NationStates Jolt Archive

OoC: As with my other space RPs so far, this is open to whomever wishes to RP with me. I am trying to get my nation outside its own borders, as we have lived in essential isolation since our step into space almost 2000 years ago, having encountered only one other civilization of a similar technological level. Though we did war with them, I assure you that it was their fault, as they assaulted a colony ship of ours. This did, however, happen a thousand years ago. We are not an agressive nation, and our recent encounter with ShadowTech has heightened our curiousity as to the existance of other races on or above our technological level out in the wide galaxy. Information on some of a my ships and technologies can be found here (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=6887226#post6887226)

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Located in the vanguard of one of the largest fleets the Business Council had assembled since the Proge Wars, Rear Admiral Johns Vicken was regretting ever informing FleetCom Central of his encounter with the strange aliens back in the ESO-237 system. He was now part of a fleet that was made up of the Second and Third Expenditionary Fleets, the First Assault Fleet, and the newly commissioned Galactic Patrol Fleet. That would make any normal Admiral proud, but Johns was currently in a state of nearly hopeless depression; this grand fleet, the likes of it having not been seen in Imperial Space for a thousand years, and he wasn't in command. Worse, he was right out in front, so if any alien civilizations popped up and didn't feel like being friendly, his would be one of the first ships to go.

Regardless, he had to respect the Fleet Marshall Gregor Jameson for all he had done. He had been decisive in the victory over the red rebellion on Terra, so much so that he became known as Pop-eye James throughout Imperial space for his ability to defeat overwhelming odds. Such a name might be insulting if it weren't a reference for the single greatest naval tactitian in known history, James Cook II, who many attributed with defeating the Proge almost single-handedly. Any man who could be called the third coming of James Cook deserved the respect of every man under his command.

Thus, when Marshall Gregor has assigned him to be in the vanguard due to his previous experience with these aliens, he had complied immediately. Johns was still in charge of his own taskforce, essentially, as well, so he figured things could be much worse. Chances are if they did get worse, however, he wouldn't survive long.

There was an even chance either way, however, so Johns nervousness was warrented. You see, the Imperial Republican government had done something unprecidented in past history; they had provided a quantum singularity generator to a ship, or in this case more than one. The entire fleet was equipped with singularity generators that allowed their Spurt-Jump engines essentially unlimited range outside of the Sol system. The fleet was charged with exploring the galaxy in search of other advanced nations, and you couldn't very well do that while limited to a tiny sphere of space around a certain star.

And that's why the fleet, currently labelled the Grand Exploration Fleet, was sitting outside an otherwise unremarkable yellow star somewhere in an uncharted space far outside the borders of Imperial space. Forward scouting vessels had detected signs of life and technology in this system, including ships and communications between the second and fourth planets in the system. The fourth planet was roughly Earth-like, only slightly smaller, and the other was significantly smaller, barely the size of Earth's moon. It was assumed that there was some sort of mining operation on the smaller planet, while the main colony was on the other one.

The problem was, though, that the fleet was forbidden from making first contact, so they were now stuck waiting at the edges of the system for the forces in-system to pick them up and hail them.

Oh well, Johns thought to himself, at least I get a great view... as the Mothership class supercarrier, Hand of Justice floated by along with its myriad escort carriers and countless fighters swarming around her, all glittering in the weak sunlight near the sixth and outermost planet in the system.

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OoC: Anyone who has a mining operation running, or feels like acquiring one by claiming the one I'm currently observing as yours, is free to join in by detecting my ships in some way or another. I'd prefer to do this whole thing diplomatically, but you can do whatever you want.

The ships in the Grand Exploration Fleet are as follows:

1 Mothership Class Supercarrier --

Hand of Justice

2 Goliath Class Battleships --

Crushing Force
Yardley

8 Hammer Class Battlecruisers --

Pillar of Truths
Reprisal
Freedom
Moonshine
Blue Skies
Dominator
Summer Breeze
Death's Hand

12 SDDG-52/R Robotic Guided Missile Destroyers --

52/R-424 and 425
52/R-753 and 752
52/R-823 and 822
52/R-134 and 135
52/R-465 and 464
52/R-984 and 985

12 Beehive Class Escort Carrier --

Captivation
Fascination
Brown Fox
Life of Peril
Swarm
Wasp
Warspite
Invincible
Essex
Middleground
Arrow
Beehive

ooc: I'd be happy to RP as a mining operation. Everyone knows we need as many raw materials as possible.

ic:

Life was dull out in the reaches of space. Though the Federation was a war, again, there hadn't been a single attack on this operation in nearly 200 years.

Commander Petzle had joined the Navy to fight. Not to sit around, writing reports, scanning rocks, and protecting civilians. He clenched his fist, trying very hard to drown out his anger.

"Lieutenant Fricht," the commander hissed. "Have the routine sensor sweeps picked up any abnormalities in-system," Petzle asked, knowing full well the answer.

Silence echoed throughout the cavernous bridge of the destroyer.

Petzle stepped forward towards the science station. "Lieutenant, I asked you a question," he growled.

"Sir," replied the lieutenant in an almost insubordinate tone. "There are faint ion trails just outside the system. It doesn't match any known phenomena in the database, nor does it match any known propulsion..."

The commander's attitude picked up a bit. Maybe, just maybe, he would see some action.

"Dispatch a fighter wing, have them search the general area of the ionization."

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Charles sat in the cramped seat of his interceptor. He'd been rudely awakened by his second, with shouts of "There's somethin' out thar! C'mon!"

So, he sat. Running endless scans that turned up nothing. What a waste of sleep...

*static, distortion* "Wing Leader, there's a number of metallic objects four light-seconds ahead, they appear to be ships."

Well, maybe his sleep hadn't been wasted...

"Sir, we're picking up several smaller ships on the MAD sensors pulling away from orbit around the fourth planet and heading towards our position", reported a young officer from the sensor station, just dripping the academy enforced discipline with every word. Although Johns understood the need for such measures while officer cadets were being schooled, he absolutely despised the way it caused some to lose the ability to think for themselves. Johns valued the ability to get important insights from any of his bridge officers. He would have to break this new one in.

"Do you think they have detected us, lieutenent?", he asked with the smallest hint of test in his voice.

"Well, er, sir, there is no way to tell without a specialist here to --"

"Lieutenent, I asked a yes or no question, I expect an answer as such", the admiral said, interrupting the younger officer.

"Well...sir I -- Sir, yes, sir, I do believe they have detected us as their path seems condusive to an intercept", the young man intoned, gaining confidence as he went.

"Good, good. Communications, send the Justice all our sensor data, along with advising the Marshall to pick up all fighters as their additional sensor signitures are no longer needed and they may appear as a threat to anyone who approaches", Johns ordered as he walked to his command chair in the center of the bridge.

"And what shall we do, sir?", asked his helmsman, Major Gaftly, from his place in the crew pit.

"Us? Why major, we do the only thing available to us, we wait for the aliens to make contact", the admiral said as he watched out the Pillar's main viewport as the Justice and her escort carriers picked up the swarms of fighters that had previously occupied the space around them.

OoC: I've made a decision. My entire future tech story, for a while at least, will follow Rear Admiral Johns Vicken from his lowly position on the Pillar in command of a paltry exploratory fleet, all the way up to his future heights of power, whatever they may be, by virtue of having him present in every major RP I'm involved in.

Twelve small Federal Interceptors appraoched the alien fleet.

Charles had recieved no communications or signals from the unidentified vessels, which didn't bode too well. However, he had orders from System Commander Petzle to attempt to establish peaceful ties with this new race.

His finger hovered over the Comm panel, hesitant to set in motion events that could turn out for the betterment of the Federation, or another enemy to add to the list.

Charles opened a channel to the alien fleet on all channels:

"We represent Federal System Commander Petzle. Attention Alien Vessels, you are in Federated Space, state your intent. Please respond."

ooc: First Contact for the UFGZ hasn't exactly turned out too well most of the time...

For the second time in only a month, an unknown voice rang out across the bridge of the Pillar of Truths. However, unlike last time, when the transmission ended, Rear Admiral Johns merely stood his ground as he awaited the reply from the Marshall. It took a full thirty seconds before he got worried.

"Major, has the marshall sent a return message to the alien contacts?", he yelled over to the communications area.

"No sir not yet...wait...we're getting something over the Spookies...sir, it's a text-only for you", the major in charge of the communications section said.

"What? Send it to my viewing screen", a green panel to his left lit up, then slowly collasced into several lines of text.

"Ah...major, open the boosted signal recievers and allow wide-band transmissions", he said, lifting himself from his command chair and walking towards the front viewport, which changed into a static filled screen, awaiting a connection.

"Federal ships, we mean no harm. I am Rear Admiral Johns Vicken, I represent the Human Imperial Republic of Industrial Experiment, and I bring greetings from both the Business Council and Fleet Marshall Gregor Jameson. We wish to establish contact with other nations of interstellar power, as our nation's multi-star empire has remained in effective isolation since our leap into space, and our recent encounter with another space-faring civilization convinced us to send a Grand Exploration Fleet to find other nations throughout the galaxy. We wish to establish diplomatic ties".

Charles found comfort in the possibility of an ally. It would reduce the chances of his fighter getting shot down by yet another enemy vessel.

"Imperial Fleet, please follow us to Federal Mining Colony UFGZMC-013. Diplomatic discussions can be held there, as well as maintenance facilities for your ships, shore leave for crew, and much more. Welcome to the Federation."

Charles sat back and plotted a course for the Colony.

Johns listened in on the Marshall's reply through the boosted reciever arrays, "We are glad to accept your offer, Federal Pilot. I am Fleet Marshall Jameson, I will be conducting talks come any conferences".

There was a momentary pause, "All ships, follow the Federal Fighters in at their set pace, do not, I repeat, do not outpace them".

With that, the massive glory that was the Hand of Justice and her two Goliath class battleship escorts, along with the myriad escort carriers, began to move in-system. The Hammer class vessels, which had been holding out perimeter all turned inward and began the trek as well, including Johns' own Pillar of Truths.

ooc: No time for a response RP, but, you think that you can outpace my fighters? They're just going slow so that we can lead your ships in. You know how it is. However, you could never, never, out pace me... :D Lol...

Why couldn't he?

OoC: Ohhh, we're most definitely going to have to turn this into a race sometime, bucko.

ooc: Heh... Like your capitol ships can cruise at 99.9...C?

ic:

The operation was not much, various planetary extraction facilities, orbital refineries, etc. The small starbase that orbited the fourth planet of the system, glistening in the white light of the binary star.

A small patrol, Petzle's Destroyer and two frigates, sat stationary in the center of the system. The High Council had been notified of the situation, and protocol dictated that the Aliens be taken to Normandeicht for the diplomatic meetings.

And so, as the fighters docked with the Starbase, the Alien fleet stopped just short of a kilometer from the Federal System Fleet.

On Board the FSS Starbnocht, Commander Petzle monitered the Imperial ships.

"Lieutenant, I don't think that this fleet was meant solely for peaceful purposes... Look at all those carriers. What do you think?"

Lieutenant Fricht swiveled his Gravchair to face the Commander and stood. "I believe that these people are genuinely intent on peace. I do not believe they would have waited out-system with such a force if they wanted a fight."

Petzle rubbed his cheek, deep in thought. "Send them the coordinates to Normandeicht, tell them that we will hold Diplomatic conferences there. Also, I have orders from the HC to escort them. Put in a reassignment order for another ship. We can't leave only a few frigates and picketships to defend, should out enemies attack."

The Federal Destroyer disappeared in a small flash of light, Folding above the Federal World of Normandeicht.

tag

Johns read the orders that were coming on over the Spookies silently, leaning over the communications officer's shoulder. The text scrolled across the otherwise black-screened moniter for a few minutes, filling Johns in on everything that Fleet Marshall Jameson had decided upon. Johns' own Pillar, along with the Reprisal and Moonshine, would accompany the Marshall on his flagship, the Yardley, to the Federal homeworld where diplomatic talks were to be made. The rest of the fleet would stay in this system under the command of Marshall Trischov and help to shore up any defensive short-comings in an attempt to show their good-will to the Federation and its people.

It was quite an accomplishment, really. The Republic hadn't met a single advanced alien race other than the Proge in all their history, yet here they were, on a diplomatic mission to the homeworld of another nation entirely after only a month of knowing they were no longer alone. Johns could only sigh as the four ships going to Normandeicht began charging their Spurt-Jump engines. He gave the orders necessary for his own to also begin the process, the coordinates were punched in, and thirty seconds passed when suddenly space seemed to shorten in front of the Pillar and the main engines were engaged. The journey to Normandeicht would last a bare couple minutes, a short jump in comparison to what the fleet had been doing in the last week.

ooc: there'll be over 600 ships at Normandeicht, and it isn't the homeworld. It's the main military world. Just post your arrival and I'll respond.

Watching with morbid fascination, Johns watched as the stars that were nothing but bright streaks of light for a few moments quickly went back to their normal, dotted selves as the Pillar, along with its fellow Imperial Ships, all halted their bending of space and the cosmos in front of them returned to their normal, positive curvature. All in one instance, space around them was lit up with countless magnetic and gravitic anamolies, enough to send the sensor man into a dead faint. The admiral could only stand for a moment before he became a flurry of motion and noise.

"It's a trap! Halt forward movement! Pull out of weapon range of those ships, contact the Marsh...", he paused as he saw the Fleet Marshall's flag pass right by the Pillar and continue on, following the Federal Destroyer right towards the massive fleet arrayed before them, "Belay those orders, continue normal movement, follow the Yardley".

The ship pulled back into formation with the Yardley and the other Hammer class vessels present. They moved in through the massive fleet, following the destroyer like it was a friendly pup leading them to a mouse it had managed to kill. The destroyer finally stopped, pulling up next to a massive station, something that Johns could only call a Starbase in his mind, and docking.

The Imperial ships were far too large to dock, so two shuttles quickly emerged from each one, following confirmation of the landing bay they could head to. Rear Admiral Johns was on one of them, along with a hand-picked staff of diplomats from the Pillar's own small force of government officials. He watched as the parts of his command crew that he had allowed to come piloted their shuttle quite deftly towards the bay they had been assigned, while the marshall's shuttle moved almost gracefully through the intervening space between the station and the Yardley.

As all the shuttles came down inside the bay, the admiral unbuckled himself and hurried towards the ramp that had extended down upon the shuttle touching floor, eager to see what these new people looked like.

OoC: Two things: First, if you're going to send a team down to greet us, have them greet Marshall Jameson, not Admiral Vicken. Everything merely happens from his prespective, he isn't all that important (yet). Also, you are humans, correct? I have a particularly funny reaction ready for admiral Vicken if you are.

ooc: If the Reagan can dock there, your ships sure can... And yes, we are human. Red haired, blue, green, or red eyes, and an average height of 6'8", and of course, square jaws.

ic:

High Admiral Schumacher rounded the bend in the main corridor and emerged into the cavernous hangar bay. He had just arrived on the Reagan, and now went to greet a new race, a new people, and possibly even a new ally.

His Formal Dress Robes flew in the Admiral's wake as he approached the alien delegation.

He finally stood face-to-face with what appeared to be their leader. Fritz held out his hand, slowly speaking in the High Language:

"Wir, die vereinigte Vereinigung der germanischen Welten, begrüßen Sie bescheiden. Please, follow me."

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The Reagan sat, imposing it's enourmous frame upon the alien fleet. The 20-mile-long battleship had docked with the Starbase, having unloaded its precious cargo, the High Admiral of the Fleet, some time ago.

The Federal Fleet underwent the refits, preparing for the long war ahead...

OoC: Noted and...20 miles? :-O Crap. The biggest mobile thing we've ever built dwarfs that, yes, but we only ever built four, which took hundreds of years and they never move outside a certain area of space. The next biggest thing is a 'paltry' three and a half miles long by just under a mile around >_< And that's the only HUGE vessel class I have, the Goliath class. Amazingly tough, though. None of my ships have shields, I haven't found a technology that would suffice, but we do use EM fields to deflect matter that isn't moving too fast and shrug off plasma and anti-matter blasts that aren't backed up by a more powerful EM field. In fact, most of the inter-ship fighting inside Imperial space is done with the LASER cannons and missile pods. Anti-matter and plasma shot is only useful against a ship that is smaller than the one shooting. The Goliath class has been known to take a beating from countless LASER cannon and plasma-cluster missiles and still come out barely touched.

Sorry, I'm babbling. By the way, is that German?

IC

Johns watched in amazement as the man, yes, man, walked towards the Fleet Marshall. He might have been simply massive in comparison to any of the other humans present, but still, he seemed to be a 100% homo sapien. Johns could only gape as he thought over the possible implications of this, meanwhile the Marshall was speaking to the man in his pathetically obvious entry-level german.

"Ah...Wir sind geehrt sein besuchen dein...", he paused as he searched for the word, silent for a moment before it came to him, "herrliche flotte. We will follow, great one".

Johns only barely managed to pick his jaw up from the floor in time to scurry off after the rest of the delegation through a door on the opposite of the entrance to the hanger.

"So, tell me, admiral is it?, is the massive concentration of force outside a norm for the Federation, or are there politics at work here that we of the Imperial Republic are unaware of?", continued the marshall as he followed the giant of a man down a brightly lit corridor.

ooc: Yes. We have two. The Reagan and the Bismarck. The Bismarck was damaged beyond repair, and sits in the Fleet museum...

"We are honored by your wonderful quick visit"????

ic:

Fritz stared at this man. He knew the High Language? Albeit very badly...

"Yes, High Admiral Fritz Schumacher, Admiral of the Fleet. We are at war, and the Fleet is undergoing refits and repairs. We have many more ships, and powerful allies."

The group walked through the echoing halls, until finally the High Admiral spoke again.

"Here we are, gentlemen. Right through here."

OoC:


"We are honored by your wonderful quick visit"????


Yeah, I'm not too good with German. Haven't had reason to speak it in over a year. It's meant to say "We are honored to visit your glorious fleet".

Johns followed the Jameson and the foriegn admiral into a grand chamber, one most beautiful to even his cynical eyes. He didn't know how to describe it, really (ie. I'm allowing you to describe your own rooms =P), but suffice to say, it would do well for the talks that would take place here.

"Ah, a war. Very interesting. So I assume that means there are many other nations throughout the galaxy with the technologies required to travel space? I am sure that, if this war should be brought to your doorstep, and should these talks go well, the Business Council will support a motion to assist you, should you ask for it", the marshall replied while moving into the room.

EDIT: im in as the wrong nation. Im actually orange state. But i forgot who im in as sorry! Just pretend its from them..

OOC: id like to meet you when im finished with these wars. Your tech isnt too far behind mine. We just developed a jump tech that allows travel accross an area the size of the galaxy in a couple of months. It needs to be intiated a safe distance from any strong gravitational fields though or it wont work. My nation will suggest research drives further out as it WILL birng different results...)

We just havent had time to explore right now, what with ending up in war twice out of the three civilisations we know (after a little tech buying)...

Anyway we could bump into you later. We were humans, but mandatory gene boosting (particularly our soldiers who are basically adopted orphans and test tube babies now) makes us a little more thna human. Just a little more though.. hahaha

ANyway my nation has a nice healthy economy and could do with a trading partner (one of the few richer nations in the whole universe too!)

oh and our sheilding uses several types of sheilding, charge (projects up or down sub particles), matter (projects neutrons) and kinetic (transduces the energy of hostile attacks into less dangerous forms,a very efficient and effective sheilding, quite a new tech still) based so it deflect most weapons to some degree of efficiency. We may be able to help your sheild developement

OoC: That is a very interesting proposal, orange states, and I would be glad to RP with you given the chance. However, I must decline on the proposed assistance in technology development. While I'm happy to share my technology with anyone who I am friendly with, I vastly prefer to research and invent things myself; I often find real-life concepts to be better than the things people make up anyway. Take my communications and GAD systems, for instance.

http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=352433

The babbling group fell silent as they entered into the high vaulted room. Gold veins ran through the marble columns, arching high above into a painting of great ships, sailing through the void.

A great table, varnished oak, was surrounded by twenty high-back gravchairs. As the High Admiral sat, a hologram appeared in the center of the table. It showed the entire system, ships, installations, and the planet Normandeicht.

"This, my friends, is Normandeicht. It is a testament to the will of the Federation. It was destroyed once. Nothing more than space dust. We rebuilt. This one system has been the center of many battles, the center of our power. This is why you see the Federal Fleet arrayed in-system, because our enemy will not stop until every last man, woman, and child of our people are dead."

Fritz took a deep breath, leaned back in his chair, and began again. "My people are at war. If you seek relations with us, our enemies may target you also. Please understand the risk you place on yourselves." The Admiral faced the alien leader and whispered to him, "We need allies. Our enemy grows stronger by the day, and if we fall, or any of our allies fall, the nations that threaten us now will glass all who oppose them."

The Federal delegation sat, shifting in their chairs, as they awaited a response from the Imperials.

<The Admiral got up from his seat at the conference table and greeted the ECF Admiral.

"Welcome, Admiral Willing. Please sit down." Fritz turned to the Imperial Delegation and spoke. "This is the commander of the ECF Fleet. They are one of our closest allies."

As he spoke, the Admiral keyed in a command on the underside of the oak table. As he confirmed the order, the Federal repair teams began to "repair" the wrong systems...>

As the Imperial Delegation and Admiral Willing spoke, Schumacher sat down again and waited...

The marshall leaned back, looking contemplative as he knotted his fingers together, "Ahh, we understand your plight well. There was a period on our long history of almost constant warfare with a vicious enemy. It was quite a time, really. The Republic was brought to its knees, we had barely any resources left outside the Sol II system, our greatest ships and most powerful weapons seemed nothing against the wave tactics the enemy was using, pitching as many of their number as possible at us, leaving them to be slaughtered, but then sending in more suicide attackers. I swear, my grandfather talked of an ancient conflict, took place somewhere called Korea or something, they used similar tactics in that war, called human waves. Countless men died, but victory was won for a while as sheer numbers proved the superior. However, the tide was turned in that war, and it was turned in our war on the aliens, the Proge as the became known. They had beaten us back to our home system, and had begun what would seem to be their final offensive", the marshall recited, a glazed look in his eye.

He started for a moment, "Ah, but I apologize, second nature you see. Every child is indoctrined with the history of the Proge Wars, in hopes of not being caught as unprepared as we were then ever again. I can remember my lessons so long ago...but asides, we come to speak business."

Jameson shifted, consulting with a man with a captain's insignia for a moment, then turned back to the admiral towering in front of him, "Anyway, while I cannot offer the full support of the Imperial Fleet myself, I can make sure that the fleet currently under my command is there to support you. There is also a good chance that we will be able to send for reinforcements and get a positive response; the Business Council is pretty jumpy about hostile alien species due to the aforementioned Proge Wars".

"However, I must ask you, what kind of enemies should we expect? The standing Imperial Fleet, while impressive, is no where near geared for war. Many captains have grown complacent, having nothing to worry about outside of the occasional pirate run-in. While those directly under my command at the moment are the cream of the crop, I assure you, any reinforcements may not be ready for full-out war. It would be nice to at leats know what to expect".

<The Admiral got up from his seat at the conference table and greeted the ECF Admiral.

"Welcome, Admiral Willing. Please sit down." Fritz turned to the Imperial Delegation and spoke. "This is the commander of the ECF Fleet. They are one of our closest allies."

As he spoke, the Admiral keyed in a command on the underside of the oak table. As he confirmed the order, the Federal repair teams began to "repair" the wrong systems...>

As the Imperial Delegation and Admiral Willing spoke, Schumacher sat down again and waited...

OoC: I'm confused as to what this is supposed to mean...

The High Admiral pulled up holos of all the battles fought so far. He pointed out the allied and enemy fleets, describing weaponry, etc.

"...We have no information on this enemy as of yet, however, when they do attack, we will send you all the information on their ships that our sensors can collect."

The Admiral lifted a glass of water to his mouth and downed the whole glass. "Our people were once very peaceful. The Ancestors had cautioned us to remain peaceful; to distance ourselves from war. We made a mistake, which turned our people down the path of war, and ever since, we have taken it upon ourselves to defend those who are led astray by evil nations, and by protecting ourselves from those who would attack and destroy our greatest monuments. All Federal Citizens know of a world of legend, Terra. The Homeworld of the Ancestors. They fled here, to Atheos Prime, from a great evil so long ago. They have left us a legacy, and great wonders to be unlocked. If you would join our Federation, our peoples would become one, working and fighting, living and dying together. Great times of prosperity would ensue, and our greatest minds would unlock the secrets of the Ancestors. You will have the time you need to think over a decision."

Uh.. in another thread the ECF Fleet arrived for repairs and refits... Admiral Willing is their commander. He was shuttled onto the Starbase for a discussion with the High Admiral, and ended up in the conference. So, you get to meet one of our allies...

The marshall concentrated as he took a moment to gather his thoughts, then shook his head, "Joining the Federation...no, I do not believe so. For the entirety of our long history, the Imperial Republic has valued its own autonomy over all else, and we even avoid alliance groups. We very much like to judge our allies ourselves before we actually create any kind of relationship. Overly large groups mean you're suddenly obligated to a group of nations you know nothing about, something we would like to avoid. However, I do not withdraw my offer of assistance in this battle, and possible ties afterwards to your nation. I ask for nothing in return but your friendship, and an alliance between your nation and mine".

After this, the marshall turned and looked upon another man, dressed in a naval officer's regalia, "And ahh, Admiral Willing was it? I am most honored to meet you, and I must admit to a sudden interest I have in learning of your nation after this conference concludes; I have an immense inate curiousity for those things unknown, and your's is only the third nationality I have had the fortune of encountering in my long life".

High Admiral Schumacher did not expect a yes, but he tried. "The Federation does not impose itself upon its members. It is solely for trade and defensive purposes. It is called the USF, the United Space Federation. However, we understand. We thank your nation for the offers of assistance, and we offer our hand in friendship with the Imperial Republic. May our alliance survive the ages."

Again he stopped and awaited the response of the Federation's new allies.

The marshall was smiling wildly, and as he put his hand foward, gripping the bear-size paw of the admiral, his own hand dissappearing entirely inside the grip. However, he managed to keep a sense of power about himself, exuding confidence. He had accomplished one of his primary objectives for this mission, and it had appeared to be quite easy.

"Very well then admiral, shall I call in the rest of my fleet from your mining operation? They can be here in a half-hour at conservative speeds, and I can also call for reinforcements to stand ready near our worm-hole generator inside Imperial Space", Jamesonl paced around the table, so he now stood opposite the Federal Admiral.

"I very much wish to assist you and yours here, and I hope you will grant me the request of staying on and calling in others from the Republic".

Fritz's heart jumped at the offer of a fleet. This alliance had turned out to be all he had hoped for. More ships would arrive to aid the Federation in its hour of need.

The Admiral lost awareness of the world around him. He was back on the Reagan, watching the fleet succumb before the massive Shivan worldship. He heard the screams of millions, below on the world of Normandeicht. Even then, against terrible odds, nations never known by the Federation, came its aid. Now, once more, nations had come to the side of the Federation, to fight against yet another evil...

"Thank you, we will prepare for the arrival of your fleet. If you wish, we can install our most powerful weapons upon your vessels..."

"While I appreciate the offer, I must decline in the spirit of my people. I believe our weapons will be sufficient for what is to come. If I may be excused, admiral, I must go open communications with the rest of my fleet and with Central FleetCom HQ to request reinforcements", the marshall stepped back, ready to leave with his entourage, when a thought occured to him.

He turned back to the admiral, struggling with a few thoughts, then bowed deeply, "Viel gluck, Admiral, und auf weidersehen". With a final flourish, he turned around and proceeded through the door on the way back to his ships, other Imperials in tow, including Rear Admiral Vicken.