NationStates Jolt Archive

CINN: ORTEGA: The Republic of New Crystal Isle's naval force has stepped up efforts to locate the remains of the Rikiya, a cargo ship which was sunk in 1697 carrying former King Ivano's fortune in treasure thought to be worth allegedly over US $ Four billion. The Chancellor comments.

"The Republic of New Crystal Isles must recover this fortune." Commented the Chancellor. "The fortune is too valueble to fall into the hands of the private sector, some foreign treasure hunter, or worse yet a foreign government."

Numerous dive vessels have been dispatched to the the coast of Ortega, where the wreck is thought to be located. The wreck has never been found, and will be a difficult search due to the abundance of sunken wrecks from the same period. During The Storming of Ortega in 1697, over fifty vessels were destroyed in the ocean overlooked by Ortega.

Some of the treasure that was carried by the Rikiya includes, one of Ivano's custom built broad swords, valued at US $Two million, A five and a half foot tall solid gold, gem encrusted statue of Penelope, Ivano's young daughter, valued at US $Fifty million, and various other rare and valuble items

Other wrecks in the area are thought to be carrying cargo worth from US$ five hundred thousand to several millions

The Saphirian Navy has dispatched ten Sadako stealth boats to the Otego coast and numerous frogmen, so third party treasure hunters are advised to dive at their own risk.


OOC:MT/Post MT. Open RP. Fortune up for grabs. Nuff said

On board the Titanic II, David Krenler was watching the Tv in the galley when the article on the Rikiya came on, turning the VCR to record he watched the article.
David Krenler happened to be a skilled treasure seeker, though he had the unfortunate tendency to give most of the cultural artefacts back to the country they belonged to rather than putting them on the black market.

"Hey Hans, set course for Ortega, we're off to seek the wreak of the Rikiya."
"Yah mine kaptain. Settink sail for Ortega."

The Titanic II powered it's engines and heaed toward Ortega.

Admiral Talus was lounging around in his personal Quarters abord the CISS Cygnus, the Flagship the the Crystal Isles Navy. He's been sitting aboard this ship since it was ordered to the coast of Ortega to oversee the treasure hunt.

One of his sailors rushed into his quarters.

"Admiral" said the sailor. "The divers from the Cygnus first expidition are back."

Talus left his quarters for the deck. When he got there, the divers were climbing back aboard the ship.

"Well" said the Admiral. "Did you find anything"

The lead diver step forth. "Negative." said the diver. "There's just a lot of rocks down there. Oh, and the remains of a small rowboat."

The Admiral was furious. "DAMMIT!" Growled the Admiral. "At this rate the expedition is going to cost us the same amount as the Rikiya's fortune." The admiral turned to the sailor who was accompaning him. "You go tell the other dive crew to suit up, and report back here. I have a job for you." The sailor rushed back inside the ship. Approximately an hour later, the other dive crew piled into a small boat and headed out to another location close to where the previous one took place. The sailor returned. "Reporting for duty" said the sailor.
"Your mission" said the Admiral "Is to go down there too."
"But sir, I'm not a diver." Replied the sailor. "I don't think I can swim"
The Admiral cracked a smile. "Thats why you're going in there" Said the Admiral, pointing at an AquaPod Deep Sea spy capsule. "You're going to explore the trench. due west of here. The sailor gulped. The Admiral took out his radio and ordered the helmsman to set a course westward. The Admiral's radio recieved another message from the commander of one of the Sadakos. "Sir" said the officer. "We've got reports of a foreign vessel in the area."
"Well, prepare to fire on it" Replied the admiral, who was heading up to the bridge of his ship to order his crew to be ready to report to battle stations....

The Titanic II pulled to a stop just outside Ortega territorial waters. From there, the crew lowered a motorboat, which David and another crewmember go in.

As they travelled inward, to the first of the grid sections, David began suiting up, strapping on fins, mask, air-tanks and wetsuit. Once they'd arrived, he grabbed a few other peices of additional gear and dived down.

Taken from the Evad Gazzette

The oceanography University of Evad today announced that their new towed underwater research system would be undergoing field trials. The Wade measures seven metres from bow to stern, and is towed behind one of the Universities' Knorr-class oceanographic research vessels on a five kilometre cable.
The Wade represents a quantum leap over the old Vanir, most notably the fact that she is capable of carrying out stationkeeping manouvers by use of a buoyancy system and a set of small propellers. This will allow scientists to carry out closer inspection of interesting phenomena on the seabed using a suite of sophisticated imaging equipment, as well as retrieve samples for analysis on the surface. The Wade also carries a high quality side scanning sonar to allow for topographical surveys of the seabed to be made.
University spokesmen today declined to comment on where the field trials would be undertook, but sources at the Evad harbour claimed that the amount of provisions being taken onboard would allow the Knorr an extremely large range. Other sources suggest that the accompanying the scientists would be a small group of historians from the university, leading to speculation that they may be joining the search for the legendary wreck of the Rikiya, said to contain untold riches.

The Cygnus had finished it's journey westward, and had dropped anchor. Admiral Talus made his way to the bridge. Talus picked up the intercom which was located on the back wall of the bridge. "Sailor Quin Actson Report to the deck immediately." The Admiral proceeded to make his way to the deck as well. A few minutes later, Axcok reported to the deck.

"Actson" Shouted Admiral Talus. "You're about to embark on the first deep sea expedition in the history of the New Crystal Isles Navy and are going to be the first to test the new Aquapod deep sea spy capsule." Actson stood silent.
"Now move out" Ordered Talus. Actson walked to the small bubble-like mini submarine and climbed in through the hatch on the top of the thick glass dome covering the sub. The interior of the small submarine was quite small and consisted of a seat in the middle, with a few monitors on the floor and some overhead screens attached to the top of the dome. Actson took some time to get accousted with the controls. He was rather unsure, since no one, let alone himself has operated this praticular submersible before. They seemed pretty basic though. Actson felt the sub slowly lower down to the ocean and saw the water swirl up around the glass dome immediately after the sub touched the water. Actson breathed slowly as the tiny submarine sank into the darkess below...

Meanwhile back on the Cygnus, Talus was summoned back to the bridge.
One of the officers on the bridge informed Talus that he had a message from the officer who radioed him earlier. Talus picked up the comm and radioed the officer.

"Cygnus to Sadako one. Come in Sadako one."
"Sadako one reporting" replied the officer. "Foreign diving operations confirmed. Divers are operating outside territorial waters. We probably can't touch them."
"just report to the site and keep an eye on them" Replied Talus. "And await further orders. Just make sure they aren't poking around anything that's too important"

David enjoyed swimming, and scuba. As he got near the sea bottom, he pulled out a small impeller propulsion device from the pack he'd brought with him. Using that, he began sweeping the grid section, being carefull to brush away dirt if he could have found anything.

A large manta ray took off and began swimming away as he passed over head.

ooc: Do you want us to decide if we find the Wreck, or any treasure or do you want to decide?

OOC: You deciede what happens...

"Have you received the reports yet?" asked Captain Daineshe.

"Yes sir. Reports confirm that there is indeed a sunken treasure ship, and our initial guess on where it might be were correct. It says here.....it says here the location is presumed to be somewhere off of the coast of Ortega," replied Andunne Frisk.

"Alright. Those treasures would make excellent addition to the Gallery of Treasures in Kafra. It is, sadly, very lacking. Call the team, we're headed to the New Crystal Isles to try our luck at this endevour."

"Right away, sir."

Captain Daineshe looked over the waters. Currently, they were just outside the southern Nedalian port of Dalutha, on the border of Bettia. Daineshe was famous for his treasure hunts, but his actual job title of Captain of the Nedalian patrol boat "The Drow", officially part of the Nedalian Navy. This project would be under loosely under the guise of the Nedalian Navy, but Daineshe was never one for orders and following them. This would be quite the exciting adventure for him.

Skyetech Industries Headquarters, Esmund, Siap

Jack Nilsson sat in his comfortable executive chair. The Siap Tribune had announced that the newest bid for for a new line of fighter jets, one that his company had poured millions into developing, was just canceled in favor of a tax reduction. And the agreement for the limited funding he had received for developing the fighters was that the hydrogen slush propulsion technology would never leave Siap. He had saved three for the occasional joyride, but other than that, they became scrap. And with this on the headlines on the Trib, stock prices would drop. fast. Like a stone through thin air.
The phone rang. He answered it. "Nilsson speaking."

"Jackie baby, how's it goin?"

"Oh, go screw yourself."

"Who are you and what have you done with my Jackie baby? Seriously, look at the time! Its beer O' clock and I'm buying."

"Not today Roscoe."

"Seriously. You'd be better off, because I'm in a rare generous mood. Besides, I got a way we can save ourselves."

"I'm game. See you at Riley's."

Jack was a flash out of the office; moving so fast people barely saw him, much less could talk to him about the downswing Skyetech was in.

Riley's was abuzz with activity. The two men sat with beers and onion rings in front of them. "You heard whats goin' on in the New Crystal Isle's?"

"No. Tell..."

"You read the trib?"

"No."

"Well it wasn't there. It was in an email someone sent me earlier today. There's a shitload of antiques at the bottom of the ocean, and they're fetching quite a price."

"So...how do we get 'em?" Jack asked

"The Sniffer, you moron."

"Damn. Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because your an exec. Unlike me, your not paid on your ability to think, work or produce value."

"You ungrateful son of a...I built this company from a four man consulting firm!"

"Relax. I was just kidding. Anyway, we gotta go man!"

"Wha-?"

"I'll drive. We gotta be at Esmund International Airport in two hours." He threw down some coins onto the table and pulled him out the door.

"Wha-?" Jack yelped.

"I shoulda told you. I got that email a long time ago and everyone in engineering has been working on this day and night since."

"Roz, what did I say about you telling me these things first?"

"'Tis better to seek forgiveness than to ask permission, young padawan."


35000 feet over International waters, several hours later

Jack's head was still spinning. He sat strapped into his seat in the Skyetech's very own Sky Ox (http://www.aviationtrivia.homestead.com/files/SpruceGooseL.jpg) . In front of them was a massive tube with a large propeller and fins on the end. "Go over it again Roz..."

"Simple Jack. We drop the sniffer and this large carrying case about 200 miles into international waters, so they hopefully won't know were here. This carrying case brings it into the scene, busts up and the sniffer goes down to the ocean floor, sniffs around, drops a packet to the surface, that packet broadcasts to us, we tell it what to do, packet relays, and thermites itself. When we run out of packets, or sniffer can't find any underwater vents to charge its battery on, then we tell it to come out into international waters, go to the surface, we pick it up and go from there."

"What about the coding? What if someone picks it up?

"Remember Esmund U?"

"Yeah."

"Remember professor McGookin? The one who always rambeld about different sets of imaginary numbers and applications of zero as a tool for changing the axiom of, crap I get a headache thinking about it."

"Yeah. He was pretty out there."

"Now remember that baracuda in programming who wore that green dress that always drove you wild?"

"I never said that...that's...the heck are you talking about?"

"Chill. We talked about you all the time." Jack turned red.

"Anyway, she took McGookin's ideas and went, like, a hundred million times farther with it. And she crammed it into the same coding we gave to the government."

"The military uses it? Still?"

"Dude. The IRS still uses it. Of the known 2,000 attempts to crack their computers, zero have even decoded a single letter. If the IRS trusts this code to protect the money they rob me of every year, then its gotta be good. By the way. We gotta drop this thing." He motioned back at the tube.

"Does it have any markings on it? Any Skyetech? Numbers?" Jack asked

"Non."

"Rock and Roll then."


The monstrous plane made a large circle as the cargo door opened and the large silver tube fell unceremoniously out of the back of the plane. The fins guided the tube so it was falling at a 140° angle instead of a 180°. As soon as it hit the water, the fins popped off and the propellor came alive. The tube plowed methodically forward as gravity pulled it downward. The distance between the trench and the Sniffer slowly closed, until the tube burst, and a diamond shaped object the size of a humvee came toward the floor of the trench. The carbon nanofoam composite revealed no evidence of actuall stress, but gave the object an appearance of having scrunched its forehead together in order to concentrate. The several dozen tiny legs came out of the base and it crawled like a beetle in a neat circle. Its optical systems remained off, but it opened a vent to allow water to circulate. In addition to hot water, which would allow it to charge its batteries using a complicated thermocouple system, it 'sniffed' for chemicals and microorganisms that would be found in a wreck. It boldly charged forward into a rock. It stopped, backed up and altered its course until it was no longer obstructed.

In the depths of the ocean, Actson piloted his small submarine down into the trench at the bottom. He had gotten the hang of the controls rather quickly. He looked around, and saw nothing but darkness and aside from a few glowing sea creatures, and the lights of his monitors, Actson was in total darkness. Even the powerful exterior lights didn't illuminate much. Still, he explored deeper and deeper. After two hours of submerging, Actson could see the floor of the trench. It was almost solid rock, and there was no life to be seen here. Actson engaged the thrusters of his sub to inch along the bottom. There was a lot of nothingness down here, until a tiny blip appeared on his radar, which was displayed on an overhead monitor. Actson looked down and saw a metal object laying on the bottom. It was a large cannon. Excited, he continued along the rocky bottom. Then in front of him there was a massive pile of well-preserved timbers, vaguely resembling an old ship. The ship's hulk was blown open, and the decks were collapsed on top of eachother. only the sterncastle stood intact. Actson piloted his sub close to the wreck and directed his lights inside. His view of the interior was obscured by fallen timbers, but he could make out some metal objects. Actson made a pass by the better preserved sterncastle. Inside the broken windows, he could see the ruins of some once classy furniture and a couple of personal items, such as an old officer's sword, a silver drinking cup, and a few locked chests. Those are what got his attention. Perhaps there was more at the top of the sterncastle. Once he reached the poop deck, he found a bell laying on the deck. Actson thought it would have the name of the ship on it, so he landed his sub gently on the deck, hoping it wouldn't collapse, and sure enough he could read the inscription on the bell

"W Y V E R N"

The old flagship of Ivano's fleet

"DAMN" Growled Actson. "This isn't it!" Actson begun his two-hour ascent to the surface

Two hours later, after being hoisted back aboard the Cygnus, Actson reported his find to Talus.

"Sir" said Actson "I didn't find the wreck, but I found the next best thing."
"What in the hell are you talking about" retorted an angry Talus "There is no next best thing"

"It's the old flagship." Replied Actson "The Wyvern"
"Dammit Actson" Bellowed Talus. "I don't care about the Wyvern. There isn't four billion dollars worth of treasure on there."

An onboard historian intervined
"Sir, the Wyvern holds immense historic value, and may contain approximately one million dollars worth of artifacts."

"You Idiot! what in the hell good is one million!?" Bellowed Talus "One Million can barely put a grunt through boot camp these days! And historical value isn't going to pay for a damn thing!"

Actson stomped back and forth across the bridge. "We haven't found anything, there are foreign vessels approaching, and I need some wine!" Yelled Talus as he stormed to his quarters. "And someone tell me the status on the second crew"

An officer replied. "Sir, they reported finding nothing earlier"

Talus was too angry for words and was ready to stomp off to his barracks when he stopped.

"Someone put Sadako one on the line." demanded Talus. "I want to know what those foreigners are up to."

The officer picked up the radio and contacted Sadako One. The officer passed Talus the radio. "Sadako one, Give me a status report on the foreign vessel."

"It belongs to a famous treasure hunter." Replied the officer. "And They have just sent a crew down"

"Well" replied Talus "You have a squad of frogmen on that boat. Arm them and send them down."

"But they're in international waters" replied the officer on Sadako One. Talus turned beat red

"Well then dont fire on them unless they find anything Important, you blathering fool!" Talus slammed the radio down...

"Sadako Five to all Units! Sadako Five to all Units Come in!"

"Chancellor to Sadako Five Go ahead"

The captain of the small stealth vessel fell out of his chair when he heard Vostok's familliar voice The last thing he expected was the Chancellor to respond.

"Chancellor, We have spotted a large unidentified aircraft flying above the ocean. And it dropped some kind of object into the ocean. We believe it's some kind of probe."

Vostok responded

"Destroy it"

Sadako Five set a course to where he saw the probe fall, he sped to the site and ordered his crew to drop depth charges into the ocean. They immediately proceeded to do so...

The Sniffer crawled across the base of the trench until it came across something of interest. One of its feet struck a much different surface than any of the rocks it came across. The sniffer quickly drew in water and positively identified the substance as a cellulose compound known as wood.
The optical sensors came live and the Sniffer maneuvered its way inside the large cannon blasts in the deck. It took snapshots all around it. The metal glistened and quickly drew its attention. It flashed a quick bright light on it and the incoming light was fed into a spectrometer.

Iron.

The shape was a cannon (The many hours of practice in Esmund Bay allowed it to recognize objects by shape.) It peered inside a porthole and did another series of photographs and then a spectrometer test. Several silver objects were there. Definitely of value. Also there were chests. Generally held objects of value. A tiny manipulator arm went inside and snagged the silver objects. It tried to pull the chests in, but succeeded in placing them by the window. The Sniffer placed a small charge of C4 on the wall and detonated it after scurrying away. It quickly snagged a treasure chest, but as it reached for the rest, it discovered that the other treasure chests were completely buried. It quickly stashed the objects it had procured inside a small cargo pod. It then deployed a beacon to the surface to communicate its find. Something perplexing then happened. It sensed several large vibrations in the area. After it released the beacon, it scurried in that direction seeking power. (OOC: will continue this post tom.)

David had found a number of culturally, historically and socially valuable artefacts on in the first section. He'd brought them up and loaded them into the motorboat.

"Hey Kepler, take these back to the TII, pass me another tank and drop a marker in the next grid."
"Yes mine furher, anything else." Kepler replied with a grin.
"Get out a here." David replied as he changed the tank and dove down into the next section of the grid.

Aboard Sadako five, numerous marines were sitting on the roof of the ship smoking joints and drinking wine when they saw a small object pop up above the surface.
"Holy damn!" what's that?" said one of the marines.
"I don't know dude, but the boss said we have to destroy some probe thing, and that might be it." Replied another marine.
"well, what are we waiting for, lets destroy that thing!" The marines grabbed their rifles and started shooting at the object.

Meanwhile, in yet another location aboard Naval oceanographic research vessel CIMRV Voyager

"Commander Enola Brixton, report to the bridge." Blasted the loud speaker, waking the commander who was half asleep in her bunk. She slowly sat up and went to the bridge. Her hair was a mess and all she was wearing was a pair of shorts and a tank top. Hardly presentable at all.


Enola Brixton was only 16 years old, but her extensive knowledge of marine science persuaded the navy to put her in charge of an important research vessel when it was time to serve her mandatory military service

"Commander" said one of the officers. "There are reports of foreign vessels and aircraft in the area."

"Well find their frequency and clear them to enter." Said Enola. "pooling our minds and resources will be useful to this mission"

The officer was baffled "Are you crazy!" snorted the officer "Talus will have your head if you do that, And I don't even want to know what Vostok will do to you."

"Those war wacky nutcases would be fools to not let them in" Replied Enola. "If we work together, just imagine the knowledge of our history we can uncover, and just think about how well we can better preserve it. It is way more valueble than any money"

"Ok" said the officer. "Remember, it's your Idea. And if our military shoots at them, good luck trying to stop them."

The officer fiddled with the radio, and handed it to Enola. "I found their frequency"

A number of frogmen armed with spear guns surfaced and boarded kelper's boat. They trained their guns on the crew, and looked at the artifacts.

"What do you have there" Demanded the squad leader.

The crew of the Titanic II reacted to the boarding party with a rather different approach then the frog-men hoped for. As the frog-men boarded they were greeted by the barrels of a number of pistols.
"Now then what do we have here, oh I guess we have some pirates. Now then pirates, what are you doing boarding our ship and thinking you can demand to know what we're doing." Hans asked while thinking "Pirates, one of the banes of the treasure hunting buisness, thank god Krenler made sure to get crew who had experiance with firearns."

"We are no pirates" Huffed the squad leader. "We're operatives of the New Crystal Isles Naval Special Forces."

The Squad kept their guns trained on the treasure hunters. "The Rikiya is the property of Crystal Isles. If you plunder it for any valubles you'll be terminated"

One of the frogmen intervened "Sir, They may not have found the Rikiya. It could be some other ship."

"I don't care." replied the leader. "They're not going to get in the way of our fortune."

Sadako one could be seen about four hundred yards away.

"Captain" said one of the crew of Sadako One. "We believe they're hostiles."

"prepare the machine guns" ordered the Captain. "And you better prepare the CIM-5's as well"

"You want us to prepare the missiles?" replied the crewman

"Yes!" shouted the Captain. "Blow their ship out of the water if you have to. They aren't nuclear missiles, so who gives a rats ass if we use them?"

"Let's see, you have boarded our ship, with obviously hostile intents, and since we are presently in international water you are defacto a pirate, regardless of whether you belong to New Crystal Isles, Siap or the man in the freaking moon. Also a sunken ship is by definition up for salvage unless located and claimed. Irregardless, we do not have anything that was from the Rikiya." Hans replied, "Now you can remove yourselves or be removed, it's your choice."

The squad leader shoots a glance at Sadako One.

"We're definately outgunned." Said the Squad leader. "And besides, they don't appear to have anything important. Let's go." The frogmen return to the ocean. The leader is the last one to return, and when he does he waves a hand signal to Sadako One.

The team of frogmen swim back to Sadako One once they return, Sadako One opens fire on the TII with it's machine guns

*BATTLE SCENE!*

As the rounds began dimpling the surface of the water off the stern, the TII turned it's engines on and pull even further out of range.

"Man, those nutjobs obviously have no idea who they're dealing with. If they did they'd know that Krenler doesn't keep important stuff, only trinket. Silly NCIers." Hans chuckled as the crew set to work cleaning and organising the artefacts that David had uncovered form the first grid section.

Aboard Sadako One...

"Ok ok ok, Cut the horse shit!" Ordered the Captain. The gunners emerged from ther stations, which were cramped little alcoves on each side of the control room.

The Captain turned the ship back to Crystal Isles Territorial waters. "Leutenant. Front and Center." The squad leader of the frogmen reported.

"What kind of crap did those guys have on their ship?" Asked the captain

"It was some weird looking shit. I don't know what the hell those things were." Said the Leutenant. "They claimed they weren't on the Rikiya."

"Great." said the Captain. "we waste time and ammo on someone who's just pulling up useless garbage from who knows where, and on top of that Talus has his gitch in a knot over it." The Captain grabbed the radio and contacted Talus. "That ship was just picking up pointless trinkets outside the Territorial waters." Said the Captain. "We scared them off."

"Scared them off? what the hell?" Replied Talus. "I said don't bother them unless they enter our waters or find something that's too important! Now get back to your patrol. There will probably be foreign vessels that actually pose a threat, so stop starting shit and look out for them. And you're on night watch so I'd advise you to keep the coffee warm"

David was nearing the end of his oxygen tank when he found something interesting. It was a ship. While this was interesting as it was, the more interesting part of the ship was the visible part of the name, as well the fact that it was lodged under a rather large overhang and further sheltered by coral growth.

As he surfaced he made sure to mark on both his mental and computerised maps the location of the ship with the letters iya ending it's name.

*bump*

*Bump*

After sailing for several days, the oceanographic research vessel Knorr arrived at it's destination. During the voyage, the senior staff had been reviewing the historical data and had drawn up a search area almost 500 nautical miles by 200 nautical miles.
At the stern, the Wade was being lowered into the water. After running through the checklists, the technicians gave the go ahead to submerge it. For almost two hours she sank down into the depths. Once at an altitude of five metres above the seabed, the Knorr's captain opened the throttle and began the long arduous process of "mowing the lawn", proceeding up and down the search area. They couldn't go too fast, else the Wade would begin to fly to high to see the bottom. Too slow, and the multimillion pound robot would crash into the seabed.
In the data receival room, video footage began to appear on the large screen. The undulating terrain look slightly alien. The three men responsible for watching the footage watched intently for any signs of anything artificial. It looked like being a long search.

Below the surface a squad of frogmen were patrolling, when they found an unmanned robot skimming along the seabed. It was tethered to a ship at the surface. The squad didn't want to make too big of a confrontation, so instead of boarding the vessel, one of the divers swam down to the robot, and proceeded to make an attempt to remove the robot's cameras...

David surfaced to get his third air-tank.
"Any news?"
"Some asshats claiming to be the New Crystal Islanders tried to board us and shot us, though no problems."
"Alright." David dived back down and began exploring the wreck he was suspecting was the big prize.

Aboard the CIRV Voyager

A frantic crewman rushes into Commander Enola Brixton's cabin with urgent news.

"Commander Brixton" says the crewman. "We have recieved reports of gunfire around Sadako One's position. They allegedly fired on a foreign vessel outside territoral waters." Enola was stunned

"What in the hell?" gasped Enola. "What is with those war wacky money grabbers? When will they realize that we need to work together on this mission? The Rikiya is more important than just a pile of free money." Enola left her cabin and made her way to the bridge. "Send a crew to the foreign vessel and make sure none one was injured in the attack." Ordered Enola.

"And how about the rest of us?" Asked one of the Crewmen.

"We have to find the fortune before Talus gets his hands on it." Replied Enola. A crewman grew angry and slammed his fist on the instrument panel.
"Have you gone nuts in the head, Brixton?" Grumbled the crewman. "The government will just make us hand the fortune over to the Chancellor anyways."

"Well" replied Enola wisely. "Thats why we make sure it ends up in the hands of a party who is more focused on preserving the history of the nation, rather than just selling it off to the highest bidder."

"And if we dont find anyone interested?" Replied the crewman.

"Then we hide it" Said Enola.

The crewman left the bridge grumbling. Enola pulled up a chair next to the communications panel activated the shipboard intercom.

"All dive personal report to deck" Ordered Enola, who headeded down to the deck herself. Once she arrived there, the entire dive personell was on deck.

"I want eight of you to relay with the foreign vessel and make sure no one was injured and that their vessel wasn't damaged in the attack." ordered Enola, who actually then decieded to join the crew who was to relay with TII.
The relay crew returned to the bowels of the Voyager and collected some medical supplies and extra tanks. They piled all their stuff into a small open motor boat that was carried on the stern of the Voyager. Once the little boat was lowered into the ocean, the crew took off for the TII

The rest of the crew was ordered by the second commander to prepare to dive once the Voyager reached a new site. In the new found haste to find the wreck, two dive crews were going to be sent down.


Several miles away, aboard the Cygnus, Talus was gazing intently around the ocean. He saw a few Sadakos and LPT9's carrying out their regular patrols. Nothing more. But then he spotted the small blur of a motorboat heading out to sea.

"Who the hell is that?" muttered Talus, picking up a set of field glasses that were conviently sitting on a shelf next to an array of monitors. He focused hard on the small craft.

"what do you know?" muttered Talus. "That's the skiff from the voyager. What the hell is that damn kid up to this time?" Talus got on the intercom. "Actson." Bellowed Talus. "Report to deck immediately."

Talus headed to the deck and sure enough Actson was there waiting.

"You proved to be an excellent AquaPod pilot down in the trench." commented Talus. "Which is why I have another mission for you. I want you to take the AquaPod and follow the Voyager's skiff. When it stops, use the onboard SoundScan to eavesdrop. I think Voyager Commander Enola might be up to no good."

The AquaPod was lowered to the ocean and Actson climbed inside. He engaged the tiny submarine's thrusters and headed in the direction in which the Voyager's skiff was spotted. For a small submarine it could move rather quickly. And quietly too.

Talus returned to the bridge and got on the radio.

"Cygnus to all patrol vessels." said Talus "This is Admiral Talus. Keep a lookout for the Voyager's Skiff. If you see anything suspicious, inform me Immediately. "
Talus turned the radio to a new frequency. "Cygnus to All dive vessels." said Talus "You are to step up the rate of dive missions. I want dive crews going down twenty four hours a day."

Hans was busy fishing when the motor boat appeared. "Hey boys, we may have company get ready." At his command, the others clipped thier guns and went back to fishing.

Meanwhile David was busy exploring in the iya, looking for proof of his suspicions. He was having problems trying to find access to the cargo hold.

The motorboat pulled up next to the TII's boat, and the crew showed they had only peaceful intentions

"We believe you were attacked by NCI patrol vessels." Said Enola. "We don't support the hostile actions that the navy is committing, and we have come to see if any of you have been wounded. In case you are, we have medical supplies."

The crew of the boat opened up the containers containing the supplies to prove that that's what they were.

Enola continued. "We also believe that the parties involved in the expedition should work together. If you need any extra divers or equipment, we're here."


Below the ocean, Actson heard everything.

"The famous Enola Brixton is trying to work with the enemy." Sneered Actson. Actson activated the AquaPod's comunications system and relayed the conversation to the Cygnus.

On board, Talus' head was about to explode. He grabbed the radio, and screamed into it. "ALL NAVAL PERSONEL! SCRAMBLE!! SCRAMBLE!!" Talus screamed out the Co ordinates, and in response to the message, All ten Sadakos in the area with five LPT-9's sped to the position. The onboard marines of each vessel clipped their rifles, and the onboard fire crews rushed to their battle stations...

"We're alright. David Krenler preferes to work alone and from the actions of your compatriots, we support him in that." Hans replied, "As to gear, David makes sure he has what he needs.

David managed to find a rusted section which he began creating a large enough hole so he could enter.

"If you say so" Said Enola as she returned to her boat, which headed off a short distance before being intercepted by a number of patrol boats. Armed marines on the decks and roofs of the patrol boats train their rifles on the occupants of the small boats.

A familiar figure stepped out onto the deck of an LPT-1. It was Talus.

"So you're trying to help the invaders are you?" Sneered Talus

"They aren't invaders!" replied Enola, getting throughly angry. "They're just treasure hunters and you nutjobs nearly killed them!"

"Look here Kid." Growled Talus. "They were a possible threat to our fortune, and that won't be tolerated. I know you give a damn about historic value and all that other useless crap, but that isn't going to put any money back into this country." Talus waved his hand and several marines jumped into Enola's boat. They threw her dive crew overboard and then apprehended her.

"Your crew will be re assigned to a new boat." said Talus. "But as for you, you're under arrest for treason, and you're going to be executed by beheading in Nadia Square as a celebration when we find the Rikiya. And if we don't, You'll still be executed, but it will be a lot more messy and painful. Now take her back to the mainland, and detain her in the South Federal Detainment Facility."

The marines Dragged the struggling girl onto a LPT-9 Patrol boat and took off for the mainland.

Talus pointed at the divers in the water. "And as for you, you were thrown overboard for a reason." Growled Talus. "Now get your asses to the bottom"

The dive crew scoured the bottom, which was mostly rocks and coral in this area. They probed frantically but didn't find much. Suddenly one of the diver's metal detectors started beeping. A few divers crowded around him and helped him push some of the rocks away. Inch by inch the object took form. After a few more rocks were removed, the divers gasped in awe at the object: It was a gold Statuette of a falcon with it's wings spread; a widely known symbol of the New Crystal Isles since it was settled. The divers brought the object back to the surface. Most of the patrol boats have gone except for the LPT-9 that Talus was on. Talus waited patiently on deck sipping from a bottle of wine. When the divers surfaced, he rushed to the side of the boat. "Well?" barked an impatient Talus. "Did you find anything?" The divers held up the statuette, and Talus smiled evilly, inviting the divers back aboard.

"This thing has to be worth SOMETHING." sneered Talus. "It's about thirty pounds of solid gold!" Talus summoned the commander of the vessel to his side. "Get a boat ready and tell someone to take me back to the Cygnus." Ordered Talus. "And as for this boat for now, it's staying here. Let the dive crew rest, and then send them down immediately after a reasonable rest period.

Talus reported to the boat deck and snickered to himself. "I think we might have found something"

-----

In a small town just thirty miles south of the City of Nadia, was where the South Federal Detainment Facility was located. It was a sinister looking brick maximum security prison surrounded by a twenty foot electric fence with coils of razor wire at the top. Despite the size of the building, there were very few inmates inside, since criminals in the Republic are detained in such facilities for only a few days until their scheduled execution day comes.

A prison van escorted by two E-75 light vehicles pulled up into the parking lot of the prison. It was carrying the recently arrested Enola Brixton. The soldiers in the van opened up the back door and violently dragged Enola from the van. She fell and hit her head on the asphalt in the process, but the soldiers yanked her back to her feet and hauled her inside the facility. They threw her in a small cell and locked the door.

"Don't lose your head!" cackled one of the Soldiers as he left. A peculiar look of fear crept into Enola's eyes as she sat in the corner of the cell shivering violently despite the humidity that was constantly in the air of the tropical country. She silently prayed to herself that Talus finds the fortune so her death will be quick instead of an act of unspeakable torture...

Below the surface a squad of frogmen were patrolling, when they found an unmanned robot skimming along the seabed. It was tethered to a ship at the surface. The squad didn't want to make too big of a confrontation, so instead of boarding the vessel, one of the divers swam down to the robot, and proceeded to make an attempt to remove the robot's cameras...

The cameras are located inside the pressure hull. The only parts outside the pressure hull are the robotic arm, the propellers and the tether\control cable. Bare in mind this thing is designed to operate at about four km depth, so it's armoured against c. 608 psi.
Just out of curiosity, what sort of depths are we actually operating at? I'm guessing it's only about a hundred metres or so given that it's within reach of divers.

---

"What the hell is that?" remarked one of the young men watching the footage from the seabed.
"It looks like a diver" replied his colleague. He quickly stabbed the intercom button for the bridge. "Cap'n, we've got unidentified divers swimming in close proximity to Wade."
"Understood", he replied. The Captain then ordered a message be sent out on all frequencies warning that the Knorr was towing a submersible research drone behind it, and that all divers were advised to avoid swimming too close for fear of colliding with it.
As the message was being transmitted, Professor Hartfield arrived on the bridge. As the leader of the research team he had been informed right after the captain of the developments occurring beneath them. “What’s going on Captain? I heard there were divers near Wade”
“Yes Professor, that’s right. I’d recommend bringing Wade back to the surface to check she hasn’t been damaged. She’s been down there for a few hours already, so she’s about due for recovery in any case”
The Professor took his watch out of his pocket and replied, “Yes. Quite right. Wouldn’t do to have the old girl damaged, would it? I’ll go aft and get the preparations for recovery started.”
Thirty minutes later, the Wade was being manhandled into its garage on the deck of the Knorr. A preliminary inspection revealed no significant damage, but a full check of the telemetry would take several hours, and they would be unable to resume the search till the morning.

OOC the depths vary.
_____

The group of frogmen who were fruitlessly trying to disable the deep sea robot, only to discover that the camera was under a thick armored shell, immediately left the site after the robot was pulled to surface. They swam back to their boat, an LPT-9 patrol boat. The frogmen gave their report.

"Someone is probing around down there with an undersea robot." said one of the divers. "We attempted to disable the robot, but that thing is thickly armored. I don't even know if a C-4 charge would penetrate it. The only other option was cutting the cable but they would just recover it."

The officer in charge of the vessel spun around on his chair. "Instead of tinkering with the robot and trying to destroy it, wait until it picks up anything." Said the Officer. "Then after that, cut it loose. That should hinder their expedition long enough for us to jump on their find."

Jack sat staring at the monitor. "Shit. I thought we almost lost the Sniffer with those depth charges. Apparently they think its the Sniffer. Quickly tell it to move out 20 miles farther out into international waters and torch the beacon. Send up the cargo and have some flyboys pick up our haul. Drop another set of batteries." The men quickly fired commands into the computers.

The Sniffer sat at the base of the ocean, absorbing its commands. It then charged away from the New Crystal Isles. On the surface, the thermite in the beacon ignited, disintegrating what remained of the already damaged communication equipment.

In the open water, away from the action, a tiny circular object popped above the surface. It was painted blue, so it was almost impossible to see. A small seaborne jet flew high above, sending out high frequency radio signals. When the beacon received these, it began to radio back and a red light came on. The plane came down quickly and landed gracefully on the water. One man hopped out and opened a back compartment in the plane. A small crate fell out and plummeted into the ocean. The man then attatched a winch to the circular object and clambered back into the plane. Once inside, the winch pulled up the object and the hatch closed. Within a couple minutes, the plane took off again.

David had managed to cut a large enought hole in the side of the wreck. He swam inside. As he explored the wreck he found a number of artefacts that increased his belief that he'd found the right ship. He found a broadsword as well as a number of golden artefacts, but hadn't found the statue yet.

Talus was back aboard the cygnus gloating over his prize. His high ranking crew were celebrating the find by guzzling down bottle after bottle of wine.

"This little birdie can make the republic quite rich." Gloated Talus. "And when it's rich, I'm rich"

A sailor rushed to the bridge. "Sir, the divers are back from the second expedition"

"Did they find anything?" asked Talus

"Yea they found some sort of thing." replied the Sailor. Talus rushed down to the deck. The dive crew was struggling with a small but heavy metal box. Metal boxes like this were not too common, so it had to contain something important.

"open it!" demanded Talus. An engineer immediately went to work blowtorching the box. Inside were four gold bars each with a different gem in the middle. He believed them to be an ancient, pre-Saphirian artifact that represented the four elements. The artifact had most likely belonged to a very wealthy collector.

"Take this crap inside and get it cleaned up" Barked Talus. "And someone get another dive crew down here now. The Rikiya has got to be nearby. I don't think any other ship had shit like that on it."

David made sure to surface well away from the wreckage. He passed them to the smaller boat which returned them to the Titanic II for processing. He then exchanged the oxygen tank and dove back down.

ooc: one of the artefacts is the 2 million US sword.

the next diving team finished finished their expedition, and came up empty handed. Talus was furious.

"What do you mean there's no wreck?" demanded Talus. "We find that shit and yet the wreck is nowhere around. What in the hell is going on?"

Talus smashed an empty wine bottle on the deck.

"Sir?" commented a sailor.

"WHAT THE F*** DO YOU WANT!?" Bellowed Talus.

"we've been finding a few bits of exotic treasure here." Said the Sailor. "And the Foreign vessel isn't too far from here either. And not to mention they've been there for a long time"

"Are you suggesting that they're overtop the wreck?" replied Talus. "And you want to go piss around with them some more?"

"Yes sir." replied the sailor. Talus huffed

"Get a sadako and a team of frogmen into the area of the foreign vessel." Ordered Talus. "And if they have anything, detain them, because I think Enola is getting lonely."

"Sir, Sadako One, the vessel in charge of patrolling that area is back at the tanker for a refuel. However the LPT-9 which found the gold falcon statue is near their site." said an officer

"That freakin' boat is barely ten miles from us!" Scoffed Talus. "Hell we might as well - Wait a minute.."

"Sir?"

"Everyone report to their stations." Ordered Talus. "And prepare to sail. They won't be expecting a fully armed frigate, and surely they aren't prepared to deal with one"

Talus rushed to the bridge and used the intercom to order his onboard marines and divers to prepare for combat and to check their weapons.

The engines of the Cygnus sprang to life....

David was down at the wreck, busy trying to bash the lock of a compartment door when the phone range.
"Ya Hans, what is it."
"The sword you found, we believe it belongs to the primary wreck."
"I know."
"Also, the NCIers appear to be heading toward the us."
"Alright, send them a message that we'd like to talk with thier leader, and yes I know the cliche. I'll be up shortly."
"Roger boss."

To the New Crystal Islanders.
We request a chance to talk with you, primarily about the wreck of the Rikiya. Please send someone with the authority to negotiate, and with no more than two guards. Should you attempt another boarding stunt or continue on your present course you shall run the risk of the destruction of valuable artefacts both above and below the surface.

"Talus, You're needed on the bridge." blurted one of the officers.

Talus stomped out of his cabin and onto the bridge. The officer played the message.

"He wants to negotiate." said Talus. "Sure. Get two fully armed marines on deck, and make sure the Cygnus is close enough to blow them out of the water if they try any funny business."

"Maybe we should just blow them out of the water altogether." Said one of the officers. "They won't destroy the artifacts they're bluffing."

"Well let's not find out whether they're bluffing or not the hard way" replied Talus, as he and the two marines headed down the stairs leading to the deck

Talus and two marines boarded a skiff and set out for the TII.

As the skiff arrived they were greeted by Hans. "Welcome to the Titanic II," Hans said as David pulled himself out of the drink. "Ah welcome, I see you came as requested. I am David Krenler. Right this way." So saying he led them to the lounge. As they reached the door, "One of your marines will have to wait out side, the room will be cramped as is." Krenlar said as he towelled off his hair.

The marine stepped out of the room and leaned against the wall. Talus pulled up a chair, and the other marine stood next to him.

"Mr Krenler." said Talus. "You have been seeking the Rikiya, the infamous cargo ship containing immense wealth. That wealth will greatly benefit the Republic, and there is no way it is going to fall into foreign hands, or be rendered useless by some collector or traitor like that stupid kid Enola, whos' going to be a head shorter in a little while. This stuff it too valueble to waste trying to preserve a useless past. The New Crystal Isles doesn't care only about it's history. It's history is worth absolute piss financially. Any collector who wants the treasure will have to buy it from us after we find it."

"I am not a collecter, and if I wanted any of these artefacts I could buy them. I am more interested in the finding of priceless relics. If I understand you correctly, you intend sell them because your broke." At this he shakes his head, "Anyhoo, I am almost certain I've found the Rikiya, and if you want proof of my claims I have it." David said as he finished towelling off, at least of his head and shoulders. "Care for something to drink? Also what are your names."

"The Republic of New Crystal Isles is in a state of re-organization, and the profits we make from the sale of the treasure will go towards classified projects. The Chancellor himself has been pretty tight lipped about it." Talus continued. "You found proof of the wreck? Yes I want to see it."

"My name is Talus, and my gaurd is Cyg35M. The one outside is Cyg40M"

David pressed a button beside a speaker grill, "Kepler, could you fetch the sword." As he depressed the button he said, "It will just take a second." As Hans poured a glass of water, there was a knock on the door*. David got up and after a few muttered words took the sword. "I believe this is the sword that belonged to Ivano. I found it on a wreck with the visible name of iya. The rest was rusted off."

ooc: *opposite side from Cyg40M

*bump

As dawn broke, the crew of the Knorr were already hard at work. After verifying that the Wade was unharmed, and making a few modifications to help improve performance the time had come to send her back to the depths of the ocean to resume the search for the Rikiya.
Once she reached the bottom, the scientists responsible for watching the video footage for any signs of the wreck resumed their vigil. After about an hour, all they had found was a couple of cannon balls, which they had dutifully logged on the charts. On their own they proved nothing, but they may prove to be part of the debris field from the Rikiya, which would lead the research team straight to her.

"Sir, the vessel carrying the robot is currently active again." Said one of the frogmen aboard the LPT-9 which was laying at anchor observing the Knorr.

The captain didn't say a word, and started the engines, and proceeded to follow the vessel at a distance wide enough so the crew of the Knorr wouldn't get disturbed.

The captain then grabbed the loud speaker and ordered the frogmen to prepare to dive.

"Stay close to the robot." ordered the Captain. "And if it stops moving or if you see anomolies on the bottom, cut the robot's cable."

The frogmen immediately grabbed their gear, jumped into the ocean and started their sleds. In no time, they were just above the robot. Two frogmen were swimming along the seabed on the lookout for manmade objects. It was still barely dawn, so visibility would remain poor for some time to come. Aside from a few cannonballs, nothing special was found. However, they kept a vigilant watch.

------

On the TII

"That sword does bare an uncanny resemblance to the one carried by the late Ivano." Said Talus. "And the Iya, It looks like you may have found the famous wreck. You may have. We'll just see...."


-----
In Hazard Tower, Ortega, the New Crystal Isles Capital

Vostok Hazard was sitting in the federal office watching cartoons, when the screen flickered, and reveiled the image of an infamous activist.
"I am Ernesto Luther, and this is an illegal broadcast, so listen well. Myself and my collegues have for a number of years despised the actions of numerous countries, especially the New Crystal Isles.Their actions of oppressing religious groups, youths, and those who are remotely aggressive have appalled us. Even more appaling are their cruel punishments that they sentence to their so called criminals. For years we let it slide, but this time they went too far. When they threw that young marine scientist in jail for nothing, and sentenced her to death, that was it. We will not tolerate this barbarianism, and I will personally reward one billion dollars to anyone who breaks her out. The New Cr -" The broadcast then cut off.

"Mr. Luther." Sneered Vostok. "You don't tolerate our affairs, well I don't tolerate rich yuppies like yourself interrupting my TV viewing." Vostok grabbed the Telephone for the minister of defence. "Increase security at the South Federal Detainment Facility."

"So do you have any other questions about the accuracy of the blade or the wreck?" David asked, "Oh and how much are all the dives you are doing trying to find the ship costing you?"

"So far the costs are 50 million and rising. Most of the expenses are for the dives alone. Our vessels are powered by effecient cost-effective fuel cells." commented Talus. "And at the moment we have no further questions on the accuracy of the wreck."

Talus stood up and turned to the door..

David watched his counter-part, while taking a drink from his glass.

"So far the costs are 50 million and rising. Most of the expenses are for the dives alone. Our vessels are powered by effecient cost-effective fuel cells." commented Talus. "And at the moment we have no further questions on the accuracy of the wreck."

Talus stood up and turned to the door..

Jack sat in the command center. He turned to Roscoe. "Hey, I just got a great idea!"

"Talk to me."

"We are quite behind in this treasure hunt, right? Or so it would seem, but we can still save our company."

"I didn't say to stop talking yet." Roscoe muttered, eyes shut and leaning back in his chair"

"Those dives must be a huge hole in the navy's pocket. Why don't we sell them the Sniffer?"

"Huh? For how much?"

"$5 million."

"Wha-? You'd trade $4 billion for $5 million? Good thin I'm the smart one."

"No. We get a little cash, bring back some investor confidence, get a new subsidy to rush this baby into mass production, buy back some stock, and blam, were back in biz. That'd be worth a hell of a lot more than the bits of silver we've been picking up."

"Shit, Jackie, you scare me sometimes."

Jack picked up the phone. "I'd like to speak to a Commander Talus please. I have something that might interest him..."

*Talus picks up his radio*

Admiral Talus here


"SkyTech? You want to sell us that Sniffer thing?" Said Talus into the phone. "An unmanned sea probe? Yea we'll try it. We have some rare treasures we'll trade for it"

Talus thinks to himself. "A highly advanced unmanned probe. I think that will be quite useful."

*Talus picks up his radio*

Admiral Talus here


"SkyTech? You want to sell us that Sniffer thing?" Said Talus into the phone. "An unmanned sea probe? Yea we'll try it. We have some rare treasures we'll trade for it"

Talus thinks to himself. "A highly advanced unmanned probe. I think that will be quite useful."

"Mr. Talus, I'd prefer cash, but what sorts of treasures do you have?"

"Well we have this solid Gold Falcon, and four bars of gold with different gems in the middle. They are all probably worth over five million

And if we like the sniffer, we've been considering contracting skytech to manufacture more."


*Talus thinks about the possibilities of the sniffers, and how they could potentially find natural gold deposits which could lead to deep sea mining operations that are worth more than any silly old wrecks*

"Well we have this solid Gold Falcon, and four bars of gold with different gems in the middle. They are all probably worth over five million

And if we like the sniffer, we've been considering contracting skytech to manufacture more."


*Talus thinks about the possibilities of the sniffers, and how they could potentially find natural gold deposits which could lead to deep sea mining operations that are worth more than any silly old wrecks*

"Its a done deal. When would you like one delivered?"

Deliver one right away. You can load it onto the deck of the Cygnus.

*the crew of the Cygnus makes preparations for the incoming delivery*

"Mr. Talus, we already have one in the field. I am switching its command and control systems to you. A sea plane will arrive for the treasures you offer. When he gets back, I'll switch full command to you."

The Sniffer at th ebase of the ocean, after collecting its resupply box, replaced its batteriess and cargo pod while moving towards the designated position. Sodium azide reacted and filled large airbags with nitrogen gas, allowing the Sniffer to ascend to the surface. Meanwhile a small seaplane flew towards the frigate.

Jack thought about screwing over Talus by installing a backdoor program, but then thought of the hint at future contracts.

Talus handed over the Artifacts, and after a quick inspection, he sent the sniffer to work. For the next little while, sure enough the sniffer found evidence of natural mineral deposits that would be worth some good money. The information was quickly relayed back to the Chancellor, and he too decieded that the Sniffer would be a worthwhile investment, with the endless possiblities in mineral prospecting, combat espionage, and numerous other possible fields. The Government of the New Crystal Isles immediately proposed a contract with skyTech to build a few more Sniffers. The investment would be costly, but whatever undersea wealth there is would surely pay it off. As for the search for the Rikiya, Talus and the government stopped worrying about that as much, and cut back on the armed patrols in the area. Undersea mining prospects were likely to make any wreck down there look like chump change. The Knorr and the TII would be freely allowed to search for the wreck. After a few weeks of overseeing the Sniffer's trials, Talus returned to shore for the first time in weeks. He had another burning priority on his mind: Getting front row tickets to watch Enola Brixton's gruesome execution...