it.


From: Captain Hertz, Last Hope Naval Facility
To: Rear Admiral Horche, 15th Battlegroup, 5th Federal Fleet

Admiral, we are in need of assistance, we have an Ardan vessel ignoring verbal communications. Have classified her as hostile as per rules of engagement with Ardan vessels. Launch preliminary strike against said Ardan vessel, coordinates are as follows....You'll have to hurry up if you wish in on the fun Admiral. We're not going to wait.

The three squadrons of fighters, and the three bombers would do a quick circle around the planet Pluto waiting to see what the Crimmond vessel did before they had orders to target her engines and disable the vessel for probable boarding action by a Marine group. The ISSAPC on the surface of Charon was launched and they took a direct route toward the probe, the Crimmond signal was ignored entirely. That was the problem with a nation that had expanded into the stars. With colonies on Luna, Mars, and even a pair of space cities, not everyone came from the New England area of the Republic. Those who did were given posts much closer to home amongst the Homeguard 1st Fleet. No further attempts at communicating directly with the Crimmond vessel was carried out.

As Admiral Horche read the communique a grin came over his lips, the 15th Battlegroup would speed up, but it was unlikely they'd return to the Pluto-Charon area within any plausable time that would allow them to engage the Patrol Cutter.

The three ships ripped through the great, vast, cold Ether.
'Pingu, how fa-'
Real space simply dropped back into existence, the rough spot of their droid, near to the small patrol cutter, the ships ground to a complete stop.
'Answered my question obviously.' Mando peered at the screen Pingu was currently assigned, a series of characters sat on the screen.

(^_^)

Mando simply stared, shook her head, took several deep breaths, then spoke.
'Pingu, main screen.'
'Neer.' replied the speakers hidden somewhere in the bridge.
'I'm definately having a word with Canna when I get back.' Mando muttered.
The three ships, the Unquestionable, Unthinkable, and Improbable, sat just inside the solar system. The Patrol cutter sat rather blankely before it.
'Captain, we have inbound craft, intercept on the patrol ship infront of us.' Brith spoke rather calmly, despite the nervouse aura eminating fron around the bridge.
'Wait and see what happens first, this ship may have stolen our first droid.' Mando replied, she yawned and stretched, then tapped her fingers on the arm of her chair, watching the drama unfold.

Arnez snorted at the message from the Crimm ship. "Taking control of this space for the time being? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard." He glanced over his shoulder at the tactical officer. "Designate PC-43 as hostile, but do not fire or target weapons, just keep an eye on them. Leave our shields down for now, but be ready to bring them up at a moments notice." The comm officer turned in her chair abd looked back at Arnez. "We've also got a confirmation from the Largentians that the ship they found is a probable technology match. We'll have more info on that when our taskforce arrives at the coordinates."
"Good," Arnez replied, "ask command for a small battlegroup to be sent here ASAP, also respond to PC-43."
"What do you want me to say?"
"We want to be inflamatory, but not inflamatory enough to get shot, here's what we'll say."

Transmission Commences
--------------------------------
To PC-43
From SSV Razor

We do not recognize your control of any area of international space for reasons other than rescue of a damaged Crimm vessel. Additional Squornshelan forces are inbound, maybe you should play somewhere else.
---------------------------------
Transmission Ends

As the message was sent, three new ships burst into view. "Sir," the sensor officer's voice was excited, "preliminary scan on the three new vessels indicates a possible technology match with the droid." As the Razor drifted slowly towards PC-43 and the droid, it cut across the path of the three cruisers. Arnez leaned forward in his command chair, "Send them a greeting, let them know who we are and what we're doing here."

Transmission Commences
----------------------------------
To Unknown Starships
From SSV Razor

We would like to be the first to welcome you to the Sol system, as we assume you have not been here before. We are in this location after detecting a small droid exiting hyperspace. When we arrived on scene, that droid was gone, but the larger one here, which we assume belongs to you, was here. We have attempted to persuade other vessels in the area to leave the droids alone, but we do not believe we have been entirely succesful.
Along with this transmission, we are sending a countdown program that should be compatible with your computer systems. You should be able to easily calculate the time when it will end. At that time, 5 additional ships will enter this area, please do nt be alarmed, as they are friendly to you.
----------------------------------
Transmission Ends

The PC-43 ignored the ships threatening it. It still was flashing and to them, that meant that they would back down, or start a war. Either was fine with them.

The communications was all directed at the ships in front of it. Santanta smiled across the space to them. "We welcome you to Sol, the most populated system in this galaxy. We are transmitting navigational charts, complete with all the known 'no-fly' zones in system. You may be lucky to have found this system, or damned unlucky, considering it is them most violent in the galaxy. Hell, I'm being threatened by two fleets right now!"

As the fighters and bombers appeared from the other side of Pluto they swung attempting to come up on the underside of the Patrol Cutter, the fighters falling back they allowed the three B-10 Baracuda bombers to take the lead. The Bombers were more along the lines of medium corvettes in terms of regular firepower, but were called bombers because under their wings they carried the majority of their major firepower. What the Ardan vessel did not realize though that the Federal Republic considered all Ardan vessels hostile, from Melkor on down. Having alongside Menelmacari forces plenty of times before and even having commanded them in combat on Mars this entire offensive

"Whiskey 02, Whiskey 03 Ardan vessel has refused to vacate area..they've yet to fire on the ISSAPC..." Whiskey One called out over the squadron communication channel as the three bombers turned on their active targeting systems.

"Whiskey Lead, doesnt matter if they havent fired on the ISSAPC, we've got our orders to hull the Patrol Cutter, allow the 5th Fleet to deal with any other situ.."

The sentence was cut off at the approach of the 3 new warships into the system.

"Whiskey, Jango Flights this is Captain Hertz, you have a green light to fire, the 15th Battlegroup is 15 minutes out." The transmission shook the pilots they no longer had any real idea what was going on but they had their orders now. From under the wings of the Baracuda bombers, StS-84 Lance torpedos twelve in all. The nearly four meter long missiles took only five seconds before they reached their maxium speed. The torpedos were topped with single megaton fusion missile and were designed specifically to take on capital ships much larger than a Patrol Cutter, but overkill was not out of the question when it came to Ardan vessels.

The cutter stayed exactly where it was, knowing they were going to be dead in a few seconds. A simple message was sent to all the people in the area. "This is a good first contact, isn't it? Well, you all just bought yourselves a war. The CSS Monitor will see to that."

Indeed, another ship would suddenly appear on scanners. Well, actually, a hole would apear, as the ship was so resistant to scans that it appeared as a hole. It then accelerated away, vanishing again, it's strange, 'noisemaking' cloak nearly perfectly duplicating the readings on the opposite side of the ship, no matter the angle. It was headed towards teh inner solar system, on it's last course.

The PC-43 never did move, even as the torpedos plwoed into it, detonations rippling through the ship. All the lights winked out and one of the engine cores detonated, literally vaporising most of the ship. No chance of survivors.

"Whiskey Flight, good kill, return back Planetside and rearm. Dont worry about the three new ships in the area, the 15th Battlegroup will greet them. Over." It was welcomed relief for the pilots of the three Baracuda's and their bomber crews. "Jango flight, remain on station do not target the three new contacts,over." The fifteen SA-43 Hammerheads proceeded to patrol the outer edge of what was considered Federal Space in the area. Whether it was independent or not was a matter of schemantics and borders which had been drawn by one group and never agreed upon by others.

With the Aumanii patrol cutter gone, the 15th Battlegroup followed the 16th on its way back to the staging area at Charon. The 2nd Fleet would remain at Mars however the 3rd Fleet which was scheduled to leave to replace the 5th Fleet out at Charon later that month. The 3rd would be dragging along with it transports to replace the 13th Marine Division which was on Charon and the 4th Regimental Combat Team which was on Pluto. Supplies and spare parts were also on there way to the remote installations and no one had any real idea of any real reprisals which were going to occur. As far as the Federal Republic was concerned, the matter was settled.

Back at Chimera Naval Headquarters the registeries were updated, it was a decidingly busy day for the FSN. Two capital ship kills were something that hadnt happened in the longest of times. The fleet generally preformed exercises against themselves as targets were few and the FSN generally delt with defensive and escort duties. Something which they had begun to excel at much to the discomfort of many older Admirals who remembered the last major war. Unfortunately as events played out elsewhere it appeared as if the good old days were about to return much faster than they realized.

"This is Rear Admiral Horche of the Federal Stellar Navy Carrier Ranger, to unknown trio of vessels, identify yourselves at once." The SCVN-2817 was one the premeir carriers in the Federal Navy. Almost a decade old the carrier was due for a major refit of some of her minor non-essential systems and was slated for a visit to Chimera Staryards after she was sent back core system wise. For the moment though the Admiral Horche until relieved by Admiral Ortiz would be conducting a first contact mission.

Rail slugs slowly, but surely, punched their way through the hull of the Au-170. Like wind eroding a rock face, the armour peeled from the hull. Inevitably the crew was exposed to the harsh environment of space. Fleet Colonel Nephil was to go down in history as a loser, a failure, an addict and officially as the victim of a pirate ambush.

The Commander and crew of the Au-170 was stripped of its name and honour after an incident in which it fired on a civilian transport, mistaking them for arms smugglers. The Aumanii frigate Guile was stripped of its name and reissued its production number. In the Fleet this is the lowest shame that could be inflicted and rightfully so. Fleet Colonel Nephil was under the influence of drugs when he ordered his crew to open fire on the Valent. Nephil's lapse in judgement led to the deaths of one hundred and seven tourists. No one would miss the crew of the Au-170...

--------


Forty five minutes later and the 7th Aumanii Battle Fleet was still en route, making it no secret either. The fleet had been pinging constantly, actively searching for the alleged pirates and to a lesser extent, the Guile. The commander of the fleet, one Admiral Kyuss, was a proud man and detested the use of stealth tactics. Kyuss belonged to the old guard of the Aumanii fleet, the men who believed in the old doctrines and tactics of the AF fleet. Admiral Kyuss prefered brute force and overtness to subtlety and finesse and organized the fleet to reflect this. Kyuss was very well connected in the Aumanii Fleet hierarchy and received what ever he requested.

'Nine Super Dreadnoughts, eighteen cruisers and 22 frigates...I think we're more then well equipped!' laughed Admiral Kyuss as he lounged in the command throne of his flagship, the AuSD Bekanel. The ever present executive officer Burjilo nodded stiffly, hands clasped tightly behind him. Kyuss glanced up at Burjilo and asked 'What are you so nervous about X.O., they're just pirates!' Burjilo sighed. 'Admiral, we're coming up on the last known location of the Au-170 and we still haven't found any sign of them.' said Burjilo in a defeatist tone. Forty five minutes is a long time to wait in an ambush situation.

High Command knew there was little chance of survival for Nephil and his crew. Kyuss didn't care, knowing the sordid past of those they had come to save. Combat was all that the Admiral cared about. A chance to kill those who deserved to die. Anyone who took action against the Aumanii regime, even though it was just a lousy addict and his gang of punks.

As the Aumanii 7th Battle Fleet approached they found nothing, not a trace until...'Admiral Im detecting wreckage, sir. Its the Au-170! shouted the ships sensor operator. Kyuss sat up in his seat, leaning heavily on the arm rest. 'Send forth the scouting units. Sweep the area, ping everything and anything!' ordered the Admiral, authority suddenly overtaking his words. 'We have weapons fire coming in from several locations...Sensors have gathered the ships belong to New York and Jersey and Crimmond.' said the sensor operator, updating the situation. Admiral Kyuss' eyes narrowed 'Crimmond! It must have been them that destroyed the Au-170! The cowards must have wanted revenge!' said the Admiral roughly. Burjilo gave Kyuss a dubious look and spoke 'Admiral, the Anti-Funitists defeated Crimmond in the battle of lunar yard 17 hundreds of years ago, I very much doubt...' Kyuss raised a hand to silence the executive officer. 'Put the fleet on alert, if there are any more of these cowards around here we'll kill them! All of them!'

The crews of the 134th sat stunned as the ship before them was torn apart.
Mando sat, stunned, then she spoke, barely above a whisper.
'Comms, send a message to the fleet that hailed us.'
'Yes Squadron Commander, comms open.'

'Unknown vessels, this is Mando Sarn, commander of the 134th squadron, 5th Ondarri fleet, we are exploring this system, we sent two drones, both of which were destroyed, by some unknown hostile force. Identifiy yourselves, and explain why you just attacked a critically underpowered and under armed ship, we do not wish for the same kind of reception that we may interpret as hostile.' she had truned as white as a sheet and sat bolt upright in her chair.

'I think you should go lie down Mando, you seem badly shaken.' Murmered Brith, who placed a hand on his captain's shoulder.

'No, I have to be here, if anything went wrong I should be at least here, where I belong.' she looked up and gave Brith a weak smile.
Brith sighed and nodded. 'If you say so Mando.' he then turned back to the console in his own chair and checked over the unknown ships.

Admiral Horche looked over toward his Xo and mumbled low enough so that it wasnt transmitted over toward the alien vessels, "I hate having to explain the politics of this region to others..." A few seconds passed before Horche replied to the inquiry. "The Patrol Cutter belonged to a hostile faction for which they and others affilated with them are nothing but trouble. As for your two probes we may have picked them up by our tracking base. If you'd like we can get you records of the previous thirty minutes so that you maybe able to figure out what happened to your two probes...now why were you probing the Sol system?"

Admiral Horche was the suspicious sort but that was true of all line Admirals in the Federal Navy. Ortiz would have by now been passively targeting the three vessels while going through the diplomatic rounds. The fact Horche didnt was a rarity amongst the flagstaff. Captain Halycon, the commanding officer aboard the SCVN-2817 Ranger stood to the side and just behind Horche and mumbled a few words to him, "Admiral should we put several fighters on alert?" Horche shook his head and mumbled back, "No, these folks are going to be suspicious of us at the moment, lets not do anything too active unless they give us reason."

Whiskey Flight in the meantime was back down on Charon taken beneath the surface of the small moon and to the small hangers to be rearmmed with the rest of the bomber group.

'Good to see they have sharp diplomatic tongue's.' Murumered Brith, Mando smiled weakly, her face still chalky white.
'Put the fighter crews on alert, they may extend their warm greeting to us.' Mando whispered.
'Should we launch them?'
'No, no definately not, just put them onto alert, oh, and contact Canna, we may need the 5th fleet here if things go horribly wrong.'
'Yes Squadron Commander.'

'We still request that you at least give us a name, the name of your order, faction or civiliztion at least. We have been looking for inhabitied systems other than our own for quite some time, this was one of the last, a backwater in our search, if you will. We certainley did not expect to find space-faring nations, or several, for that matter.'

The Annisquam and battleship watched as the Crimm vessel was attacked. They also intercepted the message promising war. The NY&J ship only beat the Largentians to the job, Largent would enter the war if it were to occur.

Back on Charon there was a meeting amongst the governmetn officials on Charon and Mars, the two likely fronts. There were very large numbers of militray personel in the area and renforcements would not be far away. Only a select few would know of this war and even fewer would know of its outcome.

As the fleets were prepared a final message was sent to the Squornshelans.


To: SSV Razor

A crime was commited today and unacceptable actions were taken. War is on the horizon and it is our duty to join this war as we were part of its starting. Now we must ask if you will join in this war. The Crimm vessel took unacceptable actions by claiming international space and the NY&J vessel had a right to do what it did. However, we could use an ally if we are to support them. Will you join our cause?

As the debris from the PC-43 spun through space, along with a few bodies, it became apparent that the other ship had made contact.

Another ship was approaching, at an extreme speed. Three others joined it, dwarved by the mass of the dreanought they surrounded. Seems that the Crimmond Naval command was looking for a fight... until the lead ship started to broadcast. "This Fleet Admiral Telsia Munro, commanding teh Crimmond First Fleet, onboard the CSS Specter. There has been an unprovoked attack on a Crimmond naval vessel. You have exactly eight minutes to think up a damn good excuse before I start increasing your fleet's numbers while decreasing their combat efficency." In other words, ripping ships into pieces.

More ships joined, as the entire patrolling fleet was picked up along the way. Soon a dozen ships, most capital, were heading straight towards the place where the PC-43 was, a few minutes ago.

ooc: To avoid hijacking this thread should we creat a new thread for the possible war?

OOC: no no, quite alright to keep it here, I don't mind this deviation, besides it is technically my fault. :P

Admiral Horche began to answer to answer the Ondarri before combat alarms sounded out at the arrival of multiple new warships. "...If you'll excuse me for a moment Commander." The communication line with the Ondarii went dead and Horche walked over toward the LIDAR officer. Looking over his shoulder, he grumbled as the signatures turned hostile red coming up as Crimmond navy. He wasnt worried though, even when the threat was reported from the communications officer. Horche scoffed and mumbled over toward his Xo, "Just how long until the 15th returns?" Captain Holycon looked down at his pocket watch and said in an equally low voice, "Ten minutes at most at their present speed..its more than likey they know our situation on long distance LIDAR..."

Horche nodded and looked over toward his communications operator, "Has Last Hope Naval Station gone to alert yet?" The communications officer nodded his head and replied, "They're waiting for us to give them orders. Last Hope has reported weapons coming online, and Charon's anti space facilities are beginning to come online. Pluto's anti space facilities are fully fuctional...3rd Fleet requests our status..Captain Hertz has sent a distress call to Admiral Shakes flag command aboard the Bunkerhill." Horche grumbled and looked over toward the communication officer, "Inform Admiral Ortiz of the situation..tell him Admiral Shake on the 3rd Fleet wants a status report, then get me on call with the crimmond vessels. They want an explination..then fine."

Truth be told Horche didnt think he owed the Crimmond any sort of explination. And force of words when it came to the Crimmond didnt exactly scare him. Fleets in the area would begin to pick up ground based signitures of weapon systems coming online while in space it was another matter entirely. Currently in the area the 16th Battlegroup numbered over one hundred capital craft. Of course in the Federal Republic Space Navy a capital ship was anything bigger than a Frigate and thus forty Frigates, thirty destroyers, 26 cruisers of various classes, five battleships and two fleet Carriers comprised the Battlegroup. On long range sensors a fleet of identical size was approaching rapidly.

"This is Admiral Horche, of the 16th Battlegroup, the 5th Federal Republic Stellar Fleet, your vessel entered restricted space, refused to leave twice, and from my reports...attempted at using some archic form of communications to claim the area as belonging to them..your navy has no jurisdiction in this area. You want to go claim space, go try it around Jupiter. This is our corner of the solar system. And the Republic does not take kindly to those who refuse to listen to warnings.Admiral Horche, out." The communication channel was cut and soon the five Resolute class Battleships each one just slightly over 1.5 km long began to move ahead of the fleet Carriers. The Frigates, Destroyers and Cruisers picking up defensive positions and weapons systems across the fleet began to power up. They had, had plenty of time to shore up the navy with new ships, learn from the Menelmacari on ship building technique, and even take some technology when possible. This wasnt going to nearly be a pushover.

On the 15th Battlegroup Admiral Ortiz had readied the first flight of fighters, interceptors, and bombers for launch. Off the bridge he was down in the Carriers warfare control center. Initial targets being picked out even the Ondarri vessels had their own special designation incase they became hostile. And now the Aumanii were going to show up in force it was reported as the 3rd Fleet detected movements of Aumanii vessels in the general area of where their Patrol Cutter was destroyed..but they had yet to take any movement against the nearby patrolships of the 4th Fleet..which was a most assurdedly good sign.

Of course there were two other powers in this area as well..Largent and Squornshelous neither of which were known to the Federal Republic and were thus for the time being ignored. Right now the Republic had its dance card filled and they would just need to wait. There was so much which could be focused on and emergencies took priority over most.

‘Commander, I’m ready weapons systems coming online, alot of weapons systems coming online.’
‘Call the 5th fleet, we need backup now!’
‘I don’t know if they’re targeti-’
‘Do it!’ Mando yelled, she then made a choking sound and ran off of the bridge.
‘Make the call Hanhaff; I’m going to see how she is.’ Brith followed in Mando’s direction.

The small bathroom to the rear of Mando’s ready room was very basic in its design, and there, rather unceremoniously, was the commander of the 134th squadron hurling her guts up.
‘Mando? You ok?’ Brith asked quietly.
‘Yeah, gooo’ she wretched again. ‘I’ll be ok in a minute, make sure the 5th fleet gets he-’ her head disappeared into the basin, yet again.


Five Minutes Later.

The ships were stretched paper thin before they returned to normal reality around 100 of the cruisers and Destroyers had burst into the edge of Sol, amongst this was a single battleship, on the bridge of the battleship Ondarri.
‘Mando! Sit. Rep. now.’ Canna snapped
Mando’s face appeared on the screen infront of her.
‘Ships, a lot of ships and weapons that can be used against us, I’m not sure who these “Noo yerkians” intend to use them against, but we needed protection just incase, there’s also a large amount of warships headed this way.’

Her face was replaced with a screen, the camera panned over to the entering warships, her voice still floated over the camera.
‘There’s a hundred or more ships Admiral, we also believe that they stole our droid earlier, then when we sent another they bothered talking, I think we may at least not get shot up if we help the Noo Yerkians.’ Mando was speaking rapidly and quickly.
‘Fine, all squadrons!’ Canna cried, the screen before her filled with 32 faces.
‘Launch both of your fighter wings, close up your squadrons and be prepared to engage the hostile ships.’
‘Yes Fleet commander!’ muttered all the voices, each overlapping.
‘Draze! Get me a communication sent to these Noo Yerkians or whatever they’re called.’
‘Comms open.’ Draze muttered.

‘Noo Yerkian vessels, we shall aid you against this threat, to show there are no…hard feelings or hostility between us, we may have a decent technological advantage over these “dangerous” ships of yours, good hunting to us both.’ Canna was blunt and stiff in her message, but at least it would be clear.

Squadron 134
‘Get Blue and Red Squadrons up and running, all weapons charge and ready, issue blasters to all crewmen.’ Yelled Brith.

Mando sat in her ready room drinking a cup of “chai” something similar to earthen tea, but with a slightly stronger, and sweeter taste, she shivered slightly and shut her eyes and sobbed.

Walker Station, Charon Space

As Admiral Swanton sat in his office reviewing fleet numbers the ships began taking off. Five entire fleets of ships were stationed there and all of them were being deployed. Then, another five fleets were stationed by Mars.

As the red lights flashed and the sirens flared Largent prepared for its first official war. Nearly seven hundred ships loomed beyond the station. The docks were in total eclipse. Leading the forces was the LSS Firestorm (http://www.wolfsshipyard.mystarship.com/Drawings/Vorlons/Vorlon_DN.gif), the pride of the Largentian Sol Fleets. Along with it nearly fifty battleships, fifty carriers, two hundred destroyers, cruisers, and gravships, not to mention the countless fighters and landing ships.

As the fleets were being prepared a cover story for the mobalization was also being prepared. Operation Red Tide would forever be known as the Unsung War.

Zach Station, Mars Space

Just as on Charon the fleets were being prepared. However, unlike on Charon, Mars had the aid of the Earth fleet, composed of almost a thousand ships so Mars would keep many of its forces to protect itself. However, its Plasma Coil Platforms would be transported to whatever planet found itself on the front line.

On Mars, in a massive underground bunker Admiral Coletti and Minister Schelzie were meeting to discuss the protection of Largent's territory on Mars while the war was going on. A plan was agreed on that ships would have to be sacrificed and be replaced with platforms and ground forces. It would be a risk but it was one that they were willing to take.

OOC:

Allow me to be the first to set a few ground rules here, I've spoken with Melkor over this entire affair, and if we can tone down the number of folks involved in any upcoming war all the better. I told Melkor I wasnt gonna make this a big alliance vs alliance thing on my part because frankly and I agree it'll turn into a bitchfest. And lets try to keep numbers down.

IC:

"Ondarri vessels, this is Fleet Admiral Ortiz, of the combined 5th Federal Fleet, we appreciate your support however we request you stand down your vessels. If this situation can be avoided through verbal words all the better, should it come to open conflict however we do not need anyone else to fight our battles for us." Admiral Ortiz moved his left hand up and rubbed his forhead this after action report was going to be a headache.

OOC:

Allow me to be the first to set a few ground rules here, I've spoken with Melkor over this entire affair, and if we can tone down the number of folks involved in any upcoming war all the better. I told Melkor I wasnt gonna make this a big alliance vs alliance thing on my part because frankly and I agree it'll turn into a bitchfest. And lets try to keep numbers down.


ooc: Why'd you talk to Melkor about it. Also, how about we just allow the people directly involved in the RP currently join in, unless there is some other nation that for some reason would be directly involved.

ooc: Why'd you talk to Melkor about it. Also, how about we just allow the people directly involved in the RP currently join in, unless there is some other nation that for some reason would be directly involved.


OOC:
It came up as a topic of discussion in the NS mIRC channel. Melkor being the Arda grand poomba we talked about it for a few moments and I told him I would attempt my damndest if Crimmond would not to drag the alliances into this. Because NS has a dominio affect of alliances which ALWAYS ends up in a bitchfest. And the last Melkor needs is one of his allies ignoring someone who he'd like to get revenge on in the future(that being myself)

An area of space near the Razor shimmered as five ships reverted from hyperspace. The centrepiece of the new formation was a 5km long Space Destroyer with the name Xaxis painted on the bow. Accompanying it were a 300 m long cruiser which was designed to destroy fighters and bombers. In a loose screen around the two larger ships were three more gunboats. The Razor joined up with the formation and relayed the information it had collected.
Admiral Tizok Harl of the Xaxis took over command of Squornshelan forces on the scene. He sent a response to the Largentians.

Transmission Commences
--------------------------------
From SSV Xaxis
To Largentian Forces

We agree that the Crimm ship had no right to claim international space, and have no quarrel with the actions taken by NY&J, but a government decision will have to be made before we commit ourselves to war. Squornshelan forces will remain here to monitor the situation until a decision has been made. As of now we will follow our standard ROE, and only attack if threatened.
---------------------------------
Transmission Ends

Having been ignored by the NY&J forces to this point, the Squornshelan taskforce remained where it was, collecting information to send back home.

OOC:

I have some questions for Largent and Squournshelous.

First of all, why?! Why are you guys coming to the edge of the solar system to deal with a skirmish? As far as I see it Ondarri, Greg and Crimmond will be the direct combatants. Though, the Ondarri can just cut their losses and run at any time.

War is not a laughing matter and one should not throw themselves into it lightly. If Arda decided to turn this into a clusterfuck I doubt you two would last long.

My nation has a reason to be out this far, a so called "Pirate Ambush" and a previous history with Crimmond. Though, if NYNJ asks me to leave well enough alone, I will.

Squornshelous has maintained patrols throughout the entire solar system to snoop into anything that involves first contact with new races ever since our clashes with the Zoir Space Pirates. Besides, we're currently in an observer mode. A nation that feels it has the authority to claim areas of international space would be quite concerning to the Squornshelan government, since this would hamper our ability to make these patrols.

As to our survivability, Squornshelous has a population of 3.998 billion and has had a frightening economy since fall of '03. According to the NS Economy XML feed we have a GNP of $97,189,182,428,945.98 with $34,855,118,530,596 of that going to the military.

OOC:

I have some questions for Largent and Squournshelous.

First of all, why?! Why are you guys coming to the edge of the solar system to deal with a skirmish? As far as I see it Ondarri, Greg and Crimmond will be the direct combatants. Though, the Ondarri can just cut their losses and run at any time.

War is not a laughing matter and one should not throw themselves into it lightly. If Arda decided to turn this into a clusterfuck I doubt you two would last long.

My nation has a reason to be out this far, a so called "Pirate Ambush" and a previous history with Crimmond. Though, if NYNJ asks me to leave well enough alone, I will.

I have a large colony on Charon and wont have anyone, whether it be Crimmond or all of Arda, claiming international space all around me. I don't take war lightly but this is a fight I will see to the finish. Also, I haven't done anything officially yet.

OOC:

With all the divergent story line that is present in NS I dont doubt it. But, NYNJ has a long rp history claiming Charon...that and the planet Mars has its own map :P

www.sunsetrpg.com check there for the full colour map of Mars.

OOC:

With all the divergent story line that is present in NS I dont doubt it. But, NYNJ has a long rp history claiming Charon...that and the planet Mars has its own map :P

www.sunsetrpg.com check there for the full colour map of Mars.

He claims the entire planet? Well I've had land there for a while. I could dig up a link if you feel it necissary. As for Mars, I have a link for that too, and once Sunset responds to the TG I sent them a while ago I will have a puppet in the Mars region and on the mars map. However, I wont argue it anymore if you decide to ignore me and don't want my help in the war.

He claims the entire planet? Well I've had land there for a while. I could dig up a link if you feel it necissary. As for Mars, I have a link for that too, and once Sunset responds to the TG I sent them a while ago I will have a puppet in the Mars region and on the mars map. However, I wont argue it anymore if you decide to ignore me and don't want my help in the war.

OOC:

I dont claim the entire planet..but I've been on Charon since before even II existed. I've got a signifficant claim.

OOC:

I dont claim the entire planet..but I've been on Charon since before even II existed. I've got a signifficant claim.

And I have an average or slightly small claim, size wise, however, I have a lot of stuff there not to mention all the fleets and space stations there.

OOC: I'm not dragging ANY Metus members into this. I hate RPs that turn into 'get as many allies as you can so it becomes so confusing and so OOC that the whole thing is ignored and I survive'. If I get whooped, I'll take my whooping. If I whoop you, I'd hope you'd do the same. That is... if it comes to a fight.

IC: The fleet slowed and vectored to face the main force in the area. Munro's image appeared on teh screens of all accepting ships. "You still have two minutes to think up an excuse as to why you ignored an International Law that has literally stood since the United States Coast Gaurd and destroyed a cutter and the thirty men aboard."

The sheer size of the Specter was impressive, the rest of the medium sized ship around it being made to looke like escort ships. Even the battle carrier and the heavy battlecruiser in the fleet, which were the largest besides the dreadnought. They only measured a quarter of it's length.

The Fleet began to spread out, covering a wide area of space as the Admiral continued. "This was a peacefull first contact and the Intelligence Cruiser, the CSS Monitor, you fired on a ship that had made NO hostile moves. They had not charged any weapons, armed any missiles or raised any shields. They were securing an area of space and using the power of the Crimmond Imperial Fleet as a deterant to a fight. Obviously none of your instructors told you how to be diplomatic when dealing with a ship that can't even scratch your damn hull! Now would you please care to justify yourselves again, or do we have to show you what happens when people face Crimmond fleets. Or perhaps we should wait for the Auman fleet to arrive so they can explain it."

OOC:How big is this battlecruiser? You keep aluding to size, but nothing said so far

IC:

"Crimmond warships, maybe your scanners faulty, but you're numerically outnumbered and outgunned in a corner of the galaxy that isnt under your control. Your ship entered an area that was not international space, you can take your claim of international space and shove it. Yourselves are also in violation of our set up EXCLUSION zone around the the planets of Pluto and Charon. Your vessel IGNORED twice warnings to remove themselves from the exlcusion zone and reading my reports correctly they were dispatched by three planet based bombers. The Crimmond Imperial Fleet once again has NO jurisdiction in this area and we will not be intimidated by idle threats. Now YOU are hereby requested to leave this area of space."

Admiral Ortiz on the 15th Battlegroup was now the voice the ships of the Crimmond fleet heard as the 103 warships of the combined battlegroup moved into a position to park themselves behind the now spreading ships. From the decks of the Midway and the Ranger, began to launch fighters and bombers from her decks, as the Leyte Gulf and the 5th Fleet Flag Forrestal followed suit. Similar in scope to what had hit the Cutter before they were now more numerous in scope. The guns on the warships in the fleet began passive targeting solutions not going active just yet but that would only take a mere handful of seconds before active solutions were obtained.

"And furthermore, how dare you send of all things a Captain who refuses to diplomatically withdraw from an area claimed by another nation. Not once, but TWICE and then you have the utter gual to bring your warships here..if I didnt know any better you were itching for a battle..."

Admiral Ortiz cut the communication channel at that and looked over toward his XO Commodore Pleshette who set the the clock to two minutes. Ortiz looked over toward Commodore Pleshette and grumbled a few hushed curses before openly talking. "No one is dumb enough to begin a war in a position as tactically hopeless as they are in now..." Pleshette shrugged her shoulders and responded with a statement that rung true.."If they're erratic enough to quote ancient laws of the sea which dont apply to space and attempt to claim international space for their own benefit then who knows what they'll do."

A wideband transmission was sent from the Aumanii fleet. It was firm and direct to the point.

'To whom it may concern:

The Aumanii government has given authority to terminate the presence of the Crimmond fleet in this sector. The government will not stand blatant acts of piracy and I will not allow the pirate forces of Crimmond to destroy our comrades. Reap what you sow cowards! You will be bested once more!'

-----------

Fleet Admiral Kyuss stood-to in the charting room of the AuSD Bekanel, planning the attack quickly and several minutes before issuing the transmission. The room itself was roughly the size of a gymnasium. Darkly lit except for a large spherical projection in the center of the room. The senior officers of the AuSD Bekanel had gathered themselves alongside their commander.

'The enemy have arrayed themselves quite an impressive formation. Their vessels are massive compared to our own, so we can expect them to be quite heavily armed.' said Tactical officer Parabahl smoothly and went on to add 'Of course, they shouldn't be too difficult to hit. They seem to be trapped in the past, we've detected no attempt at ECM or any other conventional counter measures. This looks like it will be a turkey shoot.'

Admiral Kyuss nodded intently and glanced towards his electronic warfare officer 'Have the fleet deploy ECM and target suspected sensor suites with Maser fire. If they wont try to conceal themselves, we might as well do it.' said the Admiral. Tipha the E.W. Officer nodded and made a few suggestions of his own, 'Admiral, I think the largest ships are most obviously the C&C for the rest of the enemy formation. It would be wise to give them some, special attention. Kyuss cocked an eye brow at Tipha. 'I suggest we launch atomics. The damage caused will be minimal, but hopefully the radiation and EM will mess with their comms and sensors.'

'Very well! said the commander, clapping his hands together confidently. 'We will start the assault in earnest. Deploying ship-killer drones, atomic weapons en masse and of course a screening sortie of fighters. I'll have the 3rd, 8th and 27th squadrons move in a sweeping action across the enemies bow, hopefully this will dissuade the enemy from engaging the Americans.' as the Admiral said all this holographic images appeared high above them, moving along paths that were layed out by the flick of Kyuss' wrist. 'The dreadnoughts and carriers of the fleet will move with the enemy, focusing on destroying the largest of the enemy capital ships one at a time. The rest of the fleet will wait in a screening pattern before the dreadnoughts and carriers and be deployed as necessary. Furthermore, from this point onward the fleet is to fire at will and to their own discretion.' Kyuss, satisfied with how his plan looked in the holo-projection above him nodded to his executive officer, the X.O. in turn relayed the orders to the bridge where they sent them out to the fleet.

Soon after the message was broadcast the Admirals plan swung into action. Hundreds of drones and missiles streaked their way in a zig-zag pattern towards their intended targets. The 3rd, 8th and 27th squadrons, cloaked by Electronic Counter Measures flew to their way points as promptly as they could manage. The bulk of the fleet fired their weapons at range towards the Crimmond fleet. EPD Cannon stabbing at the enemy in bright iradescent bars of piercing light, cutting away sections of the enemy ships when contact was made.

[OOC: About 3500 meters in length.]

The dreadnought grinds to a halt, literally coming to a full stop, cauing the fleet to swerve as they compensate. Apparently the Auman message got their attention.

After nearly ten minutes of silence and nonmovement from the fleet, the dreadnought turns from the opposition and accelerates towards the inner solar system. It does this so suddenly it actually clips two cruisers and the battle carrier, the rest of teh fleet reorienting and charging away from Pluto, trying to keep up with the dreadnought.

One message is sent. "We'll be back..."

As the dreadnought travels, clamps are extended and three battlecruisers, the heavy battlecruiser, the battle carrier and three light cruisers literally are attached to the ship. The sight of nine ships all locked together is very interesting, to say the least.

Moments later, a charged energy field is emited and a tear through the fabric of space opens, the dreadnought literally dragging the the others through it. The rest of the fleet continues on course. WIth the biggest targets suddenly gone... the incoming fire is easily avoided by the fleet simply scattering and continuing to the inner system seperately..

[OOC: Now that Auman just pissed off my fleet more than the New Yawkers, I suggest a new thread]

OOC: Agreed

http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=8319784#post8319784