NationStates Jolt Archive

Skeelzot City, Planet Solomon
It was the greatest Royalty Day parade the Principality had ever seen. Nearly a million people lined Royal Boulevard, as the Grand Prince reviewed a small portion of the massive army. Three infantry divisions, including the much-decorated FS 3rd Armored Division, had nearly drowned out the cheers with the sound of boots on asphalt. The cheers had indeed been muffled when a massive Anzino mobile suit, its hover-fans lifting it several feet off the roadway, passed by. More tanks, troops, and suits followed, as countless Harbinger helicopters patrolled up and down the parade rout. It was a glorious spectacle for such a fitting occasion as Skeelzania’s centennial.

Grand Prince Dmitri Skeelzot finished saluting another Panzer division- he forgot which- and settled back down to wait for the next group. Parades like this were necessary to keep the population happy, but they were quite tiring under the Solomon sun. His 90 year old uncle didn’t seem fazed however. Dmitri never knew how Ianos managed to survive this long, though his brother- and Dmitri’s father- had lived to 101…

Across the way, not everyone was cheering. Ulithal Terallosum gazed coldly at the man in the balcony. For nearly a hundred years, the Skeelzots and their soldiers had begrudgingly allowed Terallosum and his fellow elves to exist as second-class citizens. His family owned one of the largest furniture-restoration businesses in the Principality, but they were forced to work through a reluctant middleman and live in a squalid apartment in the Elf-Quarter.

Skeelzania had a small population of elves, numbering about 10 million individuals. While most non-humans had been purged long ago, the Elves were allowed to stay. While this was primarily a diplomatic gesture to keep on good terms with the neighboring Dominion of Arenumberg, Elves made up a large portion of the retail sector. To keep it from tanking, they were allowed to live relatively unmolested in the Elf-Quarter of Skeelzot City. Some have asked “why didn’t the elves leave”? Skeelzanian law dictates that one can not operate a business in the Principality if he or she lives outside it. This, and other laws, forced Elves wishing to do business in Skeelzania to live in the segregated Elf-Quarter, which was quite squalid compared to the upper class neighborhoods Skeelzanians of lesser fortunes lived in.

Terallosum had come to the parade with his family, who were always hoping of getting on the Prince’s good side. His mother, father, and 3 sisters were a few feet behind him, consciously being squeezed by the mass of Skeelzanian humans. But through a stroke of luck, Terallosum had managed to get to the curb. He checked his coat pocket one last time: the single-shot slabgun was still there. Another Panzer division rumbled by, and Terallosum knew now was the time. Stepping boldly from the curb, he pointed the slabgun at the Grand Prince, and fired.

Another Panzer division… Dmitri stifled a yawn. He was more interested in the new mobile suit forces than the clanking metal boxes infront of him. As he and his uncle saluted the column, Ianos leaned over. “I know these forces bore you. Be patient, the Rabban’s are having some technical difficulties but should be here on-” The tungsten-steel slab fired from Terallosum’s slab-gun smashed into the Grand Admiral’s head, showering Dmitri’s right side with blood and greymatter. A general behind him cursed as the slab continued on into his stomach, and collapsed into a heap. Chaos immediately broke out on the balcony: officers instinctely went for their weapons, glancing around madly; the Grand Prince was tackled to the ground by FS Guardsmen as others leveled SARs (Skeelzanian Assault Rifle) on the crowd. A scuffle developed on the street as several citizens wrestled with what appeared to be an elf. The tank drivers, sensing something was wrong, had stopped in mid-parade; panzer-grenadiers were piling off and un-strapping their SARs as well.

Dmitri managed to get to his feet, and turned to his uncle’s corpse. Most of his head was gone, finding a new home on Dmitri’s uniform. Medics were already attending the general behind him. Looking over the railing, Dmitri watched several panzer-grenadiers wrestle the elf to the ground, as others fanned out through the crowd. Terallosum’s family was easily distinguished by the barcode on the back of their necks, and they too were forced into the street. Dmitri signaled to his guards, who followed him into the street-level elevator.

He had missed, but at least he had gotten one of the rotten Skeezlots… He glanced up quickly as he saw the Grand Prince advancing towards him, but then his head was forced back down. Him and his family were now kneeling in the center of the street, only a few feet in front of the first tank.

A grenadier saluted the Prince, and handed him the spent slabgun. “This is what he used, m’lord. Tried to escape back into the ground, but the citizens stopped him.” The soldier gestured to the 5 other elves kneeling behind him. “His family members are here also. Haven’t said anything.”

Dmitri nodded. “Give me your gun.” Questionably the SAR was given to him. Taking up position behind the six elves, Dmitri checked to make sure a round was chambered. He then lifted the assault rifle to his shoulder and fired. At each of the six shots, the crowd behind him cheered. They had seen Ianos Skeelzot, Hero of the Principality, gunned down, and it had taken the soldiers intervention to keep them from tearing the assassin apart.

Thirty seconds later the entire family lay twitching in the street. Skeelzot had recognized them as prominent members of the Elf community, but that was of no account. It must be shown that the Principality would not tolerate opposition. Giving the gun back to its owner, Dmitri turned back to the Royal Palace. “The parade is over, tell the people to disperse. Order the troops back to their barracks. Put the police on alert.”

Skeelzot City, Planet Solomon. July 16th, the day after…
The response from the Elven community was unexpected. Typically, they had remained mute for fear of being ejected and their property confiscated. But the execution of 6 elves (broadcast live on the Skeelzanian News Network and played again at least every 15 minutes) seemed to stir something in them. For the morning after the executions, nearly 200,000 elves poured into the streets and marched on Relafia Square, only a few blocks from the Royal Palace itself.

From his personal suite, Dmitri watched the crowd advance. It appeared to be your peaceful sign-waving type of protest, something which Skeelzania hadn’t seen in decades. A comms device imbedded in his collar crackled to life: “Sir, the protestors are approaching the Square. The 1st Panzer Division is already in position on the far side. What are your orders?”

“Order the marchers to return to their homes. They have five minutes. After that your men can open fire. Also, activate the 2nd MS Artillery Division. I want their guns trained on the Elf-Quarter within the hour.”

“Yes, m’lord.”

Relafia Square, Skeelzot City
“Justice for the dead! Down with oppression!” The unimaginative and increasingly shrill cry went out over the Square, blared from countless megaphones as well as Elven mouths. Many of the protestors carried signs with similar messages, both in Elvish and English.

Colnoel Char watched the crowd through his binoculars. To his left, a private with a bullhorn was giving the Elves a final warning, to little effect. “Crowd is not dispersing sir. What are your orders?”

Char lowered the binoculars and looked at the private. “Give the signal to attack on my orders.” The private saluted and broadcasted the order. Within the ST-24 Heulenkuhs, gunners adjusted their sites. They had a specific plan for these types of situations: HE and burst shells would be set to explode over the crowd at around 3 meters height. This would ensure maximum casualties.

“All tanks are reporting ready, sir.”

“Very well private. Fire.” The 2 dozen tanks lining the square fired in a massive barrage, their 175mm cannons causing the ground to shake. The sounds of the shell detonations blended in with that of the firing, and the square became obscured in smoke. “All units, commence independent fire.” Now the machineguns on the tanks joined in, spewing bullets into the smoke.

Inside the crowd, chaos reigned. Nearly 400 protestors had fallen in the initial attack, and scores more were dieing from the new shots. The march organizer had been one of the first to die, vaporized in a cloud of shrapnel, and basic survival instincts took over. The Elves began retreating back to their Quarter. The tanks impetuously surged forward, crushing the dead and wounded beneath their treads as they pursued the fleeing Elves.

OOC: 10million could be quite an army...

OCC: Yeah, if it didn't include women, children, cripples from previous pogroms, etc...

IC:
Skeelzot City, 20 minutes later
50,000 routed Elvish protestors scrambled across the bridge to the Elf-Quarter, the 1st Panzer Division hot on their heels. As the first Heleunkuh rolled onto the bridge, a large apartment building across the river erupted with gun bursts. From every window it seemed, an Elf youth was firing with some sort of weapon. As the tank driver threw his vehicle into reverse, an RPG streaked out of a fourth story window and into the turret. The tank came to a grinding halt as flame and smoke issued forth. Colonel Char ordered the column to pull back to their side and return fire. A duel between the apartment building and the tanks began, as the Skeelzanian cannons tore whole sections of wall away. Soon, fire was reported from other buildings, and before long the whole Elf-Quarter was consumed by fighting. The few police units stationed there made a fighting retreat across the river as a message beamed up from the city and throughout space.

[code:1:707954beab]
Attention freedom-loving people of the galaxy, we need your help! For decades the Skeelzanians have oppressed Elvish people any chance they could, but we have had enough! As you receive this message, Elves across Solomon are coming out in revolt against their human overlords. But we cannot do it alone! We urge all who support our cause to send troops and arms to Solomon, and join the revolution!

Attention freedom-loving people…[/code:1:707954beab]

OCC: This RP is now OPEN. As the Skeelzanians have a pretty good edge in the firepower department, I am more interested in people supporting the Elf revolutionaries.

OOC: Shame i am only 5 million..

"Hmm" General Jango thought. Was it worth it to support these Elvish revolutionaries? Would it benefit Dimmimar?

"Yep..."

Message Starting
We are concerned about your oppresion of the Elves. Please provide more welfare for them
Message Ending

[code:1:2244956dfa]
Message to the Leadership of Dimmimar:
The Elves are not citizens of Skeelzania, and thus have no right to any welfare (not that we provide any for our human population either). They reside here as our guests, but when they challenge us they must be punished.[/code:1:2244956dfa]

Border between Skeelzot City Center and the Elf-Quarter
By now the apartment complex had been battered into rubble, but not before the elves had retreated farther back into the city. Char attempted to prod his tanks forward, but the hail of AT fire that greeted them across the bridge wasn't helping. A smaller apartment building was proving especially troublesome: some mad-man of an elf had managed to get a small AT gun into a third story room.

[/i]Northern suburbs of Skeelzot City[/i]
Standing 27m high, the Anzino mobile suits looked more like steel mountains than efficent killing machines. Their crews lounged around, some in their cockpits and others on the ground. The division Comms officer however, was crouched over his radio, listening to reports of the battle. "Sir! 1st Panzer calling for artillery support! I have the coordinates of the requested target here."

The Division Commander snatched the transcript and plotted its position on a map. "Just barely in range...All suits, prepare to fire." The pilots immediatly sprung to action, deploying their suits into firing positions. When the first one was ready, the CO gave him the target coordinates. After a few minutes of fiddling with the controls, the suit gave the ready-signal. "Fire."

The 680mm long-range cannon mounted on the Anzino's back thundered out, the force of the shot shaking the ground and knocking the CO off his feet. A full minute later, the HE round dove through the roof of the apartment building, crashing through 6 floors to explode in the basement. The entire building literally lifted off its foundation, and then came back down in a tremendous heap of fire and rubble. A cheer went up from the panzer-grenadiers across the river, who began moving caustiously into the Elf-Quarter. It wasn't long though before they were once again pinned down by fire.

OOC: I hope Siri doesn't catch wind of this. This is a great RP, and she would just use here unstoppable fleet to 'free' the 'oppressed' elvish people.

IC: Secret encoded message to the rebels, source *Unknown*

[code:1:cff6cb2bbc]Our government is no fan of Genocide. We could provide you with weapons to help combat the Skeelzots.[/code:1:cff6cb2bbc]

OCC: Is Siri one of those players who gets involved in every Elf-Rights thread from here to the beginning of time? That would be interesting. Also, for simplicity's sake I'll RP as the elves. I'll try to distinguish whos talking when though.

IC(Elves):
[code:1:269d2343b8]Tight-beam response transmission to "unknown":
Your assistance would be much appreezcait. How you will do itttzzzz we do not know: the Skeelzanian's command the spaaspaaze above the planet.[/code:1:269d2343b8]

Due to my recent expansion into this sector of space...I will take any Elven who wishes to move to the worlds...I've have recently explored & colonized...I shall give them their own continent on the world of Tharkad...I shall also extend a hand in helping them build there settlements...

OOC: Siri, leader of Menelmacar, the foremost Elvish nation in the game. Often uses her "1000 year old fleet of death" to glass people who hurt elves. Menelmacar is also a mod.

IC: Coded reply: "Just let us worry about that. We have a small, stealth covert operations transport that could get you some supplies, including weapons."

OCC: Hmph. I don't intend to let anyone just fly in here and start glassing. I'll try to give her a run for her money in space.

IC:
Elf-Quarter Starport
The sound of gunfire could be heard in the distance, which was only adding to the panic around the starport. Many of the more sensible Elves had decided to leave their fortunes behind and get out of the Princiaplity, whose troops were inquiring to hard if Elves were revolutionaires or just passing through.

As more refugees loaded onto a already-overcrowded shuttle, a new sound was heard over the crackle of automatic fire. The distinctive whump-whump-whump was immediatly recognized: Harbingers. Before they could get undercover, a flight of 4 MH-56A Harbinger helicopter gunships thundered overhead. Two black eggs detached from the stubby wings of each aircraft, that upon impact engulfed the tarmac in flames.

The four Harbingers pealed off in pairs, looping back around and strafing the Elves who survived the inital run. The third pass had them firing rockets into the shuttles, who were desperatly trying to take off. Then more bombs rained down.

After five minutes of carnage, the helicopters went off in search of new targets. Behind them the auxiliary starport was in ruins: burnt shusks of shuttles, destroyed by bomb and rocket hits; charred bodies of elves were everywhere, and the terminal was in flames. Small impact craters from the rotary cannons pockmarked the entire area.

Dicator Vladimir could not believe what he was reading. The report had just come in from the DEGEIA and was what he had been waiting for. The ethnic groups of his country were many, however when he seized power, the only ethnic group not supportive of him had been the Elvish minority. They didn't eat gophers and were shocked the rest of the country did. Supporting the Elvish rebels would win over the rest of his nation.
"Sir, I think we should allow any elf who wants to fight the opportunity, our army is currently tied down in fighting the AU." General Molotovskia

"Then you shall lead them" The dictator replied.

Within 2 hours the 2nd Make shift Division headed for the fighting. The Dictator of Evil Gopher Eaters denied any responsiblity in the plan saying "They went on their own accord"
The 2nd Make shift Division is comprised of Elvish fighters, trucks with crude SAM launchers in the back, and Semi trucks converted to artillery.
"I never liked Molotovskia anyway.." The Dictator thought

Official Press Release from the Grand Prince of Skeelzania:
As you may be aware, earlier today a massive Elf uprising took place on our capital planet of Solomon. These dangerous extreamists seek to overthrow the lawful and benevolent human goverement, and establish an apartheid run by the Elvish minority.

As leader of Skeelzania, I will not stand for this. Already the defenders of the Principality are moving against the bases of Elf support, crushing the rebellion at its roots. In space above, the Combined Fleet guards our home against interference from outside powers. Do not fear people of Skeelzania, for the enemy of the people shall be purged.

OCC: Skeelzanian military units currently operating in and around the city:
1st Panzer Division
75th ad 82nd Infantry Divisions
2nd MS Artillery Division
3rd, 4th, and 5th Helicopter Divisions

Factbook with stats and other info (http://s4.invisionfree.com/Alliance_of_Aranamor/index.php?showtopic=25)

Also, Skeelzania is a space nation, and Solomon is about 40,000 LY away from Earth. I'm sure you could find a transport captain fool-hardy enough to bring your division here, EGE.

Official Press Release from the Grand Prince of Skeelzania:
As you may be aware, earlier today a massive Elf uprising took place on our capital planet of Solomon. These dangerous extreamists seek to overthrow the lawful and benevolent human goverement, and establish an apartheid run by the Elvish minority.

As leader of Skeelzania, I will not stand for this. Already the defenders of the Principality are moving against the bases of Elf support, crushing the rebellion at its roots. In space above, the Combined Fleet guards our home against interference from outside powers. Do not fear people of Skeelzania, for the enemy of the people shall be purged.

OCC: Skeelzanian military units currently operating in and around the city:
1st Panzer Division
75th ad 82nd Infantry Divisions
2nd MS Artillery Division
3rd, 4th, and 5th Helicopter Divisions

Factbook with stats and other info (http://s4.invisionfree.com/Alliance_of_Aranamor/index.php?showtopic=25)

Also, Skeelzania is a space nation, and Solomon is about 40,000 LY away from Earth. I'm sure you could find a transport captain fool-hardy enough to bring your division here, EGE.

The 2nd Makeshift Divison suddenly realized its enemy was light years away.

In his study the Dictator had just craftily made his only rival look like a fol.

A single jet black avatar transport, loaded to the brim with weapons and equipment, launched from a nondescript freighter on its way to Solomon. The transport activated its phasing cloak system and faded from the universe. Carefully, it snuck through the Skeelzot lines, hopefully without being detected. Landing outside one of the major Elvish strongholds, two men in powered armor exited the craft. Both were without helmets, revealing their features.

One was a standard human male, the other? An elf. But perhaps the most distinctive thing on the two people was a hammer and sickle emblazoned upon their armor. They were not with the current National Socialist government, who had adopted a Swastika as their insignia. These people were part of the Socialist resistance forces, and they felt that helping the Elves would further weaken their government back at home.

"Greetings. We are here to supply you with what we can. On board, we have several hundred assault rifles, twelve rocket launchers, and two tactical nuclear weapons (suitcase bombs, nominal yield of 1 kiloton.) Get them unloaded so we can get out of here. If the Skeelzanian government figured out we were here, there could be major reprecussions, especially in the war against TFU."

OOC: I don't have too much time, so I won't be able to actually RP if anything happens, so I'd rather you didn't find out it was me.

OCC: Right. Given the current state in the city, your soldiers have a good chance of being vaporized before they can be identified.

IC: An elf emerged from the makeshift bunker. He wore little in the way of armor, merely a helmet and breastplate, and carried a looted SAR. He listened to the two foreigners describe their cargo, and nodded. “I understand your predicament. I’ll get my men unloading immediately. We’ll forever be in your debt for these weapons.” The elf commander turned and whistled into the bunker. Nearly a dozen elves piled out, and rushed to the shuttle. They quickly unloaded the cargo, taking it back into their bunkers. By the end of the day it would be distributed all over the Elf-Quarter.

As the last crate disappeared into the bunker, the commander saluted the two men and followed the crate down. Overhead, the vapor trail of an Anzino shell streaked overhead, on its way to destroy another high-rise.

Night fell over Skeelzot city, though this did nothing to diminish the crackle of gunfire. Much of the southern half of the city was aglow with fire, which only served to give the battleground an even more eerie look. Dark shapes hurried down sidewalks and alleyways, scrambling to get to new firing positions.

A few blocks into the city, Colonel Char peered at the situation map in his Command Truck. His column has become increasingly fragmented as they pushed into the city, and now he had contact with only a few dozen tanks. The rest were either knocked out, retreating back across the river, or MIA. “How have they been able to knock out so many Cows? They weren’t exhibiting this degree of firepower earlier.”

High orbit of planet Solomon
The Skeelzanian Combined Fleet continued their partial blockade of the planet. There was something ironic in blockading your own home world, but there had been reports of shuttles slipping in and landing in the Elf-Quarter. The situation was only aggravated by the fact that many of these ships could attack planetary installations. Unfortunately, slamming a dumpster-sized projectile into a planet’s surface at 20 kilometers a second tended to be hard on the biosphere.

[Skeelzania, if you don't fear Siri then you are insane. With few exceptions nations typically have a healthy respect for what she can do with her military. Btw, her Fleet of Death is composed of gravships, so it isn't likely that your space fleets will get a chance to take her on.]

[Skeelzania, if you don't fear Siri then you are insane. With few exceptions nations typically have a healthy respect for what she can do with her military. Btw, her Fleet of Death is composed of gravships, so it isn't likely that your space fleets will get a chance to take her on.]

I don't suppose you could exactly explain what a gravship is? I've heard it mentioned a few times, but I never figured out what it is, other than a ship that uses gravity in some way.

[Telegram Siri or Melkor to find out, they know better than I do.]

Southern outskirts of Elf-Quarter, Early-morning
To the north, the tank crews could see the fires of the Elf-Quarter. Smoke rose and obscured the stars above Solomon, and also make breathing uncomfortable. The panzer-grenadiers wished the high-command would stop skimping on cash and get them a half-decent personnel carrier; riding on the back of a tank was not the most comfortable way to travel.

The 4th FS Panzer Division had moved up from their southern bases during the night, hoping to catch the Elves unprepared. As their commander gave the signal, the first 25 tanks surged forward, each with 10 infantry on their hull. The first Thunder Run was on.

Within minutes, the ST-24s had entered the edge of the Elf-Quarter. These were mostly small residential buildings, not the apartment-fortresses giving their brothers grief to the north. The Panzers fired their 175mm cannon into any building that offered resistance, destroying entire floors. Panzer-grenadiers jumped off of their tanks and burst into other buildings, dragging Elves from their hiding-places. Most had their hands bound behind their backs, then were herded into cargo trucks and whisked to the rear. Elf males were shown no such treatment. Many were forced to kneel on the sidewalk, then killed with a bullet to the head. As the FS men advanced farther into the city, they left in their wake burning homes and trampled corpses.

Galactic News Network Special Report
*A garbled picture of a reporter comes on the screen. He is wearing a flak jacket with a rather garish GNN tag on the lapel.*

"Hello! This is Areivir Odlareg, reporting live from the Elf-Quarter of Skeelzot City! Me and my courageous crew managed to get in through a secret tunnel on the-"

*a nearby explosion drowns out the transmission, which comes back on a few seconds later. It is even more garbled than before.*

"Uh, as you can see, Skeelzanian forces are hitting this area pretty hard. Most of the larger buildings have taken at least one hit."

*As if to accent this point, a tank shell rockets overhead and slams into a grocery store behind Areivir. The explosion knocks both the reporter and his camera man off their feet, as the camera reorients skyward. After about thirty seconds of frantic words, the camera returns to Areivir.*

"I'm alright folks! Just a shell-impact. I have hear a member of the Elf Liberation Front, ELF appropriatly. What is your name sir?"

*The reporter shoves his microphone into the face of an armed Elf, who would much rather be somewhere else than the middle of the street.* "I'd rather not give my name, incase the human pigs track down my family and execute them like dogs in the street. Now excuse- good God!"

*The elf dives offscreen, leaving one puzzled reporter. Areivir begins to shrug at the camera as a HE shell, fired from one of the Anzino batteries, lands 10 feet behind him. The massive explosion causes the street to simply disappere, as Areivir and his cameraman are vaporized by the heatwave. The signal rapidly fizzles out.*

[bumpy]

The Senior Directorate of Military Affairs, Duat, 'Capital World' of the Necrontyr Empire.

"And so we come to the latest matter," said a woman, one 'General' Pauline Banks, Commander of the Order of Peace - a militia basically - lounging back in her luxuriant chair, "Elven uprising from some state called Skeelzania. They claim to be opressed by the humans."

"Is it worth interfereing?"

"Well, they're about five point five hundred mil. Pretty militristic I'd guess."

"Humm, it'd be annoying to have to send forces in. Look into ways of funneling arms covertly to these rebels."

"Yes Sir," she said, and closed her eyes, communicating via wireless subcutaneous implant, sending out instructions to her minions in the Order.

[bump]

bump

The 4th FS Panzer Division, 1st Brigade continued its Thunder Run through the Elf-Quarter, still relatively unopposed. An unofficial tally placed the number of liquidated elves at somewhere around 500, while even more had been sent to the rear before the men stopped caring about getting the Elves into the trucks. The Brigade Commander figured another block would be enough for today, then the tanks would withdraw.

As the lead tanks crossed an intersection, the Elves held their fire. They were armed with the CF-provided weaponry, and intended to tkae their revenge on the FS butchers. The tank column crossed the intersection without incident, but once 4 or 5 tanks were across the Elves opened fire. Two of the Heulenkuhs were knocked out immediatly, victims of the CF rocket launchers. Caught completely offguard, confusion gripped the column. Reacting in typical Skeelzanian fashion, the tanks fired at whatever happened to be infront of them.

Drivers threw their vehicles into reverse, and the 20 tanks behind the two burning hulks began retreating from the intersection. Firing as they retreated, the Skeelzanians managed to destroy several more buildings before the column dispersed, each tank making his own way back to the staging areas. A cheer rose up from the rubble, as the Elves watched the Cows retreat.

Admist the celebration though, no one had noticed the one tank at the lead of the column. Everyone assumed he had been knocked out along with the two behind him. In reality, it's commander had simply shut off the tank in hopes of passing unnoticed. As darkness began to fall on the city once again, the Skeelzanians caustiously began reactivating systems.

"Commander, the subhums are coming out of their holes. I got a whole mass of them infront of the co-ax gun. Permission to fire?"

His finger hovering over the "Engine ON" button, the Commander contemplated his situation. Heulenkuhs could accelerate surprisngly quickly, despite their bulk. If he could blaze forward... "Permission to fire."

The co-axial machine gun barked out, spraying the group of fighters with 7.62mm ammuniton. The elves, who had been in the midst of redeploying, were surprised just as much as the tank column earlier. Nearly a dozen were gunned down where they stood, others scrambled for cover. Still firing, the ST-24's engine roared to life, the tank surging forward.

One of the wounded elves watched the steel monster bearing down on him. He had been entrusted with one of the tactical nukes delivered by the Facehuggerians, which was now lying beside him. His legs shattered by machinegun fire, he had no hope of getting away. Madness gripped his mind as the Skeelzanian tank loomed over him, and without thinking of the consequences, the elf slammed his hand down on the detonator.

From his private balcony, Dmitri Skeelzot watched his city burn. Much of the southern skyline was in ruins, and great clouds of smoke rose skyward. To the north, the occasional boom of an Anzino silenced the crackle of gunfire.

He turned to go inside, and just as he passed through the doorway the shock and heatwave reached him. Blowing out the glass of the windows, the explosion threw him onto the floor. Slowly rising to his feet, the Grand Prince turned in time to watch a small mushroom cloud rise above the skyline.

[bump]

The last transport blasted off from the remaining Elf-Quarter spaceport. Loaded to the hatches with survivors, it streaked upward through Solomon's atmosphere. It passed the Skeelzanian Blockade Fleet without incident, hyperjumping as soon as it was clear of the gravity well. Twenty minutes later it would arrive at the nearest Verboten system, where they would hopefully be welcomed.

This was the last of a nearly a dozen freighters-turned-transports that had been allowed to leave the planet. Following the nuclear detonation, a hasty meeting had been called with the Commanding Generals and the Grand Prince. There it was decided that the Elvish Problem was spiralling out of control, and that the Elves were obviously insane. Not wanting to risk a nuclear attack on the city proper, the Skeelzanians had ceased all operations in the Quarter. Clearance for an evacuation was given, and within 48 hours all remaining elves were off the planet.

By the time the Uprising came to an end, an estimated 1 million Elves (75% of the Quarter's population) had died. Skeelzania had suffered nearly a two thousand casualties, including 984 dead. Three dozen tanks had been knocked out in the course of the fighitng, and 4 Harbingers were brought down by enemy fire. An additional helicopter was brought down when a shell, fired by an Anzino, plummeted through it.

All in all, Dmitri was satisfied with the outcome. Although his uncle would be hard to replace, there were other Admirals. The Elves had been dealt with once and forall, and the Principality had seized several lucrative businesses from them. Unfortunatly, the battle had delayed the construction of the Targaryen battleship, off-setting the entire program. Oh well, they would manage.

OOC: Is Skeelzania on Earth or elsewhere?

OOC: Is Skeelzania on Earth or elsewhere?

OOC: Elsewhere. See initial post, first line. *ruffles Siri's hair playfully.*

Somewhere a few dozen astronomical units out from the star Solomon's World orbited, space seemed to twist and distort. The ship that emerged, exceptionally low on emissions, and resistant to sensors, integrating shadowfields and a rather impressive hull design to minimise detectablility, looked rather strange, sporting three crescent moon shaped surfaces, covered in softly 'anti-glowing,' light-absorbing in fact, blacker-than-black runes and sigils, serving some mysterious purpouse.

It was a Shroud Class Light Cruiser, the Lesser Vigilance of Death - Part the Second, and it had arrived too late to effectively intervene. It had taken them some time to accurately locate the source of the signal they had picked up some time ago, one that started "Attention freedom-loving people of the galaxy." Now the Vigilance wouldn't call itself freedom loving per-se, but it did have a measure of affection for elves, a small one perhaps, but still. More to the point, it's master did care for them, and that was enough reason for it's AI to act in their interests. Instead, its monitoring of signals in the system revealed that it had arrived too late to offer any effective help in evacuation, or even gun-boat diplomacy... "One million dead [...] evacuation," were not what it had wanted to hear. Directing its compatriots to begin searching the area, the Vigilance began to compose a message for the most honoured and respected allies of the Empire, who might prove more than interested in this place...

OCC: Ack, I thought this had died. Sorry about the respone time, I'll understand if you gave up. Menelmacar, Solomon is around 40,000 LY from Earth (our regional founder keeps changing her mind, so its kind of fluid) in the Gamma Quadrant.

IC: The small, dilapidated transport Tral chugged through space, its IE drives slowly taking it towards the edge of Skeelzanian space. A Draco corvette lingered behind, adding to the already considerable tension onboard. Their cabins were stuffed with refugees, mostly women and children. The hyperspace drive had been knocked out during ascent, probably by a naval potshot. The Tral's captain wondered if his ship would even hold together, assuming the Skeelzanian didn't use him in a fire-training exercise.

Neither of the ships picked up the cruiser, since both used bargin barrel scanners.

[mmm bump]

That’s a surprise, thought the necron ship, A stroke of luck too.

It approached at phenomenal speed, not exactly caring if the pursuing corvette detected it, though in all likelihood they wouldn’t, not quite yet, matching its velocity with the two fleeing ships and began scanning the approaching vessels with its active scanners. If it were questioned, it could probably tell the crews what they’d eaten for breakfast, though the smart money was on many of them not having had anything solid to eat in quite a while.

It shot a tight-beamed signal at the Tral, “Hello there. I take it you’re fleeing elves, no?” it said, a smooth voice, trying the most common elvish language first.

"By the gods, where did that come from?"

"I'm not sure, captain. Shall I respond?"

"Give me that trasmitter." Snatching the comm out of the officers hand, the Tral's captain tuned it to the band that the message was on. "This is the unaligned transport Tral, and yes we are carrying a number of elf refugees. Why?"

There was no perceptible pause in the response time, a little unnerving perhaps.

"I am authorised," this was true, warships were very trusted, no warship AI had ever been subverted or turned traitor, “on behalf of my government, to offer you sanctuary.”

The elves did not immediatly respond. Being hailed by a ship that simply wasn't a common day occurance, even out here in the Gamma quadrant. And how did they know this was not some Skeelzot trick, hoping to lure back the survivors for nefarious purposes? Furtive glances were cast sternwards, towards the Skeelzanian corvette. Were those turrets moving?

Finally, the captain made up his mind. "Unknown ship, we accept your offer of sanctuary. Unfortunately, our hyperdrive is disfunctional, so we will need to continue under SL drives...unless you are capable of taking off the survivors, that is."

The ship waited, "I do, but my facilites are not optimal. I think perhaps it would be wise if I disabled your stalker first. I have sent for a more appropriate vessel to collect you. Can you tell me how many are aboard?"

"To be honest, we didn't exactly have time to do a real head-count. I would put the number somewhere around 300 peoples though."

The ship dropped its 'shadow fields' and channelled immense power to its weapons. It was facing the corvette, drifting along at the same speed. It’s immense armament consisted almost entirely of arcane ‘lightning arcs,’ it waited, a cone of communications interference springing up directed toward the Skeelzanian light warship. ‘Take the first shot. Go on…’ it thought, ‘Give me an excuse…’

“I can certainly handle that many…” it sent to the fleeing vessel at the same time.

((Would you OOC object to teleportation? *coughmostpeopledocough* I have all sorts of technology I don’t use without other player’s permission. ))

OCC: No, not really. Though Skeelzanians do show a mistrust of teleportation, and thinking-machines. I'm sure you'll fit right in.

IC: "Unidentified ship forward sir!"

The cry jerked the captain out of his catnap. "Bring it up on visual...by the Spoot, what is that thing?"

"Databases show no matches sir. Probably a Tortugan."

Damn pirates, never knew what they were developing. "Contact central command. Report unidentified ship within Principality space. Following protocol 002138, we are engaging. All weapons, fire!"

The Draco's forward facing turrets slightly adjusted themselves, and opened fire on the Ctan ship. Railgun slugs shot through space as the corvette began to bank away from the cruiser, allowing the rear-facing turret to come into play.

OCC2: Stats for just about everything can be found at my factbook (http://s4.invisionfree.com/Alliance_of_Aranamor/index.php?showtopic=25). The Draco here is the older model, the blue one.

'Bingo,' it thought, and unleashed a volley of fire, great blue cascades of flase-lightning, a torrent of firepower, horrendous in its intensity shot out at the other ship, concentrating on what it imagined the weak spot to be, the two large engines that protrouded from the vessel.

The railgun slugs slammed into its ventral surface, one after another, gouging holes in the flexible armour. The ship checked the imact sitss. 'bugger,' it thought, noting that the enemy had holed its port shuttle-docking bay, even as its point defence systems took down the last projectile in the enemy volley.

It opened the bay, feeling that it may as well depressurise it quickly, and continued to fire. It also concentrated on the fleeing ship, and a teleportation problem. 'Up to four hundred people, twenty per group, one group per second. Easy enough.'

It quickly selected the first group from the other ship, and with an alarming 'crack-pop' sound, they were wrenched from where they had been to a large room, rather cold, dimly illuminated by light with a slight green twinge.

'Time to wake my avatar' the ship thought as it selected the next twenty, and continued directing its fire, 'I suspect they might be a little scared.'

OOC: As you've got a BFG ship on there, I'll assume you know a Shroud's capabilities. :)

http://gallery.cybertarp.com/albums/userpics/17142/%5Btag%5D.JPG

OCC: Although I've never played (to expensive), I have a fairly good idea of the shrouds capabilites. Correct me if I'm wrong, but IIRC they are fast, powerful, and with good sensors, though possesing a somewhat large turn radius.

IC:
The lightning arcs slammed against the engine pods, passing through the Chobham armor with disturbing ease. Direct hits on the starboard engine core shut it down completely, causing the ship to yaw wildly. As the ship pointed in the completely opposite direction, only the rear turret contined to fire. More lightning strikes pummeled the ship, until one eventually passed through the hull and scored a direct hit on the fusion reactor. The magnetic field shut down, and before the engineers could react the uncontrolled fusion reaction consumed the ship.

Onboard the Tral, the elves watched the Draco starburst with grim satisfaction.

The first group of teleportees didn't get to see it though. A little nasueous from the effects of the teleport, they gazed warily around the large holding area, not knowning what to expect. This obviously wasn't a Skeelzanian ship...

OOC: That’s about right, yep.

IC:The ship proceeded to continue plucking the elves from the Tral, even as it repaired its own damage. The room was slowly beginning to warm up to a more comfortable temperature. As each group arrived, there was a distinct ‘pop.’

Eventually, a small door in the side of the room sighed open, flooding the ‘cargo’ bay, a tall, slender figure, much like an elf but for his blue-grey skin, and in this case, flame red hair, stood in the doorway, and loudly announced himself with the Elvish equivalent of ‘Hello.’

A few of the elves instinctivley took a step back. The rest just looked at the figure warily, still worried about Skeelzanian tricks. A third group popped out of the air behind him.

Finally, one of the officers from the Tral stepped forward. "Greetings to you. We thank you for providing us aide, and agreeing to take our people onboard. Please, what is your name, so we can thank you properly?"

Gideon Station, Solomon orbit

The map dominated the central control room. As big as a dining table, it projected in 3-D images all Principality and surronding space. Ships were represented by pinpricks of light of various size and color. Currently, most were concentrated around Solomon, still maintaining a partial blockade. A junior officer gazed lazily at the map, following two ships speeding away from Solomon. Without warning, one of them went out.

Odd. "Sir! I think we might have something." The room commander leaned over the ensign's shoulder, following his finger. "The SKZNC-073 just went out."

The commander frowned. "We haven't heard any reports from them, probably just a burnt out-"

The overhead speaker crackled to life, and the voice of the SKZNC-073's comm officer filled the room. "NC-073 to CC. We have contact with unidentified ship three zones from Solomon. Following Protocol 002138, we are engaging. Repeat, we arrrzzzzzzzzzgrrhteeeeeert" The message fizzled out.

"Bloody hell. Tortugans? Arenumberg making a move? Get fleet dispatch on the line. Hello? Yes, this is Central Control. NC-073 reported unknown contact in Zone 9, said they were engaging. No, we don't know what it is, but it did something to them for they aren't talking."

Several hundred feet away, the Port Commander put down his receiver. In all probability, the Draco's damn radio had burned out. But after 2138, they couldn't take any chances...

In 2138, a rogue Bandalok battlefleet penetrated Skeelzanian Space. When they initially crossed the border (and destroyed a guardship in the process), it was initially assumed a technical error had occured. After the gnomes were defeated, protocols were enacted to prevent a repeat.

Twenty minutes later, two Gustav cruisers detached themselves from the blockade. Since the corvette's last reported position was so close, a hyperjump would be pointless. The two ship's IE drives burst to live, propelling the men-of-war away from the planet.

He smiled a little, approaching the officer, "I believe my name would be, in your language, 'Vigilance over and beyond death,' but it's perhaps easier to call me Vigil," he said, "It will take several minutes to take the remaining crew and passengers aboard. Firstly may I apologise for the lack of comfortable quarters, we don't usually have guests. I must ask you some questions about any other evacuees, if you don't mind, did any other ships escape?"

((I'm not sure if it'd still be there in twenty minutes, unless you send it off looking for another elf-laden ship.))

OCC: The ships started out twenty minutes after the Draco attacked, and for RPs sake I'll just have them coming into range now.

"We thank you then, Vigil. All the people of the Tral are in your debt." The officer frowned slightly. "Were not sure how many ships got off. The Skeelzanians opened up their blockade for a few hours, and every ship that could lift off did. I would assume most hyperjumped once clear of the planet. We would have done the same, except "something" took out our hyperdrive. But we were once of the last to lift off, its possible theres some farther ahead."

---------
"Sir! The transport is just entering range."

The cruiser captain leaned forward in his chair. "Any sign of the Draco, ensign?"

"No sir, it seems to have- wait. Theres what appears to be a chunk of melted metal a few hundred meters to port. Scans indicate trace amounts of uranium. Looks like their reactor blew."

The captain scowled. "Our sensors may be trash, but these are the best reactors in the quadrant. Impossible that it just "blew". No other ships on radar?" A second scanned showed nothing besides the Tral. "Alright then. Obviously, that transport is mounting heavy weaponry, in violation of Principality laws. Main turrets, open fire."

The lead Gustav's turrets swung into alignment, and a single slug streaked forward. It impacted directly into the rear of the Tral, tearing through the engines. Going through bulkheads like paper, it exited clean through the front of the craft, venting most of the main bays to space.

The bridge crew gave up a "huzzah!", proud in their comrades marksmanship. The order to pull-up along side was given, and the two ships continued to accelerate. Only a few thousand meters seperated them from the transport.