NationStates Jolt Archive

This is open to anyone who has representation on the Trans-National Exchange. (http://www.freewebs.com/santa_barbara/ownership2.htm) Right now those would be: Der Angst, The Ctan, Menelmacar, Ma-Tek, Sketch, Vrak, Midlonia, the Shakhtal, and anyone who is part o' the Klatch International Opportunities Fund. I guess its a sign of my being behind the times that many of those aren't RPers anymore on this site...

>TNE mainframe link established... success

>Initiating membership notification... success

>Awaiting membership connections... pending

>Begin transmission mode

Members of the TNE. Honored Republics of Santa Barbara. Honored corporate polities in attendance. It is my pleasure to announce that the TNE is reconvening to deliberate a matter of importance not just to us, but to the planet Mars and perhaps the well-being of Terran civilization itself.

For some time the Martian system has existed under grave threat. This threat consists of a multi-species alien presence known collectively as the Tyranids (http://s4.invisionfree.com/The_Planet_Mars/index.php?showforum=12). For your convinience I have included what [data] we have on their form, capabilities and intent. That the Tyranid Invasion took Mars by surprise, and utterly destroyed the CoFedCo presence in Santa Barbaran Noachia (http://s4.invisionfree.com/The_Planet_Mars/index.php?showtopic=244), and currently threatens all surrounding areas, however, is no secret.

Of more relevance to us here is the necessary solution to this threat. An international force holds the line against spread of this contagion, but ITDO (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/ITDO) policies shortly following the invasion were clear: Noachia is not to be attacked by foreign powers, not even in the hopes of eradicating the Tyranid presence.

This policy is, of course, undesirable as a long-term solution and appears aimed solely at preventing other polities from usurping legal authority over Noachia from it's rightful owners, under the guise of liberation.

This, at least yet, has not occurred, and we now question the reasoning behind this apparent need for such paranoid policy making. Has any Martian nation expressed intent to make such a land grab? While Martian history is filled with wars of territorial conquest, and disputes over borders and ownership, no powers capable of defeating the Tyranids have made any inclination towards conquest of Santa Barbaran territory - even with the collapse of the CoFedCo and the ITDO.

Nevertheless, this situation cannot continue indefinitely. Although the Tyranids have largely become passive, perhaps burrowing deep into and consolidating their grip on Mars, their nature - so much as we can surmise - means they will inevitably seek to expand with much violence. This must not be allowed to happen.

Although neither the old Federal Government, the Conglomerate or CoFedCo exist (and therefore have no claims on SBN), legal ownership of the infested land still remains with TNE polities.

Utopia Mining Company, Kako Habitat Construction, Ortega Arms Company, Groovelico Fashion Electric and the Aegis Corporation, and/or parent conglomerates, are now called upon to testify as to suggested courses of action. It should be noted that all data indicates only territory remains in SBN to be reclaimed; all facilities, structures and population are a total loss.

Following this testimony, a Decree confirming or denying intent to reclaim the colony is to be formulated and voted on by the TNE. Members are of course free to discuss this issue at any point until then. I am opening this channel to such discussion.

Imperial Trade Conglomerate EDA Brilliant Sabre, Free Stellar Space

Semir-randil resisted the urge to pace the cabin. Mars, Mars, Mars. Alot to do with Mars occupied much of the Executive Council's time, of late. It was pleasing, but equally disturbing for the reasons involved. He had, just twenty-four hours earlier, requested the dispatch of the IDSS To Seek, To Find on an extra-solar mission - and yet even that, too, had been related to Mars.

And no word yet from Aglar regarding Trafalgar, the planned extra-terrestrial command post for the new CSF division, Stellar Intelligence - a detail which had been carefully overlooked in the statement prepared, instead attributing the command post to Vilya Elenosto. Of course, that was true.

But not entirely true. Semir had no illusions that the Mars nations would not be utterly aware of that. Nor did he see any need to insult their intelligence by telling them that. It was easier to share the illusion that nobody spied on anyone else - ever. Preferable.

Now, Mars again. In the absence of Rialla, Semir was Acting CEO of the ITC - an uncomfortable position at the moment. The Conglomerate stood to lose millions because of a ridiculous resolution just recently passed by that dinosaur of varying degrees of bureaucratic nonsense referred to as the United Nations.

Semir sighed, pushing down a sense of ire that the more justly arranged Treaty of the Alliance of Harmony and Stability had been widely declined because it was just, and plugged the uncomfortable neural interface unit into his neck. It stung, and itched, and felt like a small fire burning just below the skin.

But he, being Nenya, and being decidedly more adept with certain abilities than any other of his species, did not mind overmuch. Carefully, he disassociated the pain receptors in that portion of his neck. The pain in his neck accordingly ceased.

Did nothing for the developing headache, though.

{Immediately he was aware of a great deal more. Here, in Commonality C-Space, Semir-randil was no longer Semir-randil the physical. He was inhabiting a Neural Construct, and as such, did not obey the same rules as the various Artificial Semantic Intelligences that roved the faintly blue vista before him.

In fact, there were no rules for him. He had complete access to all governmental areas, including all military intelligence - except to the memories and thought processes of the sentient intelligences. It was the one advantage of the being the Commander-in-Chief of the Commonality Armed Forces: you got to see almost everything anyone noted in a report.

Naturally, the downside was that he couldn't possibly hope to oversee all of that, on his own. Even Bao Ling's inventions had limits - so, then, the existance of the Taxis was required.

When Semir-randil requested information, a sub-sentient AI referred to as a Taxi scoured the MESH for the information. When it was found - usually in the millisecond-range - it was retrieved by the Taxi and returned. Essentially, the process was identical to those used by internet seach engines - but a little more complicated in execution.

Fortunately, the wealth of information contained within the government files was not what he was interested in, this time. He limited the use of the primitive neural interface unit to matters of urgency - and this he viewed as one.

The ITC meeting had convened and concluded earlier in the day; the board had given Semir autonomy, partly because they knew he could be depended on.

But mostly because the Imperial Sociological Guild had approved of Semir's plan - and a third of the board members were members of the Guild, which was not an insignificant voting bloc.

Semir eased into the Conglomerate databanks, frowning at the little cluster of red flags in the energy market. Smaller Commonality energy start-ups, only a year or two old in most cases, were dying. He resolved to push for a new policy towards the UN at the next Council meeting - and moved on.

Carefully, he insinuated himself into the TNE link.}

George Spring, now President of the Utopia Mining Company, didn't know that the TNE was reconvening, after such a long period of inactivity.

He knew, of course, that the TNE had been redirected from one 'safe' and 'objective' mainframe to another, beginning with the old military's MP1 network, to a Knootian spaceship, to others which proved to be little more than fronts for various corporate interests. Including his own - under the mismanagement of his former boss, the once President of UMC, a man whose name would soon be forgotten and whose mysterious absence was attributed to the general chaos and loss of life caused by the plague and the disintegration of the CoFedCo.

Now was a new era. The old corporate nationalists were gone, their power base of wealthy and generously willing, thriving businesses and moguls were no more. They were all as dead as the hapless colonists of Noachia.

Logging on, waiting for security (as usual), he saw that the new issue was, in fact, that wayward colony. He chuckled. It would be beautiful, revealing his new plan at the same time as this. Of course, he didn't have permission to reveal the plan at all - not until KHC's board finalized the transfer.

Still, it would be beautiful - at least half the substantial colony re-opened. Lower gravity! Convinient distance! Sure there were those tyranids, but that's why there were income taxes now. Taxes he didn't pay - but billions did. The ITDO never had proper backing for a large scale military operation - the UTR did, and best of all, UMC-KHC wouldn't have to pay a dime for it.

Not enjoying delegating authority to others, George dove right in.

"Members of the TNE. It is my pleasure to announce that the Utopia Mining Company gives full support to the proposed decree. Noachia includes some of the most profitable mineral resource deposits on Mars; the United Trade Republics simply cannot afford to give them up. The investment has been heavy, and will continue to be so, but our board of directors is confident that the projected returns will be worth every credit."

{Semir had decided not to speak early, but instead wait until others had spoken. He wasn't entirely sure why he wanted to do it that way...

But he had. At any rate, the representation of him-}

-smiled faintly, amber eyes matching the expression shaping his lips. "Of course, we too of the Imperial Trade Conglomerate support any action to re-establish Santa Barbaran Noachia as productive, and are willing to provide considerable, cost-effective services towards that end.

"What those services may be, of course, rests on the decisions reached 'here'. As an example, we could request that IsnCo waive all costs - or at least a significant proportion thereof - on the transportation of materiel to Mars from Earth (via the Mars-Earth Highway) that would be related to any potential campaign to retake Santa Barbaran Noachia.

"But I can also make assurances that not only the ITC, but our home state, the Commonality, is full-willing to provide support and assistance, should it be required. Being on the Commonality Executive Council myself, I can guarantee that this is so."

With GFE's approval, the initial talks pointed the way - Santa Barbara would retake the colony and wipe out the Tyranids on Mars.

Julia Bennings, Chairman of the TNE, addressed Semir's offer of support.

"Regarding the gracious offer of the Commonality to assist in this endeavor, we wholeheartedly accept. The Mars-Earth highway will be of use to our slower reaction-drive transportation, and we are willing to pay a fee for this, albeit we have limited funding. Which brings me to the offer of support. Will the Commonality be able to provide direct armed support? If so, that would push the timetable up considerably."

{There was no consideration required on Semir's part, here. This, at least, was already decided-}

-and so his representation smiled slightly, nodded faintly, allowed one shoulder to twitch upwards very vaguely. Positive reinforcement through body-language was remarkably easy through a machine... Or so it should be. Of course, it was also eminently obvious.

"The Commander-in-Chief of the Colonial Space Force - more commonly referred to as the CSF Vilya Elenosto Detachment, of course - has assured the Council that the CSF-VED can provide logistical and/or direct force projection if required. The Executive Council is also full-willing - with the support of the People - to apply that capacity in the pursuit of our goals discussed here and now.

"After all, the People consider Santa Barbara, in all it's manifestations, to be an honoured and worthy friend - as is, of course, Mars itself."

A smile, head tilting slightly to one side, as if asking a question - but clearly, his tone contradicts his simulation's posture. "And it is well known that the Iluvauromeni do not shy from the responsibilities that friendship can bring."

-Did you read over the latest transmission High General?
-Indeed, I did. And really, what of it?
-What of it? The Santa Barbarans are our friends, our allies. We…
-We cannot afford that luxury now. Our resources are stretched a bit at the moment. Given the support in Clairmont, with…what…the King promising more aid there? By the Clam. And the situation in Karmanyaka. And now us readjusting out stance toward Ilek-Vaad, no…we cannot do it.
-But certainly the FKC itself can do it.
-And who? LOW? New Shiron? DGNT? Can we get them onboard for this? We ourselves have no orbital projection force. We haven’t a single rowboat to go into space.
-You are forgetting the fleet of ships that Hyperion Transport System has.
-Yes, those. Well, they are cargo haulers. But, we lack the military capacity to fight off-world. At the very least, we would need some form of power armour for our troops.
-You say that, but what of the SOATs that went to Clairmont? Did we not send thousands of them along with the Clairmont fleet to fight against the Imperium?

The older walrus’ eyes narrowed. He looked the Intelligence Director and smiled. In fact, they were colleagues but the Defence Minister would have the final say in the deployment of troops.

-You know, I am surprised that you take the position that we should be helping them. Wasn’t it one of them that betrayed the Order and thereby leading to the fiasco we now see on Mercury? Because of that, the Order lost their hold on that planet and our long term plans have been thrown into disarray. No. I am not so inclined to help them. We have the companies we bid on secured within the Klatch itself and our state in particular.
-You have a point, but still, we ought to send someone there to hear them out. As well, I would suggest some form of plans be drawn up in case we do decide to go.
-Hmmrph. Very well. I will contact the rest of the Klatch to see who might be interested. I will focus on the KIOF but then expand from there. We would at least need some heavy lift help from either LOW, New Shiron, or DGNT to even ferry our troops there. Unless we call upon other allies…
-I will leave that in your capable hands, High General. Meanwhile, I have a message to write.

====

**********
Encryption – MED; VDC protocols 907471209471; route: TNE; route…complete
**********

To: TNE
From: Vrak Diplomatic Corps
Subject: Santa Barbaran Noachia

We are interested in hearing out exactly what your proposals will be in order to retake the territory and what level of support you have for this goal. We cannot help but be cautious due to the rather unfortunate incident of the turncoat presently occupying Mercury.

{Semir-randil smiled privately. The system in use had it's advantages; namely that he didn't need to display all emotion. So the smile here was not a smile there - or the frown here was a smile there. In fact, most ICEL communications were doctored on-the-fly, these days. It was safer.

And although nobody but himself and one other had known-}

"I do indeed have a suggestion there. The Commonality's force projection can be best applied from space, of course. On the ground, our forces - excepting certain units - would be ill-suited to combat with the Tyranids.

"But we are, perhaps, uniquely suited to the deployment of seismic weapons."

Semir-the-electronic-avatar smiled faintly. "As I'm sure everyone is quite aware, the Commonality tested it's new kinetic harpoons roughly a year ago, during a barrage enacted on a small island in the south atlantic. The island in particular was, in point of fact, the locale of a particular den of pirates... but that's besides the point.

"At any rate, I propose that Commonality warships utilize kinetic harpoons to set up a killzone. The net effect is the loss of any remaining infrastructure, of course, but we can probably guarantee a high kill rate to a great depth, without lasting environmental effects.

"Essentially, deep-bore kinetic harpoons would expend their energy several kilometers beneath the surface. The harpoons would be specifically deployed, setting up a wavefront that converges on an epicentre - like several thousand earthquakes, only in reverse. The area of damage decreases towards the centre, but a second, high-intensity assault after a lapse in attack ought to eliminate a high proportion of the remaining enemies. Or at least incapacitate. I am, of course, presuming that the Tyranids are vulnerable to being crushed, smashed, and broken into small pieces."

Jeanne Takashima sighed briefly before reacting, her pink-and-fluffy representation looking rather girlish - That she was in her early thirties didn't stop her from showing up 'younger' whenever possible, be that by way of subtly editing information or simply undergoing rejuvenation.

In this particular case, both was true.

"I hope that this would not cause long-term damage with regards to geological stability, yes? You see, it's hard to build a working infrastructure on collapsing landscapes... Furthermore, you might notice that the Tyranids don't actually live in buildings. Casualities due to seismic effects would thus be rather limited. No collapsing walls and ceilings to dent heads, you see. And this isn't even taking Mars' more-or-less inert geology into account.

"So..." She smiled, a hint of arrogance visible - And unlike her counterpart, she was quite interested in this expression being transmitted and noticed - "Any other, efficient rather than exotic, ideas?"

OOC: Will make a couple assumptions here. 1) That time in the Order did lead to some form of rapid communications equipment being bought, exchanged, or what have you. Such equipment can perhaps be viewed as Santa’s knock offs and may be regarded as “primitive” by Messrs. Ma-tek and Der Angst. 2) No holographic projection here. The walrus face you see is the actual walrus. I’m doing this in order to be a part of the fun. I can always edit.

IC:

The Vrakian Ambassador, who as of yet didn’t identify himself and quite possibly may not even be an ambassador, leaned closer into the camera and let off a loud hurmph. He spoke in English quite accurately and, for the most part, his English was fluent. Still, some awkward pauses were in his speech but he refused to use the on-time translation device. Undoubtedly, some of his facial gestures would be unrecognizable as compared to humans and could always be misunderstood. As Der Angst found out long ago due to the after effects of a bombing raid, a smiling walrus didn’t always mean a happy one.

“The only answer to deal with these ‘Tyranids’ is force. But at what cost is Noachia to be secured? How much of a threat do they pose now? Would it not be better just to vacate the area and be done with it?”

He controlled himself when the Nenyan mentioned friendship, but a careful observer would perhaps notice a slight increase in whisker activity.

Julia smiled to herself. Ma-Tek was looking to be an important ally in the coming trials. And although the rest had only percentages of the TNE corporate vote, they were important in focusing support from the increasingly reluctant megacorps.

The Chair of the TNE's avatar did not smile, however, as she was advised to display impartiality. "A farce, but a necessary one," as Sonya Chang had put it.

"The results from a circuit poll are 96.23% complete. There is a clear majority for the operation to retake Noachia - 64.35%. We should finalize this according to procedure as Decree 7-A The TNE shall endorse means to achieve the reclamation of Santa Barbaran Noachia from the Tyranid Menace. Please set your vote-slots accordingly; decision will be made within 48 hours."

"Continued discussion on the TNE Decree 7-A is of course incouraged, but is no longer moderated by this Chair. Discussion on the specific strategies to be used by the reclamation force will be moved to higher security level and for the appropriate authorities. I will assist coordination between ITDO-CCCTG and the CSF-VED command."


---

The CCCTG Strategic Core Commander (StratCorCom) wasn't available. He was busy, and James Adler didn't like to interrupt. Not on a full stomach.

Nevertheless, when the call came in from the TNE mainframe that Decree 7A had passed, a response had to be made. Luckily, Adler was just the right man to make it, other than the StratCorCom himself of course. As head of the former Overwatch Program, the CCCTG computers were his bread and butter - easily sliced. And in this case, he did have the authority, as TNE Special Advisor to the UTR Military Restoration Program.

In time, there would be no CCCTG, no ITDO, no more dependencies on grants from miserly megacorporate interests. Hell, even when they wanted something, they didn't want to pay for it. The only way old Overwatch had been funded at all was because no one wanted - or knew about - it's existence or function.

Taking his time about it. He added some greenish powder to his coffee, ensuring he wouldn't be distracted the next few hours. Sat down at the StratCorCom's terminal. Began hammering out a strategic overview sheet for the Nenyans to peruse. Nothing fancy, just that which the TNE would of course desire; avoiding interplanetary wars and the wrath of neutral Mars, eliminating the bugs, planting a flag and calling it a day.

The terminal did the rest, encrypting it at a level accessible only for the upper echelons of allied military command, interpreting and transmitting it via laser express to a handy orbiting Ma-Tek military communications satellite in LOS.


>Begin transmission mode ENCRYP40599G-5

Designate new operation: RESURRECTION

Designate primary objective: [1] Eradicate Tyranid forces located in or above Santa Barbaran Noachia, Mars.

Designate primary objective: [2] Secure territory of Santa Barbaran Noachia.

Designate secondary objective: [1] Preserve to some extent existing infrastructural foundations and Martian geological integrity/stability.

Designate secondary objective: [2] Preserve existing neutrality between UTR and neighboring Martian polities by posing no threat to their assets.

Threat Analysis: Very High. Tyranid forces completely eradicated combined ITDO-GADTG and ITDO-CCCTG ground forces stationed at Santa Barbaran Noachia despite allied terrain and tactical advantages. ITDO-OOTG space forces did not enter into combat with Tyranids, but observation records indicate Tyranids possess Significant exo- and endo-atmospheric mobile and combat capability. Tyranid forces currently occupy extensive subsurface and surface areas throughout the territory.

Phase Analysis: This operation should proceed with coordinated phases between UTR and Commonality combined forces. One; transfer of space forces to theater of operations and elimination of existing space-mobile hostiles. Two; transfer of ground and support forces to theater of operations. Three; usage of air/space support forces to eliminate enemy anti-orbital and anti-air forces. Four; insertion of ground forces to surface with continued close support from strategic forces.

Contingency Alpha: It is noted that ground combat with Tyranids is considered a high-risk operation. In the event of failure with initial ground forces in Phase Four to meet operational objectives, recommend continued strategic bombardment using high-energy DEW and heavy KEW until enemy is eradicated or another ground phase is possible. Although secondary objective [1] may be forfeit with this procedure, under no circumstances can secondary objective [2] be risked by using Global Strategic level weaponry.

Accept Operational Overview? [Y][N][MODIFY]

Recommended next level: Force Designation and Analysis to be used in the operation and operational- and strategic-level coordination between CCCTG/CSF-VED.

STRATCORCOM
ITDO-CCCTG
United Trade Republics

The Santa Barbaran transmission had a relatively interesting lifetime. Firstly, the satelite itself was home to a subsentient AI, which immediately flagged the transmission for higher attention - and classified it 'Grey'. The original was dutifily deleted, and the copy - given ICEL security routines and re-encrypted at it's new classification level - fired to a higher-level AI. That AI agreed with the designation - failsafe - and duly relayed a copy of that copy onwards, deleting the first copy.

And so it went, through six levels of filtration, until it finally arrived at the High Command Citadel, buried beneath the surface somewhere in the Commonality. Here, it was routed to a few desk-jockeys in Strategic Operations, who poured over it - tagged parts of specific interest - rewrote small sections with edit records - and then forwarded the 'completed' document on to the upper echelons of High Command.

In this case, that was Semir-randil, in orbit. The entire process takes around five minutes (as the communique was not marked urgent), and so Semir was in the middle of observing that-

"Do the Tyranids not burrow into rock? Perhaps I misunderstood the intelligence reports, but it is my understanding that nothing less than a total victory will be satisfactory. Kinetic harpoon strikes - in a very specific three-dimensional pattern, with varying penetrative capabilities - could set up earthquake-like conditions. The kinetics would not be striking deep enough to cause significant geological damage, and certainly not deep enough to do significant damage to the lithosphere.

"If total victory can be obtained by any other means, that would be excellent. But I have no idea how valuable our ground forces would be. Are the Tyranids vulnerable to ultrasonic weapons? Are they vulnerable to m-wave blasters? Would our special operations units be able to utilize their natural mentalic abilities to lower their detection profiles for limited periods of time, as against Human troops? - All I know is that by devastating the terrain, we are sure to at least kill them in large numbers, or incapacitate many - and force them to give up that terrain. Dug in, they will certainly be tougher to defeat; if precipitation could be arranged to coincide, all the better. Turn the battlefield into a field of slush. Our tanks and armoured vehicles do not touch the ground, so slush is irrelevant to us. The defender always takes advantage, remember - so we must remove it.

"Failing that, we can always set up a Barrier device to contain the area. It would not be strong enough to prevent a breach from the inside or out, if the effort was made, but we could insert huge quantities of oxygen into the area. Then? A spark kills everything inside.

"Alternately, pump water vapour into the contained area. Then it's just a case of applying an electrical charge, mmm?"