NationStates Jolt Archive

Rinstoke was a quiet little world, ignored by the majority of the universe for its surprising dearth of mineral wealth and nigh-uninhabitable ecology. Unless there was a market out there for premium dust, there really was no reason whatsoever for the planet to get any attention at all.

And that was, today, why it was getting all of it.

Two Godulan Heighliners drifted overhead, gingerly dispensing their voluminous cargo upon the world. A single Mako Star Destroyer floated lazily in one of the world's few and small inland seas.

Warlord Maximillian Foster watched the proceedings with a marked air of boredom.

"Trying this shit while you're getting shot at... now THERE'S an adrenaline rush," he commented to General Arcturus, who stood a few steps to his right, paying more attention to the tactical readouts than looking out at the overall proceedings.

"We try to blow up their defenses BEFORE we land. That way not so many people are shooting at us when we do."

"Bah. You durn younguns. Why in my day, orbital insertion was getting hurled out an airlock from geosynch with a parachute."

"Explains why we don't hear much from those people anymore."

Maximillian chuckled with an uncharacteristic show of mirth. "Aye, that it does." He pointed out to the near beach and continued, "Have one of the pods land there, we're going to need to show the participants what they're up against, and I don't want to have to take them for a ride."

"Relaying order."

"Perfect. I'm going to go fiddle about with some more engineering. I hope you can handle the arrivals. Just tell them to send dropships with their groundforces, a shuttle with their commander in relative chief, and to keep the rest of their fleet at the distance we decided was... safe, and hopefully they'll know how to do the rest."

"As would I."

OOC: For all those who signed up in the... signup thread, just assume that your post of entry was the effective invite and that you know where and when this thing is to take place, so enter whenever.

An extraordinarily large starship (by Hakurabi standards, anyway. It's a bit smaller than an ISD) materialised in a dim red glow. The still-under-construction 'mothership' took a position next to the Godular Heighliners and directed a couple of communications lasers to the much larger ships' recievers.

"Hakurabi Starnavy Supercarrier Colossus reporting. We're going to be deploying our ground troops to the surface now. Do we need to deploy spatial combatants?"

No sooner had comms been opened, a number of 'shipping crates' dropped from the launchers on the underbelly of the ship. Fairly simple in construction, they were one way deployment units, designed to get soldiers to the surface as quickly as possible - extraction craft were used once the area was secure.

The NORAD III entered the designated system, trailed by its tiny fleet for this wargame. General Simosin was ready for the fighting to begin, but he had to wait for an explanation of how this was going to work before he did anything...

The Hakurabian vessel was dwarfed by the colossal Heighliner it materialized next to, and it and later vessels were immediately targeted by an automated communication loop that transmitted the following:

ALL PARTICIPANT VESSELS,

Your space vessels are to assume a distance no less than ten astronomical units from Rinstoke. Send drop vessels with all the ground forces in to the provided coordinates.

All Commanders scheduled to be a part of this event are required to rendezvous with the Mako Star Destroyer in the sea southwest of the provided coordinates. Standard sensors should be enough to locate it.

The door is open, and we left cookies.

TRS Ocean's Blade dropped out of hyperspace with it's escorts. When it did, it received the automated message. Captain Arn ordered the ships to the requested distance. Four Phantom Dropships were waiting in the docking bay, they really only needed two but seeing as they had no idea what their objectives would be they packed heavy (plus the pilots get nervous whenever you pack a dropship with Hyren Warriors). The troops assembled in the bay and were finishing up loading the equipment when General Korin arrived on the deck. He was a young and newly promoted general, but he showed great promise and fresh thinking. This would be an excellent chance to prove himself. He passed by the dropships and every Marine stood at attention saluting, he returned the gesture then ordered them back to work. He boarded his shuttle and it launched toward the surface, heading for the sea below.

The troops finished up in short order and the four dropships lifted off and headed to the surface as well, homing in on the coordinates given. The three Phantoms carrying 75 Tidani Marines, 25 Hyren Warriors, and 3 Wraith Mortar Tanks made their way planetside.

(OOC: EDIT the name of my secondary species has changed from Rhinoceran to Hyren. Since I havn't rped with them at all yet it shouldn't make a difference.)

The NORAD deposited its troops and tanks on the surface, before the massive Leviathan moved off, along with its Cruisers and Interceptors, to the designated ten AUs from the system. General Simosin had his dropship deploy its troops, and then rendevoused with the Godulan Mako.

In a flash of blueshifted light, the CSD Hellfire reverted to realspace over Rinstoke, along with its two Strike Cruiser escorts Purple and Orange. Upon hearing the orders from the Heightliner, the following things occured:

Two LAATs with a platoon of Marines each were sent to the coordinates, followed by Orca-class shuttles, designed for the mech/droid heavy infantry. They were then backed up by ships carrying the two Sabercats and one medium repulsarlift tank.

A small X-wing deployed from the Star Destroyer and headed to the Mako Star Destroyer at the inland sea. The high-level occupant (ie Daniel) smirked and commed, "Knock, knock, Maximillian!"

And the Star Destroyer and her escorts moved to the ten AU required by the wargames.

A Jump Gate opened near the planet. The Sharlin class Wind Seeker, her two Octavian class compatriates, and the five Gatherer class scouts slid out of the rift in space and returned to Real Space. The SeaQuestian ships picked up the automated message. The two Octavians and the five Gatherers moved the specified ten A.U.'s from the planet. Meanwhile, the Wind Seeker moved into transporter range of the planet and began beaming down the troops and equipment specifically brought to be deployed on the planet's surface. The ship didn't have the Sharlin class's usual stored amount of supplies as some had been removed to make room for the armored units to be stored. After she was done, the Wind Seeker came about and launched a Liantra class (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=10150826&postcount=174) transport twice the size of a standard one. The Flyer headed for the meeting with the Mako Star Destroyer. The Wind Seeker then went and joined the other SeaQuestian craft at ten A.U.'s out.

The Mako had beached itself on the coast of the briny sea, and a small walkway led up to a relatively simple 'hole' close to the fore of the Mako's hull.

To any who walked into this small portal, small guiding lights showed people to a moderately sized round room with multiple chairs sitting about. Of course, the disconcerting thing about this room was that it had no apparent floor, walls, or ceiling. Just a very bright and panoramic view of the environment around the ship, with the contents of the room hovering about fifty feet above the ground.

A small table of little bullet-shaped sugar cookies sat smack dab in the middle of the room, along with small letters addressed to each participant nation.

I landed on the beach near the Mako and got out. Ensuring that Rocky stays with the X-wing, I headed inside the portal to the 'invisible' room and noted the plate of cookies and picked one up as I sat down and started reading the letter addressed to Coreworlds, munching away at the sweet treat...

ooc: too early for me to get in on this. So sad too... people won't get to route my 75 army men with a well-trained fire team. Tag cause the thread tools don't work.

Korin landed on the beach next to the Mako. Following the path laid out for them he entered the room. He got his barrings, then walked over to the table and sat down next to Daniel. "Hello, have they told us what exactly these games will be like yet?" Then he noticed the card and cookie in his ally's hand. He picked up his card and a cookie. The high sugar content wasn't really enjoyable to his pallet, Tidani enjoyed more salty foods to keep their bodies in equilibrium with the ocean, but they were acceptable. Then he turned his attention to the card.

Admiral Thomas Rowling landed his Liantra near the other craft. At twice the size of a normal Liantra, the transport had room inside for at least two other beings besides the pilot.

Rowling clambered out of the craft with a Soong-type (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y131/Kvess/Character%20Pics/data2.jpg) android and a Wayneright-type (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y131/Kvess/Character%20Pics/bigo2a.jpg) android following him.

The SeaQuestian trio walked up the ramp and followed the lit path to the room. The Admiral picked up the letter addressed to SeaQuest and opened it. He sighed as he looked at the sugar cookies, wishing he wasn't allergic to sugar, and began to read.

OOC: Last post for the night.

Korin landed on the beach next to the Mako. Following the path laid out for them he entered the room. He got his barrings, then walked over to the table and sat down next to Daniel. "Hello, have they told us what exactly these games will be like yet?" Then he noticed the card and cookie in his ally's hand. He picked up his card and a cookie. The high sugar content wasn't really enjoyable to his pallet, Tidani enjoyed more salty foods to keep their bodies in equilibrium with the ocean, but they were acceptable. Then he turned his attention to the card.

"Nope." I shook my head and ate another cookie. "Not yet."

On each of the cards was a single number and a key, unique to the nation it was addressed to.

As if Rowling's sitting down was the cue, a voice boomed on the intercom:

"Droids, out!"

For Daniel, it would have been obvious that it was Maximillian's voice.

To reassure the arrivals, another voice chimed in with "Maximillian will join you when everybody is here. Please inform all new arrivals that they are to come alone and that any entourage must wait outside for the duration of the event."

The SeaQuestian Admiral nodded at his two aides and they promptly left and returned to the Liantra.

OOC: They aren't simple droids. They are sentient beings that qualify as part of my population.

Well, I can wait a bit... I thought.

Reality ripped itself a new one as the barrier between it and the Twisting Nether was breached. Three vessels emerged, one Hellscream-class cruiser and a pair of Grimtotem destroyers. They were flanked by a single Graaghoul-type cruiser, which began dispatching landing craft towards the planet.

The Hellscream sent out a general transmission to the gathered space forces.
"Warlord Baine Stonehoof of Kalimdor, reporting as requested," said the bovine tauren - one of the few in the Horde that held the rank of Warlord (Admiral). "Ground forces being dispatched, along with representative. Carrier moving off."

The Graaghoul, as it was not part of the war game, moved at one quarter speed out of the planetary territory, holding position just outside the war game's expected boundary. The three other ships took up a geosync orbit as the landing pods burned through the atmosphere. The pods began landing procedures nearby the camp, while one touched down lightly and opened its bay doors. A trio of leather-clad creatures emerged, flanked by half a dozen armed creatures.
"See to the welfare of the troops," said the black-haired orc, shifting his weight to relieve the tension that his energy axe put on his back. "I shall join the delegation."

"Yes, Sergeant Etar," said the tauren shaman as he lumbered off.

OOC: So are the majority of Godulan Mechanicals. Maxie makes many by himself and gives them rather unique personalities. Keep in mind though, Maxie is the most not-nice of the Triad.

(OOC: Merry christmas! Or, at least, where I am it is.)

A generic shuttle with few markings save a the flag embossed on one side landed, and Beldren stepped out. The guards waited outside and mingled with the other general-equivalents' guards whilst waiting.

Admiral Beldren joined the other generals a moment after Mr. Stonehoof. He carried a small hyperspace uplink in case it was required that he remotely pilot his battlecruiser, but otherwise was only with his uniform.

He saluted the other generals sharply before taking a biscuit and taking a seat amongst the others at the table.

General Simosin had come alone anyway, andso he entered without any entourage, gleaming in his Armored Combat Suit,he popped the seals on his helmet, and removed it, revealing his face, and taking a cookie. He ate the cookie, picked up the letter, read it, and only then did he address the rest of the people in the room, starting with Daniel Masaki. "Masaki, I remember you... Personally, I'm glad we're on the same side this time," He looked at the rest of the Commanders... "I have no idea who the rest of you are..."

"Heh. So you were there too..." I smiled, recalling the Coredian war.

"Heh. So you were there too..." I smiled, recalling the Coredian war.

"I wasn't just there, I was in command. Those laser batteries of yours were rather unpleasant for those of us in suits..."

"Yeah, they do have a tendancy to be unpleasant. That's what they're there for." I smirked.

"Yeah, they do have a tendancy to be unpleasant. That's what they're there for." I smirked.

"Indeed. The thing is, ACS generally have nothing to fear from anything they might meet. Those Turrets were rather unpleasant in that they were one of the few things that could actually damage or kill us... Meeting things like that is generally unsettling, especially when you usually get to consider yourself invincible most of the time...

The WarShip jumped insystem, and deployed ints DropShips as soon as it got the message. They dropped onto the planet at the coordinates provided with a leisurly pace. A team of five Elementals went to rendevous(SP?) at the SD. On point was a figure that was quite obviously the leader, his suit was dark green while the others' were brown. They neared the SD and sent a hello message.

"Indeed. The thing is, ACS generally have nothing to fear from anything they might meet. Those Turrets were rather unpleasant in that they were one of the few things that could actually damage or kill us... Meeting things like that is generally unsettling, especially when you usually get to consider yourself invincible most of the time...
"And that, my friend, is the reason why you should not get overconfident." I said with a smile. "Who knows what enemies will pull out of their asses to beat you?"

The orc entered the entourage, sticking out like a sore thumb amongst the various admirals. The Warlord had thought it best if Etar had taken charge of things down on the ground. After all, humanoids tended to react better to something that at least looked something like them, and definately not twelve-foot tall walking bull men.
"You'll forgive my Warlord's absense, he had matters to attend to aboard the command vessel," the orc lied. Another thing about the shaman caste - they were much better dignitaries, what with their ability to read emotions and all.

Etar took one of the small cookies as gingerly as his meaty hand could manage, and bit a piece of it. He spat it out, swearing in orcish.

"Pagh! What is this? It's awful." He eased his way into his chair and took note of the other leaders. He especially took note of the younger Masaki.
So, he thought, this is the famed 'lightning master'. Interesting.

The voice on the unseen intercom piped in again. "If you would like something different, just speak the name of whatever you want. We'll try to match it, but please keep it basic. We don't do cultural dishes. We do not want to appear as unaccomodating, considering how much you're going to be working."

"And that, my friend, is the reason why you should not get overconfident." I said with a smile. "Who knows what enemies will pull out of their asses to beat you?"

"It usually isn't overconfidence. You remember that those turrets were also the ONLY things that could hurt us too?"

"It usually isn't overconfidence. You remember that those turrets were also the ONLY things that could hurt us too?"
"Oh yeah." I nodded. "At least of what we have."

“Coming into the system now sir.”

A flicker and a twist of light announced the arrival of the small contingent of Eshirian Forces around Rinstoke. Jump portals snapped shut as the vessels glided to the designated radius around the world.

“Transmission, sir.”

Commander Raila stood up, and began her characteristic pace around the bridge.

“Patch it.”

“Aye.”

Within an instant, the message was relayed to her Com unit and a series of events unfolded. Raila was immediately beamed to a waiting shuttlecraft, while drop pods already loaded with participating ground forces were shot off towards their destinations. The shuttle’s AI was prepped and the craft followed the drop pods out, changing vectors towards the Mako as it approached Rinstoke.

The shuttle closed the ten AU distance in a mere second, and began a gentle approach towards the Mako, setting down smoothly, and offloading its most important cargo. Raila stepped out, flanked by two unobtrusive security drones. (Somewhat like the Tau’s gun drones, but smaller, and with only one gun.) It was more a sign of trust than anything. Most potential security issues were likely to have already been covered by the Godulans. Raila took a mental note of the Mako as she walked briskly up the walkway. Following the lights, and making her way into the strange room, she nodded at each present commander and took her seat. The two drones moved off, and stationed themselves outside. {Huh, cookies…} Raila thought to herself as she sighed and looked around the room.

(OOC: RrrrrrrrrrBump *poof*.)

The voice on the unseen intercom piped in again. "If you would like something different, just speak the name of whatever you want. We'll try to match it, but please keep it basic. We don't do cultural dishes. We do not want to appear as unaccomodating, considering how much you're going to be working."

Admiral Thomas Rowling looked up at this.

"In that case," he asked, "can I get some Hickery-Smoked Sausages?"

"As you wish, we suspect that the Orc will prefer them as well..."

A knee-high spider crawled into the room and settled down next to the table. Upon its flat abdomen materialized a platter loaded up with sausage links of various types.

"Beware the slightly orange-tinged ones."

"As you wish, we suspect that the Orc will prefer them as well..."

A knee-high spider crawled into the room and settled down next to the table. Upon its flat abdomen materialized a platter loaded up with sausage links of various types.

"Beware the slightly orange-tinged ones."

Rowling picked one up in his furred paw-like left hand, sniffed it, and chomped down. After he had chewed slowly, so he could savor the taste, and swallowed, he licked his lips and continued eating.

"Hold on a minute there Danny Boy, I'll be right back..." General Simosin walks over to the platter, grabs a handful of non-orange sausages, one orange sausage, and heads back to talk with Masaki some more.

Korin observed the others eating the newly arrived sausages and decided to give it a try as well. He looked up, as that seemed the best way to look when addressing no one in perticular. "Could I have some shellfish then?"

"Have we deified our host now, General Korin?" Beldren remarked as his Tidani counterpart stared at the ceiling. In the meantime, he ate one of the synthesised sausages. Taking a few more, including a couple of the orange sausages, he wondered aloud why they should avoid the orangey sausages.

I smiled at the joke, while taking a couple of sausages, eschewing the orange ones. Athough I did wonder what was in them, so I took one, but didn't eat it.

The spider developed a second platter above the sausages, which carried a small number of little chunks of meat. To any who would bother to taste them, they would be properly prepared oyster chunks.

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"We should have told 'em to bring a sack lunch."

"20/20 Hindsight, sir."

"Yeah yeah."

"Most of them are here, sir. I suspect we can brief the others as they arrive. We'll need the extra time to outfit their weapons properly, anyway."

Maximillian growled for a moment, then sighed as he looked over the deployment readouts.

"Feh, might as well go down. Its boring up here."

"Heh... I bet Maxie would just love being deified..."

"Not really," Maximillian said in his strange raspy voice as he walked into the room seemingly from nowhere. "The last time some group of nutters did that to me, the vestal virgins were all well and good, but their food SUCKED. Some doctrine about encasing their offerings in wax. Kinky for the virgins, not so much for the numnums."

Maximillian stood about seven and a half feet tall, built like a mack truck and likely of similar metallic content. Steam-piston muscles and strange grayish veins through his flesh defined his physique, much of which was plainly visible as he wore no shirt. His hair was drawn back in neatly arranged dreadlocks, and his eyes betrayed an almost perverted knowledge of the killing arts. Even the least observant of those gathered around would understand that the slightest glance from him held a heavily predatory tinge to it. At the moment, his only clothing was a large leather belt, baggy black trousers, and knee-high armored and spiked boots wrapped to his trousers with white metallic bandages.

"Although, people have a tendency to get a LOT more religious around me. 'God help me', 'Oh god oh god', 'For the love of god have mercy on me', its quite gratifying."

"Not really," Maximillian said in his strange raspy voice as he walked into the room seemingly from nowhere. "The last time some group of nutters did that to me, the vestal virgins were all well and good, but their food SUCKED. Some doctrine about encasing their offerings in wax. Kinky for the virgins, not so much for the numnums."

Maximillian stood about seven and a half feet tall, built like a mack truck and likely of similar metallic content. Steam-piston muscles and strange grayish veins through his flesh defined his physique, much of which was plainly visible as he wore no shirt. His hair was drawn back in neatly arranged dreadlocks, and his eyes betrayed an almost perverted knowledge of the killing arts. Even the least observant of those gathered around would understand that the slightest glance from him held a heavily predatory tinge to it. At the moment, his only clothing was a large leather belt, baggy black trousers, and knee-high armored and spiked boots wrapped to his trousers with white metallic bandages.

"Although, people have a tendency to get a LOT more religious around me. 'God help me', 'Oh god oh god', 'For the love of god have mercy on me', its quite gratifying."

"Why am I not surprised by any of that, including the wax?"

Maximillian walked up to the serving spider and took an orange sausage, snapping it up in one bite. He chewed for a moment, gulped, then spat on the ground.

The saliva hissed for a moment and burst into flame.

"We've never met, so beats me."

Maximillian walked up to the serving spider and took an orange sausage, snapping it up in one bite. He chewed for a moment, gulped, then spat on the ground.

The saliva hissed for a moment and burst into flame.

"We've never met, so beats me."

"We've met, you just never realised it. I was there in the Coredian war, commanding the ACS, so, while we have never actually met, I know who you are. I know more of you from my friends, who have viewed you from afar, and interacted with Xenith as well." He pauses for a moment, and drops the orange sausage.

I looked at my orange sausage, then at Maxie's former sausage-turned glob of fire. "Is this a piece of meat, or a water-ignited grenade?" I asked wryly, holding up the sausage.

"Our forces never clashed in the Coredian war. You joined us shortly after we entered the fray. Its all good though. 'Specially these sausages."

He took another orange sausage and popped it into his mouth.

Korin picked up the meat and ate a piece. "Quite good." In fact they were excellent, but Korin decided not to add any more to the man's (at least he looked like he should be a human) ego. It looked like it could barely hold its own weight as it was.

"Not really," Maximillian said in his strange raspy voice as he walked into the room seemingly from nowhere. "The last time some group of nutters did that to me, the vestal virgins were all well and good, but their food SUCKED. Some doctrine about encasing their offerings in wax. Kinky for the virgins, not so much for the numnums."

"You humans and procreation. It's no wonder you are so plentiful in this galaxy." He tossed another oyster down his throat.

I looked at my orange sausage, then at Maxie's former sausage-turned glob of fire. "Is this a piece of meat, or a water-ignited grenade?" I asked wryly, holding up the sausage.

"I have no damn clue, but it tastes pretty damn good."

"You humans and procreation. It's no wonder you are so plentiful in this galaxy." He tossed another oyster down his throat.

"Not just this universe, and not just because of that. We may be a bunch of randy little bastards, but we're damned inventive too."

"Anything to make up for the lacking physical stature," chuckled Etar, chomping down upon an orange sausage and grinning with the sizzling. "Impressive meat. Definately no kodo, but good nonetheless."

Maximillian shrugged. "You haven't met our Gendarmes then." He then took another sausage and tossed it in his mouth. After a couple chews, he belched a small ball of flame and snickered.

"Anything to make up for the lacking physical stature," chuckled Etar, chomping down upon an orange sausage and grinning with the sizzling. "Impressive meat. Definately no kodo, but good nonetheless."

OOC: Orcs are generally what, 9 or so feet tall?

IC:

"Lacking physical stature?" Arkady seemed almost insulted, among humans he was generally considered rather large, standing over 6 feet tall, and now, in a suit, he stood just over 8 feet tall, meaning that he was significantly taller than any other person who truly qualified as human in this room. He wasn't sure why having his height seemed like an insult, but for some reason, it did...

"Humanity is a weak race," said the orc absent-mindedly. "I mean, of course, compared to the races of the Horde. You require gadgets and sheer numbers to succeed in battle. An orc, for example, could overpower a human easily. No insult intended, of course."
He muched on a pair of sausages, as if he had not said a thing.

"Humanity is a weak race," said the orc absent-mindedly. "I mean, of course, compared to the races of the Horde. You require gadgets and sheer numbers to succeed in battle. An orc, for example, could overpower a human easily. No insult intended, of course."
He muched on a pair of sausages, as if he had not said a thing.

OOC: That's actually kinda funny... Mostly because Arkady is going to be very angry, and very amused at once. ACS have the wonderful property of making you much stronger. As an RL refernce, the book they were created in had an ACS suit shotputting a man from the Pentagon into the Patomac, which is about a mile distant.

IC:

"Never discount the worth of Gadgets, warrior, in my armor I am more than a match for any Astartes, or any but the most massive of Orcs, even Max here might have some minor difficulty with me in a Suit..." His accent went temporarily Brooklyn Slavic, a very good sign that he was angry...

"Humanity is a weak race," said the orc absent-mindedly. "I mean, of course, compared to the races of the Horde. You require gadgets and sheer numbers to succeed in battle. An orc, for example, could overpower a human easily. No insult intended, of course."

"DEFINITELY haven't met one of our Gendarmes."

"Never discount the worth of Gadgets, warrior, in my armor I am more than a match for any Astartes, or any but the most massive of Orcs, even Max here might have some minor difficulty with me in a Suit..." His accent went temporarily Brooklyn Slavic, a very good sign that he was angry...

"Maybe, maybe not. Not even Daniel Masaki here has had the distinction of seeing me when I have entered Phagestate. None of you have, and if I were you, I'd pray that you never do."

"All's well, but we do need to get to the actual wargames sometime." I said, trying to bring us back to why we are all here.

"Who's not here yet? If we're only missing a couple people we could start up now anyway."

"Who's not here yet? If we're only missing a couple people we could start up now anyway."

"I believe that there is only one missing individual, though I may be mistaken... I feel it would be best for us to begin."

Maximillian made a half-hearted head count and shrugged. "Whichever. Sit down and pay attention y'all, or if you don't like sitting just stand up, I don't really care."

Maximillian took a few steps from the assembled commanders and tapped a couple times on what they could only assume was the wall. The image of the room immediately faded to show the room for what it was, a simple cylindrical room about five meters high and twenty meters in diameter. The wall then began showing several screens of footage of various fleets as they were engaged in combat or fleet maneuvers. To those paying attention and bothering to look, it would be clear that each nation attending the 'event' was presented.

Maximillian paused momentarily to wander up to the footage representing Mini Miehm. It was a particular bit of telemetry where several Red Rain torpedos kept materializing a short distance from the Terran Dominion's fleets and kept getting punted by some form of teleportation.

Maximillian studied the loop once, and chuckled. He pointed at the footage and looked Arkady square in the eye, then said "That still pisses us off, but we wouldn't have thought of our Inhibitor Destabilizers if you hadn't done that. So I gotta thank you for being such dicks."

He then strolled over to the footage of a Coredian vessel firing a gravitic torpedo at an enemy vessel, watched as the vessel got sucked into the singularity none-too-painlessly, and chuckled. "I want me some o'dat."

He continued on to the footage of Gaia Rodina's forces at Koobi, although the footage was somewhat jerky in nature, and the screen was clogged with Kython Slaughterkings roaring by and scrambling Chronosian vessels. "Our most recent footage! Although I'm curious about something," Maxie turned to Etar, "Were y'all planning on doing anything other than Shoot'n'Scoot? We had 'em distracted enough, you could've started up some really nasty formations without much protest from the Chronosian cannons. No matter, the Kythons don't communicate, so we couldn't have told you where to drive a wedge if we wanted to."

He shrugged and took a look at the other viewscreens, stopping at a viewscreen that represented his own nation and was playing a footage loop from the Battle of Thorn. The viewscreen was clogged with fighters, Makos, defensive drones, and the pine-cone shape of the Death Dart-supported Archonal Command Ship Long Arm of the Law, with a force of some two thousand Chronosian battleships being torn to shreds in surprisingly short order. "You know, it occurs to me... every goddamn one of us has been in combat with the Chronosians, either alongside them or against them. Sometimes both. They do have rather long tendrils, don't they?"

He stopped and turned to the assembled commanders. "Y'all have your strengths and weaknesses, pros, cons, so on and so forth. There's just one thing that seems to stick out. While most of the engagements were won or left as a draw, for the most part our collective military strategy seems to be nonexistent. Do not take that personally, as this WarGame is intended not only to acquaint us with how you people 'do things', but also to train you people to be more liberal in the application of strategic cooperation.

"Some of you may think that I am misguided in my analysis, who knows you might be right, however this is a serious issue that needs much consideration by the lot of us, especially if we find ourselves having to beat off one or more of 'The Big Dawgz.'

"It is on that note that I shall point out that the key and number you hold upon your persons is respective to a particular position on two of four tactical command platforms. These 'Positions' are tailored to you in that your forces will be of primary concern, as it should be. The first platform is a command chamber for the first phase of this exercise, which is to be a space combat scenario over the planet in which you are..."

Maximillian brought a coin out of his pocket and flipped it. It landed on the ground, bounced a few times, and landed face-side up.

"The attackers," he continued, "Against these."

The viewscreen directly behind him altered its footage to a view of the outer system, from which a large number of very odd-looking versions of Imperial Star Destroyers emerged as if from warp. Their hull looked rather glassy, and they had a strange purple glow shining from within.

"Tailor made star destroyer analogs. Equipped with fighters and other craft and armed solely with specifically calibrated Ion Cannons. They will pump out an amount of firepower equivalent to a somewhat more recent configuration of the Imperial IIIs, and their force is considered to be equal to the combined strength of your forces. Your job is to knock them down. Their job is to turn you into floating lumps of metal. The usage of Ion Cannons on their part is to prevent you lot from getting blowed-up, instead just 'disabling' your vessel for the remainder of the fight.

"These vessels are presently engaging a defensive wall formation over the planet, and it will be your responsibility to break through using whatever means you have at your disposal. The vessels are made of our Morphic Crystal, and can regenerate damage, however they are programmed to shut down after they have taken a specific amount of damage, signalling that they have gone splat. That notable purple glow will cease on that particular vessel when it has gone 'dead'.

"The second phase will be divulged when we get to it. Any questions?"

Arkady watched with interest, especially the combat videos from the Orcs, he wanted to see what he was going to be allied with, and the Orcs were the only true unknown so far as he was concerned. He had an idea of the capabilities of everyone else here, but he'd never personally encountered Orcs like this before, making them a wild card in the deck as far as he was concerned.

"Well Daniel, it looks like we will end up on the same side from the beginning this time... I'm sure it will be much more fun than the Cordian War was at least..."

I nodded, folding my arms. "Yeah, this hopes to be interesting all right."

Etar nodded in thought.
"If those things can get within range of our polaron beams, this should be over pretty quick. But, I'm no expert in orbital warfare. That's Stonehoof's role."

Raila watched the videos with deep interest. Unlike the many other races present, Eshirians were still relatively new to this particular stretch of the galaxy, and desperately needed more experience in both command, and combat against the major powers in this region. To Max's question, Raila finally spoke up and asked, "Are these vessels the only defense in place? Or is there a wild card in there somewhere?"

Korin felt so out of place around these veterans from the battles playing before him. What had his nation done to distinguish itself? In their first engagement Admiral Rho had charged suicidally into the Chronosian reinforcements above Nelvaan costing most of his fleet. He was glad that he had some of the new ships designed after that battle, but now would be their test and he had to make them look good. He pushed aside those thoughts and remembered that battle favors the bold. He would win, fear and doubt were his only real enemy.

"Are these vessels the only defense in place? Or is there a wild card in there somewhere?"

"I doubt that such an exercise would be so straight forward, but we should not let the unknown hinder our ability to act. Of course, if our host is willing to share any such surprises. That would be a different story."

Korin felt so out of place around these veterans from the battles playing before him. What had his nation done to distinguish itself? In their first engagement Admiral Rho had charged suicidally into the Chronosian reinforcements above Nelvaan costing most of his fleet. He wished that he had some of the new ships being designed to replace the fleets. He pushed aside those thoughts and remembered that battle favors the bold. He would win, fear and doubt were his only real enemy.



"I doubt that such an exercise would be so straight forward, but we should not let the unknown hinder our ability to act. Of course, if our host is willing to share any such surprises. That would be a different story."

Raila responded in a tone directed only at Korin, "I've considered that. Like my father always said, and I'm sure everyone here has heard, 'It doesn't hurt to ask.'" Raila paused, then added with a softer voice, "At least...not all the time..."

Raila responded in a tone directed only at Korin, "I've considered that. Like my father always said, and I'm sure everyone here has heard, 'It doesn't hurt to ask.'" Raila paused, then added with a softer voice, "At least...not all the time..."

"You are, of course, quite correct. Forgive my interruption." Korin replied as politely as he could sound in basic.

"You are, of course, quite correct. Forgive my interruption." Korin replied as politely as he could sound in basic.

"Hey, we're all Allies here right? Fellow Commanders, yes? Don't worry about it." Raila did her best to sound calmer, and more relaxed, but in truth, she was always uncomfortable when someone spoke so formally to her. She turned her attention back to Max...

Maxie turned at the question and grinned mischievously. Although the gesture was surprisingly threatening because of his sharkteeth.

"I will provide you with two things to keep in mind: One, expect a greater degree of adaptability from these vessels in order to make up for their lack of variety. Two, these vessels can, with surprising rapidity and little to no forward notice, switch between firing large volumes of standard fire to single shots on the scale of an axial laser ion cannon analog. This is information provided as a simple 'equivalent' of battlefield intelligence, and I will tell you now that I know no more than that.

"Another thing, before I forget to mention it: I will be commanding both missions. As it is my responsibility to coordinate you buggers' forces in the midst of battle, I will be telling you people where to go, who to shoot at, so on and so forth. In order to simulate the notion that I can't be standing over every one of y'all at the same time, I will be in my own command chamber during both phases. Your number and key corresponds to the channel I'll be using to give orders as you are operating on the command platform. This is another key note: YOU WILL NOT BE ACCOMPANYING YOUR FORCES INTO BATTLE AT ANY TIME DURING THIS EXERCISE. All command decisions will be made and relayed from this Mako. In battle you will likely be on a much larger and more durable ship somewhat better suited to unrestricted decision-making, and this measure is to reflect THAT.

"You will be organized into groups, it appears like there are ten of you, so there will be two groups of three and one group of four.The importance of this organization will be divulged when we start, as you don't really expect who you're gonna be fighting beside before you actually join the fighting."

He gestured to the others:

"Any other questions?"

Korin picked up one of the orange sausages and took a sniff. He made a disgusted face and shook his head. "Yes, I have one. Are these sausages one of your secret weapons? I can eat jellyfish armed with neurotoxins and feel only a tingle, but I wouldn't even take a bite of this thing." He then tossed it back on the plate. Then he smiled. "Other then that, I am ready."

"The orange color is from a particularly volatile little pepper we grow on Dewi. The meat is standard sausage, but the moistness of the sausage is provided by a flavored bit of capsacin. Capsacin, if you have any understanding of organic chemistry, is the chemical in peppers that causes the burning. It's also quite healthy for you, if you don't mind acclimating yourself to the pain. All sorts of health benefits, reduces migraines, lowers cholesterol, improves sex drive... heh heh..."

I chuckled slightly. Maxie. Always a riot. "No questions from me."

improves sex drive

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me." Korin laughed.

"I'm ready, let's do it."

OOC: The Keys will correspond to placing people in the following groups, Thus far, I think everybody on this list has posted, so it should be good.

Left Flank:

Tidan
Yukatania
Kyanges


Center:

Hakurabi
Gaia Rodina
Coreworlds


Right Flank:

Starenell
Mini Miehm
SeaQuest


Reserve:

Neo Zeta
Dweledelfia Prime

A door opened up behind Maximillian and he pointed his thumb over his shoulder towards it. "Then git. There's gonna be a pause between the first and second stages, as chances are both parts are gonna be pretty close to all-day events."

OOC: The Keys will correspond to placing people in the following groups, Thus far, I think everybody on this list has posted, so it should be good.

Left Flank:

Tidan
Neo Zeta
Kyanges
Dweledelfia Prime


Center:

Hakurabi
No Endorse
Gaia Rodina
Coreworlds


Right Flank:

Starenell
Mini Miehm
Yukatania
SeaQuest

A door opened up behind Maximillian and he pointed his thumb over his shoulder towards it. "Then git. There's gonna be a pause between the first and second stages, as chances are both parts are gonna be pretty close to all-day events."


Arkady headed for the door. He was mentally prepared to issue exactly one order in the space battle, and that would be for him to transfer command of the fight to the commander of the NORAD III.

"Well, let us begin." I said, heading for the door. As I did so, I began munching on my orange sausage, feeling the burn, and spewed flames up to the ceiling in a fashion not much different from a Katon technique. "Hot, but good." I continued munching on the sausage.

"Is that all it was?" muttered Beldren as he walked through the door, before taking out his communicator.

"No - No! We've just found out we cannot directly issue our commands. We also can't participate in the battles. Put Lieutenant Watanabe in the battlecruiser. She will be acting commander for these procee- Yes, she's qualified. At any rate, I'll still be filtering down orders."

"What? Yes, Warlord, I understand this is an insult. However, you did want me to be the one to join the delegation. You'll just have to command the forces as you always do, and I'll be watching. Yes, I know it's unorthodox for a shaman to give a Warlord commands. That is how they want it to be done, however," Etar communicated with the Warlord's command ship in orbit via a small, black box in his hand as he followed Daniel Masaki through the opening. "At least your ships will be in the front push, and not on one of the flanks."

The room that the door led to was as spacious as the meeting area, though instead of a panoramic view of the surroundings, the room featured a majestic view of the entire star system, the six planets, their various moons, and each small fleet from each nation tagged with a certain color and an label detailing nationality.

Around the perimeter of the room were several pedastals which had the numbers of each respective representative. Upon each pedestal was a one-size-fits-all headset with a small keyhole on the left side.

Maximillian's voice boomed on an overhead: "Take the headsets and activate them. You will be communicating directly with your fleets at all times, although having a second in command handle the finer points is standard. Take this time to get into your groups. Your practice run will be to issue commands for your vessels such that they are arranged properly."

Korin followed the others into the room and took his place. He picked up the head set and with some adaptation put it on. The part that was supposed to go behind the head was at an akward angle over the top of his head, and the mic arm had to be extended but the device was still quite comfortable. Korin activated his channel.

"Hello Captain Arn. You are incharge of the fleet up there, I will be feeding you information and orders from my location here. We have been assigned to the left flank teaming up with the Eshirians, and the Yukatanians. Bring the ships to these coordinates and wait for further instruction." Korin transmitted coordinates to his fleet to move them to the relative left of the taskforce.

Admiring the scenery of space, I went to the pedestal that had my key and put on the headset, activating it. "Captain Black, do you read me?"

"Yes, I do, Commander." The Captain's voice came to me loud and clear. "What's new?"

I smiled. "We're about to begin the exercise. Get in contact with fleets Hakurabi and Rodina and form up with them on the center flank."

"Right." She answered and began making orders to that effect.

ooc: I've noticed that people are mentioning me still, and the confusion is understandable. Just want to clear the confustion. I couldn't make it, all forces occupied in the civil war. Anything that went this way would be highly damaged and have a fleet from the other side close on its heels.

"Sounds good." Raila said simply, and quickly took her place. She took one look at the mic, and chuckled, moving her hand over it, making it glow slightly for a second before she put it on. Her PsiCommu unit was still her primary com device, and the mic was now adapted to use tap into her Commu network.

<Tiala TSK?> She asked.

<Ready, and waiting Commander.> replied the calm, cool voice of a young captain.

<Form 11 on Tidan and Yukatania forces.>

<Roger...> <Done.>

<Stand by Tiala.>

<Aye ma'am.>

The whole process only took a few seconds, and soon the small force awaited further instruction.

OOC: Congrats on getting my name right Yukatania. Most people cannot handle the extra e.
IC: The High Warlord took his place and sent a message out to the ships, including the dropsip on the ground. "Get in vacuum, now. Deploy fighters, after you have formed on the left flank of the force. Our flankmates consist of Mini Miehm, Yukatania, and SeaQuest, so get with them and make conact with their ship's commanders for coordination." He then gave a basic review of the information Maximillian had given him. He paused and thought for a few seconds "Get Blood Priests ready, that may be our wild card in vacuum. Target one ship and I will inform our allies of their abilities and what we are going to do, and launch them on my count." The commanders took the information in and responded, one by one "Aff".

Arkady entered, put on his headset, and directed the Captain of the NORAD to assume whatever formation he felt was best. The NORAD III took point in the formation, allowing it to bring its impressive broadsides to bear, whil the Strike Cruisers assumed positions to port and starboard, and the Interceptor Wing assumed their Strike Element positions, powered down and cloaked.

No Endorse: Shouldn't be a problem... I'm gonna do a switch. Yukatania, you're on the left flank now, until Neo Zeta / Dweledelfia show up, there's only gonna be two people on that flank and I wanna even things out. Editing the organization listing...

(OOC: Post edited.)

Admiral Hasing understood the change of plans brought up by the Godulans.
"Captian Hoss are you there?"
"Im here sir."
"Listen there is a change of plans, we are now part of the Left Flank, head to these corredents, the Fleets that we will be joining are the Fleets of Tidan, and Kyanges."
"Sir, one question why are we changing flanks?"
"Does that really matter?"
"Well no sir, i guess it doesnt."
"Alright get into position and wait for further orders."

(OOC: Post edited.)

(OOC: ditto)

Maximillian stood in his own command chamber, watching as the three groups formed up at the selected positions. As they entered formation, he snickered slightly and grinned at the little red light on the other side of the room.

DECLARATION OF READINESS: I'm gonna kick your ass, meatbag.

The voice was surprisingly organic for an AI, and were it not for the simplistic voice synthesizer, it would have been nearly impossible to realize that it was a tactical supercomputer being employed against Maximillian.

"I AM your blue screen of death, you rickety bucket of bolts. Prepare for a fatal fuggin' error."

STINGING REBUTTAL: I'll fatal error you right upside the head, fo shizzle.

"Yeah yeah. Save it for the scrap heap, now leave me in peace."

The light flickered out and Maximillian was left in his command chamber alone. He toggled his Omnicom and began.

"ALL RIGHT YOU LOT, LETS BLOW SHIT UP."

And with that, he began entering in tactical information... being the attacker, he would be the first too move, from then on, who knew who would do what...

Aboard the Freewind, Warlord Stonehoof smiled. The fools had gone and put the ruddy orc into their little thinktank, allowing the Warlord to do what he did best: command the fleet.

"All ships, advance!"

The destroyers flanked the cruiser, which took up a position below the Godulan vessels. Turrets swiveled and locked on the nearest faux Star Destroyer.

"Twenty sa'koh till optimal weapons range!" shouted one of the helmsman.

"Prepare to fire..." growled the tauren. He was not about to lose to some machine.


OOC-I don't assume boarding actions would be appropriate?

OOC: Hold up on that... yer still 10 AU away from the enemy fleet, about halfway across the system for the most part, and Maxie's gonna be pointing out waypoints to follow. Plus, at the first sign of advance, the enemy is gonna start moving as well. Lemme post the first bunch.

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

In the Command chamber hosting the various participants, a number of waypoints materialized, dictating what appeared at first to be a unified course through the system, using three of the planets on the way as cover for the advance.

After the second planet, the paths split to show that the Right flank would move upwards along the z-axis respective to the system, while the Left flank would move downwards, with the Center taking a slingshot around the third planet to bring them in on a beeline for the enemy forces.

As it stood, the count for the enemy forces appeared to be ten custom star destroyers, and at present, they had formed up into two separate groups.

Korin relayed the planned courses to Captain Arn on the Ocean's Blade. Then all he could do is watch the Archangel Battleship and its two Whitestars form up with their allies, and wait for the assault to begin.

The Miehmish ships followed the directions that Maxie had given them, they would be the only known and trusted force on the flank, and they would likely bear the brunt of the fighting...

OOC: Posting this to reflect that CW gave me control of his forces, for this leg of the battle at least.

Maxie had to say he was impressed by how quickly and effectively the Coredian vessels were executing maneuvers to the assigned waypoints. It was as if he was commanding them himself. He'd have to give Daniel props for being fast on the uptake, he would.

The combined fleet would now be approaching the second planet, where they would split vertically and slingshot in towards the third planet. The enemy fleet was moving as well now, splitting vertically to match the approach of their enemy.

The three Miehmish ships broke up, following the directions that Maxie had given them. They were ready for whatever they might encounter on the other side.

(OOC: MM, Right Flank goes up, Left Flank goes down. At least from the perspective of the command display.)

Captain Arn kept his ship close to the others on their approach to the planet. The two Whitestars keeping tight formation, one below on port, the other above on starboard. Now as they came to the navpoint before the second planet, the Ocean's Blade broke from the fleet angling down on the path directed.

Korin watched it all happening from the command room, as the fleet divided itself around the planet. He also watched as the enemy fleet spread out responding to our move.

(OOC: MM, Right Flank goes up, Left Flank goes down. At least from the perspective of the command display.)

Captain Arn kept his ship close to the others on their approach to the planet. The two Whitestars keeping tight formation, one below on port, the other above on starboard. Now as they came to the navpoint before the second planet, the Ocean's Blade broke from the fleet angling down on the path directed.

Korin watched it all happening from the command room, as the fleet divided itself around the planet. He also watched as the enemy fleet spread out responding to our move.

OOC: hehe... Oops...

Flagship Scar

Captin Hoss noticed the Tidan Ships starting to move, a miliseccond later he got the command from Admiral Hasing.
"All hands on deck, everyone to stations, we will be following this NAV point, for our approce on the Enemy Fleet."
"I want the Malta on the left and the Angel on the right for our approace."
The Yukatan ships followed slightly behind the three Tidan ships as they moved to the fist NAV.

Command Room

Admrial Hasings watched his Captain take control of his Taskforce. He decided to let most of the decision making up to the captain, after all he was very capable.