NationStates Jolt Archive


Diplomacy.. with a dreadnought (GII, closed, attn: LNI)

Hyperspatial Travel
18-06-2006, 02:44
It was a craft worthy of respect. The Malagnarian was the largest battleship in the Coreward Fleet, the largest active battleship, at least. Piloted by an Exailleon, this craft carried thousands of fighters, tens of thousands of point-defense guns, and a single, massive anti-capital ship gun.

Of course, the deadly aspect of the ship was not in the slightest diminished by the sleek, black appearance of it, and the drones constantly swarming around it like wasps, protecting it from all manner of space obstacles.

However, it no longer rode to war. The Malagnarian was actually an exploration craft at the moment, as the Exaiellon possessed no small craft, being a large race. Although the singular pilot, Meris, was a soul almost as gentle as you could imagine, being one of the few Exaiellon who had defected from their racial aggression during the Exaiellon wars, and aided the Coreward Alliance in their fight for freedom.

Meris was the leader of the Exaiellon people, and the mightiest warrior among them. He had been the ruler of them all during the Exaiellon Wars, and he had led the crusades to burn worlds again, and again, and again, crushing opposition ruthlessly. In the last year of the war, when the Exaiellon victory seemed certain, he had undergone a radical personality change.

Now, even though he stood nigh fifty feet tall, and had once killed over ten thousand men alone, he was sworn to peace. He had begun his self-imposed atonement, taking upon the name 'Meris', which meant 'Atoning People'. He travelled the myriad worlds in his ship, his weaponry harming his efforts, as he forced himself to remind himself constantly of what he had done.

And now he entered the dimensional rift his mind had created, ripping apart the fabric of reality with a mere thought, albeit a thought that had taken strain on his body, and his ship.

He quivered, and was gone, with his ship. In fact, he was the ship, the interface making his body and its one. He felt his great legs pound through the dimensional sea, effort pouring out of them as he aimed to yet another new system.

This one, he knew, was claimed, by one race, or another. It did not matter, however. He would converse with them, and extend the hand of friendship. He had three Orran craft with him, and they flickered powerful thoughts at him, as he sat, and strained what had become his body in order to find his way to the miniscule pinprick of life that called to him. They were one, in a way, having attained a unity like all other races of the Coreward Alliance.

You really are foolish, Meris

Indeed, your foolishness is great. With your power, you could rebirth the Lifeship, and make us living

Meris groaned, and sent a reply echoing through the lower holds of his ship. "Perhaps. I have learnt that it is not my place to interfere. All good I thought I once did was turned to ill."

You know these new races will be unsuitable for the Coreward Alliance

Why find them? Why not make the Unity greater?

Come, Merris! Heed us!

Merris had kept them on his ship as another means of atonement, their constant prodding to make him do as they would was another torture to be endured, and yet it had to be endured. He spoke, unwillingly, but it was another condition of his penance. "They may be. As you all know, though the Coreward alliance was formed to 'ward' the Core Worlds of us, the Exaiellon. As they did so, each race who joined it felt a certain 'affinity' to the others, they were psychically aligned to them, in a way. It was a matter of years before they were all as brothers, unable to conceive of harm against one another".

He waited for their replies. The Orran on him had been numbered one, two, and three. One always replied to his statements directly, two always replied in part to his, and in part to one's, and three generally said something unrelated. They always spoke in order, as well..

Yes, we know. We wrote that history.

At least, part of it

Merris, you have atoned for your crimes. Undo your atonement

He spoke once more, seemingly not heeding the Orran at all. "As they grew in brotherhood, their psychic powers grew accordingly. They were powerful, but had the maturity not to exercise that power.

Indeed. We are nubs, those who have no power of our own, but other find power through us

We have physical power.

This time, the third spoke not at all. Merris continued, again ignoring them. "Then we came. Galactic children compared to the races coadunated there, those races who had become an all-encompassing, all-loving mind. We attacked them in savagery, and won, as they knew not violence."

We KNOW!

"We were repulsed, however, and those of us who managed to understand the notion of mind-unity joined the Coreward Alliance, without reservation. For the crimes of our race, we attempt to repair the damage we did to the fragile unity of minds."

And? We know all this. We have heard this tale a thousand times!

Perhaps. Perhaps Merris is relating it to this new race we have encountered.

Merris sighed, and stopped speaking. No more queries echoed from the trio of Orran, the three "fighter-craft" he had on him. A querulous echo sounded, as he left the rift.

He had arrived. A ship, massive beyond the capability of most to understand, churned through a slim gap in reality, bending and folding as the dimension beyond this one compressed it, and made its physical form waver, as it fully entered reality.

This is the place. We have tracked this place as being a likely home of *diplomatic contact 13[info]*

But it is only likely. We are not sure if they are there.

As this was not a question, Merris sighed, his mammoth sigh echoing through the ship he had made as his body.

He found the correct 'voice', or the way in which he would speak to this new species. "Greetings. I come in peace. I am Merris, representative of the Coreward Alliance. We would meet with you."

Merris waited, no doubt the race would take the arrival of a massive warship, armed to the teeth with deadly weaponry, as a sign of war, not peace. But it was his penance, and he would carry it out..
Liberated New Ireland
18-06-2006, 03:10
Planetary Defense HQ of Thorah Kar
Second Inhabited Planet of Munster System

It was shaping out to be a quiet night shift, as usual. The Major in command of the shift had to struggle to stay awake...

Four hours before the end of the shift, the Psykers went crazy, shouting at the major that a giant warship was coming.

"What! You've got to be freakin' kidding me..." Colonel Sullivan paused for a moment, deciding whether it was worth scrambling the Thorah Kar Cruiser Fleet. After a few moments of debating, he decided to trust the Psykers. "TKCF Command, this is Colonel Sullivan of HQ" he said authoritatively in a transmission. "Scramble the forward fleet, we have an emergency."

Four minutes later, a total of five wings of cruisers (20 total, 5 being heavy cruisers) removed themselves from orbit, and headed towards the edge of the system. When the foreign ship arrived through a rift in the Warp, the Commander of the fleet was stunned. "HQ, that ship is... it's gargantuan."

"Keep steady, Forward Fleet." Sullivan's pulse pounded as he watched the scened that was unfolding on the scanner. "Jesus, he's right," Sullivan whispered to himself.

"Hang on... We're recieving a transmission..." There was a pause. "It seems that this ship is from the Deep Core... the captain says it comes in peace, and that it wants to talk. What are your orders?"

Sullivan took a long breath. "Escort formation. Bring it towards the planet. But keep your MACs trained on it. It could be a trap, but I sure hope it isn't..."

He tried to send a transmission towards the foreign vessel. "Captain of the Core vessel, please allow us to escort you to our planet. Our leaders would like to speak with you..."
Hyperspatial Travel
18-06-2006, 03:23
"Very well. However, I am bound to my ship, thus I must speak from it. If you wish for me to send a.. representative, I will be more than willing to do so, however."

Merris's form flashed into what he termed the 'happy' form. It was one he rarely took, but the lack of firing upon him was something he hadn't known for some time.

He waited for a reply, as he coasted gently along towards the planet. His shields and weaponry were off, completely, and his engines were almost likewise. The Orran suddenly spoke, and Merris was compelled to reply.

We do not know these. They seem strange. We know why you came here, but why did you know why you came here?

That was an inane statement

Keep on your toes. If you had any, that is

Merris waited, as he moved in accordance to the wishes of the craft that seemed to be somewhat wary of him, understandably, and yet wishing to nudge him in the correct direction..
Liberated New Ireland
18-06-2006, 03:32
"Yes, please send someone that we can talk to," Sullivan said. The control pit of PDF HQ was alive with activity. People were handing him memos and information constantly, and Major Sullivan suddenly became aware that he had been chosen as the impromptu representative of the entire Confederacy...

"Sir," a sensors officers talked to him, "the ship is almost completely powered down, and it's just coasting towards us by inertia. It doesn't seem to be much of a threat."

"Well, thank god for small miracles... Tell our wings to stand down to DEFCON 3... And get me a diplomatic staff together. I need speakers, a Psyker/empath, some kind of notetaker... Get it done, people!" he barked at the control crew.
Hyperspatial Travel
18-06-2006, 03:40
Merris concentrated briefly, and a piece of matter was spun out of thin air. It resembled a human, or perhaps merely a humanoid, but it was sufficient. It had the necessary organs for replying to, and talking with, and a few more crystalline aspects, however, it was satisfactory. It would be destroyed by anything that hit it, and had poor motor functions, but, again, it was an avatar that was made so he could control it with impunity, rather than an avatar built for realism.

"Where shall my avatar go to? It is prepared, and I am prepared to negotiate on behalf of the Coreward Alliance"

Merris waited, again, and, strangely enough, the mechanical Orran did not speak. Perhaps they knew of the importance of this mission.
Liberated New Ireland
18-06-2006, 03:44
Sullivan finally managed to finish his diplomacy staff, and created a makeshift meeting room in the cabin of a dropship.

"Hold on, Merris. A dropship is en route to your ship, and the negotiations are to take place on board it, if that is acceptable."

He and the command staff waited nervously in the back of the dropship for his reply, as the dropship docked with the much larger vessel.
Hyperspatial Travel
18-06-2006, 04:03
"It is acceptable".

As the bay slid open, Merris quickly undid more and more doors, sealing the diplomatic team in the correct bay, as they could quickly disembark. No doubt the first thing they would notice upon coming aboard would be the corridors - They were over fifty feet high, and a quarter as wide. A normal human would feel dwarfed in such quarters..
Liberated New Ireland
18-06-2006, 04:21
Sullivan was taken aback at the size of the corridor. It dwarfed him and his command staff.

"Damn, how big are the guys who live here?" one of the staffers said.

"Keep it quiet," muttered Sullivan.

The path laid before them was clear, and they followed it to its end.
Hyperspatial Travel
18-06-2006, 04:27
Merris was waiting. After all, there was only one way they could go, and his form shifted rapidly into one far more pleasing, a myriad of humans. They were all linked with insubstantial silvery bonds, and they did not contain any true internal organs.

As he was about a hundred times larger than a human, almost ninety humans scurried around in his control room, which was little more than a spartan cabin, with a strange set of controls, each one as large as the seeming-humans that were in it.

They spoke, although only one of their lips moved, it sounded as if they spoke in perfect, vibrating unison.

"Greetings. I am Merris. This form is chosen as to be more pleasing to the eye to you. I have come, as all ambassadors do, to discuss matters between our two nations, as you would call them".
Liberated New Ireland
18-06-2006, 04:39
OOC: Just to note, some of my diplomats are Kilrathis. Big cats... there should be some scattered in your gestalt...

IC:

"Greetings. I am Colonel Sullivan. This is my staff." He indicated the small group of humans and Kilrathi standing behind him. "What, exactly, brings you to our little Confederacy, sir?"

He did his best to grin easily, although, the hundred identical pairs of eyes staring at him unsettled him slightly.
Hyperspatial Travel
18-06-2006, 04:47
OOC: Ah, very well.

IC: Upon seeing the Kilrathi, some of the former humans simply.. changed, merging swiftly into what appeared to be near-identical Kilrathi.

"Curiosity would, perhaps, be my foremost motive. However, after study of your.. methods, I come to offer alliance. There are many forces in the universe that would wish non-human forces dead. Indeed, a friend of mine is meeting with such. Mutual defense is something I find vital, although most of my compatriots cannot conceive of violence"
Liberated New Ireland
18-06-2006, 05:00
OOC: Ah, very well.

IC: Upon seeing the Kilrathi, some of the former humans simply.. changed, merging swiftly into what appeared to be near-identical Kilrathi.

"Curiosity would, perhaps, be my foremost motive. However, after study of your.. methods, I come to offer alliance. There are many forces in the universe that would wish non-human forces dead. Indeed, a friend of mine is meeting with such. Mutual defense is something I find vital, although most of my compatriots cannot conceive of violence"
Sullivan watched the metamorphosis with interest, before listening to the diplomat again.
"Ah, well, violence is an unfortunate fact of life. Our people are well acquanted with it, unfortunately. And, if it is true, and there are anti-xeno forces at work in the galaxy, then I believe an alliance would be necessary, wise, and most... beneficial, I think is the word. However, we need to discuss some terms. My people are fiercely independant, so my first term would be, that the Confederacy remain independant."
Hyperspatial Travel
18-06-2006, 05:04
"All members of the Coreward Alliance are independent in their own right, or they were, until a mutually agreed-upon ruling council was created a mere six years ago."

Merris's voice flowed from all directions, and he stopped momentarily, as if thinking how best to phrase his words.

"However, the Coreward Alliance respects the rights of other nations, so long as those nations respect the right of the sentients within them. An alliance would not induct you into the Coreward Alliance, but would merely be a mutual-defense pact, or the like"

He stopped speaking again, and spoke once more. "We would only make such alliance with a nation who listens to their people, and treats them well, as we will make no alliance born of fear, or intimidation".
Liberated New Ireland
18-06-2006, 05:08
Sullivan was less disturbed and more intersted by the many-voiced Merris now. He thought through his reply for a second:
"I see that our people think alike, in many ways. A mutual-defense pact/alliance between us would be acceptable, but first, I must ask: do you have any terms to ask of us, other than the ones that you just mentioned?"
Liberated New Ireland
18-06-2006, 05:25
OOC: Hello? Hyperspatial?
Hyperspatial Travel
18-06-2006, 05:34
"Yes. This alliance will only be maintained so long as you continue to treat your sentients in a fair and democratic manner. We will not treat with any who turn to dictatorships. Other then that, however.. we have no material terms to ask of you."
Liberated New Ireland
18-06-2006, 05:44
"Very well, friend. I believe we have a deal. And, remember, if your people ever need someone to aid you in battle, you can always come to us. We are eternally ready to crusade against those who would oppress the weak and the different."
Hyperspatial Travel
18-06-2006, 06:11
Friend! They're rather trusting, aren't they?

Well, Merris didn't exactly give them any reason to fear

Merris waited for a moment, and one of the human-forms nodded. "That is acceptable. Consider the alliance made."

He felt Unity envelop his mind, the all-loving coadunation of minds sweeping the information away from him, and spreading it along, throughout every single one of them.

He simply ceased to speak, waiting for the diplomats to leave. The forms swirled together, making up a constantly shifting and moving silvery block, ten times taller then the humans there, which was now interfacing with the ship..

A single voice rang out. "You may leave now."