NationStates Jolt Archive

Pompey stood within the hangar, his gaze ponderously transfixed on the ring that stood vertically before him, suspended by supports that were erected, enabling researches to study both sides of the artifact. It predated anything else that had been uncovered within the bloodied Charybdis cluster, predating even the founding of Taledon by ten years by geological evidence. That's why it had been transfered back to the Republic with haste, and deciphered as quickly as possible. It had to be some sort of map, as it listed several co-ordinates; translated tablets found near the ring gave further evidence to that fact.

"General, sir." A naval officer dressed in the plain grey uniform of the starfleets stood tall and saluted, pressing his right fist against his heart. "All legions have boarded, and all fleets are holding position in orbit. The Instigator awaits your arrival, sir." Pompey nodded and turned towards the awaiting shuttle, noticing the honor guards standing as if statues, their armor depicting them as gargoyles; demons with glowing halberds.

Traversing the catwalk towards the observation window, Pompey eyed Gaudentius. "Admiral."

"General. The co-ordinates we've chosen from the star map have been locked into the navi-computers. We await your orders to depart."

Marcus gave his command, and the fleet of a thousand starships of various makes began to leave high orbit of the planet Taledonia. The various spaceports and construction stations bustled with life. This would probably be one of the last times the Republic sent out a miss matched fleet, the new Patrician class destroyers were the first step towards a standardised navy. It was all irrelevant, though, for the moment. Pompey looked up at the darkness that seemed to be halted by the window before him, the darkness that was quickly dispelled into a blinding flash of white.

A few seconds passed, then his vision returned. He rubbed his eyes, then gazed out the observation windows once again. The familiar stations and ports of the Republic were replaced with those of unfamiliar design and functions; the usual vessels that bussed around were replaced with those of unknown make and standards. The only similarity was the planet, mostly water, with island chains. The salvaged records spoke of a planet called "Cirrus", but it was believed that such relics would lead only to a dead planet, whose only riches were history and perhaps weapons caches that could aid against the Chronosians in Charybdis. It was not thought, however, that the planet, and as scans reported the entire system, would be inhabited by a spacefaring civilisation.

Cirrus. Kora system. Capital World of the Imperial Federation of Atlantis

Cirrus was a class O planet. In one of the many standard forms of classifying planets, this meant that over 80% of its surface was underwater. The 20% that remained consisted of small continents and extravagant island chains. Indeed, it looked like a paradise. The night side was just as beautiful. Lights could be seen on many of the islands, stretching out like spiderwebs, showing proof that over a billion people called this planet home.

In orbit, the first and oldest of the Atlantian battlestations sat. Citadel one, the first of its class, a full ten kilometers in hight. Now a Citadel sat over at least one major world in every populated system. It’s ‘top’ resembled a Greek or Roman temple, only more futuristic. Below that, massive pads extended from the main staff of the base in all directions. These were the docking bays and shipyards. Below that, extra, more traditional style shipyards sat. And below that, the base resembled something like a UFP Starbase.

Six more shipyard complexes orbited the planet as well, in various spots. And finally, hundreds upon thousands of small satellite-like structures could be detected. These were powered down defense turrets, arranged into three “spheres”, and encompassing the planet in an effective defense grid.

Hundreds of ships were located in the system. Over a hundred and fifty of them were official Atlantian Imperial Vessels, the Starfleet of Atlantis. They were of various sizes, from less then 100 meters to those over a kilometer in length. Many were located in orbit around Cirrus, reparing or resupplying at the shipyards, while others were located near other planets, or out in the system’s Kuiper Belt.

Cirrus also had three moons orbiting the planet. Uxau, a class D moon (much like Earth’s), Uxaul, a class Y demon planet (as in, inhospitable), and a class M moon named Erabus, which hosted a full 400 million people itself. It, like Cirrus, was also defended by a network of defense turrets.

The busy hustle and bustle of the system didn’t last long once it was clear that an entire FLEET of unknown ships had suddenly and without notice. Atlantians were slightly xenophobic by nature. They only kept in contact with a few other nations that had earned their trust. Elara, Xanthal, Phalanix, and the entirety of the Golgoth alliance. They kept away from the Sol system’s affairs for the most part.

Immedietly, the defense spheres of turrets came to life, powering up weapons and shields. Every ship within distance went to red alert, as did the battlestation. Every ship in the system was sent a distress signal, and the government was already contacting ships from other systems to recall them.

A transmission went out to the opposing fleet.

”Attention unidentified vessels. You have stumbled into Atlantian space. You will state your names, and your purpose within the next two minutes, or we WILL defend ourselves. This is a warning, state your business or leave.”

Dispite being heavily outnumbered, Cirrus would not fall without a fight. Atlantis had almost completely ditched its land forces with the exception of insanely powerful boarding parties with the intent of building up the navy and defenses of the nation. Atlantis was meant to be a fortress, able to withstand whole alliances of nations, if need be.

Atlantis was not an offensive nation, far from it. They were isolationist by nature. But whatever fight someone would start, by the gods, they WOULD finish it.

Recovering from the initial shock brought on by the many new sights of the system, a new incident made the hairs on Gaudentius' neck stand. Pompey, however, merely shrugged at the fact that their idea of finding a long forgotten storage depot was wrong. "It would appear that they speak basic. Which will aid us, considering all their defences that are currently targeting us will fire in two minutes unless we issue a reply. Open a channel."

"Avé Atlantians. We appologise for our intrusion, and will gladly comply with your requests. I am Marcus Sulla Pompey of Taledonia, speaking on behalf of the Senate and People of the Republic. This fleet is of the Republic, tools at my disposal. We discovered a starmap, and some tablets pointing us to these co-ordinates. It was believed that we would find ancient treasures in which we could study."

The planetary defenses did not stand down, however additional reinforcements were told to hold their positions instead of coming closer. Another audio message was sent to the Republic fleet.

”So then, you have come to take our culture from us. Our history, our possessions. So you can…’study’ them. Like relics in a museum?”

Marcus turned a sour face to Gaudentius. "Aren't the friendliest bunch are they?" He strode down the stairs to the bridge floor and moved to the nearest communications console. So much for the simple task of coming in, digging up a few fossils then leaving the place for the scholars to take over.

"We meant no offence," the reply started again, "For when we discovered your starmap, we simply assumed that your civilisation was gone. Seeing you here clearly puts us in the wrong, thus we have no claim to your culture, history, or technology....althought that last one could change if the situation were too. May I make a request of my own? Your defenses, while perfectly understandable, are making my crew rather edgy. On our honor we promise to remain civil while guests in your territory, so could you perhaps power down your weapons of destruction that are pointed at our vessels?"

“You, an unknown force, appear in our homeworld’s deep orbit with an excessive military fleet with the intent of plundering, and you expect us to lower our guard? You expect us to lower our guard on our HOMEWORD? I cannot do that. WE cannot do that”

The defense turrets remained online, charged and ready.

"Sir?"

Im Kmmta looked up. "What is it, Ensign?"

"Sir, we're getting hit by a wake. To create a wake in an FTL plain would require a whole fleet or part of a fleet self destructing while traversing this plain."

Im stood. "Where is the source of the wake?"

"Scanning... Plotting... Open space, but in the direction of the Atlantians."

Im sighed and looked around. The Gunship Archangel was a lone ship. It had no fleet anymore, nor did it have a home port. They were true Rengegades now. the pale alien looked to his first officer, a woman and former Renegade Senior Captain named Ransom. She was the only senior ship commander to stay in the Deep Void. "Ransom, alert the crew that we are going to General Quarters. Lieutenant!" He turned to the helm. "Let's go pay the Atlantians a visit and see who's planning on kicking a few of their shins."

---------

A rip appeared in normal space as a massive ship, on par with an Atlantian ship of the line in size, appeared far off from the two sides and rotated to a point that it was aimed at neither side.

It was likely that only the Atlantians would know the ship. The Gunship Archangel (http://img394.imageshack.us/img394/4527/renegadegunshipnw0.png). Six massive engines sat in outboard pods to protect the crew from radiation that they might emit if damaged, while stretching 3/4 of the length of the ship were two of the largest magnetic cannons ever installed on a ship. The last quarter was the loading mechanisms and the cyclers at the ass end of the ship which dumped almost all the waste heat from the cannon's firing sequence into space, using the void as a heat sink. Inefficient, but it worked. Other, more standard weapons were at various points of the ship. An interesting not is that they were all stolen from other ships and integrated into the hell in what had to be an electricians hell. There were even a few Atlantian energy weapons scatted about the hull.

Scans of the ships defenses were equally... odd. Not only was there a large amount of armor on the hull, but a hull hugging shield, covered by three stolen Xanthalian Triple Layer shields. Obviously the designers or refitters wanted the ship to be able to survive fleet combat to make up for it handling like a beached whale. It wasn't too far flung a possibility to wonder if one or two of those engines were slaved to provinding shield power and not thrust.

After a minute of scanning the two forces, Im signalled the Comm to open a visual channel to both sides.

"I am Im Kmmta, commander of the Gunship Archangel. This seems like a very, very interesting situation. I hope you don't mind if we float around over here and watch? If you don't then I am very, very pleased. And if you do mind, then well... I must inform you that I don't much care what your opinions are and will be remaining anyway."

http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/2918/renegadecommodoreso9.jpg
Im Kmmta

Pompey shrugged in understanding. It was simple enough, and not very unreasonable. If a giant fleet suddenly appeared within the Republic they wouldn't be met with a cup of wine either.

"Understandable, once again, Atlantians. Would it be a different situation, however, if I was to send my armada home, remaining here with but my flagship in hopes that we could set up a meeting perhaps? The chance to meet a new civilisation is always one the Republic jumps at."

A beeping noise caught his attention, forcing his curious gaze over at the next computer. "I am Im Kmmta, commander of the Gunship Archangel. This seems like a very, very interesting situation. I hope you don't mind if we float around over here and watch? If you don't then I am very, very pleased. And if you do mind, then well... I must inform you that I don't much care what your opinions are and will be remaining anyway."

Pompey swore. "They allow pirates to roam around freely within their territory? Perhaps this ancient race isn't as civilised as once thought. Still, pay them no heed, it's for the Atlantians to deal with, and any aggressive action within their space could trigger a chain reaction in those turrets of theirs."

The channel was silent for a full thirty seconds. Neither the Archangel nor the opposing fleet got a response. Finally, the fleet received a simple message:

“Then do it”

The Archangel did not get a reply. The Atlantians would deal with the Renegades later, after this crisis.

"What the hell?" Im looked at Ransom. "Who brings a fleet that big and then offers to send it home?"

Ransom shrugged. "Pakleds?"

Im chuckled. "No, these folks aren't asking for 'things to make them go'. But the Pakleds are one of the races stupid enough to do this sort of thing."

The Atlantian response plays over the comm. "All stations report ready. Helm... plot us a Valley Jump Point." A long silence overcame the bridge, but the calculating face on his face left teh crew confident tht he was working out all the angles as he always seemed to do.

It took half an hour, a whole uncomfortable half an hour with radio silence between both opposing sides. Communications had to be sent back home to tell what was happening, and orders had to be given, but eventually the fleet began turning around, the massive bulks moving like beached whales. They retreated several kilometers, then in a dazzling flash of light they exited the system, leaving but the singular command ship that dwarfed all the others in the system, a full three kilometers in lenght.

"There you have it, gentlemen, I am alone now. If you would be so kind as to turn your guns away from me now?"

"My God... they ARE Pakleds." Ransom said from the tactical station.

"No... the Atlantian commander just made this 'Republic' Fold after going All In. A very difficult thing to do, at a Poker table or in life. Helm, ahead half sublight. Plot an exit jump course and prepare to execute at my command. Tactical... keep the Cannons on hot standby and keep all other weapons on cold standby." Considering the time needed to get the cannons activated from cold start, being seen as hostile because of their partially charged status was an acceptable risk. "Disengage auto-targeting. I don't want to have that fleet out there getting too angry with us. Lower one set of shields and the hull huggers." The crew obeyed and the ship went from being nearly impossible to damage with an opening volley to being very hard to damage with one volley.

"Atlantian and Republic forces... I wish to avail upon you our services. The Archangel is a treasure of power and knowledge. Power to destroy ships of the line in a matter of a few shots and knowledge of backwater worlds that have relics of the past that would have historians busy for generations. Helm, all stop. If I may be so bold as to offer my Gunship as a neutral meeting place to discuss the matters concerning all three of us?"

The ship came to a halt a point quite close to each side, but still it's main guns pointed towards empty space. "I assure you that under the rules of space conduct set forth by the Crimmond Imperial Navy, whose codes of conduct we follow closely, you would becompletely safe here and would be permitted two armed guards as escorts for yourselves or a represenative."

An interesting proposal from an alien known for viciously executing entire crews of pirate vessels after raiding their supplies. As with the rest of the Renegades, his personal honor meant that he would indeed pirate... but he would only do so from other pirates. He himself considered the Archangel as a tool of karmic retribution.

Another minute passed. Then, simultaneously every turret’s weapon battery died. The shields remained operational however, signaling that the defenses had moved to yellow alert.

“It is done"

Every Atlantian vessel kept tabs on the Archangel as it moved. Not that the renegades were officially regarded as hostile, but they weren’t exactly allies. They were just here to watch the ensuing firefight. Why move? Unless they were going to get in the way for some reason…

The reason came. The Atlantians received the message. The reply to this message took even longer, as Citadel One contacted the Atlantian government down on the planet. Finally however, the following reply was made to the Archangel, as well as the Republic Command ship for observance reasons.

“What do you mean…all three of us? You seem very eager to get involved in this situation, Im Kmmta”

Im smiled thinly. "Yes I do, don't I? Let me lay it all on the table, Commodore or Admiral or whatever your rank is... as well as to you, Pompei. We need friends. Friends with starbases equipped to refit a ship the size of Archangel. The Guardian's Errant, our former home port, is slag orbiting around a worthless star. The rest of the Task Force is inbound on Sol to rejoin the Empire of Crimmond. To put it bluntly, Atlantian... We have no choice but to wedge ourselves into your bussiness, in the interests of survival."

Well... that wasn't quite the answer one would have expected.

Pompey was taken rather aback by the conversation that was taking place. Everything so far had gone nowhere near planned. Where it was thought the remains of a long past civilisation would lay, a powerful race stood. A battle armada purposed to take complete control of the system sent away. Now, a third party, requesting to host talks. He opened his mouth, ready to speak a reply, but then haulted, nothing relevant comming to mind. It was, afterall, the Atlantian's home, so it would be their choice as to where they would parley.

Im looked at the blank viewscreen as he waited for a response and turned to Ransom. "Amelia, if you'd please welcome our guests when they arrive?"

She looked at him and arched an eyebrow. "You think they'll actually come?"

"Of course. The Atlantians won't be willing to go to that flagship and this Pompei won't be willing to go to the Atlantian flagship. It would cause one side or the otehr to be at a severe tactical disadvantage and would make one side or the other appear weak. With us here, as a non-alligned weak ship..." That got a couple of surprised glances, so he explained. "Considering that without my tactical planning and the skill of our helmsman and engineers, Archangel would be a very easy target for any ship here... and besides, 'all we Renegades are just pirates with old rust bucket ships', remember?" He chuckles. "How little the fools know about what we can do. Speaking of which... Helm, Engineer? I assume that we are ready for flank speed?" Getting confident nods, Im smiled slowly, looking more like the hawks his species was evolved from. "Very good. Clear the flight deck. Prepare for foriegn shuttles. Raiders are NOT to engage armed occupants of the shuttles. They are to secure the ships and guared them and the airlocks. ANY Raider that opens fire will have to answer to me."

Ransom moved towards the lift and stopped at the Science station. "And make sure that Aenigma behaves. Aff?" The officer nodded and got to work occupying the... 'quirky' AI's attention.

Unfortunatly, that ended up giving it control of some sensors. It started pulsing scans across the solar system in an odd pattern... Any other AI would decipher the pattern as the opening to 'Dueling Banjos'.

There was more silence. After another minute or so, a strong beacon signal could be detected rising from the planet’s surface at high speeds. The source of the signal came from a small silver craft with wings. It was a personal transport.

Another message came from Citadel 1.

“Agreed. We are sending our representative and two escorts now.”

The craft approached closer to the Archangel. It gave a response…and one completely unexpected.

“Archangel, this is Empress Atlantia of Atlantis. I am requesting docking clearance. I repeat, I am requesting docking clearance.”

It was unexpected in the sense that considering the uncertainty of the situation and location of the meeting, the Atlantian government would send the Empress herself, instead of an admiral or a member of the Senate.

As this was happening, some of the ships in orbit began to “sing” along, as it were, with the Archangel, courtesy of the AI’s on the various ships.

Im started to signal the comm line open and stopped. "Wait... Empress?!" He sighed, looking at the old ship for what it was... an alien ship that was more than old and dirty, it was literally ancient and filthy. Not to mention dark. "Just what I need. A politician. Not only that, but royalty." An admiral might look at his ship with disdain... but a civilian? He was tempted to request a military represenitive... but pissing off an Empress didn't seem a very logical thing to do.

"Lower all main shields. Open a channel." As the energy fields collapsed and faded from sensors, it became clear that some localized shields were still on, protecting key systems, or relatively worthless areas that they wanted the enemy to think was key. As the signal was established, Im smiled the most genuine way he could... and looked ghastly. "Empress... you are cleared to land in the main launch bay. One of my officers will guide you in. Be advised that the bay is depressurized, to save energy. Also... please be advised that this is not a cruise liner, nor a polished ship of the line in any fleet. Please excuse the dirt. And there's a lot of it."

Indeed there was. On the walls, decks, uniforms and crew. The air smelled of machienery, sweat and smoke, from various repair jobs that were continuously being conducted, to keep the ancient ship in battle ready condition. Ransom was wearing her best uniform(meaning it had only a few oil spots on it and only looked about a decade old) under her EVA suit. Around her were several Raiders in armored space suits, sporting various projectile and energy weapons. They stood absolutly still, but she keyed the mic. "Raiders, best behavior. Here they come." Confirmation lights winked on in her display.

Back on the bridge, the science officer was trying to regain control of sensors and cursed. "Damn it Aenigma... give me back sensors. Do it or I crawl into the computer core with a crowbar..."

The AI's 'face' appearedon a screen, looking like a female harlequin. "Why don't you fight me bare coded, you sack of meat?" The image giggled.

"I hate AIs... all a bunch of HALs waiting to happen."

Peachy. Depresserized chamber. She thought to herself, as she opened the closet in the hallway before the airlock of her vessel. Pulling out an EVA suit, she sent a message back to the Archangel as the ship docked.

“Acknowledged, Archangel. We’ll be out in a few minutes.”

Atlantia put on the suit, then walked up to the airlock doors, and punched in a code. Looking behind her, she beckoned for the two suited-up Anubite warriors to move ahead of her. Just because she loved putting herself in danger didn’t mean she was stupid. She knew how important she was.

The door opened, and the three walked into the airlock. As the door closed behind them, the air was sucked out of the room. When that was done, the outer airlock doors began to unseal.

She hated spacesuits. They were so clumsy and undignified. The wearers resembled Terran Walruses, waddling about, rather then dignified warriors…or in her case, a dignified representative of her people. At any rate, the Anubites stepped out first.

Anubites were, for the lack of a better description, humanoid jackles. They were modeled after their namesake, the god Anubis of the Amun-Ra pantheon; one of the many pantheons in the Atlantian faith. Most Terrans would also know the Amun-Ra pantheon as the gods of ancient Egyptian mythology.

Behind the Anubites came Empress Atlantia. Both hers and the EVA suits of the two Anubites were clumsy, as they were mostly meant for zero-g environments, such as external ship maintenance. All three of them were silver, white, and grey in color, with a transparent visor.

Atlantia moved in between the Anubites as they surveyed the room for any danger. She however, was looking for the commander in the room. She eyed Ransom.

“…Am I correct in assuming you are in charge here?”

Ransom arched an eyebrow and nodded, keying her mic. "Yes... I am Amielia Ransom, second in command. You know, we would have re-pressurized if you had waited." Ransom's suit was nearly skin tight except for air bladders, an empty holster and other equipment attached. Well, at least we have them beat in one area.

Be advised. Current gravity is at 0.8 Terran Normal. the message came over all helmets recieving in the bay.

Ransom nodded. "Ship's standard. Allows us to work normally on a 1G world, but allows more ease of movement on the ship. Empress Atlantia, if you would follow me, Im Kmmta is on the bridge." Odd that Ransom had not mentioned her rank, nor of Kmmta's. It was in the records that Ransom was a Senior Captain in command of the Castle last time the Renegades were in an Atlantian system and Kmmta was the assumed Commodore commanding the Archangel when the gunship was involved in the so called 'Battle of the Three Navies'. She turned and headed into thae airlock, keying it shut after they were all in, pressurizing it and removing her helmet. "I'd welcome you aboard, but that is for Kmmta to do." They would be led down several dark and dirty corridors, turning in various directions for a few minutes, as if turning back on themselves a few times to disorient the arrivals, then enter a lift to the bridge. Strangely, they had not seen one crewmember along the way. Apparently they had cleared the deck as well.

Im Kmmta stood in the center of the dark bridge, an officer speaking softly to him. Im chuckled. "Aenigma! You will behave or I will have you reprogramed and installed on an ore freighter. I can get another AI easily. You are a luxery, remember that." There was a pause and a female voice floated from the speakers. "Aye, sir."

Pompey cocked an eyebrow as he watched the Atlantian transport make its way towards the Archangel, as it was called in the received transmissions. It would do wise, perhaps, to not keep the other parties waiting for long.

Adjusting the last leather bracer around his right wrist, Pompey looked about himself. Ancient clothes that were still used in everyday life in the Republic. A cuirass of hardened leather ontop of a simple yet elegant tunic of white cotton. A studded belt that covered up the front of the tunic, grieves of bronze and common soldier sandals. The dress of a Taledonian general. Flanking the boarding ramp of the shimmering grey shuttle stood two Shocktroopers, still as statues. Their grey full body armor only adding to the effect, and their blaster rifles propped up against their shoulders. Pompey nodded to them as he began the ascent into the vessel, the two guards following suit.

"Archangel, General Pompey is en route. Expect him shortly."

“Well then, you should have specified that you were going to repressurize the room before I got dressed” said the Empress, as she disconnected her helmet and handed it over to one of the Anubites. As with all Atlantians, her long hair was without any pigment, meaning it was as white as snow. Her skin on the other hand, was tanned.

As Ransom turned to walk off, Atlantia quickly removed the rest of her gear, and pointed to the Anubites to put it back on the ship. As she began to move off, she turned around to see they were still standing there, uncertain if they should follow her or not. Atlantia silently motioned for them to return for the ship as she walked off.

She wasn’t wearing any form of formal attire other then a small tiara on her head and a silver necklace with ten tiny jewels embedded into it, each one a different color. Everything else she wore was black. Black pants, a black belt, black boots, black wrist cuffs, and a black tank-top. She grabbed a small rod attached to her belt and pressed it, allowing it to extend into a long silver trident with blue lines extending across the prongs.

“Quiet place you have” Atlantia said, noticing that there had been no crew members since they had left the docking bay.

Ransom nodded as they rode the lift. "At the moment, yes. Security is paramount, so all vistors see as few of the crew as possible." The doors open on the bridge and she steps out, not annoucing the Empress' presence. She merely re-entered the lift and vanished back towards the landing bay to meet the next arrivals.

Im Kmmta stood looking at the viewscreen. "Affirmative. Once Pompey is aboard, we shall begin. Tactical, prepare to raise minimum defensive shields once Pompey is aboard. At the same moment, relay that this action is standard procedure. If we wished to kidnap the two of them, we would instead raise all ten shields and simply jump out of the system."

After getting a string of 'aye-ayes', Im turns towards his guest. "Greetings, Empress Atlantia and welcome aboard the Archangel. I am Im Kmmta, as you know. This will prove an interesting few hours, I imagine."

Ransom, meanwhile, arrived in the bay again and motioned to the Anubites. "Follow this Raider to the lift. Your Empress is on the Bridge, speaking to Im Kmmta." One of the many armored pirates moved into the airlock and waited. Once they followed, they were led directly to the lift, rather than the maze th e Empress was taken on. Apparently the Raider felt they would detect such deception. He would ride the lift with them, but not exit onto the bridge, instead riding the lift back down after they exited.

With elegance, the shuttle slowly lowered itself onto the grubby hangar floor, steam venting out of the pressure vents on the bottom of the craft. Nothing more occured until the place was once again breathable for those without a space suit of some kind, then the ramp began to slowly decend.

Pompey took the scarlet cape that was slung around the chair he was sitting on and threw it over his head, clasping it within the silver broches at his shoulders so that it hung neatly behind him. Taking his sheathed gladius next, he fastened it to his belt. "Do not allow any of these pirates onto this vessel or you'll be on crosses next time we see home." The soldiers simply nodded, their full faced helmets with the "Y" slit giving no reaction but a stoic glare.

Walking at a brisk pace down the steep incline of the boarding platform, Pompey stopped at the bottom and looked around, his right hand resting gently on the hilt of his gladius while the other was behind his back, hiden within the blood red cloak.

Atlantia used her trident as a staff of sorts, hitting its base across the floor of the deck as she walked over to Im Kmmta. As he introduced himself, she smiled slightly.

“Interesting indeed. And here I thought today would just be another day filled with boring paperwork” she thought for a moment. “I have a question, Im Kmmta. Why interject yourself into our dealings? Even moreso into a highly volatile situation? You could easily deal business with us without having to jump in between two fleets of ships ready to fire at one another” she noted the fact that her two Anubite guards had just entered the room, although she gave no physical or verbal note.

The Anubites were covered in Atlantian battle armor, specifically designed for Anubite bodies. On the two chestplates the Atlantian triangle with a trident inside it insignia were engraved. The rest of it was silver, with various body parts more protected then others, such as the chestplate, boots, wrist protectors, kneecaps, and other parts. Only their black furred heads remained uncovered.

Im noticed a shimmer on the screen as the hull hugging shields raised and heard his comm officer sending out the messagd to both fleets that this was standard proceedure and that there were much easier and less suicidal ways to kidnap high ranking officials than this.

He took a seat in his command chair, letting her stand. A small way of showing that he did not think that she was all that royalty was not high on his list of favorite people. "Yes... I do wish to say that one side was very well led and the other was probably made up of very good men but led by donkeys. Offering to send an attack fleet home? Sheer waste of time, energy, resources and above all else... just plain moronic." He shrugs. "As for your question, it's a fairly simple answer. I intend to make myself into a thorn in the side of your Navy. not attacking them, but annoying them and pulling their..." he paused. "'fat out of the fire', as the Terrans would say. The reasons for doing such are quite obvious to those that have studied the maritime history of the early Terrans."

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In the launch bay, the doors slid shut and air hissed back into the bay, returing it to breathable levels in short time.

Ransom stepped towards Pompei. "I am Amelia Ransom, second in command of Archangel. The Empress and Im Kmmta are on the bridge. You will come with me." She looks at the Riaders as she turns around and walks back to the airlock into the ship. "Gaurd the bay. Let no one but myself, Im Kmmta, or our guests into this bay until both ships have left the bay." They didn't move or respond at all, but apparently that trait was drilled into all elite troops in the universe.

After being led through a series of empty, dirty corridors to a lift. The whole time Ransom ignores any and all conversation, simply riding the lift with him to the bridge. Once they both arrive, she steps off and moves to a console without so much as a word to Im, who has turned to look at Pompei. "And here I though the Empress would be the one dressing like a pompus ass." Wonderful ice breaker... "Welcome to Archangel, Pompei. I am Im Kmmta." As he speaks, the pale alien remains seated and doesn't seem ready to get up to go to any sort of meeting room at the moment. All around them, the crew ignores them, going on about various tasks that need doing.

Atlantia’s attention was turned to Pompey as he entered the bridge, decked out in full, cape included. Could anyone GET more…oh, what was the word?

“Pompus ass”. Im had it right on the mark. Atlantia stifled a small giggle, but she had a definite smile on her face. She looked at Im, and her smile instantly vanished, replaced with one of more annoyance.

“I’m sorry, Im. I seemed to have slept through early Terran naval history. My apologies.” She said, before turning her attention back to Pompey. She would deal with Im’s “needs” later. One way or the other.

“So, you are the one causing everyone on my homeworld to go to red alert” Atlantia said, as she eyed Pompey top to bottom. “Why do I get the feeling they’re over-reacting?” Her trident was now resting in her left hand, with it’s base on the floor of the deck. Behind her, two imposing seven foot humanoid jackels stood, in full battle armor.

And while she had a small smile on her face, anyone with any experience with people at all would realize that was a mask for what was underneath. She was pissed off.

Pompey eyed the dirty captain, a look of disgust crossing his face for a moment. Re-composing himself, however, he stood up straight, as straight as a man of his age could. Raising his right arm out into the air in a salute he spoke a reply to the "Empress" as she was called. "On behalf of the Senate and People of the Republic, hail Empress Atlantia." He lowered his hand back to his sword hilt. "I am Marcus Sulla Pompey, Senator of the Republic. First and foremost I would like to appologise for our untimely intrusion within your sovereign space."

Then as if a bad smell had wafted into his nostrils, the general suddenly turned and looked down his nose at the alien in the chair. "You there, Pirate, why do you not stand in the presence of her Imperial Majesty? You space scum, stand!" he commanded with blatant arrogance, completely disregarding the fact that he was not on his own vessel.

Im swiveled in his chair and eyed the fleet officer, his face going from amusment to cold hearted and angry in an instant. He stood slowly, rising up to over six feet and stepped right up to Pompey. "You are on MY ship, Senator. On this gunship, I am better than a Senator, Empress or any other form of royalty. I am GOD!" As his voice raised to levels almost yelling, several crewmen started to literally quake. Quite a sight, to see battle hardened pirates who have seen and done almost everything to react like dogs that had just been kicked in the ribs. Even Ransom was sliding behind a support beam to get out of Im's line of sight, looking very much worried.

Im looked around the bridge and caused more shaking and even tears from a few of the female crewmembers by just glaring at them, before looking back to Pompey. "If you ever speak to me in that way again, you will find out why my bridge crew fears me so much, regardless of what nation you represent. Remember your place." He turns and stalks away, punching in a keycode and the door to his office opens. "We will speak in this room."

Theatrics. A whole fucking load of theatrics. This was going to be pleasant…

Atlantia simply closed her eyes as Pompey and Im had their little exchange. Im’s outburst was hurting her ears, and closing one’s eyes was a natural defense against loud noise…dispite the illogicalness of it all.

Men… she thought to herself. No…not men. Politicians. Well, a politician and a renegade. Oh whatever. She gave up trying to assign blame in her head, and simply nodded as Im opened the door to his office. She pressed her trident, which retracted into a small rod which could fit inside someone’s fist, which she placed on her belt as she walked inside. She turned around as she crossed her arms, and looked Im right in the eyes.

“Alright, Im. I’ve never studied Terran history in-depth, so I give up. What do you want? No more vague answers, because otherwise all you’ll be getting is more vague questions.”

The two Anubites walked over to the door, but did not go inside. They would remain outside the door, defending it. Atlantia secretly wished she had chosen more…sociable guards.

Im stepped past Atlantia and into the office, taking a seat behind the desk, which had three chairs opposite it. By his movements and the shell shocked look on the bridge crew's faces, his actions were not theatrics at all. One could only wonder what he had done to them to make them react that way.

"In the sea between Europe and Africa, there were empires built upon the power of navies. Fleets of warships and tradeships. Whoever had the most won, most of the time... then there were others. Lone wolves. Pirates and vagabonds and independant traders. They were poor, compared to those commanding ships in the fleets. So many of the best lone wolves became thorns in the sides of the great fleets. Some even had better ships than the fleets, aquired through unknown means... they began to disrupt the trade routes, annoyed the fleets and interuppted negotiations between two enemies. All for one singular purpose... one side or teh other would become so tired of getting harassed by this captain that they gave him a commision. A dock to tie up to, good pay and food for his crew and real uniforms and armaments, should they need the latter. All n exchange for not disrupting the fleet anymore." He sat back and smiled at the Empress. "And I intend to do the same to the Atlantian fleet. And if it doesn't work on you, it will on some other fleet. I can be a very, very sharp thorn in one's side."

Pompey stood upright still, as if the erupting volcano infront of him were nothing but the rain that was so common in Taledon. Infact he found a few similarities. The man spat some when he yelled, perhaps that was why all the crewmembers seemed to shrink away, a typhoon of saliva. Pompey choked a bit as the pirate began walking away. "If I receive some kind of disease from that then I'll have you on a cross. For that matter, I'll have you on a cross if you EVER take that tone with your betters again! This pitiful vessel would be erased from existance if I so chose it! However, seeing as how it wouldn't be very polite to the Empress to have a skirmish within her territory, or for grown men to be bickering in such a way infront of a lady, I shall reconsider destroying you."

He followed the two into the office, nodding at the soldiers who took positions outside the doors. At least Atlantians knew their place and duties, unlike these vagabonds. He listened to Im's story as he took a seat beside the young Empress, and chuckled as he finished. "Not surprising that a pirate such as yourself would tell a story that isn't completely accurate, simply to aid your case in hopes of receiving money you don't deserve. As I remember it, the Mediterannean Sea was patrolled quite well during the days of the Pax Romana, and before that as well, during the Republic they had. Pirates were caught, and cruxified, no commission was given. Not until Rome fell that is, and the weaker races took control of Terra. Silly creatures, humans. They have such good potential, but become deluted along the way."

Atlantia glared at Pompey. His attitude irked her. The way he seemed to continue to refer to her, as if trying to appease her. Or trying to gain the moral highground. And that gaudy attire. He reminded her of a certain Atlantian senator. She paged quickly through her mind for the name.

Ah yes. The Late, (not so) Great Senator Intar. One of the first to be killed during the first outbreak of the civil war, and one of those who had been instrumental in laying the seeds of that war.

But what aggravated her more then his smarmy attitude was HOW he refered to her. “In front of a lady”. “Hail Empress Atlantia”. The damned salute. As if she was some sort of delicate, yet magnificent deity. She had probably seen and done things he couldn't even imagine doing. “In front of a lady”. This chivalry, coming from the most belligerent person in the room, and that was saying something considering Im was with them.

But that wasn’t what pissed her off the most. It wasn’t the salute, the attire, or the arrogance. It wasn’t the smarmy attitude or the annoying chivalry.

No. It was the battlefleet. A THOUSAND ships, which suddenly popped into striking distance of her homeword. She secretly blamed herself. Atlantis had several thousand ships at its disposal. They should have been guarding Cirrus and the other major worlds and systems, not fighting a war of aggression against surviving Ascendancy forces and Zoir pirates in Zoir space, nevermind Atlantis's recent dealings in the Sol system. There was a reason why she was leading her people…and had that been the real deal, well…

They came. They fought hard, but they came anyway. Relentless, like ruthless swarms of locusts, only bigger. And they would not stop until everything had been devoured.

Atlantia closed her eyes, wishing for the image to vanish again. Not that memory again. Not that nightmare. This wasn’t them. This wasn’t then. She opened her eyes, as Im and Pompey continued their historical “discussion”.

Never again.

"You look somewhat at edge, Empress." Pompey turned his attention to the Atlantian sovereign, his face going from disgust to a soft but stern face, confusion sitting hidden within the features. "Perhaps, then, you'd prefer to get to the matter at hand so you may return to your palace? I could use a glass of wine myself."

Atlantia’s heart skipped a beat. Was it really that noticeable? She mentally cursed to herself, annoyed that she had let her mind wander like that.

She smiled slightly. “No, no. I’m…I’m fine. But yes…if you two are done discussing Terran history…Im, Atlantis and the Crimmond Renagade fleet have usually been on cordial terms. One would think you would have been more…” she searched for the right term, hoping to calm Im down before he went postal on Pompey, “…open minded to just ask. An agreement could always be worked out. A compromise of sorts. Not necessarily JUST for not disrupting our fleet.” She continued her smile, although it had changed from a polite one to a sly one.

“But we’ll talk about that later” she turned to Pompey. “Well, you wanted this meeting, rather then having us unleash Hades. What do you want, other then a shouting match?”

She laughed to herself inside her mind. Her “palace”. Back during the civil war when she had served as a shock-trooper on the Olympia, and had first made her true history known to everyone, everyone in her unit had insisted on calling her quarters “The Palace”. She still didn’t live in a palace, of course. She was the first empress or emperor in over twelve-thousand years. There was no palace. Nor did she want one. She was here to perform a job, not sit around and look pretty.

Im remained silent throughout the whole conversation between the two, but he tapped at a computer console in front of him. He had just discreetly ordered the hidden pickups, visual and audio, to start broadcasting every word said in the room as soon as the door slid shut behind Pompey to the entire solar system and to jam all incoming signals to any personal comm units they may be wearing.

He himself was studying both people in front of him and sat back with a sigh. "I have only one more thing to say to Senator Pompey before we move on to the actual business at hand. You think this ship is pitiful? Perhaps you think yours would look any better after five million years of drifting through open space, derelict on the edge of the galaxy and seized by a force of renegade naval ships who had to repair the entire ship by hand, whose current commander broke three bones while rebuilding the main powerplants? Something you would never dar think of doing... Now why don't you sit down and shut your mouth about things you do not understand, human... before you embarass yourself again?" The entire tirade was spoken softly and calmly, but with enough force to say that would be the end of the discussion.

He looked to Atlantia. "The only Atlantians we aren't on good terms with is the rebel forces. It has been several years since we have caught sight of them, though. As for Pompey's fleet... I've never laid eyes on them before. As far as I can tell, their tactics are either randomly devised on the spot or are designed to confuse a spossible enemy. That or this really is a gigantic misunderstanding. I haven't decided which, or which combonation, seems to fit best."

Once again glaring at the pirate across the table, Pompey threatened a reply. "Don't insult me with the title of human! We Taledonians may appear to be humans by our physical appearance, but our brains are much more developped, and we are completely immune to disease and sickness of all kinds. Not to mention we are the sons of the Gods."

He turned back to Atlantia, his face softening with his tone again. "I thought as much, a pirate would not have seen Republican vessels, or they would have been captured and put to trial, ending with death. And it was a grand mistake. You see, we found a relic that we must assume belongs to you on a planet which was recently conquered by the Republic in the Charybdis cluster. A ring, and some texts. We took it to be a starmap, and that is how we arrived here. Expecting to find the ruins of a civilisation even older than ourselves, we thought we'd bring a mighty fleet to secure the location for our own excavations and designs. I can assure you, if we really intended to invade and subjugate a people we've never heard of, we would have arrived guns blazing."

Im dismissed Pompey's remark about humans, who he had little love for himself, with a wave of his hand and continued on as if it hadn't happened. "We aren't pirates. Not in the sense you think... We pirate the pirates. We protect the prey. We have been escorting convoys for almost a century along the most dangerous corridors and have sacrificed fifteen ships in the defense of those we could have easily plundered ourselves. Instead, we jumped on teh other predators, raiding them for whatever supplies we needed. We were karmic retribution's own personal fleet."

He sighed. "As for your mistake... next time I'd suggest launching a few unmanned probes to look over the solar system to see what you would be jumping into. If for no other reason than safety... I have a treasure map hanging on the wall of my quarters that promised riches in technology and archeology beyond your wildest dreams... and it led straight to a star that had collasped into a black hole four centuries ago. I'd hate to see such an expensive fleet get destroyed in such a horrible way." Somehow Im managed to sound sincere about that. Though... was he talking about the people or the ships when he spoke of 'the fleet'?

Atlantia scratched behind her ear, but remained silent. …Which rebel fleet? Both sides had been rebels at one point or another during the war, and both had been present during that battle. In fact, she had been on the Olympia, which had been responsible for taking out one of the Renegade capital ships.

Oops. Oh well, the less Im knew about that little mess, the better.

However, something Pomepy said had peaked her interest. A ring…a stargate? Atlantia remembered something about the Empire researching such technologies near the end of the war, as they were becoming more and more desperate to save their people. Once it had become clear that nothing would stop the Zoir, the entire budget became focused on defensive projects. Planetary cloaking devices and shields. Stargates. And of course, the colony ships.

Out of all those attempts, only one colony ship completed its objective. The one that had reached the Sol system, and populated a large island chain in the mid-Atlantic, where the Azores now lay.

She ignored Pompey’s other comment about being the “sons of gods”. Although she secretly wondered which gods. Which pantheon. As Im finished his recommendation about probes, Atlantia spoke up.

“Is it so hard to believe that an ancient race with over twenty-five thousand standard Terran years of written and recorded history may still exist? That a people may survive numerous cataclysms that may have signaled the end of them, one after another?” Atlantia’s face appeared stern, but slightly haunted underneath that, as if she had been a personal witness to one of those cataclysms.

She looked the senator right in the eyes. “So tell me Pompey…what do you want?”

Looking down at the desk for a moment, the General tried to think. What did he want? His orders were to recover artifacts, not meet with foreign diplomats. "Well...." he started, "I'm not really sure to tell the truth." The sudden humility in his voice showing that he was a bit embarrased. "As I said, we came here expecting a long dead civilisation, but that's not the case now is it? So...I guess..."

He fell silent again, thinking hard on what to do. He wasn't a diplomat, he was a warrior and a politician, like most Taledonian nobles. By Talean, what was there to do. "Protocal" he finally stated. "When the Republic comes into contact with an unknown race, we usually begin talks. Usually starting with the offer of membership within the Republic, along with all the benifits that come with. Probably alliance afterwards, and at the very least trade sanctions..."

Im tapped at his computer console, bringing up a silent, text-only link to the AI and called for probability of the Atlantians joining the Republic. The AI replied by stating 'Please, sir... you're insulting your own intelligence by asking questions with such obvious answers.' Im smiled at the console and leaned back, letting the two talk without his interupptions.

Atlantia sighed. A salesmen. Grrrrrreat. She stood up, and stretched slightly.

“I am sorry, general. Atlantis does not wish to relinquish its control over itself” she moved over to a window, and looked out at her planet. The small fleet outside was still there, having gone back to green alert. “We spent a good deal of our history under foot from Terrans, and just within this last century have we moved beyond Earth once more to take our place among the stars, as a power to be contended with. And soon, once we have fully rebuilt our fleets and cities from our last war, Atlantis will once again take its place on the stage of interstellar politics. And we will once again be a proud people.”

She looked away from the window, back at Pompey, “We appreciate the offer, but we decline. The Imperial Federation stands alone”

Well…that wasn’t the full truth. There was one political entity, one fellow race of people Atlantis considered to be their equals and fellow brothers. The next-door neighbor Elaran Empire, who were even more reclusive then the Atlantians, which was a hard feat to accomplish. They were the Empire to Atlantis’s Federation.

"Not even trade rights?" Pompey asked, somewhat surprised by the outright refusal of even an alliance. Peculiar people, thinking that they could rebuild without any help and still be a galactic power. Silly people, these.

Atlantia thought for a moment. Twenty systems were under their direct control. Elara was a simple jump node away, as was Atlantis’s two other big trading partners, Xanthal and Phalanx. Another six star systems in former Zoir territory now belonged to the Atlantian fleet, with all the resources contained within. But still…one more trade route wouldn’t be a bad thing. But what could they offer? She was curious.

She nodded, with a small smile, “Alright. Perhaps trade sanctions”

Im watched them both. "Pompey... you have spoken of alliance, trade and membership in the Republic. All very nice words and wordsthat carry no promise of anything behind them. What exactly do you bring to the table? Military technology? Medicine? Elarian Ale?" Teh last one a joke, obviously... only the Elarians had more of their ale than the Atlantians.

"Ah yes, I believe I should explain those." He was still talking mostly to the Empress, feeling that this merc wasn't very important here. "Membership within the Republic gives you economic stability, military strenght, and power. The Republic is one giant nation, the member nations becoming provinces under the Senate and People's Assembly. Our military forces are combined into the Public legions and fleets, and everything is tied, making us truly one nation. Alliance with us gives you powerful backing, depending on the terms agreed upon. Becoming a client kingdom allows you to retain your independance, but are subject to the will of the Republic, and receive our protection and economic help, ideal for small or developping nations. As far as trade goes, we have many things, such as technology, luxuries(including fine wine), raw materiels, and most anything else found on the many planets under our control."

Atlantia looked back to the window. She folded her arms behind her back and put her head down some as she closed her eyes. “I know what a Republic is, general.” She said, in a very low and calm voice, “And the answer is still no. We have economic stability, we have military strength, and we have all the power we could ever want. Atlantis will never be a “province” or “territory” of anyone, and we will never surrender the full control of ourselves, nor our forces, to an outside power. As I said before, The Imperial Federation is a sovereign entity”

She placed her hand on the window as she opened her eyes, staring at her reflection that was obscuring the view of the planet.

“We built Atlantis to be a fortress. Impenetrable to uninvited forces who might try to take what is ours. To take our paradise that took us Thirteen-thousand years to reclaim. And even then, it is only a sliver of what once was.”

Explosions. Hulls of ships being ripped apart with a high-pitched scream from the metal as enemy fire blew through them like tissue paper. Evil ships that came, that destroyed. And even the planet was not safe.

A small tear formed down Atlantia’s cheek. Pompey couldn’t see it, as she was standing away from him. Im however, if he was looking and had a good eye, might have been able to spot it.

“For thirteen thousand years we were a shattered people. Stuck, scattered without a home on a primitive planet who’s dominate species kept us underfoot” She turned back to Pompey again. “No, I am sorry, General. We are not interested, nor will we ever be interested in surrendering our independence, our ABILITY to be independent from everyone else”

She cursed mentally to herself. She was getting too emotionally involved with the subject. Distance.

Distance was needed. A clear mind. She took a deep breath.

“As for trade…we have everything you just offered. As we speak, we are digging up the technology of our distant ancestors, reclaiming what is ours. We have a star cluster of over twenty star systems, all with nearly untouched resources. And whatever we can’t get here, we trade in from Elara, Xanthal, Phalanx, and Zoir space” Atlantia neglected to mentioned that Zoir “trading” had all but ceased since the collapse of the Zoir empire, and that the “trading” now involved taking control of the border systems to stave of pirate and warlord fleets.

She bowed her head slightly, eyes closed again. “Atlantis is a bastion. I apologize that you came all this way for nothing, general. Perhaps something less-businesslike. An extension of friendship of sorts?”

Im was indeed watching and saw the tear. As she finished, Im spoke again. "The Atlantians have been a society that has interested me for... some time. They were decimated by the Zoir and rebuilt. They became stronger than the Zoir... not on their own though. They had help from outside the galaxy. Dark ships that can cut through fleets. That can turn a world like Earth into a wasteland that will never recover. They were driven back... they fled into the Great Void outside the galaxy. Though I have ran across a few of their scoutships in my travels over the past decade. They may have been beaten back, but they are watching this galaxy still." As he spoke, his eyes unfocused and he seemed toforget that either of them were there. Or that the entire conversation was being broadcast to the whole solar system...

Suddenly, he lifted his eyes and snapped back to reality, looking at Atlantia for a long moment. "Forgive me..." He said softly, embarassed at the subject he brought up. "I sometimes lose myself in history..."

Pompey nodded in understanding, and stood from his chair as well, noticing that the meeting was wrapping up. "I understand fully your desire to remain sovereign and independant, you made that clear the first time, however our host wished to know, so I explained." He began walking over to Atlantia, and stopped about a meter distant from her. "Friendship would be a good thing, for both of us I would think, and though you have everything you need(as do we by the way) trade is the lifeblood of strong ties. But then, let the different businesses deal with the technical things within such an agreement. I would, however, wish to sign some sort of mutual non-aggression pact for now, perhaps if only to let all know that the Republic and...Federation was it? Are now friends."

Almost as if just now remembering Im, Pompey turned sharply to face the still seated alien. "You! You said you were part of some nation? Crimmond was it not?"

Im looked at him and smirked. "Are you that desperate to get someone to join your Republic? Save your breath, Pompey. The Empire of Crimmond has a track record of attacking democracies for no other reason than that they are democracies." He sighed and leaned back. "And I am as far removed from a Crimm as I can be... though my crew is descended from them."

Atlantia glared at Im. Dark ships? She became slightly worried.

The Demons? They were the mortal enemies of the Zoir. The predator’s predator. But…what did Im know about the Demons? Obviously not too much. The Atlantians and the Zoir had fought on the same side the last time they had been seen, they were FAR from allies of her people. She shrugged the thought off. Later. She would deal with it later.

Flashes. Destruction. Death. More then just memories now. Visions.

“I will await the non-agression pact, general” she said, extending her trident again, and interrupting both Im and Pompey. “I invite you or whoever will be sending it to the Senate chambers on Cirrus. But for now I must go. There is something pressing I must attend to.”

She walked to the doorway, then turned around. “Im…contact me when you have the chance. We’ll talk about that deal.”

She moved out the door, followed by her Anubites. As soon as she was out of their line of sight (although still in the sight of the bridge crew), her mind was flooded.

A hundred-thousand Zoir vessels moved inside the orbit of Atlantis’s moon, all of various sizes. Some were simple fighters and scoutcraft, while others were many, many kilometers in length. The largest was over 20 kilometers, and was headed straight for the planet.

In its defense was a fleet of every surviving Atlantian ship not yet destroyed, supplemented by the surviving fleets of every allied species that the Zoir had already blown to Tartarus.

A ferocious battle ensued. For a moment, it seemed as though the defense fleet may have been able to survive. But more Zoir ships came, again and again.

Atlantia watched them fight onboard a colony ship as it left the world. No…not a colony ship, THE colony ship. Off in the distance, she could make out a few more leaving. One was sliced apart by one of the larger Zoir battleships.

But wait…those weren’t Zoir ships anymore. They had become black, so dark they were almost like darkness themselves. Tendrils extended from them, creating spikes. And now there weren’t hundreds of thousands, but millions. They swarmed around her, and her world.

A world that was no longer Atlantis, but Cirrus. She screamed, but no one could hear her.

Atlantia almost dropped to her knees before she regained awareness. Only because of her trident did she not. She panted heavily as the Anubites helped her upright.

“I’m…I’m fine” she whispered to them, which was an obvious lie. What was that? What…

…What did Im know?

“Lets go home” she said to her two guards, “I need to deal with something”

"We wish nothing of the kind from your nation, Im" Pomepy retorted, "I simply wished to confirm the fact. Two new races were met here today, and it would never do for me not to learn the history and culture of these two for the Republic's archives."

Interupted by Atlantia, who said her goodbyes, Pompey bowed slighty. "When I return to my vessel I can call back to Taledon and recieve a treaty, if permitted I shall descend to your planet afterwards to discuss it with your majesty."

As Atlantia left the room, Pompey turned back to the alien, for the first time his face not being one of disgust or insult. "So, you help the weak and innocent do you? If you'd like, I could see about an agreement similar to what you want with the Atlantians could be made for the Republic as well. We could even fix up and clean this vessel for you."

Ransom stepped up to Atlantia and eyed her for a second. "I hope you are not unwell, Empress." She said, obviously indifferent to her health. "I will escort you back to your ship, now." She waits for them to enter the lift and follows, leading them straight to the launch bay, with none of the twists and turns that she had led Atlantia through when she arrived. As they entered the bay, she looked at Atlantia and spoke softly. "Empress... I feel that I must inform you that the full conversation you had with Im Kmmta in his office was being broadcast to this solar system on an open, uncoded channel. I do not think this was a proper thing to do, but I had my orders. I felt you should know now, before your officers inform you."

-------

Im hit a few buttons and the transmission to the system stops, as does the jamming of all incoming messages. "I have no nation, Pompey. The Crimm are humans. I am much more advanced a being in intellect and in genetics. Their history interests me, but that is where their endearing qualities end.

"As for your offer, I do not think it will be needed. I intend to gain one with the Atlantians, who will be able to provide my ship with a home port and supplies. I will give you some advice though." He pressed a button and a ship made of shimmiering black material, with many angry looking points on it's leading edges appeared on a wall mounted screen.

"You heard me mention the dark ships? This is one of them. I did not wish to show it while she was here, considering the tragic events surrrounding them. They attack from outside the galaxy and kill everything. They turn colony planets into lifeless wastes. And there have been recent sightings of their scouts... meaning they are observing the galaxy and judging whether or not an attack would suceed this time. If you wish the Atlantians to survive, I urge you to insist on a defense pact, before there is a second Demon War. You and they and their allies could beat them. Without a powerful fleet such as yours, with resources protected by distance... they may not win. Or a win may be so costly as to reduce this whole sector to ruins."

Im stood and looked him in the eyes, completely serious. "They need you, as they need me. I am but one captain on one ship... I could help win a few battles. You can help end a war that may not come for years, if ever." For all his blustering and cockiness, he actually seemed to care a great deal about the Atlantians safety.

Pompey looked back at the alien, serious himself. "A defence pact would be acceptable to the Republic, however she seemed set on standing alone. I would very much like some information files sent to my ship on the history of these people, and this Demon War. Allies such as these people would be good, as we ourselves may be entering into a grand war. Quid pro quo, a quick victory for us would mean more we can offer them should these...demons return to the galaxy. We have technology that could be of great help to the Atlantians, powerful weaponary."

OOC: http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=515279

The fourth post of that thread breifly explains the history, although I recomend reading all of it, just because I can. ;)

IC:

Atlantia rubbed her forehead with her hand, as if getting a mild headach. “…Understood. Thank you”

With that Atlantia motioned for her two guards to head up into the ship. The Empress followed them, slowly. She was still reeling from the…vision? Whatever that had been. Her vision was slightly blurry and she felt dizzy. She was visibly shaken by whatever she had seen. The door to her transport shut behind her.

Ransom nodded and exited and the Raiding parties clipped into hooks, as one could ndver be too careful when dealing with decompression. The air hissed slowly from the bay slowly, until the Republic gaurds were aboard and sealed up. Then it became a roar as massive pumps sucked the air out. Then the outer dors opened and the shimmer of the shields vanished. The gunship signaled they were clear to leave and once they had closed the doors and re-pressurized.

---

Im looks at him. "I... cannot do that. I do not have enough information about what actually happened. The Atlantians would be more able to meet your needs in that regard. All I know is that if one of your cruisers sees a Demon ship, they should make at least fifteen random jumps and then find a place to hide." He pressed a button and a map appeared. "And what it did to the Zoir." He pushed a button and the Zoir's estimated borders went from gigantic to barely enough to sustain a interstellar empire of any sort. "And they were and still are the best equipped to fight the Demons." The screen went blank. "Atlantia is a proud woman, stronger than I expected. She has obviously seen much more than she ever wanted to see and has become a better ruler for it, I hope. Approach her on the grounds that you have learned of the Demons and know that they have been at war with Atlantis. Tell her you wish to arm yourself against such a threat and wish to assist her if they return to the galaxy." He turns on Pompey and glares at him suddenly. "But I warn you... only say those words if you mean to abide by them, or you and I will meet again in much less cordial a setting."

(OOC: I'm so very glad I was able to set up this meeting, that story of yours is exquisite, and both of you are damn good RPers, I do hope we can all come to some agreements that will allow us to continue relations in the future.)

IC:

Pompey's eyes narrowed, his amicable face once again returning to that of dislike, his hand once again moving to rest on the hilt of his gladius. The tenacity of this space pirate, insulting a Republican Senator, even threatening him.

"What did I say about the threats, Im?" he said with hate, "And the Republic never makes a deal they do not keep. We are an honorable people. I must thank you for playing host, but perhaps next time you can serve wine. If things go well with the Atlantians, then I assume I'll be talking with you again sometime."

He followed the crewmember back through the dusty ship towards the hanger where his shuttle was positioned. The de-compression phase was rather loud, causing Pompey to grimace at the annoying sound. He missed his clean battle cruiser, his ship that had energy shields within the hangers to make it unnecessary for de-compression and re-compression processes. He missed the strong wine he had within his chamber.

"Admiral."

The bridge door slid shut behind him as he made his way along the catwalk, to his sides and below him the various fleet officers and technicians worked at their stations, the low humming and beeping noises emminating from the consoles.

"General, did you enjoy your visit to that rust bucket?"

"Shut up and send a transmission to Cirrus...uh, the Atlantian planet we are facing. Request permission for me to descend to the planet to meet with Empress Atlantia again....In the morning that is. I need a drink."

The Admiral nodded as Pompey turned and began walking towards the bridge doors once again, unbuckling his cape and cruirass as he went.

Im Kmmta said nothing as Pompey left and stayed in his office as his ship left, looking out at the stars. "Things are progressing faster than I had anticipated. I need more ships than I have." He sighed and called up an old starchart, a blip appearing outside the galaxy by about 25,000 lightyears. "Aenigma..." he said quietly.

"Yes, sir?" the AI answered, voice floating from nowhere.

"Look at this starchart and update it for orbital drift." He watched as the stars moved.

"Done, sir."

"Have the helm set a course for the marked starsystem. I have reason to believe that there are starships like Archangel there." He took a seat behind his desk and stared at the map. If I am wrong... we will all die. As will any hope of helping the Atlantians.

"Aye, aye sir." The AI answered and left Im in silence.

----------

The Archangel slowly turned and powered away, turning 'up' from teh galactic plane and jumping away. No messages were sent... they just turned around and left.

[My story continued here: http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=515727]