NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: This is the part that is readily noticeable to those nations in close proximity to either the Thorn or Talbott Godulan systems.

"What the HELL?!" Adjutant General Achaedus bellowed as not one DawnRunner battlefleet, not two, but approximately twenty seven of the damn things flooded into Thorn, bearing what appeared to be the disassembled remnants of two of the Godulan Earth Shipyards. In less than twenty seconds, the numerical military presence in Thorn had more than doubled, and it suddenly had a production capacity...

Two Widowmakers accompanied the massive number of DawnRunners, maintaining their own battlefleet escorts, and a surprising voice came to Achaedus as he gawked at the massive swell of arriving vessels.

This is General Sendara Lear, Commander of the Godulan Defense Directorate, I am taking command of the fleets in this system and in Talbott. Further orders will be given as situations warrant. Adjutant General Achaedus, are you ready to accept a shuttle?

"Y-yes, sir! May I ask what's going on?"

Bad shit, Achaedus, Bad shit. There is a civilian evacuation fleet prepping to transit to this system and Talbott. Allow them in, but be prepared to open fire without hesitation at the first sign of strange behavior.

"Yes sir!" Achaedus replied, then turned to the suddenly concerned glances of his command crew. "What... the hell... is going on? Strange behavior?"

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In Talbott, Adjutant General Arcturus watched in awe as the Quarter-Finished shell of what was soon to be the final Archonal Command ship 'Godstar' completed transit amidst a trio of Widowmaker Siege vessels and a volume of DawnRunners that damn near blotted out the sky.

"Incoming Godulan Vessels," Arcturus sent out on comms after recovering from the shock of the sudden deployment, "I demand a reason for this! This is most irregular!"

Adjutant General Arcturus, any questions should be directed towards General Lear. For now though, we require a place to set up these shipyards to finish off the 'Godstar'.

"Lear is behind this?" Arcturus whispered to himself questioningly. He cleared his throat and sent back: "The asteroid belt beyond Galni. We had been preparing a shipyard there already, if you want you can assist us with finishing that up and augmenting your efforts with it..."

That will be acceptable, Adjutant General Arcturus.

Furthermore, General, have your fleets prepare to accept refugees, but be ready to open fire if they try to rabbit.

"Rabbit? Refugees? You are not helping this situation with these cryptic answers!"

I don't know what's going on myself, sir. I'm just following Lear's orders.

"What the hell is going on?"

OOC: Fascinating. This shall be as good of a read as Vastiva's.

((have no idea what some of these ships/vehicles are...))

A small robotic sensor probe traveled near the system, recording everything as it searched for interesting systems to explore and charted the bountried of other space going races. It recorded everything it's sensors detected, and shunted the data through it's Space Minus Transmitter.



In other words


*TAG*

tag

OOC: THIS is the interesting part, for the record, Godulan Prime is also known as Godulan Earth, and is essentially a planet entirely dominated by the Godulans, its a dimension they traveled to in which the earth had not developed any sentient life, and was otherwise completely serene.

Godulan Prime

The sky was like a tombstone above Godulan Earth. Five DawnRunner battlefleets hovered over the equator of the planet, pulling massive numbers of orbital support bombardments as city after city came under assault from all sides.

"Where are they coming from?!" "They're landing at Tripoli!" "The cougars are useless!" "PPD Installation Number 22 is Offline! They're taking us apart!"

The Archons chattered frantically throughout the council chamber, issuing orders of evacuation and attempting to coordinate the defensive efforts as best they could against this seemingly unstoppable foe. Even the Twelfth One, the massive Iron Giant of the Archons, literally and figuratively, couldn't help but show visible signs of nervousness at the ferocious onslaught.

Cassius Longarm, Grand Archon of the Godulan Governate had gone missing early on in the invasion. It was assumed he was working hard to command the HomeGuard forces as they attempted to hold off the steadily advancing enemy forces.

Only hours before, things had been going along as usual, the typical humdrum buzz of activity as the Godulans built ships, farmed crops, and otherwise lived out their normal lives.

Until the gates opened.

Nobody knew where the grate gaping gates of yellow energy came from, or what they led to, those who went to investigate soon enough discovered that the intentions of whoever created the gates meant for war as hulking masses of armored mutants burst through onto Godulan soil in a hail of bullets and plasma bursts.

The mutants had to have been twelve feet tall at least. They carried Vulcan Cannons like uzis and were almost too nimble for the eye to follow. They issued forth from the gates like a massive tide of insanity and gunfire, destroying everything in their path with an eerie hooting cackle.

Such an invasion had been planned for, and the Godulan Marines were quick to respond to the enemy attacks, sending in throngs of their favored Cougar Shock robots and sending volley after volley of artillery into the enemy, and when the marines themselves entered the fray it had seemed for an instant that the flood had been turned back...

Until all communication was lost with approximately half of the Godulan Ground forces and the Marines suddenly found themselves fighting their own brethren, as well as the hulking mutant hordes, and a full two-thirds of the Godulan Cougar supply.

What had been expected to be a mop-up operation instead turned into a rout, as communications were lost with more and more Godulan ground forces, and the resistance found themselves facing ever more insurmountable odds.

And now, Archona, the Godulan Capitol city, was under siege, as was every other primary city on the surface of Godulan Prime.

General Lear had realized almost immediately that whatever it was had a good chance at taking control of the HomeGuard forces as well, and if that were allowed to happen, it would all be over, so the order was issued for the Godulan Starnavy to evacuate to the colony systems. The Shipyards were broken down in mere minutes, having been designed for adaptability and functionality, and the newest Archonal Command construction project was towed out of the system and sent out for Talbott.

Lear wished not to leave the system completely undefended, however, and left five DawnRunners to provide fire support as necessary for the steadily retreating resistance.

No matter how hard they tried though, the hordes would not be turned.

"SON OF A BITCH! They've taken Archona!"

The bellowed statement came from Admiral Wintergreen, Archon of the Rheinland Sector. And it was realized that Cassius Longarm was truly gone. Their leader, for so many years, was either dead or captured or turncoat. The Archonal Council chamber fell into a dead silence as all attention turned to satellite footage of the capitol city. The city was being pummeled by its own artillery, but now the guns fell silent, and closer pictures would show the cannons of Archona turning sluggishly towards Kusari, the Godulan equivalent of Tokyo. Archona was still on the night side of Godulan Earth, and a strange tide of lights began to issue forth from Archona as many hundreds of drop ships made a beeline for the japanese shores.

The Kusari Archon began sending orders back to his sector, telling the defense forces to turn their guns on Archona in return. From the way his face slackened after giving his orders, he didn't like the response he'd been given.

And the response was obvious, explosions were slamming throughout the Kusari sector already, and from the looks of it, the Kusari artillery was busily trying to keep back the oncoming scourge.

When the massive guns of Archona cut loose, however, and swarms of StarBolt Fighters swarmed across waters into Japan, the Archons new it would be next to fall...

In the newly captured city of Archona, the great guns blazed in support of the effort to take the Kusari sector, with only token response from the wounded city to the south.

The massive Gendarmes stalked the streets, their heavily armed and armored bulk flanked by Turned Godulan Marines as they combed the city for any remaining pockets of resistance. The task was made somewhat easier with the assistance of godulan surveillance robots that were already in place when the city was taken, and it was a simple matter to wrest control of the network from the Godulan resistance.

Far above the chaotic scene, in what used to be Cassius Longarm's Archonal Control center, three figures stood, watching the situation unfold across the globe with the assistance of the Grand Archon's tactical satellite relays.

"My my, they do put up a good fight, don't they?" Came a high pitched voice that sounded almost as if the man's voice box were a grindstone. The voice belonged to one Xenith Steele, a veritable stick of a man, standing eight feet tall and looking as though he weighed no more than 150, he wore a great black trench coat to hide his gaunt nature, and a pair of black goggles to hide his eyes.

His deadly eyes. They were responsible for turning a full half of the Godulan Marines upon themselves. It was harder for him to do it without direct eye contact, but those eyes of his were the key to a flash brainwashing the likes of which the Godulans could never even fathom, before now, anyway.

As a matter of fact, doing that type of thing cost Xenith so much that he needed one of his cohorts to assist him on the delivery.

That very Cohort stood now, staring at the tactical readouts with a tremendous intensity, his lips moved frantically as he sent out telepathic orders to the troops, detailing weak spots and ordering spearhead maneuvers.

Baron Skye was the tactical brains of the outfit. Hell, he was the brains of the outfit in general.

To say that Baron Skye was unique would have been like saying that Mercury gets just a tad toasty at noon. If there were any creatures like him in all the worlds in the multiverse, he had yet to meet them. And considering the widely traveled nature of his past, that was saying something.

He was a vampire, but not just any vampire, oh no, that would have been too easy! Baron Skye, being the only one like himself, took particular glee in terming himself a Mindsyphon Vampire. He could thrive well enough on food and drink, just like normal people, but when he went on the hunt, he searched not for blood, but for memories... intelligence... information... but that all came merely as a side effect to Baron Skye's lust for Synaptic energy. In the many thousands of years of his existence, Baron Skye had amassed a truly prodigious grasp of pretty much everything... period.

Tactics, Science, Economics, Engineering, the list went on and on. In fact, despite Skye's inability to control force powers, he actually knew more about how to control them than even the greatest jedi OR sith master.

He was fast, strong, and hardy like a vampire, but if you were to jam a stake into his heart or throw him out into direct sunlight, he would thank you for adding a little extra fiber into his diet and ask you if he really needed a tan that badly. He also had a prodigious grasp of psionic powers, which while not as strong as force powers, could be utilized in much the same manner.

Presently, Baron Skye was coordinating the simultaneous assaults on no less than three separate cities, bringing Kusari, Sidney, and Cape Horn under their power. He couldn't be bothered to respond to Xenith's assessment.

The OTHER cohort, however, busy though he was at picking apart Cassius' mechanized corpse and figuring out the extents of Godulan robotics technology like a curious two-year-old, simply replied with "Yes, but that's what makes it all so fun! Tearing your enemies limb from limb and then feeding on their flesh, seeing the terror in the eyes of his friends as you crack his skull like an egg and..."

"IMAGERY!" Xenith hollered in the last Cohort's direction. "I know you like ripping people apart and eating them like beef jerky, Maxie. You do NOT need to describe the ins and outs of doing so! I am NOT changing my diet."

"You're missing out," 'Maxie' replied, grinning viciously as he returned to his work.

If Maximillian Foster, more commonly known as 'Big Maxie', were to go up against the Incredible Hulk one on one, there would likely be green limbs scattered all over the place outside of ten seconds.

Maxie was big. Maxie was bad. And Maxie was always hungry. Standing approximately twelve feet tall, just like the Gendarmes, and approximately as wide at the shoulders, Maximillian was an armed and armored muscular bulk of a man with spines and spikes jutting from almost every single armor plate within five feet of his body. If one were to remove his armor, one would find that his body was augmented by some strange insectoid bionic implants, which boosted his already prodigious strength a full three-fold.

The man had a homicidal streak a light year long, an innate ability to drain the life force from anything he bit, and a strange fascination with robotics.

Which was why he was hunched over Cassius' Back, picking through the complex workings of the Archon's robotic body. To him, this was cool stuff.

The archon himself groaned in pain. Unable to react to Maxie's prodding, but feeling everything still. Maxie had intentionally neglected to allow Cassius to go into Brainsafe mode, and now it was like Maxie was conducting an autopsy on a still living person.

He LOVED doing that.

"Ooo... you haveta hand it to these chew toys, they certainly knew there stuff when it came to robotics. These guys have us beat by leaps and bounds!"

"Much good it did them," Xenith replied, rolling his eyes.

"Heh!"

"Kusari Acquired," Baron Skye stated, his old english accent plain to all who heard his announcement. "Establishing Defensive Cordons and reallocating forces to the taking of Sidney."

"Excellent."

"Military Establishments acquired, re-equipping forces and deploying auxiliary Godulan Robotic Forces."

"Isn't it nice how we can replenish our forces so easily after taking each town? Its like we're not even suffering losses!"

"Commencing Deployment of Assault forces to Sidney, expected capture time, one hour, forty five minutes..."

Tag, would join but in future tech im in space :P assumeing this is 2950 )

Heh, Godulan earth is a wholly other Dimension, the only part outside nations would notice is the evacuation efforts taking place in the colony systems.

Though there is war, we couldn't help but notice that Godular seems to be having trouble. We managed to scrap up a young envoy, and the boy was sent to Godulan space, where we heard the rumors from.

Young Padawan Jacen Masaki, 14 years old, cousin to Commander Daniel Masaki by way of a late great-uncle, was in his single-seat X-wing fighter, speeding to the known position of Godular, and Thorn. Though there is currently neutrality between the two nations, despite animosity between the Galactic Senate and the Archons, Coreworlds by way of a certain Kelvin Majestatus is friendly towards it, and won't let anyone slander Godular. Concerned about the suddenly increasing number of Godulan refugees streaming into Jurai, a newly colonized planet that's a haven for refugees, it had dispatched the young envoy there to find out just what the hell is going on!

Jacen is the newest Masaki to gain an elemental ability, which is the manipulation of water. He can cast waves and waterspouts, drenching enemies and countering fire-type Jedi like his cousin Taylor. Now, he is on his way to Thorn, the nearer of the two systems of Godular to Coreworlds.

"General Lear, Incoming Craft. Its reading diplomatic tags out of Coredian space."

General Lear looked like she'd been awake for too damn many days straight, but she straightened up and smoothed back her tussled hair as best she could and turned to leave.

"Give the vessel permission to dock and flight vectors for the Longarm, I am going down to welcome our unexpected benefactors."

It had been a couple days since the refugees started flooding in to escape the fighting, and truth be told, there wasn't enough room to hold them all, not even in the more heavily developed Thorn system. So the command staff had agonized for half a day about what to do with a horde of refugees that they could neither house nor feed.

When Coreworlds extended a helping hand and allowed the refugees safe haven on the planet known as Jurai, the Godulans had been quick to accept.

General Lear had to admit she still felt somewhat ansy about allowing the refugees to settle down, however temporarily, within the space of one of the Galactic Empire's most powerful patron nations. But there was really no other alternative.

The X-wing had been given permission to dock in one of the smaller hangars on the colossal Archonal Command ship, as the larger hangars were being used as... well... refugee camps.

General Lear came to a stop before the X-wing just as it finished setting down, and waited patiently.

The young teenager stepped down from the fighter after he landed, lightsaber visible on his belt. He wore a formal cloak over his Jedi tunic as he is on a diplomatic mission. His black hair is cut short, and a braided hairtail sticks out from not behind the ear like in the Old Order, but runs down the back of the neck. That's by choice, though, since most Padawans don't use the formal braid anymore. But a Masaki male is commonly seen with the hairtail, though not always.

He stepped forward to the general. "Ma'am. Knight Apprentice Jacen Masaki, Diplomatic Envoy from Coreworlds. My cousin has become concerned with Godular's activity recently, and has sent me to find out what's happening."

Tag for reading and possible participation.

General Lear nodded slightly and turned to leave the docking hangar.

"Mister Masaki, if you would please follow me, I will attempt to show you everything that we know. Unfortunately, what we know, isn't much."

Leaving the hangar bay, Jacen and General Lear plunged headlong into a chaotic mass of confused Refugees, harried soldiers, and displaced families of ground resistance forces begging for information on their loved ones. For General Lear, however, everybody knew to keep a wide berth, and so the walk between the hangar bay and the nearest jump pad was actually quite uneventful.

"Everything started only yesterday, as a matter of fact. One second there was just business as usual, and the next second, bam... about eighty gates as big as the biggest hangar doors we have here on the Longarm popped up at random spots on the surface of Godulan Earth. Within minutes we were under assault.

"Now, we make it our point of pride that we are prepared for any eventuality, and indeed, when throngs of twelve-foot-tall armored colossi whip veritable artillery pieces as though they were assault rifles started taking potshots at us, we gave them everything back and were well and truly slamming them.

"But then... things went wrong. I don't know how they did it, but within the space of about ten seconds, half of our own forces had turned against us. No warning. No sign. One minute they were cutting loose on those behemoths, and the next our own forces have split right down the middle.

"We had to pull back and await reinforcements, but damned if the next engagement didn't turn out the exact same way! We're laying waste to the enemy, and all of a sudden their numbers have doubled!"

General Lear stepped onto the Jump Pad, waited for Jacen to board, and pressed the Bridge Quick-Key. Within an instant, they were on the bridge, bustling just as much as the corridors by the hangar sections. Lear stepped off the pad and made for the Commandant's office. Shutting the door behind them, she motioned for Jacen to take a seat in front of the desk and sat down in the commander's chair.

"I was among the first to realize that whatever was turning them, it likely had to do with the communications relays, as we lost all comms with the marines that turned at the exact same time that they turned on us. I didn't know how bad things would get if the Godulan StarNavy were to face the same situation, and I didn't want to find out. So I sent out the order for all StarNavy vessels to evacuate Godulan Sol for the colony systems. I left five DawnRunner fleets behind, with their comms disabled exept for line of sight which could be more easily filtered than the wideband stuff we usually use, in order to assist in orbital bombardments against the enemy forces. As of last report, the orbital efforts have proven less than effective at stemming the tide of invading forces.

"As far as we are aware of, a full ninety percent of the Godulan populace managed to get the hell out before the cities started falling, as we were prepared for the eventuality that somebody might try crashing a moon into us or making our sun go nova. And they all came to the colony systems.

"On behalf of the Godulan Archonate, I really must thank your leaders for allowing our refugees access to Jurai. Giving the refugees a place to stay while we try to construct proper facilities for more permanent habitation has helped us immeasurably. On another note, this situation has pushed up our timetable for terraforming an Earthlike moon in orbit around Galni in Talbott forward to the point that we expect to have the damn thing nearly complete outside of the month. With all the StarNavy forces and nervous refugees floating around wanting to do Something we've got more manpower than we know what to do with."

"It's what we do, ma'am. We help refugees whenever we can." Jacen said. "Uh, let's see if I can summarize."

"You got invaded by giants wielding artillery like machine guns, you were fighting well until half your troops somehow turned on you, and you had to bugger everyone out before even more terrible things happened. Then you evacuated your home system and end up here, leaving some fleets to try and fight out this giant invasion and sudden civil war. That sound about right?" Jacen asked.

"Pretty much. I wasn't put into the position I'm in for conciseness. I would try to put you in contact with one of the Archons, but they all decided to stay behind and coordinate the resistance forces. Hindsight being 20/20, I should have ordered at least five of the Archons to come whether they liked it or not."

"Pretty much. I wasn't put into the position I'm in for conciseness. I would try to put you in contact with one of the Archons, but they all decided to stay behind and coordinate the resistance forces. Hindsight being 20/20, I should have ordered at least five of the Archons to come whether they liked it or not."
"..." Jacen thought about it for a moment. "So what do you think caused all this?"

"Hard to say, actually. Being an Interdimensional Empire for the most part, we've had contact with empires you have likely never heard of. There's the Seleucians, who can shift between planes essentially at will, and seem to do it more for shopping purposes than anything. I would go so far as to say you might have actually bumped into one or two of them while at any flea markets. Their world doesn't allow technology beyond catapults and ballistae to work, however, so that rules them out.

"Then there's the Chamber, which seems to be the exact opposite in the manner that its a big interdimensional marketplace funded by several hundred thousand separate worlds. They have a stock exchange that capitalizes on the fates of entire planets. Disturbing, really, but not harmful.

"There's the various god realms, but those guys are all so recognizable, wearing banners and having specific attack methods.

And then there's the... oh no... The Triad... I see now... I thought they were only a legend..."

"The...Triad?" Jacen asked. Now things seemed to get interesting.

General Lear cleared her throat slightly and brought a small black folder from the bottom of her desk. The label 'Classified Level 1 - Archonal Permission Only' was plainly visible on the folder's tab as Lear placed it on the table.

"More like a Triumvirate, actually. The Triad is an empire ruled by three individuals of great power. These three had enough power, in fact, that they could very easily go one-on-one with a god and come out on top. They somehow had the ability to feed on particular aspects of the universe, which earned them the title 'Phage'.

"They used to have an empire spanning across some seventy-four dimensions, and had quite the indomitable military force of mutant humans. 'Gendarmes' they were called, and it was stupid of me that I did not connect that the invaders matched the old descriptions pretty much word for word.

"But then the Triad tried challenging a god who was too strong even for them. I think you may have heard of him, if Kelvin brags as much as I have heard. The fight was a rout in every sense of the word, and though the Triads managed to escape through some miracle of happenstance, they were not heard from after that point.

"That happened so long ago that it has long since passed into the realm of myth and legend. We Godulans would have never thought that those same people would take a crack at us. I took the liberty early on of gathering information on all notable personalities in Chamber history during our first visits there. And I was surprised they actually still had any information on them at all."

She opened the file and brought out a few pictures of what looked to be metallic etchings of three people.

The first picture displayed a massive truck of a man in full body armor wading through what looked to be a sea of corpses.

"Prefect Maximillian Foster, the youngest of the Triad, still ages many thousands of years old if the legends still hold. Well versed in the arts of war and slaughter, limitless strength, and vicious in temperament, 'Big Maxie' as they called him was what the Chamber had called the 'Phage of Life'. He had... or has, an innate ability to drain the life from anything that he touches."

Lear brought out another picture, showing a tall and lanky man in a deep black robe.

"Overlord Xenith Steele works as the group's acquisitions coordinator, as well as the source of much of their power. Raised pretty much as a noble's son and having lived his entire life without needing to actually do anything himself, Xenith is called the 'Phage of Power'. His primary ability was, or is... a dominion gaze. He simply has to establish eye contact and concentrate, and he can take even the most well guarded of minds into his control. Looking back at the situation, I understand now how it might have been that so many of our own troops turned against us. His power can be transmitted over digital communications, but I understand that the few times he tried it turned out to be quite traumatic, so its a rarity to see him manage it so frequently now."

The last picture revealed a man in a simple pinstripe suit, fedora, with a lion head tipped cane, and a smug look that carried across even through the ages to give all who saw him the feeling that he was simply... amused with the multiverse in general, as though it were his playground.

"Baron Skye is considered to be the de facto leader of the Triad. As the Phage of Chaos, it is impossible to predict his movements, and he has a surprising knack of not being where you would expect him to be. He appears to be the only one of the Triad that also has a secondary power, in that he is what I understand to be called a 'Mindsyphon Vampire'. Instead of draining blood, he feeds on memories and synaptic energy, making the knowledge of his victims his own. As such, he has something of an 'I can do anything better than you' attitude that he more than lives up to. I am also given to understand that as a Mindsyphon he is also impervious to the typical methods of dispatching vampires. Further, because of his nature, he is also reputed to have a surprising level of psionic ability, particularly in telepathic and pychokinetic circles.

"Baron Skye was also reputed to be the most even-handed of the bunch, in that Maximillian is an unrepentant cannibal, and if Xenith had his way the Triad would focus solely on slave trade. Skye held them back and was widely credited as the sole reason that the Triad was not attacked as a total Pariah to the Chamber.

"And now they want us... By the Archons, we don't have a chance..."

"Man, oh, man. These guys rival the Sannins of Konoha!" Jacob exclaimed. "They're kinda a triad as well, only two are good and one went bad. Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-sama are the good ones and Orochimaru-the-Snake is the evil one."

He isn't happy about these developments. These guys could possibly defeat the Golden Trio: Naruto, Yusuke and his cousin Daniel. Should these guys go after Coreworlds, it'd be alot like when Naruto's Kyuubi attacked Konoha many years ago, only much, much worse.

"Citadel of the Twelfth One and Cape Horn acquired..." Baron Skye declared, for which he only received a pained groan from the still living head of Cassius Longarm.

"Ooo... These arms are just exquisite!" Maxie said as he hovered over the dismembered robotic body of the former Archon. "Look! These are actual fingernails! They can duplicate real fingernails entirely! And I'll bet these fingerprints are no different than this guy's original body! He even has a robotic digestive tract! And his feet are twitching! By the Overpower I'm giddy as a schoolgirl."

Xenith gave Maxie a worried look. "Yeegh."

The satellite images got more and more crowded as turned Marines and Gendarmes flooded towards the Mediterranean via Jumpship. The Godulans had long since disabled their own Jumpgates, so more conventional means of transportation was required to transit between towns now. It had slowed things down considerably, and more than a few of the jumpships fell victim to the accursed Orbital fleets overhead, growing more focused in firepower now that they had less ground to cover due to the Triad Conquest.

"Commencing joint assault on Tripoli, Rome, and the Cradle," Baron Skye stated. Concentration dripped from his voice like a sieve, so questions from the other two about his actions were rare. His reasons often confused them anyway, but it always worked out, no matter how outlandish the justification for his actions.

Xenith quirked an eyebrow. "The Cradle?"

"The Godulans have a city around the area of Babylon. They call it the Cradle as it was pretty much where the Dawn of Civilization took place," Maxie said off-handedly as he made Cassius' fingers flex. "The Cradle of Civilization, or something like that."

"Sounds baby-ish."

"Don't knock cradles, they make handy weapons when the need arises... did I ever tell you how--"

"NO. And I'm not curious about it."

"Buzzkill."

"So what next?" Jacen asked. "What's the plan?"

Imperial Monitoring Station


“Sir, we are detecting some curious activity in a side or parallel dimension. I think you better have a look at these readings.”

“Forward the data to my Neurolink.”

“Yes Sir”

The technician sent a few instructions to the computer through his own Neurolink directing the AI to reroute the data to the Commanders link.

"Hmm, Send them a message asking if they require any sort of assistance."

"Yes Sir."


Godular,

We have detected your recent troubles and would like to inquire if your nation would like any sort of assistance. We would like to help but require your permission to enter your sovereign territory. If there is any way we could assist you, please reply with the type of air you requite. We are prepared to offer you military aid if required, although we will keep our ships to a minimum you state. We would also like to exchange diplomats to further future relations between our two nations.

His Imperial Majesty
Lord Nhur-Galladu
Balrogga Empire

"Well, Mister Masaki, for now, we can do nothing but sit and wait. When I told the Archons of my intentions, they basically told me to place the Homeworld under full scale lockdown. Whatever happens there, its all in the hands of the Archons and the resistance forces.

"If anybody goes into that system, the risk is to high that... Xenith will turn them. But if your leaders feel that something has to be done to stop them, as I do, but am under orders to not even try, I only ask that you not give the Triad a free ticket off the planet by providing them with more ships to take."

The intercom broke into the conversation: General Lear, Receiving Transmission from... what appears to be another Cross-Dimensional. Forwarding message to your office.

General Lear quickly pressed a small button on her desk, which brought up a holographic screen on her tabletop, and scanned through the message.

"It appears that Balrogga has noticed our plight directly. If your leaders DO decide to send troops to help, Mister Masaki, they will not be alone. The majority of our ground forces are already on Earth, either loyal or turned, so all WE can do is point the way."

She toggled another button on her desk, bringing up the intercom. "Send a reply to the Balroggans, let them in, but tell them to have their vessels keep a WIDE berth around Godulan Earth."

"Fall back."

Silence reigned in the Archonal Council chamber, and all heads turned to General Corbox.

"Send the order, the Marines have to fall back to the North American landmass and Horizon's End. Archona and the other cities of the Greater Landmass are lost to us. We need to move."

"So you can have more forces around Manhattan?" One of the other Archons accused, scowling ferociously at Corbox.

"Are you blind?!" Corbox shot back, "They're inches away from the doors of Rheinland Prime! We've lost the Citadel, Kentei, Sidney, Kusari, the list goes on! You're a fool if you think we can somehow maintain a foothold there anymore!"

"We have to try!"

"WE DID TRY! WE WERE BEATEN BACK!" Corbox bellowed, "They've gotten the shields up around their cities, so we can't even hit them with full orbitals anymore! Even Amazon is facing assault! The best we can do is to fall back to North America and let the DawnRunners bring more concentrated firepower to bear. God only knows how much of the fleets we've lost because you fools keep having them pour it on cities that can bring their own guns to bear!"

"Corbox is right," another archon stated solemnly, this time from one of the massive viewscreens around them. Admiral Wintergreen, Archon of the Rheinland Sector, the last city still in Godulan hands on the greater landmass and already facing full assault from the Triad, continued: "I'll try to hold them off in Rheinland while the rest of you relocate to Horizon's End and North America. Bring the remaining marines over and dig in, give those bastards what for or I'll have Sojun send me back to mop the floor with your asses."

Wintergreen's image faded from the viewscreen, and satellite imagery soon revealed the guns of Rheinland picking up and pouring on the firepower against the invading forces with renewed ferocity.

The Archons watched for only a few seconds before issuing the orders for the remainder of the Marines to fall back to North America in order to fortify the last four cities still in Godulan Control: Manhattan, Florida, Orleans, and Horizon's End.

After the orders were sent, the twelve archons still alive left the council chambers for the emergency base in Horizon's End... it would all end there, one way or the other.

"We're in a similar boat with our capital planet Tenetia being besieged right now. We'll help if we can finish the battle, but we'd need to repair first." Jacen said. "In the meantime, my cousin has instructed me to stick around for a while. He's concerned about the Sith, believes they'll pull a nasty trick on us soon."

General Lear cocked an eyebrow, then leaned back in her chair.

"Mister Masaki, if your Cousin and your Leaders require our assistance in fighting off enemy forces, the Godulan StarNavy is presently itching to do SOMETHING. And if that means aiding one who has aided us so willingly, so be it. As you may have seen just from coming through Thorn, the entirety of the Godulan StarNavy is fully mobilized. Even sending in merely the excess forces, we could very easily have anywhere in excess of six hundred battle-ready vessels knocking at their door with a grin and a gun.

"Even if we couldn't send forces, you would most definitely benefit from our supply of Red Rain...

"We are Godulans, and we do not forget those who have helped us."

"It's a big battle over the planet. Lots of fighting and everything, hundreds, maybe thousands of ships duking it out." Jacen warned. "We'd appreciate it, though."

"I think you will find that we are more than ready for that situation, Mister Masaki..."

General Lear toggled a final button on her desk and continued:

"Operations, relay the orders, All HomeGuard Fleets, in Thorn and Talbott, are to Hard Transit to Coredian Space. Destination Tenetia. Allocate the Archonal 'Apocalyptus', and the WidowMakers 'DemonWing', 'Diamondeye', 'Epoch Twilight', and 'Annihilator' to the defense effort over Tenetia. Also, ready a full complement of Red Rain to the task of... neutralizing whatever numerical superiority the forces attacking Tenetia might have. The Coredians have helped us, and so shall we help them."

"I think you will find that we are more than ready for that situation, Mister Masaki..."

General Lear toggled a final button on her desk and continued:

"Operations, relay the orders, All HomeGuard Fleets, in Thorn and Talbott, are to Hard Transit to Coredian Space. Destination Tenetia. Allocate the Archonal 'Apocalyptus', and the WidowMakers 'DemonWing', 'Diamondeye', 'Epoch Twilight', and 'Annihilator' to the defense effort over Tenetia. Also, ready a full complement of Red Rain to the task of... neutralizing whatever numerical superiority the forces attacking Tenetia might have. The Coredians have helped us, and so shall we help them."
"Thanks..." Then Jacen turned pale, like he's seen a ghost. "There is a disturbance in the Force...the Sith have tipped their hand!"

"Get me a Holoscreen, tune into Coruscant News Network (CNN)!" Jacen said. "I need to know what's happening!"

General Lear was quick to press yet another button on her desk, and brought up Godulan Intelligence, which was even now filtering through the various Imperial News Services, and was even now showing a real-time feed from the senate chamber.

"Looks like an impeachment hearing or something..."

Charges raised against Chancellor! Senators arrested! Jedi Order in Peril!

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlebeings. For those of us coming in on CNN, we have just seen an incredible scene in the Galactic Senate. Senator Valerie Ross of Farstar has just charged the Chancellor Vedil of a multitude of crimes. We got to the Senate live, and on the scene." The famous Wolf reported.

“Ladies and Gentle beings, Only a few hours ago I was made aware of some startling information, We have all been played for fools! No not by the Separatists, they are a threat but we have a much more deadly and dangerous threat that for a year we have held close to our bosom. We believed in empty lies putting our faith into nothingness and almost fell into a trap that should have been self evident, if we only learned from the past.” She then paused and drew upon her inner strength to say these next few words and they came out hard.

“I move for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Vedil on the grounds of treason against the Republic, he has no intention of giving up the emergency powers we have given him, he would secure power in this republic for himself, he would make himself emperor upon the conclusion of this conflict! We have been so concerned with the enemy threatening our frontier that we failed to notice a Sith Lord in our very midst!” She timed her announcement so that upon its conclusion the Alliance fleet would enter the systems,

“We will not be subjugated by the Sith again, their tyranny will not be tolerated again!”
"The Senator from Coreworlds has seconded the motion..." The Wolf continued.

"I second the motion! In the name of the Republic, I call for the Jedi Order to arrest the Chancellor, no, Mr. Vedil, for these henious charges!"

"But the Chancellor has made a devastating counterattack, accusing the Jedi Order of trying to take over the Republic and perjury. it appears that the Chancellor is now declaring martial law."

Leaving the pad alone Vedil looked up in anger. “Mindless allegations, without a hint of proof or justice meriting them, you say I am a Sith lord, I say you are attempting to overthrow the Republic!”

The Chancellors eyes glared, in the Jedi’s direction. “How opportunistic of you Jedi, to corrupt our senator Valerie Ross, who just the other day sided with the Republic, she declared her will to die for the Republic, no I say you lie, I say have bewitched her mind with foul tricks and evil magic, unavailable to those within the Senate. Whaaa……”

Vedil turned to an aide behind him, who interrupted the chancellor without thought. Quickly turning back, Vedils face was twisted with anger and hate. “I PUT IT TO THE REPUBLIC, THAT IT IS THE JEDI WHO BETRAY US! Right now in orbit their lies an alliance fleet, servants of the Jedi, now a mercenary force, roaming the Uncharted regions of the Galaxy at whim. They are here to attack Coruscant, to take over our republic!”

At once senators began to rise, screaming at the Jedi, who were once their protectors. “They have charged weapons and are demanding we surrender, the Jedi are taking over the Republic!” Vedil screamed at the top of his lungs…

Chanting, and objects were now being thrown at the Coredian representative.

“You have bewitched our senators! You are attacking our people, our ships who are right now, at this very minute waging a war, upon which the fate of the Galaxy hinges, as of this moment, every single Jedi is now an enemy of the Republic.” Vedil lowered his hand upon the data-pad. “We must do what must be done, we must not hesitate nor show any mercy. GUARDS ARREST THE JEDI!”

Jacen ignored the rest of the news, his face as white as a sheet. "It's happening all over again. The Jedi Purges...no wonder my cousin wanted me to stay here, but I'm deeply worried about my little brother, an initiate..."

"That's the problem with stupid people," General Lear mused as she watched the broadcast, "Put too many of 'em in a room together and they all flock behind the loudest one, which is usually either the stupidest one in the whole gaggle or the one whose head is most deserving of a new hemp necktie."

"That's the problem with stupid people," General Lear mused as she watched the broadcast, "Put too many of 'em in a room together and they all flock behind the loudest one, which is usually either the stupidest one in the whole gaggle or the one whose head is most deserving of a new hemp necktie."
"The Chancellor's pretty much the latter." Jacen giggled. "You can see his true colors coming out of the woodwork almost before your eyes."

"Yes, you can see it in his eyes. He knows exactly what he's doing, and he knows that nobody can stop him... I've seen that look before..."

General Lear brought out the picture of 'Prefect Maximillian Foster' and studied the eyes in the metal etched image. They matched Vedil's perfectly.

Hunter. Predator. Killer.

"He IS a Sith, and a virulent one too. With a tongue as sharp as his wits. He's been around a while. You do psych profiles on national leaders as much as I have, you can spot that kind of shit right off. He hides it well, but not well enough."

"We've suspected him." Jacen said. "It's going to be a nasty battle for my cousin..."

"It would appear they have holed themselves up," Baron Skye stated offhand, still staring at the information flowing in through the satellites. "All troops have been pulled back to the North American continent, and defensive preparations are underway. Further analysis suggests..."

The imaging on one of the viewscreens, displaying a heavily fortified Orleans, flickered out. Both Maximillian and Xenith suddenly found their attention riveted.

"So they figured THAT out."

"Satellite destroyed, switching to alternate... unable to connect, alternates disabled."

"They fleets! They're having those wonderful wonderful fleets of theirs take out the satellites over North America!" Xenith was surprised that the Godulans were actually bothering to take such maneuvers. Whatever could be said about Archon Corbox, he may not have been tactically proficient, but he got the idea eventually.

"Damn kibble!" Maximillian shrieked, crushing Cassius' Head in his hands.

"Rheinland Assault Forces under bombardment. Artillery estimates in line with two DawnRunners, but not their support fleets... Satellites outside North America coming under attack... Reading massive particle buildup in Rheinland..."

Just before the satellites over Rheinland and Europe Entire, the entire sector went up in what looked like a blue shockwave of pure energy.

"Power levels indicate medium-yield self-destruct of a single Plasmatic Pulse Disintegrator..."

"THEY SELF DESTRUCTED?!"

"Yes. As troops entered into the inner parts of the city, a Plasmatic Pulse Disintegrator station was placed on Kill-Switch self destruct mode. Archon Wintergreen died laughing. Personnel losses are estimated to be in the range of one point five million."

"DAMN KIBBLE!"

Baron Skye suddenly switched satellite feeds to those over Archona, their present base of operations. Shield generators throughout the city were winking out, and he was now receiving reports that the Guns of Archona had suddenly locked up. Less because of computer failures as much as they were due to a sudden string of tactical detonations throughout the city. It would seem that Cassius Longarm had some Kill Switch contingencies enabled as well.

Give them an A for foresight.

"Furthermore, it would appear that Prefect Maximillian's actions just now in destroying our Archon hostage has had secondary effects throughout the city of Archona. I would advise we move before the Godulans realize this..."

Corbox saluted his longtime friend and comrade as Rheinland sector dissolved into dust under a shockwave of crackling blue energy. They watched through the sensors of an overhead DawnRunner as an entire legion of the invading forces was wiped from existence like leaves.

"With his death comes a victory unmatched..." he whispered, "May his next life be a happy one."

"I second that," piped in one of the remaining Archons.

The remaining Archons stood now in Defense Directorate high command, situated smack dab in the middle of Horizon's End. Adjutants bustled about, starting up sensor feeds from the DawnRunners and lunar installations. One of the adjutants, far removed from the Archons themselves, began typing furiously on his communications console, the LOS comm systems relegating him to text messaging. After several minutes, and a few sent pictures, the adjutant stood up and waved for Corbox's attention. "Sir! The DawnRunner over Archona is registering widespread power failures throughout the city, hundreds of internal explosions! Their shields and their guns are down!"

Corbox gave the Twelfth One, Vice Primarchon of Godular, and next in line if Cassius were to fall.

"Cassius' kill switch."

"IT IS CLOSURE. I AM AFRAID I HAVE NO EXPERIENCE WITH LEADERSHIP IN TIMES OF DURESS."

"It doesn't matter anymore. Now we're just fighting to survive..." Corbox turned to the adjutant in charge of signalling the DawnRunners. "Signal the fleet! Turn Archona into a crater! Maybe if we're fast enough we can plaster somebody important."

"So in the meantime, what could I do around here until things settle down over there?" Jacen asked.

"Not much, really. Thorn is a pretty boring system, although there's plenty of spooked refugees. Many of the refugees have family in the marines, so they're mostly worried sick in general. You can chat with them or have a look at the intelligence reports coming in from the battle over Tenetia."

The 4th Fleet silently left their berths in the Gliese System and Uplifted to T-Space. The Command Vessel, The Ubik, a Deity Class Carrier led the way. Escorting her were several other carriers, cruisers, battleships, destroyers, and frigates. Aboard the bridge of The Ubik, Admiral Davo scanned all the data forwarded along with the mission briefing.

Apparently one of the sensors detected a battle where their help was needed. After preliminary contact, an individual called General Lear returned a message sent in the Emperor’s Name. The message warned any help the Empire sends to beware their Earth because that is where most of the fighting was.

He was under orders to take the 4th fleet and use the Mirage Drives to slip laterally into their dimension. Once there, they were to rendezvous at a pre-arranged contact point so they could discuss the best way to help them.

“Well, we best get underway. Activate The Mirage Drives and apply the Trans-Dimensional Formula into their matrix. When all the ships are in synch, activate the transference. I want everything to go smoothly.”

“Yes Sir. Applying the formula and synchronizing all drives through their A.I.s. We are ready to activate the Dimensional Trans-Relocation.”

“On my mark activate the DTR, three, two, one, MARK!”

The surrounding emptiness of T-Space wavered and changed as the ships shifted dimensions into the one occupied by Godular.

“Sir, we have made the Transition.”

“Transmit the signal and wait for General Lear to show up. We cannot proceed without direct commands from them. We would not want to be thought of as the invaders.”

One of the DawnRunners in Godulan Earth Orbit was first to spot the reinforcements. They had been told ahead of time that another InterDimensional power was coming in to give the marines some assistance. How much was not certain, but at this moment, anything was better than nothing.

A simple probe went out towards the approaching Balroggan fleet, relaying a radio transmission transmitted from the DawnRunner closest to them.

Apologies for General Lear's absence. She cannot, unfortunately, remain in Godulan Sol under orders from the Archonate. However, she sent a courier to tell us that you were coming.

Please make certain that all your vessels cut off whatever omnidirectional communications systems you might utilize, in order to prevent any likelihood of the invaders... taking your ships. We are uncertain how they 'Turn' our forces to their side, and also what it takes for them to establish a connection, but so far, LOS comms seems to be doing the trick.

As of right now, the bulk of our forces are holed up on the North American Continent, and things have settled down for the moment ever since we scored a couple critical blows against them. We shall notify Horizon's End of your arrival. We will provide you with landing telemetry in a few minutes.

The Godulans owe you a debt of gratitude for coming to our aid even in these dire circumstances.

-Commodore Malar

"Sir, we have an incomming signal."

"Patch it through."

Apologies for General Lear's absence. She cannot, unfortunately, remain in Godulan Sol under orders from the Archonate. However, she sent a courier to tell us that you were coming.

Please make certain that all your vessels cut off whatever omnidirectional communications systems you might utilize, in order to prevent any likelihood of the invaders... taking your ships. We are uncertain how they 'Turn' our forces to their side, and also what it takes for them to establish a connection, but so far, LOS comms seems to be doing the trick.

As of right now, the bulk of our forces are holed up on the North American Continent, and things have settled down for the moment ever since we scored a couple critical blows against them. We shall notify Horizon's End of your arrival. We will provide you with landing telemetry in a few minutes.

The Godulans owe you a debt of gratitude for coming to our aid even in these dire circumstances.

-Commodore Malar

"Sir, the message was relayed through a probe. The probe appears to be harmless."

Davo appeared to be in thought, considering the words of the Commodore.

"Apparently there is more here than meets the eye. They are having some sort of problem with their forces being assimulated. I want all transmissions regulated both incomming and outgoing. Monitor sensors, Communications, and anything possible for this "turning" Malar mentioned. Alert all Ta'Nar to keep up their Mind Shields and examine any sort of interference. We aren't the only psioniclly active race out here. I just hope we are the best. Open a Comm lline to their ship."

"Yes Sir"

"Greetings Commodore Malar

This is Admiral Davo from The Ubik. We have received your message.

We will hold our position until your General can determine where we can help the most. I thank you for your cautionary advice and we will take all precautions possible. We will do our best to prevent this "Turning" you spoke of. We will also attempt to discover it's origins so it can be blocked. Until we have orders, we will establish a patrol around our current location.

The Empire is here to assist you in any way possible. Is there a nearby system or other location we could use as a forward base? We would like to establish some basic command structures such as a repair/shipyard and some resource collection. We do not need anything able to sustain life, just an asteroid field and a star. Anything we construct will be left behind after we are finished here, unless it is classified of course.

We thank you ahead of time for your hospitality."

The probe beeped to life once again as the message went through, and a reply was beamed towards the Balroggan vessels.

There are a couple installations on the Moon, mainly maintenance and control stations for the collection of PPD cannons we have constructed there, and several mining refineries. For the moment, that should suffice as a forward base.

Otherwise, we can facilitate direct contact with General Lear, if such is required. It will require the allocation of one of our own vessels however, as Thorn system is far away, and would take a long time to get there in any vessel outside of Godulan control.

The probe beeped into life once more as a message was beamed through it to the Godulan ships.


Commodor Malar,

That would be satisfactory. Every campaign needs a proper refit/resupply area. We will begin set up ASAP, with your permission of course.

You mentioned Thorn being a long way off. If it is not considered rude, might I inquire how far?

The reason I am asking is due to the propulsion method we use, we can travel great distances quite easily. We use a method where we apply a 20th century Earth theory called The Alcubierre Warp Drive Theory. The theory states you can use Positive and Negative Energy to cause space/time to contract in front of you and expand behind your ship. We applied this theory to Dimensional Mechanics and have achieved a sustained velocity of approximately 80 parsecs in an hour. We accomplish this by Uplifting to a higher dimensional state and then apply the formula to the vessels. This effectively removes the ship from the Space/Time Continuum for the duration of the voyage so the time saved is enormous.

If this is faster than your current vessels, we could provide transportation for your forces from Thorn if that is what is needed.

Admiral Davo, The Ubik

Its on the far side of the galaxy. Our FTL system utilizes HEAVILY expanded Quantum Tunneling principles to essentially cause the ship to spontaneously teleport from one area to the other. The only drawback to this system is that it requires tremendous mathematical calculations to acquire a targeting solution, to the point that it would require about two weeks to get us to Thorn with the assistance of several supercomputers.

However, we have Thorn, Talbott, and a few other systems keyed in for Hard Transits as a defensive measure. Ships with Hard Transit systems keyed in have the Targeting Solution already up for the most part. So in essence, they could transit over right now. It enables for fast reinforcements in the event one of our systems comes under attack.

"WELL now!" Maximillian fawned as the Triad made their way down the voluminous corridors of the Twelfth One's Citadel, dominating a lonely mountain range above the vast ice fields of Antarctica, "Why didn't we come here before? I can actually stretch out here!"

Xenith turned to watch with a tired expression as Big Maxie flexed his tremendous muscles in the massive corridor. Baron Skye continued down the corridor, ignoring the constant bickering of the other members of the Triad.

"What stopped you from stretching before, you big oaf? Half of Cassius' command center was turned to rubble for no other reason than you had to let off steam. Maybe these Neutronium reinforced walls will keep you from demolishing portions of the building."

"FEH! You're just angry I broke the microwave."

"I HAD A PIZZA IN THERE YOU ASSHEAD!"

"Oooh... such language from that highborn mouth of yers! Makes me wonder if you can keep it up..." Maximillian leaned closer, making a show of putting a hand to his ear and waiting expectantly.

"I'll do you one better, Maxie," Xenith growled, then drew in a short breath. A small device on his collar lit up with a whirr and he simply said, in a very high pitched monotone yet eerily certain voice: "Ping!"

The word hit Maxie like a kick to the crotch. Literally. Maximillian grunted in surprise and doubled over. "I'll... have your... head for that!"

"Bring it, bitch."

STOP

Baron Skye's mental command slammed them into the far wall. The final member of the Triad had stopped only seconds earlier and sighed to himself with frustration, then rammed A Dominion Edict down their throats to shut them up and take their minds off of killing each other... again.

"If you did NOT notice, my verbose and immature friends, we lost a goodly portion of our armies earlier today, along with our primary base of operations due to the temper tantrums of our largest member. I am driving this war effort, so do NOT make me pull over and head home. Now be silent and go look at the research the Twelfth one did here. I was unable to scan it from Archona, so I will leave that task to you. And you two had BETTER stick to opposite sides of the citadel. If I hear one more squeak out of either of you at each other I will knock you both out for a week."

With a grumble and a stumble, Xenith and Maximillian headed off in opposite directions at the next intersection they arrived at, while Baron Skye continued to the Twelfth One's Archonal Command Center.

You would think thousands of years of being stuck together on that hellhole of a hideout would make them at least tolerate each other... he thought to himself with a scowl.

Just gonna >BUMP< this real quick and ask if anybody else out there wants in on the fight for... well... either side actually.

"THEY HAVE MOVED IN TO THE CITADEL," The Twelfth One stated, "I AM SURPRISED THEY DID NOT BOTHER TO BEFORE."

"They took Archona first. My guess is they didn't want to have to shuffle off each time they captured a new stronghold. But when necessity strikes like it has, one must commend them for their choice of backup."

Orbital shots from the DawnRunner fleets showed heavy mobilizations of Triad forces around the Citadel, all within the city's shielding radius. The Citadel's guns were also pointed ominously upwards now. Across the globe in general, it had appeared that both the Godulan Resistance and the Triad Incursion had settled down for a nice long war of attrition.

The Triad held the advantage in numbers and weaponry, but the Godulans more than made up for that with their ferocity and the fact that they had the home court advantage.

Whatever else, the Triad forces would have to climb over the bodies of its fallen soldiers in order to scale the walls of the last cities. The Godulans would make certain that the Triad paid dearly for every inch they took.

"How about the Balroggans?" Corbox asked, motioning for the attention of a nearby adjutant.

"Commodore Malar says he let them set down on the moon for a base of operations. There's not really anything going on there now that the system is evacced."

"Good, good. Now I just hope they send down some troops. We need every gun toting soldier we can get."

OOC:

I will compose a post in the morning after I get home from work.

OOC: Ai'ight...

Still gonna leave the door open for anybody else out there to get in on the conflict for either side. Either that or I'll start up a semi-open battle thread for when the real fighting gets underway.

The 4th fleet neared their assigned moon. A couple Cruisers were towing several large asteroids from the local belt. A swarm of ships were launched from the carriers and began to process the asteroids, returning with the processed materials. The shipboard factories used this material to manufacture the struts and other parts of the shipyards. Slowly a massive station began to take shape.

Several satellites and probes were launched to scan everything within range. Several were sent towards the drop coordinates to scan the landing site down to the finest details.

Aboard the carriers, the clone tanks began to signal their completion of the first batch of Serjents. The hulking two meter creature was clad in a brown exoskeleton and possessed four arms. The face of the being was humanoid with eyes that could see in all ranges of spectrums. As each was grown, the ship’s AI imprinted the minds with a copy of a personality from the Consensus. The clone tanks began the processes of creating the next batch for reinforcements, a 36 hour process.

Lines of Serjents began to march in unison towards the waiting drop ships, after being armed with their Plasma Cannons and equipment packs. As each ship filled, another was moved to take its place until all the vessels were ready. On orders from Fleet Command, the ships launched from the Carriers with their infantry and approached the drop points.

Upon landing, each squad spread out and secured the local area and set up a beachhead. Supply ships landed after the drop ships returned skyward. The Supply ships offloaded the hover tanks and other heavy gear. Flights of Proteus Fighters covered the operation from the sky and in space.

After Front Command was set up, several native animals were released. The cloned animals scurried outwards, acting as the eyes and ears of the troops. They relayed all the information they discovered through a direct Psi link, carefully shielded from detection.


OOC: I am still unsure of the numbers you wanted so I left that out. You can let me know and we can set them.

OOC: Right now, the numbers between the Godulans and the Triad forces are pretty much 12.5 million versus 30 million.

Godulan forces are made up of about 50% cyborgs, 10% full body cybernetic 'iron titans', and 20% M'Lekk'Torr special forces.

Triad forces are made up of about 75% godulan forces, with the rest being Triad Gendarmes.

Godulans hold the advantage of having Ortillery on their side and a defensive setup, while the Triad is capable of subverting the will of the enemy, benefits from a telepathic communication network overseen by Baron Skye, and is also about to bring in a second round of reinforcements.

At the moment, the only thing the Godulans hold is North America and four cities. All other continents but Europe (now a dustbowl due to a PPD cannon overload that wiped out the continent, might make for a decent beach head if it weren't completely flattened), belong to the Triad.

"Sir!" an adjutant shouted from his station... poor guy looked like he hadn't slept in days, "Balroggan forces have landed and are securing their drop points."

Corbox brought his eyes up to look at the Situation Map, now revealing several new blips, highlighted as a greenish gray. Most were in Godulan-Retained territory, the rest were relatively close to Godulan territory, but some were dangerously close to Triad strongholds.

"If only we'd been able to give them more exact maps."

"Gotta admit they aimed well enough. See if you can get them on the horn and have them consolidate their forces within Godulan Territory. Don't want our allies having to fight just to organize themselves, now do we?"

He turned to another adjutant: "Reconfigure the automated defense systems to shift treatment of the Balroggan forces from neutral to friendly. If they come under fire, I want them to know full well that we're there to back 'em up."

"Well, mister Masaki," She said, turning to Jacen, still riveted upon the intelligence reports, "Maybe there IS something you can do."
Jacen looked up. "What is it?"

"It would appear," Lear responded, looking through the report on the Stryker, "That several of your Jedi compatriots are on their way into Godulan space with intent to seek asylum from these swelling difficulties. I suspect it would benefit them to have a familiar face to assist in getting settled in, which I just realized we completely neglected to do upon your own arrival."

This part will likely continue in a later thread. Don't want the Siege of Godulan Earth interrupted with extraneous tours of various Godulan locales. Sides, the fight's about to get good.

Across the camps, Serjents scrambled to finish setting up the Base Camp. Hover Tanks and APCs were jockeyed into position as they were offloaded from the transports. The troops operated smoothly as if they were connected somehow. The transports returned to the carriers for loading the next batch of cooking Serjents.

The Intruder Carriers moved into far orbit and prepared to launch the Proteus Fighters to act as air support when the command arrived to move. Torpedo Frigates achieved position for a bombardment from orbit with their conventional weapons. Singularity weapons would render the planet dead within seconds as the contents and atmosphere were devoured by the black holes they generated.

This will be an engagement of conventional weapons unless they took the fighting off planet.

Everything waited upon the Recon generated by the cloned animals.


OOC:

You can provide the recon I discovered. You know what is in the area, I don’t.

The Recon information from the... linked animals didn't really show much at first, apart from the occasional Triad Cougar Warbot wandering through the wilderness, blissfully unaware of the creatures' true nature.

It wasn't until the creatures reached the cities under Triad control that a strange incident occured. One of the animals was picked up and given a thorough look over by one of the enormous Gendarmes. The animal struggled just as animals would struggle when held by the scruff of their neck, but eventually calmed down when it realized that the Gendarme intended it no harm... with the help of a loud STOP STRUGGLING! and a close up of the Gendarme's red glowing goggles.

After that, though, as shifted squirrels and birds wafted about the various cities on the South American continent it seemed as though the cities had been abandoned for some time. Not a troop was to be found throughout any of the urbanized areas.

For all intents and purposes, to the recon-animals, it was as if the Triad had never been there.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Psionic Recon detected," Skye stated, staring at the situation screen in front of him, "Establishing countermeasures. It would appear that the new friends our wayward Godulans have allowed in have more than the usual tricks up their sleeves."

Maxie and Xenith looked at each other, now having forgotten their previous scuffle in favor of rounding up research from the Twelfth One's Citadel.

"Telepaths, eh? Think you can handle the workload, Aeraeon? Coordinating a war effort is one thing, but coordinating a war effort, keeping an eye on our annoyingly persistent friends' new friends, and wonking out their psionic recon has got to be a strain."

"Not much. It only means I will be unable to engage in idle banter and have more contact with your OH so bright and happy personalities."

Maxie growled at Skye's sarcastic comment. "How about doing all that AND fighting me off?"

"Do not be stupid, Maximillian. You, Xenith, and I all know what would happen if I were to die. I am the only thing keeping him at bay."

Maxie snarled and walked out of the room. Xenith watched the giant depart, then turned back to Skye. "You know, that threat will only hold him off for so long."

"The good thing about having a Blood Oath sworn on both of you by an immortal entity such as Sojun is that the threat never actually goes away. If I die, I die knowing that you go with me. I expect that to mean that if one of you breaks down and tries to eliminate me, one will stop the other, out of self-preservation more than anything."

Xenith gave Skye a scathing look, then said "It must be nice having something like that keeping you alive."

"Do not kid yourself. I could easily kill both of you."

Xenith opened his mouth to respond, then shut it, knowing that Skye was and always had been easily capable of terminating both Xenith and Maximillian. With a snarl, he too left the situation room.

"Finally, some silence," Skye whispered to himself with a wry grin.

Forward Command:


“The recon animals made contact with the Triad forces. Afterwards there was nothing to be seen. The enemy troops are not seen either.”

“Strange, so you say they were observed before the initial contact but never afterwards? That sounds suspiciously like some sort of Glamour.”

“Exactly, their cities seams strangely deserted. We know there were occupied before the contact but now they appear as if they have been deserted for some time. According to satellite recon, there are troop movements but our on site recon shows they were never there.”

“I understand. Keep the recon units active. They are being blocked and that requires some sort of effort on such a wide scale. By keeping the fielded, we tax their abilities and resources. Double the efforts of the bio-organic recon units. Since their covers are already blown we will pretend they are being utilized. Track all power sources, gravimetric disturbances, and put a sensor team on the sismetic activity. If someone is moving heavy battle gear around, it will cause some sort of vibrations. Inform the Admiral of these developments. Send a ship fult phased and shielded underground. I want the crews fully Psi shielded too, including the AI.”

“Yes Sir”

"SO," the Commander thought to himself, "we do have confirmation of some sort of Psi activity here. We finally get to take our gloves off for this fight. This might get interesting."


Moonbase:

One of the Escort Frigates left the fleet and Uplifted to T-Space. It then positioned itself where the planet was. Scanning carefully through the dimensional barrier, it located a cavern large enough to encase the ship. Positioning itself, it Emerged and landed. The crew quickly entered Stealth Mode and powered down or shielded all the systems aboard the ship and set up scanning and monitoring everything happening kilometers above the vessel on the surface.

Skye mentally sent the order for the Gendarmes to bring a cadre of Triad Savants into the Command chamber. He soon found himself by twelve large white cylinders containing what appeared to be giant mutated heads.

The Gendarme Savants had been engineered by Xenith (His only real skill, actually. He took to genetics at an early age, and had spent thousand of years refining his skills) to focus solely on mental and psionic power. While not quite on a par with Skye's sheer psionic brawn, the Savants were particularly useful for when Skye wanted to... start throwing punches.

As each of the Savants came on-line, their eyes opened and regarded him with an almost sadistic glee.

Skye extended his will over them, ordering them to start sending conflicting data streams to the enemy troops, newly recognized as prominently psionic, like the Gendarme forces. Skye had fought against psionic forces before, and had a decently sized repertoire of attacks, feints, and counters, and he was going to... start shit. One thing Skye new about psionic creatures was that they were noticably less difficult to 'affect' than non-psionic creatures. Evidently, the psion's connection to the powers of the mind also made him vulnerable to the attacks of others, while those who remained blissfully ignorant of such powers actually had that as a major defense.

With their new orders, the Savants began their work at establishing covert connections with the Balroggan troops, one by one. As the Balroggans were using mere animals to spy upon them, the Triad would turn the Balroggans own eyes, ears, and in extreme cases even entire minds, against them.

When he wanted to get the nastier assaults underway, he would require Xenith's presence, but at the moment, he would satisfy himself with causing strife and discord throughout the resistance's ally's ranks.

At the same time, the orders went out. Establish reconnect with Triad Holdout world and commence transfer of final contingents of Gendarme forces and initiate preparatory invasion measures. At the end of the day, Orleans would find itself under assault.

We will have to fight through some of the allies to get to it though, Skye thought to himself as the telepathic orders went out. I will require more Savants.

OOC: Skye and his Savants are now essentially sending conflicting information feeds into Balroggan troops now and then. Think of it as what the Wraith do to humans in Stargate Atlantis, with the illusions and such, except that every now and then the Savants will go to the trouble to temporarily take over an enemy troop or several and cause generous amounts of havoc, sometimes preceding an attack, sometimes just to keep the resistance forces spooked.

How much of a scale this actually affects you is for you to decide, but it should at least have some small affect on morale (perhaps making the serjents think that they shouldn't be expendable) and awareness (maybe accidentally mistaking a fellow trooper with a Triad Gendarme and jumping to conclusions), with the occasional firefight erupting out of the middle of nowhere.

He'll likely leave the space-borne forces out of it until they try to start something on their own.

"It would appear," Lear responded, looking through the report on the Stryker, "That several of your Jedi compatriots are on their way into Godulan space with intent to seek asylum from these swelling difficulties. I suspect it would benefit them to have a familiar face to assist in getting settled in, which I just realized we completely neglected to do upon your own arrival."

This part will likely continue in a later thread. Don't want the Siege of Godulan Earth interrupted with extraneous tours of various Godulan locales. Sides, the fight's about to get good.
OOC: It's alright. Besides, It's necessary for Kelvin to come here.

IC:
The Jedi Striker corvette, one hundred and fifty meters of antifighter and anti-smallship defense, approaches Godulan space. Containing fifty Jedi and twenty shinobi, it flees the Purges occuring back home, a Purge that has already claimed 600 lives.

Katrina Rastein, fiancée to Daniel Masaki, looks out through the window of hyperspace, as if she's trying to spot where Daniel is, fighting against the Emperor Palpatine. She sighs, hoping that he would be all right and that he would defeat the Sith and drive them away.

She watches the young kids Keith, Brandon and a few Padawans that survived the battle of Tenetia sleep away their fears as they head to asylum. Sasuke and Sakura (dozing as well) are in the cockpit monitoring the ship as it zooms through the mystifying blue tunnel of hyperspace.

---

Jacen brightened up. "Really? I wonder who they are."

"We couldn't find any specifics," Lear replied with a shrug, "The whole arrangement was rather spur of the moment."

She turned toggled up another viewscreen, showing the Striker's projected position.

"They should reach us in a few hours. We can take them over to Talbott to settle in. There's more room to move there now that we've fully scouted out a couple habitable planets in the Nebula. I hope they don't mind snow. Alitar is a chilly place, but hospitable."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the Striker approached Godulan space, Kelvin rested on the bridge, lying on the floor next to the main viewport and watching the blue swirl of hyperspace rush by.

As they got closer to Thorn, Kelvin couldn't help but notice the increasing feeling that something had gone weird. The arrival of Godulan forces over Tenetia had surprised him, but he had not been able to discern what it was that had caused such a massive mobilization.

All he knew was that things were not as they should have been... something was wrong... very wrong...

"We couldn't find any specifics," Lear replied with a shrug, "The whole arrangement was rather spur of the moment."

She turned toggled up another viewscreen, showing the Striker's projected position.

"They should reach us in a few hours. We can take them over to Talbott to settle in. There's more room to move there now that we've fully scouted out a couple habitable planets in the Nebula. I hope they don't mind snow. Alitar is a chilly place, but hospitable."
"All right, but I want to meet them, first." Jacen said.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the Striker approached Godulan space, Kelvin rested on the bridge, lying on the floor next to the main viewport and watching the blue swirl of hyperspace rush by.

As they got closer to Thorn, Kelvin couldn't help but notice the increasing feeling that something had gone weird. The arrival of Godulan forces over Tenetia had surprised him, but he had not been able to discern what it was that had caused such a massive mobilization.

All he knew was that things were not as they should have been... something was wrong... very wrong...
Kelvin's questions will soon be answered as the Striker reverted to realspace at the Thorn System. There is indeed a massive number of ships at Thorn, more so than usual.

Sasuke contacted the Godulan control. "This is Jedi Striker to Godulan Control. We are here to seek political asylum from Coredia until the current purge against the Jedi Order is resolved."

"Well, since they're coming here first, I would expect that to go without saying."

The intercom beeped for Lear's attention. "General, the Striker has reverted to realspace and is requesting political asylum. Proceeding as ordered."

"Thank you, adjutant. Refer them to docking area twelve. We'll work from there."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Jedi Striker', this is the Archonal Command Ship 'Long Arm of the Law'.

Asylum granted. Please proceed to docking berth twelve. You have a couple people waiting for you.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kelvin looked out the main viewport at Thorn and new for dead certain that something was wrong with the Archonate.

"There's HomeGuard ships here, and normally undeployed Expeditionary... they never leave Godulan Earth! Why are they out here? What's going on?"

'Jedi Striker', this is the Archonal Command Ship 'Long Arm of the Law'.

Asylum granted. Please proceed to docking berth twelve. You have a couple people waiting for you.
"Very well, thank you." Sasuke feathered the ship towards the docking bay and soon landed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kelvin looked out the main viewport at Thorn and new for dead certain that something was wrong with the Archonate.

"There's HomeGuard ships here, and normally undeployed Expeditionary... they never leave Godulan Earth! Why are they out here? What's going on?"
Kelvin would soon get his answer, as the Katrina, Brandon, Keith and the other Jedi and shinobi began to disembark.

The Striker felt something of a squeeze as it landed in the largest of the Longarm's twelfth docking berth, and General Lear and Jacen were both waiting for the newcomers.

Kelvin was the first off however, materializing in front of General Lear with a half-concerned-half-angry expression.

"What is going on here? What happened while I was gone, Miss Lear?"

"GENERAL Lear. And I don't know if anybody told you, but Godulan Earth is under siege."

"What? How? Why are all the HomeGuard ships out here? Should they not be wiping out the attackers?"

"Under siege by the Triad."

"The Tri... but they are only a legend! Stories spoken in hushed tones on Halloween! That is impossible!"

"Possible and happening. Half of our own forces turned against us in the initial fighting, and I had to take the majority of the fleets out of Godulan Sol to avoid them falling victim to the Triad's turning. We managed to get about ninety percent of the civilian populace out of the system, and the Coredians were kind enough to take in some of the refugees.

"We offered in return to assist them with their difficulties over Tenetia, which is why you likely saw the HomeGuard jumping in during the latter parts of the battle."

"I know fleets jumped in, but they were too far away for me to identify them as HomeGuard."

"No matter, what's important is that now you know. Now if you'll excuse me, we have to take care of our new guests."

"Hey brothers, how are you!" Jacen beamed. He's glad they're safe.

"Fine!" "Good!" The two smaller boys smiled. Reunion was a happy affair today. Now if only the Masaki Clan could gather all together...

Katrina stepped out of the ship next, along with Sasuke, Sakura and a 50-something master ninja named Jiraiya, among others.

“Commander, we are getting additional strange reading from the recon critters. They are starting to see things and their actions are becoming erratic.”

“Keep the situation monitored and let me know if there are any changes.”

“Sir, there are additional reports of the same behavior beginning to surface in some of the forward Serjents. Those affected reported seeing their fellow troops as the enemy. We have 12 injuries and one fatality as a result. The effects seem to be reduced once a standard Mind Shield is applied.”

“Well, I guess the Psychic battle begins. Instruct all forces to set up a Class III Mental Barrier with the accompanying Virtual Mind Distraction.”

“Yes Sir, orders have been transmitted.”

The Commander carefully set his own Mental Shield.

"Get on the horn and see if the fleet can detect the source of the Psions."


OOC:

The Class III Mind Shield with a Virtual Mind (VM) is a strong Mind Shield that has an accompanying Virtual projection of an open mind or partially shielded mind to act as a lure. The sensations fed into the mind are under the control of the user and they can use this as a “honey pot” to trap an invading mind who thinks they found an easy target. At the exclusion of any other activity, the owner of the VM can run various inputs to fool the invader into thinking they have someone under their control. The passive mode of the VM duplicates the current sensory inputs of the real mind.

Mind Shunts, Skye thought as he wandered around what he thought was an undefended mind. It had taken him a couple minutes to realize that the sensations of his latest victim had a tell-tale artificial quality to them.

What the Balroggans called Virtual Minds, Skye had come to call Mind Shunts, in that they worked as a way to divert the psionic attacks towards a place where they would do no harm. Hard to detect, but easy to get around once you figured them out...

Blast! Intellect Fortress! They know their defenses well, but nothing stops a brain hacker for certain...

It was just like hacking a computer, all it took was time.

He sent the order for more Savants to be brought into the situation chamber, and also to put several extra on standby. If the enemy was bringing up psi-shields, it was only a matter of time before they started turning their own psionic guns on him.

He relayed the orders to his Savants to bring up their own psionic defenses and commence targeted assaults. The capture rate would be slowed considerably, but the savants had the orders to make each domination count.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

At the same time, the Gendarmes in the Amazon sector, as well as the contingents in Chicxulub found their numbers bolstered by what appeared to be several divisions from The HoldOut. Skye had brought the remainder of the Gendarmes from the Triad's hiding place in order to bolster their forces against the Godulans and their new ally.

With the influx of Gendarmes, and new forces from Sidney and reallocations from Archona, the Triads were well prepared for a strike at Orleans. Oh how sweet it would be to watch as the Godulans fled from their own fighter craft being used against them, and their own weapons...

The only issue was that a particularly vast force of Balroggans stood in the way. Practically on Orleans' doorstep. Well defended and well armed. It would be a harsh battle.

Unless...

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Skye snapped his fingers and grinned to himself. He sent the order to his Savants to start sending Neuro-surges in the direction of the Balroggan forces. Random placement, to keep them guessing, but at the right time, when the Triad Forces were ready, the forces before Orleans would get a psychic onslaught they had never before seen.

He considered for a moment delegating command of other assault forces to Xenith and Maxie, but he decided against it for the moment. Let them take force command when he needs three pronged assaults. Not before, they would come to expect it then.

OOC: Neuro-Surges are essentially area of effect psionic attacks that are meant to overwhelm enemy mental defenses and cause paralysis, confusion, mild insanity, and other annoyances for the most part. Results vary with the strength of the shielding, but it would basically be helpful to consider a Neuro-Surge attack like a WWII bombing run in terms of how many people would be effected at once.

The Savants can only keep it up for a short time before requiring rest due to the amount of energy they're putting out, and Skye is pretty much going to start committing forces immediately in order to conserve himself.

It would be interesting to have Psionic Dogfights as the battle starts up...

The ninja master spotted General Lear and walked up to her, bowing like a gentleman. "Ooh, now who's this vision of loveliness that graces me with her presence?"

He is clearly a lecher, despite his status as a Sennin of Konoha. It is commonly known in Core circles that not only Jiraiya is a perv, he's a SUPER-perv! He often hangs around bathhouses and hot springs to 'do research for his books' but in reality, he's a pervert's pervert.

General Lear rolled her eyes. "You flatter me, sir, but I am afraid you will not get far."

Bringing up an arm, she pulled her sleeve back to reveal the Neutronium Steel exoskeleton that was her forearm. "Full body cybermodification. All officers commander and above in rank receive it. Our robotics capabilities are quite advanced, far beyond the simple destroyer droids and such we've seen deployed throughout the galaxy, but before this incident, we were only almost to the point of being able to fully match natural sensory and reproductive processes, and research has effectively stalled in present circumstances.

"In other words, it will be a while before I am able to do that... again at least, so I wouldn't bother if I were you."

There was a slight tone to her voice that seemed to relay And I could hogtie you with a three-inch-thick neutronium steel rod in less time than it would take for you to say 'kinky!'...

Lear turned to the other newcomers and bowed slightly. "Welcome to the LongArm! Pride of the Godulan StarNavy and headquarters of all Godulan operations in Thorn. If you wish we can find accomodations for you to rest before we take you to what is to be your new, if temporary home. I hope you don't mind snow."

General Lear rolled her eyes. "You flatter me, sir, but I am afraid you will not get far."

Bringing up an arm, she pulled her sleeve back to reveal the Neutronium Steel exoskeleton that was her forearm. "Full body cybermodification. All officers commander and above in rank receive it. Our robotics capabilities are quite advanced, far beyond the simple destroyer droids and such we've seen deployed throughout the galaxy, but before this incident, we were only almost to the point of being able to fully match natural sensory and reproductive processes, and research has effectively stalled in present circumstances.

"In other words, it will be a while before I am able to do that... again at least, so I wouldn't bother if I were you."

There was a slight tone to her voice that seemed to relay And I could hogtie you with a three-inch-thick neutronium steel rod in less time than it would take for you to say 'kinky!'...

Lear turned to the other newcomers and bowed slightly. "Welcome to the LongArm! Pride of the Godulan StarNavy and headquarters of all Godulan operations in Thorn. If you wish we can find accomodations for you to rest before we take you to what is to be your new, if temporary home. I hope you don't mind snow."
Smiling when Jiraiya seemed to deflate in defeat, Katrina took over and pushed ero-sennin aside. "We don't mind snow. And yes, we would like some rest before we head to our new homes. We're very grateful that we have someone so willing to grant us asylum."

"You assisted us in our time of need, and we do not forget kindnesses done to us. And you will find that we make very loyal allies indeed."

"Besides," Lear continued, giving Jacen a sidelong glance, "I was watching the intelligence dispatches and saw the whole thing in the Imperial Senate. Just looking at him you can tell he's a Sith Lord of the purest caliber... those killing eyes of his are impossible to disguise behind simple rhetoric.

"So, much though we would prefer the Galactic Empire to collapse into a heap of shambles in the throes of internal conflict, we will not let the killing of innocents pass lightly."

General Lear turned to give Kelvin a curious glance, noting the fact that he was almost hopping with the need to go check something. After a moment's thought, she snapped her fingers in realization. And remembered that she had checked on one of Kelvin's acquaintances just to make certain...

"I wouldn't worry about Horizon, Kelvin. Rheinland District was one of the first evacuated, and I do believe she is now on Alitar, at the same settlement you and the others will be sent to."

"Alitar, where is that?"

"You HAVE been gone a long time. Alitar is in the Algemron system, in the same nebula as Talbott. Its a cold place, but hospitable... pleasant actually, if you like chilly temperatures."

Kelvin sighed with relief and seemed almost itching to leave.

"Relax, Kelvin. She's not going anywhere soon, not until the siege is over at least."

"You have someone you care about, eh Kelvin?" Katrina smiled. She knew exactly why Kelvin seemed nervous. He's in love and at 9, too! Kawaii (cute)!

"Actually," General Lear said, giving an antsy Kelvin a sidelong glance, "You should blame the Archons in part for that. They encouraged early relationship building to promote population growth."

"As a matter of fact," Lear continued, giving Jiraiya a smirk, "I have two children from before I made commandant and got my Cyberchassis. Both fully grown and also in the StarNavy."

Then she leaned even closer to Jiraiya.

"Oh, and I'm ninety seven... youngun."

"Oh." Was all the fifty-five year old ninja master could say.

"Anyway, enough with the chatting. You all are likely to be wanting to see your quarters for the night. I hope you all don't mind sharing a few communal bunk rooms. The majority of the StarNavy Marine contingents are over in Talbott assisting in the Terraforming effort and starting things up on Alitar and Bluefall, so a good portion of our bunkspace is open.

"There's a few free bunk rooms not too far from this docking bay, as a matter of fact, I'll show you to them now."

Lear turned and walked to the main entry door, gesturing for the others to follow.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

One could tell the Godulan Marines were well compensated for the grueling work they had to do even in stand-down periods. Each berthing area was capable of holding about 30 people, and held enough 'stuff to do' right in the room proper. It even had a few computer terminals that were hooked up to a ship-wide LAN network with which one could play some of the most realistic shooter sims ever seen with anybody and everybody on the ship.

"We try to ensure that our soldiers are never bored. Nothing kills morale more than sitting around doing nothing for weeks on end. There's a spacefold panel about one hundred yards thataway. If you need something to eat, it has a hot button to port you straight to the mess hall. Just remember that you're on Deck 32, Section Gamma, or you WILL get lost. The Longarm is a truly colossal ship, so there is a lot of room to be completely clueless in."

"Anyway, enough with the chatting. You all are likely to be wanting to see your quarters for the night. I hope you all don't mind sharing a few communal bunk rooms. The majority of the StarNavy Marine contingents are over in Talbott assisting in the Terraforming effort and starting things up on Alitar and Bluefall, so a good portion of our bunkspace is open.

"There's a few free bunk rooms not too far from this docking bay, as a matter of fact, I'll show you to them now."

Lear turned and walked to the main entry door, gesturing for the others to follow.
The motley group of asylum seekers followed General Lear to the bunk rooms.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

One could tell the Godulan Marines were well compensated for the grueling work they had to do even in stand-down periods. Each berthing area was capable of holding about 30 people, and held enough 'stuff to do' right in the room proper. It even had a few computer terminals that were hooked up to a ship-wide LAN network with which one could play some of the most realistic shooter sims ever seen with anybody and everybody on the ship.

"We try to ensure that our soldiers are never bored. Nothing kills morale more than sitting around doing nothing for weeks on end. There's a spacefold panel about one hundred yards thataway. If you need something to eat, it has a hot button to port you straight to the mess hall. Just remember that you're on Deck 32, Section Gamma, or you WILL get lost. The Longarm is a truly colossal ship, so there is a lot of room to be completely clueless in."
"Thank you, General." Jacen replied. "If we need anything, we'll call."

General Lear nodded. "I'll let you take things from here, Mister Masaki."

Lear then turned on one heel and made for the SpaceFold Panel, leaving the exiles to themselves for the time being.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

"MORE?!"

The sound of Corbox's exclamation rattled the jawbones of almost every adjutant in the control room. And the lone Adjutant who was the target of this particular outburst gave the Archon a look of sheer terror.

"S-sir... they only just noticed an hour ago. The 37th DawnRunner BattleFleet stuck around to see what the portals were for, and we think the count is at about ten million more Triad Mutants."

"THEY'RE READYING FOR A BIG PUSH," noted the Twelfth One. He pointed at the portal points on the situation map, "THEY ARE MASSING AT AMAZON AND CHICXULUB. PRIME POSITION FOR A STRIKE AT ORLEANS, BUT THEY WOULD HAVE TO PUNCH THROUGH OUR BALROGGAN ALLIES FIRST.

Corbox looked at the situation map himself for a moment, then pointed at Manhattan. "Send the order. Re-allocate troops from Manhattan for the defense of Orleans and attempt to bolster the manpower of the Balroggans. Things have been getting hectic with them, and they could likely use some extra gun hands."

Several adjutants at once shouted "Yes sir!" and bolted from the room.

"What's the status on our StarSpiders?"

"There's a healthy contingent in the Mississippi Valley waiting orders for quick deployment," One adjutant answered, "We could have them in Orleans within three hours."

"Do it, but tell the StarSpiders to focus primarily on CounterSiege."

"Yes sir!"

"Is Orleans' DawnRunner in place?"

"Yes sir, it moved back into place after it investigated the portals. It's ready to commence whatever bombardments we require."

"Get the second one over Horizon's End over there. We can't afford to lose Orleans. It'll give them almost equal staging capacity for an attack on Manhattan, Florida, AND Horizon's End."

"Yes sir!"

Corbox then turned back to the situation screen. It was a grim situation indeed...

Maximillian barged into Skye's command center, grinning like a five year old who'd just been given a ten dollar bill. Seemingly having forgotten his surly departure earlier.

"SKYE! You'll never guess what we found below the ice."

"An underwater shipyard?"

"Quit reading my mind, asshole."

"Gladly. It makes me feel dirty."

"Thanks!"

Ignoring Maximillian's sick sick sick sick mind for a moment, he continued "A shipyard is useless under present circumstances. We don't quite have the industrial capacity to manage any construction projects at the moment."

"That's the wonderful thing! Its automated! And there's already three ships ready for launch! With four more nearing completion!"

"What size are these vessels, pray tell?"

"Battleship class. The one kilometer vessels are supposed to be the largest they can construct without having to resort to space-based construction."

"Any secondary vessels? Even one of their cursed DawnRunners has enough backup ships to knock the battleships out within a matter of minutes."

"About thirty Cannon Cruisers and twelve Support Carriers. It's quite an extensive shipyard. Almost impossible to detect from orbit due to the ice sheets."

Skye cocked an eyebrow momentarily. "How, pray tell, was it that the Godulans decided not to take those ships before they fled?"

"We swarmed through the Citadel too fast for them to react. The section leading to the shipyard was overrun almost immediately, but we never bothered to go further. The entire place was abandoned."

"Send minesweeping squads through all of those ships. If they abandoned it, they rigged it."

"But that could take days!"

"Would you rather have a bunch of ships that won't blow up in your face in a few days, or a smaller group of ships that won't blow up in your face, massive numbers of casualties, and a very pissed me, in a few months?"

"Fine fine fine... I'll get right on it."

"Good, now leave me to my work, and tell me when you're done. I have plans for those vessels."

Maxie nodded and clomped out of the room, the hop in his step somewhat diminished but still present.

“Sir, our recon ship appears to have gone undetected. They are relaying data of troop movements based off their seismic and gravitational effects. We are adjusting our troops accordingly but keeping their movements subtle.”

“Excellent! Request a full placement of recon ships. I want their every move monitored. Have you located their Psion yet?”

“No, it appears they are using some sort of hit and run tactic but we have yet to locate their source.”

“Try to isolate one of the affected and send a feedback along the carrier wave. Send a shuttle over to the Godular ship to get their most recent data on these forces we are fighting. It would be easier if we weren’t starting from nothing. We also need to coordinate out attacks or this will amount to nothing.”

“Yes Sir, informing the Diplomat as we speak.”

“Also, get a Signature Sniffer down to the planet. I want to get a trace on where they are broadcasting their attacks from. Once we have an idea, I want that location taken out.”


Several other ships faded into T-Space and took positions within the crust of the planet like the first.




OOC:

Sorry it took so long to post. Work interferred.

OOC: No prob. Gives me more time to do more posts related to both sides of the war.

Skye felt a strange nagging senation in a small corner of his mind... as though he was missing something that would come back to haunt him with gusto. He tried to isolate the strange feeling, and after some effort, managed to get a firm hold on it.

The nagging feeling was that some minds overhead kept on winking out of existence and popping up elsewhere. For some reason a second thought was attached to it that said 'torque'

Torque? What is this about 'torque'... oh...

He called up a quick reading from ground-based sensors, prioritizing Dimensional Disruptions inherent to entering a sub-dimension. He focused on a particular string of disruptions, and knew from the pattern exactly what they were. He'd seen it all before.

The Balroggans... are... TORQUE SPACERS... damn damn damn! Where are they now?

He keyed in a wide-field sensor sweep, and got a couple readings... only a couple though. In the Earth's crust.

Recon units... need to put a stop to them before they can get us pegged.

"MORE SAVANTS! Bring in the big guns! Time to pull some seismokinesis!"

Now that he had a clear bead on them, he was able to spot more, but the damn ground was making his clairsentience somewhat fuzzy. He knew right off he couldn't spot them all... maybe half if he concentrated for a while. He needed to end them while he could though.

A few more Savants were brought in, far larger than the normal Savants and in a somewhat thicker psi-enhancing solution.

Bringing them on-line, he ordered them to pinpoint any enemy ships in the crust and either cause a cave-in on top of them or put the occupants of the ship into neuro-synaptic shock. If he couldn't crush them, he'd fry their brains. The Triad couldn't afford these ships spying on their every move from below all willy nilly.

The 23rd DawnRunner BattleFleet was the one to receive the Balroggans' shuttle, and had the requested information about the Triad attacks ready to be transferred.

The adjutant managing the transfer decided it would be a decent idea to summarize the information for the diplomat, in case people did not want the full gory details.

"Far as we can tell, the Triad forces seem to act independent of each other, so there's no real command structure. Its amazing how they coordinate their attacks though. They're like... ants. They take on single targets by themselves, then band together with amazing alacrity to destroy things too large for any one of them to handle.

"They've got a vast majority of what used to be OUR military hardware, turning legions of Cougar Robots, StarSpiders, and even StarBolt Fighter Craft to their own ends. When they come, they come en masse, and they just... don't stop.

"When we learned about the Triad originally, we'd only heard of them as a legend spoke in hushed tones of dread. They had supposedly been a menace to the interdimensional community as a whole, but they had been soundly routed when they attempted to assert what they thought was their dominance against Sojun, The Final Arbiter. They'd vanished from existence for the most part after the GodWar, and were thought dead... until they came after us.

"Not sure how much all this information would help you. So far it hasn't done us a damn lick of good. Maybe you'll find something we missed though. Its always good to have a fresh pair of eyes take a look at the situation."

The 23rd DawnRunner BattleFleet:


“Thanks for the information. We will put it to use if we can find a way. Now, what tactics do you want us to use and what limits do you wish to put on our actions? If you need to, do you have an evacuation plan set? The Serjents can try to cover your escape if it comes down to that. Don’t think we are giving up, just taking every precaution possible so when something happens we are not left standing there blinking in surprise.”

“Currently we have about a dozen ships on Deep Recon in the planet’s crust. They are fully shielded and running covert. We should be able to pick up some sort of activity using the Gravimetric or Seismic sensors. We have sensors watching them from space. We are monitoring every possible sensor we can think of in order to locate a significant target.”

“We need to coordinate tactics so we can operate more efficiently. The Serjents are down there waiting for the Offensive to begin, we only need your word to start.”




Planet side:


The Proteus fighter settled to the ground using the VTOL landing configuration. The fighter taxied to its waiting berth. As the sleek craft came to a halt, the ground crew rushed forward to take care of the craft. The pilot opened the canopy and climbed out. Removing the helmet, Alyssa looked around at the scurrying crewmen. She stopped one of them and asked where the Commander was.

After getting directions, she tossed her helmet into the cockpit and began walking. After a couple minutes she neared the bunker that served as the Forward Command and entered.

The Commander, a Serjent, was busy examining the latest data from the Deep Recon Units. Alyssa entered and stood there a few seconds before getting his attention by clearing her throat.

“Captain Alyssa Hargrove reporting for duty. Command said you needed a Sniffer down here, so they sent me.”

Commander Brya looked up from his readouts. Alyssa stood a little less than 2 meters and appeared to be about 26 years old. She still wore the Spaceflight suit.

“You are a welcome sight for sore eyes. We have been getting bugged by those Triad Spooks but we cannot get a line on where they might be. None of the troops have any abilities to track them without getting a lock on them first.”

“And that is why they sent me down here. As a Signature Sniffer, I would be able to get an Aural Trace on the attacker from the signature left by their attack. Show me their most recent spooking. The faster we get there, the easier it will be for me to trace them.”

The Commander snapped to attention. The Captain appeared to be uncomfortable by this.

“I am not here to command you. I am aware I outrank you since I am a Ta’Nar, but I don’t want to take your command away. Please assume that was a suggestion. You can command yourself and your troops much more efficiently if I am not in the loop. I am just an “observer” for now.”

The Commander seemed taken aback by this but he quickly recovered.

“Thank you, I will do as you, er, suggested.”

“You are most certainly welcome. I am here to help.”

“Sir, we have another spook attack!”

“Let’s get moving. Make room for this “Observer” in my shuttle.”


OOC:

I'll let you provide all the possible information I can get from the Deep Recon units, the sensor reading from orbit, The Sniffer, and any other sources I use but cannot remember them now.

OOC: More Detailed Sensor Data-

ORBITAL SENSOR READINGS:

The DawnRunners managed to pick up a relatively hefty amount of recon information while they were attempting to hold back the triad advances over Archona and Kusari.

The Triad forces behave somewhat akin to a swarm in that each trooper acts somewhat independently, yet each effort coalesces into a much more complex whole as individuals band together to take down tougher targets. What is also less readily apparent is that the Triad forces, the Gendarmes especially, seem rather adept at anticipating ambushes and other surprises before they happen, and seem to be aware of their surroundings far better than the actual defending forces.

This primarily comes into play when the Gendarmes begin working to circumvent enemy hotspots, coming around and attacking from the rear as if emerging from nothing.

At the moment, Triad Hotspots are The Twelfth One's Citadel, Kusari, and Chicxulub, with the Amazon and Tripoli acting as secondary staging areas.

It is recognized that the Triad Leadership has set up shop in the Twelfth One's Citadel, which is second only to Horizon's End (officially) and Archona (formerly) in defensive capacities.

Each of the Godulan Cities fields enough firepower to wipe out an entire DawnRunner BattleFleet, essentially equivalent in firepower to eleven imperial star destroyers.

BATTLEFIELD RECON:

The Triad forces presently consist of 23 million Godulan Marines who were turned in the early battles, 12.5 million Triad Gendarmes, about five hundred thousand Cougar Anti-Vehicular Shock Robots, and some two thousand StarSpider Siege Borgs. Air force capabilities are estimated at four thousand StarBolts, give or take a few hundred.

The StarSpiders, at 30 meters tall, are the heavy artillery of the bunch, carrying four siege-grade flux cannons and an assault blaster in their heavily armored bulk, supported by eight bladed legs and a whiplike prehensile tail (which mounts a riot shield and the aforementioned assault blaster).

The Cougars, seven feet tall at the shoulder, heavily armored, amazingly agile, vicious, and capable, incorporates an Assault blaster deployable from its back, claws, teeth, and a mouth-mounted flamethrower. Military-Grade cougars are capable of running at approximately 125mph.

The Godulan Marines are your typical marines, modest powered body armor, S-90 Assault Rifles which can be modified to fire tank-killers with the flip of a switch, and so on. The backbone of any army.

The Gendarmes... are worrisome.

Standing 12 feet tall, in what appears to be a powered body tank that only enhances their already prodigious physical strength while maintaining a level of agility not thought possible by such encumbering body armor, the Gendarmes wield a pair of double weapons, one in each hand. One of these weapons works as a Vulcan Cannon on the bottom half, and a light tank cannon on the top, while the second gun has the same type of vulcan cannon on the bottom and what appears to be a plasma flamer on the top. Their armor is a color that can only be quantified as 'Sepulcher Black', and seems to be large enough that it incorporates a personal shielding system, deflecting shots away from vital points. Furthermore, the Armor is recognized as allowing the Gendarmes limited flight capacity, enabling them to simply leap over barricades if the situation requires it.

In melee combat, the Gendarmes remove their ranged weapons with surprising speed, replacing them with a pair of meat cleavers each as long as a man. They wield these with disturbing proficiency and power.

DEEP RECON:

Its hard to track Triad troop movements for the most part, due to the fact that the Triad has turned another Godulan technology against its creators: Spacefold Portals. The Triad was quick to sever contact between the Godulan held portals and those held by their own forces, but due to Maximillian's prowess at all things computer and robotic, they were able to reestablish routes between the various Triad controlled cities.

As a result, to the ships attempting to keep track of various troop movements, they would only be able to receive the readings of the Triad soldiers departing for another city, followed immediately by the readings of those same soldiers arriving in another city. Who goes where, however, is very hard to keep track of.

Finally, there would be evidence of some massive industrial project underway around Antarctica, but the nature of this project is nearly impossible to determine. The best estimate that the readers would have of determining the type of the project is that it is a large scale construction effort.

SIGNATURE SNIFFER:

Tracking Baron Skye's attacks is a feat in and of itself. Pinpointing their origin is even more so. Any attempt to send a feedback surge to try and determine the origin of the psionic attacks will be met almost instinctually by a summary brain-fry. However, if the person can survive long enough after being zapped in such a manner, one can still inform others of the discovery, as the brain surge only occurs afterwards.

The Sniffer will likely discover that the attacks are coming from Antarctica, but will likely die in the process.

TACTICAL LIMITATIONS:

Fleeing is not an option for the Godulans. The Archons would not take the chance that the Triad would have an opportunity to follow them to the Colony Worlds and take over the entire Godulan StarNavy. If the StarNavy turns, its over.

The Godulans would like to preserve whatever they can of their particular Earth, however the Triad is under no such compunction.

As of this moment, the Godulans are adopting a "NONE SHALL PASS" attitude, hoping that with enough power slammed into the Triad that they'll eventually lose too much of their strength to recover, paving the way for the DawnRunners to finish off the remnants.

The fight hinges on the battle of Orleans for the most part, as it gives the Triad a staging area with equal opportunity to pick off either Florida, Manhattan, or Horizon's End.

END DETAILS.

Excellent post. Well thought out.

I now have plenty to think of and I will post later.

The jump in the shuttle was short. After a few minutes, it was landing in one of the front line camps protecting Orleans. The Commander quickly exited the craft, followed by Alyssa.

The carnage was easily noticeable. Parts of Serjents were lying everywhere. Plasma burns were evident on all of the corpses. There were crews hurriedly gathering the evidence and carting it off somewhere. A lone Serjent was chained in the center of the camp. It was wearing Inhibitors in order to prevent the Plasma Cannons grown into each of its limbs from being used. As it saw the visitors approach, it leapt to the ends of the heavy chains trying to get at the new targets.

“Report what happened.”

One of the officers approached and obeyed.

“Well Sir, we were preparing for the impending assault when a number of us began to hallucinate. Some of us were able to shake off the attack but Jones was taken completely by it. He flipped out and started shouting for help because the invaders were attacking. That was when he opened up with the plasma cannons. We lost almost a dozen before Jones could be subdued. Thank god there was an Angel of Death nearby to catch the Imprints.”

“Thank you soldier, Dismissed!”

The officer retreated to attend to his duties and Commander Brya turned to Alyssa.

“Here is the spooking you wanted. Have at it.”

Alyssa slowly approached the raging Serjent until she was barely outside its reach. She extended her mind towards the enraged victim. She could feel the presence of an alien mind in control of Jones. She attempted to skirt around it, trying to find the lead where it entered the mind of the Serjent. Once she could find the connection, she could attempt to trace it back to its location. She could feel the defenses of the intruding mind snap into place but that didn’t matter. As long as she didn’t try to intrude into it she should be safe. She was only staying on the outside, looking to where it came from.

Concentrating, she could sense a thread leading away across the Gulf, directly south. Applying more of her power, she reached for the thread and began to follow it. She got the impression of water flying below her as she sped along the link. She felt the blur of green as she sped over islands and then jungle. She passed over a large city of minds somewhere in the jungles but the link led away from them.

As she sped further south she became aware of a bright “light” ahead. She could feel an alarm passing beneath her through the thread she was following. The light ahead of her focused upon the approaching intruder and she felt the presence of several powerful minds. They threw their combined strength against her. She caught the impression of coldness before she was driven back.

She fell into her body as her consciousness snapped back. Her mind felt as if it has spikes driven through her brain. She could feel darkness creeping across her consciousness as awareness faded into blackness. She felt herself float upwards as she left her body.

Alyssa crumpled to the ground with a scream. Smoke began to pour out of her ears and mouth. Her eyes ruptured and blood poured down her face. She went into convulsions for a few seconds and then lay still.

Very still.

Overhead flew the Angel of Death

Skye smiled to himself. Several of his Savants had reported that they had recently roasted a PsiTracer. His analysis of what they had done, however, showed that something of the victim would survive. He knew not for how long or if the victim would recover, but he knew it wouldn't be enough.

"How goes the ship sweep?" he asked, not bothering to turn towards Maxie, who was even now staring in awe at the sheer volume of... things... Skye was taking care of all at once.

"Um... ah... Oh. We're almost done. We had to reconfigure our sniffers for these strange Godulan explosives..." Maxie held out a small pink pellet. "They call it 'Death Confetti'... apt name really. Strange that such a... cute thing would be so hazardous."

"Do not let me keep you from completing your task then. I want that fleet ready for action by tomorrow at the latest. The forces are mustered for the strike at Orleans, all I need to pull off the Deathblow is those ships. So you'd better be ready."

Maxie left the room with a new hop to his step. It had been a long time since he had been in a position of power, and if Skye said it was critical, it was freakin' PARAMOUNT.

Skye settled back into his routine... steeling himself for the battle he knew lay ahead. First in starting up the massive attack sequence leading up to the assault on Orleans... and then commencing the DeathBlow...

"Admiral Davo, we just retrieved the Sniffer we sent down to the planet."

“What happened to her?”

“She was detected and attacked. Her body was fried but an AoD retrieved her essence and returned with it. We started growing her new clone but she is in shock. We had to place her consciousness within the clone to keep it stable. We won’t be able to find out if she discovered anything until the clone is finished and a Psychic Surgeon can work on her mind to help remove the trauma. The clone will be done in 34 hours.”

“Dammit! We should have sent down a True Ta’Nar instead of one of the humans Ta’Nar. See to it she gets the best care we can give her.”

“She is already aboard The Ubik. She will pull through. We will find out where those bastards are hiding and then rain down anything we can upon their heads.”

“Calm down. The Godular Government has not authorized that level of combat yet. We have to restrain ourselves for the moment.”

The Godulans had been massing in Orleans for some time now, establishing defensive garrisons and preparing for what seemed to be the inevitable flashpoint.

With artillery positions fully set up, and supplies flowing in for a fight to the finish, the Godulans were coming into the fight loaded for bear. A decent number of the remaining StarSpiders and Cougars still under Godulan control were moving in as well to bolster the resistance forces.

Legions of Godulan Marines were also moving in to bolster the numbers of the Balroggan forces a small distance outside the city, still within the range of the city's guns.

The Archons had taken to a grave silence as they watched the situation screen display the forces being deployed throughout the city. If Orleans fell, it would only be a matter of time before the rest came tumbling down.

The two DawnRunner Fleets over Orleans also prepared, running through drill after drill, keeping their Orbital Bombardment procedures ready to kill as many of the Triad as they could get in their targeting reticules.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, the Triad forces had finally gotten their assault portals ready, refitted for the massive bulk of the Starspiders. No more dropships and annoying marches, the Triad was going to ram its guns down the enemy's throat with gusto.

Within but a few hours, the Gendarmes would get the order to march...

And in Antarctica, the strange, rumbling, tell-tale signs of construction were silenced...

And night fell...

Bumpitty. Gonna let Balrogga set up a last preparation post afore the Gendarmes come a-knockin'

In orbit:


“Admiral, I just received word we have been having several Precogs warning about an eminent attack. It seems several have picked tonight as the time of the offensive.”

“I guess it would finally come. Send word to the troop placement. I want them prepaired for anything. Set up Psi Static and Psi Vampirism fields to stop the enemy from attempting any mind control. I want the drop ships ready to send out any needed reinforcements.”

“Yes Sir.”

“Scramble the Proteus Fighters and get the AoDs in the field. I want to be completely prepared for their offensive.”



Planet side:


“Commander, we just received these orders.”

The Serjent ran up to the Commander with a message crystal. He slipped it in his viewer and watched the message. He looked around and began to issue commands. The Serjents rushed into defensive positions. Several activated their Psi Static abilities and everyone strengthened their Mind Shields.

Everyone waited for hell to begin.

The assault portals opened, and the Triad forces began to move. Swarming like heavily armed ants, they flowed through the portals with abandon, yet still managed to maintain a strange unity in their actions, manifesting in a rhythmic rumble as each foot, Gendarme, Turned Marine, and StarSpider alike, came down at exactly the same time.

Fighters launched, timing their departure so they would arrive at the same time the main army reached the battlefield.

The portals took them some five kilometers away from the main line, and soon, their march was felt more than heard among the resistance forces.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Skye had gathered the remaining Savants with him, and he now steeled himself for the task ahead. He had done this many times before, but never on such a grand scale... this would be painful.

But more painful for the resistance's ally.

He sent the order to the Savants: Cease the mind tricks, commence psych bombing.

Psych Bombing was somewhat like mental static, only far more intense and quite dangerous, a situation made somewhat worse by its use as an area of effect attack. It had the potential to confuse, paralyze, or drive insane all it affected, hopefully throwing the enemy lines into enough chaos to prevent them from mounting an effective initial defense.

He knew not how well the shields he detected from the Balroggan forces would hold him back, but he was prepared to pour everything into them.

With a grunt, Skye and his Savants set to work.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the Gendarmes and Marines approached, they readied their weapons and picked up their pace. Godulan S-90s and Triad Cannons coming to bear on the enemy.

At the same time, the StarSpiders began firing at targets of opportunity, letting their Siege Cannons rip into enemy emplacements, and their assault blasters stitch through the enemy lines.

Then, just as the Gendarmes and Marines had come to about twice their original marching speed, the Cougars jumped ahead and charged forward, slamming into the enemy lines like massive bullets of razor-sharp robot teeth and claws.

And the faint roar of approaching aircraft could be heard.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

The two DawnRunner Fleets overhead saw the whole thing, and maneuvered over the enemy ranks... time to kill...

"FOR ARCHONA!" "FOR RHEINLAND!" "FOR KUSARI!"

The list of the cities taken by the Triad went on, until all but the four still held by the Godulans were named. Then the final shout:

"FOR THE ARCHONS!"

The multitude of ships opened fire.

From this thread...*sobs* (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=415557)

Jacen Masaki, cousin to the main branch of the Masaki family has fallen asleep when he felt a grave disturbance in the Force. He woke up instantly, panting as if from a nightmare, but it wasn't. It was a terrifying reality. Cousin Daniel...

He would have to bear the bad news to Katrina and the others...

General Lear caught the intelligence reports, hearing news of Daniel Masaki's death in what appeared to be a blaze of fiery glory.

Victory in death... she thought to herself as she read the latest reports. Sighing, she put the reports down and rubbed her temples. Granted the gesture had no effect on her whatsoever, but it was a habit.

I wonder how Sojun's gonna deal with that one...

In the morning, sobbing could be heard when Katrina was given the bad news, and Ryujin mourned heavily. It was a sad day for the close family and friends of Daniel...

Kelvin had fallen asleep at General Lear's desk, having read through refugee movement reports to exhaustion. Lear did not mind his insistence to check on his longtime friend, as it gave her a chance to go into brainsafe mode for a MUCH needed nap.

He awoke with something of a confused expression, then a sigh. Turning towards the live intel feed, he saw the aftermath of Masaki's explosive demise. Then remembered what his father had told him:

"THEY MUST NOT KNOW ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED HERE..."

He shrugged, then walked out of the General's office to check on the asylum seekers.

The Triad Starbolts finally arrived, and the Invasion force commenced the attack with full fury. The Gendarmes and Godulan Marines surged forward like a tide of soldiers, mutants, robots, and gunfire.

The DawnRunners above let loose with their full batteries, pummeling the attacking Triad Forces with all their might... but something was disrupting the cannonfire, redirecting it on the city.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Skye grinned. He may not have been able to affect the Godulan resistance directly, but he could sure as hell deflect their weapons...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Glorified Bump

Front lines:


The Commander put away his reader and the crystal. Contacting his troops using his Neurolink, he passes an order on to the artillery gunners. Moments later the guns sounded as if they were one as they fired in unison. The shells fell in the area in front of the Serjent fortifications. The shells split open and a thick black smoke covered the ground in a fine powder. He gets a confirmation returned on his Neurolink:

“Battlemat deployed.”

“Remain under cover until they have arrived. I don’t want any shots wasted. Make them count, boys.”

The Serjents fell into position, waiting for the enemy to get close enough.




Orbit:


Several hundred Proteus Fighters banked as one dove into the atmosphere. The shields began to glow red as the small craft fell through the upper atmosphere, leaving an ion trail behind them of superheated gasses.

“Flight Leader to Squad Leaders, you have permission to go active. I repeat, go full active. We are going to make them hurt down there. Don’t worry if you get shit down, if you are damaged and able to steer your craft, aim it at enemy ground placements, Remember, your original body is in stasis on the carriers and they have clones waiting for you to go back down there again. We are not going to loose this battle, we are going to take every fighter we can out of the sky and every trooper who doesn’t duck our fire. Good hunting!”

The fighters entered the thicker atmosphere.

“Convert from Space to Atmosphere Mode!”

The engines on the fighters shifted positions so they were closer to the flight wing.

“Go in all weapons hot, fire at all available targets.”

The fighters entered the battle zone picking targets both in the air and on the ground. Missiles left their launch tubes, Laser cannons fired, and laser turrets locked on target and fired.

After the first pass, the pilots picked targets from the surviving Starbolts and both sides began dog-fighting. One of the pilots lined up his tracking comp and sent the order to fire. The cannons immediately opened up upon the craft. The sensors alerted him of three enemies upon his tail. He dodged them until they accidentally lined themselves up horizontally. He ordered a firing resolution upon them and instructed the navcomputer to execute a horizontal roll. The computer triggered both right forward and both left rear engines. The fighter spun around 360 degrees and fired at the trailing Starbolts when they were lined up with the firing resolutions. The fighter then gunned its engines and sped away vertically as the Starbolts attempted to dodge the incoming fire. The fighter flew into oncoming fire from a fourth Starbolt, exploding into plasma. The pilot felt a brief flash of pain and then he was floating, being drawn upwards by the Angel of Death.

Another pilot was being chased by an excellent pilot in a Starbolt. The enemy fired their missiles at the Fighter. The pilot dodged them by releasing the flack and turning hard. The Starbolt stayed right behind the Proteus Fighter. The fighter pilot spun his craft 180 degrees and fired his cannons and his laser turret point blank at the Starbolt, while flying backwards. As the Starbolt attempted to dodge this maneuver, the Proteus Fighter spun back around and attempted to get behind the Starbolt if it survived.

A third fighter was also attempting to ditch the Starbolt upon his tail. He attempted a different move. He used his rear tractor beam to lock upon the pursuing craft and dove into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, dragging the Starbolt into the water with it. The Proteus Fighter dove as deep as he could knowing his craft was usable under water hoping the enemy craft could not take the crushing depths. The Proteus Fighter was destroyed as it crashed into something that was not supposed to be there. The tractor beam faltered and the Starbolt broke free.



The Ubik:


“What is going on down there, we are loosing as many fighters as they are. Nobody has fighters as good as ours.”

“Admiral, it seems the enemy Starbolt is almost an even match for ours. They both use Omni-Directional VTOL. They have the potential to be as maneuverable as ours. It also appears they are pressurized to sustain underwater pressure as ours is. One of the fighters tractored a Starbolt into the water but it was destroyed and the Starbolt got away. That maneuver will not work here. I have instructed the Wing Leaders to avoid that tactic.”

“How are the ground troops faring?”

“The enemy has yet to enter the Battlemat. We should be getting reports soon.”



OOC:

The Battlemat is a carpet of nanobots whose sole purpose is to inhibit electro-impulses. They are attracted to electrical equipment and try to cause interference. If they are able to get into a being, they will also attempt to interfere with the electrical impulses of the voluntary nervous system. It is up to you if this affects your troops in any way. They don’t like the taste of Serjents and was designed with them in mind.

In The Air

The StarBolts had the advantage of numbers over the Balroggan Proteus fighters matching them approximately four to one, but they had never before seen an enemy that operated just like they did, and they were further spread out because of the Triad's work at decimating the enemy lines and the city proper. It gave them a moment's pause that was enough to get several of them killed, but the rest simply adapted their strategies to fighting other Starbolts and went from there. From this point on, all that would matter was who had the better skills.

The Balroggan Proteus fighters were not alone in their dogfighting, however. The two DawnRunner fleets above, each capable of fielding 300 fighters, had sent their entire complement to assist in the attacks, seeing that their bombardments were doing more harm than good, they had decided to resort to more point-blank solutions.

During the initial missile volley from the Proteus fighters, the StarBolts deployed single packets of the Godulan specialty chaff, leaving small clouds of Death Confetti in the face of whatever missiles were tailing them. This was, unfortunately, not very useful against missiles raining from above. So many of the Triad Fighters had to rely on sheer skill and luck to avoid the missiles, many of whom whose skills were... inadequate. Shields helped in some cases, but only with glancing blows.

One fighter was attempting to line up one of the Proteus fighters in his targeting reticule, bucking and weaving to avoid enemy fire, yet sticking to the enemy like glue. A small alarm pinged, warning him that he was being acquired for a missile lock, and he growled. He dumped another puff of Death Confetti on the tailing fighter, then whipped the StarBolt around, bringing a line rapid-fire flux bursts to bear on the one who dared to try to tail him. Little did he know that the fighter he himself was tailing only microseconds before had taken the opportunity to whip HIS ship around and bring the Starbolt in line for a missile lock... the StarBolt fighter swept his fire across the other enemy vessel, then detonated as a plasma missile from the first slammed right into what had to have been the cockpit.

Another fighter had the amusing misfortune of being tailed by a pair of enemy fighters. A rare circumstance indeed when one's forces outnumber the enemies' by a factor of two to one. He decided to take both of the enemy fighters, one Proteus and one Godulan Starbolt, for a little ride through the city. Triad, Godulan, and Balroggan fighter alike zipped through the towering spires of the city, dodging cannonfire, skyscrapers, and other fighter craft with awe inspiring skill and determination. After about thirty seconds of them juking about like madmen, a trio of Triad Starbolts, looking for targets after having busted through their own prey, took interest in the fight and began tailing the tailers. Who knew how this one would turn out...

Another problem with so many fighters in such a small area of aerospace was that midair collisions occured far more than one would like. This point was demonstrated as, while one Triad StarBolt was doing a strafing run on the enemy lines, it happened to smack right into a Proteus that was tailing another fighter, shearing both fighters in half and sending the Starbolt into the enemy lines, while the proteus put a decent pair of craters into the space between the enemy lines and the advancing triad forces.

Tunnel vision during a dogfight of this magnitude was a BAD thing.

On the Ground

The Gendarmes noted the strange readings their armored body tanks were giving them as they approached what appeared to be a blanket of grayish fog. They had seen Nanotechnology like this used before, but the Godulans had never bothered to develop such applications, leaving the Triad hopelessly underequipped to deal with somebody hurling clouds of microbots at them.

However, the cloud wasn't really all that high, and the lines were easily within jumping distance...

As each Gendarme approached the billowing cloud, they activated their body tank's jumpjets and hurtled over the cloud and into enemy lines, bringing their giant Cleavers out for close quarters fighting.

The Cougar Robots and StarSpiders also circumvented the strange gray powder, the Cougars simply leaping over the carpet at top speed while the Starspiders engaged their gravity drives and hovered over the nanoswarm with ease, both landing within the enemy lines in a hail of gunfire and artillery.

The Starspiders were meant to withstand lots and lots of damage, but not even their heavy armor and shielding could protect them from several heavy artillery shells smacking into them at once. By this point, it seemed like both sides were sporting patches of flaming wreckage as chaos reigned.

As for the Triad Marines, they had no clue what the nanocarpet would do to them, and they honestly didn't want to find out. Skye expected no less from them. Setting up assault positions on the edge of the carpet, they commenced firing on the enemy lines with enormous Phalanx Blasters while calling in air strikes on the nanocarpet to clear a path through for the remaining infantry.

In the Sea

A Triad Starbolt had dove into the nearby ocean to avoid a Proteus fighter that had been tailing him, only to find that the Proteus had followed him right in.

However, as both fighters juked about, trying to get one up on each other, they surged forward into what seemed to be a collection of massive black shapes. At first, neither thought anything of this strange circumstance, but then... three hundred StarBolt fighters, waiting patiently in the water, opened up on the pursuing Proteus...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

When are you going to give the order, Skye?!

When I know that we have their fighters under control and can dedicate the necessary forces to the DeathBlow.

How much longer?!

Not long. You will get your chance, Xenith. Remember the plan. Do not give the Godulans' allies time to react. Just get the DawnRunner Fleets under control and get out to the Colonies. Timing is CRITICAL.

I know, I know.

We WILL have our empire back, Xenith. Be certain of that.

No more hiding... the Triad will be the force to fear once again... gives me chills.

Do your job, and we win. Simple as that, Xenith. You better do it right the first time. We cannot afford a second chance...

Bump for views and stuff :p

Battle lines:

The hover tanks fired at the advancing enemy line as the Serjents stood their ground, their four plasma cannons firing almost continuously. Several had fallen to enemy fire and attacks from above. The Serjents continued to fight until they were cut down.

In the rear, the commander watched as his troops fought against the unknown giants. When they used their jetpacks to leap over the Battle Mat, he cursed.

“Dammit, they must have detected the Nanobots.”

The commander watched as the enemy mechs leapt or hovered over the mass of hungry nanites. He quickly contacted his artillery captain.

“Jones, I want you to send another volley of Battle Mat Shells but set them for an Air Dispersal. I want to litter the battlefield with nanites. Keep it up until the air is thick with them. Be sure only to target our lines with them. We don’t want to incapacitate our allies.

Moments later shells began to explode overhead, depositing a fine ash-like substance to drift onto the heads of the warriors below.

Air:

Several hundred more Proteus fighters dropped from space, targeting several StarBolts from above as they literally fell into battle. They swarmed the remaining StarBolts until they wiped out a significant number in their immediate area and then spread out from there as more fighters fell from orbit to cover their backs. The factories and the shipyard had been busy over the past week.

The fighters that survived the ambush in the water retreated to the safety of the reinforcements to get their bearings. The move was not entirely successful as many fighters disappeared in balls of plasma before they could escape.


Space:

The fully laden AoDs were relieved by ones arriving from the fleet. They returned with the captured souls of the fallen to be reinserted in clones. The drop ships were launched to support the troops and the pilots were given new Proteus fighters and sent back to the battle.

Xenith, they sent in more reinforcements. There will be a slight change of plan. I am allocating more fighters to match the reinforcements, but I would also like you to make a single attack run on the enemy emplacements.

You mean I get to actually destroy something? Maxie would be so jealous!

Be ready, the time is nearly upon us.

Understood.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

IN THE AIR

A few hundred more Starbolts joined the fray when the Balroggan Reinforcements arrived, leaping into the fighting with gusto. These fighters were joined by the several hundred Starbolts that had been doing nothing but keep up the ground assaults, having been given orders to cease all strafing runs and concentrate on the enemy fighters.

ON THE GROUND

Several Gendarmes plummeted to the earth, twitching violently. The Body Tanks were sealed and protected against radiation and gas, and thereby nanobots, but those who wished to make it through the clouds of gray mist also needed to put down their blast visors to avoid getting contaminated right where it would have hurt most.

Several didn't manage it in time.

After seeing the airborne dispersion of the gray mist again, the Turned Godulans weighed the fact that no longer were they receiving assistance to break through the carpet of nanobots with the fact that the assistance was now useless. Almost as one, they decided: Who needs comm devices and vital scanners anyway? CHARGE!

They surged forward, letting loose with their assault rifles as they charged through the gray mist, ignoring the static popping up on the two simple electronic devices they incorporated into their battle suits. Like the Gendarmes, the powered aspects of their body armor were also sealed and protected against radiation and gas, which kept any debilitating effects of the nanobots to a thankful minimum.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now.

WITH PLEASURE!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Without warning, several hundred MORE Starbolts erupted from the water, a great onrushing cloud of Starbolts and cannonfire. At the same time, a great rumbling shook the battlefield entire, threatening to throw many a Serjent, Gendarme, AND Godulan off their balance with its violence.

Like a group of breaching whales, some fifty to sixty massive warships erupted from the water, angling their points towards the heavens. For what seemed like hours but was only a matter of seconds, they just sat there, angling themselves towards Orleans, as the ocean water churned around them.

Then they flopped back into the water.

The tidal wave created by the collective cannonballing of fifty-ish immense war vessels was tremendous, rising several hundred feet high and crashing into Orleans like a wall of raging water. Buildings collapsed, gunfire waned and died, not even the wonders of Godulan engineering could stop THAT.

At the same time, those weapons on the warships still above the surface of the ocean commenced a full bombardment of the city, crushing those buildings that had not fallen during the initial tidal wave in a flood of capital ship cannonfire. Rising once again from the depths, they brought full salvos of flux cannon fire and phase torpedoes to bear on both Orleans and the Balroggan positions, cutting loose with everything in their arsenal.

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"GIVE THEM EVERYTHING YOU CAN THROW!" Xenith shrieked as the city collapsed under the full fury of the Triad Fleet's cannonfire. "Artillery placements, Troop lines, tanks, wipe them all the hell out! Thirty seconds of HELL, my friends!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Archonal Command Chamber at Horizon's End fell dead silent.

"They... had... a battlefleet..." Corbox barely managed to say, then screamed at the Twelfth One: "WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?! YOU LEFT THE DAMN THINGS INTACT!"

"I did not think they would be able to get around the traps I left."

"You should have scuttled the damn things when you learned they were coming! DAMMIT! You just killed us..."

Dead silent indeed.

The wall of water swept over the Serjents and scattered them. Several locked within the Hover tanks survived with a beating from being tossed about but any outside them were drowned by the water. Their exoskeleton clad bodies were drawn underwater by their density and they were suffocated.

Thousands of minds were freed to be collected by the AoDs.

Several Proteus fighters were swept away by the wall of water and crushed into the ground before they could regain their bearings and rocket into the sky. The remaining forces swarmed high in the atmosphere waiting to see what would happen next.

Any StarBolts that wandered too close were shot at.

On The Ground

The Gendarmes knew this was coming, and were quick to use their jumpjets one last time to avoid the colossal wall of water. Some did not make it above the water, however, and were whisked off inland, buffeted by the intense currents but protected by their massive body tanks which helped keep them from the worst of the tsunami's ravages.

The Turned Godulans were not so lucky. Those that didn't shuck their armor as fast as they could drowned. Those that DID shuck their armor were subject to the crashing waves and shrapnel being hurled about. The StarSpiders, for all their destructive majesty, were now bastions of safety as they turned into impromptu islands for the Godulans to hang onto.

Many hundreds of thousands of Godulan marines died this day. Both Triad and Loyal...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

In The Air

After having completed Xenith's 'Thirty Seconds Of Hell' Bombardment on the city and the surrounding defensive placements, having already crushed them with the massive tidal wave, the Triad BattleFleet angled itself upward and surged towards the Godulan DawnRunner Battlefleets. As one, ALL of the StarBolts surged upwards as well, activating their Charged cannons and letting loose with everything.

To the DawnRunners above, it was death incarnate. Receiving full salvos from the Triad battlefleet and some three thousand StarBolt fighters caused a full half of both DawnRunner fleets to buckle under the sheer ferocity of the attack. Before they could even organize a counterattack, the Triad Starbolts were upon them.

And as the StarBolts slammed into the resistance fleets, the Triad battlefleet came up, inexorably closer to the DawnRunners, destroying anything and everything in their path to victory...

The fighter pilots watched in anticipation as the StarBolts swept upwards. They began firing at them as they neared but the enemy just flew past them at full boost.

“Dammit! They are going after the Dawnrunner fleet. Wing Leader to Fleet Command. The enemy bogeys are going after the fleet. They have about 30 Capital ships launching from the Gulf.”

“Fleet Command to Wing Leader, we understand. Try to lead them to our position. We have an ambush set up to decimate them. Do whatever you have to but get them away from the Godular ships.”

“Yes Sir! You hear him boys, lets get us some Archon ass.”

Thousands of Proteus Fighters shot into orbit. At the edge of the atmosphere the engines reconfigured to space operation. The fighters broke off into Flights of 32 fighters. Each Flight entered into formation as they came at the enemy in waves. Each wave withdrew towards the moon in hopes of drawing the fighters or the capital ships of the enemy to their death.


Ground:

In an overturned hover tank two Serjents began to move.

“Commander….Commander, can you read me?”

Silence was the only thing he could read.

“All Serjents activate Operation Meltdown and ready yourself for retrieval.”

The second Serjent used his nanonics to connect to a secret protocol within the hover tank and ordered the computer to broadcast the commands. He then activated a small gland within his own body. The gland began producing an artificial hormone that coursed through his body. He then willed himself skyward to be retrieved by an AoD.

Three hours later nothing remained of any Serjents but a puddle of nutrients. The tanks and other equipment also began to break down into flakes or brittle material that crumbled easily into a fine powder.

The Triad battlefleet completely ignored any and all distractions in their path towards the confused DawnRunner fleets, choosing instead to focus their firepower on any and all support vessels the DawnRunners had.

The DawnRunners finally began to pump firepower back at the charging Triad battlefleet, but resistance was meager at best, as in the initial salvos, less than a quarter of their support fleets' combined might remained, and less still were actually battle worthy. Even with this token resistance however, it was simply too little too late.

As the battleships came to a stop beside the DawnRunners, several tethers launched towards the midsections of each of the two massive dreadnoughts.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

The 23rd DawnRunner's bridge was a scene of pure chaos as the enemy vessels surged towards them.

"Sir! We can't hold them! They're breaking through our defenses!"

"What's the status on the other DawnRunners' reinforcements?!"

"They're two minutes away, sir! Sending fighters ahead... Wait! SIR! Sensors just went dead! COMM FEED!"

"It CAN'T be!"

The main viewscreen burst to life, showing Xenith Steele in all his horrifying glory, his eyes intent upon the Commander, and indeed every person on the dawnrunners anywhere near a comms feed.

"LISTEN TO ME! YOU ARE MINE..."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Retaliatory fire from the DawnRunners fell silent. Information downloads buzzed across the hacking tethers, and then, without further incident, the entire fleet, DawnRunners, Triad Battleships, everything, vanished.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

And reappeared. The fleet materialized over Planet Phlegethos in Thorn. A quick comms test showed that the vessels here had not disengaged their broadspectrum communications.

Perfect.

Dawnrunners 23 and 42 of the HomeGuard fleets, you had better be transitting to say that we won...

Xenith did not know that it was General Lear's voice forcing itself on their comms units, nor did he really care. All he needed was to reply. "Commence video feed, adjutant."

"Roger sir."

The viewscreen lit up with an image of General Lear standing on the bridge of the truly massive flagship resting in the middle of the first asteroid field of Thorn, locked in an expression of terror as she recognized the face.

"Xenith..."

"Its over, my dear. YOU'RE MINE."

General Lear fell to her knees, spasming violently as Xenith exerted the full force of his dominion gaze upon her, destroying her resistance and slaying her loyalty to the old regime, the same as he did to every single person on that wonderful ship, and every single person in the entire defense force of Thorn.

They were his, Mind, Body, and Soul, and now he readied himself for the transit to Talbott, to complete the takeover.

"I'll be transporting to the Longarm. I wish to see that wonderful wonderful ship for myself before we finish this..."

The Coredians, however, had surprisingly resilent minds and were able to successfully repel the mental invasion. Barely, of course, since Xenith didn't target them.

"I sense a shift in their minds." Jacen said, feeling something odd in the Force.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"Something's happened to the crew." Jacen frowned. "It feels like someone's taken over their minds..."

The raven haired young man raised an eyebrow in surprise. "That's powerful. I don't think even the 3rd-level Sharingan could do that."

Jacen shook his head. "I know. Only a Jedi Master could have this level of control, but I have a feeling that whoever's doing this is an order of magnitude stronger than even a Sith Lord. That's power."

"Hm." Sasuke answered.

"What are you guys talking about?" Katrina asked, walking in.

"Oh, nothing." Jacen smiled. He didn't want to worry her.

Xenith stood on the command deck of the massive Archonal Command Ship, watching as the entire StarNavy contingent in Thorn prepared for the jump to Talbott. He just needed to bring the other Colony systems under his sway to finish the deed, and return to Godulan Sol with his... new friends...

"Targeting solution acquired, Master."

"Engage," he replied, then gave General Lear a lustful stare. She stood off to the side, leveling a look of pure hatred upon Xenith. "You resist, I know it. It does not matter. By the time I am done, your Archons will have surrendered control to us, and no doubt Maximillian Foster would simply adore a chance to find your... inner workings."

Archonal Command Ship Longarm, this is Adjutant General Arcturus, I'd sure like to know what the meaning of THIS is...

"Get me a video feed, NOW."

"Video feed established, master."

Arcturus' face materialized on the main viewscreen, and his face quickly changed from confusion to shock. "General Lear? What's going on... who is this?"

"You will ask no more questions. YOU'RE MINE."

Activity throughout the system stopped cold as his forced broadcast took each and every one of the vessels in the fleet. All in all, Xenith now called some six hundred ships his own, and he immediately ordered the acquisition of targeting solutions for Godulan Sol.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Corbox had his head in his hands, sitting before the situation screen, listening as the casualty reports from Orleans came flooding in. Several million dead in one feel blow. Two DawnRunners taken, likely to take over the rest of the StarNavy.

"Sir," a nearby communications adjutant said with a cautious tone, "we're receiving a signal... from the Twelfth One's Citadel. Its Baron Skye."

With a sigh, Corbox stood up and straightened his archonal uniform. "Put him on. I guess we won't be able to stop them from gloating anymore."

Baron Skye's face appeared on the great situation screen, with a slight grin of one who held all the cards. He nodded towards Corbox, tipping his hat in respect.

"Greetings, Archon Corbox, I trust that you know the present situation, as well as what's coming."

"How can I not?"

"Doubtless you believe that I am calling merely to gloat about how we utterly destroyed you in every conceivable way, but I do not prefer to... brag."

a muffled "I DO!" came from off in the distance behind Skye.

"I am here to negotiate an end to hostilities, to discuss the terms of your surrender. I think you will find that I am not a hard man, and I wish no ill will between us. I simply wish to... end this."

"Why do you just want us to surrender?"

"Because I do not want to kill you. Orleans took many lives, and I would not like to have to duplicate that catastrophe. Besides, keeping several of the original Archons around will ease the transition phase somewhat."

"You know how we are about suicide, we would never--"

"You only suicide when you know there's something to achieve and that your death will achieve it. Killing yourself now would be a pointless measure. Your death will have been in vain. Why die, when there are still things you can achieve in life?"

The other Archons cadenced into the room, then took positions behind Corbox.

"Oh good. I would hate to have concluded negotiations with Archon Corbox, only to have them rejected by the others. Lets see... eight of you. Perfect."

"What... are the terms?" Corbox growled.

"The Archons will cede control of this empire to the Triad. In exchange, you will be allowed to retain the offices you held before the invasion began, the minds of your soldiers and citizens shall be freed, and I will do my very best to make certain that the empire prospers better than it ever could have imagined."

"We were already a rich nation," one of the archons shot back.

"Yes, but there are elements in your recent rulership that warrant... more skillful hands. Take your StarNavy for instance, which just so happens to be jumping in as we speak to enforce our newfound dominion."

A sensors adjutant nearby confirmed the reading. "About six hundred contacts completing transit in system, sir."

"I really do hope that I am not forced to take my negotiations elsewhere."

Corbox sighed, in unison with the seven other archons behind him.

"All right. You win."

"Prepare a shuttle, I shall meet you on the Archonal Command Ship Longarm to finalize the surrender..."

"Sir, we have incomming!"

"How many?"

"Sensors indicate about 600 contacts."

"Red Alert! Defensive formation! Sheilds at maximum! Prepair all weapons!"



OOC:

This is the logical reaction. They will wait to see if it is a reserve fleet arriving too late.

The newly Triad Godulan Battlefleet came to a rest above the North American continent. Most prominent among them were the two Archonal Command Ships, Long Arm of the Law and Apocalyptus massive 30km bulks of nothing but pure weaponry, they formed the center of the fleet.

Xenith couldn't help but feel some exhileration at the idea of being able to command a fleet once again, even though he knew it was only a temporary measure.

"Open a channel, broadband," Xenith said, reclining in what was now his command chair... for the moment anyway. "I want the Balroggans to hear this too. A fight now could ruin everything."

"Channel opened, master."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

To Godulan Resistance and Balroggan Forces:

Stand down. This fleet is under Triad control, and is present in order to enforce the claim of the new Triad Consortium. We will only fire when fired upon. Further communications as situations warrant.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

With the tentative cease fire declared, Skye was free to take a spacefold platform to the Longarm, and he ordered a small conference room to be set up for the incoming Archons. He also ordered the drafting of a short but to the point treaty.

As the Archons themselves shuffled in, he leaned forward and pushed the treaty in their general direction.

"I am certain you do not wish me to rub anything in, so I will spare you a second reading of the terms."

"You're too kind," Corbox replied sarcastically, dragging the treaty the rest of the way and conversing with the other archons over the short but important points.

"Would you prefer I gloat? I can bring Xenith in here, he is very capable in that area."

"No... no need. We'll sign your damn treaty."

"Oh, do not be that way, please. I only wish to end this so that we can return to something resembling business as usual."

All Skye got for a response was a simple grunt as the eight remaining archons placed their signatures upon the treaty.

It was over.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

To All Ships

Hostilities have ceased, the Archons have surrendered. Long Live the Triad Consortium!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So, Mister Skye--" Corbox began, after the others had filed out.

"Baron Skye, please. I prefer my title more than any other colloquial honorary. And for future reference, you are a Prefect now, not an Archon."

"Baron Skye, then... how are you going to conduct the resettlement of Godulan Earth?"

"I will not."

Corbox stared at Skye for about a minute before he managed to stammer "Wha- what?"

"Due to one of the stipulations of an earlier treaty that I signed long ago, the Triad is forbidden from creating a multi-dimensional empire. As the majority of the Godulan populace is in Thorn and Talbott in what you quaintly call 'primeline', we have decided to simply further the settlement there, and... depart Earth."

"Leave the world of our birth?"

"It was not the world of your birth. You came to Godulan Sol as a last ditch effort to avoid a nuclear holocaust."

"That's beside the point!"

"No it is not. You Godulans have proven that you are easily capable of picking up every single thing under your control and going elsewhere. I could actually term your civilization as nomadic and enforce my point. Besides, the rest of the populace is already there, all you have to do here is take down the weapons and move the troops. Doubtless we could use the resources from breaking down the settlements here to speed up development on... Bluefall and Alitar is it? And this terraforming project you intend to call Dewi?"

"That's right."

"And there's another world, a cooperative effort if anything now... a world called Jurai? I understand we have equivalent numbers of citizens there along with vast numbers of people hailing from a nation known as CoreWorlds. I also understand we have a diplomatic contact on this very ship, along with a group of asylum seekers who came to... us... due to political fiascos abroad.

"It is on that note that I would ask you to remain somewhat longer while I request the presence of Balroggan and Coredian representatives. The Coredians are, I assume, eager to resume contacts between our respective nations, regardless of who is at the helm, and I find the Balroggans MOST fascinating..."

"There is another thing, Baron Skye..." Corbox leaned forward. "I have seen no sign that you have given the minds of our people back to them."

"It is done. The fact that I have received no word of these ships firing on Triad positions fills me with unbridled joy."

"You beat us, fair and square. You turned us on us, and I suspect that'll cause some resentment, but we Godulans know when we've been wolloped. We fight until the very end, but after that, why bother?"

"An interesting philosophy, Prefect Corbox..."

Skye tabbed a small button on the side of the conference table. "Send word to the Balroggans, I wish to speak with a representative of theirs, and have this... Jacen fellow come to this chamber as well... this new government is still young, and I shall not let petty things as beating each other up hold me back from establishing relations with nations friendly to the original government."

A knock on Jacen Masaki's door revealed a soldier. "Sir, the Baron has requested your presence."

"The Baron?" Jacen frowned.

"The war is over. The Triad has triumphed and set up a new government."

"Oh, I see now. The new government want diplomatic relations." Jacen said, picking up his cloak. "Lead the way."

The soldier nodded and led not only Jacen but Sasuke (as rep of the Great Shinobi Nations) as well as to establish diplomatic relations with Baron Skye. Having learned about the Triad, Jacen wasn't sure what to think about them at the moment. His opinions would be formed after he meets the Baron, and he hopes that it'd come out well.

As the two Coredians were ushered into the conference room, Skye was chatting with Corbox, telling the slightly abused and mostly confused former archon various anecdotes, attempting to put Corbox at least moderately at ease with respect to the transfer of power.

"...So I told them both, 'It was YOUR bright idea to pick a fight with him! I told you not to go! I told you we weren't ready! I TOLD you we wouldn't win. And what did you do? You went! Stupid shits,' and you would not believe how aggravated they got. Imagine that gall! They go off on their own, get their backsides handed to them like schoolgirls, and they honestly think that *I* am going to go in and bail them out?"

"But you did anyway, didn't you?"

"I like to think I got revenge on them. I bailed them out all right. I gave Sojun a treaty that he couldn't refuse, not even because he had our heads on a platter in the first place. I told him we would agree to not establish a multi-dimensional empire, that we would never bother him or the chamber ever again, and in exchange, he left us alone. We kept our hides, he got a nice notch on that wonderful staff of his, and Sojun even added in a stipulation that all bets were off if I were to die. You should have seen the looks on their faces when they read through all the fine print. I have to hand it to him, Sojun knows his paperwork just as well as Lucifer Belaire did."

Noting the Coredians' entrance into the auditorium sized conference room, he waved his cane in their direction.

"And there is the Coreworlds representative... and what appears to be a ninja! Imagine that! Ninjas in space... what's next, vampires from another dimension? Oh, wait..."

Sasuke didn't really look like the stereotypical ninja with the black gi, but he did have a flak vest and navy blue T-shirt and combat pants with the shuriken holster on his right leg and a lightsaber on his belt. He replied to Skye's comments with one word as he stuck his hands into his pockets. "Hn."

Young Jacen however was quite surprised at how amicable the Baron is, but he supposed he shouldn't be, overhearing a small part of the conversation. The 14 year old strolled in nicely with a smile and stuck his hand out to greet the Triad member. "You must be Baron Skye. I'm Jacen Masaki, and I guess I'm the representative from Coreworlds. This is Sasuke Uchiha, representing the Shinobi Nation of Konohagekure."

A second "hn" was made in greeting. The strong, silent type Sasuke is.

Skye gave Sasuke a long inspecting look, then turned to Jacen as the boy stuck out his hand.

Skye took the boy's hand with enthusiasm, causing Jacen's hand to tingle as a result of his proximity to Skye's bristling psionic energy. "OH it is a pleasure indeed! You will have to excuse me, I am trying to decide whether your companion here is either a man of few words or trying to cough on me."

He vanished from existence, rematerializing in the chair he had chosen for himself, legs propped up on the table, cane twirling between his fingers.

"Please! Sit! No doubt there is much to discuss, considering present circumstances! Future relations, trade agreements, this interesting little joint colonization of Jurai..."

The Comm officer turned to the Admiral.

“Sir, we are receiving a message. The Triad wishes us to send a Delegate to their station for some sort of talks.”

“I expected as much.”

“Sir, we have a Dimensional Event occurring. The diplomat ship you requested is arriving.”

Reality tore and a single ship emerged. The vessel proceeded towards the moon to join the fleet.

“Heh, their timing will look impressive to Baron Skye. Forward all information to the Diplomatic Ship and tell them they are needed at the station”

“Yes Sir, information sent.”

Moments later the vessel changed its heading and approached the station.

“This is the Imperial Diplomatic Vessel, The Voice. I hear you requested a visit from us?”

Confirmed.

Diplomatic vessel 'The Voice' you are cleared to dock in Berthing Area 12. An escort will show you to the Baron.

Skye gave Sasuke a long inspecting look, then turned to Jacen as the boy stuck out his hand.

Skye took the boy's hand with enthusiasm, causing Jacen's hand to tingle as a result of his proximity to Skye's bristling psionic energy. "OH it is a pleasure indeed! You will have to excuse me, I am trying to decide whether your companion here is either a man of few words or trying to cough on me."
"Oh, he's just one of those types who don't speak unless there's something worth speaking." Jacen shrugged.

He vanished from existence, rematerializing in the chair he had chosen for himself, legs propped up on the table, cane twirling between his fingers.

"Please! Sit! No doubt there is much to discuss, considering present circumstances! Future relations, trade agreements, this interesting little joint colonization of Jurai..."
Jacen and Sasuke sat in the comfortable chairs. Jacen spoke. "Jurai is our newest colony, and from what news I got from home, appears to also become a stronghold of sorts to defend against the Empire. We've fought them for many years, and we still haven't given up, even when they're busily crushing our other planets. Anyway, I suppose we can start making relations and trade agreements. After all, there are also a lot of your people on Jurai. So let's begin..."

"Yes, lets," Skye replied.

"Doubtless you know that the fighting waged on the world below has cost... us... dearly. While our fleet size remains unhindered for the most part, I find I must inquire as to the plausibility of a free trade agreement with an emphasis on the flow of raw materials. Corbox informed me before your arrival that the Archons simply could not get enough to suit their wishes no matter how much they tried.

"Further, I have the suspicion that a mutual defense pact might be easily reached due to present difficulties with respect to the loss of one... Daniel Masaki? I understand he went out with something of a bang. In any event, I would like to establish some form of... alliance, in order to ensure that both of us are well protected in the event some enemy should emerge from the shadows of space with a big gun and a bigger ego. One thing I believe would be indispensable is this Godulan technology known as the 'Voidshield'.

"Also, there is the matter of present population on Jurai. Conservative estimates have placed some 33.7 million Godulan Citizens on Jurai, give or take 5 million. It is hard to keep track of who goes where during times of... internal strife. Doubtless these refugees have already begun building things up, as they seem to like building things, it is their 'way'. While we are not averse to assisting in the development of the planet, Corbox informs me that there are some taboos with respect to Godulans and Coredians 'intermingling', namely in the area of genetics. Evidently there was a genetic overhaul a while back in Godulan history, and the government was dead set on keeping the overhaul in place, unchecked propagation between Godulans and Coredians would put this into jeopardy."

Skye let loose a light exhalation. "I believe those to be the most important parts of our discussion. There is also another thing, a simple question, if you will...

"I am given to understand that before our... insurrection, relations between the nation of Coreworlds and Godular were somewhat frosty. However, you were almost eager to take in Godulan refugees fleeing the fighting. You allowed them onto Jurai, a place that I suspect will become a primary bastion against the... what did you term them again, Prefect Corbox?"

"Imperial Dogs."

"Ah yes... against the 'Imperial Dogs'. I have a simple question with respect to this sudden turnabout: What caused it? What brought on this rather unexpected charitable act?"

"We've always been a helper of refugees, no matter who we as a government dislikes. It's inherent in our nature as a large number of our population believes in part at least in the charitable portion of the Jedi Code." Jacen explained. "We harbor no grudges either."

"I do not hold grudges either, but I know for a fact that the old regime did," Skye replied, giving Corbox a bemused look. "I know for a fact that the Archons were the kind to let old wrongs stew and fester. And that there were open hostilities between our respective nations at one point... the fight for Klington I believe, largely seen as a screw up of massive proportions, and a generator of much of the populace's animosity towards... Corneliu is it?"

Corbox nodded a confirmation.

"Yes, I understand that the enthusiasm Corneliu exhibited in switching its position from 'virulently anti-imperial' to 'just another lapdog of the empire' both stunned and angered the Godulans, to the point that our invasion just so happened to interrupt the planning stages of several wide-ranging assassination plots."

Corbox piped in: "Do you know how easy it would be to smuggle in a PPD bomb? Any Godulan ship can be converted by just connecting a small device to the vessel's power core! We could have wiped out their entire capitol city in one shot and laid the blame on extremists. They might not have bought it, and there would have been fighting, but we have our friends, and our resources."

Skye held his hand up and Corbox fell silent.

"Needless to say, you took a very large risk in opening yourself up like that, though it paid off in the end as we both know. The Godulan instinct towards repaying debts of gratitude evidently overwhelmed their penchant for seeking revenge."

An intercom by Skye's spot on the big conference table beeped for his attention. "Baron Skye, Xenith Steele and Maximillian Foster are on their way to the conference room."

Skye said a quick "Oh BUGGER!" under his breath and tabbed the intercom. "Acknowledged."

"There is also a child named 'Kelvin' who tells me to tell you to 'stay still'..."

As if in response to Skye's raised eyebrow, the nine year old Pseudo-Jedi popped a few feet above the table and landed gracefully before the Baron. The boy simply gave Skye a very intense glare, then moved to a spot beside the Coredians.

"You must be Kelvin," Skye said, bringing the point of his cane to point in the boy's general direction. "You are quite the celebrity, even though information regarding your origins remains undocumented. You are not a typical force-wielder... there is something odd about your signature..."

"Glad you invited me to the party, Skye! Even though you didn't!" a tall and lanky man in a black trench coat growled as he barged into the room. The chamber seemed to vibrate with each word he spoke.

"Mindraping negotiating parties is not conducive to diplomatic relations, Xenith," Skye replied with an exasperated sigh. "To say nothing of your general attitude."

"What do you mean? They ARE slaves and rabble!"

"And you win friends and influence among national leaders every time you spit it in their face," came Skye's sarcastic response, "If you insist on being involved in these proceedings, you will be nice and quiet." Skye tossed a black band of some kind of moldable fabric to Xenith. "And you WILL put this blindfold on."

"Aww." Xenith didn't like it, but he did it.

Skye turned an embarassed grin back upon the other parties. "Big Maxie will very likely be hunting down a spacefold portal to enter the room. You will notice that the chamber doors are not exactly capable of allowing passage to a being of his... magnitude."

'So that's Triad member #2 and Triad member #3 is approaching.' Sasuke thought. 'Xenith would fit in well with the Sound nins with that voice.'

"Revenge is a dish best not served at all." Jacen said, mostly to spear his words at Corbox. "Anyway, I'm pleased to meet you, Xenith (not). And hey Kelvin. I wasn't expecting you."

Kelvin nodded at the others' acknowledgement of his presence. "I had to see it for myself. Even with the news spreading like wildfire, I could not quite believe it. It really IS the Triad."

The final member of the Triad stalked in through the front door, growling ferociously. The man stood some seven feet tall, with a moderate build but muscles one could crush walnuts with. He wore baggy trousers of what seemed to be a fabric made out of pure onyx, white bandages at his knees, and knee-high armor plated boots. Strange veins of dark silvery metal snaked their way around his body, and his eyes radiated a thick black mist."I do NOT like having to revert to my old form. These Godulans need a spacefold platform in here for me to port in!" As he spoke, he revealed teeth that would have sent a great white shark fleeing in abject terror.

Skye was quick to retort with "Oh well, I find myself pleased that you were at least wearing something under all that spiked armor."

"Only when I'm working," Maxie replied, then he began sniffing about the room, eventually coming close to the Coredians, snuffling about their chairs as though he were looking for truffles.

"I SMELL FORCE! IT OOZES OFF OF THIS ONE LIKE FROSTING!"

"Maximillian Foster you will sit down at the opposite end of the table this instant or I will kick you out an airlock and let you float back to Earth."

Maxie continued to snuffle around the Coredians' chairs. "You make that sound like I wouldn't enjoy it."

"I'll take this ship to Saturn's orbit first. How would you like to spend six months out that way?"

Maxie gave Skye a momentary glare, judging whether or not Skye was being sincere in his threat, and backing down only when he remembered that Skye had done it before and for less.

"Sit down and shut up, and you can eat a ham sandwich after."

"Manwich."

"No."

"Aww!"

Maxie sat down a few chairs distant from Skye, sulking.

"You will have to excuse Regent Foster. The only person I have ever heard to have the dubious distinction of being called a 'Living Catastrophe'." Without missing a beat, he continued: "Shall we glide surreptitiously into the possibilities of free trade agreements?"

The boys just gave Maxie dirty looks, like he's insane or something. Which he probably is.

"What is he, a cannibal?" Jacen asked Sasuke incredulously in private conversation.

"I don't want to find out." Sasuke whispered back.

"Me neither." Back to the Triad. "Pleased to, uh, meet you Regent Foster...I guess."

Without missing a beat, he continued: "Shall we glide surreptitiously into the possibilities of free trade agreements?"

Jacen nodded eagerly, momentarily letting his 14 year old self show through the Jedi exterior. "Yes, let's get on with that."

"Oh, I suppose you could call Maxie a cannibal... but I suspect that if he were not the phage of life, he would put the 'omni' in omnivore."

As if to demonstrate, Maxie gave the conference table an inquisitive look, then bit down on the edge of the table with a bone grinding crunch, then reared back to rend and tear at the chunk of steel reinforced wood and plastic before swallowing it all with a horrific gulp, then he pulled back his lips to reveal his horrid canines.

"Crowbars, high iron, yum..."

"I suppose you could say he's something of a Force hound. He feeds on life energy, so individuals that happen to have a direct connection with the force resonate to Foster like chum in the water. It also makes him quite powerful in the force himself, as he is able to store the energy in a nigh-infinite pool of power. And do not let him hit you, ever.

"Mooooooving along, the Godulans are always focused on the acquisition of Raw Materials such as iron, plastics, and superconductor materials, and I intend to follow along this vein. We also wish to acquire, at least for the present, farm goods and other forms of agricultural necessities. As we are only just setting up on other planets, our farming industry will take a serious hit, and we need to remedy the situation before it gets too much out of hand.

"Of course, in return, we are prepared to offer Godulan Metallurgy and Robotics, both of which have wide ranging applications in commercial and military theatres."

Ugh...those teeth...the table... Jacen shook his head and focused on the conversation.

"Mooooooving along, the Godulans are always focused on the acquisition of Raw Materials such as iron, plastics, and superconductor materials, and I intend to follow along this vein. We also wish to acquire, at least for the present, farm goods and other forms of agricultural necessities. As we are only just setting up on other planets, our farming industry will take a serious hit, and we need to remedy the situation before it gets too much out of hand.
"Hmm. iron, plastics and superconductors we can do, although those industries have also taken big hits from the war. We can do small amounts until we can rebuild those industries." Jacen said. "Agriculture we can do well, as we've still got a farm planet the Empire doesn't know about near Sol. Mostly however, we won't be able to do much in the way of actually trading the other material with you, at least until we get Jurai set up in a year or so."

"Doubtless the Godulans will be able to assist with that. Ant Worker Swarms and a nation almost entirely trained as engineers in addition to their chosen vocations will make certain that any developmental projects are completed in a mere fraction of the required time..."

>CHOMP... grind grind grind... WRENCH... crunch crunch crunch crunch crunch crunch crunch crunch *gulp*<

"I will hit you, Maxie. I will hit you very hard if you do not stop staring at mister Masaki while taking bites from the table."

"Can I help it that he's right in front of me?"

"Yes. You can also stop eating the table."

"Rrrrrrrr..."

"Although, resource transferral might be somewhat difficult as I intend to revamp the StarNavy to operate more in fitting with the tactical preferences of its new leadership." He turned to Corbox to continue. "You might wish to inform General Lear that I will be... teaching her some things very soon. Psionic tactical controls can accomodate a great many things."

>CHOMP... grind grind grind... mmmf? MMF! KYE HUE BA-HARD!! HY HUE HAF HA HUAY HILL HY HAF MA MOUF LY HIS?!<

Skye grinned, clearly satisfied, as a suddenly immobilized Maximillian attempted to wrench his jaw from the table.

Why do I get the sudden feeling of being fried chicken? Jacen asked himself as Maxie continued to eat. If this keeps up, I'm going to freeze him solid!

Wow, only months and everything could be set up? Cool! Jacen thought next. "It would be a great thing if your workers would help us set up the villages and towns starting up in Jurai. In other mentions, I suppose we both as nations can wait a couple months to a year at the most before full trade can occur. After all, it appears that we both are going to be busy setting up shop, so to speak."

The Voice docked at the designated port. A diplomat dressed in white clothes trimmed with gold walked down the causeway entering the ship. He was met by an escort which led him to the meeting chamber.


OOC:

I'll make introductions when I enter.

"You are correct in that assessment," Skye replied, "And the Godulans are likely doing the very thing you just requested even now. I think you'll find they make exceptional contractors. Further, while we are settling the equivalent of two worlds, three if I include Jurai, and four if I include the soon-to-be-terraformed Dewi, I understand that we have considerably more manpower and standing resources due to the fact that we still have access to our homeworld. So it is fortunate indeed that we are, as they say, in this together.

"We are also going to be refitting our spaceborne shipyards for underwater construction. I was surprised to find out that the Godulans had found such a cheap and efficient way to manufacture vessels of the magnitudes I... well, We are concerned with. And the planet of Bluefall seems to be quite the little gem for that type of shipbuilding. Dewi might make for a similar capacity once terraforming is completed.

"Now, Mutual Defense. You need us, we need you, simple on paper, not in practice. I can tell you right now that there is great potential for our forces should we happen to... pool our resources. We have many technologies you would find useful in application, including several in developmental stages. Shieldskaters, for instance..."

Corbox gave Skye a shocked look. "Those are classifie--"

"There is nothing classified about them! No superweapons, no super powerful technologies. Simply a very innovative application of existing technologies. I am surprised nobody else thought of them before. You Godulans are very good at adapting good technologies and tactics for many different theatres. The Starbolts are quite versatile, to a scale I have never seen before."

"Then why do you keep harping about revamping the StarNavy?!"

"The Starbolts have nought to do with the StarNavy. The StarNavy is the Godulan CAPITAL SHIPS. For some strange reason, mainly based on YOUR command strategies and not those of General Lear, you avoided the versatility and maneuverability approach in favor of a bigger-is-better tack. The entire Godulan StarNavy is a huge throng of giant targets. After the StarNavy is revamped, I guarantee you that we will be dreaded across the galaxy for the sheer lethality of our fleets."

Turning back to Masaki, Skye continued. "Our Shieldskaters, still in testing at the time of the Triad invasion, can either replace or complement these vaunted 'Golan' platforms, and in extreme cases can make a world seem like a Death Star in its own right simply by virtue of sheer firepower. Imagine a swarm of corvette sized vessels that can skirt the surface of a planetary shield like a water strider, both reinforcing the shield and using it for protection, while it turns its capital class cannons on attacking fleets, which are also being subjected to the full fury of Godulan Red Rain torpedoes, Ship-to-Ship dogfights..."

The intercom beeped to inform Skye of the Balroggan representative's arrival, and he keyed in his acknowledgement.

"And soon I shall be negotiating such things with the very people who stood against us in the war... I really do look forward to learning more about this race that utilized so many strange and rare weapons against us..."

Shieldskaters...those ought to be interesting. The Empire won't be the only ones to have defenses sitting just under the planetary shields! Jacen hid a smile. "You've got some pretty useful technologies there, Baron. It would be truely beneficial to Jurai's defenses if we had these shieldskaters."

Then he heard about another group coming in. He vaguely remembered their nation's name: Balrogga. He hasn't heard much about them, but he would learn now...

"Seeing as how Jurai is becoming as much a home for Godulans as it is for Coredians, that should not be a problem. And of course there is always Godulan Voidshields. I understand Corneliu learned about its effects on superlasers and energy based superweapons the hard way."

"We've heard about that." Jacen nodded. For him, not personally, but he did remember talking about it with Daniel.

Corbox snorted. "They knew we had it, and still they tried it. We told them what it could do, and they never believed us. Well they do now, damned turncoats--"

A vicious glare from Skye held Corbox from going further.

"I understand it was quite spectacular. I believe there are sensor recordings of the detonation in Horizon's End.

"Moving on with the subject. I suspect you will find the Godulan Military-Industrial complex something to well and truly behold... once we get it set back up, at least. Pray tell, does Jurai have any particularly large oceans? I have not had the pleasure of looking over the planetology file."

The diplomat stood outside the door for a moment to compose himself. He took a deep breath, checked his Psi Shields, and then entered the conference room.

The door opened and he stepped into the room. He was wearing the White and Gold diplomatic garb of the Empire.

“Introducing the representative from The Balrogga Empire”

The envoy waited for a moment before introducing himself.

“Greetings, I am Antonio Stark, acting Diplomatic Envoy. I heard you requested our presence?”

Stark could feel the psionic energy course through the room but they were at manageable levels, after all he handled whole classes of students trying to learn control back at the University. He also had a Talent that allowed him to slip past shields, useful when teaching others to properly enact them.

“What can I do for you?”



OOC:

Professor Antonio Stark is from The Imperial College on Earth.

He is also a True Ta’Nar and very powerful.

Skye considered the being who had just introduced himself. A very powerful psion indeed. The being actually approached his own level of power, but showed no sign of recognizing the strength of the MindSyphon vampire's psychic energy. That was good. Psions were often left in a state of dread whenever they reached close proximity to Skye, and he had intentionally suppressed his own psychic signature in order to make sure that the Jedi did not become agitated. He had known them to be sensitive to his psionic strength, and while rare, the incidents never ended well.

As Skye listened to the introduction, he indicated a chair at the conference table with a smile.

"Yes, there is something you can do for me. I wish to understand you. Please, sit... I must admit that when I first stumbled across your mentally oriented capabilities, I was somewhat surprised. It has... been a while since I found myself in combat with such entities.

"Don't take that as a threat by any stretch of the imagination, though. I merely wish to say that the technologies you used both startled and intrigued me, and I wish to learn about your nation, and possibly attempt some means of establishing less... strained relations."

Stark took the indicated seat and appeared to relax.

“Don’t worry, I did not receive it as one. We hope you are sincere in your hopes because this meeting is the foundation for any relations between our two nations.”

“I am not going to wank about with small talk. The best method is to cut to the chase and get on with the proceedings. The small talk is best for the ambassadors to engage in. It gives them something to do between being needed.”

“What are you proposing?”


Professor Stark carefully listened passively to the surface thoughts being broadcast by each person in the room. He carefully monitored the power levels of each individual. Stark was careful to keep his true power levels hidden, it is best to not show your hand in any game, not just poker. He will let the Coreworld delegate chose their own terms; he was here for The Empire first and foremost.

"An alliance, of course. Free trade, particularly with respect to raw materials, same as I was telling mister Masaki here. Mutual defense, possible joint technology development, so on so forth. I must admit that when you come to the galaxy that the Coredians and I shall call home, you will be quite the odd number.

"Speaking of numbers, how goes that project?"

Antonio was puzzled by Skye’s comments.

“I really don’t know what you are referring to. Numbers?”

Professor Stark carefully read Skye to see if he was pulling some kind of joke but there was nothing unusual.

“I see no reason why we should not pursue the other options. The trade seems logical. We have the capability to produce great resources from a system we are mining. The joint ventures would have to be approved by the Emperor himself. He is quite protective of the advances we have achieved so I cannot speak for him on these matters.”

He picked up the glass in front of him and took a drink.

“This is quite tasty. You don’t mind if I ask what it is?”

He set it back on the table again.

“We fought against each other down there. We aided your enemies. Why do you want to throw your lot in with us?

“I really don’t know what you are referring to. Numbers?”

"Oh. Rats. I was hoping you would be able to answer my question about maintaining a system that complex."

“I see no reason why we should not pursue the other options. The trade seems logical. We have the capability to produce great resources from a system we are mining. The joint ventures would have to be approved by the Emperor himself. He is quite protective of the advances we have achieved so I cannot speak for him on these matters.”

"Understandable. There are aspects of Godulan technology that I am loathe to 'distribute' myself. Such things can wait until closer ties are established."

“This is quite tasty. You don’t mind if I ask what it is?”

"I have no clue whatsoever. Corbox?"

"Crimson Dawn from the looks of it, Baron. Top wine out of Godulan Rome, given extra flavor with cherries and a bit of peppermint. Its hard to get it right, but we did it eventually."

Xenith listened to the description, then fumbled about until he found his own glass. He gave the glass a peremptory sniff, then took a sip. His eyebrows arched under his blindfold in surprise.

"Wow. Interesting combination... I think there's a little bit of honey in there too."

"Adds to the consistency and keeps it on your tongue longer."

"Has a bit of a kick too..."

“We fought against each other down there. We aided your enemies. Why do you want to throw your lot in with us?"

Skye nodded, understanding the sentiment. "Well, mister Stark, I suppose my only answer to that question would be that I do not intend to hold grudges. I see the Triad's ascension to power as a chance to make new beginnings, not pick new fights. 'Learn from the past, live in the present, and let the future come.' When one has lived as long as my companions and I have, that phrase takes on new meaning."

“Yes, I certainly understand a long lifetime. The sad thing about living long and prosperous is you see so many acquaintances pass away, so it is a mixed blessing of sorts.”

Antonio took another drink from the glass. He set it back upon the table.

“What resources are you lacking? We might be able to assist you in them for now. It would help in your rebuilding. We also have a factory, docks, and resource gathering set up in lunar orbit.”

“Do these interest you?”

"Indeed, it is less noticeable in the Chamber, but the sense of loss still accumulates. It is how one deals with such loss that shows how strong one really is."

He took a sip of the strange wine, and arched his eyebrows in surprise as well.

"For the most part, we are always on the lookout for iron, plastics, and superconductor materials. We produce massive amounts of these materials by ourselves, due to our settlement of several overlooked systems that have proven to be quite mineral rich. However, due to our almost constant operations, our consumption almost always far outstrips our output. We are hoping to allay this problem by transferring a great number of resources from Godulan Earth to the colony systems, but there is going to be a great deal of building done even then.

"The facilities you mentioned would be appreciated, but I am afraid that we will not be rebuilding Godulan Sol. It is part of a... past agreement I signed with a higher power. I cannot span the empire beyond the confines of a single dimension, and since the colony worlds are already built up at a decent level with Godulan Sol nigh completely abandoned, moving operations to Alitar or Bluefall shouldn't be too much of an issue. Perhaps you would allow us to... transport them?

Bumpies

The professor refilled his glass and took another drink.

“We have what we consider efficient mining facilities. We take an asteroid, strap engines on it, and hollow it out. Then move it to where we need mining to be done. The ship opens up and swarms of bots strip everything in the area to nothing, returning with the collected resources. The refinery in the Mothership processes the resources and then sends it on its way. The factories aboard the station would use the raw materials to create the parts for the ships and whatever else is needed. At the request of other nations, we have stripped entire planets to the core. We of course left the resources for them to use however they saw fit.”

“After we remove the technologies that are not to be shared, we can move the facilities to where you could use it the most. The classified engines would then be removed and the station turned over to you.”

“All in the interest of good relations. “

Antonio lifted his glass in a salute to Sky before taking another drink

Corbox quirked an eyebrow. "Much like we mine. Except we just put huge canisters of Ant Drones on the surface of the asteroid. Ants disperse, mine the asteroid to powder and place all usable resources in the canisters. If we want them to mine in such a way that we can use the asteroid later, we can program schematics we wish them to hollow out ahead of time and when they are done we only need to put on airlocks to have ourselves a nice little starbase."

Skye coughed for attention. "Dueling mining stratagems aside, the arrangement will be quite acceptable, as the removal of your engines will allow the insertion of ours, and thereby fits quite nicely with what we intended to do in the first place once the facilities were turned over to us.

"There was another thing I was wanting to ask about as an aside with respect to that odd reference I mentioned earlier. If you should happen to speak with any of the military commanders that know anything about a project involving 'Neutron Stars', would you be so kind as to relay a message? I wish to know if they would be amenable to having viable coordinates for an 'insertion point'. They will know what I speak of."

"Hmm... I will try to remember. I still don't know what you are talking about."

Antonio sets down his glass again.

"Where would you like to go next with these discussions.?"

"I believe we have covered all of the proverbial bases that I can think of, short of getting everything down in writing, at least. Of course, being the stickler for efficiency that I am, I suspect it would be prudent to conduct possible diplomatic efforts with the Coredian representatives while they remain here. In your case as well as mine.

"After all, if I intend to establish close relations with both of you, it would be a nice bonus if you two at least got along."

*bump*