NationStates Jolt Archive

"Power down all systems except the stealth shielding," Captain Jones ordered his head engineer Poocher. "You're certain this is going to work?"

"Initial tests were positive, sir. I don't know how many times I can assure you of that."

"I just don't understand how a few tweaks to the electrical systems and a coat of paint can make us invisible."

Poocher hung his head and sighed. "Captain, that's why you're not a researcher. These 'tweaks' as you call them have improved our capabilities for masking our presence from modern radar, sonar, scanners, etc. As for the..." he paused for dramatic effect, "new 'coat of paint,' it's a little more complicated than that."

"I should hope so," the Captain grumbled. "Deploy listening beacons."

"Deployed," Poocher stated, as the four stealth probes launched from the partially gutted hull of the massive transport ship Joorian. "Anyway, it's not paint. It's an entirely new refractive skin. Darker to make visual scans harder, with an irregular crystaline coat to scatter beam search techniques. The only thing we haven't overcome yet is that pesky FTLi field that the Taledonians have. But we're working on it."

"Not that we need to, since we're a part of their Republic."

"The research community is still interested in finding a way to overcome it. However, they're also working on increasing the range of our listening probes, just in case they can't. If they can get a long enough range, we can sit outside an FTLi equipped starbase or planet, and find out any information we need."

"The singularity is ready for launch. We're sure this won't start a galactic incident?"

Poocher swivelled in his seat and smiled. "Sir, it's a small hole. All it will do is stop ships from traveling through the trade route. Their scanners will pick it up long before they'd run into it and get torn apart. Once discovered, I doubt it will take long for someone to dissolve it."

"I guess I just don't understand why we need to put a ripple in a well-traveled trade route to test our listening beacons and stealth technology."

"Don't forget," added Poocher, as a small box was jettisoned from the transport, towards the trade route. "This is also a test of the singularity."

"Right, well get the backup prepped for launch, just in case we need to run."

"Yes, sir."

Some distance away from the massive stealthed transport, there was a silent implosion, as the box that was holding the singularity finally gave way. In the middle of a busy trade route, a miniature black hole erupted.
The crew of the Joorian waited with baited breath.

Captain Jones glanced at Poocher, who was fidgeting in his seat. "Busy trade route?"

"Everything is relative, Captain. Busy in comparison to some random place in deep space. There are countless trade routes, though. It may take a little patience on our part before someone comes by."

With a flash, space distorted before depositing a large ship only a couple thousand kilometers from the Anomaly. The ship was the USV Rush, a Temporal Destroyer of the Noritz class. Instantly, her gravity drives engaged, halting her progress towards the anomaly.

"Begin scanning the distortion, when you gather any information about how it formed, seal it."

"Sir! Gravimetric signatures detected nearby, they are not, from the anomaly."

"So, whoever made this is still nearby, shields up, charge weapons, don't let them get the jump on us. Engage the FTLi and pinpoint them, then keep an eye on them while we seal the tear the anomaly tore in the Space-Time Continuum."

Beams extended from the ship and onto the anomaly, the temporal sensors sweeping several dimensions at once, attempting to pinpoint any specific energy signatures or 'Temporal Fingerprints' left by whoever created the anomaly.

"Sir, we've finished scans, the anomaly is confirmed to being artificial as per procedure, ready to begin sealing."

"Lieutenant, activate the Temporal Rift STITCHES program."

"Affirmative. Keep me appraised on the people who set this off, I want to talk to them after this. Get this sealed before someone gets drawn into it…"

Secondary beams lashed out from the ship, and the black hole began to shudder, seeming to shimmer as the beams began to force the two torn sections of the STC back together again...

Poocher swore.

"I take it that means we need to prepare for jump?"

"Looks that way," Poocher sighed. "That's no simple trade ship. Looks like someone has military patrollers in the area, and this one's advanced. They've got an FTLi bubble around them, they're closing up the singularity, and I'm pretty sure they've seen us."

"Pretty sure?"

"The listening beacons caught some conversation within, before they raised shields. We're having trouble getting anything now."

"Get the beacons back, and prepare to get out of here."

"Yes, sir." Poocher replayed the bit of conversation they'd received. "Gravimetric signatures? Looks like our research teams will have something else to play with."

"Just focus on the task at hand, Poocher. Sensors indicate that they've got weapons charged, and we don't have any."

"It won't be long, sir."

An Interceptor Destroyer (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/beldragos/interceptor.jpg), The Celer, was patrolling in search for any signs of any Cassiopeians that escaped from their attacks upon their bases. The ship was deep within T-Space when an alarm went off.

Captain, we are detecting an anomaly. An artificial gravity well has set off the sensors.

At last, this might be one of the Cassiopeian ships dropping from Hyperspace. They are known to generate a gravity well to cause their ships to stop.

They are certainly backwards. Even a preschooler knows the KK drive uses them to achieve Changeover into Space Plus.

If they were smart, they would not have picked a fight with half the sentient nations among the stars.

True, what do you want to do about the anomaly?

Take us to Real Space.

Sir, I read a ship dropping into Real Space!

Get a reading.

It appears to be... no, it can't!

Officer, spit it out.

It appears to be Siesatian.

Damn! I haven't seen one of them in years.

Sir, Dimensional sensors are picking up a large craft to the side. It appears to be emitting some sort of jamming signal on its electronics. Possibly some sort of electronic cloak. Their sensor buoys are giving them away. The ship and numerous sensor probes are communicating together and we are picking the signals up.

Emerge with the craft between us and the Siesatian ship. If something fishy is happening, we best help out old friends.


Moments later, the Interceptor Destroyer (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/beldragos/Interceptor2.jpg) faded into Real Space about 2000 meters behind the "cloaked" ship.

"Sir, we've got another ship coming out of... T-Space, sir, its Balroggan, the Database says she's the Celer, an Interceptor Destroyer."

"Open a channel."

"Open"

"This is the Siesatian Temporal Destroyer Noritz, prepare the ISEC Code Interceptor, we are sending a Class 3 Message." He said over audio, this channel was already encrypted, but there passive sensors had already picked up the gravitational signatures of a few probes set around the area."

He closed the channel, and walked over to a little used console, this was the special computer, usable only by a Captain and above, that would Encode and Decode messages in the ISEC Codes, codes considered to be the strongest in the ESUS, and perhaps in the entire Universe.

Typing the message, he sent it via text, it was more secure that way, too many overlapping audio references to use it properly.


q?>:n}}+:?}:Q1~<:2<}H:~:W~U<}nn~I:~n~RI:}U+:~UU%):#1i<1:1$,1I+RIn:?}}:H _Q:1I1<n%:!1?#11I:?Q1:`utR):?Q1:LQR1U+>:~I+:P1~,}I>):~I+:?Q1:LuquXdZL:+1@R_1:?}}:~_?R@~?1:~I%?QRIn:}?Q1<:?Q1I:v~>>R@1:L1I>}<>):! ?:?Q1:1I1H%:>QR,:R>:~<} I+:Q1<1:>}H1#Q1<1
:uQ1%:!<}T1:~:Q}U1:RI:?Q1:LuX):~I+:_<1~?1+:?Q1:VI}H~U%):R2:%} :_~I:_}I?~RI:~I+:+1_U}~T:?Q1H):#1:_~I:1$,<1>>:} <:+R>,U1~> <1
mmVU>}):q:?Q} nQ?:q:HRnQ?:H1I?R}I):?Q1<1:~<1:>1@1<~U:,<}!1>:>1I+RIn:RI2}<H~?R}I:?}:?QR1<:>QR,): >1:?QR>:?}:} <:~+@~I?~n1):~I+:2RI+:?Q1H


(Note: This is not vulgar, or anything, it’s simply a thing Balrogga and I came up with.)

“Sir, the anomaly is shrinking, the gravitational fluctuations are beginning to die, I estimate another three minutes before the hole is closed.

“Then we can detain the vessel, creating singularities in a publicly used Trade Route, is not what we want, we can only assume they are pirates, attempting to drag ships out of FTL, and we’re famous for what we do to pirates.” He said, making a reference to the pirate wars, where an entire fleet had been created for the sole reason of wiping out every pirate vessel in an entire section of the galaxy, not easy, but in the end, the pirate death count had reached the multi-billions. “Only if they choose not to comply of course. Begin channeling power from the STITCHES program to sensors, and when you have enough, begin scanning the area.”

“Affirmative Captain.”

With the characteristic 'cloud' of energy, two Alteran science ships and a Death of Hyperion class escort were flung back into realspace, after picking up a series of anomalies on their long range sensors. Immediately the escort, the first of it's class to be built, broadcast a standard message.

This is the Alteran ship of the line 'Death of Hyperion' of the Alteran Dominion science splinter Hypopheralcus II, requesting that nobody fire on our ships. We are here to study, not fight.

The commander of one of the science ships hailed his escort.

"Hyperion here, what have you got to tell me about the situation?"

"It appears that a cloaked ship has been in position along this area, which is apparently a trade route for the aliens of this area. Ships of several empires have appeared, and are mostly weapons hot. A tactical analysis shows hat whilst we could quite comfortably take them on for the most part, there is a specialist battleship here which has quite the reputation for killing pirates. An experienced crew in a potent ship. I suggest that we don't get involved, but if it happens, I suggest you call in reinforcements of a very powerful kind. More Death of Hyperion ships would certainly be needed."

"That's not going to happen. We're here for study."

"Bizarre. Usually it's the scientists telling the military that. Well, all in all not a bad situation. I suggest that we keep the shields up, though, tempers are fragile, it seems."

"I'll keep that in mind. Hyperion out."

"When it rains, it pours," Captain Jones muttered, watching as more ships were coming into real space by the moment. "Poocher..."

"Working on it Captain. Okay, we've got the stealth probes in. Warming up another singularity to mask our retreat."

"So, how am I going to report this one? Another failure?"

Poocher sighed, as the probe bay doors sealed. "The singularity worked. That's a major step forward. But it looks like the stealth technology on the Joorian and the probes didn't work. Also, the probes ran into problems with shielding. If I'd had more time, I may have been able to correct the beams to compensate, but seeing how they saw through our stealth tech, we can't know for certain."

"I hate my job," Captain Jones said, as he monitored the situation.

"It's not going to get much better," Poocher said. "There's a fairly small margin for error on this next maneuver. When the singularity launches, it's already warming up in the box. It won't be far from us when it breaches. We'll have to jump as soon as it's away, and hope the engines don't cause a premature breach."

"Thanks for telling me that, now," the Captain responded, sitting back in his chair. "Should we send a warning out for them to not get too close?"

"If they're caught in the singularity and destroyed, that would definitely cause galactic problems. I'll send out a message immediately, as we don't want anyone dying today."

Attention vessels, we request that you keep your distance from our research vessel. You have been warned.

"Did it really need to sound so threatening?"

"I'm hoping to make them stay back," Poocher answered. "They won't stay back if they don't take us seriously. Ten seconds until singularity launch..."

Sir, we are receiving a transmission from the Siesatian ship.

Relay it to me.

Yes Sir.

The message was relayed to the captain. He ran it through the ISEC Encryption Programs and read the message. After thinking for a moment, he composed a reply and encoded it.

[`H477`y7o^[`o`/4=[\Y4x\o7`uFpp7[`o77`xFX`Y34yY`Yx`Z3[J`^o\\xZ`2[Z`oHoJe``"3[4X`yXxp[Y`oX[`Z3[`H[o6\[YY`Z3[J`3oV`4\`Z3[4X`[7[^ZXxR=o2\[Z4^`Y42\oZFX[e``"3[J`]xX2xZ`Z3[`ZXo\Y=4YY4x\Y`HxF7V`24G[`Z3[=`oHoJe``"3[J`o7Yx`^o\\xJ`34V[`Z3[4X`zXoG4ZoZ4x\o7`xX`/4=[\Y4x\o7`(42\oZFX[Ye``D4VY`Z3[Y[`VoJYe11B`H477`X[7oJ`o`74G[`][[V`]Xx=`xFX`Y[\YxXY`Yx`JxF`^o\`2[Z`Z3[`Yo=[`VoZo`H[`oX[`V[Z[^Z4\2e``


Sir, I am detecting a power surge in the vessel.

Place a Dimensional Bubble around the ship. Make sure it contains the Siesatian and our vessels too. We need to be sure nothing they do will get out to harm anything around us while still being able to interact with them. Also establish an encrypted data feed with the Siesatian ship. Send them our sensor data. It will help cut through their cloaking technology.

Yes Sir.

The ship pulled power through its Space Minus Tap and channeled it surge through the Mirage Drives. The energy coalesced into a large purple sphere surrounding the three ships. The bubble was at first transparent with the stars shining through but it then became opaque as it took its contents out of Real Space and into one of the dimensions.

Sir. The power surge detected in the ship is continuing and while we were in Transition, they sent a message.

Let’s hear it.


Attention vessels, we request that you keep your distance from our research vessel. You have been warned.


There’s still a power surge and we are detecting the formation of a singularity.

Move us closer. We will show them we are not afraid of a little gravitational technology. Make sure the Drives are fully powered.

"Singularity away," Poocher reported, and as it quickly tumbled out into space, Jones powered up the engines, taking off like a shot.

In their wake, a slightly larger black hole imploded, masking their trail as it began to inhale deeply of the area.

Captain Jones was shaking as he held the old transport on course, feeling the ripple behind them as the miniature black hole reluctantly let them go. "I guess we'll also get to report whether black holes effectively hide our jump trail, like the researchers suggested."

"Looks like it," said Poocher, as the ship came out of the jump, changed course, and started off again towards home. "Pity we didn't have a third. I'm sure the hole will suck up the particles our engines left behind from the initiation of the jump, but it would be nice to have a little more assurance they won't be able to track us."

"Should I be taking a zig-zag course home?"

"No, no," Poocher said with a shrug. "If they can find us after all that, changing course repeatedly isn't going to help any. Better to get home as quickly as possible. The outpost orbiting our new world should be at least moderately armed with Taledonian technology now. If they follow us home, they won't be too eager to engage us."

"What if they do?"

"Then I guess singularity testing causes more of a galactic problem than we first thought."

The Captain grunted, as he sat back in his seat. Today had not been a good day.

The Celer sat in the event horizon of the singularity the alien ship left behind. They had just barely jumped as the Dimensional Bubble was forming, a one shot in a million. Not even a Vegas bookie would take those odds but somehow they cleared the Dimensional Prison as it formed around them, trapping the two larger ships inside while they jumped away.

Dammit, they got away. The lucky SoB.

Sir, we have them on scanners, formulating a trajectory. I...have it Sir. Here are the coordinates.

Relay them to The Noritz. Drop the bubble and get rid of the singularity

Outside, the singularity was gently tapping upon the Torq Shielding generated by the Mirage Drive, actually making the shielding stronger instead of destroying it like any other sort. The intense gravity reacted with the drives to empower instead of drain power. Part of the benefits of mastering Gravimetrics centuries ago. The SGE rose from a concealed port and powered up. It focused upon the small artificial singularity and usurped control over it, reducing it until there was nothing left.

The Dimensional Bubble faded away as the two ships returned to Real Space.


OOC:

It seems you overlooked the Dimensional Bubble I raised in my last post. I figured a way for you to accidentally escape but please read the posts more carefully next time.

OOC:

It seems you overlooked the Dimensional Bubble I raised in my last post. I figured a way for you to accidentally escape but please read the posts more carefully next time.

OOC: Sorry, I hadn't realized I was the third ship in the bubble, I thought you meant the research ship that had shown up, to protect them from anything I might have done.

OOC:

Sorry about being unclear about that. I thought you would make the connection that I was trying to keep you from leaving. Oh well, allready done and over.

The captain watched as the both the FTLi and the Dimensional Bubble were disrupted by the singularity, allowing the ship to slip away just as the first singularity was sealed. But the damage was done, the STC in the area was a mess, the dimension itself was chaotic, with temporal radiation quickly making the area as inhospitable as the Siesatian Nebula.

“Captain, the Balroggans have a trace on their exit point, the ESUS star charts set it as Sector 335-113-A34-6-32-98-1V.”

“Be ready to execute a T-Jump, first I want to talk to the Fleet HQ.”

“Yes sir. Opening a private channel to Fleet HQ.”



“High Admiral Seefra, this is Captain Mehwetz of the Temporal Destroyer Noritz, the mission to investigate the occurrence of a Singularity in a well used Trade Lane has turned hostile, we have a trace on the pirate craft, and are ready to intercept.”

“Affirmative Noritz, we received the log, we concur, whoever began this could only have been either extremely stupid as to testing it in a trade lane, or attempting to halt and pirate vessels caught in the gravity wells. We are sending the Temporal Destroyer, USV Chyaku Norisu, and the Temporal Heavy Weapon Battleship USV New Hope under the command of Admiral Kate Sandecker to rendezvous with you, they will be there in five minutes. You are to follow the Admiral’s orders to the letter. We will not allow another pirate incursion to take the lives of more innocents.”

“Confirmed High Admiral, we will await the Chyaku Norisu and the New Hope, then we will link up with any Balroggan reinforcements, and follow the pirate vessel. What of the radiation? The Balroggans sealed the rift, but we need another ship out here to sweep up.”

“We will send the Research Cruiser Gemini to clean up, and gather any more information on the device used. High Admiral, out.”



Message to Balroggan Vessel:

We are going to await Armed 1 and 2 before intercepting the pirate vessels, Fleet Command has no doubts that they will have a stronghold, and are sending a Heavy Weapon Battleship to assist in cracking any defenses they may have. We cannot allow these pirates to attempt to harm any innocents.



Just over 300 seconds later, the USV New Hope emerged, its massive bulk sliding into real space from the temporal corridor it had been using. Along side it, the USV Chyaku Norisu sat, a carbon copy of the USV Noritz.

“Sir, message from Admiral Sandecker, she says we are to prepare to proceed to the coordinates provided by the Balroggans. We will provide support for the New Hope by assisting the Chyaku Norisu in the charging of the Trance Heavy Cannon, then we will crack open any defenses they have erected.”

“Acknowledge receipt of message.”


Message to Balroggan Vessel from Admiral Sandecker:

Haven’t seen a Balroggan vessel in quite some time now. If you will be joining us, we are only moments away from activating our drives, if you would like to hitch a ride, you wouldn’t have to expend any energy. Just position your ship behind the New Hope, and we will extend the field around your ship, then while we bring the Trance Cannon Online, you can deal with anything they send at us.

"Thank you, we will do this that. Please make room and we will pull up behind you."

The 80 meter destroyer moved into position, making the three other ships look like they were giants. It took position and waited for the Siesatian ship to extend their drive field.

Space fluctuated around the four ships, as time itself coalesced, moved fluidly with the practice of over 300 years, blue energy sped around the temporal bubble which kept the ships from being torn asunder.

”Admiral, how’s an 80 meter ship supposed to contend with whatever the enemy has to throw at them?” the operations officer said, referring to the diminutive Balroggan vessel.

“The Balroggans don’t need to waste space on crew quarters or anything like we do, I’m sure you are aware they exist in a state of pure energy Lieutenant.”

“I was not aware Admiral. I shall make sure to look closer at our allies.”

“Admiral, we are now ready to jump.” The Helms officer said,

“Activate drive now.”


With a flash and a bang, the four ships disappeared from the site of the singularities, and, within a fraction of a second, reemerged similarly at the final destination of the pirate vessel.

OOC: Care to describe the location for us?

"Homebase, this is Captain Jones of the Joorian. We may have an incident..."

Just as the transmission was being sent, the superior drives of the Siesatia brought their ships into the area.
Starcharts indicated that they were on the fringe of the Republic, at a world that had been indicated as being liveable, but certainly not pleasant. The change over the world was remarkable, as scanners indicated that the entire world had been terraformed into an environmental paradise.
Nearby, the modified transport Joorian was speeding towards a moderately sized space station, which was still in the process of being completed.

"Jones, this is Homebase... umm... care to tell us who the guests are?"

The Captain checked his scanners, and saw the small fleet. With no weapons of their own, the planet was completely defenseless, with the exception of some weaponry they had managed to install on the space station. If it came to a fight, the planet of refugees was doomed.

"If I have my guess right, they're going to want to talk to our science directors about their questionable methods of research," Jones replied. He hoped Republic forces wouldn't jump in, seeing the uninvited guests inside the borders of the Republic.

As the ships floated in space without giving any indication of their intentions, the people of Gargantua City State hoped that the end was not near.

As quickly as they could, the Prime Minister was summoned to send out a message to the ships.

Vessels who have come to our homeworld within the Republic, I, Prime Minister Hallard, welcome you. I have just been informed of the situation that has brought you here, and I am sorry to say that our nation has erred. If you would care to discuss these issues, I would certainly welcome an audience with you. Thank you.

The squeel of an Un'goy filled the command bridge of the Covenant destroyer Relentless Fury as they picked up the invading fleets on their scanners. Regardless of how battle worthy and blood thristy the Covenant were, especially the young Shangheili that commanded this ship, they knew Republican ways, and sent a message back to Taledon, the capitol city of the Republic. Command would alert the other patrolling vessels in the area, and soon a representative of the Senate would arrive to disuade these intruders from venturing any further.

The Joorian docked with the partially operational station, and Jones was quick to depart from the ship. He saw a political aide heading towards him, and waved. "What's the status? Should we start evacuating? They had some strange..."

"Beam the data to Research HQ," the aide said briefly. "Take this."

Jones took a small electronic data pad from the man. "What...?"

"Take the Joorian to those coordinates. Republic Forces are waiting there for you to lead them into battle against an aggressor on a border world of the Republic."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa... We're having some pretty serious..."

"The issues at hand will be handled diplomatically from here on, Captain. The Republic has given you a chance to show your ability to command. Should you perform admirably, I'm sure there will be a promotion in order."

Jones scratched himself nervously. Going from a research vessel to commanding a fleet was quite the difference. "Anything else I should know?"

"You are to use the Joorian's cloak, and guide the war effort from there. Make sure to broadcast messages openly between ships, so they can't pinpoint the location of the Joorian."

"Then they'll hear our battle plans."

"I said openly, Captain. Not without encryption."

Jones frowned. "The stealth didn't exactly work... Poocher said something about a grav...something."

"Well, improvise, Captain. You'd best be off. This mission sounds important."

Jones turned right back around, and headed back into the ship. Patting Poocher on the back, and turning his chief engineer around, he said, "C'mon, we're not done yet."

“They would ‘Welcome’ an audience?” the Admiral sighed, listening to the Prime Minister’s response that sounded as though they had only been going too fast through a docking station. “Lieutenant, open a channel on the same frequency.” She said, scratching her snout thoughtfully with a curved claw.


This is Admiral Kate Sandecker of the Siesatia-Balrogga Combined battle group, you are indeed correct in that you have erred. We can only think of two reasons a nation would open gravitational anomalies in a heavily used trade route, attempting to trap hapless freighters for piracy, or just plain stupidity, either way, we are here to investigate, and bring the captain responsible to an independent tribunal.

We can go about this entire process peacefully, but if you attempt to open another singularity, unwise, considering the close proximity of your home world, or fire upon us, you shall be met by our extreme displeasure.

Our terms are this, turn over the vessel involved in the testing, the vessel and the captain. He will be treated fairly provided he complies with the Board of Inquiry. Piracy is a very serious matter Prime Minister, and it is not taken lightly by the Unified Worlds. If you would prefer to conduct negotiations in person, we will of course allow you or a representative to come onboard our ship. Failure to either turn over the Captain, or respond, will mean the end of negotiations, and force us to use aggressive force to bring those involved to justice. Sandecker out.

“Admiral, was that a little aggressive in itself?”

“When dealing with pirates such as these people, one must always have a firm hand. These people felt nothing at endangering innocent lives, they must be held responsible for their actions, they can do whatever they want in their own territory, as long as it does not endanger the STC. Now, contact the Balroggans, and have them standby, push come to shove, I’d rather do more damage to them then they do to us, so tell them to keep their shields up, we will do the same. Get the Noritz and the Chyaku Norisu to begin channeling energy to the Fortress Shield, if we need, we’ll bring up the shield around us and the other ships to block their fire.”

“Rodger.”

Plain stupidity may, in truth, be the cause of this misunderstanding, Admiral. Unfortunately, the ship and her Captain have been called off by the Republic. I assure you that we can replace that Captain with the director of our research facility, who authorized this rather short sighted use of new technology. I assure you, our nation is not one of pirates, but rather refugees. After a bloody act of terrorism on our old homeworld, the Taledonians brought us under their wing, and we have begun researching defensive technologies to ensure such unrest never sets us running from our homes again. I more than understand your displeasure, and all I can say is that the science teams meant no harm to anyone. They knew that transports running the route would have scanners capable of picking up the anomaly, and they figured someone would get rid of it, soon enough. In both cases, they were right. However, I will be meeting with the research board and demanding that they never do research outside of our own space again. Perhaps if you would like to send representatives to our science facilities, and offer further suggestions for the future safe testing of technology, we would appreciate it.

Hallard backed away from the comm station and looked to those around him. The head of the research department was pale, knowing that his decision may have just landed him in prison for many, many years.

Silently, the Joorian uncoupled from the incomplete station, preparing to join the Republic Fleet, as it transmitted the data from their research testing to the planet.

“Admiral, we’re picking up the gravitational signature of another vessel in the vicinity. It does not have the same energy signature as these people’s ships, they might be the Taledonians the Minister spoke of.” The Operations officer spoke up, bringing up a holographic display of the vessel.

“Keep an eye on them, the moment you detect any kind of energy build up in their weapons systems, bring up the fortress shield.” The Admiral said, “Now, open a channel to the Prime Minister.”


That seems very convenient Prime Minister, while we send our condolences as to the condition of your people, we must insist on speaking to this captain face to face and investigating your ship. I must also point out that your new singularity weapon is not a defensive weapon, but rather, an offensive or first strike weapon, the singularities created are highly unstable, and would not last more then a week, and not only do they tear holes in the fabric of Space-Time itself, but they create massive amounts of Temporal Radiation. The use of a singularity near a planet or star would be incredibly destructive.

I might also send the message to your science board to NEVER assume that civilians or corporate run transports will have ANYTHING. Corporations will do anything to save a few bucks, and the sensor packages for detecting singularities are very expensive, making it hard for Civilians to purchase them. We also must tell you that meddling with the STC is considered something akin to an act of war to many nations, you should be considered lucky we dealt with you first, else you might have an Arizona Novan Assault Cruiser, or an Indran Temporal Battle fleet parked out here, demanding your immediate surrender.

We will allow one shuttle to travel from your base to our vessel carrying the head of your research and development department so he might be questioned. The shuttle will be scanned before being allowed inside.

As to your offer for a representative on your council, we must respectfully decline, however, you might not find it to hard to get a reasonable technological compensation from the Siesatian Diplomatic Office should you discontinue Singularity testing. In the very least, we suggest refining your technique so that it might not do as much damage to the STC. Sandecker Out.


“Prepare the landing bay for the shuttle, but scan it, I want it checked for any sort of device that could create a singularity, or any abnormal energy readings, I didn’t get my Admirals wings by trusting people.”

“Affirmative. Admiral… Sir, sensors are picking up a ship matching the scans of the vessel that created the singularity leaving the station.”

“Prepare to detain that vessel should it not turn around. And inform the Balroggans of our progress if you havn’t been already.”

“I’ve been sending progress logs after every communiqué.”

“Good Man. Now, open a channel on all frequencies to that ship.”


Research Vessel, we demand that you stop all engine functions and prepare to be detained for questioning due to the events that transpired in Trade Corridor TT2101-98, failure to do so will cause us to disable your engines. Please comply.

In a brilliant flash of light that illuminated the dark inkyness of space for a brief moment, the Republican vessel Avatar, a Taledonian Typhoon class destroyer appeared within the system close to the small fleet that had moved perhaps a bit too far. It raised its energy shielding, but kept its weapons powered down to show no intentions of aggression. Other than sliding gracefully through the void, the vessel did but one thing, and that was send a transmission to the foreign fleet.

To: Siestian and Balroggan Vessels
From: Republican Destroyer Avatar
RE:

I am Tribune Gaditicus, a junior member of the Republican Senate for the Taledonian faction, acting on behalf and with the authority of the Republican Senate. You are trespassing on Republican territory, and are cautioned not to move any deeper into it. Need I not remind you that you are on our turf, and within minutes your small fleet could be ripped apart, however that is not what we desire, we are not sure about yourselves. I have been sent here to act as an emissary from the Republic to speak on the behalf of her and her members. I request that you lower your shielding, we shall follow suit-in so doing you shall demonstrate your peaceful intent within our territory, and will not be considered hostile. Once this is done, we may discuss a location to commence negotiation, as I would prefer not to do such a delicate matter over ship to ship communications.

Jones sighed, not for the first time that day, and probably not for the last. Reluctantly, he brought the Joorian to a halt, only several meters from where it had started.

"See the galaxy, they said. Pilot prototype ships, they said. They never said anything about THIS."

"Don't worry, sir," Poocher said, focusing hard on his screens to avoid looking at the captain. "It's just an investigation. They're just going to ask you some questions, not shoot you."

"I hate this sort of thing. I had hoped the politicians were right, and I could go lead that fleet, rather than have to deal with this mess. I was almost looking forward to leading a good scrap."

"Strange, for a pacifist like you."

Jones grunted.

Meanwhile a gleaming new small shuttle, with no arms or armour, began making its way to the battle group nearby, carrying the head of GCS research.

Errr, hello. I'm a researcher aboard the station. PM Hallard put me on to talk to you... you say the singularity did a great many things, and we've just started analyzing the data that our transport brought back. I have to say, we didn't expect many of these side effects. But, as you said, the singularities are small, and not entirely stable, so they would decay over time. They were not meant as weapons, but rather more as deterrents. We intended them to mask escape trajectories, mostly, which your presence seems to have shown us that it was unsuccessful. The breakdown of your FTLi and dimensional bubble due to the singularity, however, would seem to show that it does have some defensive uses. Rest assured, we had no intention of using them at a sun or planet. As for the STC, we had no idea of the repercussions, and thank you for your understanding during these trying times. I'm sure if you have more questions, our lead researcher can answer them for you when he boards your ship from the shuttle.

The Imperial Destroyer turned to face the Republic Destroyer. The small 80 meter vessel moved clear of the Siesatian ships, blocking the possibility of a firing resolution with its own bulk. A few moments later, the ebon ship broadcast a message. As the words were transmitted, those on the bridge heard a disconcerting echo within their minds as it was also transmitted Psionicly. Those not on the bridge would just hear the words within their minds mistaking them for ship broadcasts or some other explanation unless they were experienced with Psionic communication.

This is the Interceptor Class Destroyer (http://balrogga.beldragos.com/Interceptor.JPG), The Celar. We are here investigating an act of terrorism intended to be committed upon random vessels in Trade Corridor TT2101-98. The charges of illicit use of a singularity within the confines of an established trade corridor with the possibility of piracy or causing damage to civilian vessels during peacetime is being filed by Siesatia and the culprits will be tried before an independent Tribunal. Any attempt to impede this investigation will result in said charges being applied to you under the suspicion of being an accomplice.

Please stand down and allow us to investigate the matter without being interfered with.

The Destroyer held position with their dimensional shields fully active. Weapons were not hot though. The sensor readings showed the small craft registered as having the mass of a small sun and the power readings were almost off the scale.

The Alteran ships hung in space, gathering data on the races gathering in this previously unimportant area, hoarding information like gold. Eventually, the battleship and one of the science ships began communicating again, on an open frequency. The scientist in charge of the science ship spoke first.

"Things could get ugly here. The Balroggans are apparently psychics, pretty decent ones at that. Most of the crew of my ship was almost knocked back for a couple of seconds when they sent a message to one of the alien ships."

"Are you sure? Command won't be able to spare any full fleets, not with the pre-war build-up."

"As long as the reinforcements don't arrive and immediately start blasting away, we'll be fine."

"Okay. Hyperion out."

Message to Taledonian Vessel
From: Admiral Kate Sandecker
Re: Re:

I am Admiral Kate Sandecker of the Siesatian Temporal Incursion Fleet, acting on behalf of the government of the Unified Worlds of Siesatia. A member of your ‘Republic’ has been found testing dangerous and unstable gravitational weapons in open and busy trade routes. If you expect us to lower our shields in the prescience of gravitational weapons, you are sorely deluded, in my time I have seen peoples sacrifice entire populations to destroy single ships, as it is, you can do whatever it is you like to your population.

We do take note of your caution in the log book, but that is about all you are going to get, as has been recorded, is your threat of using violence to protect a people who already admit that they were in the wrong. This entire proceeding was in the process of being concluded diplomatically until you showed up, now we will have no choice but to activate the fortress shield to protect ourselves and our Balroggan Allies, the Balroggans, I might add, have a certain nack for gravitational technologies themselves, I have no doubt that their ship could inflict crippling damage to your ship, station, planet, or even star.

The next choice is yours, you are to leave peacefully, and allow us to complete negotiations in a peaceful manner, or force us to defend ourselves.


“Message sent admiral.”

“Forward a copy to the Balroggans, and activate the Fortress Shield, once activated, have both destroyers begin charging the main cannon, ask the Balroggans to begin detailed scans of the Taledonian vessel if they don’t mind, if need be we’ll blast right down their center, filleting their ship down the middle, most efficient way, but if they don’t offer us that firing solution, I want their power and weapon systems from any vector.” Sandecker said, “And go to Condition 1, All hands to battle readiness, and unessential personnel to general quarters.”

“Affirmative.” The Operations officer said, before lifting a mike headset from the panel. “All hands go to Condition 1, all non essential personel report to their quarters. All marines go to your designated positions, and prepare to repel any boarders in the unlikely chance that they get onboard.”

“Admiral, the main cannon is charged 20%, we will have a charge in eight minutes, and an overcharge in ten. Point-Defense cannons are active, and the ECM and ECCM S.P.E.C.T.R.E System is on standby. Armed 1 and Armed 2 report their missile and torpedo tubes are loaded, and ready to fire.”

“Good, don’t fire upon anything that isn’t Taledonian should they decide to take this to the next level, there's no need to injure the GCS any unless they decide to fire upon us as well.”

The small shuttle came to a halt, just before the shielding that was brought up, and the research director looked around nervously. This hadn't been part of the plan. He was supposed to meet up with these foreign ships peacefully!

*cough* Umm... is our shuttle able to pass safely through your shielding? We have no armament of any sort on this small ship. Please advise.

(OOC: I assumed you were already inside the shield area at the time.)

Message to Shuttle:

You are already inside the main shield, what you are detecting is the effect of the energy flowing across your sensors, continue, we have already scanned your vessel.

As the messages from both the Siestians and the Balroggans seemed to be the same, a common message was transmitted in reply.

This is quite unacceptable. You see, as a citizen of the Republic, the Gargantuans have the right to discuss matters of state, unless it goes against Republican laws. This is clearly a matter for someone on the authority of the Senate. Your claim has been noted, and we shall contact the current Praetor, the Senator nation of Holy covenant, to look upon the facts. The Gargantuans shall be trialed by Republican ways, however, if you wish we may allow you to join the trial as the accusants.

Despite your claims to peaceful resolution, you seem to be charging weapons and raising even more defenses. You are mistaken if you think the next move is ours, as it is you who must decide how this plays out. It is simply forbiden of us to leave, and we are all involved in this now, as per Republican regulation. It shall be noted that it was simple ignorance of our ways that have led you to take this seemingly hostile stance, and we remain ready for peace. Once again, we ask that you stand down your weapons, and lower your main shields(we now understand how touchy you are about your safety, and will allow for standard shielding). We only wish for diplomacy in this matter, however a trial must be held in Republican tradition. Know that a fair decision shall be taken by the Praetor, and that justice shall be given. Note also that, should you refuse these terms, and continue to charge weapons, we shall be forced to do the same, and this could turn rather ugly.

As you put it, the next choice is yours, gentlemen.

Jones and Poocher huddled around the comm station, one earphone in each person's ear.

"Bet you didn't see this coming."

Jones almost laughed. "What? An all out war starting between the Republic and some foreign vessels because we wanted to test our stealth tech and listening beacons? Nope, you're right. I was completely unprepared for this."

The little shuttle holding their head of research had completely disappeared from sensors as soon as the massive shield had enveloped it. Even the larger ships hardly showed up on their computers. "I'm going to try to boost the signal, and see if we can get a better look at what's going on in there."

"Want to deploy the listening beacons? I'd be really interested to hear what's going on in those ships between transmissions."

Poocher looked at the Captain warily. "Hasn't our testing caused enough problems today?"

"It's a chance to use the technology for peace. You said you needed more time to adjust the beams for shielding. Here's your chance. If we can find out the intentions of those on board the foreign ships, and even the Republic ones, we may be able to end this without any shots fired."

"That cannon DOES look awfully scary," Poocher commented, as he pressed the button to launch the probes. "I won't bother initiating their stealth, since we know they managed to see through it before."

"In the meantime, offer to hold the trial on our ship," the Captain offered. "Perhaps in neutral territory, with officers from all forces aboard, there won't be the likelihood of them firing at each other... unless one of these groups is unexpectedly suicidal."

"Transmitting your request now, sir."

Rakshasa listening station - Node 034

Curious. Thought a single node of the vast ISIS battlenet, as it quickly assimilated a tiny automated report sent from a little sensor array that sat in empty space, light years away. For some time now, ESUS channels had been quiet. Relatively speaking, that is. But in the course of several hours, there had been numerous Siesatian accesses to the central databanks, and some unusual chatter. The word "Singularity" came up. That alone was enough to prompt the node into filtering the data to the rest of the net. In a matter of miliseconds, the entire battlenet was aware of the access, and formulating a plan to investigate.

In the dark of his room, a tiny red light beeped on, and a mental alarm rang through Daeshins neurite link - a message from the battlenet was waiting to be played, marked urgent at the bottom right of his vision, as the neurites transferred to his sight what they were computing. Thinking of opening the tiny light blue icon, it began to play, the silver face of a battlenet avatar speaking plainly, her neutral tones piercing slightly too loudly into Daeshins drowsy mind.

"Captain Daeshin. Make your way to the bridge immediately and prepare for urgent arrival at following co-ordinates. (Co-ordinates enclosed). I will brief you in full momentarily."

The silver face collapsed in on itself, as Daeshins vision re-asserted itself over the virtual. Leaning up from his bed, the springy duvet loosening itself from the forced lying position it provided in zero-gravity, he commanded the lights to switch on, revealing the cold grey room in which he slept inside his personal vessel, "Rabbit Hole". Having spent his entire life in a zero-g environment, gliding quickly towards his wardrobe, and putting on the bulky blood red warrior caste naval robes, all the while skillfully dodging the myriad pipes that ran from the bowels of his vessel into the ceiling and beyond, and the bundles of multicoloured wiring that trailed along, loosely braced to the floor grating was something that by now, came naturally to him. As the door to his quarters gently drifted open, he propelled himself down the empty corridor, a single dim light flickering on and off sporadically, and into the bridge, a circular room with a round acceleration couch with all the computer equipment set into armrests, and in front. The others of his crew already sat inside, enmeshed in the padded seating. Taking his seat, he looked over towards the navigation officer, who was busy re-plotting the course to the co-ordinates ISIS had provided.

"Take us back into hyperspace, liuetenant." He commanded, simply.

"At your command." Came the formal reply.

It was the formality of a crew unused to each other, Daeshin knew it would become more friendly in time - but at the moment, with the urgency ISIS had instilled in them, they had no time to get to know each other, as the silently slipped into hyperspace. As another image flashed into his neurites, he knew that ISIS was initiating a conversation with him, text only.

Sorry for the suspense, Captain, but the situation is still a bit of a mystery to me. To fill you in, Node 034 on Rakshasa identified a suspicious amount of Siesatian activity in the databank. Nothing exceptional, aside from a small fragment which used the word "Singularity", with concerning regularity. You and two other vessels, the "Rat Pack" and the "Panic Button" have been dispatched to gain any information, assist the Siesatians, and report back. Questions?

Just one. These co-ordinates are significantly outwith our normal patrol routes. How long until we arrive?

Shortly. The three vessels were picked for their speed. Given the recent upgrades done to each vessel, installing the short-range wormhole generators, updating the hyperdrive, weapons systems and gridsphere efficiency, journey time will be quick. The three ships sent were looping furthest out from Pluto - in your case, fortunately closeby. ETA 30 seconds.

Thank you, ISIS. Another question. The castes are aware of this, I assume?

Perhaps it's best I don't answer that in such an unambiguous format. ISIS out.

As the line of text trickled out of the bottom of his vision, a sudden motion pressed Daeshin into his couch - momentum catching up with the ship. Checking the large sensor readout in front of him, neurites interfacing with the ships computer, he took stock of the situation - emerging a few lightseconds behind the Siesatians, as well as a few others of types not familiar to him. Opening a tight-beam communication to them, he sent a short transmission.


Communication to Siesatian vessels:
"This is Captain Daeshen of the Warrior Caste, Eternal Empire of Jordaxia. We have come to offer assistance on behalf of ISIS. My vessels are at your disposal. Please respond. Out."

(OOC: Well, in all my time as Taledonia I've never seen this many ESUS members. I mean I was starting to think you guys actually didn't exist, or were just a social club. The way HT trumpeted you guys was a little much, and yet I've never seen people recognise their status in a thread before. Curious indeed. Look what you've done, GCS! Now I have to actually try to RP instead of just go with it so I don't look like a n00b. Grrr!:mad: )

(OOC: Well, in all my time as Taledonia I've never seen this many ESUS members. I mean I was starting to think you guys actually didn't exist, or were just a social club. The way HT trumpeted you guys was a little much, and yet I've never seen people recognise their status in a thread before. Curious indeed. Look what you've done, GCS! Now I have to actually try to RP instead of just go with it so I don't look like a n00b. Grrr!:mad: )

(OOC: Hahaha! Sorry, I'm actually enjoying this! ;) A little shake up never hurt anyone... well... maybe sometimes... when fleets collide. :p)

(OOC: ESUS Members are like Unicorns... er... no... Dragons, thats better, Dragons, hard to find, but when you do, you find a bunch of em, plus the huge mountain of gold. Care to sit upon my Golden Horde, ye knight?)

(OOC: Wow, what a great analogy of the situation, nicely done. Hmm...gold...yes, yes I do want to sit upon it, well no. I would prefer to gaze upon it. Knights and dragons combined would be unstoppable in my mind, 'cept against Chuck Norris who would just round house kick us.)

OOC:

Even the mighty Chuck bowed to Master Lee.

FYI, I have been a member of the ESUS since Sept 04. I just don't use the Alliance to make others do what I want when some simple RPing will achieve the same results. That is why I don't bring them up in a RP. Unless asked IC. There is no reason to bring them up.

When I get back to my computer, I will type up a post, phone just doesn't work very well for typing good posts.

The Celar remained where it was, blocking firing resolutions against the Siesatian ships. It was doubtful their weapons would make it past the Fortress Shield System erected by their allies.

An encoded message was sent to the Jordaxian ships.

Greetings, old friends, your timing is impeccable as always. We are attempting to investigate the unlawful use of a singularity within an international trade corridor. The culprits fled here and now we are being impeded by the Taledonian vessel. We are not sure if they will force a firefight but we are prepared for anything. We welcome you as trusted Sheildmates. You are welcome to join us.

A detailed record of everything that has happened so far was transmitted.

Again, the imperial vessel transmitted a message to the opposing ship. The vocal message was enforced by a psionic transmission in much the same way as before.

The incident occurred outside the Republic, therefore falling outside your jurisdiction. The terrorist act occurred within and targeted an internationally regulated trade corridor. If our allies had not discovered the act, any number of vessels could have been destroyed resulting in the violent deaths of many innocent sentient beings. While a nation can claim to do whatever they wish within their own borders, their actions can be criminal when endangering others outside those very same borders. The culprits involved must answer to the potential deadly situation they caused to civilian and commercial traffic that could have been traveling Trade Corridor TT2101-98.

The investigation will determine if the intent was malicious or innocent. If the verdict returns as innocent, those involved will be released and appropriate methods would be placed in effect to educate those responsible of the dangers involved in their actions. If their intent was of a malicious nature, the Tribunal will take it from there.

Your actions are being viewed as Interference with the Judicial Process. You are attempting to not only inhibit a rightful investigation, but also to attempt to threaten and manipulate the process undertaken so far. We will recommend to our Siesatian ally to include you on the charges as accomplices due to actions taken by you as we attempted to conclude peaceful negations, which I might add, would have already been over or nearly completed if you had not interfered.

Your direct actions has resulted in the use of the Fortress Shields and the reading of weapon systems upon our friends ships. If you do not cease your actions and withdraw, we will be forced to follow their example and ready our weapon systems.

The choice was never ours; the Duty is ours to prevent any further Acts of Terror from being committed by a nation that at best thoughtlessly tosses singularities inside an international trade corridor to see what would happen. We are following our Duty to the letter and everything was fully under control until you came in and tried to manipulate our Investigation. The choice is yours to either continue to impede the Investigation or to power down and back off so this can be resolved diplomatically.

Are you going to allow us to continue unimpeded, or do we need to take you into custody also? You stand corrected, the choice is truly yours and only yours.

As the lasts echoes of the message drifted through the minds of the Taledonian crew, the destroyer extended its Dimensional Shields to encompass their allies. The datalink established earlier clearly showed a gravimetric and dimensional scan of the vessel, as well as normal scans. The heavier metals needed in the drive construction showed up clearly on the schematics rendered by the sensors, as specifically requested from the Siesatian Commander. The data was also enriched with research material retrieved from the ESUS Data Archives filed by other members who had dealing with Taledonia in the past. Data on their physiology as well as social structure was included. Known weapon data was especially documented as well as structural weaknesses known and suspected from analysis of the sensors.

The destroyer waited, ready for whatever the Taledonian captain decided.

"Probes are in position," Poocher told his Captain, as he tapped some controls bringing them online. "Tons of interference from that shield. I'll work on bypassing it..."

"Good. I'm going to grab another shuttle and head over. They said they wanted to see me face to face for this, so I'll try to get this over with as quickly as possible."

"Good luck, Captain."

"Thanks," Jones replied, as he called the station for the other shuttlecraft which would take him to whatever fate awaited him.

Meanwhile, the other shuttle had docked, and the head of the research department for GCS waited to be taken to wherever the trial would be held.

Gaditicus felt a tinge of disgust. He knew all races that had to rely on mental powers for any reason was too inferior to get by without it, but then again, he had to keep his stance as Republican, not an extremely vain Taledonian.

We impeed no investigation, as it is your right. It is the simple matter of the trial. It must be held within Republican fashion, with the Praetor as judge. I have already asked that you be the accusants, meaning a full investigation would be allowed, nay, required of your party, as so you can fully make your case.

You may have just been in the middle of finishing a negotiation and ending this matter, however it would have been a violation of Republican protocal if the Gargantuans simply submitted to your requests without prior approval from the Senate, resulting in even more trouble for this citizen nation. This event was inevitable, I am surprised that the League of Hyperspatial Travel did not inform the ESUS of Republican protocal along with information about our people and technology. A shame indeed.

All we require is your confirmation that the trial shall be held our way, and this matter can be settled without further incident.

What you ask of us is to turn over someone who has already admitted to endangering countless lives because of either sheer stupidity, or misdirected malice. To turn these people over to a court system that will, by the very definition, favor your own people when it comes to international matters.

We merely wish to probe the minds of those involved, to discover if they intended it or not, if they did not, their nation gets off with a warning, if not, well, then they will have been verified as attempting piracy or attempted destruction of intergalactic property, and will be held accountable, accountability will be decided between the arresting nations, you need not worry for anyone’s safety, we are most humane, he will be given a choice, between reprogramming, after which, he will be immediately returned to your society after suitable personality changes to eliminate the tendency to endanger innocent lives, or he may choose to go into stasis for a predetermined amount of time... Losing several years of his life, but not actually aging.

I understand you have a war to prepare for, and I for one, and quite ready to order an immediate jump to assist your assailed forces, but should you continue to resist a most hospitable offer, we will be forced to create a war on two fronts.

OOC: Sorry, had alot of work to do today, and didn't get back until very late.

Poocher didn't like the sound of "reprogramming" anyone. But he couldn't send a message to the shuttle carrying Jones towards the massive shield without it being intercepted. And the way neither side was willing to bend, Poocher had a feeling this was going to end in bloodshed.

Onboard a ship with no weapons, Poocher saw only one option to save his Captain.

"If we're all going to die, anyway... it just wouldn't be right for the captain to die first." Poocher sat down in the Captain's chair. A small part of his mind wanted to make some sarcastic observation about how the captain's chair was more comfortable than his own, but this wasn't the time for jokes. At the Captain's chair, he put in an earphone so he could continue listening. If things didn't look up... well, he'd do what he had to do in the name of the Captain.

Gaditicus turned on his heels, and walked over to the comm system. "Play that back." he ordered. "Ah, well, in that case. Open another transmission."

I offer to you my sincerest appologies, I was under the impression that you actually wanted to hold a trial for our member. Should you simply want to investigate his intent, or "probe the minds of those involved" as you call it, then by all means, proceed. However, should you find it an act of anything other than innocence, we may be at odds again on the whole "reporgramming" issue. So, as I have stated already, proceed in your "probing" but allow our people to report to both the Gargantuan government and myself every hour with updates on what's going on.

Poocher sighed in relief with the Taledonian reply, and moved his hands away from the controls which would have spun the transport around and launched it at the warships.

The shuttle carrying Captain Jones carried on in its path, never knowing that the Joorian had come close to sacrificing itself, along with its chief engineer.

OOC:

I believe the next post should be from Siesatia, since he has the shuttles on his ships and he is taking the lead in the investigation.

OOC: I'll be able to post at around 1:00 PM Eastern, I have a buncha tests and whatnot today, been a very very busy two weeks, and I havn't been able to do ANYTHING as of late. Sorry for the delay.

~Sie

ooc: Heh. I thought the RP had died, and was considering what to do for another one. :p

OOC:

Don't you hate it when Real Life interferes with our Fantasy Worlds?

ooc: Most inconvenient. :p My thesis work does it to me all the time.

BUMP for continuance???

Mehwetz sat back in his chair, listening to the message sent by the Taledonians before drafting another message.

"If the investigation turns up anything then we'll leave it to the GCS on how they wish to proceed, we can either take them in front of the Temporal Council, a group of nations comprised of some of the most powerful Temporal nations in the universe, there, they will answer to nations even more protective of the STC then we are, and some cannot be considered either democratic, nor judicious in any way.

Or, you could allow them to be prosecuted, once again, only if we find something, in our own country, being represented by either GCS or Taledonian lawyers, depending on what they so choose."



"Incoming shuttle, we have scanned and cleared you for a landing, please land in Hanger 2B."

OOC:

I guess this fell flat