Weyr
10-10-2004, 17:54
"Ladies and gentlebeings of the Galaxy." Governor John Ryan reported over the CWHNN. "Sometime within the last hour, the Death Star has appeared over our capital planet of Juria...and destroyed it completely. It is not known at this time if the Royal Family and Jedi Council has managed to escape, but we assume the worst."
"A probe droid managed to capture the destruction of the planet...and all is left is an asteroid belt."
"Nations of the galaxy...our nation is in peril. Our government has fallen. Our population is halved. Our fleets are desperate for a victory. My friends, we must rise up against the Sith, who have done this terrible deed. The Imperial Republic of Coreworlds now asks for your aid, in whatever way you can. But one thing is clear: The Sith will stop at nothing to destroy or enslave us all! Either we stand together now, stand strong and face this threat with bravery and determination, or the Galaxy will fall to them! There is no other choice, no other path to travel!"
"I call upon all the members of this interstellar community to help us defeat the Sith, no matter who you are, no matter if we are allies or not! This threat will and must be defeated, for our sake, for our children's sake, and for the sake of the Force! The fate of the universe now rests in your hands! Come, and draw your swords against our common enemy! No matter how long it takes, no matter how hard it will be, we shall defeat them!"
<<Paradigm System, Starhavven Station>>
Two pairs of boots echoed against the gray eternastone floor of one of the corridors of the King's Quarter in Starhavven Station. The great sphere, eight hundred kilometers in diameter, stationed on the outer fringes of the Paradigm system, was awash with activity, more so than usual. Aides and functionaries flirted through the tall passageways and spaces. The two ignored them, cutting through the multitude of races like a scythe.
"Ser, we might have a problem," Masato Storm, Fleet Admiral of Weyr's one and only interstellar fleet, spoke.
"Mouse, I know we have a problem. That's what worries me. We shouldn't have problems," Alicia replied tersely.
There was always some species out there that wanted to destroy everything. Most of those species were totally blind to the force, ether, or whatever name given to powers that could not be quantified. This one could, and concealing the impression made on the fabric of the multiverse by several thousand magi'i, or spellcasters or Jedi or whatever one called them, gathered in a single system was not something Weyr could do.
"That station can go through right through the Wall," Mouse added . The Wall was an almost-spherical asteroid envelope protecting Paradigm system's four inner planets.
"I know," Alicia responded.
"Our fleet can't even dent its armor,"
"Yes,"
"And..." Masato began.
"Just...shut up," Alicia snapped. I know we're up the shit creek, she did not have to add.
"Yes, ser," Admiral Storm responded.
****
How melodramatic, Alicia thought grimly, taking her seat at the head of the oval table. As the High Council materialized about her, a trideo image beamed from a thousand light-years away, she stifled a faint smile. Arrayed in black, she probably looked like one of the ancient tyrant kings, the High King Alicia li'Wye reflected. She could feel the thousands of eyes lock onto her; even if she was seeing them, and they were seeing her, through artificial means. Since Alicia and Admiral Storm were on Starhavven, and the High Council was on Cloudhavven-Wye, the two were communicating via an encrypted trideo-immersion link. The corporate bosses of Starhavven and Paradigm, sitting across from her at the oval table, felt more distant than the thousands of people on the trideo image.
"I assume you're all familiar with the recent events," Alicia began "So I'll cut to the chase. We finally have a force that is capable of going through every defense this system has to offer, and that force can probably figure out the location of this system, if it hasn't already done so. If we loose Paradigm, we loose the ability to be a space faring nation for the next half century, along with fifty years of work on Planetforge. I'm asking for permission to deploy the Ocean Fleet against this force."
"Will we have allies?" an elderly councilor inquired.
"Who do you think sent the message across the galaxy?" the High King retorted.
"Why weren't we informed of this earlier?"
"The Star Guard has sixty Shadow vessels. There are several million systems in this galaxy. We can't monitor them all. Councilors, we have to decide now: are we going to be in this fight, or not?"
"What about costs..."
Alicia sighed; she sensed this was going to take some time.
****
>>>Transmission.type = packet
>>>Priority = One
>>>Target.vessel = WSGS-OF
>>>INITIATE//datapacket
>>>
>>>Report to Ocean Core.
>>>No drill.
>>>Come Back.
>>>
>>>TERMINATE//datapacket
>>>DUMP//transmission
There were two things the commanding officer of a vessel attached to the Ocean Fleet did not want to see -- an invading armada, and a message ending in 'Come Home' or 'Come Back'. 'Come Back' was not as drastic as 'Come Home'. It meant there was threat of an invasion, while 'Come Home' meant that an overhwelming force was already slagging the Weyrean home system. None-the-less , it was enough to send a hundred odd vessels into translation at the drop of a hat.
The WSGS Nox and its three escorts broke off engagement against a wavering foe. Fusactors and drives going past the red, they screamed into tranSpace.
On the Arcadia installation, Star Guard soldiers scrambled back aboard a pair of destroyers.
Soldiers grumbled. Whatever had happened, it was nothing good. The Star Guard did not cut short leave time, nor did it recall vessels from duty, for no reason.
Admiral Masato Storm waited in Paradigm, meanwhile working with the Logistics Directorate to prepare everything from insertion vectors to resupply tasks for the gathering Ocean Fleet. Two days to get the fleet here. Two days to hastily resupply and refit. Two days for travel. Factoring in the unexpected, it would be more than a week and a half before the Ocean Fleet would flare into existence, on the fringe of a system on the otherside of the galaxy.
"A probe droid managed to capture the destruction of the planet...and all is left is an asteroid belt."
"Nations of the galaxy...our nation is in peril. Our government has fallen. Our population is halved. Our fleets are desperate for a victory. My friends, we must rise up against the Sith, who have done this terrible deed. The Imperial Republic of Coreworlds now asks for your aid, in whatever way you can. But one thing is clear: The Sith will stop at nothing to destroy or enslave us all! Either we stand together now, stand strong and face this threat with bravery and determination, or the Galaxy will fall to them! There is no other choice, no other path to travel!"
"I call upon all the members of this interstellar community to help us defeat the Sith, no matter who you are, no matter if we are allies or not! This threat will and must be defeated, for our sake, for our children's sake, and for the sake of the Force! The fate of the universe now rests in your hands! Come, and draw your swords against our common enemy! No matter how long it takes, no matter how hard it will be, we shall defeat them!"
<<Paradigm System, Starhavven Station>>
Two pairs of boots echoed against the gray eternastone floor of one of the corridors of the King's Quarter in Starhavven Station. The great sphere, eight hundred kilometers in diameter, stationed on the outer fringes of the Paradigm system, was awash with activity, more so than usual. Aides and functionaries flirted through the tall passageways and spaces. The two ignored them, cutting through the multitude of races like a scythe.
"Ser, we might have a problem," Masato Storm, Fleet Admiral of Weyr's one and only interstellar fleet, spoke.
"Mouse, I know we have a problem. That's what worries me. We shouldn't have problems," Alicia replied tersely.
There was always some species out there that wanted to destroy everything. Most of those species were totally blind to the force, ether, or whatever name given to powers that could not be quantified. This one could, and concealing the impression made on the fabric of the multiverse by several thousand magi'i, or spellcasters or Jedi or whatever one called them, gathered in a single system was not something Weyr could do.
"That station can go through right through the Wall," Mouse added . The Wall was an almost-spherical asteroid envelope protecting Paradigm system's four inner planets.
"I know," Alicia responded.
"Our fleet can't even dent its armor,"
"Yes,"
"And..." Masato began.
"Just...shut up," Alicia snapped. I know we're up the shit creek, she did not have to add.
"Yes, ser," Admiral Storm responded.
****
How melodramatic, Alicia thought grimly, taking her seat at the head of the oval table. As the High Council materialized about her, a trideo image beamed from a thousand light-years away, she stifled a faint smile. Arrayed in black, she probably looked like one of the ancient tyrant kings, the High King Alicia li'Wye reflected. She could feel the thousands of eyes lock onto her; even if she was seeing them, and they were seeing her, through artificial means. Since Alicia and Admiral Storm were on Starhavven, and the High Council was on Cloudhavven-Wye, the two were communicating via an encrypted trideo-immersion link. The corporate bosses of Starhavven and Paradigm, sitting across from her at the oval table, felt more distant than the thousands of people on the trideo image.
"I assume you're all familiar with the recent events," Alicia began "So I'll cut to the chase. We finally have a force that is capable of going through every defense this system has to offer, and that force can probably figure out the location of this system, if it hasn't already done so. If we loose Paradigm, we loose the ability to be a space faring nation for the next half century, along with fifty years of work on Planetforge. I'm asking for permission to deploy the Ocean Fleet against this force."
"Will we have allies?" an elderly councilor inquired.
"Who do you think sent the message across the galaxy?" the High King retorted.
"Why weren't we informed of this earlier?"
"The Star Guard has sixty Shadow vessels. There are several million systems in this galaxy. We can't monitor them all. Councilors, we have to decide now: are we going to be in this fight, or not?"
"What about costs..."
Alicia sighed; she sensed this was going to take some time.
****
>>>Transmission.type = packet
>>>Priority = One
>>>Target.vessel = WSGS-OF
>>>INITIATE//datapacket
>>>
>>>Report to Ocean Core.
>>>No drill.
>>>Come Back.
>>>
>>>TERMINATE//datapacket
>>>DUMP//transmission
There were two things the commanding officer of a vessel attached to the Ocean Fleet did not want to see -- an invading armada, and a message ending in 'Come Home' or 'Come Back'. 'Come Back' was not as drastic as 'Come Home'. It meant there was threat of an invasion, while 'Come Home' meant that an overhwelming force was already slagging the Weyrean home system. None-the-less , it was enough to send a hundred odd vessels into translation at the drop of a hat.
The WSGS Nox and its three escorts broke off engagement against a wavering foe. Fusactors and drives going past the red, they screamed into tranSpace.
On the Arcadia installation, Star Guard soldiers scrambled back aboard a pair of destroyers.
Soldiers grumbled. Whatever had happened, it was nothing good. The Star Guard did not cut short leave time, nor did it recall vessels from duty, for no reason.
Admiral Masato Storm waited in Paradigm, meanwhile working with the Logistics Directorate to prepare everything from insertion vectors to resupply tasks for the gathering Ocean Fleet. Two days to get the fleet here. Two days to hastily resupply and refit. Two days for travel. Factoring in the unexpected, it would be more than a week and a half before the Ocean Fleet would flare into existence, on the fringe of a system on the otherside of the galaxy.