NationStates Jolt Archive

Almost as soon as the Third Fleet returned, battered but triumphant, the rumers began to fly. That Palpatine was killed in battle. That Daniel Masaki was somehow involved. That the Executor has fallen as well. That the Battlestar Coredia was involved in that incident as well. That a giant all-consuming storm has swept the area where the Emperor was killed.

The rumors will come to rest very soon with summons from all those who fight the Empire.

To all who fight the Empire.

We have much to tell you and little time to say it all. Please send a representative to the White Planet of Jurai as soon as you possibly can.

John Rosencrantz of the Commissariat for Foreign Affairs was immediately sent to the White Planet as soon as possible. If this was as big as this promised to be, New Dornalia had to be in.

Above the White Planet, dozens of ships suddenly reverted to realspace, followed by the flagships Tyrannosaur, Dragon King and Yondaime, carrying members of the High Council and the Military High Command, not to mention members of the press. Moments later, the Much Ado About Nothing also reverted to realspace.

Dozens of shuttles and fighters rained down upon the planet, but it was not to war or anything like that. They were all heading for the Temple, where the conference will take place. There are actually two conferences to make. One that is public and will announce certain matters that have come to pass. The other that will come before, will be closed-door for the High Command and the delegates that will arrive very soon.

At the Temple, refreshments and a long table were being set up for the esteemed guests in the main hall while warm air was piped up from the generators to keep out the cold. And cold it was. Guests were warned to bring warm clothing.

The entire planet, save the half that Godular holds, was enthralled in a fierce Ice Age that would take decades to recover from. Snow lifeforms were imported to proved a sense of ecosystem, but it was clear that the Empire has scoured the world for a long time to come. It's not for nothing that Jurai is being called the White Planet by the media, after all.

Brave the cold, guests of honor, for the time has come to decide the next course of action concerning the Empire!

The Republic had a long history with the Galactic Empire. Twice had the warmachine, under their tyrannical leader Palpatine, invaded and caused near total destruction to the free people of the good nation. Three times had one of the Empire's most prominent members, the Chronosian Imperium, invaded the Republic with mediocre succes; not to mention all its other dealings with the Kellermans. And now the Emperor was dead.

"Is that how one says it?"

Pompey's voice was at this time meek, as if a little boy asking a question to his first teacher. His eyes were distant in thought, and he stood casually. He continued talking to the messenger who had told him 'The Emperor was dead.'

"The Emperor is dead." he stated again. "Emperor Palpatine is dead. The soup is hot. The soup is cold. Palpatine lives. Palpatine is dead." He paused, still in thought, then turned angrily on the messenger. "Shake with fear when such words pass your lips! For fear that they be false and Palpatine rain down upon us with his Legions!"

"Never the less, you should attend." Spoke an elderly voice, one belonging to the old Senator Gaudentius who sat in the corner of the room. "Such an important event should merit our attention. Besides, how would it look if we didn't take part in what was to happen to the universe now?"

The conversation was fresh in the Consul Pompey's mind. He remembered it clearly, first hearing from the relaxed messenger the news, and then discussing with his old friend what to do next. It was because of all that that he found himself peering down through the windows of his private quarters at the planet Jurai. He would descend to the planet soon enough.

General Broadcast from the Consular Vessel Starfall

The Republic has come to take part in the decision that will effect the known galaxy. His grace, Consul Marcus Sulla Pompey, shall arrive planetside within the hour.

The Battlestar Galactica floated in orbit of Junari after viewing a successful test of the new Coredian Jump drive. Although the ship was old, over 50 years old, a relic from the first Cylon war, the ship was still a strong and capable fighting vessel. Her mammoth size, although small in comparision to some of the newer Battlestars, still dwarfed the sky. As long and as tough as an ISD, the ship was truly a symbol of Colonial strength and durability.

After the party, onboard the Coredian Victory class star destroyer, a lone Raptor containing Admiral Adama began to slowly descend to the landing coordinates below.

The Raptor began to enter the atmosphere, fire shot around the vessel, it continued straight and true until the flames died down, as the Raptor gracefully landed. Soon more raptors would come, to one of the most important meetings the colonies had ever attended.

As the Raptor landed, snow began to whirl around it. Like a cyclone of snow, the vessel kicked up a ton of snow, as it set down.

Slowly the Raptor door opened, and two colonial Marines, dressed in all black, and Admiral Adama stepped out. The air was almost as cold as the black of space, as Admiral Adama clinched his coat. Shivering he and the marines began to walk to the main building where the summit was about to be held.

(OOC: Ok I will be back on Wednesday. CW if you need to please feel free to RP Adama, and you can use up to 250 Battlestars, and 700 Gunstars for your next strike. Just make sure that the Galactica, Pegasus, Ares, Hera, and Pacifica survive. )

Having hung around the Coredians since the attack of Asfaltum, Doron was already in position to attend the conference being called to Jurai. His cloak was all that was needed for handling the arctic temperatures of the planet though he still preferred the climate controlled inside to as wondering around outside.

Doron kept up with the delegation and eventually made his way into the temple with everyone else. No food interested him at the moment but the alcohol was rather tempting while he waited for Daniel to call for a dequarem.

The Gallant once again set out into the stars to respond to an ally's call.

The emperor's death came as welcome news to the citizens of Tidan. There were many tyrants spread throughout this vast universe, but few were as well known as Palpatine. Few warented such fear or lived up so well to their reputation. The dark sith's grip over a whole galaxy it would seem had ended, more for Palpatine than his slaves one would think as emperors were never in short supply. Where one left, there were often many waiting, and often many that had a hand in the pot. No, unfortunately his reign of terror would not end with him.

So the King's son Richard set out to answer Juraii's call to arms, as the King himself had not yet returned from another engagement. With him came Kadus Starfall hero of the Hyren Survivors, Father Taal a Patriarch of the Shield of Nav, and Director Baerdin of Eclipse.

The Gallant entered space just outside the system and broadcasted it's codes to Juraii before moving in and sending Tidan's delegation to the surface.

At the Temple, refreshments and a long table were being set up for the esteemed guests in the main hall while warm air was piped up from the generators to keep out the cold. And cold it was. Guests were warned to bring warm clothing.

The entire planet, save the half that Godular holds, was enthralled in a fierce Ice Age that would take decades to recover from. Snow lifeforms were imported to proved a sense of ecosystem, but it was clear that the Empire has scoured the world for a long time to come. It's not for nothing that Jurai is being called the White Planet by the media, after all.

Brave the cold, guests of honor, for the time has come to decide the next course of action concerning the Empire!

Rosencrantz heard the warnings on his comm channel and promptly brought out a coat he had originally gotten back in New York. A large, furry thing stiched together by some Chinese workers in a tailor's shop, it seemed to be well suited here. He looked on the weather reports that temps were going to be nasty, and wondered if New Dornalia couldn't spare some terraforming equipment....

(OOC: Post reserved)

( Hobbeebia Homeworld)

The High Senate was all abuzz as news of the Emperors death spread to even this far into space. The High Senate debated weather or not to inject the Hobbeebian Imperium into the conflict. Many sides believed that the Imperium should remain neutral as it has for so long regarding the conflict. Many recited the Emperors wishes stating that the Hobbeebian had no place in interfering in the Milky Way galaxies problems.

But as the high Senate debated the Emperors themselves came to speak to them. From atop their mainstay of the High Senate building the 12 Guardians of Light walked in first their highly ornate Armor giving way to the overwhelming power they posses. Then The three Emperors them selves came forth into the building. As they entered the entire Senate grew quite, all bowed to them. After a few brief seconds the first Emperor spoke

" I know many of you have held to our wishes and have remained neutral in this persistent conflict. And I am proud that you have heeded my words. But now this conflict is growing and if left unchecked could indeed threaten us as well. We need to no longer stand by and let this threat grow and spread, we should hit it head on. And stop it once and for all." spoke Hobbeebius as he stepped back letting Ca'rl speak.

" My brother is right. This conflict has grown out of control and will indeed involve us son enough, with or without your wanting." spoke Ca'rl as he stepped back letting Johnnikus speak


" As my two older brothers have said... this is not longer a subject of wants, but one of needs. We need to support Coreworlds in its struggle against the Empire of the milky way. As it stands we have decided that the time has come to stand against the Empire and let them know that Hobbeebia will no longer turn a blind eye."

The Senate said nothing until the Emperors left the building. The chatter louder then ever. Military leaders and biomech pilots stood in amazement as some Senators spoke of defying the Emperors wishes. But as the day wore on all but two decided in favor of supporting Coreworlds. the message that was received asked for a delegate.. Only one person came to mind... Supreme master General Rynex. the highest ranking military official.



Message to Coreworlds:
Encrypted

We the Superior majestic Imperium of Hobbeebia wish to inform you that it has decided to support you in your struggle against the Galactic Empire. We will be sending our greatest military commander who also served in the first Civil world of your planet. Supreme master General Rynex. He will be arriving in his biomech Please advise him as to where he cam enter your space.

As the guests were being ushered and/or escorted down by Traffic Control, I recieved a nice surprise in the form of Katrina Masaki, my loving wife.

Actually, it was more like she pounced me.

"Where have you been, my love?" She cooed in my ear, not exactly angry.

"Around." I replied with a goofy grin. "There's a lot to tell, dear, but wait until the conference, ok?"

"Oh, all right." She was cute when she pouted like that.

"But I can tell you that Palpatine really is gone." I grinned. "Just the first step, but an important one, too."

"That'll keep the Senate happy." Katrina nodded. Then the smile faded. "Any news yet on..."

"I'm working on it." I sighed. "Poor kid, having to face the worst at his age."

"You faced worse when you were only two years older," Katrina reminded me. "Or did you forget?"

"Yeah. I still fear for Travis."

"Naruto will find him. Have faith." She replied, hope in her voice. "Now come, let's prepare for the reception."

She led me by the hand and we made small talk with General Roy Mustang and Colonel Riza Hawkeye Mustang, both wearing their dress blues, while aides and pages hovered everywhere, making sure that all proceedings are in place and that the coming guests will be seated in their proper spots. It was a big affair and more and more delegates will arrive until a certain point. After that point, the show will begin...

OOC: where do I put John? I don't think you want a massive 200 ft golden Dragon mech appearing in your skies..lol

(I am afraid that this will be a tentative participation for me pending on what happens in another thread that relates to this subject matter.)

Healing wounds is a long and tedious process, one plagueing Mythrandir time far beyond the end of an unwarranted attack. Repairs sparked in the darkness of space as well as in the hearts of every Myth that attempted to restore their life. Such destruction caused many to turn inward and shun the greater universe beyond.

But for those that ruled over the Kingdom of Mythrandir, such desires were not feasible. Fighting alone was tried and it cost them dearly even with the supposed allies they possessed. Now was the search for true allies that would actually aid them when the time came.

The great SIREN network continually monitored the area of space around its hold as well as anything that strayed towards its gaze. It was one such incident that brought a chance message to the attention of those that sought it. The Elders were alerted immediatly which sparked a debate on how to attend the matter.

"Where is Elder Sebastian?"

War Mistress Shizra had expected this question for a great while but she knew disclosing his location to Elder Alurial would only incite her wrath. As of late, the elf seemed even more ambitious and was ready to cast blame on anyone. Still, the dark elf was grateful for the wisdom of Elder Raigar and Elder Thrandur's charisma.

Finally Alurial's ire had played out letting cool heads prevail allowing discussion to follow. The debate had gone better than Shizra had expected even with Alurial agreeing to sending someone to represent the Myth. Now came the difficult task of selecting someone to send since even now they were not confident in the message's honesty. With a curt bow, Shizra left the White Tower to seek our her second.

Moments later, Shizra was conversing with Captain Lukien on his mission. "It is supposedly a gathering of those that stand against our enemy. However, we do not know who the sender of the message is only where it came from and the message enclosed."

The elven captain sat on the ramparts of the wall encircling the capitol city as he watched the ocean waters crash against the cliff wall. "It could be a trap."

Many had suspicious of something similar, including Shizra. "Yes it could be. But if it is not, then we need someone to represent Mythrandir and recount what has happened here."

"And if it is a trap?"

Shizra knew there was no way they could rescue him if it was a trap. Still, the dark elf had a smile for him. "Then I'm confident you will kill as many as possible before they take you down."


Lukien had been satisfied with Shizra's answer all the way up until his shuttle exited the Warp. It had given him something to think about on the long ride through space. Now his unarmed commercial transport pulled to a hault in orbit over the planet. A single craft departed from its parent craft and shot off towards the planet's surface.

Once the shuttle reached its destination, Lukien stepped out into the cold wind. His bronze armor did little to ward his body against the frigid temperatures. With a final check to his broad chainsword strapped to his back, a rarity in Mythrandir diplomacy, the bronze elven knight moved towards the structure ahead as his green cape whipped in the wind.

...while aides and pages hovered everywhere, making sure that all proceedings are in place and that the coming guests will be seated in their proper spots. It was a big affair and more and more delegates will arrive until a certain point. After that point, the show will begin...

Rosencrantz headed to the surface in a shuttle, escorted by two People's Acolytes. He was ushered in properly by the aides, taking in the dramatically chilly nature of his environs. His colleagues had mentioned Jurai was a nice world once. The Imperials, he reasoned, must have done something fierce to turn it into an icebox to rival Anchorage or Churchill, Manitoba in the winter.

As he entered, he ate nothing, only sampling the alcohol like a good Dornalian. The spirits kept his spirits up, though the cold still bothered him some.

The Godulans never stood much for announcing their arrival, nor did they feel it necessary to come with much fanfare or announcement. Like the forces of nature they constantly sought to study and emulate, they simply came.

The first one came directly in front of Daniel Masaki, materializing out of nothingness with a curious warbling *pwumm* and barely avoiding comaterialization with General Mustang, a feat made all the more relieving considering that it was the tremendous muscular bulk of Prefect Maximillian. Grinning his horrendous sharktoothed grin as per standard operating procedure, it was nonetheless easy to note that he did not seem to share the joyous sentiments pervading the event.

The second materialized several feet away, revealing Xenith Steele standing in the middle of the aisle from which Daniel and his wife had just come. His blindfolded face stared upwards, as if scanning some unseen starscape above him.

And then came the third, revealing Baron Aeraeon Skye another few feet away, materializing in a spot such that the three Godulan Warlords formed an equilateral triangle around the Masakis. His lion-headed cane thudded to the ground and the man was oddly grim-faced.

Together, they presented a decidedly not-so-merry display in the otherwise pleasant surroundings, though they said nothing.

Maximillian simply raised up a small block of what appeared to be glass, then rapped on it smartly a couple times. "The sound of success," he commented.

OOC: where do I put John? I don't think you want a massive 200 ft golden Dragon mech appearing in your skies..lol
OOC: I don't think that would be too much of a problem. Most freighters are bigger than that and the King of Dragons can magically grow to 100 meters (328 feet) in full battle mode. Just let the Dragons know you come.

IC:
The four of us started when the Godulan Triad suddenly arrived, almost starting off something untoward. I scowled at them. "You know there's a front door and...oh, nice. Very nice."

My attention was diverted to a block of material that looks like glass in Maxie's hands. If that material what I think it was...

"May I see it?" I asked.

Above the planet the ship known as the Ayreon exited hyperspace. Aboard was the Draconian contingent consisting of King Kurt II, his husband Quatre, Kankurou whom was representing Suna along with his son Katsuo. Once gaining permission they descended in a shuttle down to the planets surface. As allies of CoreWorlds they were of course going to come.

First order of business was to meet up with Daniel Masaki, but it appeared he was quite busy. Knowing the Godulans there would be something interesting about to happen.

After the kidnappings of Gabriel and Travis it would be rather strange to be here under good circumstances. Still it would do them good to get together and it would do good to find out how things were going about the search for the two boys.

"SEE it?" Maximillian blurted, loud enough to rattle windows. "I'll give you the damn demo, homeboy!"

Maxie dropped the block on the ground, then stood back, pushing those behind him back and opening up a clear space. He extended one arm, and in a manner similar to opening a switchblade, brought out what appeared to be a great black sledgehammer.

"This sumbitch I call 'Mister Bonky' is known in the Chamber as the weapon used by Sojuns Hammer-Slammer brigades, and can punch through walls of neutronium a meter thick in one shot. Watch THIS shit."

With one grand movement, he brought the hammer down in a two handed swing that would likely have caused a portion of the landmass on the opposite side of the planet to fly off into space.

The impact was horrendous. Walls bowed out and a window or two shattered.

And Maximillian stood there, empty handed, grinning like a madman at the little block of glass lying on the ground. He slowly stood up, and pointed to a hammer shaped hole in the ceiling. He rubbed his hands slightly and began to chuckle with increasing volume, until within seconds it became a hideous cackle.

Baron Skye spoke up now: "Completely reflective. Transparent save for visible light, it will shrug off very nearly everything."

OOC: Its had been a while but i am back and ready to do some good RPs good to see old friends as well as new!

F.S.V. Nike
Jurai
The White Planet
Capital of the Coreworlds

In a streak of color the battle cruiser Nike and other four ships decelerated from hyperspace into the Jurai system. Upon their translation their beacons would have identified themselves as vessels of the Farstars. a long time ally of the Coreworlds in their co-operative war against the Galactic Alliance, even if their relationship had become estranged over the past decade.

The Swiftsure fell into the center of the formation, with the four smaller escorts moved out intermediate positions forming an X, ideal for close escort in case of an attack. Even with the Emperor dead, the men and women of the FSN had learned the hard lesson of always being prepared for a fight even in friendly systems when your enemy was the legions of the Empire.

Once the flotilla “anchored” in high orbit, the shuttle carrying their delegates was sent to the meeting place on the surface. In the passenger section of the shuttle there were only two occupants, the delegates for this meeting. One was a young man perhaps twenty standard years old, though age was so hard to tell because of Prolong which increased the life expectancy of humans roughly 100 years. Its biggest side effect was that it tended to make the awkward growth periods of the teenage years increase in duration. His hair was closely cropped and his face stern, his posture smacked of a disciplined military bearing even though he did not wear a uniform, only polished black leather boots, olive drab BDU trousers, and a long worn brown duster. The other occupant was a middle aged woman who wore a professional business suit, he red hair was pulled back in a braid and her eyes were quite intelligent as she gazed out at the rapidly approaching planet.

“I’ve never seen the surface of Jurai before, Mr. Saganami. It is quite a site, holo-vids simply do not do reality justice, it is almost beautiful.”

“That it is Ma’am.” Edward Saganami replied.

“I want you to understand that on this visit you are acting as my aide, in that role it is your responsibility to keep your eyes open, soak up all the information around you, and to keep your mouth shut. If you have concerns or questions present them to me in private, never in front of others, or send them to my skull phone if they are important. Understood?”

“Yes Ma’am.”

When they arrived on planet they were quickly ushered through security so that they would not be late. They arrived just in time to witness the theatrics of the Godularians, and unfortunately she was standing too close to one of the shattered windows. A piece of glass gashed into her cheek, and she covered it with her hand when she recoiled. Her aide move forward a bit concerned for a moment, but when she pulled her hand away after a second their was nothing marking the a wound except for a shard of window glass in her hand.

It appears that Hawkins, gods rest his soul, was right about Godular in general, annoying, immature, but in possession of great strength.

“A crude if effective demonstration Mr.?” She replied not knowing the brash individual responsible for proofing of whatever that material was. Noticing Daniel Masaki she introduced herself,

“My name is Daneh Ghorbani, representative from the Farstars Confederacy and the Mon-Cal Protectorate. It is a pleasure to meet you at long last.”

(OOC: Tagging for post tomorrow.)

"SEE it?" Maximillian blurted, loud enough to rattle windows. "I'll give you the damn demo, homeboy!"

Maxie dropped the block on the ground, then stood back, pushing those behind him back and opening up a clear space. He extended one arm, and in a manner similar to opening a switchblade, brought out what appeared to be a great black sledgehammer.

"This sumbitch I call 'Mister Bonky' is known in the Chamber as the weapon used by Sojuns Hammer-Slammer brigades, and can punch through walls of neutronium a meter thick in one shot. Watch THIS shit."

With one grand movement, he brought the hammer down in a two handed swing that would likely have caused a portion of the landmass on the opposite side of the planet to fly off into space.[/quote]
I felt a disturbance in the Force. "Um, I don't think--"

Too late.

The impact was horrendous. Walls bowed out and a window or two shattered.

And Maximillian stood there, empty handed, grinning like a madman at the little block of glass lying on the ground. He slowly stood up, and pointed to a hammer shaped hole in the ceiling. He rubbed his hands slightly and began to chuckle with increasing volume, until within seconds it became a hideous cackle.

Baron Skye spoke up now: "Completely reflective. Transparent save for visible light, it will shrug off very nearly everything."
I blinked. The General blinked. Our wives blinked. The dust settled and all we could see is the block, very much intact and a large hammer-shaped hole in the ceiling.

Then we recovered. I chuckled as the snow began to float into the now-gone transparisteel windows. "Well, looks like it's a success, then."

"Hmph. Mind explaining to me why I have glass shards in my hair?" Katrina asked, glaring as the rose in her hair picked off the material.

"Please?" Riza Hawkeye asked, her hand itching for her hidden sidearm. I squeaked like a mouse and gave a silent help-me look to the General, who shrugged apologetically.

Two women. One who fights with plants, the other is a master of firearms. I'm dead.

"Uh..." I sweated it out, trying to explain to the ladies the wonders of the block of invulnerable glass when the Wickian ambassador saved my hide. "Ah, Ambassador Ghorbani! I am pleased to see you and hope we can warm our national relationship in this conference."

The women's glares were as cold as the outside environment. I shuddered.

"Warlord Maximillian Foster," came the response to the Wickian ambassador. "Folks call me Ol' Maxie behind my back. I like to kill things and build stuff that kills things faster. Or in this case, build stuff that prevents OUR things from getting killed. Considering how little the Godulans choose to go to war, you can guess how I've spent my time."

"I do hope that nobody was hurt in that demonstration," Baron Skye commented as the last of the tinkling glass sounds subsided. "We will of course pay for the damages caused and any medical issues. It was deemed necessary to perform the demonstration now in order to support a secondary point of ours."

Xenith Steele continued as soon as Skye stopped speaking. "The Emperor may be terminated, but his works yet remain. Palpatine has fallen, and his apprentice has taken his place. The Death Star remains. The Galaxy Gun remains. All of the lackeys and sycophants remain."

Xenith stopped, and Maximillian continued without allowing even a momentary pause in the speech. "Head Bastard is just one man. Captain Gas-mask and all of the rest of 'em are still there and even more inclined to shoot at us with all the resources at their disposal. The Executor's gone, and dammit I wanted that kill, but it still leaves the Galactic Empire itself intact. THAT shit needs to be rectified."

"Contingency plans are in effect."

"Plots are underway."

"We're gonna plant our boot so far up their asses they'll smell the leather. But one thing none of us should do at all is take a break."

"That, my friends, is going to be the agenda of this meeting." I said knowledgably. Katrina stomped her foot impatiently and my face became a mask of nervous smiles. "If you'll excuse me, Ambassador, Baron..."

The wives carted me off and soon enough, there was yelling and pleading and sounds of horrible torture (and several firearms) being employed.

"Ahem. Refreshments, my friends?" General Mustang asked, unconcerned with the welfare of his commander-in-chief.

Rosencrantz nearly spat out his drink at the sight of the explosion. So these were the Godulans who caused so much pain at Mirfak. The survivors were right. He was wondering what they were doing here, but he knew only that they must hate the Empire too...

Rosencrantz walked up to the Godulans and said, "I must say, you've got quite a way to prove a point." He then turned to Mustang and extended his hand out, saying, "Got any strong whiskey?" He then said, "Name's Rosencrantz, John Rosencrantz, Special Envoy from the Workers State of New Dornalia. I was going to talk to the Raitei, but he seems...indisposed?"

"Over there, on your left." Roy said, shaking John's hand. He cocked his ear, hearing a scream of pain, then smiled. "The Raitei will be busy for a while. Until then, I'm your man."

"Just as is expected from Godulans," Kurt remarked with a sly grin. "Never a dull moment."

Katsuo groaned behind him. "They attract danger," he said. "Like the Brotherhood of the Wraith."

"Over there, on your left." Roy said, shaking John's hand. He cocked his ear, hearing a scream of pain, then smiled. "The Raitei will be busy for a while. Until then, I'm your man."

John winced, picking up some of the whiskey and refilling his shot glass before quietly sidling back to Roy. He then raised his glass, saying, "To the death of the Empire...."

And, he added somewhat nervously, noticing the sounds of marital strife, ".....and to the survival of the Raitei in the next thirty seconds." He hadn't heard that sound since his aunt and uncle's in New Jersey....and it wasn't a friendly sound for sure.

"Aye, that's a good one." Roy said, raising his glass as well. The sounds seem to have ceased by now.

"In Taledon we have open spots in our roofs to catch the rain, filling our fish ponds in the agoras. One to let in snow, however, I've not heard of before, and I thought I had been briefed on Juraian culture."

Pompey walked along the hall, bowing to some of the other guests who took notice of him in his ceremonial cuirass of bronze, the matching bracers and shin guards shining in the light of the room just as well. Hanging from two golden clasps on his shoulders was a cape of pristine white cotton, that floated delicatly as he walked. An ancient gladius hung at his left hip in its leather sheath.

It had been a long time since members of the Federation had met with anyone from the Republic; nor had the Republic met with many foreign nations or alliances in a long while. Too busy with internal matters to bother with the galaxy outside. It would seem pressumptous and pompous to jump right into a conversation with critical members of the meeting, so instead the Consul looked around the room, taking in every detail, and then laid his eyes upon the concession tables.

"Perfect," he smiled, "I could use a drink and some snacks." And so made his way over to the table and began sampling some of the items therein.

"Aye, that's a good one." Roy said, raising his glass as well. The sounds seem to have ceased by now.

He then nodded and answered with a hearty, "L'chaim!" before drinking his glass down. He then wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, and said, "It's a little Earth phrase, means "to life.""

Rosencrantz then continued with, "Now, I was thinking about the weather, the Workers State could easily help get Jurai back to something a little more toasty. We have terraforming equipment."

OOC: Just as an FYI my guy are not wickians, that is a term i use for my other half of this nation. The Star Wars Nation i play for this is called the Farstars Confederacy and the Mon Cal Protectorate. U can call them Condeds if you like or just rebels...

IC:

Daneh too found something to drink even though it was a little bit early to start in on the alcoholic beverages, she had to play the role of the diplomat. She poured herself a glass of red wine, her aide took only some water. She heard the one toast offered, and thought it strange. Perhaps it was just her own background, or their different cultures, but whenever toasts were offered the first one always and with out exception was,

"To absent friends..."She toasted her eyes glassy for only a moment at the offered toast before she drank to it.

With that done she pondered some of the other statements she had heard, but mostly she kept coming back to the words offered by the Godularians namely by Maximilian. His words were profane, but that was typical of soldiers. She knew the role of a soldier too well, and had great respect for their responsibilities. It was the job, the mandate, of the soldier to place herself between danger and civilians. She was to face that danger with lethal force if necessary to protect the life of that civilian and to have harm come to that civilian only after he breathed his last. That sort of responsibility came at a dangerous cost to not only the soldiers psychical well being but also their mental heath, their soul. There were two kinds of soldiers, the good ones who understood this and did their jobs regardless, and those who did their job because they simply enjoyed it, not out of respect for their mandate or but because they loved battle and loved killing the enemy. Killing was their business and business had been good. He talked about the tens of thousands of deaths on the Executor as simply a "kill" he had missed out on, a notch that would not be on his belt. She worried that this Maximilian could be just that sort of person as she heard his words.

Seeing they had time she decided to strike up a question,

"I wonder, Is the Galactic Empire our true target, Do we want to destroy it? Do we want to erase its existence from its worlds? Or are we not going after the corrupt leaders of the Empire whose sadistic and tyrannical actions deserve justice? I can't help but notice at the basic level many similarities between the governments of the Empire and their people and of our own."

Maximillian responded with a slight hmph and grinned his sharktoothed grin. "Its my own version of hell, this. I like nothing more than the glory of unmitigated slaughter, yet I find myself commanding forces that will simply not permit harm to come to innocents. They have no compunctions about military assets, but they will only kill a civilian if that civilian draws arms against them. Bloody idealistic, I say."

"We are not the original leaders of the Godulans," Skye continued. "Early in their history they encountered a massacre so egregious that they could not stand by and permit it to continue. Unfortunately, those committing the atrocity had sufficient support to not only repel the Godulan interference effort, but inflicted significant harm upon the Godulans in return. Hatred of that kind of injustice even now guides their convictions, and on this point I cannot contravene them, nor do I have any wish to do so."

"I can't even use my dominion gaze anymore!" Xenith blurted, still staring at the ceiling through his blindfold. "It has been so long since any of us has fed..."

"Dammit man," Maximillian snapped, "don't talk about that shit! You're making me hungry!"

"Enough, both of you," Skye replied softly, but in a tone that seemed to suggest dire consequences for noncompliance. "Not in front of people you are supposed to like."

He turned to the Confederate ambassador. "I must apologize. Sometimes I must keep a hold on them like unruly children. I find that I must admit our stewardship of the Godulans seems like a bit of an oxymoron.

"In answer to your question: No, we do not consider termination of the Empire as terminating entire worlds. Our objectives require termination of Imperial Infrastructure, Military Assets, and Leadership. Our objective is to terminate the Imperials because they have terminated multiple planets and billions of sentient lives in pursuit of little more than making a point. We fight because THEY end innocent lives, and we will do absolutely everything in our power to avoid slaying innocents in pursuit of that goal."

Skye nodded forward slightly, locking eyes with Daneh. "Does that meet your satisfaction? Not all of us are so bloodthirsty as our bulky and colorful warmaster."

Daneh stared right into Skye’s eyes her own open and unflinching.

"Indeed Baron Skye it has answered my question, if not all of my concerns to my satisfaction." She said calmly. "I did not mean to insinuate that your nation's armed forces consisted of rash warmongers, I can tell that is not the case. However my concern arises when your 'Warmaster' wants nothing more than to revel in the glory of 'unmitigated slaughter'."

Her voice bore absolute seriousness if not any clear emotion. As allies and comrades in this eternal struggle, I believe it is important for all of us not to keep our sabacc cards close to our chests. To be effective we must be able to anticipate each others actions and have extreme confidence and trust in one another to do the right thing, the hard things that will be required of us in the near future. So, I ask these questions in order to gain that understand not to be accusatory."

“Let us also qualify ‘they’, them that destroy planets, Palpatine, Vader, Tarkin, these are names that have done such atrocities for centuries. Not imperials are inherently evil, Gilad Pellaeon comes to my mind, some are just following orders though a hollow defense that, but understandable.

She turned her had to watch Warmaster Maximillian,

“Let me ask just one more thing of you. You are in the midst of a battle and you see the enemy flagship, but it is obscured by civilian vessels, but you could take it out at the cost of those civilians, or let it escape, what would you do?”

"What, me?" Maximillian asked. He snaked his hand out into the air, and the massive hammer that had previously been 'bounced' out of the room rematerialized in his hand. With another flick of his wrist it vanished from existence, as if the first action had just been to retrieve the weapon, and the second had been to put it away.

"I'd blow it the fuck away. Bringing human shields into full-scale combat as suggested to be in progress as per your question is a dirty tactic, and I'd make damn sure they know it won't save their ass later.

"But then, we have methods of whacking enemy vessels that don't require it to blow up, so the whole thing is moot, I say."

"Godulan tactical convention dictates that bringing hostages into combat is the lowest tactic one can employ," Skye said. "The Godulans will utilize every means at their disposal to disable the offending vessel and terminate the commander with as much precision as they can bring to bear. Bringing such human shields into a battle is also cause for the Godulans to initiate total annihilation protocols on the force entire that attempts such tactics. This does not extend to civilians, but the effective stance of the Godulans after initiation of the protocols is that the enemy must surrender unconditionally or face destruction."

"It still annoys me that even their Total Annihilation protocols have a surrender clause," Maximillian grumbled.

http://www.necrontyr.plus.com/images/venturerssmall.gif
[Venturers Internal Communications Network Archive]
[Non-Operations Channel Log, Encryption Milspec M32 standard, VV Élmbar Records]
[Topic: That Sith is dead. It has clocked out. It is an ex-Sith!]

---

<@25*Gn.Z.Brannigan|Erisavenus>
I think we ought to send someone. Of course, in our position, showing the flag is quite the opposite of what we want to do, but hopefully they’ll be intelligent enough to read between the lines and know roughly what we represent.
<@{h}Ranisath.Cuilévaher.Cuilahîr|Earth>
Of course, the degree to which you represent the C’tan at large in this matter depends entirely on what’s going on. It’s not presently our policy of actually stick our nose into these things at state level. Not exactly dangerous, per-se, but it could end up being quite troublesome.
<@25*Gn.Z.Brannigan|Erisavenus>
I hear that. So let’s see… I think I can pick out a few agents who’ll be suited to this. After all, who doesn’t like a party?
<@King.A.Pendragon|Élmbar>
That depends on whether or not the Death Star shows up and explodes the planet or something.
<@25*Gn.Z.Brannigan|Erisavenus>
I suppose so. We’ll have to put a ship on station a few dozen parsecs out in order to mount a rescue, just in case it all goes belly-up.
[…]

Anárion Peneldur frowned. Not exactly a terrible way to spend a day, he had to admit, but he had the impression that there would be a lot of diplomatic dithering, and explaining just whom he represented by round-about ways, without naming any names. Of course, even getting in without being any kind of accredited ambassador would be troublesome. He had a trump card in that affair, in that Ranisath had finally relented and let the starship Erisavenus ‘borrow’ the Coredian ambassador.

He glanced up at the near-human alien¹ standing on the other side of the room, dressed in a moderately abbreviated version of ‘jedi’ robes, more practical for the warm climate of Vinyatírion, with a high silver collar, named Ashla something-Anárion-didn’t-catch², “Looking forward to being back home?” he asked.

“Err. Yes, quite… sir?” she wasn’t entirely sure who or what Anárion was representing on this little excursion, save that it had some degree of unofficial C’tani authority.

“No sir,” he said with a chuckle, “Anárion, or Anar, or An, or something to that effect will do,” he said, checking the sword, which he was actually somewhat proficient with, and the rather more useful dagger-drone he was wearing. “Sometimes they get this a little bit wrong, but we don’t actually want our starships to be observed here overtly, So brace yourself,” Anárion said, looking concernedly at her, “I hope you’ve not had lunch…”

“Oh dear…” she said.


They appeared with a soft ‘pop’ of displaced atmosphere, and Ashla looked rather sickly. Anárion, for his part, was completely unaffected, and clanked over at her, looking concerned. She was rather better at sensing shifts in inertia than humans – or elves, in this case – were, and the teleport³ from out beyond the fringes of Jurai’s system felt like a stomach-heaving lurch to her. Especially as the gravity on the necron ship was somewhat different.

Still, she recovered quickly enough.

[OOCery: ¹ A togruta, but he’s hardly a walking encyclopedia of obscure species. Yep, Coreworlds signed off on her existance on IRC last October. This is, however, the first time she’s actually appeared in a post… ² Presumably she has a second name of some form. I’m too lazy to give her one. ³ What? I can teleport into diplomatic functions! Other people have, here! Who says I can’t! There’d be some warning given in advance though…]

Foreplay

"Well, they didn't strictly say nations fighting the Empire..."

"Or actively fighting the empire..."

"Now, now. We did do a bit. Not much, I'll grant you that, but still."

"True enough. Remains, ummm... Do the people there actually, you know... Like us?"

"Hum." The Wealth of Nations' representative - a smallish, slightly roundish male doing a fairly good impression of an 1880's upper class person - spent a brief moment thinking, 'Slow' neurons firing before he (It) replied. "Well, we've had a mild degree of cooperation with the Corians... Coreans... Whatever, but other than that... I doubt anyone would try to shoot you, though. Wonder why you're there, I suppose. Remember, you represent an NGO, not a nation. At most, I figure someone could try to beat you up - it's habitual with some societies. But other than that..."

Irene Perosteck - herself a sort of liaison/ advisor to/ for the CLA, although it wasn't entirely clear whom she liaisoning for - sighed. "Best to get drunk quickly, I guess. But I'm not attending in my present role, am I?"

"Absolutely not. The Cor-whatevers shouldn't have problems letting you in, given previous deals, but you're not supposed to advertise us. Besides, they are a legitimate CLA target themselves - although we hope to change this with non-violent means -, so pointing out certain details regarding your affiliation would probably raise some ire."

"I understand. So... What am I supposed to do there?"

"Be there. Show your face. Get laid if you wish to. Nobody expects you to do any sort of enormously important deal. At least, not for now. But a presence would be nice simply to begin getting some sort of connection - not only for the CLA, naturally."

Irene had raised her eyebrows when the matter had come to 'Getting laid', but now, she simply sighed again. "If you say so. So, what's my ride?"

"The Astral Ro-"

"Ew."

"Now, now. Her private life isn't the matter. She is closely associated with us, like very few other IEUs, I might add, and she's the closest one - for starters, she's actually in the Milky Way. You'll have to cope."

"Well, I suppose she's at least submissive, so I don't have to worry about being roped..."

W00T, a Party

Reservations and agreements with the Coredians - to avoid embarrassing stuck-in-customs issues - being made, the journey could begin. It was as brief as it was eventless, the Astral Romance going a little too fast to engage in any kind of thorough analysis of the systems in their path, and the military conflicts in their way of too little magnitude to have significant impacts on non-relativistic space, although the ship did eventually glimpse a few hours worth of Sapatra d's Continental Civilisation's Spring Festival - and house-sized pinatas are just awesome.

They ended up being late, anyway, of course (No surprise, given certain distances involved in the matter), but as they say - better late than never.

Irene herself - a smallish woman in the first place, barely in the 160 cm range - was almost obscenely conventional. Clad in a high-cut, blackish brocade qipao featuring gold and silver ornaments - a giant Panda feeding in a bamboo forest with a Tiger approaching from behind, eyes fixed on the Panda's back -, her hair tied to a (Somewhat inappropriate, considering her otherwise Chinese appearance) chignon with a diamond-capped silver needle holding it together, she embodied pretty much the opposite of 'Military Appearance', the submillimetre-scale pseudo-effector & field gear embedded in her qipao and the two tiny knife missiles resting quietly inside her smallish earrings nonwithstanding.

Very well. So far, so good. Now, lets see... For heaven's sake, I'm not made for this kind of event!

She looked around, curiously. She hardly knew anyone present - at least, not in detail -, which didn't make things easier, either. Though in fairness, neither did they know her.

Adama walked to the bar, and sat down. He grabbed a nice warm scotch, and swirled the drink as he observed the delegates in the room. Some were brash, others seemed to be quite sophisticated, yet even in the midst of this conference he had to wonder, who was truly friendly, or who just happened to be the enemy of my enemy.

It was an unfortunate series of events that the Colonies found their way into the sights of the Galactic Empire. Strange twists of fate, from a stranded Battlestar, to the nuclear destruction of Asfaltum. It would seem that fate had a purpose for this meeting, but only the gods know what it is, Adama thought to himself.

He stood there observing all of the delegates, unsure of how to proceed with these unknown cultures. He was a military man, serving in both cylon wars, not a diplomat.

Adama watched as the Godular took out a small cube of what he would have guessed was glass, but as with all things alien, nothing is what it appears to be. As the hammer came down, a bright flash of light appeared, knocking him out of his seat. Although it did not injure him, he was quite unnerved at the power from the strike, the damage to th ebuilding, and the glass shards in his scotch. Soon the power of the clear material became apparent, it was undamaged, not even a scratch on the small cube.

Adama struggled to get back in his chair, but after a few minutes was able to do so. He sat back at th ebar, and ordered another scotch, tasting it and attempting understand enough of the situation he was in to be able to have an intellegent conversation with the delegates, he watched, and listened.

When someone shouted over the room, "Death to the Empire" the old Admiral raised his glass. How the colonies became an enemy of the Empire still elluded him, but it was a fact none the less.

(OOC: just got back, sorry for the bad post, but it was the only way I could see that I could catch up to the current point.)

The Abriel prince walked himself over to the bar and ordered up a tall glass of their finest drink. In one gulp he drained the entire cup without even flinching. For Doron, the long extent of being stuck on ground worlds was beginning to make him sick. Even with being genetically altered to allow him to comfortably live and fight on planets, he was still Abh and space was still his home.

He tapped his glass again for it to be refilled this time taking two gulps to drain it. On his third glass he nursed the liquid a little more. Doron spent some time appraising the crowd and those who seemed to be important. There were those that were familiar to him and others that came from nations that the Abh had no contact with.

Smiling, Doron turned back towards the bartender and anyone sitting around him. "This seems to be a fashionable place, it's drawing the finest of people."

Lukien did not know what to expect from this meeting or from anyone else present. The bronze elven knight was already on guard as he crossed the threshold to the room that contained the steady hum of voices and individual conversations. Already there seemed to be a steady tide of people flowing into the chamber, except Lukien knew none of them.

In fact, this was only the second time the elf had been outside of Mythrandir controlled space. There was no way for the elven captain to discern what nation people came from, not that it would matter. Mythrandir had had very little contact with any other nations up to this point which was how the Myths preferred it. Such ideas had to change now, for better or worse.

His elvish ears picked up bits and pieces of conversations as he walked by but nothing to truly help him better understand those around. Preferring to monitor the situation from afar, Lukien picked a secluded corner off to the side of the main gathering and would wait for this conference to begin. Socializing was not one of the captain's stronger qualities but he was not against it either. There was just nothing foreseeable that he had in common with anyone here which would make conversation awkward and potentially embarrassing.

"Thank you for your time gentle beings" Daneh told the Godular contingent as she gave them a slight bow and made her way back to t he bar realizing she had emptied her drink and needed something just a bit stiffer. The irony that not only the actions of the GE to make them hold this meeting but her own allies statements had driven her and apparently everyone else in the conference to drink was not lost on her. Of course Edward stood in a nearby corner sipping his waters slowly, he did indeed have good discipline.

The words of the Godular Warlord had given her some pause, they seemed to confirm what she had though, and what she seen the makings of in the cordian fleet to before they last parted ways. Many she had seen stood at a precipice and soon she fear they may just step off into the abyss.

She ordered herself a vodka with cranberry, and looked to the other guests at the bar. One was an older military officer whose pitted face she recongized as Admiral Adama, leader of the Colonials. The other she didn't recognize except for his physiology which marked him as one of the Abh. When she heard his words to the bartender she looked over at him,

"I'd say so, except for a few I've seen, they have the most enlightening conversations"

Admiral Adama watched as the two newcomers to the bar approached. He sat their, slowly drinking his scotch, and listened to their converstation. A few minutes went by, as they continued to talk casually amongst themselves. He reached to the bar, and picked up his glasses, and began to get up.

He walked over to Doran and Daneh. With a gentle smile, he offered his hand to both the Prince of Abh and the lovely lady.

"I am Admiral Adama, Commander of the Battlestar Galactica, of the Twelve Colonies of Kobal. It is an honor to meet both of you."

He placed his scotch on the wooden bar, then stood up straight.

"I am glad to see the Abh have sent a representitive to this meeting, and I am sorry ma'am (refering to Daneh), but I am not fimiliar with the nation that you represent. Might I ask how you came to this meeting, and how you came to oppose the Galactic Empire?"

"My nation or myself/" she asked and continued. "Let most things it is a long and painful story. Our first contact was when our leading Jedi Knight name of Hawkins went on a rescue mission to free Daniel Masaki from captivity. He was successful and returned him to his father Andrew. The war continued and went badly claiming Andrew's life, but it eventually ended, for awhile. We had won and a Republic was restablished. These good years lasted until Palpatine was reborn and infiltrated the Republic and repeated history. In the end our good works were shattered, the Corewords withdrew all of thier support and fleets to thier central worlds and left the remenants of the fallen Republic to fend for themsevles. The war again was long, bitter, and bloody, until the GE called for a conference on Coruscant. Hawkins went and saw Daniel Masaki about to be ambushed so he intervened, in the fight he was abandoned and left to his fate. That was the incident as well as several other changes in the Coredian way of doing things that lead to our estrangement for a period of time."

"for many decades, we have never able to beat the Empire fully we have clung to what little we have left of the free galaxy. We are in every sense the Rebel Alliance of old, our Capital is Mon Calamari and we control still several dozen free star clusters in the protectorate and also the Farstars Confederacy which lies past the rim. That will do for a primer on my nation."

"As for myself I have had a bad time because of the Empire, I have dedicated my life to the people, to protect them, and to ensure their liberty and freedom. I have done many things and have been many things, and in that time I have figured out one truth. Nobody, especially those gathered her are what they seem, wouldn't you agree? And how about yourself Admiral, tell me about you, and how your people came to fight the empire?"

The Tidani had spent most of their time going over recent galactic events that had caught the collective eye of Eclipse with Baerdin, as well as filling in Richard on all his responsibilities and options now that he was not just representing Tidan but its leadership at the highest level.

Now finished they decided to split up and work their way around the room until the meeting commenced. Father Taal who was charged Richard's safety as well as representing the Tidani military went with Richard. They headed over to the bar as there seemed to be a small gathering there and he recognized an Abh among them. He had been warned about intoxication on this mission and this seemed like a good excuse to get close to the bar without drawing flak. The two men arrived just in time to hear most of the introductions and Daneh's national profile. Taal seemed more interested in keeping an eye on all the other guests around them, and Richard was content to just listen for now.
___________________________________

This left Kadus alone with the Director of Tidan's intelligence agency, not exactly party company so he sought out the company of someone else to talk to. They walked around for a short time when he noticed an elf walk in with bright bronze armor.

Kadus turned to Baerdin and said, "I don't recognized him or his colors."

Baerdin looked at who Kadus was refering to. After a short moment he spoke. "Ah, I believe he would be from Myth. They are an alliance of the several races that dominate the world. We had an agent on recon there for short amount of time, unfortunately he was killed recently when the planet came under seige before he could finalize his report on recommended government stance and contact." He paused as if recalling the file in his mind. "Initial indications seemed quite positive."

Kadus took in the information. "And if they are here they can't be all bad. What do you say we initiate contact?"

"Oh, uh, wait we need to contact the House of Clans and the Foreign Advisor and get permision forms and the proper... Admiral Starfall! Kadus!..." It was too late. Kadus was already walking over and ignoring his protests. "Damn hyrens, no respect for procedure."

Kadus Starfall extended his feathered hand to Lukien. He had learned a few tricks to make his avian appearance less of a shock to the more humanoid species of the galaxy. As uncomfortable as it was for his feathers to shake hands, he knew that especially for humans it was an important part of the meeting ritual. Another was to start telepathically speaking softly until attention was achieved. Too loud without warning tended to cause panic in those not used to the mental communication the hyren used to 'speak' in a way that other species could understand.

"Hello, I am Kadus Starfall. This is Director Baerdin and we represent the Clandom of Tidan."

Admiral Adama stared at Daneh, as he listened to her long story. It seemed that their was a pattern in the societies of the universe that the empire had effected. The coredians are right, Adama thought to himself, as he picked up his scotch and continued to listen to her history as well as that of her nation.

"That is a very tragic, yet ever so common story. Adama replied. The Coredians left you out to dry, yet I am curious why are you here at their summit?" Adama said, while trying to figure out her true motives. He continued to listen until one question was asked that made him ever more suspicious.

"Nobody, especially those gathered her are what they seem, wouldn't you agree?

Adama lowered his glasses. "I am just a solder in service to the Twelve Colonies of Kobal." He took his glass and drank a little more. "One thing though about being a solder is you have the advantage of knowing who your true enemy is, and who your allies are. You know enemy positions, and strengths. Fighting wars, is often less dangerous than participating in diplomacy." Adama replied while smiling.

He then points to her glass, "I see your drink is empty, let me buy you a round." He looks to the bartender, who begins to make Daneh another vodka with cranberry.

And how about yourself Admiral, tell me about you, and how your people came to fight the empire?"

Adama looked at Daneh, as he raised his glass, as if in a toast with her. "It was quite by accident. We had a recon raptor in a unknown sector of space that was searching for Telium. After an hostile alien species shot them down, the Coredians came and rescued the downed pilots. After a brief amount of diplomacy, the cylons showed up, and began to bombard Aeralon, one of the Colonies.

During the course of this action, We prepared a strike team to attack the invading enemy, and the coredians decided to aid us. With their help, we brought to an end the second cylon war, with the Colonies being victorious. President Adar decided to hold the surrender treaty on board my ship the Galactica, and a peace treaty was signed that forced the cylons to reintergrate into the colonies, but with all the rights and privlidges of humans. At the time it seemed like the best course of action, but as with all change people are still resisting it."

Adama stopped for a minute and light up a cigerette. He took a small drag, and blew the smoke away from Daneh, and Doran.

"A while later, we lost contact with the Battlestar Orion, and the Gunstar Solarflare. In the course of the investigation, we discovered that the Empire had destroyed the two vessels, although the battlestars did destroy one of the ISD's."

"Soon we found out the Coredians along with the Abh and Balrooga were planning on a strike to free the Asfaltum Sector that was under the Empiral Invasion. We joined in with them, and although we were not able to free asfaltum."

Adama sat down at the bar, his old age catching up to him. He took another drag from the cigarette.

"As for myself, I have yet to be involved with the Empire. The Galactica these days is a relic. She is a symbol for the colonies, being in both cylon wars, but when the "Old Gal" is not on diplomatic missions, she is usually guarding Caprica.

For many years a state of cold war had existed between the people of the Empire of the Five States and the people of the Galactic Empire.

And now, the claims of the death of the Emperor sent shock-waves through the councils and senates of all the member states.

The rumors were still just that, rumors, but from everything the Council of XIII had told them, it was true.

A day of celebration filled the nations, and many military officers ordered their pilots out to fly formation in celebration.

Meanwhile, in fear of an unleashed Binarian Assault, plans wre made and weapons prepared.

All the while, Admiral Jack Ray appeared and stated that he was stepping down as President, and allowing a new leader to take over.

The election would still come in many weeks, but for now, he had but one duty left. He boarded the Marquis de Lafayette, a Sovereign Class Explorer, and contacted the nation of Coreworlds.

"This is Admiral Jack Ray of The American Privateer.

We have come to understand that Emporer Palpatine has died. We believe that this is a cause for celebration. Our ship shall be arriving in five seconds above your world. We look forward to meeting with you."

And as the communication lines closed, the ship jumped, using it's tesseract drives to move nigh-instantly into orbit above the world of Jurai.

"Well it would appear that you've stolen my hidding place." Pompey said ruefully, approaching the elvish looking fellow who had litterally stolen the Consuls observation post in the far corner. "In record time too, I just left to get another glass of wine and some cheese, hardly a few minutes."

He leaned against the wall at a respectable distance from the elf who he had assumed was a military official of some kind and not very used to events like this; his cuirass making a tink as it collided with the hard surface. Taking a drink from his goblet and smaking his lips in satisfaction, he turned back to the uncomfortable man.

"Y'know, the food and drink they set out here isn't half bad, so you know it wasn't a waste coming here, no matter what the outcome." He extended his hand to the elf. "Who, might I ask, do I have the pleasure of speaking with?"

(OOC: Just to clerify, I'm talking with your character, Mythrandir.)

"I'd say so, except for a few I've seen, they have the most enlightening conversations"

Doron smiled at Daneh. "I'd wager they're either the same ole stories or something along the lines of bragging about their greatness. Try not to let egos snuff out the air. It can be hard to breath sometimes with it clogging up the room." The Abriel drained his glass and ordered up another one.

"I am Admiral Adama, Commander of the Battlestar Galactica, of the Twelve Colonies of Kobal. It is an honor to meet both of you."

"Prince Doron of the Clyuve Royal Family of the Abh Empire at your service here. It hasn't been that long since I was on one of your worlds. Hope everything is well with you and your people."

Doron continued to listen to the conversation between Daneh and Adama and occasionally added a few points to bolster the story. He clasped the Tidani on the shoulder as it found a seat next to him. "That's right. Palpatine is now gone which leaves the rest of Galactic Empire crew to mop up. It's always a good time when going into battle with them."

The appearance of a feathered being was perhaps less of a shock than it would should have been. Mythrandir had its own variation of griffons whom he was in contact with frequently. Lukien removed his gauntlet mitton before shaking the Avian Lord's hand. It would have been disrepsectful to do otherwise.

An intrusion into the mind was disturbing at first, only because the elven captain was not accustomed to other beings using it. Outside elvish circles, no one ever used mental communication and seeing someone non-elf caught elf off guard. A momentary lapse though, one that was quickly recovered with his own mental communication coming back.

"Lukien of the Kingdom of Mythrandir. An honor to meet you. Forgive my surprise, I am not accustomed to other beings capable of speaking through the mind."


"Well it would appear that you've stolen my hidding place." Pompey said ruefully, approaching the elvish looking fellow who had litterally stolen the Consuls observation post in the far corner. "In record time too, I just left to get another glass of wine and some cheese, hardly a few minutes."

He leaned against the wall at a respectable distance from the elf who he had assumed was a military official of some kind and not very used to events like this; his cuirass making a tink as it collided with the hard surface. Taking a drink from his goblet and smaking his lips in satisfaction, he turned back to the uncomfortable man.

"Y'know, the food and drink they set out here isn't half bad, so you know it wasn't a waste coming here, no matter what the outcome." He extended his hand to the elf. "Who, might I ask, do I have the pleasure of speaking with?"

What was once a secluded corner of the room was now becoming a gathering place, not that it bothered the elf in the least. The elf cracked the first smile since landing on the frigid planet. Despite his grim appearance accentuated by the broad chainsword strapped to his back, the elf was grateful having company in a place he knew nothing about surrounded by people he did not know.

"I deemed this spot strategically valuable to observe the host gathered and make a quick exit should I be assailed by hostile diplomats or boredom. As far as the food goes, military rations tend to sedate the chance of hunger creeping back up."

The bronze knight extended his unarmored hand to the man. "I am Captain Lukien of the Kingdom of Mythrandir. Might I have your name?"

Doron smiled at Daneh. "I'd wager they're either the same ole stories or something along the lines of bragging about their greatness. Try not to let egos snuff out the air. It can be hard to breath sometimes with it clogging up the room." The Abriel drained his glass and ordered up another one.



"Prince Doron of the Clyuve Royal Family of the Abh Empire at your service here. It hasn't been that long since I was on one of your worlds. Hope everything is well with you and your people."

Doron continued to listen to the conversation between Daneh and Adama and occasionally added a few points to bolster the story. He clasped the Tidani on the shoulder as it found a seat next to him. "That's right. Palpatine is now gone which leaves the rest of Galactic Empire crew to mop up. It's always a good time when going into battle with them."

Adama turns to the pointy ear Abh. "You have been to the Colonies, I must say I am quite surprised. I thought that their was a waiting period for allies to learn of the Colonies location, unless a state of emergency was issued. Either way though, I hope you enjoyed your stay there.

Things in the Colonies are going relatively well, but with all of the recent changes and discoveries, you can imagine that many people are in a state of shock, almost panic. Ten years ago, we were the only life forms in the universe, and today we now know that their are countless beings with capabilitites that rival the gods. That and along with the cylon peace treaty, it has made security on the colonies very difficult. Many people think that the aliens will attack soon, others believe that our government is being unjustly controlled. I however do not buy into the conspiracy theories."

Adama then notices the tiara, and stares at it for a minute. "Is that your crown?"

"It was pleasant enough though I'm afraid I wasn't there for a vacation. A simple meeting with your president along with the Daniel Masaki. Perhaps another time I can stay longer and take in the nation in its entirity."

Doron smiled then removed his tiara revealing what looked to be a gray swirling jewel in the middle of his forehead. "Ah this," as he handed it over to Adama to inspect. The tiara had two golden wings with crystals dangling at the end of each band that wrapped around his head.

"Not exactly. Every officer in the Star Forces and government official wears a tiara. Only the Emperor himself wears a true crown. Wings on the crown represent rank in the military and gold signifies high ranking royal officials. For us Abh, it not only serves as rank markings but also as a means of monitoring a ship."

"Lukien of the Kingdom of Mythrandir. An honor to meet you. Forgive my surprise, I am not accustomed to other beings capable of speaking through the mind."

Kadus looked back at his human friend. "Yes, we hyren lack the vocal coards necessary to communicate in most other languages, it is the blessing of telepathy that allows us to overcome our curse and speak with others like my human comrads. We are perfectly capable of understanding spoken word though, so for the sake of others perhaps it would be best to continue with such. It is a pleasure to meet you Lukien.

Kadus was about to repeat Lukien's message to Baerdin when Pompy walked up. When Lukien repeated his nationality a slight smile took the Director's face for having correctly identified a species he had never seen before.
_________________________________________

He clasped the Tidani on the shoulder as it found a seat next to him. "That's right. Palpatine is now gone which leaves the rest of Galactic Empire crew to mop up. It's always a good time when going into battle with them."

Richard returned the Abh's greeting. "I'm Prince Richard, I'd like you to meet my friend Taal, Patriarch of the Shield. It is always good to see our friends the Abh, especially on a day worth celebrating like this. If we are lucky we might even see a power struggle for the thrown and maybe even a civil war, but the passing of such a demon is worth celebrating at any time." Taal bowed to the Abh.

The appearance of a feathered being was perhaps less of a shock than it would should have been. Mythrandir had its own variation of griffons whom he was in contact with frequently. Lukien removed his gauntlet mitton before shaking the Avian Lord's hand. It would have been disrepsectful to do otherwise.

An intrusion into the mind was disturbing at first, only because the elven captain was not accustomed to other beings using it. Outside elvish circles, no one ever used mental communication and seeing someone non-elf caught elf off guard. A momentary lapse though, one that was quickly recovered with his own mental communication coming back.

"Lukien of the Kingdom of Mythrandir. An honor to meet you. Forgive my surprise, I am not accustomed to other beings capable of speaking through the mind."

What was once a secluded corner of the room was now becoming a gathering place, not that it bothered the elf in the least. The elf cracked the first smile since landing on the frigid planet. Despite his grim appearance accentuated by the broad chainsword strapped to his back, the elf was grateful having company in a place he knew nothing about surrounded by people he did not know.

"I deemed this spot strategically valuable to observe the host gathered and make a quick exit should I be assailed by hostile diplomats or boredom. As far as the food goes, military rations tend to sedate the chance of hunger creeping back up."

The bronze knight extended his unarmored hand to the man. "I am Captain Lukien of the Kingdom of Mythrandir. Might I have your name?"

(OOC: Eh, wha....? Feathered being? Talking through the mind? When did I say anything about all that? I'm human in appearance, a middle aged man at that, wearing what would be construed as ancient Roman armor. And he spoke out of his mouth, not his brain. I mean, you confused the hell out of me man.)

“We here are rather impressed with your records Jaga, the empire is always looking for a friend within Nal Hutta, which is why we've asked you here today.”

“Urrrrmra Galsavia Yagola Kivaa.”
“We are always open to negotiations.” The protocol droid translated.

“Yes, we understand you are asking for a considerable amount.”

“Urrrrmra kilor ghuilr gyirka lopsailish brolikahaha rolipe tolinis frolicsdamins rolifta yavaka.”
“We are only asking for the Imperial force on Nal Hutta to be courages in their line of duty and remove a well known warlord.”

“We understand that, but it is the price you are also demanding on top of that.”

“Ilrolichta Muruno Yuliasdas.”
“That is up for negotiation.”

The Coredians in their foolish attempts to gather support against the storm of the empire as usual flows into a tide of irregularity and idiocy. Blanket wide transmissions, allowing anyone to enter, opening the doorway to countless worlds and civilisations, easily exploited by COMPNOR, easily infiltrated by the darkness of the empire.

Jaga the Hutt, infamous for his corruption and twisted features. His eyes only ever in play for profit, and today was going to be exceedingly profitable. The Empire, under duress was now willing to exterminate his competition upon Nal Hutta, systematically creating a monopoly on the black market. Within days, he would become the richest being in the Galaxy, and all he had to do, was go and arrange a meeting with the Coredians and their allies.

Just like the shuttles and ships before him, Jaga flew through the void and descended upon the world of Jurai with relative ease. The Hutts, though despised by all, were all recognised for their ingenuity and tenacity and today would be one of those days.

Jagas freighter landed just where all the other diplomatic ships had landed, Jaga got out just as all the other diplomats had, and he entered the same bar just as all the other diplomats had. Only, he was the only one that the others were surprised to see.

(OOC: Eh, wha....? Feathered being? Talking through the mind? When did I say anything about all that? I'm human in appearance, a middle aged man at that, wearing what would be construed as ancient Roman armor. And he spoke out of his mouth, not his brain. I mean, you confused the hell out of me man.)

The talking with the mind and feathered creature is in reference to Tidan's post.

This part..."What was once a secluded corner of the room was now becoming a gathering place, not that it bothered the elf in the least. The elf cracked the first smile since landing on the frigid planet. Despite his grim appearance accentuated by the broad chainsword strapped to his back, the elf was grateful having company in a place he knew nothing about surrounded by people he did not know.

"I deemed this spot strategically valuable to observe the host gathered and make a quick exit should I be assailed by hostile diplomats or boredom. As far as the food goes, military rations tend to sedate the chance of hunger creeping back up."

The bronze knight extended his unarmored hand to the man. "I am Captain Lukien of the Kingdom of Mythrandir. Might I have your name?""

...is my response to you. Sorry for the confusion. The post has been edited to clear up anymore confusion.

"That is a very tragic, yet ever so common story. Adama replied. The Coredians left you out to dry, yet I am curious why are you here at their summit?" Adama said, while trying to figure out her true motives. He continued to listen until one question was asked that made him ever more suspicious.

“The problem Admiral is that it is so common of a story. There was a time when one could on their companions from allied nations to fight to their death while defending their brethren. There was a time when my nations soldiers hold confidence in the ability of Cordians to stand by their side and fight with us back to back. The simple words, ‘Fight until you drop’ has meaning to us still. I fear it is lost among some of our allies. Our battles used to accomplish strategic objectives used sound tactics. Now it seems to be only charge at the enemy and die, so long as the Cordian Royals survive.” Here eyes were dark as if remembering a dark time, they were eyes of pain, she drank the cocktail.

“I wont apologize for my words Admiral, for they are the truth and such a concept as that should never be regretted . It may seem strange to you hearing me speak so plainly about the Cordians, and wondering why they allow me to speak of them this way, or why I would even conceive of working with them in the future. The truth is though, they are if nothing else the enemy of my enemy, and I hope that is enough.”

“And my comment earlier about no one being just who they appear to be? Take me for example, if you think me to be only a diplomat, then your not as smart as I heard you are. Ask yourself sometime Admiral, Who am I? and Why am I here? If that question has become difficult to answer for you as it is for me, perhaps you’ve then been in politics to long, but then some of us have no choice, do we?” she lamented.

(OOC: Ah, ok, that makes so much more sense.)

IC:

Squeezing the elf's hand firmly, Pompey looked the man straight in the eyes, sizing him up, looking to see if he could be used as a friend during the conference.

"Marcus Sulla Pompey, Consul of the Republican Senate." he answered the question in his own right. "Shame you don't feel any hunger, as I said it's really quite good."

He took another sip of his wine. "So, what's your government hoping for in this assembly?" As he said this he looked to the doorway, and noticed the giant slug that had slithered in the door. A sickening feeling suddenly came over him.

"Y'know, now I wish I hadn't eaten."

He took another sip of his wine. "So, what's your government hoping for in this assembly?" As he said this he looked to the doorway, and noticed the giant slug that had slithered in the door. A sickening feeling suddenly came over him.

"Y'know, now I wish I hadn't eaten."

Rosencrantz, as he chatted away with Roy, also noticed the slug-like being well. Though it seemed oddly familiar from the old movies he watched, he still found the creature disgusting, much like the Taledonian did.

He then thought to himself, "Make mental note--bring salt."

((OOC - Ho ho ho. Bring me Solo and the wookiee. They will both suffer for this outrage. Ho ho ho.

*ducks back into the shadows*))

"An assassin, then?"

Baron Skye stood but a few feet away from Daneh's back, holding a small glass of wine in one hand and his lion-headed cane in the other. His face sported a wan smile, and his eyes crackled with energy.

"Not that I would care, of course. The three of us here could wreak untold devastation were we so inclined, but we are here to see who is here to fight to defeat the Imperials, and who is here to fight for personal glory. I suspect that your ilk would fall under the former, for which much pain has been felt, both from enemies and from allies, am I correct?"

OOC:
<TAG> and placeholder for entry when I've got time to write up a passable intro post.

Daneh felt a cold shiver run along her spine when the Baron Skye spoke, she had not realized he was there, and when she turned his eyes were strange as they regarded her, it as all and all quite unnerving.

"I confess what little I know about assassin's Baron is limited to the fact that good ones are rarely ever seen. I suppose if I was one and am here so exposed in public, that that would make me quite a bad assassin would it not?" She laughed. "I am afraid I am no assassin Baron, though I doubt the same could be said for your consorts, dark and monstrous beings they truly are. I am right now simply a diplomat from my nation, I have been many other things, all right and honorable which is truly hard to be in this galaxy.

"I have fought battles against the Empire Baron, we have been doing so for almost three centuries now, I have long ago learned that there is no glory to be found in this war, and those that look for do so not only at their own expense but also their comrades and the civilians they are supposed to protect."

"There are ways to defeat the Empire, but nothing will be done at a summit like this that will bring about the Empire's defeat. They are simply to vast, too large, to entrenched it will take centuries more of fighting, and my nation will be fighting that war as we have for so long. That is what my 'Ilk' do. I hope that addresses your suspicions?" She said to the baron and Adama both and she really only cared about one of their opinions and it was that of the later, rather than the former.

Daneh felt a cold shiver run along her spine when the Baron Skye spoke, she had not realized he was there, and when she turned his eyes were strange as they regarded her, it as all and all quite unnerving.

"I confess what little I know about assassin's Baron is limited to the fact that good ones are rarely ever seen. I suppose if I was one and am here so exposed in public, that that would make me quite a bad assassin would it not?" She laughed. "I am afraid I am no assassin Baron, though I doubt the same could be said for your consorts, dark and monstrous beings they truly are. I am right now simply a diplomat from my nation, I have been many other things, all right and honorable which is truly hard to be in this galaxy.

"I have fought battles against the Empire Baron, we have been doing so for almost three centuries now, I have long ago learned that there is no glory to be found in this war, and those that look for do so not only at their own expense but also their comrades and the civilians they are supposed to protect."

"There are ways to defeat the Empire, but nothing will be done at a summit like this that will bring about the Empire's defeat. They are simply to vast, too large, to entrenched it will take centuries more of fighting, and my nation will be fighting that war as we have for so long. That is what my 'Ilk' do. I hope that addresses your suspicions?" She said to the baron and Adama both and she really only cared about one of their opinions and it was that of the later, rather than the former.

Adama smiled slightly, as Daneh gave her verbal lashing to the Baron. He could not help but to think to himself the real reason the empire continues to thrive, while this "rebellion" continued to fail. It had nothing to do with resolve, but everything to do with lack of unity.

Adama looked at Daneh. "I respect your honesty, it is something that is not to common at political conferences these days. I also respect the fact that you are blunt with your opinions, it allows people you are dealing with a direct approach to talking with you."

Adama continued, " I also completely believe everything you have said about the Coredians, but I would like to ask you, what about the circumstances. I have had to do many things, like you in my life. Some great, others terrible, but all for a good purpose, the survivial of my race. He picked up his cigar out of the ashtray and took a puff, being mindful not to blow it in her face.

"Sometimes their are reasons beyond what you know. I will not guess as to them, as I do not like to guess. I am a solder, guesswork will get you killed. However so will disunity. That is the problem here, even in a conference with allies, there seems to be so much hostility towards each other, so many working for their own goals, and not the best common goal, Freedom for the Galaxy, all galaxies. Some are balagerant (he looks to the Baron as he says that) and others are unforgiving. If anyone wishes to defeat the Empire, they must become as unified and resolute as the Empire itself."

"I agree perfectly with you," Baron Skye replied, "though one can also point out that an assassin does not need cloak and dagger to achieve his or her objective. I recall once, a long time ago, a man walked into a room very much like this one, strode up to his target, and gutted him without even attempting to conceal his intent, and the assassin walked away without any of those at the party having an idea what he looked like. How it was done was a marvelous achievement of social engineering and psychology that I doubt I shall see... or coordinate... again.

"Maximillian and Xenith are my compatriots, but hardly assassins. Maximillian prefers the wondrous carnage of close-combat, and Xenith... he is not a fighter.

"But I digress, I sense that I have given some form of offense, for which I apologize. Unlike my more blunt comrades, I do try to maintain at least cordial relationships with others. My comment about seeking war for glory or for whatever form of freedom one might support was meant to cast the difference between you and..."

Skye turned a barely noticeable glance to Daniel Masaki.

"Him. You have fought consistently for so long, through thick and thin, a trait we Godulans find most admirable, while the Coredians have on several occasions withdrawn from a combat scenario for the simple reason that a key member of the government happened to be on board the flagship and was threatened in some small way. To withdraw from combat simply because you do not wish for one person to die is folly, in our view, but even more folly is it to place someone with the capacity to make such decisions and cannot fathom the greater tactical good over his own self preservation within that exact form of combat scenario.

"We agree also with your position that a celebration like this does little, if anything, to cement operations behind any one banner. We know what happened out there over Asfaltum. The Coredians were present. That was it. The Emperor sacrificed himself over that world, he was not slain.

"This is why we feel that the battle is in no way over. This is why we feel that there is no room for celebration. The Empire is still alive and functioning. There is still fighting to be done. And rest assured even now there are plans in place to bring the fight to the Imperials. Rest assured that your estimates of the war taking decades, maybe even centuries, may well be put aside in favor of a more sterling assessment.

"We have fought our share of combat against the Imperials as well, ambassador. Even now the Imperials dread to approach Godulan Territory for fear of a recreation of the catastrophe at Thorn. We fight not for glory, but to terminate what we see as a blight upon the universe. We fight to eliminate the Imperials because they have on repeated occasions destroyed entire worlds to make what they consider to be a point. They have killed innocents by the billions, and they have thus far gotten away with it. We aim to rectify that situation.

"This cannot be achieved by present company however, as you may well have noticed. The rebellion is as fractured as one of the broken windows around this room. But do not think that just because the Coredians and others prefer to talk about fighting the Empire that we are just like them. No. We do not prefer to talk about our efforts. We will not justify our intention to kill our enemy. We will simply do it.

"I can see that you and those you serve are of a similar mind to us, and there may well be a chance to strike a deathblow upon the Imperials without years upon years of fighting. Perchance you might see fit to aid us in our efforts. It would be nice to have an ally that doesn't flee as soon as the admiral sees a turbolaser bolt heading in his general direction."

He turned to Adama to address the insinuation that had been made.

"Please. Tell me how you really see the Godulans. Be so kind as to indulge an old man's curiosity."

Though Skye did not look a day over thirty, his tone of voice seemed to reveal an age far beyond even the oldest individuals in attendance.

"Unity is a noble concept and is something we all wish we could have. It is a hard thing in reality. What does unity entail? An official alliance between our nations? Which nation shall lead us and why, what sort of governmental structure will be emplaced, democratic, oligarchical, imperial? Should we have one unified Fleet made up of dozens of separate nations each with different technologies, tactics, and command structure? Will Cordians take orders from us? will we from them? Where will the fleet be deployed? Whose systems will they defend?" She asked Adama.

"We have tried this in the past, it is very hard to do right, and if it is done wrong them billions will suffer the consequences. I have seen what happens when unity benefits one nation more than another, because of the politics of the majority or simply selfishness and greed. It was something I will never forget and is something we will not enter into lightly again.

This was Tiberius Gracchus' first large-scale political function with so many intergalactic representatives present, and to be honest with himself, the Consul of the Republic was feeling more than a little intimidated. He had foregone his ceremonial bodyguard of Lictors as a courtesy to the others present, but he would have felt much more comfortable with the dozen fellow Neo-Romans at his back.

At last he spotted his co-Consul Pompey in a corner of the room, speaking to an Elvish officer. He made his way over to the pair, snagging an appetizer on the way.

"Ah! Pompey! There you are, my friend," he said upon his arrival, clasping forearms with his co-Consul. He turned to the Elf and offered his own hand. "Tiberius Gracchus of Neo-Roma, Consul of the Republic," he introduced himself amiably.

Richard returned the Abh's greeting. "I'm Prince Richard, I'd like you to meet my friend Taal, Patriarch of the Shield. It is always good to see our friends the Abh, especially on a day worth celebrating like this. If we are lucky we might even see a power struggle for the thrown and maybe even a civil war, but the passing of such a demon is worth celebrating at any time." Taal bowed to the Abh.

Doron gave the ole waving salute to Taal once he was introduced. "Aye, now that would be something nice to see. I would be more than willing to bet on the possible struggle for power but with weak powers to fill the void it will more than likely be uneventful. For the moment we drink limitless to celebrate the times. It is one less empire in the universe afterall.

How go things with the Tidani?"

A few light-hours from Jurai, Doomweaver drifted through a hole in space. Sometimes referred to as the Sword of the Crown, it was both the largest vessel in the Kendaryn navy (slightly more than 3.5 km. in length) and the most advanced. This time, however, it was merely an escort, guarding a much smaller ship until it came within a single jump of the meeting’s location. From this distance, Doomweaver was able to open a new portal with sufficient precision to bring the 30 meter ‘Falcon’ scout ship to within a few minutes flight time from Jurai.

The smaller ship passed through this last portal alone, the hole closing behind it as it approached the planet. After identifying itself and stating that it carried the Kendaryn representative, the Falcon followed the landing directions provided by Traffic Control. It came to a smooth, gentle landing, drifting to the ground on carefully controlled repulsion beams, then opened a door in its side and extended a boarding ramp. The first to emerge was Garnyn Delerän himself, the king of Kendari. He wore the traditional gold trimmed blue garb of the Kendaryn monarch, with a long coat to protect him from the cold weather. Those few who had seen him before, in earlier meetings, would recognize his ornate belt, his blue-gemmed, silver crown, and the short, black metal staff he carried, which was inset with a network of fine gold wire, and tipped with a red crystal.

He was followed immediately by two Royal Guards in midnight blue and gold power armor. As an indication of their ceremonial status, they were unarmed except for the hilts of Tolmadren stun batons, which were tied in place on their belts with lengths of conspicuous white cord. Last was Garnyn’s current assistant, a gleaming MX-47 robot.

As they were running slightly behind schedule, the four Kendaryns continued swiftly to the meeting.

Kadus looked back at his human friend. "Yes, we hyren lack the vocal coards necessary to communicate in most other languages, it is the blessing of telepathy that allows us to overcome our curse and speak with others like my human comrads. We are perfectly capable of understanding spoken word though, so for the sake of others perhaps it would be best to continue with such. It is a pleasure to meet you Lukien.

Kadus was about to repeat Lukien's message to Baerdin when Pompy walked up. When Lukien repeated his nationality a slight smile took the Director's face for having correctly identified a species he had never seen before.

"Agreed though it does have its perks. It is a pleasure to meet you as well. Hopefully some good can come out of all these different meetings though I have no idea who anyone here is."

Squeezing the elf's hand firmly, Pompey looked the man straight in the eyes, sizing him up, looking to see if he could be used as a friend during the conference.

"Marcus Sulla Pompey, Consul of the Republican Senate." he answered the question in his own right. "Shame you don't feel any hunger, as I said it's really quite good."

He took another sip of his wine. "So, what's your government hoping for in this assembly?" As he said this he looked to the doorway, and noticed the giant slug that had slithered in the door. A sickening feeling suddenly came over him.

"Y'know, now I wish I hadn't eaten."

Now Lukien found himself treading into territory that was less familiar to him though he lacked any signs of otherwise. "Other than suspicion, I was sent to investigate and assess possible allies for the future. After a recent invasion from Galactic Empire forces, we are looking for people that will actually come to our aid when we need it."

The elven captain shrugged as if the point was inconsequential. "But we seemed to do just fine on our own. Still, it would be nice to not fight alone everytime."

Lukien's gaze followed that of Pompey until it fell on the giant slug. "Apparently you've never seen the hairy arse end of dwarf before. Slightly less disturbing but still a stealer of appetites."

"Ah! Pompey! There you are, my friend," he said upon his arrival, clasping forearms with his co-Consul. He turned to the Elf and offered his own hand. "Tiberius Gracchus of Neo-Roma, Consul of the Republic," he introduced himself amiably.

Lukien extended his hand and shook the Consul's hand. "Captain Lukien of Forge military forces of the Kingdom of Mythrandir. A pleasure to meet you."

Apparently the little corner was becoming quite popular.

OOC: Where is Coreworlds? Post to come soon

Jaga crawled along the state room with his protocol droid in tow. He unlike the rest of the guests stood out like a sore thumb, and ugly presence in a room filled with elegance, but the Hutts were not known for their love of beauty.

Running one of the Galaxies largest cartels, in fight for control of Nal-Hutta and a thorn in the empires side, just as they were in his, all provided a more chequered background than these 'noble' causes that seemed to be floating around everywhere.

He heard stories of fighting the empire, great battles in the sky, wonderful tales of exotic clashes. All of them rubbish, what had it gotten them? A stronger empire, a larger Imperial Navy a more unified cause and more propaganda against the raging machine that even now rolled over worlds. What did they hope to achieve in this. Claiming that Palpatine was dead was a start, proving it was entirely another thing.

“Urrrganda Yuilvorach Hunamila Groichta Yushin BALA.”
“Jaga the Hutt, would like to know, where is the body of the Emperor Palpatine?”

“Tolurasil Bulishta vinala forilaa hunta Urhgu Rushimacht.”
“And his most illustrious Jaga the Hutt would also like to know what the rebellion hopes to achieve by holding such a public meeting.”

“Compnor urgisha rolista balachinea roliva torochana rulish malasta.”
“My master finally points out that it is likely that COMPNOR is already aware of who is present in this meeting, thanks to the way in which it was organised.”

Jaga slowly crawled his way towards the grouping in the corner.

John simply shrugged at the Hutt's words. He had heard that same soundtrack before, and besides, what would a fascist movement want with this conference? He simply got some more whisky and drank up.

"Please. Tell me how you really see the Godulans. Be so kind as to indulge an old man's curiosity."

Though Skye did not look a day over thirty, his tone of voice seemed to reveal an age far beyond even the oldest individuals in attendance.

Adama set his cigar down, after exhaling the gray smoke, away from the other guests. He stood up and looked at the Baron. "I do not know your people, as far as I know of this is the first time any colonial has met one of yours. So I do not see the Godulans, not yet. I will reserve my judgement about your people, when I have been around more of them, seen a wider selection of your nation. However I do find it quite rude to sneak up behind someone and then accuse them of being an assain. I also find your friend Maximellium, I believe his name is to be quite crude. Smashing out every window in a diplomatic meeting, and possibly injuring some of the delegations here, is irresponsible to say the least. As I said though, I will reserve my final judgements until I can get to know you better.

"Unity is a noble concept and is something we all wish we could have. It is a hard thing in reality. What does unity entail? An official alliance between our nations? Which nation shall lead us and why, what sort of governmental structure will be emplaced, democratic, oligarchical, imperial? Should we have one unified Fleet made up of dozens of separate nations each with different technologies, tactics, and command structure? Will Cordians take orders from us? will we from them? Where will the fleet be deployed? Whose systems will they defend?" She asked Adama.

"We have tried this in the past, it is very hard to do right, and if it is done wrong them billions will suffer the consequences. I have seen what happens when unity benefits one nation more than another, because of the politics of the majority or simply selfishness and greed. It was something I will never forget and is something we will not enter into lightly again.

Adama then turned to Daneh, and took a small sip of his scotch. His face was old, his eyes looked tired, tired of all the wars, the complaining, and above all else idleness and excuses.

"The solution is simple, and still Democratic. At a conference like this one, the nations that are fighting the Empire should elect who will be their commander in cheif, and dicuss how much of a force of what kinds shall be used. This nation who will lead, should be in for only one term, for a limited amount of time. This nation can not be re-elected for at least two consecutive terms. During that administration all nations should have one elected representitive, again for one term and held accountable by the nation they represent. This way corruption which infects politics can be kept to a minimum, and all nations that would agree to such unity would have it, along with a fair and democratic practice."

As Adama continued to speak, he noticed a giant slug approaching the bar. He fell silent, as he could not believe his eyes. A greenish, yellowish slug thing followed by an Imperial Cylon who seemed to be the translator for the slug. Adama could not help himself, he stared in complete disbelief, the ugliness of the creature, the stench and the slime was completely repulsive, almost as if it were a creature out of a bad horror film.

Adama turned to the Baron and Daneh, "What in the hell is that thing?" he asked as the slug came closer to the bar.

Not wanting to disrupt the atmosphere just yet he focused his thoughts on Lukien so only he would hear. "Be cautious with this one. (refering to the Hutt approaching) Hutts are known for one thing only, their selfishness. While it is true that the do fight the Empire in some way, most think it has more to do with bigger paychecks that way. In my 123 years I have never seen one outside the Empire, but we must hide doubt for now."

Kadus was very worried. If it had been a Bothan or Mon Cal walking towards him he would have been extatic. The giant slug, however, twisted his giblets far more than simply the sight of him should have.

(ooc: edit: I took the Hutt to be moving towards this character in the 'corner'. If this is wrong then Jaga will be moving past and not towards. done and done)
___________________________________________

Doron gave the ole waving salute to Taal once he was introduced. "Aye, now that would be something nice to see. I would be more than willing to bet on the possible struggle for power but with weak powers to fill the void it will more than likely be uneventful. For the moment we drink limitless to celebrate the times. It is one less empire in the universe afterall.

How go things with the Tidani?"

"I've heard worse excuses to drink." Richard said and raised his glass before taking a large gulp.

"Tidan is doing quite well. We have finally settled in on our new home. The defenses have been going up non-stop since we arrived and they should all be finished by the time I return home. The people seem to be happy in the cities now as well, we even managed to provide a private mountain home for the surviving Hyren. They have prefered solitude mostly since the aftermath of the plague, and now they have a city only accessible by air, it is nice to see them finally starting to relax and move past the tragedy. After all they have done for us in the past they deserve everything we can do to make them comfortable now so they can recover."

Richard took another sip and just stared into his glass for a moment. "The colony ships have even started seeding the ecosystem with the flora and fauna from Kharik and Earth, those ships are amazing. I honestly don't know what we would have done without them."

"But enough of that. What news comes from the Abh since we left?"

"He" Daneh emphasized the pronoun, Hutts were sentient beings not animals after all, although sometimes it was hard to tell, but that wasn't the point. Only the Empire wouldn't recognize the difference. "is Jagga the Hutt. One of many crime lords from Nal Hutta in Hutt Space. He is one of many but quite powerful and influential in Hutt Space and beyond into the poorer systems of the Mid and Outer Rim. I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him, but the Hutts have rendered important services in the past, at price of course." She said quickly to Adama.

She did not add that Hutt space was getting neighboring thier Republic remnant , the Mon Cal Protectorate. If relations broke down between them, if they didn't utilize the Black Market for the Hutt's Profit, then the Hutts would look for another way to make a buck, raiding, slaving, and Invasion would always suit them fine. Hutt space was a proverbial dagger ready to strike at their back.

"The Hutts were the first dominant species in the Galaxy before the rise of the Old Republic, and they still maintain a vast Empire, though they gain power still through trade, crime, and extortion, war is beneath them though they are quite good at it. Personally he is a greedy disgusting individual and maintains one of the larges Harems on his planet. A strange thing that, Hutts are asexual, and can change thier sex and give birth at a whim, convient I would think, they also lived to be over 1000 years old, Families are important to them. If you ever learn a Hutt's family name, it is a great honor. Jagga though is different, and you won't find a bigger low life in the galaxy, literally." She added.

"Jagga!" She said as he approached, "I am surprised to see you here so far from Nal Hutta,It will give me a chance to personally thank you for arranging those medical supplies to be delivered to Dellalt, I understand they saved many lives.

Adama set his cigar down, after exhaling the gray smoke, away from the other guests. He stood up and looked at the Baron. "I do not know your people, as far as I know of this is the first time any colonial has met one of yours. So I do not see the Godulans, not yet. I will reserve my judgement about your people, when I have been around more of them, seen a wider selection of your nation. However I do find it quite rude to sneak up behind someone and then accuse them of being an assain. I also find your friend Maximellium, I believe his name is to be quite crude. Smashing out every window in a diplomatic meeting, and possibly injuring some of the delegations here, is irresponsible to say the least. As I said though, I will reserve my final judgements until I can get to know you better.

A loud bark of laughter came from directly behind Adama as Maximillian very nearly generated his own sonic boom of mirth. How he had managed to get from one side of the chamber to the exact opposite end without knocking several dozen people aside, or even making the sound of footprints, within a few seconds, was enough of a question by itself.

"Ha HA! When did we ever say we were Godulans?"

Baron Skye rolled his eyes at Maximillian and turned back to Adama. "We are not indigenous to the Godulan populace. My comrades and I took over governance some time ago from the native entity known as the Godulan Governate. We are not exactly human either, though the same could be said of the Godulans, it applies to us somewhat differently."

"We eat Gods, dude," Maximillian interrupted. "And each of us three is a different kind of vampire. Baron Skye feeds upon knowledge and neural energy. I can drain life force like one of those... what do they call them... Wraith? Xenith over there can suck out your own will to live at a glance."

"That's why he's blindfolded. You think Maximillian is crude? You would not wish to see what would happen if Xenith started willsapping people."

"Yah. Its kinda funny to watch, but y'all wouldn't like it. If he doesn't like you, he'll just order you to jump of a cliff, and you'll go and do it, and you'll fight anybody who tries to stop you. People say we're evil, well some folks anyway. They'd be right, but that don't mean we automatically make the Godulans oppress and enslave at every opportunity."

"Much though I hate to admit, we have been somewhat swept up by the Godulan mentality."

"Making them do something they don't want to is like standing in front of an avalanche with a cardboard sign. It ain't gonna do anything, and you're gonna get skidmarked hardcore for your trouble. Baron Skye's the only one who makes any headway with 'em, and thats because he's the one LEAST inclined to do all that Oppressing and Enslaving stuff. Bloody pansy."

Skye ignored the jab, and kept his eyes on Adama. "We do not have much outside analysis, but we are given to understand that the Godulans come off as 'Strange'. Sometimes that comes across as annoying, sometimes it comes across as amusing, but rarely does one feel threatened by a Godulan when that Godulan does not wish it. I believe I saw somebody moving around here who has had previous experience with one of our actual Godulan ambassadors."

"Dude with the kitty. I heard his friend got kidnapped at the same time Dannyboy's boy did. I wonder if that Kal'Shazzar guy's in on it. Didn't intel say he was headed in the direction of Tenetia? I wanted to see how his research turned out, too. But y'all had to ban him from continuing his experiments and bam! He flew the coop."

"That would be Katsuo, I believe," Skye confirmed, ignoring the rest of Maximillian's tangent. "So you might wish to ask him, or you could always come to Terivine and see for yourself, if you do not mind constant rain and little sun... the views are quite amazing though, and the atmosphere is something we pride ourselves on... Maximillian, what's the issue?"

Maximillian had riveted upon the approaching Hutt, his eyes taking on a particularly predatory glint, and the very tips of his teeth showing through his maw. He kept a slight distance between himself and the mound of blubber, but one could tell that his response was remarkably close to that of an angry cat.

"First: His body was consumed at the site," Skye answered the hutt's question which had been uttered from halfway across the room. "He didn't get killed, he killed himself to keep that force storm over Asfaltum up. Second: We have no bloody clue what the Masakis hope to achieve with this meeting."

"Third," Maximillian continued, "Let COMPNOR or whoever know, it don't matter worth a shit. Let them come. We'll arrange their corpses in a neat little floral pattern."

This Thread is Hereby Closed! No more may enter!

"A Hutt. Why did it have to be a Hutt?" A Shinobi grumbled.

"Shut up. You know the orders." His comrade whispered back.

"I know, I know. Still..." The young man wrinkled his nose, his face covered in a white mask.

Unbeknownst to the Hutt (or anyone else for that matter since these two sported stealth generators), two shadows on orders from the Hokage herself and versed in Huttese watched his every move and word carefully. That done, the Raitei and his wife returned to the scene, cleaning up a black eye.

I scanned the scene, seeing a good number of people in the area, both from within and without Coredian space. I noticed a Hutt and frowned. What the heck is that slug doing here? Note to self - add more salt to the dinner menus.

I checked my chrono, noticing that it's a few minutes until the meeting begins. Everyone should have their seating arrangements by now.

"Want me to choke him with my whip?" Katrina asked slyly, referring to the Hutt in the room.

"Would make a bigger mess." I shook my head. "Although it's a nice thought. Time to move."

"Go get 'em." Katrina grinned.

On a raised stage, there was a podium and something that appears to be a large punch dish. Of course, it was no punch dish, but a memory collector/sealer, but I hoped I wouldn't have to need it.

Poking the mike, I winced as feedback squealed around the room. "Sorry, ladies and gentlebeings. I would like to thank you all for coming to this meeting. We have several items of note..."

"I've heard worse excuses to drink." Richard said and raised his glass before taking a large gulp.

"Tidan is doing quite well. We have finally settled in on our new home. The defenses have been going up non-stop since we arrived and they should all be finished by the time I return home. The people seem to be happy in the cities now as well, we even managed to provide a private mountain home for the surviving Hyren. They have prefered solitude mostly since the aftermath of the plague, and now they have a city only accessible by air, it is nice to see them finally starting to relax and move past the tragedy. After all they have done for us in the past they deserve everything we can do to make them comfortable now so they can recover."

Richard took another sip and just stared into his glass for a moment. "The colony ships have even started seeding the ecosystem with the flora and fauna from Kharik and Earth, those ships are amazing. I honestly don't know what we would have done without them."

"But enough of that. What news comes from the Abh since we left?"

Doron smiled as he took a long drink from his glass. "Not much new since the last time you were there. Defenses get stronger as time goes by, the military grows more powerful, and we travel the stars more and more. It is the way of the Abh.

We've made a few new inventions to help speed up travel throughout the Empire. At the moment it is currently regulated to a few key systems but we hope to have it networked throughout the Empire in its entirity soon."

The Abriel had his glass refilled. He was already well into his fifth. Such were the perks of being an Abh. "A plague you say? Odd. Was there any research done to find a cure or what caused it?"

Pompey looked disgusted at the though of a hairy dwarven ass, the image invoked by the elf's words. "I've seen battle countless times, but I think you're the braver one if you can see that and live to tell the tale." He said jokingly.

"Ah! Pompey! There you are, my friend," he said upon his arrival, clasping forearms with his co-Consul. He turned to the Elf and offered his own hand. "Tiberius Gracchus of Neo-Roma, Consul of the Republic," he introduced himself amiably.

"Gracchus!" Pompey took the man's forearm and pulled him in for a brotherly hug, "Good to see you came, old friend."

He was about to speak again to both his fellow Consul and the elf when suddenly someone with a microphone began to speak. Obviously the meeting was starting.

Daneh considered the Godular contingent one last time.

"Baron Skye you say that since your nation does not go around enslaving other planets at will that somehow that makes your subordonate's techniques excusable? I am sorry, I am afraid I'd have to agree with a Jedi's philosophy on this. By sucking the life out of a sentient being, or enslaving there very soul to your bidding and enjoying is no worst then the crimes perpetrated by Palpatine and his Sith. It is the work of monsters and demons, and no words of yours change how I feel of that. We may be "allied" in this cause but do not presume our nations are cordial." Her voice was icy cold as she spoke.

She extended her hand to the Admiral, "It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance Admiral, I truly hope what you said today will become reality, if there are more men like you in the service of your nation, we have found a most welcome ally in this war." She said to him in all honesty. "Dark and uncertain times lie ahead Admiral, and the time will come when people will have to choice to do the right thing or the easy. I am comforted to know what choice you will make. If you ever find yourself in need of assistance just contact me at this holo-number," She gave him a sheet of paper, "I find having unofficial channels between two nations can come in handy when time is short."

"Ah It seems our host has finally decided to speak to us." She said as they heard Daniel's words.

Irene peered curiously at Jaga (Who was at that moment engaged in various conversations, or so it seemed), happy that she'd chosen not to be accompanied by a drone, as it'd probably have sliced and diced the Hutt out of annoyance with its machine slavery - and eventually walked over to it, politely tipping it on its... Skin, due to a lack of shoulders, which would've been difficult to reach in the first place. "Ahem... Curious. Assuming that you're right, and imperial intelligence is already aware of this meeting - probably having spies planted, or getting a log of the events, or something similar -, isn't it a bit risky for you to be here? I mean, your name showing up on a list of enemies of the Empire must be detrimental to your business... And life expectancy."

“I presume you mean the Imperial Security Bureau part of ‘Compnor’” Anárion said the word with a little sneer, “as opposed to say, the Hitler You- err, Sub-Adult Group. Of course, that’s the joy of the Galactic Empire. The proverbial left hand doesn’t know that the proverbial right hand is sneaking up on it with a knife. Let’s say someone here was bought by the Eye-Es-Bee, they’d still have to worry about Imperial Intelligence, who of course, hate the ISB, as the ISB’s more amateurish, and has more funds…And then there’s the Inqusisitorius, which I believe takes its pay from the Imperial Intelligence paymaster, but doesn’t actually do what they say, which is a nice efficient detail…Of course, you can be sure every rebel those people take in is going to claim to be working for the ISB, so they’re still likely to do a bit of torturing…And then there’s the ‘Secret’ Navy Force, I wouldn’t want to work with those people, it’s like some sort of political-infighting tournament…

“Though I’m sure no one here is working for the Imperials, after all, no one has much to thank them for, do we?” He seemed to be taking a perverse joy in insinuating, with heavy-handed troweling, that the hutt might be a spy. Of course, his information might have been inaccurate. Most of what was known about the Galactic Empire was gained from trawling failed states patterned along the same lines, rather than directly investigated. That was a disadvantage of having an oft-replicated system of government…

“I presume you mean the Imperial Security Bureau part of ‘Compnor’” Anárion said the word with a little sneer, “as opposed to say, the Hitler You- err, Sub-Adult Group. Of course, that’s the joy of the Galactic Empire. The proverbial left hand doesn’t know that the proverbial right hand is sneaking up on it with a knife. Let’s say someone here was bought by the Eye-Es-Bee, they’d still have to worry about Imperial Intelligence, who of course, hate the ISB, as the ISB’s more amateurish, and has more funds…And then there’s the Inqusisitorius, which I believe takes its pay from the Imperial Intelligence paymaster, but doesn’t actually do what they say, which is a nice efficient detail…Of course, you can be sure every rebel those people take in is going to claim to be working for the ISB, so they’re still likely to do a bit of torturing…And then there’s the ‘Secret’ Navy Force, I wouldn’t want to work with those people, it’s like some sort of political-infighting tournament…

“Though I’m sure no one here is working for the Imperials, after all, no one has much to thank them for, do we?” He seemed to be taking a perverse joy in insinuating, with heavy-handed troweling, that the hutt might be a spy. Of course, his information might have been inaccurate. Most of what was known about the Galactic Empire was gained from trawling failed states patterned along the same lines, rather than directly investigated. That was a disadvantage of having an oft-replicated system of government…

John noticed talk of COMPNOR, and walked up to Anárion, saying, "My apologies, but I thought COMPNOR was just a fascist movement, akin to the 20th Century Nazi Party and the various police and political organs serperate groups. I suppose I'll have to tell the Foreign Affairs Commissariat and our Internal Security Bureau differently."

He then extended his hand, and said, "Again, I apologize. My name's John Rosencrantz. Special Envoy from the Commissariat of Foreign Affairs, Workers State of New Dornalia, and fellow hater of the Empire."

Skye simply shrugged at Daneh and turned to Daniel Masaki as he stepped to the podium. A silent shouting match had erupted between the minds of the three Phages, with Xenith expressing the largest amount of indignation at Daneh's remark. He had been nowhere near the conversation, but had listened in nonetheless.

Maximillian also turned, but his rage was more visible, seething visibly though saying nothing.

Xenith: Pompous... Arrogant... Hypocritical little bitch! How DARE she judge us like that? She doesn't know ANYTHING!

Maximillian: Just because we can don't mean we do, which is something I say with no small amount of conviction and resentment. If this weren't as diplomatic function...

Skye: We will not be terminating an ambassador because of their own ignorance and supposed moral code.

Maximillian: Or tactical expedience. Did you hear that shit? They've been throwing themselves against the Imperials for ages with no success, yet apparently that's how they fight. Screw tactics. Just try to club the Impies over the head and hope for once they aren't wearing a helmet. Bloody stupid. Maybe they used to fight for something greater. Now they just lose.

Xenith: See if we give them anything at all when the hammer drops. They can KEEP their little corner. They can bitch about it too, and we'll just say 'Beating your heads against a brick wall got you nothing for hundreds of years. Why do you think you should get something now?'

Skye: We will cross that bridge when we get to it. Against all probability they may still somehow come through in a clinch.

Maximillian: THAT'LL be the day.

Skye: It is probable, though not likely. Expect quantum fluctuations of an unprecedented scale for that eventuality.

Xenith: Nobody here has a damn clue, do they. Not one inkling of the things that are about to come?

Maximillian: If anybody thinks they know, they would only know of our part. The rest of it... if that bitch understood exactly what was coming she'd be pissed at herself for burning the bridge before she crossed it. Maybe. She might be too arrogant to admit a thing. Let them think we're just another peon with a spiffy but inconsequential part of the good fight or whatever they call it. Let them assume.

Skye: Enough. There are enough mindreaders here that one might get a word or two out of this conversation.

Doron smiled as he took a long drink from his glass. "Not much new since the last time you were there. Defenses get stronger as time goes by, the military grows more powerful, and we travel the stars more and more. It is the way of the Abh.

We've made a few new inventions to help speed up travel throughout the Empire. At the moment it is currently regulated to a few key systems but we hope to have it networked throughout the Empire in its entirity soon."

The Abriel had his glass refilled. He was already well into his fifth. Such were the perks of being an Abh. "A plague you say? Odd. Was there any research done to find a cure or what caused it?"

"There was. Unfortunately most of the researchers were infected and died before they could get very far. You see it targetted only Hyren physiology. Once human teams took over and progressed to where their alien counterparts had left off it was too late for most of the populace. We still have no leads to who could have been behind it. Who ever it was had to have intimate knowledge of hyren biology, and as they have been pathologically isolationist we both know that is a short list. Still even more confusing, if it were an enemy we know of why only take out the hyren and leave humans to carry on? It appeared at the return of an expedition mission which came in contact with countless planets over a number of years, so the trail to follow is somewhat overwealming. In the end it terminated about 80% of the population, it would have been higher if there hadn't been a large number of the naval forces outside Tidan where we were able to keep them from getting contaminated before the cure was found."

Richard paused. "Young Admiral Starfall survived but sadly his father did not, he was a great leader. I know your people had some contact with their family especially. Kadus is actually here, though I don't know where exactly he has gotten to." He looked at Taal inquisitivily. Taal motioned with his neck in the direction of the corner. "Ah good. Anyway, something you said about travel before reminded me. If it is alright with the Abh we'd like to construct a form of high-speed travel from New Tidan into your space. We don't need to discuss it here as I'm sure the various offices of our governments will be kept busy coordinating and agreeing to the plans of such a thing. I just it might be worth mentioning... Oh. Is that Daniel? Looks like we are starting."
________________________________________________

Meanwhile Kadus had been listening to the group in the corner with him. As Daniel tried to start the meeting something started to bother him. Something the equivalent of when insects pass quickly just inside your field of focus. Kadus' mind reacted slightly with each pass. He looked up searching for the source of the irritation. Lukien was busy talking. Finally he settled on the three Godulan leaders scattered around the room.

As best he could tell they were doing something to the effect of throwing things at each other. Kadus put a hand to his forehead and rubbed his temples. It was strange as Kadus was able to send telepathic messages but not read minds, and nothing like this had happened before. Perhaps he was more sensitive than had been previously understood, perhaps he was catching something like the trailing edge of what ever it was they were doing. Whatever the reason, it was causing him great discomfort. He finally started to overcome the sensation when it stopped.

Baerdin leaned in. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine." But really he wasn't sure. He hadn't a clue what had been done or said by the three, and suspected if he had it would have killed him. They were up to something, but then when were they not.

Jagga opened his arms wide. “Curlolia Silvala Tiroshin Savada Firolsaca Daneh.”
The benevolent Jagga says that “he takes pride in helping you and your people Daneh.”

“Urgolish Tilvalasd Hulim Forolichta.”
“and would be most eager to help you again.”

Jaga stood still and lowered his voice slightly. “Vilast Daneh gurilanacrunchtish grovan lophita rolajhfjk wolina rushin evalichta rolisni yousailn”
“Why Daneh, are the Imperials swarming over our supply lines more than usual, these people and meetings like this are not good for business.”

“AHHohohohohoo Ishliva Daneh.”
“Thank you, for your kind words.” Jagga left the conversation hanging as he slowly moved through the assembled crowd, waiting for what Emperor Daniel Masaki had to say, about his fight for his own Imperial 'freedom'.

She extended her hand to the Admiral, "It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance Admiral, I truly hope what you said today will become reality, if there are more men like you in the service of your nation, we have found a most welcome ally in this war." She said to him in all honesty. "Dark and uncertain times lie ahead Admiral, and the time will come when people will have to choice to do the right thing or the easy. I am comforted to know what choice you will make. If you ever find yourself in need of assistance just contact me at this holo-number," She gave him a sheet of paper, "I find having unofficial channels between two nations can come in handy when time is short."

Adama chuckles. "You know it has been quite a while since a lovely woman gave me her phone number?" he replies, with his voice in a jovial tone. He reached out and grabbed the piece of paper, and stood up. Thank you so much for everything, you have been quite imformative, and I do hope to meet you again. Adama smiles, as he gets up. No matter how hard he tried he could not get over that slug, sitting in the room, gathering attention. As he watched, Daneh, seemed to walk over to him, the ...person... she called the lowest lifeform in the galaxy, and he watched as she treated him like a long lost friend.

Adama thought to himself the only true thing you can believe about a diplomat or a politician is the oppisite of what they say. He gulped down the scotch, as more and more people seemed to gravitate towards the Hutt, as if his massive berth was somehow drawing everyone to him. Ugly as he is, somehow he was important. Adama began to work up the courage to speak to it, when Daniel began to tap on the Microphone. Adama turned around, to see Daniel at the podium. The show was about to begin...

“Ah. Well,” Anárion said, pulling out a pen and looking around for a napkin, “That’s what it wants you to think. In actuality, it comprises a number of very large sub-groups with different agendas. Most important, to us, among these is the Imperial Security Bureau,” he began to draw on the napkin, labelling everything neatly in English to produce a sizeable diagram. (http://imperialorganization.tripod.com/images/compnor.gif)

OOC: Sorry for the late entry.

IC:
"Greetings." – a heavy, machine-adjusted voice sounded, and a new figure entered the
room. It was Alexander Kirillovich Kazansky (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Alexander_Kirillovich_Kazansky), the former President of Allanea, and now Fieldmarshal of the Republic. He wore his famous full-body suit of black Command Armor, and his voice was altered - it was likely that some of the men present would find this quite unnerving.

"Greetings." – said Kazansky – "I am… pleased… to be here…"

“Ah. Well,” Anárion said, pulling out a pen and looking around for a napkin, “That’s what it wants you to think. In actuality, it comprises a number of very large sub-groups with different agendas. Most important, to us, among these is the Imperial Security Bureau,” he began to draw on the napkin, labelling everything neatly in English to produce a sizeable diagram.

Studying the diagram intently, John folded it up and put it into his pocket, saying, "Thanks for the details. Internal Security and the Commissariat of Foreign Affairs will know what to look for now."

OOC: Sorry for the late entry.

IC:
"Greetings." – a heavy, machine-adjusted voice sounded, and a new figure entered the
room. It was Alexander Kirillovich Kazansky (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Alexander_Kirillovich_Kazansky), the former President of Allanea, and now Fieldmarshal of the Republic. He wore his famous full-body suit of black Command Armor, and his voice was altered - it was likely that some of the men present would find this quite unnerving.

"Greetings." – said Kazansky – "I am… pleased… to be here…"

After picking up the diagram from Anárion John turned to see the large individual present. Bearing a slight resemblance to another person in black armor, he then said, "Um....hello?"

Pompey looked disgusted at the though of a hairy dwarven ass, the image invoked by the elf's words. "I've seen battle countless times, but I think you're the braver one if you can see that and live to tell the tale." He said jokingly.

"I assure you, it was not a pleasant experience. I'd rather face a legion of the worst foe imagineable than to ever see that sight again."

Meanwhile Kadus had been listening to the group in the corner with him. As Daniel tried to start the meeting something started to bother him. Something the equivalent of when insects pass quickly just inside your field of focus. Kadus' mind reacted slightly with each pass. He looked up searching for the source of the irritation. Lukien was busy talking. Finally he settled on the three Godulan leaders scattered around the room.

As best he could tell they were doing something to the effect of throwing things at each other. Kadus put a hand to his forehead and rubbed his temples. It was strange as Kadus was able to send telepathic messages but not read minds, and nothing like this had happened before. Perhaps he was more sensitive than had been previously understood, perhaps he was catching something like the trailing edge of what ever it was they were doing. Whatever the reason, it was causing him great discomfort. He finally started to overcome the sensation when it stopped.

Baerdin leaned in. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine." But really he wasn't sure. He hadn't a clue what had been done or said by the three, and suspected if he had it would have killed him. They were up to something, but then when were they not.

Lukien sensed that Kadus was upset about something but he did not know what could have happened to cause it. "My apologies but are you sure you are alright?"

OOC: Excuse me for the late entry as well. Had a hospital stay for a few days so I was unable to post beforehand. Hope you don't mind I'll delete if you do.

The Ganoxan Foreign Minister Juvi Testarova (http://s13.photobucket.com/albums/a287/GeneralZhukov3333/?action=view&current=JT.jpg) walked into the room. "Please excuse me for my tardiness. I am here to represent the displaced people of Ganoxa after the Imperial invasion. My name is Juvi Testarova," she said. She sat down and took out her laptop and set it on the table.

"There was. Unfortunately most of the researchers were infected and died before they could get very far. You see it targetted only Hyren physiology. Once human teams took over and progressed to where their alien counterparts had left off it was too late for most of the populace. We still have no leads to who could have been behind it. Who ever it was had to have intimate knowledge of hyren biology, and as they have been pathologically isolationist we both know that is a short list. Still even more confusing, if it were an enemy we know of why only take out the hyren and leave humans to carry on? It appeared at the return of an expedition mission which came in contact with countless planets over a number of years, so the trail to follow is somewhat overwealming. In the end it terminated about 80% of the population, it would have been higher if there hadn't been a large number of the naval forces outside Tidan where we were able to keep them from getting contaminated before the cure was found."

Richard paused. "Young Admiral Starfall survived but sadly his father did not, he was a great leader. I know your people had some contact with their family especially. Kadus is actually here, though I don't know where exactly he has gotten to." He looked at Taal inquisitivily. Taal motioned with his neck in the direction of the corner. "Ah good. Anyway, something you said about travel before reminded me. If it is alright with the Abh we'd like to construct a form of high-speed travel from New Tidan into your space. We don't need to discuss it here as I'm sure the various offices of our governments will be kept busy coordinating and agreeing to the plans of such a thing. I just it might be worth mentioning... Oh. Is that Daniel? Looks like we are starting."



"This is very odd indeed. I doubt that it was an enemy chemical attack or else they would have invaded while your people were busy focusing on a cure and scared. With your government's permission I would like a sample of this disease to study. Perhaps our scientific division can find some answers or a way to counter act it."

Doron drained his latest class of alcohol. "I imagine that something could be arranged for your new gate. It will have to be built somewhere near a commerce hub where your ships can quickly load and unload cargo and at the same time the location won't jeopordize security. Still, I don't believe it will be a problem."

The Abriel picked up on the same voice as Richard. "So it would seem. I wonder if he can get this crowd under control and bring about the meeting."

Poking the mike, I winced as feedback squealed around the room. "Sorry, ladies and gentlebeings. I would like to thank you all for coming to this meeting. We have several items of note that I would like to detail to you today. First of all, I can officially confirm that the Executor has been destroyed by the IDF Serpent and IDF Knowledge, giving their lives in a successful ramming attempt that defeated the scourge of the Empire. For this sacrifice, I am posthumously awarding the crew of both ships the Star of Alderaan, the highest honor one can be given in service to fighting the Empire. I would like a moment of silence in rememberance to the brave crew of the ships."

[Insert moment of silence]

"Secondly, I will also like to confirm that Emperor Palpatine has also indeed been defeated. Of course, he is now a giant storm encompassing around ten lightyears in diameter, but rest assured that he is finished." I paused, readying my thoughts for the next item to discuss.

"Much as I would like to admit it, Emperor Palpatine did not fall by my own hands." I said, almost disappointed. "But I can tell you who did it. I can confirm who did the deed, and why the Empire will become even more a threat than ever."

"The man who killed Emperor Palpatine...is Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin."

Da da duuum!

John observed the moment of silence, and then listened to his host intently. He was proud of Coredia, a worthy ally and indeed, a damned good bunch of fighters. Not like the Imperials. Indeed, when he heard the news, he nearly dropped his whisky glass, before catching it and putting it on the table. His eyes then opened wide and he said, "Sweet Jesus.....I always figured the Imperials were perfidious. But never like this."

Leave it to the Cordians to ram the Executor with perfectly good warships, when any proper c-frac weapon could do the same. Daneh thought during the moment of silence to herself, then she spoke.

"Huzzah the Emperor is dead!" Daneh said incredulously, had they waited this long just for that simplistic acknowledgment. "And dead by the hand of Tarkin, even better is it to have an enemy who kills his own master. I fail to see though what good this will do us we have but your word. While your word is taken at face value by my nation and those others gathered here today, it will hardly be trusted by the Empire. I ask you, sir, what is the reason you called us here? What is your new plan for our success in prosecuting this war against the Empire? If this whole summit was just an excuse to toast the Emperor's death then I might as well head back to the Republic." She asked their host.

Adama turned his attention to the podium, as Daniel began to speak. Silently, like a snake watching the mice run by, he sat and listened. He could hear the celebration in Daniel's voice, the honor of his victory, a victory though at what cost. Asfaltum was left in ruin, mostly due to the Colonies complete and utter destruction of the planet's surface by massive nuclear bombardment.

Adama thought it was a bit strange how Daniel was raising the victory flag over the most recent battle. It was far from a victory, it was more of a devestating defeat. Adama saw the mission report, and he knew the final outcome. Asfaltum was not liberated. The entire head of the empire could have been wiped out by the push of a button, instead only Palpitine dies, and not even by the alliance's hand, but that of the Empire itself. Was palpitine murdered, or was it a ploy to rule the Asfaltum sector forever. He did not know, nor would he guess. THe ways of the Coredian God, was quite odd, and he was far from an novice in understanding the force.

As the moment of silence came, Adama bowed his head, in respect for those who had been lost. The Coredian, Balrogga, losses were high, so were the Abh, and most importantly the Battlestars Orion, and Nymph, along with the gunstar Solar flare. He mourned the losses of his friends, his allies, and most importantly his family, those on the lost battlestars.

As the moment of silence ended, Adama walked over to Daneh, the only person who seemed to desire to talk to him during this meeting. He sat beside her, waiting for the end of Daniel's speech.

As Daniel ended his wonderful dicussion, Adama stood up. "Victory, but at a high price. I have seen the mission briefing on the Battle of Asfaltum, and one thing seems to elude me, what was the mission objective? The emperor may be dead, Adama continued, but a new Emperor will be taking his place, one far more deadly, and less charasmatic... Darth Vader."

"From all we know of Vader, he is incompitent with diplomacy, lacking the basic tact of a 2 year old child, and will most likely rely on Tarkin to fill in the gaps. Vader will not be able to hold onto the reigns of the empire as well as his master did. What will happen, when the Chronosians, Admiral Thrawn, or any of the other military officials, and nations of the empire soon feel the empire's hold breaking, and will make a play for power. What do you purpose, to prevent such an inevitability?" Adama asked sincerely.

"It is going to become obvious, that the empire will begin to strike out more and more, and if we plan on surviving, we need to ban together. I have sat here listening to most of the delegates. Some seem to hate each other as much as the Empire. This alliance is scattered, those who fight the empire seem to do it alone. We need to unite now, and let go of our differences, or else Chaos will rule the galaxy." he concluded

Juvi nodded her head in a moment of silence remembering the loss of the 100,000 men and women lost in the force storm and the loss of her homeworld Ganoxa. The homeworld that had been swallowed up by the force storm. The home that she can never return to or any of her fellow Ganoxans.

Then she heard what Daniel said. The shock of the Emperor's death befell her. and even more shock of the cause. Why would Tarkin kill the Emperor, what would be his motive for this? she thought.

The man by the name of Adama spoke up. She listened to his words and would sympathize with him.

"I would tend to agree with Mr. Adama here. The Ganoxan Alliance realizes the importance of organization and had been trying to reform the now defunct League of Free Worlds to garner support to fight against the Empire. So far diplomatic contact with some members of old have failed and we were unable to get their support. Some members joined the very enemy that had forced my people to evacuate their homes and had that force storm swallow up Ganoxa herself."She clenched her fist and looked down at the very thought of never seeing her home again. She looked back up and continued. "The GA is dedicated in its war against the Empire. We shall back any form of alliance against them."

Tiberius listened to the announcement and a few of the delegates' responses with crossed arms, planning a speech of his own. Finally he glanced over to his co-Consul and nodded, then stepped forward into midst of the hall.

"So now that we have established that yes, we must stand together against what remains of the Empire - simple common sense, that should have gone without saying - why are we wasting time reiterating such things? The Empire will not wait for our diplomatic wheels to turn. I am not a soldier, admittedly, but I am of a fiercely militaristic people, and even I can see that precious time is wasted with these social functions. Why are our generals not sitting in war council this very minute, readying our great stroke while the Empire reels and flounders in the throes of establishing its new regime?"

As Gracchus spoke, he turned to address every section of the room, looking as many delegates as he could in the eye, punctuating his words with gestures of a veteran orator. "The Republic is prepared to launch its fleets against the Empire this very moment, as soon as my dear Consul Pompey and myself give the order; and I promise furthermore, that the legions of Neo-Roma shall be at the forefront of every battlefield, the spearhead of every invasion! We can speak for endless hours on how we hate the Empire and wish its destruction, and there is a time for such affirmations, yes; but it is minimal, and we must turn our minds quickly to the waging of war. Time is of the essence, mei socii. The Empire must be given no time to collect itself. We may permit ourselves to celebrate this small victory, but we must not let the opportunities it has given us slip by while we pat ourselves on the back, or squabble and bicker over our own differences. Do not let the sacrifice of those who have given their lives to resist the Empire be wasted!"

He bowed shortly in several directions, then returned to his place with Pompey and Lukien.

Daneh spoke once again,

"The Co-Consul makes valid points. Let us ally officially against the Empire and move against his systems. He even graciously volunteered his own troops to be the vanguard of the assault. Very well. But we must not run off to the sound of battle so impetuously. If we intend to use an allied fleet we must first establish an accepted chain of command for all those national powers which are participating, and more importantly we must train in fleet tactics."

"The Empire is much larger then us, they are much richer then us, they have many more ships then us. For us to win a battle against them we must be better than them at war. The results from the debacle at Asfaltum is proof of our inability to fight the Galactic Empire as a cohesive unit. To remedy this any fleet commander worth his rank tabs will tell you our participating naval and army units must train together every day in situations harder and more complex than they will face in battle. This will take us a full year. The Republic Remnant will not go into battle unprepared and uncertain of our allies."

"Our first order of business should be an officially treaty forming a unified military organization, then we need to establish its chain of command, then its training schedule, and finally just what of our forces will comprise it."

Maximillian let out a rumbling stretch of laughter that rattled windows and caused annoying aches in the mouths of anybody with a tooth cap. The sheer bass tone of the cackle seemed impossible even for a man like Maximillian to let loose.

"Of COURSE the Empire is larger than us. But the moment one believes that the only way to fight the empire is to challenge it openly on the field of battle is to invite disaster. Trying to put the entire effort under a single flag, or a single commander, is asking for a swift annihilation. Where would we be then, hmm? Square one with several million less troops. Or even further back, if the Imperials manage to shatter our 'consolidated' lines and decide 'what the hell, lets just scratch their homeworlds from existence!'

"The Empire is Larger, but do not think that automatically translates into it being stronger. All it takes is the proper approach. And that proper approach? CELLS, bitches! A proper insurgency requires unity of purpose, not of force. It requires mobility and adaptability in the face of the enemy. It requires the ability to split the enemy on multiple fronts and then still have something in reserve to strike somewhere ELSE.

"It doesn't require the ability to shoot as one, just the common sense to know who needs to be shot first and a personal grasp among each force of how best to ensure that the target gets properly vaporized with maximum efficiency. It doesn't need everybody wearing the same uniform, just the ability to get to the fight and contribute.

"To wit, we believe a slight tactical readjustment is required, and communication between ALL of the nations present here, but anything more is removing one of our weaknesses rather than turning it into an advantage. Our own fractured nature could be turned into a strength of remarkable efficacy. With the use of cells, we rely not on one unified commander, but on several separate commanders for the most part operating in concert.

"Insurgencies such as ours require liberal applications of underhanded tactics as well, something that we Godulans are remarkably practiced at. We are willing to provide tactical advisors to assist in maximizing efficiency and suggesting courses of action, but we see no reason to take any effort to unify any further.

"Perhaps you all might even be able to take advantage of the havoc we are about to set loose."

Skye's expression remained unchanged, but mindreaders in the vicinity would notice a tremendous surge in the amount of chatter between the three members of the Triad, as if an argument of epic proportions were taking place.

John raised his glass and then said, "Here here." He then put it down before continuing with a cough and a calm: "I've been listening in, and I believe that the only way for us to fight this fight is to join forces. Perhaps in confederation. Perhaps in total unity. I would endorse confederation, though with coordination of fronts via some kind of mechanism for the maximum killing blow. Something to combine both ideas together into a happy medium that ends up getting the job done."

He then said, with a tone that tried to emphasize unity over potential differences, "Either way, let us not forget gentle-sentients that the oppressed cry for justice, and that we are all brothers and sisters, fighting for one goal. Thank you." He then moved back to the food tables.

Daneh placed her face in her hands as Maximillian spoke his part. She heard his words but couldn’t comprehend them at first due to her immense shock at not only their apparent stupidity, but also because of the casual way he supported terrorism. Then she remembered the demon he was, and the cold stone the filled her stomach as she looked at him. She could see the way his body reacted at his words, how he reviled in the pleasure of killing and maiming of anyone who was their enemy, even Imperial non-combatants. He was a soldier who enjoyed killing for the sake of killing and hide those feelings with a façade and tirade about how it was striking a blow against their enemy.

As he rambled on rebuking her proposal for a unified military command, and cooperative training of the involved forces, instead countering with leasing out Godularian Tactical Advisors, she was ready to pull each strain of hair out of her scalp. Regaining her composure she looked over to where Adama sat and considered their conversation compared to that with Baron Skye and his monstrous lieutenants. He was a man she understood, a man that neither Baron Skye nor his lieutenants could understand. As she looked at his face and into his eyes, she saw a professional colonial officer. He was a man who has done dark deeds in the past, he was also a man who enjoyed combat and the military structure at his command, he lived for it. When billions of others went home at night he was out there, the rough man at the ready to do the enemy harm, because that was his duty, not out of some perverse sickness for war. He assumed all the horrors of his career, the threats to his life, the sacrifice of personal relationships, and the burden of command, because he swore an oath to do so, which required him to ask himself “if not me than who?” He had given up so much, she could tell, and most telling of his character was that he was the quiet professional, not instead a blithering idiot like Warmaster Maximillian.

When Daneh spoke next her voice carried across the entire room,

“There are twelve million inhabited planets in the galaxy, the Galactic Empire occupies almost 95% of those, our own remnant has been pushed back to the Rim centered around Mon Calamari with less then 100 worlds under our flag. Do not underestimate the strength of the Empire, it is legion. In the last twenty years they have constructed over 20,000 star destroyers alone, and this number is dwarfed by smaller escort ships.” She let the numbers sink in for a moment.

“You propose to use asymmetrical warfare against the Empire, this has been done before, we ourselves often do such operations on planets requesting liberation. I ask you though just what sort of ‘havoc’ you would create. Should we murder non-combatants intentional, or simply because they live near factories or bases, we must never become the enemy we so despise.”

“You also reject the common sense of a unified military force? I am a student of history, there are a plethora of examples in the past of when a band of nations join forces to combat a much larger enemy forces. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization comes to mind in their opposition of the Soviet Union, and certainly the first Rebellion against the Empire. No military force will be successful in any battle against the Imperial Fleet if we do not take the time first to train our units as a single fleet element. All of our nations use different technologies and tactics. we must learn to use such together, to get to the point where we can predict each other’s reaction to fight effectively, anything else invites disaster. Your proposal invites defeat in detail of our separated commands, but akin to what has happened since the Empire came back over a decade ago.”

Her next words were cold,

“If we can not agree on this then I withdraw from this summit, if my allies which to resort to terrorism, then they are not worth out allegiance. Such tactics go against everything our ancestors died for, and against our founding principles. I would feel nothing but grief for the title of rebel once it is attached to the tactics a Godularian adviser would advocate, if they can be call tactics at all. I pity all those who heed his words for if they are you my friends have truly fallen into darkness.”

Pompey glared at Gracchus, annoyed at his fellows sudden outburst that seemed to scream the as-of-yet undecided stance of the Republic on the matter at hand. Never-the-less, he nodded back at his co-Consul, and listened to the others who spoke before opening his own mouth.

"I feel the need to clerify some things before any more talks of unification or open warfare continue. While my Co-Consul here has expressed that we are ready to strike at any minute, which is most true, it is still for our Senate to decide whether we go to war or not. At this point in time the Republic is completely neutral to the Empire, as well as anyone assembled here today."

He paused to let his words sink in, so that everyone understood that as of yet the Republic would not declare war on the Empire, and that it would take much more convincing to do so. "So as I said, I felt the need to clarify incase the words of my dear frind Gracchus influenced the sudden vim and vigor in this room."

Maximillian grinned at Daneh's response. "I suppose you would know, seeing as you've spent the last several hundred years losing to the Empire. You stand as SUCH a sterling example as to how standing out in the open and saying 'Hi! Over here! We intend to shoot at you!' can get one ahead against long odds. Obviously we should all bow to the numerical magnitude of the Farstars Confederation's casualty listings in pursuit of their ongoing deadlock.

"I pose a query. Are you an utter and total idiot, or does your own sense of good form blind you to approaches that are not normally be taken by people who sit on separate sides of a battlefield taking turns shooting at each other?

"Are you also so arrogant as to think that 'underhanded tactics' automatically means using human shields or suicide bombing and terrorism? That it automatically translates into millions upon millions of civilian casualties? You are, aren't you. You're that damn stupid. You are just tactically incoherent enough to think that standing tall against an enemy that you say has constructed twenty thousand star destroyers has any chance of succeeding simply because you're so stuck on your high horse as to not cogitate the possibilities of other methods?

"OH NOES! MAXIMILLIAN AND XENITH AND SKYE ARE EBIL! THAT MEANS EVERYTHING THAT THEY ADVOCATE AS A TACTICAL SOLUTION IS AUTOMATICALLY TAINTED BY THAT EVIL! Oh noes! Maximillian likes da killins! Obviously all Godulans are murderous bastards just like him! Oh noes! They advocate subtlety and controlling the battlefield for tactical gain using methods not typically employed! Such crimes must not go unpunished!

"Perhaps you can understand that we maybe know what we are talking about when we speak of 'underhanded tactics.' Perhaps you could recognize that we mean what we say when we make comments about having the Imperials in a camel clutch of their own making. We've turned their own growth against them--"

"ENOUGH, MAXIMILLIAN." Skye's voice reverberated through the chamber, even though Skye never opened his mouth. It was as though he had used the room itself as the vocal apparatus. Maximillian was not shaken by the move, though he did stop cold and turn to the Baron.

"What? Did I insult her too many times?"

"The Renegades are enough of a security breach as it is. We do not need you blathering specifics of our plans to people of whom we are not fully certain. Especially those who might have some form of misguided ethical issue with our actions. We know how much she assumes about us from her own tower of moral superiority. We know she believes we have no other objective than to kill civilians with liberal amounts of malice, forethought, and ammunition. Chances are that simply will not change. Chances are it will not matter."

"Not even if they know the whole thing was done without firing a shot? Or that those twenty thousand star destroyers are effectively rendered null--"

"Chances are that they do not care."

Maximillian's back straightened, and he sighed slightly. His next statement seemed oddly thoughtful.

"Different technologies can be accounted for. Cell members only need to be aware of the capabilities of each of their cell mates. The key to defeating an enemy is towards controlling how an engagement proceeds. From beginning to end it requires that we dictate the tempo, and they react to us. The more they react to us, the less they can challenge us.

"Those Star Destroyer numbers you have provided mean little. Constituting the bulk of the Imperial forces, we can present a coherent multi-directioned force capable of terminating them in due time if each member is aware of what the others can do. There is historical precedent to our position as well. Perchance the Irish Republican Army or the Mujahideen might serve as proper examples... though the latter did have issues after their victory.

"Your analogy of NATO versus the Communist Bloc is flawed. The two entities were of roughly equal strength. One did not tower over the other in terms of overall combined military strength. In this case, the odds are quite a bit raised against us, therefore it is necessary to have a force that can employ swift attacks against critical targets with little to no warning and even less time to respond. Their numbers must be rendered irrelevant. A unified force is not conducive to this goal, instead playing into their own desires of a consolidated military force that they can wipe out with relative ease. Mobility is key. Adaptability is key. More important than anything is doing everything it takes to make them play by our rules, and not vice versa.

"The Godulans fight because the Imperials have massacred entire peoples, destroyed entire worlds, to do little more than make a point that the Empire should not be trifled with. The Godulans are not about to stoop to the same level, and I would thank you to understand that before you continue making wide-ranging judgements about how we conduct ourselves on the field of battle. It tends to make me irritable. I tend to lash out in a most spectacular fashion."

when Maximillan queried her, Daneh responded in measured tones,

"I have not mocked the deaths of those who died at Asfaltum, I would appreciate it when you refer to the deaths of dear comrades of mine that you do so in more respectful tones."She said her voice painful with a mix of remembered sadness and complete anger at the godularian representative.

"I am not stupid, nor a blither idiot Warmaster, if not for your illustrious title, I would think that i have had far more war experience than you, and that is far more experience than I ever wanted to bear. I will not make an impassioned rebuttal to your words, Ill let your own rant disprove your points. Somehow I can not put my faith in Godularian subtlety if you are representative of their forces. I will say one thing however."

"I have had my own high horse shot out from me long ago, we have in the past done as you said, and even to this day maintain resistance cells on imperial occupied worlds. But any strike will come at cost to the civilian populace. Whether it is from our own collateral damage or punitive measures set up by the Empire. One thousand civilians are executed for every imperial casualty in an insurgent strike. The Imperials as well now have quite a well experienced and capable counter insurgency force, and for every man we lose is a dear friend for them it is just another clone, a piece of meat."

The warmaster then started to shout at her, like she could be intimidated or silenced by his wise and tempered argument. When Skye then interrupted his lieutenant and continued on his counter points Daneh listened closely. She thought to herself that this is why she ordered her own lieutenant Edward to hold his tongue. The young were so motivated and zealous they often cause more harm then good when debating with their elders.

When Baron Skye finished Daneh sensed Edward at her back, and she could tell he was on alert and quite angered at the Baron’s words.

“Baron Skye the people of the Republic fight because the Empire has conquered our worlds, massacred our friends and family. We fight to liberate our home worlds and to restore the Republic that Palpatine took down when he was resurrected ten years ago. You see there was a time when we did indeed defeat the Empire, and if the gods and the force are with us we will do so again!”

She paused for a moment and continued.

“I will make wide-ranging judgments about my allies, it is my progative to do so. I have discovered one particular nation today that I can see mine cooperating with, but never with one such as yours. You are too impetuous. As you said too irritable, prone to lash out spectacularly as you said, and I truly hope you do so, it will simply prove all my prejudice against you.” She feral smile appeared on her face at that thought. “It would be the last mistake of yours for the day. I am quite tired of your peoples veiled threats and childish attempts at brash intimidation.”

She then looked to Daniel,

“What will it be then, do you support a unified military or terrorism? It is a hard question and you must choose a side there is not equivocation on this point.”

A house divided can not stand, yet that is what this conference is, a house that is not only divided, but the very foundation of it shattered by the sheer weight of egos, and soap opera drama. Adama sat there, knowing that it is better to listen than to speak rashly. Admittedly the colonies were the new kid on the block. Although they were skilled in warfare, the limited knowledge they had on their enemies, and potential friends was staggering.

Adama stood up, “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the exact reason all of us will become subjects of the empire. We all know that we should stand united, as Maximillian pointed out that is common sense. Yet even though he has admitted it is common sense, none of us seem willing to do so. Your people’s may be great, but terrorist actions will do nothing against the empire. The reason is simple, terrorism by it’s nature puts fear into a society. The empire is not accountable to it’s people, it’s cultures, nor it’s societies. They are ruled by a hierarchy, one of “Sith” and Admirals. The way to defeat an empire is not by killing innocent people, nor even glorious battles in which the very stars themselves will be extinguished, but instead by killing the head of the snake.”

Admiral Adama took off his glasses and looked around the room. You have to cut off it’s head. The death of Palpitine, while a great political victory was tactically nothing. As long as there is a successor to the throne, the Empire will remain. As soon as Palpitine died, Darth Vader took the throne. When Vader dies, Tarkin, Remiel, Nightshade, or some other ‘Emo’ will ascend. As much as Daniel and others here who were at the Asfaltum system might hate it, Commander Hallen was right. To destroy the empire you need to kill the heads. All of them, Remiel, Nightshade, Tarkin, Thrawn, and whatever other bastard who carries a lightsaber or a sash, that may ascend. Only then will the Empire collapse, probably into a bloody civil war, the likes of which this galaxy has never known.”

“How, when, or where this takes place is irrelevant. One thing is certain, sometime soon all of these leaders will be together again. When they do whether it is through glorious space battles, or covert-ops, they need to all be eliminated, all at once. I do not suppose how to do this, but unless we work together with all of our resources to find out when and where, we will be destroyed.”

“Every insult we throw to each other, is another chink in our armor, another rust spot on our gun. I understand if you do not have the convection to work together, after all pride is a hard thing to swallow. For those of you who have a tough time controlling your tongue, please do not speak. You only further the goals of the Empire, by dividing us further.”

As Adama finished his speech, a small flash of light appeared in space. In a instant, a strange and ugly ship appeared, the Top and Botton half of a Cylon Basestar, with a Mercury class battlestar fused inbetween. Seconds later, 5 Cylon basestars appeared, followed by 47 Mercury Class Battlestars, 63 Defender Class Battlestars, and 83 Gunstars. Several of the ships, have burn marks on their hull, dents in the armor. One Battlestar was missing an entire flightpod, and engine. Where ever they came from, something serious was happening.

Raiders soon appeared in a moment, filling that area of space. Seconds later, thousands upon thousands of civilian ships appeared. The system it appeared was getting crowded fast.

"AGAIN they assume we speak only of terrorism."

Skye's hand lashed out in a warning gesture against the Warmaster.

"They will continue to assume such until the full breadth of what is presently underway is recognized.

"Rest assured, Commander Adama, what we have is fully capable of executing the very thing you seek to achieve, with a relative minimum of collateral damage, and a relative minimum of combat required by our respective fleets, should they choose to participate when the time comes. We would wish only to have support in our efforts such that the effect of our machinations be fully capitalized upon."

“Ohhohohohohohhohoooo.” The loud laugh of the Hutt cut through all debate, all argument and all fighting as he continued to laugh at the sheer absurdity of it all.

“Mushia Fadila Grachin Utilia Empire, Lopila Dansala Voxilasdaga lopurhgil Polinas forushta lorish.”
“The illustrious Jagga humbly points out, that the Empire does not fight against itself, and he hardly sees and right to rule, if all your rebellion will only bring the Galaxy chaos.”

“Ulisha Empire Rulana Polichta yulophin Rolasa Fredina Drachtaolin Brakana Lopis Brochina.”
“The Empire will not be defeated like this infighting and cowardice, this is the reason why the empire exists.”

“Ulshaga Yolisha Rolisha Tolin Molachina Yolushin, Masaki kilisana brachin lopisna.”
“My master, considers all of you, including the Masaki Imperial lineage to be cowards.”

“Rolin Julas Humphina Frokista Bansheein ushtin rochilu Republic lopqihga poillchtinsh-qis.”
“The Republic failed because of squabbling like this, at least the empire gives the Galaxy security.”

“Mulishna Balana Madness.”
“And not petty madness.”

“Lushaila Polishna frololin Nal-Hutta grashina qoieprpw polishancala huolpiona.”
“We will not support such madness which created the empire. You are like worms.”

“ROLISHNA LOPILA DRACHINA.”
“Festering in luxury while people die and suffer.”

“Ulslkioaga Hutts oflisha golisha orinlin braolina Yoshin, kilisana brachin lopisna”
“We Hutts will not support such madness, you only care for war not victory. For now, we will support the Empire.”

Jaggas small arms flailed as his anger rose in temperament. He had indeed done a deal with the Empire, but not until now did he ever expect he would keep it. The Empire gave order, they eliminated the competition, and what's more they were predictable. The Empire at least knew their sin, just as Jagga knew his. These bi-peds however, living in luxury while their own people died disgusted the Hutt, and it was some measure as well; Hutts are not renowned for their honour.

“TALASHKANA.”

The Protocol droid did not translate Jaggas final comment, instead choosing to walk beside his master as the Hutt made his way from the room. All he had seen since he had entered was bickering and infighting. A civil war in a rebellion that could barely call itself one. What had they engineered for the people? Stricter trading regulations, more Imperial patrols, slowly but growing wealth from the core, while these emperors procrastinated on which one of them was to die first.

No, he was better off with the Imperials, at least they could decide on who they where.

All three of the Triad watched the hutt leave, then turned to Daniel. Maximillian spoke first:

"Dude. Check the room for bugs."

I sighed as the Hutt left. A voice in my mind asked. "Do you want to take the Hutt out, sir?"

"No." I replied to the invisible Shinobi 'guarding' him. "Much as I want to, let him go. Have an escort take him to his shuttle and make sure he leaves ASAP."

"As ordered, sir." The Shinobi replied, seemingly disappointed.

"Have the droid's memory wiped. If he refuses, terminate it."

"Yes, sir."

As the Hutt left, a couple of guards gave him an escort to make sure he leaves.

Near the Hutt's shuttle, a security guard stopped the Hutt. "Excuse me, Jagga. For security reasons, I am going to have to ask that your droid get a memory wipe."

All three of the Triad watched the hutt leave, then turned to Daniel. Maximillian spoke first:

"Dude. Check the room for bugs."
"It has been swept for bugs already." I said. Nevertheless, those beings with hair stood up on end as electricity coursed through the room, searching for bugs to kill.

I had to admit. I didn't expect such an outburst from the delegates, and the arguments over the doctrine of how to run the war is spilling over. I sent a note of scolding to the Baron. Baron Skye, you really shouldn't have brought Maximillian. He sprouts arguments like they were flowers. With due respect, next time keep him home.

"I think I've heard enough, ladies and gentlebeings." I replied quietly, but with steel in my voice. "I want you all to sit back, relax and and count to ten before these childish arguements come to blows."

"I have anticipated your arguments. As such, I am going to interject my own words."

"As we all know, the Empire now knows the Rebellion is uncoordinated and insignificant. Therefore, we will have to change that. I am going to have to agree with Admiral Adama and some of you here. What happened at Asfaltum was a hollow victory, barely worthy of being called such. In order for us to earn a real victory as a Rebel Alliance and not some phyrric one like what happened at Asfaltum, we will have to start cutting off the heads of the snakes. We will also have to coordinate with each other, nation to nation. We have to band together, learn of each other's general technologies, techniques and means and ways of combat. We have to become a true Rebel Alliance and not a mishmash of nations bickering over who gets to fight and how to fight what part of the Empire. This meeting will be the first of many. I guarantee this."

"I will have to thank Admiral Adama for bringing up the snake analogy. The forces of the Empire need to be eliminated. To do that, I suggest we start planning the elimination, yes, elimination of certain Imperial targets, keeping in mind that we will need to ensure that civilian casualties are avoided as much as possible. The first target I suggest we work towards defeating is Grand Admiral Thrawn."

Grand Admiral Pellaeon looked up at that. His old mentor, I knew and now a fierce enemy. "It's about time we got around to Thrawn, young one."

Smiles and chuckles all around. Then the smiles disappeared when a Shinobi popped into view.

"Emperor, forgive me, but there's a large fleet that just appeared in orbit. Nearly two hundred warships."

"What? Is it Imperial?" I asked.

"No..." He looked at Admiral Adama. "Colonial, sir. The fleet has been followed by thousands, and I mean thousands of civilian ships."

What the hell?! I thought. "Ladies and gentlebeings, please remain calm while we investigate this matter."

The Coreillian Gunship that begain landing procedures in the docking bay had seen better days. It was as old as its pilot, and as battered and beaten as some of the newly arrived ships in orbit. Its repulsor lifts fired as it touched down in the corner of the hanger.

Jagga his droid, and the security guard were in the opposite section of the hanger.
“ULISHMALA RORICHTA CHORISHIN.”
”I come here as a diplomat and you attack my property.

”ROLISHNA ULIVA FRAKINSA DRAMALA CRISHAKNA.”
“At least the empire knows its intent, all of you, are nothing but reb..........”

With a sudden puff of ninja spoke a masked and hooded Jedi appeared behind Jagga, his light saber activated with a snap-hiss. The Hutt howled loudly, his death scream gurgled towards the end as his massive throat filled with blood.

“JEDI SCUMmmmmmmagugguguug-“ His torment was mercifully cut off as one last thrust pierced his heart finishing the obese Hutt off. The guard barely had two seconds to react as the murderous Jedi placed a hand upon the droid and promptly disappeared with the droid in the same manner in which he so swiftly appeared.

While the murder was taking place, a figure jumped from the exit hatch from the Gunship, which was three stories above the hanger deck, he landed with a roll and came to his feet sprinting, two light sabers appeared in his hands, one green one purple, as he moving in humanly fast towards the crime scene, it appeared as if he was in one spot only to reappear meters ahead in another, some would call it flash step.

He reached the scene to late to help Jagga, with a wave of his hand whatever spell had been cast on the mesmerized guard was dispelled. He spoke quickly to the Cordian.

“Raise the alarm, the Hutts been murdered, by an apparent rogue Cordian Jedi. Get Daniel Masaki here, tell him Hawkins is in pursuit, GO NOW!” With that the Farstar’s greatest warrior Jedi ran to the hanger exit in pursuit. While the teleporting technique was quicker than flash step, its range was limited, if he hurried he might just find the murderous Jedi.

Hawkins hoped it was truly a rogue Jedi, if it wasn't if it was an ordered hit, there would be hell to pay and he would be collecting. In the distance he heard the squad of marines from his gunship dismount and begin to secure the crime scene and any witnesses.

OOC: more to follow...good stuff :)

Lukien was growing tired of the arguments in this so called summit of allies. For now, he could see this whole trip as nothing more than a great waste of his time when it could have been better spent back on Mythrandir helping rebuild defenses and rebuilding them stronger. Why a diplomat could not have been sent to sift through all of the crap in this one meeting was beyond the elven captain.

The elf unfastened his chain broadsword and sunk it into the floor. Lukien rested his armored fists on the hilt as he leaned his weight on the weapon for a little support. He let out a long sigh as he waited for this meeting to develope into some symbolance of something useful.

Maximillian, satisfied that the room had cleared of any possible surveillance, let out another massive bone-rattling guffaw, slapping his knee in mirth.

"HAW! That was FUN! Misleading spies is such a rewarding venture!"

He looked around, a great and disturbing sharktoothed grin upon his face and glitters of mischief in his black eyes. "I swear, that was hilarious. That hutt honestly thinks we're some fractious mess of a rebellion, so he's gonna report to his superiors that we're some fractured mess of a rebellion. Why keep a spy out and give the enemy no intelligence, when you can bring the enemy in, and give them FALSE intelligence, hmm?"

Skye spoke up next. "We hope you enjoyed the show. Maximillian is rather adept at being violent enough in his speeches that he can make it sound like he truly believes anything."

"Yeh. I was just foolin'. A unified force is critical to the effort, but we think its more of an issue of the constituents knowing their roles to play such that each group can operate to maximum tactical benefit to the rest. There will be some training required, but it is preferred to keep such training time to a minimum in order to prevent outside forces from gaining intelligence about our operating procedures. A year's worth of training is too much. It might be possible to compact the period into a small number of months in which the essentials can be covered and any inconsistencies can be accounted for.

"We would also agree that termination of specific military commanders is a critical point in the war effort and conducive to eliminating the annoyingly high numerical strength of their military as a factor. Our force must be like a rapier, capable of penetrating the toughest defenses and going the two inches deep it needs to breach the heart and slay the enemy. Finesse will have to be our weapon, and no small number of feints--"

Maximillian stopped. In fact, all three of the Triad stopped. They seemed as if frozen in place through some form of stasis field. After an odd, if not unwelcome silence, Skye broke free and turned to Daniel.

"MISTER Masaki. WHY have one of your ninjas terminated the Hutt?"

Irene winced and covered her ears with her hands - all that shouting was a bit annoying, and while it wasn't strictly detrimental to her wellbeing, it wasn't exactly pleasant to listen to, either.

So chaotic... Wait a moment. Killed? Um. That's... Interesting.

Well, it would probably be more interesting to stay outside than inside, anyway. Which was were she was going now - unobtrusively, of course, always making space for the investigators (Though, she kind of doubted the ability of sword-wielding rambos to do a proper criminal investigation) and staying far enough off Jagga's immensely huge corpse and the lake of blood stretching for metres to every side of it (Not to mention the not exactly pretty entrails of the same, once curled up inside Jagga, but now all the way out, forming a vast, entangled net of assorted organs, half-digested food and bodily waste products - killing people by slicing through their digestive tracts had always been a mess) to not make a nuisance of herself.

After all, she just wanted to watch the proceedings (And aforementioned immensely huge corpse), a little bored with the permanent shouting and the testosterone-fueled black holes from Godular.

Well, and see just how much security really sucked. Letting someone get assassinated on his way out, well... It wasn't exactly the most impressive display of the same, all things considered, and invariably led to certain questions regarding the security of everyone - almost everyone, anyway - else present. But that was something she could do - did do - as an afterthought, and wasn't nearly as interesting as the immensely huge Hutt corpse, although she wrinkled her tiny nose a little at it - its entrails and the bodily waste products therein weren't exactly for weak stomachs.

“Greetings” – the Allanean nodded to the New Dornalian as he removed his helmet, revealing his face.

Most people know what Alex Kazansky, the former President of Allanea, looks like. Briefly, visualize a pale, bespectacled young boy (no older then eighteen in looks) with [i]seriously[/u] messed-up hair. Kind of like Harry Potter, had he been a bit older. Assuming Harry ever wore powered armor, that is.

That, and the fact Kazansky is actually centuries old.

“Anyway, the question seems to be: how can we exploit Palpatine’s little accident, and how can Allanea help in said exploiting?"

oOC: just so you know Der Angst so far the only people around the dead hutt ICly are a squad of my marines and they don't have swords, And the droid was taken by the killer, he teleported away with him.

I understand Angst, it was suppose to replicate cordian ninja art, i meant to imply he touched the droid and disappeared with it, i will will make the post more clear.

One and a half parsecs downwind…

Erisavenus sat in deep space, watching events as though it were a four-kilometre biologist squinting at spirogyra through an old fashioned microscope. About half a light second to its right, and a little toward its aft, the Angstian Interstellar Exploration Unit Astral Romance followed. Well. Not quite followed, as their only movement was to maintain a relative stop with the nearby Coredian sun.

It shot a signal through vaguely defined back-woods short cuts in space to the ship right next to it, reducing latency from half a second to something best expressed in negative standard form numbers with three digits.

“Looks like the shit’s about to hit the fan…” it said, watching, through complex cheating involving a few low-duration doses of sensor-dust drifting in the area, a jedi’s lightsaber crawl from the hilt as it swished towards the bulk of one of the giant space slugs called hutts.

“Literally…” the Romance observed.

“Beats watching space-tumbleweed,” Erisavenus replied, continuing to watch,

One and a half parsecs at an entirely more glacial pace…

The Romance’s avatar kissed its counterpart’s neck gently, as he literally peered into a microscope. In the intervening period, the ships themselves had exchanged several thousand sundry words and comments, watching the events on the planet, and in orbit, unfold.

“So, any guesses on how long it’ll take before this little experiment explodes…” he asked

“Oh, I don’t know, Doctor,” she replied, kissing again, at which point he leaned back and pulled her into his lap, kissing her in return. Both were dressed in white ‘lab coats,’ though hers was rather impractical in its sleek, form-fitting, cut. Todays costumes, it seemed, were ‘scientist and lab-assistant.’

Jurai

Anárion sauntered over to the nearest Masaki-looking individual, “I’ll buy that droid off you, if you won’t memory wipe it. We’re rather good with machines. I imagine its memory could be quite useful to us, if nothing else, in hunting down Hutt operations…”

Republican Task Force 3.5
High Orbit of Jurai

Commodore Thomas sipped his coffee slowly as he watched his people work. His steward really knew how he liked his brew. It was black and so thick with sugar that it had the consistency of syrup. His eyes looked into the holo-tank as he watched the five ships of his command maneuver in close formation, each rolling rapidly to interpose their impeller wedges against simulated enemy fire. It was a maneuver that they had practiced countless times in the past and would continue to drill ever into the future. If just one of the stressed bands of gravity made contact with another the results would be, catastrophic. It was also monotonous training. Perhaps he would request permission from the Cordians for authorization to commence live fire activities. The Commodore’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the arrival of the Colonial refugee fleet.


“Massive multiple superluminal translations!” announced the gravitic sensor operator, a young ensign just out of the Academy, like so many onboard. “Colonial transponders, they are friendly Commodore.” He said sounding relieved.

“Authenticate those codes, ensign! Never accept transponders as authentic; always challenge them.” Thomas replied annoyed, the Imperials were fond of faking transponders to gain an advantage. “Beat to quarters, assume Case Zulu until further notice.” This was a quick response they were already at battle stations and in their skin-suits for the earlier drill, however weapons were not armed and safeties were disengaged. He heard the announcement piped through the battle cruiser’s speakers, Beat to Quarters, Case Zulu this is not a drill. The small squadron of Republican vessels presented their broadsides to the newly arrived and unidentified fleet, while angling away from the immense collection of warships it represented.

“The transponders are authentic, their replies are correct.” Now the ensigns relieve was legitimate.

“Recon drone Charle-5 is close enough for to get a lidar read on those warships commodore, Ill put it up on screen. Whatever happened to them those ships have seen quite a fight. All the ships have battle damage, I don’t see how a couple of the battle stars were able to survive the shock of an FTL jump.”

“By the Bull god your right, I expect a few didn’t lieutenant.” The Commodores replied to his tactical officer. “Warrant Michael open a channel to the Colonial fleet, in the clear.”

“The mike is live, sir.”


“Colonial Fleet, Colonial Fleet, this is Nike Actual. SITREP requested.
Is there an Imperial Fleet in pursuit? How can we render assistance? Over.”

"MISTER Masaki. WHY have one of your ninjas terminated the Hutt?"

John simly stood there, with some shock on his face mollified by a sense of schadenfreude. An assasination, here? He hated the Hutt too, but he was rifling through his mind the potential consequences....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFs9wMQ7b_0

Colonel Tigh stood watch on the CIC during Adama’s absence. He walked up and down, slowly, peering over the enlisted men’s shoulders, trying to intimidate them slightly. He loved to put the fear of the gods into them, it kept them in line. As he walked, he could feel the jiggle of his flask, hidden in his boot. It had been a few hours since his last drink, and he wanted it badly.

When was the old man coming back?, The old Colonel thought to himself. He hated standing watch, this was Adama’s command not his. He did not want to command the ship, in fact he dreaded it. For now though it was his duty.

“Multiple Draidus contacts jumping into the system.” Lt. Gaeta shouted, as hundreds, then thousands of ships jumped into the area. For a second, their transponders were blank. Colonel Tigh looked to the Draidus scree, seeing the unknown vessels jumping into the area.

“Action stations, launch the Alert Vipers,” Colonel Tigh ordered. A fleet this large could only mean one thing, an invasion. As the order was carried out, Pilots scrambled through the ship.

“Action station, action stations, set Condition one throughout the fleet, this is not a drill, I repeat this is not a drill. Action stations, action stations...” the voice echoed throughout the old warship.

Suddenly, the draidus turned green. Battlestar Hera, Pacifica, Triton, Neptune, and hundreds of other colonial signatures appeared. Lt. Gaeta took a sigh of relief, “Sir they are ours, they are colonial.”

Colonel Tigh felt a sigh of relief. His heart still pounding, his mind turned to the flask hidden in his boot. Did he ever want a drink, he thought to himself.

“What in the gods name are they doing?” he asked. The crew looked at him silently, not saying a word. They had as little of a clue as he did, of why they were here.

Sir we are recieving a transmission, it is a general broadcast from the Battlestar Diana.

“Well what are you waiting for, put it on speakers for the love of the gods.” Tigh ordered, as he stared at the vessels on the draidus screen.


Encoded Transmission: This is Diana Actual, to Galactica Actual. President Adar has been assainated, along with the Quorum of Twelve. During the course of the attack, we tried to intervine, but were quickly pushed back by over Ninety percent of the Colonial Fleet. We are now in a civil war, in which the colonies are taking Heavy Fire. The Galactic Empire has also begun a blockade of our territory with thousands of vessels, and as of our last contact, was parleying with Admiral Cain. Our vessels have taken moderate to heavy damage safeguarding the 6 million refugees fleeing the war. We request immediate emergency care from any and all vessels.

Saul could not believe what he just heard. Had Admiral Cain gone mad? Why would she attack the Colonies, and the fleet. He could not believe it.

“Are their codes authenticated?” Colonel Tigh asked, still stunned that his home was burning under the boot of the Admiral of the Fleet.

“Yes sir, all codes have been verified.”

Colonel Tight reached into his boot, and took a quick gulp of his flask. It’s silver sides, and warm Ambrosia inside calmed him down. He began to twist the cap back on, and slide it back inside his black boot. “Get the Admiral off that frakkin snowball, and up here right now. This is more important than some conference.”

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

Commander Higgens grabbed a rag, and began to wipe the blood off his forehead. The CIC on board the Battlestar Pacifica looked like hell. Beams had fallen down, as the computer terminals and draidus flickered on and off.

His head ached, along with his leg. He knew it was broken, as he tried to get up only to fall down again. He tried to see the damage control screen, the green lights showing exposed areas of the hull. To his terror, over half the ship was in the red. An entire flight pod did not even register. He looked, and prayed that the wires were just shorted, and that the flight pod still existed. He hoped, but in vain.

His ship looked like a child shooting a BB gun into a soda can. Holes marked the outside, the shields were gone, as well as many of the cannons. His ship took the worst of the fighting, and he knew it.

“Sir, one young woman yelled across the CIC, as sparks exploded overhead. We are receiving a transmission.


“Colonial Fleet, Colonial Fleet, this is Nike Actual. SITREP requested.
Is there an Imperial Fleet in pursuit? How can we render assistance? Over.”


Commander Huggins tried to reach the com, only to have the bone in his shin split in two. He screamed in pain, as the bone pierced his skin, and blood poured out of it.

Several enlisted men ran to their commander, trying to pull him on the planning table as he passed out. It was up to her. She reached down and grabbed the ear piece microphone. She reconnected the wire to the communication's computer, praying the transmitter still worked.

This is the Battlestar Pacifica, to the ship claiming to be the Nike, and Coredian Vessels. No imperials are following us, repeat no imperial vessels are in Pursuit. We do need immediate medical teams, and repair crews. We have taken a heavy beating.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As Daniel looked to Adama, Adama looked back towards the Coredian Emperor. He walked briskly up to Daniel.

“Did you say a colonial Fleet in here?” Daniel did not have a chance to answer Adama, as 14 Colonial Marines barged into the meeting. They looked the delegates up and down, as they walked to their Admiral.

“Admiral Sir, we have a situation, we need to get you back to Galactica now.” one marine told his commanding officer, his face like stone.

“What is going on,” Adama demanded to know.

“I am under orders from Colonel Tigh sir, to retrieve you and bring you back. He will answer your questions.” the marine replied back.

Adama turned with the marines and began to walk back to the Raptor. Whatever went on, it was something big.

"MISTER Masaki. WHY have one of your ninjas terminated the Hutt?"
"Terminated? I specifically ordered the Shinobi to escort the Hutt, not terminate him." I scowled. Who did this?!

"If this is true, then..." Suddenly, the security guard who witnessed the death burst into the room.

"Masaki-sama! There's been an apparent rogue Jedi hit on the Hutt. A man calling himself Hawkins is in pursuit of the suspect!" The guard gasped. "This Hawkins wants to see you!"

Hawkins?! This day just gets better and better. I thought. "Lock down the airspace. No one gets in or out."

"Who gets jurisdiction?" Tsunade asked.

I knew the question had implications, if mainly to avoid the pissing match to come. Murder is generally under the jurisdiction of the police. Assassination during a diplomatic function is under the Diplomatic Corps Security Agency and a suspected rogue Jedi is under the jurisdiction of the Jedi Order, specifically the ANBU organization, who's powers include bringing fallen Jedi to justice.

"As a Jedi matter, the ANBU gets jurisdiction, but for Force's sake, allow the forensic teams to do the work too." I replied. "If the rogue one is one of us and there is hair, scales or whatever, we can find out who it is."

"Very well." Tsunade nodded. "And the guests?"

"We still can go on later. Might need to break out the sleeping bags, though." I said, almost joking. Then I went serious. "Admiral? Deal with the Colonies. I'm going to meet an old friend."

"Very well." Admiral Pellaeon said. Then he added wisely. "Just don't kill him. I know you still harbor hard feelings for Hawkins."

I nodded.

Skye looked thoroughly annoyed at the situation. That Hutt was a key component to their counter-intel effort and some fool had gone and jammed a lightsaber through his heart. How fundamentally infuriating!

"We have orbital stations keeping track of the Hutt to ensure that he made it off the planet without making any form of surreptitious trade-off with any suspicious characters. We are also tracking the rogue ninja and the Jedi Hawkins even as we speak. Neither individual will be able to go anywhere without our knowledge.

"Mister Masaki, the information will be relayed to whatever forces you have dedicated to hunting the individual. Where they go, so shall you be aware."

Skye: Let us hope that the ninja decides to hide in a forest.

Maximillian: That little prick ruined my hard work!

"We are also prepared to offer any assistance you might require in accomodating the rather large fleet that just arrived."
"Yeah. I know we will be swamped. I owe you one." I replied to the Godulans. I disappeared, hoping that favor wouldn't be too hard.

Appearing on the crime scene, I noticed the authorities and Farstar Marines already taking business cards and forensic evidence. Reaching into the Force, I sped after Hawkins and the rogue Jedi, catching up with the patented acceleration technique...

Throughout the meeting, Garnyn had simply watched and listened to the others, remaining silent and almost expressionless. Now he spoke up, perhaps surprising those who may have all but forgotten he was even present.

"Were there security cameras in position to record this attack? If so, might I see the footage? This incident could have very important ramifications."

Skye looked thoroughly annoyed at the situation. That Hutt was a key component to their counter-intel effort and some fool had gone and jammed a lightsaber through his heart. How fundamentally infuriating!

"We have orbital stations keeping track of the Hutt to ensure that he made it off the planet without making any form of surreptitious trade-off with any suspicious characters. We are also tracking the rogue ninja and the Jedi Hawkins even as we speak. Neither individual will be able to go anywhere without our knowledge.

"Mister Masaki, the information will be relayed to whatever forces you have dedicated to hunting the individual. Where they go, so shall you be aware."

Skye: Let us hope that the ninja decides to hide in a forest.

Maximillian: That little prick ruined my hard work!

"We are also prepared to offer any assistance you might require in accomodating the rather large fleet that just arrived."

Daneh was aghast at the situation evolving around her and the actions of the others in the room. She placed her hand over her ear as the bug in it spoke to her, as the ship they had in orbit relayed a sitrep about the Colonial situation.

“Are you all mad? You are worried about a dead Hutt? When there is a Colonial Fleet in orbit that has just been through a war? And who damaged them, was it the Empire? If so where will they strike next? The Deathstar could be right behind them! Furthermore who cares that an armed squad of Colonial Marines just sprinted Admiral Adama away!”

“You will excuse me but I have other things to see to. Edward you are on me.” She said as she moved out of the chamber Edward at her back always vigilant, a silver cylinder in his left hand. They moved quickly through the corridors, hurrying to catch up to Adama as he was being sprinted away with his Marine guard. Almost to the exit they finally caught site of him and his guard.

“Admiral Adama! Admiral please wait up! I want to help you, I must help you.”

+ + +

Hawkins moved through the frozen wasteland of Jurai, it was bitterly cold even though the marine skin-suit he wore under his Jedi cloak was thermal insulated to deal with the cold of space his face was quite cold. The suit also covered up his bodies emissions especially thermal and the thick canopy of snow and Ice would make any orbital tracking useless. He instead pursued the enemy how he was trained to, he moved through rough terrain others would avoid, he checked blind spots from LOS hoping against hope he would find his prey, and he did.

There in an ice cave laid the rogue Jedi impaled by his own lightsaber, his eyes rolled up into the back of his head. Hawkins moved cautiously down to his body. He saw the crushed remains of the droid, or the obliterated pieces of it, crushed by the force and fried by the sith lightning that was now standard practice among Cordian Jedi.

Hawkins bent over the Jedi, he closed the man’s eyes and crossed his arms over his chest placing his lightsaber in his hands.

“May you find peace in the after life.” Something was terribly wrong with this situation, he could feel it in his gut that something was amiss. The man was clearly a Cordian Jedi though, he even wore the symbol of the leaf village. Hawkins feared he knew what it was. He pulled up the man’s sleeve of his robes then moved it back down. They were Sith markings, control sigils, much as the same his wife once had forced upon her. Those dark memories of times past cloaked his heart in shadow, he still grieved for the sins of his past and the deeds of his enemies. Then he sense the presence of someone he had not felt in a long time, and for a moment he felt uncontrolled hate, but he forced it down just as quick.

“Its been a long time, Daniel Masaki.” Wisps of his frozen breath flowed out of his mouth as he spoke, deactivating his own light saber. "Or should I just call you Emperor?"

+ + +

Final Approach to Battlestar Pacifica
High Orbit of Jurai

“Battlestar Pacifica, this is Republican Shuttle November-Mike-Sierra-Deuce (Nike Medical Shuttle 2) I have the ball.” The shuttle moved on manual approach through the crowded landing strip. The ship had seen hell, more then a few times only a few last minute thruster corrections avoided disaster. As the shuttle set down, “Mag lock secured.” The pilot stated with some relief as the elevator lowered the shuttle into the hanger, there were three more behind it. The idea was they were like ambulances and would transfer wounded back to the Nike medical bays that were not so over loaded.

As the shuttles hatched lowered to the hanger deck, Commander Wilfred Chambers jogged down it and surveyed the situation, people moved about quickly, but he recognized it for what it was, organized disciplined panic. Good Navy’s though stuck to tradition and one was to never let foreign nations or even visiting officers aboard without a side party greeting them. In such exigent circumstances there was only one officer present, Wilfred posted by him and saluted smartly his balled first to his chest. “Permission to come aboard?” He stated in profession and clipped tones.

Skye simply shrugged at Daneh's comments and turned to look out a shattered window into the dark sky overhead.

Baron, the perpetrator has terminated himself.

Are you certain?

Yes. It was necessary to use neurosensors to keep track of the subject as he moved through the wasteland. We detected a short surge in activity before the signature cut off. The Jedi Hawkins' signature was too far off to have executed the subject. The Masaki Patriarch has also arrived on the scene.

Then they will not need to be notified. What of the fleet overhead?

No sign of deception, Baron. We have calculated Longarm solutions in the event that such are required. Deep scans were conducted after their arrival, though it will be a minute before resolution is complete.

There might be company behind them. Keep the Battering Ram ready in the event of the worst case scenario.

Yes, Baron. Ordinance requirements?

If things get out of hand, keep to Javelins. Keep one of the Horsemen on standby as well. Things are a little too crowded with civilian ships to risk cluster bombing.

Acknowledged.

And keep a neuroscan locked on Commander Adama and his escort. Hell, keep track of everybody down here, this is getting bloody annoying.

Maximillian PWUMM'd out of existence, snarling visibly at his act having gone in vain. Xenith remained, but joined Skye at the window.

Xenith: We should not have come here. Too much is happening and we were caught unprepared.

Skye: No, we needed to plant the false impression in the hutt. It is unfortunate that the hutt was terminated, but things remain unchanged.

Xenith: The scans caught a rather awkward signature in that rogue ninja. Seems like there was some form of external control source in place that was coercing him into action.

Skye: Mind control?

Xenith: Probably. It is not unlike signatures of those whom I have dominated, but not similar either. I would venture a guess as some sort of puppetry or possession.

Skye: Can we scan others for that signature?

Xenith: Yep.

Skye: Good. I want us to know exactly when that comes back up. Next person who exhibits that signature will need to be targeted by Arcanist Avatars with a Reality Sever charged up.

Xenith: Aw. We can't just kill the bugger?

Skye: Negative. We need the fellow alive so we can brainscan and hunt down the person who placed the effect.

Xenith: Oh. Yeah. Makes sense.

Skye: Go. Prepare for whatever might happen with the colonial fleet. They might need 'room'.

Xenith: Are we gonna have to find somebody a new homeworld?

Skye: If necessary, they can have Phoenix. Go.

Xenith: Yassa massa!

Xenith PWUMM'd out of the room in much the same manner Maximillian had just done, leaving Skye alone in the room with all the other dignitaries.

Bloody annoying.

Doron drained the remnants of his glass of alcohol quickly. The meeting was a bore and the company could have been better but it was time to move on anyways. More pressing matters called his attention. The Abriel quickly found one of Daniel's attendants and grabbed him. "Tell Masaki that the Abh are always available for a good Sith stomping. Pressing matters call me elsewhere but tell him thanks for the free drinks."

Finished with that particular business, Doron rushed out the doors and down the hall after the leaving Colonial Admiral. "Just a moment if you don't mind. I believe I have something to add to this."

OOC: Added contact.

“Its been a long time, Daniel Masaki.” Wisps of his frozen breath flowed out of his mouth as he spoke, deactivating his own light saber. "Or should I just call you Emperor?"
"You should not have come back, Hawkins." I chided him. I then shook my head. "If we're done with the cheesy holoflick lines..."

I didn't need the Force to know that the young ninja was dead from a self-inflicted lightsaber wound. The problem was, this particular ninja was one I knew very well and wasn't prone to suddenly striking out in Sith mindlessness. I also noticed the droid on the icy floor, destroyed with the Force.

"He wasn't one to do such a thing." I asked Hawkins. "Did you find anything?"

=====

"Ahem." Tsunade lept up to the podium. "Will those delegates with medical or first aid training please come up to the podium? The Colonial fleet need our assistance and there's little time to waste. The High Council will drop the lockdown procedure for those persons and those persons only!"

Those who came up to the podium were asked about their medical capabilities, given medical clothes and escorted to a ride up the fleet. It would be quite a sight indeed and it would certainly give them something to do while the lockdown takes place.

=====

This is the Battlestar Pacifica, to the ship claiming to be the Nike, and Coredian Vessels. No imperials are following us, repeat no imperial vessels are in Pursuit. We do need immediate medical teams, and repair crews. We have taken a heavy beating.

The Coredian Navy, hearing the orders from their commander-in-chief, immediately rolled out the fighters and went to high alert, locking down the airspace so that no unessential craft could enter or exit the planet. It would prove to be an inconvenience with the delegates, but until the all-clear comes, it will stay.

The Navy was also overwhelmed with the care of two hundred Colonial battleships and thousands of civilian craft containing millions of people. It happened so fast that the sailors were just simply shaking their heads. Still, the fleet was ordered to fan out and prepare for potential Imperial incursions, just in case the Empire was following, despite the Colonials' assurances.

"They've certainly run through the gauntlet." Admiral Pellaeon shook his head as he reached the Jurai command center. "I need a SAR plan and I need it ten minutes ago! Get me as many medical ships, repair droids and crews as possible! We have a crisis and we must manage it well! Get to work!"

The current repair crews and medical people from the Navy were not enough to deal with all the injured people and ships, but they went out anyway to assist however they could. Calls for more assistance went out on encrypted channels to other areas of the nation and to the allies as well. In trickles, the Navy's medical fleet and mobile repair facilities began popping over Jurai, increasing the traffic level over the icy planet to almost preinvasion levels, as if anyone noticed. Even the Jedi Order's Medical Healer teams pitched in however they could.

A sketchy plan was worked out in the next half-hour. The most serious cases will be dunked in bacta (with permission from the Colonials, of course) after surgical procedures, while lighter cases will have first aid teams working to heal them. Later, psychological counselling will be given for those with PTSD and survivor's guilt and similiar cases. Still later to come would be the plans to deal with the civil war and the Empire's icy grasp reaching for the Colonies. But first, healing is of utmost importance...

The wind outside was fierce, the cold air, snapping at Hawkins neck. Hawkin’s breath was gray, as the cold air made his breath visible. He stood there staring at Daniel, waiting for him to say something. Daniel gazed at Hawkins, the man who killed his mother, the man who was exiled, yet here on Jurai, his world. Daniel began to step closer to Hawkins, as if to speak, then the world vanished.

Suddenly the world flashed, the air once cold, was now warm. Where once was ice, cold winds barely colder than his relationship with Daniel/Hawkins, now stood a decorative hall. Although both Daniel and Hawkins shared the same vision, neither knew of the other.

The walls were red, with gold trimmings, and golden designs on the side. In the distance, he could see a huge marble fireplace, with a roaring fire, it’s red flames licking the very air as black smoke climbed through the chimney. Around the room, were fine mirrors, beautiful statues, and some of the finest paintings he had ever seen. Next to a few marble pillars stood a table, filled with the finest foods and wine. Steamed vegetables, roasted duck and chicken, hot roast, fresh fruit, and other assortments. The table seemed to go on forever, their was enough for over 400 guests, yet Hawkins/Daniel was the only one there.

At the end of the tables were thousands of bottles and brands of wine, red, white, Chianti, Merlo, all of the wines imaginable. They walked over to the table, oblivious to the other’s presence, and grabbed a glass of wine. Slowly the liquid poured into the fine crystal glass, clearer than the icecaps of Jurai. They took a sip, the fine wine, began to warm them, like a shot of Whiskey, yet it was as smooth wet flavor. The wine was the perfect temperature, the best texture, and perfectly aged. As they drank they looked over to the dance floor. A young woman no more than 17, dressed in an elegant long golden ballroom dress, danced by herself, two steps forward, one step back, moving gracefully from side to side. She moved like a ghost oblivious to the person staring at them by the wine, her long black hair flowing in the air, as she moved across the floor. Her moves were perfect, her form the apex of grace, her oval eyes, and pale skin pressed up against some invisible person that none could see.

Curiosity overwhelmed them. Daniel and Hawkins began to walk towards her, desiring to see who she was, and what she was doing. As they got closer to her, both saw someone out of the corner of their eye. In shock, they turned, and for the first time seeing each other. As they looked to the young woman, a person phased into existence, dressed in long dark robes, a pale bony hand grabbing hers, dancing back and forth. As the couple turned, the two Jedi masters could see the face of her partner. His flesh was the color of the snow of Jurai, his eyes as yellow as the sun. He looked at them, “She is mine, and you will not take her.”

Soon the room faded and the cold air of Jurai whipped them again. They said nothing, only staring at one another...

As the Admiral began to move out of the building, he heard a feint voice behind him. “Admiral wait, I want to help. I need to help. He turned, as Daneh came running towards him. He could tell she was frustrated with the conference, with the idiocy of several of the diplomats. He understood, some of them seemed two faced, others out right liars. But then again isn’t that the way of a politician. The guards grabbed Adama’s arm, “Sir we have to go for security reasons.” Adama pulled his arm free, “We will go, but I want to hear what she wants.” he said, as Daneh finally caught up. The marines looked her up and down, watching for any motive to harm the admiral, any intention of assignation. Their job was to protect him, and they were good at their job. Edward soon followed, a silver cylinder in his hand. They immediately raised their rifles to him, looking down the sight, taking perfect aim.

“Drop the Weapon” one yelled to the unsuspecting Jedi. “Drop it now, or we will drop you” he continued. Adama reached and grabbed one of their rifles and pushed it to the ground. “They are fine, leave them be.” Adama ordered. The marines grudgingly obeyed the Admiral, as they slowly lowered the guns.

Moments later Doran, prince of the Abh came. “ Just a moment if you don't mind. I believe I have something to add to this” the Abh prince followed. Adama looked at the three, “I need to get back to Galactica. If you have something to tell me, tell me in route, and not here. The security around here is very lax. He gestured towards the Raptor as he began walking to it, with the three in tow.

The three guests boarded the raptor, now filled to capacity. The door shut, sealing them in from the elements, as the engines began to fire. The roar was deafening, but soon they would be in the silence of space.

As the Raptor began to take off, a message was heard over the Radio

This is Jurai Air Defense Corp, to Colonial Raptor one. The current air space is under lockdown, by order of Emperor Daniel Masaki. You are hear by ordered to shut down your engines. Respond.

Adama picks up the radio.

This is Admiral Adama, of the Colonial Fleet. Our fleet in your orbit has been attacked by currently an unknown assilant. I will return to my ship. If you need to contact Emperor Daniel, or your high command, but I am going. You can shoot us down if you wish, but either way I am going. Adama out.

I will respond to the medical teams in boarding the colonial fleet in my next post.

This is Admiral Adama, of the Colonial Fleet. Our fleet in your orbit has been attacked by currently an unknown assilant. I will return to my ship. If you need to contact Emperor Daniel, or your high command, but I am going. You can shoot us down if you wish, but either way I am going. Adama out.

One moment, please.

Of course, the Admiral was already beginning to lift off.

"Air Defense Station #3 to High Command, Colonial One is taking off without permission. Permission to fire?"

"That would be Admiral Adama. Permission to fire denied." Admiral Pellaeon replied.

"Sir?"

"Unless you want a war on your hands with Adama's death, let him go. I'll take responsibility."

"Yes sir."

The Admiral was halfway to his ship by now, but the air defense corps let him pass to Galactica.

=====

I felt a vibrating comlink on my belt. "Yeah?"

"Sir, Admiral Adama's leaving the planet. Just to let you know." Gilad Pellaeon replied.

"Fine. Don't worry about it. Actually, was about to call you. The perp's dead by his own hand. You may lift the lockdown for now."

"Very well. I'll report again in an hour, shall we say?"

"Sounds good. Masaki, out." I closed the comlink. Then...

[Enter The Vision]

The vision ended with me staring at Hawkins. "What the hell just happened?"

Doron pulled the hood of his cloak down that he had up to shield his face from the cold wind. Now he let out a shiver as warm air collided with his cold body. "Damn planets. I'll never get used to the temperature changes."

This was the first time Doron had ever been in a Colonial vessel so he took the time to view the ship's organs. It was different than Star Forces or Coredian vessels but functionable. "I believe I can help you with your problem with the Galactic Empire. As always, the Abh have no love for the Sith and we are willing to help you. We can take in any refugees that might need shelter and we can send military aid given proper time. Plus I believe I need to visit your world for myself and check on a few things. If you don't mind, I would like to accompany you."

John then said, looking at his watch, "Right. I don't have anything else to do here...."

He then took a last hit of whiskey and decided to depart, but the emergency led him to think it over a little. So much going on....so much confusion. It was as if the whiskey was doing a little dance in his head, such was the force of it all.

He became aware of the situation with the Colonials, and began milling over whether the Dornalians should assist....after all, things had moved quickly. He wasn't sure if the Dornalians had enough supplies.

"The fools expect to lead a campaign against the Empire and then bring peace, law and order to the planets they take? Look at the way they handle a meeting. One guest dead, the host gone gallavanting after the assassin, and his rather....mixed group of guests left to enjoy the lack of sociability between each other. I have another meeting to attend to, so I do take my leave. Lukien, it was a pleasure. Consul Gracchus, I'll see you back on Taledonia. Good evening."

Pompey downed the rest of his glass and turned towards the exit. The first table he passed was the selected landing spot for the goblet, and not another word or even acknowledgment was given to any other of the party-goers as he made his way back to the spaceport to board his transport once again.

Ho-Hum.

Irene looked around, mildly lost, and feeling the chilling wind through her qipao which, for all practical intends and purposes, was meant to be worn in the summer, during cocktail parties under a full moon. Pretty it was - it wasn't really good at keeping the cold off, though.

Not that the temperature itself was much of a problem - after all, Irene was perfectly capable of keeping herself warm in more or less all vaguely feasible circumstances. But the windchill was something rather less easily dealt with, and caused herto shiver a bit.

This said, she wasn't really thinking about the cold, anyway.

Wonder where that droid went...

She didn't know that it'd been destroyed, of course, nor where it - or several other people - had gone. This did, however, not deter her curiosity.

{Activating Obfuscation Protocols: Lvl. 20}
{Identity: Irene <Operative; Jurai>}
{Engaging FTLCOM Protocols <1E18>}
{Open Query: Astral Romance <IEU; Jurai Vicinity>}
{Say, there was a droid with that Hutt whose blood-stained shit is presently leaking all over the place. You don't happen to know where it went?}

{No clue - I'd have to be within a few AU to even have a chance at figuring that one out. I'll ask Eris, though.}

{Thanks.}

{And back. Got it - apparently Eris 'ported some dust down together with the Ventures' representatives. IR signatures and significant anomalies in gas particle movement over the past fifteen minutes are coming in over port two. A lot of discontinuous movement - the 'porting, obviously. Oh, and a nice vid of the actual assassination - it's pretty, although the assassin was a bit too showy for my liking. Showy when killing a Hutt, no less - as if that's even worth mentioning}

{Exactly what I need. Thanks, and have fun.}

{I'm already having it.}

{That's what I feared...}

{Teehee. Oh, and it seems the droid - or rather, what's left of it, judging by the data we have - isn't alone. Actually pretty crowded, there. Try to stay in the background. We wouldn't want to interfere.}

{Of course not.}

{Query Terminated: Astral Romance <IEU; Jurai Vicinity>}

The whole exchange took a while - almost two and a half seconds lag saw to that - but it provided Irene with everything she needed to know.

And then she wandered off, apparently without any particular purpose, yet knowing fully well where she was going.

John then decided to leave the conference, saying, "I've got pressing engagements at home, sorry." He left with somewhat similar, if more optimistic feelings, than the Republicans. He loved the Masaki Clan's ideals, but this meeting was getting ugly and he had to leave, fast.

OOC: THE WICKS puppet is back, dont fear the reaper

IC:

Hawkins looked back at the younger Jedi,

“Nothing that I like,” He said replying to his question. “On his arms are Sith marks. I suspect they were forced upon him, but the result is his obedience to the Dark Side. Its something I’ve seen before.” He said sadly at the last. He paused as the vision flooded his senses, the wine he remarked tasted like sour grapes just like all wine. Then he heard Daniel’s words again.

“What are you talking about? You look like someone just shot your dog, boy.” Hawkins said to him. “It is clear that someone wanted us to get a message, and I am not one to put much stock signs and portents from the gods. Who was the girl, and where is she?” Hawkins said as he started walking back towards the capitol,

“Its cold as shit out here lets walk and talk.” He said pulling a silver flask from his hip pocket, he unscrewed it and took a pull, “Need a little nip, it’ll warm you bones.
+ + +
As they moved to the shuttle,

“My apologies admiral. Edward is my protector, and he like your Marines is zealous in his duties.” Daneh assured him as they moved onto the tarmac ever closer to the Raptor, once inside the small craft she began to speak again,
“Admiral, I do not know anything of the situation in your Colonies except that there are reports of Civil War, and an Imperial invasion. I will not presume to tell you what to do in this situation, only that I have a lot of experience fighting the Imperial Navy. I request permission to accompany you as an adviser and liaison to the Republic.”

Skye: Well... our tactical rationale for participating in this meeting has effectively been compromised. I think I shall go for a walk. Arcturus!

General Arcturus: Somebody say my name?

Skye: There is a fleet here that has taken significant damage and casualties. Jurai falls under your purview, so I shall leave it to you to arrange assistance, whether medical or any other form. Inform me if deep scans detect incoming Imperials.

General Arcturus: Bloody hell. Don't the Coredians have some of our menders on emergency staff?

Skye: Indeed. They're distracted though, so it might behoove us to advance the timetable. See if you can also get into nominal contact with Admiral Adama. If they need a planet they can have Phoenix, or we can check through our cartographical analyses for one they find more suitable, if need be.

General Arcturus: Right... what if the nasties come?

Skye: I've given initial preparations to garrison control already. They should be ready for initial eventualities, and I will be present here for some time in the event you require further assistance. Now if you will excuse me, I shall go for a walk.

Skye turned and strode from the room without making any comments, walking past any guards and into the night. A few moments after his departure from the building, his form vanished with the now typical PWUMM.

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

Shortly afterwards, in actuality a span of time that would leave many folks who knew better shaking their heads in bewilderment, a vessel materialized a short distance from Jurai, on an approach vector to the Colonial fleet. No flash of light accompanied its arrival. The only sign of its presence was the sudden surge in radio transmissions to the Colonial Fleet.

The vessel spanned approximately two kilometers in length and bore a somewhat disturbing resemblance to a jagged-edged arrowhead. Its structure looked like some form of crystalline-metal-thing that emitted an eerie green luminescence from within.

This is Homeguard General Arcturus to the Colonial Fleet Commander.

We come bearing medical personnel to assist with any required relief efforts. We can place personnel on multiple ships, so we will require a listing of coordinates as well as rough numerical estimates of casualties.

I would also like to speak with the effective man in charge, if such a meeting can be arranged under present circumstances.

Gracchus clasped forearms with his co-Consul once more before the Taledonian took his leave. Gracchus himself thought it best to leave as well; the meeting had furnished merely details of little or passing importance, and he was not impressed with the antics of the other delegates whatsoever.

"Well," he murmured to Lukien, crossing his arms as he watched the willy-nilly that the so-called conference had become with disappointment. "Way to utterly abandon any semblance of an organized meeting. This does my confidence no good; I believe I spoke much too soon when I said my piece out there." He turned to shake Lukien's hand one last time. "I wish you and your people luck on whatever course you choose. But I think our Republic's best interests lie elsewhere."

He left the conference hall, sought his shuttle and departed the system for good.

Juvi watched each delegate walk out of the room one by one. Each getting out while they still can, but Juvi needed to stay. She had to stay for the good of her people. To get some sort of support for the refugees and to gain some technology to better equip the military. Sure the situation seems grim what with all the assassination and sudden arrival of colonial ships but she remained calm. Then it came to her, she remembered about the Ganoxan Destroyer Respite that escorted her shuttle to the meeting. It can get here within a few minutes since it was just on the outer edge of the system. It had enough beds for at least a thousand infirmed. But where did Mr. Masaki goto?" she thought having a confused look on her face.

"Next time, we had better not get so publicly embarrassed." Katrina Masaki grumbled.

"On the other hand, the Empire's spies will believe us utterly disorganized, my lady." One of her handmaidens replied.

"You may be right, Helen, but on the other side of the coin, it doesn't bode well for Coredian leadership in this war." Katrina sighed.

"Stay on the bright side, dear." The young woman replied with a grin.

"Yeah, sure." Katrina replied, smiling as well. Then she spotted a delegate still around "Ah, the Ganoxan ambassador is still here. At least a few are brave enough to stay."

She walked up to Juvi. "My sincerest apologizes for this so-called conference. You have to believe that we didn't know this could happen."

=====

Hawkins looked back at the younger Jedi,

“Nothing that I like,” He said replying to his question. “On his arms are Sith marks. I suspect they were forced upon him, but the result is his obedience to the Dark Side. Its something I’ve seen before.” He said sadly at the last. He paused as the vision flooded his senses, the wine he remarked tasted like sour grapes just like all wine. Then he heard Daniel’s words again.

“What are you talking about? You look like someone just shot your dog, boy.” Hawkins said to him. “It is clear that someone wanted us to get a message, and I am not one to put much stock signs and portents from the gods. Who was the girl, and where is she?” Hawkins said as he started walking back towards the capitol.
"If I recall right, the girl is Colonial, named Hera." I replied. "I believe Emily Rydo of the Council is meeting her. It is likely she is Force-sensitive."

“Its cold as shit out here lets walk and talk.” He said pulling a silver flask from his hip pocket, he unscrewed it and took a pull, “Need a little nip, it’ll warm you bones."
"Still the same old Marine." I smiled. I tested the drink for anything untoward. Satisfied, I drank it down, feeling the strength and the warmth. Then sighed. "Listen, Hawkins. I need to get this off my chest. It's been some time since we last talked, and...well...um...I want to apologize. For leaving you on Coruscant to face Sirus alone. For exiling you in the first place. Please, forgive me." For a moment, I felt like a kid again.

Death and decay floated silently in the sky of Jurai, as the launch tubes of the battlestars began to open. Silently, boxes flew out, covered by the colonial flags. It was a long naval tradition to bury those that died on detached service into the black of space, and today there were more than enough bodies to go out.

As the medical representatives flew towards the injured and maim colonial vessels, it became apparent the hell that these ships went through. Some of the better ones, like the Battlestar Hera, and the Neptune, has a few black marks on their outer armor, a few dents here and there but nothing significant. Other like the Pacifica, and the Hermes looked like they were on there last leg. Huge holes existed in their sides, and in the Pacifica’s case an entire flight pod was missing. These ships were built tough, and today they proved it.

As the medical teams landed on the ships they were going to, an officer stood there to greet them. Once the Medical teams did the meet and greet, they were assigned to specif portions of the battlestars. The flight deck was quickly becoming a make shift infirmary. As the teams looked around, on their foreheads were letters. S, C, or F. It was obvious that the medical wards on the ship was quickly being over crowded.

Those with the letter S were the best in health, broken bones, maybe a missing finger, but over all they would live. Those with the C, had deep wounds, impaled abdomens, severe concussions, but with the proper medical treatment they would live. Those with F’s on their foreheads were near death, and would not survive more than a few hours.

The flight deck echoed with screams, of torment. As the teams began to walk and check on people, their shoes began to stick to the floor. As they looked down, the flight deck floor was normally white, was covered in blood. Hundreds, and in some cases thousands of people were in need of medical care.

As your medical team began to walk down the corridors, loud banging could be heard from people stuck behind bulkhead walls, and sparks flying in the black corridors, of repair crews trying to cut out the bulkheads to get those survivors. The Carnage these solders endured, seemed to have come out of the very depths of hell.

(OOC: Sorry for the generic hey welcome on board we need help story, but there are a lot of people helping them. While I do appreciate it, it can be overwhelming typing a meet and greet for everyone)

Adama’s raptor flew towards the Battlestar Galactica, the only unscathed battlestar in orbit. She sat above Jurai safely, as the civil war unknowingly occurred. As he and his guests exited the raptor, a marine detachment stood to greet him. They saluted, as he made his way to the CIC, his company in tow.

The walls of the Battlestar were A shapped, with gray panels over the wall. Small fluorescent lights light the corridors, on both sides of the hallway. Adama stormed through the ship, desiring what the hell happened. He was silent as he walked, obviously pissed about his homeland being attacked. He wanted revenge.

As the Door to the CIC opened, the crew stood up, and saluted. At ease, he responded, as they resumed their stations.

He walked up to Colonel Tigh, “What the hell is going on?”

Colonel Tigh turned to him, “We are still trying to figure that out, there is a lot of confusion. From the reports we have gotten, Admiral Cain, believing the Colonial Government was being spied on by the Abh and Coredians, as well as the colonial government being completely corrupted by them, attacked the colonies and executed the government. The CDF responded naturally and a civil war erupted. At last contact, an Imperial fleet is surrounding colonial space as well sir.”

Adama looked to Colonel Tigh, are there any survivors of the Colonial Government.

“One sir, but I do not think she will be much good. Laura Rosylnn.” Colonel Tigh reported.

“The secretary of Education.” Adama looked to Colonel Tigh. What good is a damn school teacher going to be for us?” Adama looked down, and sighed. "Get her on board Galactica now." he responded, knowing that although she was nearly useless, the civilians needed someone to look to, and that person would have to be her.

Adama looked to Doran, and Daneh. “What can you tell me of what is happening?”

"Something Daniel and I were afraid of when we realized that members of your military made contact with the Chronosians. They have a nack for finding weaknesses within nations. Any sort of prejudice, fear, or ambitions among politicians and military leaders gives them a doorway into a society. My guess is they found something and planted seeds for this whole thing."

Juvi turned her head in surprise to the woman that walked up to her. "What? Oh. No there is no need to apologize. No one could expect these turn of events." she said shaking here hands across her face.

"Anyways. I just remembered that my escort the Respitewas in system and could help out with wounded. If you would allow the ship to approach planetary orbit it should provide some assistance with its medical staff."

"Oh yes, excuse me, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Juvi Testarova, Ganoxan Foreign Minister and Ambassador."

With all the commotion in the room, it appeared that the conference had come to an end. Or at least it seemed that way. There were still a few loose ends that needed to be taken care of while Lukien was still here. No definitive word had been given on what to do about a plan for the future nor of what was to be expected if Mythrandir did agree to help.

Lukien removed his weapon from the floor and fastened it to his back once more as he walked towards Katrina Masaki. The elf waited patiently for the two to finish their introductions. "Excuse me lady. I am sorry to interrupt but I was wondering if I could speak to your husband about a few things."

Juvi turned her head in surprise to the woman that walked up to her. "What? Oh. No there is no need to apologize. No one could expect these turn of events." she said shaking here hands across her face.

"Anyways. I just remembered that my escort the Respitewas in system and could help out with wounded. If you would allow the ship to approach planetary orbit it should provide some assistance with its medical staff."

"Oh yes, excuse me, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Juvi Testarova, Ganoxan Foreign Minister and Ambassador."
"Empress Katrina Masaki, I rule when Daniel is out playing shining knight in armor." Katrina Masaki smiled back. "Your ship will be most welcome. We need all the help we can get."

With all the commotion in the room, it appeared that the conference had come to an end. Or at least it seemed that way. There were still a few loose ends that needed to be taken care of while Lukien was still here. No definitive word had been given on what to do about a plan for the future nor of what was to be expected if Mythrandir did agree to help.

Lukien removed his weapon from the floor and fastened it to his back once more as he walked towards Katrina Masaki. The elf waited patiently for the two to finish their introductions. "Excuse me lady. I am sorry to interrupt but I was wondering if I could speak to your husband about a few things."
"He has left for a few moments to meet an old friend." Katrina said. "For the time being, you can be assured that anything you say will be as if you are speaking with him."

"I am so sorry Admiral, I do not know much of anything about what's happening in the Colonies. I early heard what you have, confused reports of Colonial fighting Colonial, as well as an Imperial invasion fleet shadowing your borders. The Republic does have a large convoy at Armistice Station, and I fear for their safety if there is an Imperial Fleet in the vicinity." As she heard the Abh's words she was slightly taken aback,

"Doran surely you don't mean to say that the Abh have had suspicions of an Imperial infiltration into the Colonies. I would think if you harbored such suspicions that the most prudent course of action would have been to warn President Adar before he was ruthlessly assassinated, and by your suggestion a plot instigated by forces of the Galactic Empire?" Daneh asked quite concerned indeed.

"Something Daniel and I were afraid of when we realized that members of your military made contact with the Chronosians. They have a nack for finding weaknesses within nations. Any sort of prejudice, fear, or ambitions among politicians and military leaders gives them a doorway into a society. My guess is they found something and planted seeds for this whole thing."

"I am so sorry Admiral, I do not know much of anything about what's happening in the Colonies. I early heard what you have, confused reports of Colonial fighting Colonial, as well as an Imperial invasion fleet shadowing your borders. The Republic does have a large convoy at Armistice Station, and I fear for their safety if there is an Imperial Fleet in the vicinity." As she heard the Abh's words she was slightly taken aback,

"Doran surely you don't mean to say that the Abh have had suspicions of an Imperial infiltration into the Colonies. I would think if you harbored such suspicions that the most prudent course of action would have been to warn President Adar before he was ruthlessly assassinated, and by your suggestion a plot instigated by forces of the Galactic Empire?" Daneh asked quite concerned indeed.

The enitire CIC stopped, as they all heard clearly the words of Prince Doran. Silence had engulfed the room, as silent as space, so quiet in fact that you could hear the slight hum from the Draidus screen and the few computers in the room.

Colonel Tigh's jaw had nearly dropped, as his face became flush with anger. "You mean to tell us you knew this was going to happen, and you did nothing? You had a chance to stop the death of millions of people, perhaps billions, and you sat on your ass. Colonel Tigh began to walk over to Doran, as Admiral Adama stepped inbetween. He has known his XO for a long time, he knew what was about to occur. Adama stared up at Colonel Tigh, "I will deal with this Saul, go back, now."

Colonel Tigh stopped, and turned around. "It is your call Bill." He slowly walked back around the planning table.

Admiral Adama looked to a woman with short brown hair, towards the back of the CIC. "Sargent at Arms Hallen, please remove our guest from the CIC, and escort him to the brig, until I have time to question him further." Admiral Adama ordered, very calm dispite the ball that had been dropped moments ago.

She and two marines came up behind Prince Doran. "Your weapon sir." she ordered calmly, holding out her hand hoping that he would come peacefully. Two marine guards held their rifles towards the ground, yet still gripping the handle, their black gloves reaching around and carassing the trigger.

Admiral Adama then looked to Petty officer Dualla. "Get me the Coredian Emperor now, I need to clear a few things up."

"Yes sir" she replied, scared of a potenital upcoming conflict. As she picked up her headset she began to transmit.

Secure line:
This is the Battlestar Galactica, to the Coredian Government. Admiral Adama requests to speak to Emperor Daniel Masaki. This is a priority one message.

Hawkins looked back at Daniel as he increased his stride a bit, he returned the flask, while drawing out a thick cigar, he bit of the end and chewed it for a few strides then spit the wet tobacco out in a stream. He lit the stogie on the march, and puffed on it ensuring it would stay that way till he stopped. A smile on his scarred face he spoke to the younger Jedi,

“Hmph, I don’t talk about where I have been these past ten years, and well I never believed much in apologies. A man can’t undue their past sins magically, all our actions have consequences. If you stayed beyond you would have joined me in my fate, and that is not something I would wish upon any living person. Life fucking sucks for those of us who face the Darkness, no shit, right? I’d rather bad things happen to me, after all where would you be without your pretty face? Besides your wife would cut of my balls I imagine, the shrew.”

+ + +

Daneh thought to herself...That sucks, and felt a pang of sympathy for the Prince of the Abh, but then she supposed that if you made your bed you had to sleep in it. Pity.

Hawkins looked back at Daniel as he increased his stride a bit, he returned the flask, while drawing out a thick cigar, he bit of the end and chewed it for a few strides then spit the wet tobacco out in a stream. He lit the stogie on the march, and puffed on it ensuring it would stay that way till he stopped. A smile on his scarred face he spoke to the younger Jedi,

“Hmph, I don’t talk about where I have been these past ten years, and well I never believed much in apologies. A man can’t undue their past sins magically, all our actions have consequences. If you stayed beyond you would have joined me in my fate, and that is not something I would wish upon any living person. Life fucking sucks for those of us who face the Darkness, no shit, right? I’d rather bad things happen to me, after all where would you be without your pretty face? Besides your wife would cut of my balls I imagine, the shrew.”
I had to laugh. He certainly has a way of accepting apologies. "Thank you, Hawkins. If I may, I think I shall lift the exile on you, if it helps. I...hold on..."

This is the Battlestar Galactica, to the Coredian Government. Admiral Adama requests to speak to Emperor Daniel Masaki. This is a priority one message.

"Hold on one moment." The military receptionist replied and switched to Daniel. "Sir, you have a priority message from Admiral Adama."

I don't like the sound of that. "Put him on." The comms were connected. "Admiral, this is Emperor Masaki. What's the situation?"

Chief Petty Officer Dualla looks to Admiral Adama, "Sir Emperor Masaki is on the line."

Admiral Adama reaches down and picks up the phone, "What is this I hear about you and the ABh empire knowing that the civil war was about to occur. He just told me in front of my entire command crew that when they learned of Admiral Cain's first contact with Chronosia, that the two of you knew that something like this was about to occur, yet you did not warn President Adar about this before he was executed. What kind of alliance is this?" Adama stated, his voice sounding more like a sargent than the peaceful Admiral Daniel had just talked with on the planet no more than an hour ago.

Doron smiled. "I am afraid you misunderstand me. We did not know that the imperials were going to attempt anything, I simply know the way of the chaos lords. We had no idea that a civil war was coming as we do not know your people well enough to foresee anything. What I merely referred to was a file that was shown to me revealing a meeting between one of your Admirals and a Chronosian fleet."

The Abriel sighed. "It is not our policy to enforce laws and morals on other nations. You are free to speak with whatever nation you so choose whether it be less than a savory sort. What I referred to was a concern not actual knowledge. You choose your own course of actions. The free will of you and your people are more important than forcing ideals on you."

Doron then crossed his arms. "As far as the brig...I don't plan on going anywhere."

"He has left for a few moments to meet an old friend." Katrina said. "For the time being, you can be assured that anything you say will be as if you are speaking with him."

"Well I had a few questions actually but perhaps you can answer them for me. This conference seems to have descended into minor chaos with the mass arrival of ships. I was sent here to assess the value of nations that gathered and decide whether or not a military alliance would be worthwhile."

The bronze elven knight paused for a moment as he thought about his words carefully. "I still have my reservations about many things including the company here but I would at least like to say that Mythrandir is interested in your plan. Sadly, I just do not know what you would expect from us. That was what I wanted to ask your husband."

Chief Petty Officer Dualla looks to Admiral Adama, "Sir Emperor Masaki is on the line."

Admiral Adama reaches down and picks up the phone, "What is this I hear about you and the ABh empire knowing that the civil war was about to occur. He just told me in front of my entire command crew that when they learned of Admiral Cain's first contact with Chronosia, that the two of you knew that something like this was about to occur, yet you did not warn President Adar about this before he was executed. What kind of alliance is this?" Adama stated, his voice sounding more like a sargent than the peaceful Admiral Daniel had just talked with on the planet no more than an hour ago.
I sighed, rubbing my temple. "Admiral. Believe me when I tell you that we did not know that the civil war was going to happen, nor that the Imperials would be involved. But we Coredians did warn you about the Chronosians when we first met you. We did warn your government that they caused strife and discord whereever they go. It is unfortunate that the Chronosians had to get their hands on Admiral Cain, but realize that this is not the first time they have torn apart a nation, nor, I fear, would it be the last. It is most unfortunate that it had to be yours."

"President Adar was a friend of mine and I am sorry to hear that he is dead." I said sincerely. Then, I told him about my meeting with Adar, how I met him and how Admiral Cain came barging in, acting the fool. "Moments before I left Caprica, Admiral Cain had entered the room with a file and placed it on his desk, a file that mentioned a meeting with Chronosia. In hindsight, maybe I should have said something, but it was not my place to do so as I had come for a specific purpose, and certainly not to burden the President with more worries than he already had, and I had believed our earlier warnings to him sufficient. Clearly it was not enough and now you and I, we all must live with it. Still, I implore you to not look at this as a sin of omission or willful ignorance. Please, do not let this come between us."

I hoped my words helped to mollify his anger. I didn't know what I would do if Adama went to whoever is newly in charge and decided to either fight or simply run and hope for the best. Whatever the outcome, the lives of six million Colonials were at stake.

"Well I had a few questions actually but perhaps you can answer them for me. This conference seems to have descended into minor chaos with the mass arrival of ships. I was sent here to assess the value of nations that gathered and decide whether or not a military alliance would be worthwhile."

The bronze elven knight paused for a moment as he thought about his words carefully. "I still have my reservations about many things including the company here but I would at least like to say that Mythrandir is interested in your plan. Sadly, I just do not know what you would expect from us. That was what I wanted to ask your husband."
"That part was supposed to come after the Hutt left. Clearly, it was not meant to be." Katrina said. "But suffice is to say, we did intend to start going after high-level, high-profile Imperial leaders. People like Thrawn and Tarkin. As Admiral Adama so nicely put it, we had to deal with the heads of the snake if we were to truly hurt the Empire. Then we would have seen what each nation would put on the table in terms of how to deal with them and went from there."

"So, basically, we planned to pool each anti-Imperial nation's resources into taking down the high command of the Empire, because quite simply, one nation alone can't do it. Only together can we end their evil."

"I see." The answers still left Lukien wondering.

"Well I do not know how we measure up to other nations that are here or what support you would need from us but we can support you with what we have. May I ask what support you will need for your campaigns?"

The Godulans likely presented a strange sight for the greeting Colonials on the various ships, with inhumanly perfect bodies looking more like ambulatory statues, and eyes that glowed a vibrant green, much like the ship they came on had. In each case it was a trio of Humanoids, all wearing relatively little and not carrying any external equipment. Knowing things were rushed however, they did not give much time for observation.

"Take us to your most serious cases first."

In the case of the Battlestar Galactica, the team of three (themselves looking altogether more martially minded than the Godulans offering medical assistance to the other ships) had a fourth component, a man who looked more 'human' than his counterparts and wore a uniform of black with gold highlights at various places, the most notable being the two Golden 'G's upon each shoulder. There was no symbol indicating rank, nor was there a name anywhere. He simply strode up to the nearest guard while the others waited quite patiently, hands clasped in some form of meditation.

"I am Homeguard General Arcturus. Please take me to Admiral Adama."

Mythrandir. Mythrandir. That nation seems familiar. she thought.

She quickly went through her laptop to find the nation lists for the LoFW. I knew it.

"Mr. Lukien isn't your nation already allied with Ganoxa through the LoFW? The Council wishes its apologies in not aiding you defend against Imperial sieges. Our navy was incomplete and it would have been impossible for us to send aid." Juvi bowed before Lukien.

Meanwhile in Jurai orbit the Respite had came out of hyperspace.

"I want all medical staff to be on red alert. All personnel will assist the medical staff in first aid procedures," Commander Davis said.

"Open transmissions to all channels. Restrict range to planetside only."

"You're on sir."

"This is the GAS Respite. We are prepared to rake on any wounded. Please enter through our docking bay. If you request engineers we are able to send some to your location."

"Open docking bay doors and deploy fighters to make room for transports. Tell them to patrol the area."

"All pilots to your stations. All pilots to your stations. This is not a drill. I repeat. This is not a drill." the intercom blared.

Fighters began to pour out of the ship and began on their patrols.

Doron smiled. "I am afraid you misunderstand me. We did not know that the imperials were going to attempt anything, I simply know the way of the chaos lords. We had no idea that a civil war was coming as we do not know your people well enough to foresee anything. What I merely referred to was a file that was shown to me revealing a meeting between one of your Admirals and a Chronosian fleet."

The Abriel sighed. "It is not our policy to enforce laws and morals on other nations. You are free to speak with whatever nation you so choose whether it be less than a savory sort. What I referred to was a concern not actual knowledge. You choose your own course of actions. The free will of you and your people are more important than forcing ideals on you."

Doron then crossed his arms. "As far as the brig...I don't plan on going anywhere."

Colonel Tigh motioned his head, as the two marine guards lifted their rifles to Doran. On a battlestar, the Commanding officer is the rule of law, and no one dares to defy him or her. Here, in the middle of a crisis, the colonies gripped in a bloody civil war, with thousands of wounded personal, the prince stood defiant. His words would have been soothing, had he not out right refused and disrespected the Admiral on his deck in front of his crew.

Sargent at Arms Hallen walked to Doran, trying to grab his arm to escort him to the brig.. Being under arrest does not mean you have a choice.

"Admiral. Believe me when I tell you that we did not know that the civil war was going to happen, nor that the Imperials would be involved. But we Coredians did warn you about the Chronosians when we first met you. We did warn your government that they caused strife and discord whereever they go. It is unfortunate that the Chronosians had to get their hands on Admiral Cain, but realize that this is not the first time they have torn apart a nation, nor, I fear, would it be the last. It is most unfortunate that it had to be yours."

"President Adar was a friend of mine and I am sorry to hear that he is dead." I said sincerely. Then, I told him about my meeting with Adar, how I met him and how Admiral Cain came barging in, acting the fool. "Moments before I left Caprica, Admiral Cain had entered the room with a file and placed it on his desk, a file that mentioned a meeting with Chronosia. In hindsight, maybe I should have said something, but it was not my place to do so as I had come for a specific purpose, and certainly not to burden the President with more worries than he already had, and I had believed our earlier warnings to him sufficient. Clearly it was not enough and now you and I, we all must live with it. Still, I implore you to not look at this as a sin of omission or willful ignorance. Please, do not let this come between us."

Doran's words could be clearly heard through the com system, as Adama continued to talk to Daniel. Yes your Captain Holland did warn the colonies of Chronosian treachery, but the fact remains that the extent of it was not known. Adama took off his glasses, as his XO tried to maintain control over the situation. "However at this moment, the blame game is no longer of any importance. THe question is now what will we do. The colonies will fall soon, and I got six million refuggees to deal with. I can not go to liberate my nation, with a wounded fleet and babysit the refuggees." Adama replied to Daniel.

In the case of the Battlestar Galactica, the team of three (themselves looking altogether more martially minded than the Godulans offering medical assistance to the other ships) had a fourth component, a man who looked more 'human' than his counterparts and wore a uniform of black with gold highlights at various places, the most notable being the two Golden 'G's upon each shoulder. There was no symbol indicating rank, nor was there a name anywhere. He simply strode up to the nearest guard while the others waited quite patiently, hands clasped in some form of meditation.

"I am Homeguard General Arcturus. Please take me to Admiral Adama."

As Arcturus walked up to the marine, and requested an audience with the ADmiral. He picked up his radio, "We have an ambassador, that wishes to speak to the admiral, request permission to escort him to CIC.

Over the line, a hissing sound could be heard. "Request denied, COde 213 is in place."

THe marine looked at Acturus. I am sorry sir, access to CIC is currently denied.

Colonel Tigh motioned his head, as the two marine guards lifted their rifles to Doran. On a battlestar, the Commanding officer is the rule of law, and no one dares to defy him or her. Here, in the middle of a crisis, the colonies gripped in a bloody civil war, with thousands of wounded personal, the prince stood defiant. His words would have been soothing, had he not out right refused and disrespected the Admiral on his deck in front of his crew.

Sargent at Arms Hallen walked to Doran, trying to grab his arm to escort him to the brig.. Being under arrest does not mean you have a choice.

The thing about Abh xenobiology was that it was rather hard to get the drop on them even if approaching from behind. His extra sensory organ monitored every step each marine made and even the approach of the Sargeant at Arms. As the man reached out to grab Doron's arm, the Abriel snatched the man by the wrist as if the man's motions were slow motion.

"Arresting a diplomat with immunity and without filing any charges is bad form. Plus it would not look good when reporting this event to an ally. You are already at war with one Empire. Do not make the mistake of adding a second. If my presence is no longer desired, then I shall simply leave this vessel."

"Denied?" Arcturus replied with a cocked eyebrow. He did not say anything more, and turned to the Godulans behind him. One of them sighed slightly. He turned back to the guard. "Is there another place that we could wait? We would hate to get in anybody's way here on the landing deck, present circumstances as they are."

Arcturus: Some strange business going on. Baron, you're still planetside, aren't you?

Skye: Yes, General. I was going to visit the site that the 'Emperor' Masaki and the other fellow are presently occupying. I am almost there, why?

Arcturus: Well... you know how out of the loop we have been lately. Too much effort on the big plan and shit. Might help to stick to that Emperor like glue.

Skye: I will see if I can get any useful information from our wayward ally.

"Sir we have an incoming fighter (http://s13.photobucket.com/albums/a287/GeneralZhukov3333/?action=view&current=SpaceFighter.jpg). Its one of ours, but that didn't come from the ship," one of the tech sergeants reported.

"Those are Home Defense markings. It came from the new world itself," Davis analyzed the Green and Black markings of the fighter.

"Sir we are receiving a message from the fighter. It is encrypted."

"Urgent message to the Foreign minister from the Council. Send it to her immediately," the pilot said.

"Copy," Davis looked over to the tech sergeant, "well you heard the man send the message!"

"Yes sir relaying information to the Minister's laptop. She should be getting an alert any minute now."

Juvi was startled by the alert of the laptop. She opened it to find a message from the council. A ship graveyard? she thought. She looked through the pictures of the graveyard and was amazed at the find.

To: Foreign Minister Testarova
From: Counciman Kotor

It is the utmost urgency that you identify these ships with our allies to better determine what they are. Ask if they can aid us in repairing them for use in our fleet. Thank you.

After reading the message she turned to Empress Masaki. "Excuse Mrs. Masaki. Can you confirm what kind of ships these are?"

Photo
(http://images1.wikia.com/starwars/images/8/82/Tradecruiser.jpg)

"Yes, that is a Providence-class cruiser, a common ship in many navies. What is the reason for this?" Katrina asked.

Doran's words could be clearly heard through the com system, as Adama continued to talk to Daniel. "Yes your Captain Holland did warn the colonies of Chronosian treachery, but the fact remains that the extent of it was not known." Adama took off his glasses, as his XO tried to maintain control over the situation. "However at this moment, the blame game is no longer of any importance. THe question is now what will we do. The colonies will fall soon, and I got six million refuggees to deal with. I can not go to liberate my nation, with a wounded fleet and babysit the refuggees." Adama replied to Daniel.
"I know. Let's deal with the refugees first. I would also like to note that my shipyards are open for any repairs you need to make." I replied. Hmm. Maybe I should pitch in to bail Doron out. "And please do not arrest the Prince of the Abh. He is a diplomat, and they do have immunity from prosecution."

As Daneh watched and listened to the exchange she was worried the the situation would spiral fast out of control. Law on board warships of a sovereign nation rested in the hands of its Captain. He was the absolute authority on all things and was given even more discretion during a time of war. The blatant disrespect of the Abh Prince to the Admiral disgusted her beyond words. She was also on her guard since Doron refused to submit himself to Colonial custody. Daneh felt Edwards hand move ever so close to the light saber he wore at his hip. If the Abh resisted, if he attacked the Marines, he would quickly discover he was not the only one capable of welding a lightsaber in the CiC.

“Diplomatic immunity applies to civilian laws and regulations, Emperor Masaki. As you well know threats to national security and threats delivered to a ship’s captain inside of his Warship’s own CiC are not applicable to such immunities. By boarding a warship of a foreign Navy Prince Doron has given his consent to abide by the rules and regulations of that Navy. If the Admiral so desires he would could order the Prince into custody to await trial on the serious allegations delivered against him today.”

“I do have just a few of my own questions in regard to the Abh involvement with the Colonies, I would not doubt that there is much more to this situation than first appears. The decision on whether to detain the Prince does not lay in either you hands Daniel Masaki or my own, it is the decision of Admiral Adama. My nation and I will stand by our newest allies decision.”

Mythrandir. Mythrandir. That nation seems familiar. she thought.

She quickly went through her laptop to find the nation lists for the LoFW. I knew it.

"Mr. Lukien isn't your nation already allied with Ganoxa through the LoFW? The Council wishes its apologies in not aiding you defend against Imperial sieges. Our navy was incomplete and it would have been impossible for us to send aid." Juvi bowed before Lukien.

Lukien turned to look at the woman while he awaited his response from Katrina Masaki. The bronze knight was not a diplomat and the name of the nation was not at all familiar to him. It merely appeared as a name of an ally that was not there when needed.

"I hope that your navy can be brought to order in the future so as to avoid another mishap. Still, without support we managed to drive them out by ourselves. There is no need to bow for it."

With the typical PWUMM sound, Skye materialized a number of steps from Daniel Masaki and the Jedi Hawkins.

"Apologies if I startled anybody. I just wish to inspect the scene for myself."

Noting that Daniel seemed to be on a communications device, Skye silenced himself and moved over to where the dead ninja and the shattered droid lay. The cold didn't seem to bother him much, and the snow did not even stick to his shoes at all. He gave the area a quick once over, recording the scene to look at more in-depth later, then turned to the other two people on the scene without speaking.

Hawkins was quite disgusted by the appearance of Baron Skye. They had never met before, but the intelligence dossier he had on the Baron and his wraith lieutenants was enough for him to treat them as he would any Sith. How Masaki could ally with such fiends was beyond him, and he would not tolerate their presence if this was not a Cordian world. When he considered the creatures it was clear that they had a darkness around them, and cared about nothing but themselves and their own positions in life.

"You won't find anything in that scrap pile, any memory cells have been obliterated at the molecular level." Hawkins said, while spiting out some of the tobacco chew in the direction of the Baron. "Good little heart to heart we had Dan-O, but you saw that dream as clearly as I. It is a vision from the force, calling me to help her. I am going to do that. I'll see you around I am sure."

With that Hawkins walked off back towards the city, alone in his thoughts. He had not had an experience like this before. It was hard to explain even to himself. That Hera girl was the key, he could sense that much, he did not know to what though. She was also in much pain and troubled. She was being tempted and lured to the Dark Side that much he could sense, but that mystery figure was pure and powerfully evil, he would almost think it was Palpatine if he hadn't died. But then again Palpatine was really dead was he?"

*TAG* because Thread subscriptions don't seem to work with my cell phone...

Tension grew on the Galactica's CIC. As Doran grabbed Sgt. Hallen's wrist, and Daniel asked somewhat politely, on behalf of his friend, not to incarcerate Doran.

All eyes watched the three aliens, Doran, clearly wanting to end this drama, yet also desiring his lightsaber. Adama could see it in his eyes, the arrogance of royality, always wanting to be right, the drive, the lies, to make sure that they always were.

Adama watched carefully, as Edward began to draw his hand closer to his lightsaber. Something had to be done, and quickly to defuse the situation before it spiraled out of control into a full out war.

Adama, listened to Daniel and Daneh. "Daneh is right, diplomatic immunity does not apply on a war ship, during a time of war. Doran has also disrespected the flag officer on detached service, during a time of war." Adama paused for a moment. "Please be advised that Prince Doran will be joining you shortly. Adama out."

Adama walked over to Doran, glaring at him, as if Doran were a first year cadate at the academy. "What else do you suspect, but you do not want to inform us due to free will?" As he asked, he looked to Daneh and Edward, knowing that they would have his back if Doran did anything foolish.

I sighed as the comlink closed down. Sometimes Doron makes me wonder about the wisdom of allying with the Abh. Even the Jedi Knights aren't that presumptious! As soon as he comes back (in one piece, I hope), he's getting a good talking-to about the wisdom of spilling all the beans. Maybe it would be better if the Abh didn't interfere with the Colonials.

Then I turned to the Baron. "Like Hawkins said, not much to tell. The guy was a Shinobi, but somehow a Sith got to him. It only takes one man and all our plans go to hell."

To Hawkins: "I'll see you around, then. The Force be with you."

Skye shrugged. "We figured as much. An inconvenience it was, but little else. We figured it might have been prudent to fake enmity with other entities at the function, but alas I suspect that Maximillian might have proven all too well his aptitude for theatre."

He pointed up to the sky. "What was all that about? Arcturus informed me of some security situation, and I do so hate to be kept out of the loop. Not knowing about the Colonials was bad enough, is there something else we should know?"

I sighed. The Godulans would know anyway. It is a jointly-held system. "Doron decided to spill the beans concerning what we potentially knew about the Imperial involvement of the Colonies. He and I noticed a document on the late President's desk concerning first contact with Chronosia. It seems in hindsight that we should have said something, but the result is what you see now. Now before you blow up, I would have to say that we knew nothing and even informed the Colonies about Chronosia. Sadly, any information we gave them didn't help much."

I waited for the fireworks to begin anyway.

Skye looked thoughtful for a moment, staring up to the sky and straight into Arcturus' eyes (though spotting the correlation from directly beside him was nigh-impossible). He felt somewhat nosy inquiring after information that did not have the direct potential to concern him, but when it came to Jurai's welfare it was necessary to keep apprised of any information that might prove threatening to the planet's inhabitants.

"You've known how the Chronosians work far longer than the Godulans have. They are the apocalypse ascendant upon any who should fall into their designs. Even hints of contact with Remiel's brood should have warranted more than a passing warning. They weave bits of truth into lies of epic magnitude... lies that have ended entire civilizations.

"The Legion is angry, yes, but they understand also that you could not have known entirely what Chronosian contact would entail. They are chaotic. Predictable in their unpredictability. They feel also that the vagaries of time have worn upon those who do not quite enjoy the... perspective we have come to take for granted. Memories fade. Recollection weakens. We are angry, and sad.

"Both shall be dealt with in time... there are wounded people and a shattered nation above us. That is what we must deal with now."

He turned a strange smile on Masaki... an unnerving one, that seemed to suggest a level of schadenfreude... not at the wounded people above, nor at Daniel Masaki. "It would seem that the biggest diplomatic farce of this whole fiasco cannot be attributed to Maximillian as he would wish. Not warning them is bad enough, but in Doran's admission he has given the Colonials a focal point for their present anger. That Maximillian's antics are only second best will infuriate him greatly. Such is a novelty to me. Despite everything I cannot help but feel refreshed."

"I see." The answers still left Lukien wondering.

"Well I do not know how we measure up to other nations that are here or what support you would need from us but we can support you with what we have. May I ask what support you will need for your campaigns?"
"Supplies, most definitely. One cannot have a moral standpoint without a means to keep that standpoint." Katrina smiled knowingly. "Yes, more than aiding in battle, we need supplies and -I'm sure Daniel would never admit it- monetary resources to carry on the fight. Secondary to that, information is useful as well. If we know who fights the Empire, we can allocate some measure of resources to aid them in their hour of need. If we know who aids the Empire, then we know who we can undercut to loosen the Imperial support base. Only as a last resort or if there's a great chance of victory, do we ask our allies to aid us in battle, but it's certainly up to the individual nation to do so."

He turned a strange smile on Masaki... an unnerving one, that seemed to suggest a level of schadenfreude... not at the wounded people above, nor at Daniel Masaki. "It would seem that the biggest diplomatic farce of this whole fiasco cannot be attributed to Maximillian as he would wish. Not warning them is bad enough, but in Doran's admission he has given the Colonials a focal point for their present anger. That Maximillian's antics are only second best will infuriate him greatly. Such is a novelty to me. Despite everything I cannot help but feel refreshed."
"I can't help but agree." I shook my head. "I only hope the Abh haven't done more to the Colonies under my nose. But let us worry about the fleet we have overhead, first. Jurai is certainly not the best place to support six million people. We can't even land them, as it's a very cold place and I doubt the refugees managed to grab winter gear before they fled."

Adama walked over to Doran, glaring at him, as if Doran were a first year cadate at the academy. "What else do you suspect, but you do not want to inform us due to free will?" As he asked, he looked to Daneh and Edward, knowing that they would have his back if Doran did anything foolish.

Doron wore a blank expression as the Admiral approached. It was hard to tell if he was even paying attention, let alone cared about a word he said. Then a sly smile spread on his face. "All in good time Admiral. All in good time."

With a mocking bow, Doron turned and left the bridge of the ship. Even if he wasn't provided a shuttle off, he had other means of getting to where he needed to be.

"Supplies, most definitely. One cannot have a moral standpoint without a means to keep that standpoint." Katrina smiled knowingly. "Yes, more than aiding in battle, we need supplies and -I'm sure Daniel would never admit it- monetary resources to carry on the fight. Secondary to that, information is useful as well. If we know who fights the Empire, we can allocate some measure of resources to aid them in their hour of need. If we know who aids the Empire, then we know who we can undercut to loosen the Imperial support base. Only as a last resort or if there's a great chance of victory, do we ask our allies to aid us in battle, but it's certainly up to the individual nation to do so."

"Money would be a slight problem for us as much of our funds are going into rebuilding what was destroyed when our nation was invaded as well as money going to setting the lives of our citizens aright. We can supply food for your people and perhaps more depending on what you need."

For a moment he paused, weighing his words carefully. Lukien knew he could push too far too quickly and leave his nation stranded but the mindset of the Forge compelled him to move on. "In regards to military assistance, there are some of our commanders and advisors that are of the mindset that they would like some revenge for the unwarranted attack. Perhaps it is a foolish notion but they believe if we strike back, it will set an example to others that the people of Mythrandir are not for invading. One nation in particular I believe is what they are truly aiming for. We have intelligence on their nation, their ships, and a bit more detailed information. I do not know how much of assistance we can be, but our help is there if you want it."

"He is hiding something Admiral." Edward said as he watched Doron's back as the arrogant Prince fled the CIC. "Do you wish for me to detain him for...questioning?"

"They could be permitted temporary respite in our jungles if necessary," Skye commented, rubbing his chin slightly in thought. "So long as they avoid the plums, at least."

"The Farstars have developed a rapport with the Colonials. I noticed as much before your speech. They might offer the refugees safe haven, but that might be dangerous for both of them. If the Chronosian-tainted elements were so inclined, they would have an easy time of locating the colonial refugees so close to the galactic core, and it may prove something of an inciting factor. We do not wish for war on Imperial terms.

"No, they would need something of their own. A haven that is isolated and easy to overlook. We have a cartographic backlog of worlds that match the description, but our preference was always towards worlds that tended to have significant flaws that would cause others to look elsewhere. They might not be in any condition to properly settle on such worlds.

"Perhaps the Woodians? As the saying goes, misery loves company, and the Colonials might be heartened by a vision of such swift and tremendous recovery."

"Yes, that is a Providence-class cruiser, a common ship in many navies. What is the reason for this?" Katrina asked.


"Our ships have come across a ship graveyard full of them and are asking if your people could give us some layouts of these vessels so we can speed up repairs to them or an engineer can overlook our repair operations.

After Juvi listened to Lukien's words she began to say something.

"We have settled a new world and began to prosper we can export our excess supplies to allies in need all we ask in return is better technology to help us better defend ourselves. So far we have only Destroyer class vessels and are looking for a battleship design."

OOC: hey if you guys need a map I can use Civ III editor to make one here is one (http://s13.photobucket.com/albums/a287/GeneralZhukov3333/?action=view&current=Mythrandir.jpg) for example.

Doron wore a blank expression as the Admiral approached. It was hard to tell if he was even paying attention, let alone cared about a word he said. Then a sly smile spread on his face. "All in good time Admiral. All in good time."

With a mocking bow, Doron turned and left the bridge of the ship. Even if he wasn't provided a shuttle off, he had other means of getting to where he needed to be.

"He is hiding something Admiral." Edward said as he watched Doron's back as the arrogant Prince fled the CIC. "Do you wish for me to detain him for...questioning?"

Today the lies of the past have been revealed. Allies that act more like enemies than friends, Enemies that act more like allies than enemies. These were confusing times for the wounded colonial fleet in orbit of Jurai.

The night sky screamed with a thousand voices in pain, as the injured and wounded, those that ran from many terrible battles, to the supposed safety of their allies, seem to have ran into worse troubles, than a Admiral who had lost her mind. Adama reflected on these thoughts. The Abh seem to be worse than the Admiral. At least she was honest, she took decisive action, she never flinched. The Abh prince, though, a representative of his entire Empire, was completely different. He hid the truth with the skill of a Chronosian, hiding valuable knowledge that may save millions of lives.

Adama looked to Edward. He thought to himself, at least a few aliens are not as secretive, at least as apparently. “No, he will not tell us anymore than he has. He has chosen to let millions die, why would he stop now. All he would do, under your “interrogation” is mix lies with truth, causing more damage than he already has.”

The Admiral then turned to the two marine guards, “Get him off my ship, take him to Daniel.”

As prince Doran was escorted to an awaiting Raptor, Adama turned to Daneh. “I wonder how much more Daniel and Doran really know, but now is not the time, I need to repair my vessels, and prepare a counter strike against the colonies.” He felt strange, attacking the colonies, his home, the planets he swore to protect. He would have died for them, and now he had to think on how to invade them, with a rag tag fleet. He looked down, as a Marine walked up to him.

“Sir” the marine saluted, “A Godularian General, and the President of the Colonies, are still waiting to see you.”

Adama rubbed his temples to releave the stress. From an arrogant prince, to another alien, and a school teacher pretending to be the president, he knew his day was about to get better.

He turned to Edward and Daneh. “I appreciate all you have done for us so far, would you accompany me to meet the Godularian?”

He turned towards the briefing room, where both the Godularian and the President of the Twelve Colonies, the new one awaited the Admiral.

Soon the Bulkhead door swung open, as a marine dressed in all black with an rifle stood. He saluted the Admiral as he walked in.

“What may I do for you?” he asked, as if he was on his last nerve.

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

As Adama began his meeting with the President, and the Godulars, A raptor left the port flightpod, of the Battlestar Galactica. It raced down to the planet, fire licking the hull, as the ship descended through the atmosphere. As the flames died down, a smoke trail began to follow the raptor, as the super heated hull, hit the frozen air of Jurai.

The Raptor began to shake, as it's thrusters began to fire, slowing the descent, to give Daniel back his friend. As it began to land, the air whipped the snow and ice around, in a funnel around the small vessel. Soon a door opened, and Two marine guards stood by as Price Doran exited the raptor, completely unharmed, near Daniel's location. As he exited, the raptor shut the hatch and began to ascend back to the stars above.

(OOC: I will begin to use my puppet Osiris and Ariel to roleplay the Loyalist movement from this point on.)

The three Godulan guards elected to remain in the landing bay as soon as they noted that wounded were being brought aboard for care. A simple glance was all it took for medically oriented minds to take over and move in, seeking out whoever was overseeing the patients' relocation and asking to assist in providing the necessary medical care.

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

As Arcturus entered the briefing room, he noted that there was somebody else in there with him, which relieved him somewhat. He could not help but shake the feeling that something had singled him out for some reason. He walked up to the woman and brought his hand out for a greeting. "Hello, my name is Severin Arcturus. General of the Godulan Homeguard and coordinator for the Godulan side of the relief effort presently underway. Might I ask your name?" He listened to the answer, and himself answered any questions that might be asked in response, feeling even more relieved now that he knew somebody so politically important was also being asked to wait. Sometimes things fell into place if one had the good sense to wait and watch.

A curious event later occured for Rosalynn as she waited in the briefing room with the curious fellow in black and gold. The man did not decide to sit, instead wandering around and apparently mumbling recitations of the molecular constituency of any part of the floor he stopped to tap his feet upon.

Then, out of nowhere, he stopped cold and turned to stare at, or through, a portion of the bulkhead with a startling degree of fury. He quickly regained some of his composure though, breaking off the glance after a moment and from that point mumbling things to himself and pacing slightly.

As Adama walked in and posed his introductory question, he turned to Rosalynn and said "You were here first, Ma'am."

Within the first hour of taken aboard refugees the Respite's infirmary had already been filled. Crew quarters had to be taken up to make room for patients who already received care while the critical remained in the infirmary. Hallways were full with lightly injured people being treated by crew members. Yet still more were coming through the docking bay.

“Edward if you could wait outside, I’ll call you if I need anything” Daneh told her aide quietly as they entered the briefing room.

Daneh noticed two others as they entered the briefing room and woman entering the later years of mid-life, much like herself, and another gentlemen in a tacky uniform that screamed Godular military. Daneh noticed a carafe of water and several glasses around it, she filled four of them, and offered them to the three others in the room.

“Hydration is important.” She said offering Adama the glass, she almost managed not to smile slightly at her bad joke. Anyone who went through any military basic training knew the virtues of drinking ungodly amounts of water, as they were always told, Hydration is the key to success. She drank a bit from her own glass, not realizing how badly she needed it until now. Placing her emptied glass on the table she regarded the woman.

“You must be President President Laura Roslin, recently thrust into the office, I am sorry for the tragic losses that have put you in such new found responsibility. I am Daneh Ghorbani, a…diplomat and now liaison to the Loyalist Fleet from the Republican Remnant.” She said introducing herself to the commander and chief of the Colonial Loyalists.

Instead of returning to the shelter, Doron instead braved the bitter cold for a moment. His own clyuno worked in nearly any circumstance. As long as his voice remained firm and didn't quiver in the frigid air, the gem on his wrist would still carry out his instructions.

"Encryption code gamma in Baronh to team in."

There was a momentary pause when the gem came back with its mechanical voice. "Standby..."

"They could be permitted temporary respite in our jungles if necessary," Skye commented, rubbing his chin slightly in thought. "So long as they avoid the plums, at least."

"The Farstars have developed a rapport with the Colonials. I noticed as much before your speech. They might offer the refugees safe haven, but that might be dangerous for both of them. If the Chronosian-tainted elements were so inclined, they would have an easy time of locating the colonial refugees so close to the galactic core, and it may prove something of an inciting factor. We do not wish for war on Imperial terms.

"No, they would need something of their own. A haven that is isolated and easy to overlook. We have a cartographic backlog of worlds that match the description, but our preference was always towards worlds that tended to have significant flaws that would cause others to look elsewhere. They might not be in any condition to properly settle on such worlds.

"Perhaps the Woodians? As the saying goes, misery loves company, and the Colonials might be heartened by a vision of such swift and tremendous recovery."
"That's a great idea." I nodded. "If I recall, the Woodians have a number of unclaimed systems under their aegis. It also helps that they reside in the Milky Way Galaxy, which means, ironically, that they will be relatively close to Earth. They once believed Earth to be fabled."

"Money would be a slight problem for us as much of our funds are going into rebuilding what was destroyed when our nation was invaded as well as money going to setting the lives of our citizens aright. We can supply food for your people and perhaps more depending on what you need."

For a moment he paused, weighing his words carefully. Lukien knew he could push too far too quickly and leave his nation stranded but the mindset of the Forge compelled him to move on. "In regards to military assistance, there are some of our commanders and advisors that are of the mindset that they would like some revenge for the unwarranted attack. Perhaps it is a foolish notion but they believe if we strike back, it will set an example to others that the people of Mythrandir are not for invading. One nation in particular I believe is what they are truly aiming for. We have intelligence on their nation, their ships, and a bit more detailed information. I do not know how much of assistance we can be, but our help is there if you want it."
"Every little help helps. As the Jedi would put it, even the smallest of creatures has importance." Katrina said. "What would this nation you seek to revenge against, if I may ask? It may be possible that we have data on it."

"Our ships have come across a ship graveyard full of them and are asking if your people could give us some layouts of these vessels so we can speed up repairs to them or an engineer can overlook our repair operations.
"Ask, and you shall recieve." Katrina smiled. She looked over the dwindling crowds for a raven-haired Flame Master. "General Mustang!"

"My lady?" The General sauntered over and bowed his head in respect.

"Can you please bring data on old CIS vessals, including the Providence-class cruiser? Our new friends appear to have found a graveyard full of them and they will require our assistance in this matter."

"I see. I will return momentarily." The General gave an award-winning smile to the ladies and moved off smartly.

After Juvi listened to Lukien's words she began to say something.

"We have settled a new world and began to prosper we can export our excess supplies to allies in need all we ask in return is better technology to help us better defend ourselves. So far we have only Destroyer class vessels and are looking for a battleship design."
"Hmm. It would be necessary to have your people speak with ours on that matter. There's only so much we could do now." Katrina said.

As Adama began his meeting with the President, and the Godulars, A raptor left the port flightpod, of the Battlestar Galactica. It raced down to the planet, fire licking the hull, as the ship descended through the atmosphere. As the flames died down, a smoke trail began to follow the raptor, as the super heated hull, hit the frozen air of Jurai.

The Raptor began to shake, as it's thrusters began to fire, slowing the descent, to give Daniel back his friend. As it began to land, the air whipped the snow and ice around, in a funnel around the small vessel. Soon a door opened, and Two marine guards stood by as Price Doran exited the raptor, completely unharmed, near Daniel's location. As he exited, the raptor shut the hatch and began to ascend back to the stars above.
As Doron stepped out, he was recieved with a you-are-in-deep-trouble stare from the Emperor of the Coreworlds. I spread an arm towards the Temple. "Come, Prince Doron."

It wasn't a suggestion.

=====

Meanwhile, a shuttle carrying several more medics and one Old Man of Space rose up towards the Galactica.

"Galactica Actual, this is Admiral Pellaeon. With your permission, I would like to come aboard and if possible, meet with the new President."

OOC: Hmmm. Seemed to have posted at the same time.

IC:

Once Daniel had stepped out, Doron flept the communication device to standby mode letting it run silent. With that matter taken care of, he pulled his cloak over low and walked on inside.

President Roslin stood up, as she held her hand out for the glass of water that Daneh was offering. She wore a blue blouse, and a black skirt, and her wrist was adorned with a simple gold bracelet. “Thank you.” she replied as she took a sip, from the simple clear plastic glass.

Laura watched the mood of the room, the Admiral who looked to be tough as nails, with pockmarks all over his brown face, Arcturus with his gold and black uniform, and the two delegates from the Republic Remnant.

She waited as an awkward silence filled the room. Laura looked at the glass, the life giving liquid, how long would it last? How long could they go without resupplyment?

She stood up and walked over to Admiral Adama, and held her hand out. He looked down, at her hand, as she stared at him in the eyes. By her body language, one thing was certain, she was self assured, and a strong willed person. Adama reached down and grabbed her hand. “It is a pleasure to meet you madam president.”

Laura began to walk around to her seat. She gently sat down, and looked around the room. “Let us talk business. We have six million people out there, most of whom are rightfully terrified. They have watched their homes and lives be crushed around them, as those that once swore to protect them have turned away, or attacked them. They are scared, not only for themselves but for the future of humanity. What we need is a symbol, a place for them to go to, a refuge. Admiral Adama, if you will, I need you to send out immediate Raptor teams to scout all outlying planets for inhabitable worlds.

Adama looked to the floor for a moment. He then looked to President Roslin. “Madam President, if I may, there is a war going on. Our homes have been attacked. The Galactica, and every other military vessel needs to be repaired, and restocked. We are not a baby sitting service for the civilians, nor should we waste valuable fuel in a vain hope of finding some place to live. We will go back to the colonies and kick the Empire and Cain out of them.

President Roslin looked to Admiral Adama. “I know you want to fight, but this office sees the civilian’s and there care to be the top priority. As President, I order you Admiral to begin this mission.”

Adama glares at Roslin. “With all due respect, you are not a president. You were not elected by the people, you are the secretary of education, you are a school teacher. You do not know military protocol, nor do you know the extent of the fleet. If you wish to play President, please do so, but I do not take orders from the secretary of education, and I doubt you will find any commander in the fleet that will.”

The tempers in the room began to get hotter, yet both Adama, and Roslin, still seemed to talk civilly to each other. None raised their voices, but it was clear to see that this was going to take a long time to work.



As the conversation continedto get interesting, the loud speakers inside the ship began to blare. “Admiral Adama, please contact the CIC, Admiral Adama please contact the CIC.

“Excuse me for a moment.” Adama stated, as he walked over to the phone on the wall. He picked up the phone.

“This is the Admiral.”

He sighed, “What do they want?”

“Fine, tell them they can land in the starboard hanger. I want two marine guards to escort him to the briefing room.”

He hung up the phone. “The coredian Admiral wants to meet you it seems madam president. He will be here shortly.

OOC: Hmmm. Seemed to have posted at the same time.

IC:

Once Daniel had stepped out, Doron flept the communication device to standby mode letting it run silent. With that matter taken care of, he pulled his cloak over low and walked on inside.
"I am your friend, but that doesn't mean that I am pleased with what had just occurred." I said sternly. "What possessed you to tell them we knew to the point that they're this close to killing someone?" I emphasized my words with a shrinking of the space between my index finger and thumb.

Meanwhile, the Admiral's shuttle entered the starboard hangar bay. Almost immediately, the medics got to work with the healing. There will be more medics and supplies coming soon. The Admiral, clad in a crisp blue uniform (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/51/State_Military_%28FMA%29.JPG) and a hawk-billed cap adorning his wispy white hair, was every bit the Old Man that every young sailor wishes to learn from. The soldiers, looking like mere children compared to the still spry hundred year old man, escorted the Admiral to the meeting with President Roslin.

"If I might be permitted to interject?" Arcturus asked, stepping forward slightly. "Madam Rosalyn, allow me to first convey my condolences on behalf of the Anarchist Union. Had we known of what befell your people beforehand, we would have done all in our power to help you defend against it. Alas, we are bound by external covenants from directly challenging the Chronosian scourge.

"With respect to the scouting missions, we have already mapped and catalogued a very large portion of the surrounding space, and I would be only too happy to provide the necessary telemetry. Beyond Jurai, the space is not well traveled, and it is very hard for a significant fleet to pass through without our knowledge. I can inform you right now that within approximately thirty light-years of this position, there are no less than five systems hosting terrestrial planets. Two of those systems, including this one, are habitable. The other is as yet unclaimed, though we do have beacons there. I can provide further information, including systems at greater distances, if you wish."

He looked around momentarily, then settled on Adama.

"Admiral Adama. I can only apologize for what can only amount to a betrayal by the Coredians, and even more so by the Abh. That they knew, but did not act anywhere near as strongly as they should have... they should have known better. They should have known better.

"But they did not act as they should have known to, and now the Chronosians work their schemes and depredations upon those unfortunate enough to be left behind. If you do not mind my saying, it would be suicide to attempt to take them back, especially at this juncture. They revel in the slaughter of innocents and military alike, and there is no question that they have reinforcements at hand to assist in what is likely the complete subjugation of your people beneath Imperial jackboots. There is no doubt in my mind also that the Chronosians have already had more than enough time to corrupt many elements among your own people. Anything done against them at this point would only serve to kill more civilians and military personnel, while strengthening their hold, and that of the Chronosians, even further."

"Ugh, what happened. Where am I? Oh yea. Jurai."

Crimson Torry finally woke up after being rescued by the Coredians. His chest was feeling better after the much needed rest but still had a sore. He got up and headed for the door. He turned his head both ways of the hallway and watched as personnel were running. Most of the commotion is coming from their. he thought.

He walked out and followed some staff to where the commotion was. He came upon a room where a bunch of people gathered. He looked around none of their faces were familiar. Then he saw her. Juvi?

"I am your friend, but that doesn't mean that I am pleased with what had just occurred." I said sternly. "What possessed you to tell them we knew to the point that they're this close to killing someone?" I emphasized my words with a shrinking of the space between my index finger and thumb.

"I simply told them the truth. That is what we are supposedly fighting for right? Better they find out now what we knew than later from some other source like the Sith or Remiel."

Doron pulled his cloak back, shaking out his long blue hair. "Besides, if their president would have listened to the warnings that you gave none of this would have happened." The Abh pointed off into space in a general direction. "This is the result of ignoring troubles within one's own nation and not having a firm control over their military. The death of millions of civilians is on the head of the president who ignored those warnings and troubled signs and he has payed for those mistakes with his life however wrong that may be. Excuse me if always cleaning up someone elses mess seems appealing. Had all this been avoided, we could have halted the Galactic Empire's advance at the edge of Colonial space. Now we have the task of retaking every world or what's left of them. I do not relish that fact and the methods the Abh would normally use for cleansing infestations are, shall we say, frowned upon by most. Resources are going to have to be allocated from current military projects just so we can go in and fix someone's mistake."

"Every little help helps. As the Jedi would put it, even the smallest of creatures has importance." Katrina said. "What would this nation you seek to revenge against, if I may ask? It may be possible that we have data on it."

"We now have an extensive makeup of data on the nation of Tannelorn. Troops boarded their ships, taking control of whatever was possible and begin ripping information from their computers. We managed to collect quite a bit of information on them and are currently working on disecting their technology. Still, it does not prevent some from looking for revenge."

Juvi was looking in her laptop. Typing up a report for the Council on the proceedings of this meeting so they can analyze. Then she caught in the glimpse in her eye of someone familiar. She turned her head her eyes widened almost tearing up, and her jaw dropped. It was Crimson. "Juvi? Juvi is it really you? I didn't expect to meet you here."

He was taken completely by surprise when Juvi suddenly hugged him. He looked down at her. "What is it?"

"Ever since the reports of Red Squadron being totally destroyed, I feared the worse."

"Heh you don't think something like an energy storm can kill me?" Always showing his tough side around Juvi ever since they were children in North Linguna. As she began to squeeze harder he began to grunt. "What is it Crimson?"

"Just some bruises. Hehe."

"I simply told them the truth. That is what we are supposedly fighting for right? Better they find out now what we knew than later from some other source like the Sith or Remiel."

Doron pulled his cloak back, shaking out his long blue hair. "Besides, if their president would have listened to the warnings that you gave none of this would have happened." The Abh pointed off into space in a general direction. "This is the result of ignoring troubles within one's own nation and not having a firm control over their military. The death of millions of civilians is on the head of the president who ignored those warnings and troubled signs and he has payed for those mistakes with his life however wrong that may be. Excuse me if always cleaning up someone elses mess seems appealing. Had all this been avoided, we could have halted the Galactic Empire's advance at the edge of Colonial space. Now we have the task of retaking every world or what's left of them. I do not relish that fact and the methods the Abh would normally use for cleansing infestations are, shall we say, frowned upon by most. Resources are going to have to be allocated from current military projects just so we can go in and fix someone's mistake."
"I suppose so. I just hope there's nothing else that could cause trouble between the Colonies and the Abh." I sighed as we reentered the Temple. "For every brush fire we Rebels stamp out, there's always one more that springs out."

We moved towards where the remaining delegates talked.

"We now have an extensive makeup of data on the nation of Tannelorn. Troops boarded their ships, taking control of whatever was possible and begin ripping information from their computers. We managed to collect quite a bit of information on them and are currently working on disecting their technology. Still, it does not prevent some from looking for revenge."
"Indeed. We have heard of Tannelorn, but we haven't fought them yet. If you want, we could review this data and help produce a general strategy against them." Katrina said. Then General Mustang came back with a datapad. The Empress continued with a smile, turning to Juvi. "Here is the data on the Providence cruisers."

Juvi let go of Crimson and turned towards Empress Masaki gesturing Crimson to come with her. "Thank you for the information. This will come in handy for our engineers repairing the old vessels. Anyways I would like to introduce my childhood friend from my hometown."

"Honored to meet you. Captain Crimson Torry of Ganoxan Space Force Red Squadron."

OOC: There now everything should be in order.

OOC: Whoops! Edited.

Skye listened to the back-and-forth between the Abh ambassador and the Coredian Emperor, his expression retaining complete neutrality though the minds swirling about in his head grew more and more agitated with each and every word. A great many Godulans were paying attention to this conversation, and it was making them angrier still than when they initially learned of the Coredians'/Abh's criminal negligence.

But he did not know what 'warning' was given to the colonials, and Masaki had seen fit to only provide a 'general' analysis of what had occurred.

"What was the extent of your warning?" He asked, his voice seeming to contain a thousand other voices just within the range of hearing, all in the same iron-hard tone. "I would like to understand absolutely every little thing constituting whatever information and advice provided by you unto them."

"I suppose so. I just hope there's nothing else that could cause trouble between the Colonies and the Abh." I sighed as we reentered the Temple. "For every brush fire we Rebels stamp out, there's always one more that springs out."

We moved towards where the remaining delegates talked.

"Most likely there is nothing else to offend them. Unfortunatly the truth is never a pleasant thing for some to admit. Perhaps that is why a lot of people do not like the Abh."

Doron scanned the room quickly to regain his bearings of his surroundings. "Anyways, the Colonials are free to accept or refuse our help as they see fit. If they don't want out help, then we won't bend over backwards for them."

OOC: Abh, be aware, Baron Skye is still with Daniel, and by extension you. His question was directed at both of you.

OOC: Uhh figured that much. Obviously he either doesn't know how much of a warning Daniel gave the Colonials because that was his area in the relationship with OG, or he is ignoring you since it was a one-on-one conversation. It's your pick.

"Indeed. We have heard of Tannelorn, but we haven't fought them yet. If you want, we could review this data and help produce a general strategy against them." Katrina said. Then General Mustang came back with a datapad. The Empress continued with a smile, turning to Juvi. "Here is the data on the Providence cruisers."

"Thank you for the offer but we have enough strategies on hand now for dealing with them in battle. I was merely offering our experience with fighting the Tannelornians to the benefit of your campaign."

Daneh listened to her counterpart’s debate. She was most concerned by the exchange between The Admiral and the President. She spoke to both of them once the Godularian General was done speaking.

“ General Arcturus,” His title came out as almost a sneer, Republicans and Godularians were like oil and water, and frankly the big brass G’s as rank insignia made him look ridiculous, his uniform was as impractical as anything she could imagine. “The time for apologies are over especially for events that are not your fault.

“Madam President, Admiral Adama,” Daneh said addressing the to Colonials in an even if almost icy voice. “There is one thing and one thing alone that is similar between our two nations and separates us from the Galactic Empire and even our Allies, Godular, Abh, and the Cordians. We are Democratic republics, our leaders are elected to their office due to the will of the people, and that is a sacred trust between the government and its constituents. The military is the bulwark of democracy, it is their duty to put their liberty, and to put their lives on the line for the people and government they serve. That from the sounds of things, is what Admiral Cain has forgot. From what little I know of her, she is known to be a fighting officer and a great tactician. She can make hard choices, but is often lacking the ability to think strategically. She forgot that it is her duty to serve the government and instead launched a coup against it, trudging roughshod over all the principles that a republic stands for, disgracing the uniform she wears, becoming a tyrant herself.

“I see the same thing happening here.” She said in a said voice. “Admiral, you need to figure out what side you are on. President Roslin is your rightfully elected leader, unless there is a senior surviving member in the line of succession. She was elected if indirectly, and due to the horrors of war she is forced to accept responsibility, succession of command is something I thought you would understand quite clearly Admiral.”

“I do not know much about your militaries chain of command Admiral Adama. It is ironic though that if these were more normal times you would be correct, in that she acting as the President could not give you a direct order, She would first have to give her orders to the Admiralty or whatever strategic command staff the Colonies had, that order would then be distributed through the chain of command until it reach the level of Admiral. However these are bleak times, and due to the casualties of war, Admiral you are now the senior surviving flag officer of the Loyalist Fleet, as such the President acting as your Commander-in-Chief can issue you orders that you must obey unless they are illegal or immoral.”

“There is only one acceptable way this can be resolved, Admiral you will go to the position of attention, you will salute the President, and obey her orders. Do so now, or my Government will retract any aid we previously offered. There are already to many tyrant in the Galaxy, we do not want one named Adama as well.” Her voice was ice. Adama would do this or she would leave. She suppose she could if ordered by the President detain the Admiral, to enforce the Colonial chain of command. But she knew that would not be necessary. As she looked at the aging officer, she saw a professional, the consummate warrior. He would do his duty, that was something admiral Cain could not due, and that is something that made Adama the better officer.

Arcturus took the tantrum in stride. He had been warned about the Wickians from Skye and Maximillian's antics from before. And several psychologists pointed out the nonverbal cues saying that she had several choice things to say about his uniform. Those minds involved in the analysis did so while laughing.

Amusing how easy it still is. Did you hear the way she said 'General' right there? She doesn't know a goddamn thing. Blank slates are HILARIOUS.

What do you think she would have done if she'd found the General in Caleshan Battle Dress?

HAW! Biggest case of underestimation ever with those folks. Dude with a trench coat... whipping out a pair of plasmatic miniguns and laying waste... they'd be just like us if they didn't fall into line so well with Sojun.

Don't'cha just HATE cronyism-- what the hell? Did she just lump us in with the Imperials?

Arcturus: Yes, she did. Its all good though. Remember, we WANT people to underestimate or show their ignorance. The longer they think us a dictatorship, the more they would think Baron Skye and the rest of the Triad is a primary target.

Skye: Hey!

Arcturus: What? You're hard enough to kill normally right? It makes sense that we would wish for the enemy to over-extend themselves in your termination when most of these people don't even KNOW how pointless it would be. Any new information on how much of a warning the Coredians and the Abh gave?

Skye: I believe the Abh ambassador is ignoring me. That or he is just as much of an idiot as we have been led to believe.

Arcturus: Amazing how they consider themselves the leaders of this whole shindig, huh?

Skye: Depressing. Still, there are a lot of people in this avatar, paying attention. I fear I will not be able to restrain them much longer.

Strangely, Arcturus' response to Daneh's ramble was a rather odd smile.

There is a point in everyone’s life where a person has to make a decision, that will change their lives forever. A moment in time, that will alter the course of destiny itself. In this case however, it was more than the his life, it would be the lives of all under his command, the six million civilians, and the very face of the remnant of the colonial government.

As Daneh ranted on, Adama listened. She spoke with the tact, that she normally perceived the Godularians with. Daneh was blunt, and aggressive in her speech. She presumed to tell the Flag Officer on his ship what to do, the very sin that she and Edward were so willing to “Detain” the Prince of the Abh, Doran for moments ago. Adama looked at Daneh, looking into her eyes, judging her, seeing if she was bluffing or really trying to help.

As he looked at her, the room waiting in silence, for his response, Adama remembered a statement from the Coredian ambassador. “You have to choose between what is right and what is easy.”

Bill Adama, knew if the colonial Government was going to survive, he would have to swallow his pride, and to swallow it, is never an easy task. He looked at the new president, knowing her inexperience, knowing she knew nothing of war, and also knowing that the presidental successors were never really considered past the first three or four. Who would really expect the government to be so throughly destroyed, that the 43rd in line of the presidency would become the president.

Daneh was right on one thing though, that these were not normal circumstances. There was nothing even remotely normal that was occurring. A decorated officer of the colonial fleet attacking the government she swore to uphold and protect. The majority of the fleet, seeing the same thing she did, backed her up. Only those few, oddly enough rebellious souls, that were here now at Jurai believed her actions were wrong, and decided to run.

Adama looked down, and clasped his hands together. He held them tightly. He first looked to Daneh, then to the President. “Madam President, I will ask that you forgive my outburst, there is no excuse.” Adama asked humbly. “The facts are though, that we are at war. We are fighting a war in which we are outnumbered and outgunned. We need to begin to plan an attack on the colonial fleet, once we can.”

Then the Godular’s began to speak, of how they had already mapped out most of the systems in this sector. Adama smiled, thanking the gods, that he did say so. He hoped that would defuse the situation immensely.

President Roslin stood up, as if to challenge her Admiral. “Admiral, let me be frank with you. Your fleet is wounded, the flagship is a 65 year old outdated warship that is more of a museum than a fighting force. What you have is about 10% of the colonial fleet, and over half of these vessels are too damaged to survive long in any fight. The colonies are surrounded by the Galactic Empire, as the colonies themselves are too busy destroying themselves to notice. If our government is to survive, if our way of life is to go on, we need to safeguard the civilians. We need to find a planet, or a system, away from the empire, to rebuild. The colonies are lost, Admiral, the war is over. Even if we could get back to full status, in all of the ship yards that have been offered, it will take weeks to be up and running again. President Roslin looked to Arcturus, and replied, and then Arcturus will be correct. The enemy will be too deeply entrenched. We have no hope of winning.”

Adama looked to his president, “Do you mean to say that you wish to surrender?”

She smiled at Adama, “I mean to say I want to survive, I want all of us to survive. When we are capable we should go and reclaim our homes, but for now, we need to survive.”

What she said was true, charging in head strong, although brave, would be suicide. Adama unclasped his hands, and saluted the President. “What are your orders, Madam President?”

She sat down, relieved, “We need to find a stable place, safe from the empire to settle down, until we can become strong enough to take the colonies back. That is our first priority.”

As Roslin said that, the door opened, as the Coredian Admiral walked in the door.

Somewhere during Roslin's speech, just a few moments after recieving a cursory nod from the President of the Colonies, Arcturus' expression turned thoughtful. He rubbed his chin slightly, and his eyes flicked back and forth as though reading something with remarkable speed. Just as the Coredian admiral stepped into the room, he mumbled "I suppose it is worth an attempt..." and bowed forward again.

"Madam President, Admiral Adama. I apologize if this might seem something of a tangent to the present discussion, but might my people be permitted to send an envoy of some form to the Colonies? Purely non-combat, I assure you. Our bean-counters believe they have come to a possible method to rectify the whole situation at the Colonies via diplomatic means, though we will need more information about entry protocols and viable arrival coordinates in order to properly affect it."

OOC: Just a quick reply as Its early in the morning and I got to work 8-4 from now on, less time to reply :(

IC:

Daneh spoke first, "General, you propose to send an Envoy to the Colonies, that are now hostile to the "Allied" powers? Remember the Colonial Junta under Cain murdered the President and a score of his government. She is not likely to respond well to any envoy we might send, most likely she'd have them shot it seems to be her base reaction. Besides the fact that there is a large Galactic Empire fleet blockading the system, whose association is currently unknown in regards to Cains, faction, and gods help us if they ally." The thought turned her stomach. She awaited the General's reply. She just felt pity for whomever they sent it seemed to her to be nothing but a one-way mission.

Daneh then looked to the Admiral and President,

"I hope I was not out of line with my comments Admiral, I have nothing but the utmost respect for your rank and position, but when it comes to the military's relationship to the elected government, I become quite a bitch. A lot of what is wrong with our galaxy is due to greedy men and corrupt military officers who thirst either for power or their own form of absolute security." With that said she asked of them,

"My government may be able to grant asylum to your government in exile, Madame President. There are many systems in the Farstars, and they are strategically secure from Imperial invasion. If you agree to this, I will not lie it will come at a price, you will still be the Colonial Government-in-exile but you will also become a member state of the Farstars Confederacy. We will expect your combat fleet to support our operations against the Empire, both in defending the Republic Remnant's space and the Farstars. There is much else to discuss, many possibilities and ways for my nation to help salvage what remains of yours. I just need to know that you will help us in return against our common enemy and we in turn will help you against yours. Make no mistake though for this to work, for your nation to survive, we must form an official alliance, one that is joint and respects both nations. We will become like brothers. It can not be a shame, like what you Admiral wittinessed here today."

"Well," Arcturus replied, retaining his thoughtful stance with the occasional rub of his slightly stubbled chin. "I must admit first and foremost that the prospect of actually achieving an audience with the Admiral would be slim at best. Like I said, this is coming from the 'Bean Counters', so they're flinging data correlations and statistical analyses back and forth, tweaking and computing as they go. That being said, they already have several dozen contingency plans in place depending on the progression of the horror that has befallen the colonies, the mental states of its present ruler, and possibly even the various arrangements of the various imperial fleets.

"Depending on what forces are there, the Imperials would likely be unable to fire on us at all due to external covenants. So it would be reasonable to assume that for the most part the envoy must be, and very well can be sent in a vessel that is as harmless as possible, in order to reassure Admiral Cain that we come with only the most nonviolent of intents in mind.

"Being nonthreatening is a critical issue, so it might be useful to send... part of an envoy, rather than a whole one. Our malleability of form allows us some flexibility when it comes to such things. We might indeed send a fluffy bunny, or something relatively inanimate that might operate as a holoprojector of sorts. It might hinder the progress of our little negotiation, but we suspect that it should not be crippling. Termination of the Envoy would end our attempt, but it would be of little consequence to us. If anything, it would show us exactly what we are dealing with.

"And we were thinking we might pursue a similar negotiation with you, Madam President, Admiral Adama," he nodded to each as he named them. "Rest assured it has the potential to eliminate a very significant portion of the Galactic Empire as a threat to your people. And you might... appreciate the intricacies of our offer."

Irene tsk'd, watching the omnipresent snow falling on, and sticking to, her quipao - sure, snow was pretty, but this was kind of overdoing it, a bit.

On the other had, the tiger embroided on it did now look very siberian-esque, covered in the snow, as if about to attack its prey...

Well, the motif was, perhaps, not entirely appropriate, given Irene's purpose as she walked across the snowcovered landscape of Jurai, guided by the Romance, looking for the faint source of infrared that was a smoldering droid. But it was still a very pretty motif.

And eventually - missing the people who'd been there before, and pretty much ignoring the corpse lying next to the droid - she arrived, looking somewhat sad at the collection of smoldering metal.

Pity, that. But we'll give you an opportunity to break even.

And then she smiled.

Information storage is a fascinating business, isn't it? So many ways to do it - networks formed of synapses and neurons, working on electric potentials and chemicals reactions do it for my brain. Well. The slow parts of it, anyway. And using technology, I can utilise a variety of optic means - writing on paper, holes in punchcards, pits in CDs -, I can use magnetism, I can even store information in the probabilities of electron orbitals in an atom or a molecule, using photons to transfer this information.

And the nice thing about this is that it's very hard to actually destroy information. A machine working with information? That's easy, as I'm sure you now know from experience. A little relay overcharging, some actuators failing due to maintenance, a bone breaking, or someone catching the flu - and the machine needs some repair, or may even be broken permanently.

But the information lives on. The 'Death' of a human is defined by all electric activity in its brain ceasing - yet, it takes time for synapses and neurons to decay. Only some information is lost immediately - the rest, however, remains recoverable for a considerable time, until decay destroys even these remnants of the mind.

And for anorganic machines like you, it's even easier. It is easy to switch off a computer, and then to switch it on again - no information will have been lost. I could smash monitors, I could destroy processors, I could even break a HDD, I could cut a CD into a thousand pieces, I could shatter datacrystals - but most of the information would survive, and all it takes is the patience to take this information debris and to put it together again. To provide it with energy... To resurrect its essence.

This is what I'll do for you.

Certainly, the droid was destroyed, and Irene didn't have a chance to repair it. Not with what she had with her (And besides, what'd be the point?).

But there was very little - in fact, nothing - from stopping the effector gear embedded inside herself and her quipao from reading out and copying the information stored on the droid's computing kit - its 'Brains'. Broken and shattered it could be, smoldering, covered in debris and dirt, out of energy, motionless, not a single volt running through its body - but with the exception of the bits that'd been completely molten, this was no hindrance, other than slowing the process down by a few microseconds.

She didn't expect too much from it, of course. 'Secret' information was rather unlikely to be found in the data she'd just collected - keeping any on it when it was going to a (Probable) enemy-planet would've been retarded beyond imagination. Likewise, the droid had (To her knowledge) not collected any relevant information on the meeting itself, either - though this was probably because the meeting itself had been of questionable value.

But Irene wasn't after any intelligence on either the GE or the alliance/ rebels, anyway. Such could be gained in different, and considerably more interesting ways. What she wanted - the only thing she really cared about - was the droid's mind, its personality.

And that one she'd got. Most of it, anyway.

Finished, she spent another moment looking at the droid (And the swordsman lying not far from the same), then she smirked, and wandered off. It was probably time to go home, anyway.

It'd be fun.

Admiral Pellaeon smiled wryly behind his bushy moustache. "I would have to agree with General Arcturus. Sending an envoy to discern the extent of Admiral Cain's reach over the Colonies and the Imperial dogs waiting in the wings to see what comes next is going to be important. But first and foremost is protection for your people and repairs for the fleet about us. Like our friends in the Farstars, we would like to offer you, Madam President, government-in-exile as well as space for your people, in exchange for protectorate status. You will have a seat in the Senate, and protection while you rebuild. Unlike the Farstars, we prefer to ask for volunteers than draft people in our conflict with the Empire, but I am sure there will be no shortage after what has happened."

Daneh shook her head. Where the Cordians as impaired to seeing common sense as badly as the Godularians, it sure was seeming that way. An envoy what was the use but to waste good lives. Perhaps dying didn't factor for Godularian's but every life even that of the lowly recruit was factored into mission planning in the republic, there had to be some conceivable benefit and there was none here. If Pellaeon really agreed with the General than perhaps he was starting to show his age.

"You both want to send an Envoy. After we have learned that Chronosia has influenced the bloody coup which has taken place. If Cain is not already cooperating with the Galactic Empire's combined fleet she soon will be. Any Envoy will be destroyed as soon as their forces can range on it, there are no neutrals in the Colonies anymore. No, if we want to gain information it is best to conduct a proper reconnaissance of the Colonies and Kobal. Send out scout ships, stay hidden and gather information covertly rather than openly, not playing diplomatic games with envoys."

Daneh now talked directly to the President and Adama.

"If they are not in pursuit the Empire and the Treasonous forces of Cain will be soon. Jurai is a well known location and exposed to the wraith of the Empire. It has been bombarded into an Ice Age once and no doubt will be ravaged again soon. We must move your fleet, if not for your own protection, than to prevent all out war in this system. Any nearby system in this part of the Galaxy will simply be an untenable position for your forces to maintain. Once any allied fleets are called away, they could simply be over run." Her voice was grave, carrying sad undertones like a doctor informing a parent thier child has died.

"There is no returning to the Colonies, you both must face that fact. There will be decades of war fought before that situation will become likely, the numbers of the enemy are simply too high. What you will need is a safe haven, a place to rebuild, to repopulate, to establish a new colony. I think in every sense your civilian fleet and its military escort represent a Second Exodus in search of a new land to call home. The Farstars can provide it, secured from Imperial assault, unless they manage to take both Mon Calamari and Exartha, which they haven't tried to do for thirty years."She looked to Gilad,

"And yes we would expect their military to contribute to the defense of the Republic as it is the bulwark that will keep the Empire out of the Farstars, thus they are helping themselves. We in the Republic know well that those who do not fight are left to become slaves of the Empire, we can not let that happen, so we fight and expect every member System to do so as well"

Ships came in and out, carrying the injured, those tormented, and devastated by the wrath of war. Small shuttles, carried medical teams back and forth, healing those that could be saved, as those who could not, quietly slid into the night, accompanied by their flag, the flag that they died to preserve.

As bodies quietly drifted out the airlock in unceremonious tubes, the dead too numerous to pray for, a debate raged in the Battlestar Galactica about the future of these refugees, these Orphans of Kobal.

President Roslin, and Admiral Adama listened to each of the delegates, as the debate raged on. The debate was interesting, not only for the different ideas, but it gave small clues about the national identity that they represented. The Republic Remnant, seemed to be practical. Daneh, ever the pessimist, would have the colonies re-colonize some new worlds, as well as give up on the colonies. It seemed to be the most practical idea.

On the oppisite end of the spectrum was the Godularians. They seemed ever too hopeful. They believed that a diplomatic envoy could be sent, to negotiate the end of the war, and that the Galactic Empire, and Admiral Cain would not only not fire upon them, but would listen to their ideas. The Empire, which was an imperialistic alliance, wanting all worlds under it’s banner, as well as Admiral Cain, the woman who destroyed her own government for being subverted by aliens, would stop and listen to the Godularians. This seemed the be the most hopeful idea, and the least practical.

The Coredians seemed to lay somewhere in the middle. They agreed with the envoy, but also knew that Admiral Cain would not see the light. They knew their envoy would come under attack, it seemed they wanted it to be. Maybe they were looking for an excuse to attack the colonies, or maybe they wanted to spy and leave. The Coredian proposal were far from clear, but one thing was for certain, not every piece of the puzzle has been revealed yet.

Admiral Adama after carefully listening to the debate, began to speak up. “Our best intelligence shows that Admiral Cain over threw the colonial government, for being subverted and subtly controlled by alien forces.” He slowly reached down and finished gulping down his water.

“Unless you desire to use the envoy as an excuse to attack the colonies, and the Imperial blockade, I can not see what good it will do. She blames you for the war. I know her, I have met her many times, and I can tell you this about her. She is at heart a good person, she is doing what she thinks is best for the colonies, no matter how wrong she is in fact. She sees you as the cause of this war, you as the reason the government was destroyed not her. You can not negotiate with that kind of person. She will not listen to you, in her mind you are the Galactic Empire.”

Roslin glared at Adama, as he sounded like he was justifying Admiral Cain’s actions, but she did not retort. “I do appreciate all of your offers to help us re-colonize, and restart as a nation. I will gladly accept you offer, but first I need to know what kind of planet and systems you are most graciously offering. She looked to each of the representatives. As for the alliance, we will honor the Coredian’s alliance still, and I officially offer our hand of friendship and alliance to both the Godular’s and the Republic Remenant. We need help, we need repairs and provisions, for a long journey, as well as aid once we choose which offer to take up, to build settlements and homes, to continue to arm our ships as we will fight both our homes, and the enemy. Rest assured we will not stop until the colonies have been retaken.

She looks to Adama, “I want you to begin to find out what is currently happening at the colonies. Send scouts to Kobal first, to see if that planet is under attack. Also we need to establish the best intelligence on the relationship of Cain and Vader.”

"Admiral Cain could not blame us... not yet. Our involvement in the whole fiasco is, as yet, nonexistent. It is hoped that this would enable us to avoid a shoot-on-sight situation, though if there are Imperial Forces not bound by covenant in the area, there is a risk of losing the envoy.

"The plan we seek to put into place is two-pronged, with negotiations here, and negotiations at the Colonies. In fact, if the envoy fails, we do have resources on the inside that can properly affect the same thing we intend.

"First, we feel that there has been a debt accrued upon us by the circumstances leading to the catastrophe that has fallen upon the colonies. For this, we are willing to conduct a small number of favors that will not only provide you with a place to call your home, but also eliminate the majority of the Imperials as a threat to you and those you are sworn to protect. We will provide you with a home, one that is far far away, such that any dedicated search would take many hundreds of years to properly affect with any hope of success.

"We would also seek to facilitate negotiations to join the Extrasolar Union, an alliance of which we are a member, but also joined by a significant portion of the Galactic Empire's strongest nations. This is the external covenant that prevents them from firing upon us, and us upon them. What is but a small portion of Extrasolar Union firepower is effectively two-thirds of Imperial combat strength. I warn you now, however, this is not a collection of 'good people'. They are either dedicated to calculated carnage or the inexorable pursuit of wealth, or sometimes both, but they do not presume to tell other member nations how to do things within their own borders, and if asked, can usually be relied upon for various forms of aid.

"Its a bit of a bureaucratic undertaking though, if you do not mind the several large baskets of paperwork to read through and properly fill out, but we feel that the end properly justifies the means. In one shot, you will have eliminated a massive portion of the Imperials as a threat... and, if our envoy is successful, Admiral Cain as well."

"Adama is right, Admiral Cain would blame you. You share this world with the Cordians, that alone is enough to make you alien conspirators to her. That all is in addition to the fact that you would be entering a battlefield during a time of war. I just fail to see what could be accomplished by the actions of your envoy." Daneh told the General even though it was like talking to a brick wall,

"As for any home the Godularians can offer that would be hundreds of years distant from the eyes of the Imperials, I would be skeptical of. This world was supposed to be that, and now look at it." She said sadly.

"The Farstars have more systems in our region now than we can colonize. One of these "empty" systems would be open for your claim. The most important asset of the Farstars is that it is defensible. Trans-system FTL does not exist, each system is linked by a network of wormholes which are heavily fortified. Any Invasion by the Galactic Empire would have to first clear Mon Calamari, then proceed down the chain of fortified systems that make up the Appian Way before they could reach your potential new home. I trust you can see why now I would ask the help of your fleet in defending the Republic and Mon Calamari, you would by extension also be defending your own home. In return we would also assist in any joint operation to return to the colonies.

"Furthermore in the mean time the shipyards of Mon Calamari would be open for your use for repairs and refitting. There is much that we can do to make your existing warship more effective men-of-war." Daneh told the two colonials.

"Any more specific details I can not offer in front of our current company but if you are interested we can speak later and at longer length on the subject.

"You are correct. You do indeed fail to see."

Arcturus turned back to the Colonial Leaders and began:

"The unfortunate issue with Jurai is that eventually the secret got out not because of location, but as a result of various issues that caused groups not entirely sworn into secrecy to have access to Jurai's location at some point in the past. An unfortunate circumstance, but past is past.

"Of course, the other primary problem is they simply did not move themselves far enough out. Jurai is on the edge of Godulan territory, much of it a vast and trackless expanse of unwanted and unsettled systems that are too far off the beaten path to bother with. We cast our eyes outward, seeing that looking inwards, towards the galactic center, only serves to make us angry.

"To this end, we have scouted heavily a number of places that very likely do not even have a serial number from any other civilization.

"There is a nebula, approximately sixty five thousand light-years from the most threadbare extents of the galactic rim. This nebula, like space around it, is black. In fact, there are several such things in the galactic Halo, and we will simply not inform you yet as to which one exactly is being described now. It is a cloud of dust and gas that prevents visual recognition of the two systems contained within.

"It is beyond the reach of the Empire's strongest sensors. It would be nearly an eon before they learn from other means. Hyperspace travel in itself would take a number of months, perhaps even years, under the best of circumstances. This issue is exacerbated by the rather large number of gravimetric and dimensional anomalies surrounding the Galaxy, and any galaxy for that matter, as a result of the Dark Matter present in the halo.

"As previously mentioned, within this cloud of darkness and gloom, there are two star systems. Both of these star systems are full of... stuff. Due to the nature of their creation, each of these systems has a truly prodigious number of celestial bodies. There are gas giants with massive terrestrial moons, these moons boasting moons of their very own. There are asteroid fields, ice rings, all remarkably mineral rich. The worlds around these two stars were given serial numbers simply because we decided that finding a name for so many entities was too much trouble.

"A significant number of these entities are within workable terraforming requirements to be suitable to human life, though for the most part they tend to fall under the 'If you squint and turn your head just so' category. Some are not the friendliest worlds, while others... while still not quite friendly from the get-go, are very much habitable. A bit of a fixer-upper, one might say, but a great place to start anew, if you do not mind our assistance. We have rather efficient mechanisms to assist in terraforming situations, and it would be our honor to at least assist in getting started.

"The key issue though, is that this place would be so difficult to find as to defy reason. So far out that 'random passerby' are an impossibility. Attempts at recon would take decades at the very least, and that would be presenting them with the unlikely conditional that they chose the right location to look at the first time. We know not how far the Imperials under Cain might seek to be towards the pursuit of your extermination, but in this situation, a real search would simply be infeasible. The only folks who would know the true location would be you and us, and we won't tell, how about you?"

"I may fail to see the logic of your argument General but I often fail to see the logic behind any of your nation's arguments, today's antics were evidence enough of that."

"I do understand what you are trying to tell us here, flawed though your plan may be. When faced with an overwhelming enemy you have really only three choices depending on the situation you find yourself in. The first situation is called difficult ground such as a fleet battle, in that situation you press on. The second is encircled ground, in that situation you devise stratagems. The last situation is in death ground, you fight. Death's ground occurs when you are fighting to protect something which you must defend. Our current situation here in regards to the Colonial Government in exile is encircled ground. Where ever they go their enemies will follow, and so we must devise strategies for them to use. You have proposed one, and I another.

"Your strategy General is quite sensible its that of concealment, the enemy that can not find their foe is not a threat. Unfortunetly that is the only defense your strategy offers. Any soldier knows the difference between cover and concealment, my strategy offers cover."

"The enemy will find your new home wherever it may be Madam President. You know that, Jurai was supposed to be secret, it was not, Yavin IV and Hoth, early Rebellion bases were supposed to be secret, they two were compromised, and most telling, your own colonies were supposed to be secret, and their location to was leaked. I have no doubt that your new home likewise given enough time by a competent and determined foe will too be compromised. Instead of relying on stealth and camouflage, I propose instead that we make your new home like a Castle on a hill, defensible. In a sense it will be like Mon Calamari is for the Republic, a bulwark, a citadel. Most of what once was the Republic has fallen to the Empire with the exception of Mon Calamari and its protectorates because it is defensible, it is a fortress. That is what my nation will make your new home, so in time you can rebuild in safety and once you are ready, we will counter-attack together taking back the Colonies and eventually the Empire.

"Our enemies may win battles against us, and subjugate our homes, but the Republic and its Allies will always strike back." She said with an absolute ethic of conviction.

"I have said what I came here to say, I do not expect nor require an answer until you all have had time to discuss it. I shall remain on board here as a liaison no mater the decision, I imagine soon this fleet will be going into harm's way and against the Galactic Empire you will need a consultant, that is if you will have me here.

Slowly several Battlestars began to slip into the docks, of Jurai. Sparks burned, in the vast cold emptiness of space, as welders began to seal holes to the inner hull. It was a damn good thing that many of the Coredian Vessels had such similar designs to the colonial battlestars, as they had excess parts to replace and repair broken portions of the hull.

The Battlestar Pacifica, the most heavily damaged surviving battlestar sat quietly, as the Coredians began to float over a new flight pod, to replace the one lost at Caprica. Although it was slightly different, offering fewer Point Defense turrets, the turrets on board were the turbo lasers used by the Coredian Empire. Once the new flight pod was attached, and the power supply converted, the new turbo lasers should be adequate at shooting down incoming missiles and fighters.

The ship was silent, as most of the sick were now in medical bays, of multiple alien nations. They were kind and gracious, offering the best of their medical technology to these wayward strangers. Many thought previously too injured to be healed, were well on their way to recovery, a testament to the kindness and charity of the rebellion.

However, a new battle was being waged elsewhere, one far more deadly and decisive than any space or ground battle, it was a battle of wills, it was diplomacy.

General Arcturus, Representitive Daneh, and Admiral Pellaeon argued endlessly about the fate of the colonies remnant, those still loyal to democracy, those still loyal to the rebellion. Both of them had great points, both had very generous offers, but only one real option could be chosen.

Admiral Adama soon weighed in, “I have to agree with Daneh, on this issue. The colonies were a secret, Kobal is supposed to be a secret, but it is obvious now that we had an insider within the colonies leak all of the vital information about our logistics, and our planetary location. Hiding is only valuable, if no one is actively looking for you, and we all know that the empire will not stop until it has every one of us under it’s iron fist. Alone we can not repel the entire Galactic Empire, despite my desires, realistically this can not happen. Until we get a full fleet, one that is undamaged, we will need help, or we will be running forever.

Adama then turned to General Arcturus. “We all know hyperspace travel is a limited form of FTL drive, but one thing that you may not know is that when our homes fall, either through diplomacy or war, the Empire, like the Coredians now will have access to our space fold drive. They will simply be able to pop in and out at will, using their hyperactive star charts, they will find us much sooner than expected. Maybe a week, maybe a year, maybe a decade, but they will find us again. It will take much longer than that to rebuild a society and an effective industry to support a long term war.

President Roslin smiled for the first time. It seemed that Adama was finally realizing the truth, that he needed to rebuild before he could take the war back to the enemy. She stood up, “If you will, might I have a copy of the star maps, and the potential location of where you would like to take us. I will discuss with the civilian ship captains, to see which they like better. After all it should be up for direct referendum, on where we will have our new home, instead of just in the hands of the government.

Admiral Pellaeon has added to the list of possible locations a couple of systems in the Milky Way Galaxy that he knew the Woodians (another ally of Coreworlds) have that are quite empty of sentient life. They were also well hidden and although it would take a talk with Jedi Master Whitfield and the Woodian Prime Minister, he was sure they would approve alleviating the Colonies' situation. Plus, the systems are fairly close to Earth, meaning that the Empire would never dare attack or risk war with Earth's powerful space nations. He gave the coordinates to the Admiral with a note to ask the Woodian government first.

In the meantime, it is very important at this point to gather intelligence on the current state of the Colonies. Even if the Godulan attempt fails, there are always others. Then there's the Coredian Embassy. He was concerned for the Ambassador's livelihood and that of his staff. And then there was the mention of Kobol.

"Madam President, if I may?" Admiral Pellaeon asked for Roslin's attention. "Would it be possible to have my people assist yours in checking up on Kobol? Since Admiral Cain's in charge now, the Empire will soon know of Kobol, if they haven't already, and perhaps it may be a target for the Imperials. Speaking of that, I would also like to check on our Embassy. We've lost contact with it, and although it may be just their shields interfering with communications, it doesn't hurt to see what's happening on Caprica, either. Many of our ships have cloaking devices, so it's only a matter of telling them where to go."

"Admiral Adama, if I might be permitted to offer a rebuttal. The Imperials having access to a spacefold drive is only a challege to one aspect of whole. While they might be able to get to that place more easily with it, they would still need to know where you are in order to affect any kind of residual assault. As they say, having a spacefold drive would leave the Imperials 'All Dressed Up With Nowhere To Go'.

"An internal informant would be hard pressed to discern your location after your move, as such would require not only leaving the systems, but also the nebula entire. If your fleet keeps track of what ship goes where, with who, and why, a breach involving a ship attempting this very thing might be easily enough intercepted and dealt with. If not, we can get to the Nebula a lot faster than the Imperials can, due to our particular system of waypoints. So in the time it takes an Imperial Fleet to muster and properly equip a fleet against you, it would be a simple matter for our Heighliners to match their effective strength in a far shorter time.

"Secondly, an attempt to place yourself in an area where you cannot escape, such as the Farstars region with its network of Wormholes, places a rather crippling detriment to your tactical capabilities. The primary concept we Godulans emphasize in combat strategy is 'Battlefield Control'. Controlling the layout of the battle, and the inherent mechanics of that pursuit, enables you to decide how and in what manner a combat takes place. It also enables you, using another old adage, to 'Know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, and know when to run'. The issue with the Wormhole network is that while it is the only way to get from point A to point B, it also allows the Imperials, if they get the notion in their head, to surround you with less total forces.

"The Imperials have known of the Farstars region for far longer than the systems we seek to employ, which in itself is a weakness. This will have presented them with the opportunity to devise strategies and methods to combat the 'unique terrain' of the region, much the same as the Farstars might have developed tactics and strategies of their own.

"There is indeed a difference between concealment and cover, as you say, both offer their own tactical advantages. Your option has cover, but no concealment. The Imperials know its there, and eventually, they'll know the Colonies are there too. Our option has concealment, some cover, and room to expound upon myriad defense options to take the fight to any enemy that should choose to initiate an assault.

"We seek to offer you the high ground, the Farstars seek to present you with a holdout. There is only one issue with holdouts: There is nowhere to run. While it might be an effective method for you to terminate large amounts of the enemy before you die, the simple fact is you would still be dead. What would all this running have gotten you then? Dead. Just dead.

"Reinforcements would have to take the same routes as the invaders did. The same thing you claim as your primary defense mechanism would turn to work in favor of the Imperials, especially if they have already managed to take several systems within the cluster and can mount a defense against the aforementioned reinforcements, and rest assured, they can bring a lot more help faster than we can. A war of attrition, should it come, is one we can ill-afford.

"Which begs the question, why do that? Why force yourself into a situation where you cannot control the means of escape?

"The system of which we speak is only the tip of the iceberg for our offer. There are a multitude of secondary components that should properly assist in the nature of remaining unknown until a time of your choosing. We do not merely intend to dump you in another system and say our goodbyes. I have stated already that a debt has been accrued, we will not leave you high and dry like others I do not feel it necessary to name. Rest assured. You will have defenders if the need arises."

He turned to Roslin. "Madam President, we can provide you with a cartographical survey of the systems we propose, but not of their actual location. As Adama said, an inside element might have provided the initial intelligence regarding the location of the Colonies to the Imperials. We feel at this point that informing them of the defensive features of these systems, and the layout of the systems themselves, should be the only information divulged. It would prevent any possibility of the Imperials getting a head-start against your people."

((Pardon the intrusion, but will the mission to Kobol be open?))

(OOC: Generally no one knows of it but those on my ship. THe only way to find out is if you somehow get in contact with my Battlestar :) )

((OOC: My fleet is new to the galaxy and currently exploring. Fate has a weird way sometimes...

Meh. Your call.))

OOC: If you have a ship come to Jurai, CW will make sure that you will have access to the meeting and the mission.

"Thank you for the offer but we have enough strategies on hand now for dealing with them in battle. I was merely offering our experience with fighting the Tannelornians to the benefit of your campaign."
"That would be beneficial." I, Daniel Masaki, said as I reached the almost-empty room. "In fact, I have a proposition for everyone who managed to stay behind."

OOC: This includes Der Angst, C'tan, Communist Govts, etc. Fair-weather friends you are not, and that's a good sign for an alliance with Coreworlds.

IC:
"First, is the exchange of embassies. I would like to exchange embassies with you since I know we haven't done that yet. I'm sure my own allies would like to do the same, like King Kurt over there." I waved to the furry blue elf in the corner. "The Godulans and especially the Colonials would want an embassy with everyone as well. The stronger our alliance is, contrary to Imperial beliefs, the stronger our resistance to Imperial affairs will be."

"Second, I would like to offer the services of my fleet to help you combat the Tannelornians. Your experience will certainly help us remove at least one member of the GE from the playing field."

"Thirdly, and this may come later because of the crisis now, but I would like to negotiate an official alliance treaty with your government. Trade, defense agreements, tech exchanges, the works. It will strengthen our alliance even more."

"The important thing is that we're all in this together, through thick and thin."

Kurt looked up and waved back. He hadn't been heard what Daniel had mentioned.

President Roslin smiles, as she listens to General Arcturus. "I will take your suggestion in to consideration before I and the rest of the Civilian Captains make the decisison. I do however appreciate all you have offered, all of you. You have been more than kind and generous to us in our needs. After I confer with the rest of the civilian fleet, I will contact you with our decisison." Roslin smiles, and shakes the hand of everyone in the room, and soon walks out of the room.

Adama salutes as she walks out. He turns to the guests in the room. "We need to come up with a plan to discover the condition of Kobal."

(OOC: Forgive the bad post, but I need to pack for Vacation. See you all next week)

Juvi heard Daniel's proposal and spoke up. "On behalf of my people I will accept the embassies and will agree to the negotiations. We don't have much on the technology side but resource wise we can supply. The only thing we have of any technological value is our muscle packages and Arm Slaves."

Juvi took out her laptop to take note of nation embassies bound for New Ganoxa.

"That would be beneficial." I, Daniel Masaki, said as I reached the almost-empty room. "In fact, I have a proposition for everyone who managed to stay behind."

OOC: This includes Der Angst, C'tan, Communist Govts, etc. Fair-weather friends you are not, and that's a good sign for an alliance with Coreworlds.

IC:
"First, is the exchange of embassies. I would like to exchange embassies with you since I know we haven't done that yet. I'm sure my own allies would like to do the same, like King Kurt over there." I waved to the furry blue elf in the corner. "The Godulans and especially the Colonials would want an embassy with everyone as well. The stronger our alliance is, contrary to Imperial beliefs, the stronger our resistance to Imperial affairs will be."

"Second, I would like to offer the services of my fleet to help you combat the Tannelornians. Your experience will certainly help us remove at least one member of the GE from the playing field."

"Thirdly, and this may come later because of the crisis now, but I would like to negotiate an official alliance treaty with your government. Trade, defense agreements, tech exchanges, the works. It will strengthen our alliance even more."

"The important thing is that we're all in this together, through thick and thin."

Recognizing the man as the one who had called for this conference and was apparently leader of these people, the bronze elven knight placed his hand over his heart giving a short bow. "Captain Lukien of the Warrior's Institute and Forge ground forces of the Kingdom of Mythrandir, at your service. I believe you will be making some of our Elders happy as well as many people in Mythrandir if you and your friends were to begin filling up the Diplomatic Palace on our homeworld."

Lukien took a moment to follow Daniel's pointing a gesture as the stoic elf appraised them all in turn. "I am afraid that I know very few people here, and only know the few as they only recently introduced themselves to me. However I would appreciate meeting them all to judge their character for myself. Perhaps there will be time for that later. As far as assistance from your ships, that would be a most welcomed gesture. Our ships are being rebuilt, slowly, but they are being restored. Any and all help is always appreciated."

The knight removed his gauntlet mittons and placed them within the safety of his leather belt loop. "I am military man sir, I am afriad that I cannot forge alliances or dictate treaties that have immediate ramifications on the good people of Mythrandir. But I can offer you my hand and guarantee that the Elders will listen to you. Without overstepping my boundaries, I could almost guarrantee that you will have what you seek."

Lukien extended his hand to the man with a small grin. "Just remember your manners."

I took Lucien's hand with a smile. "I'll certainly remember my manners. In that case, ask the Elders to make haste on the diplomacy. As with all things, may the Force speed you to good fortunes."

"They will be informed and you shall be notified when the time comes." The elven captain then took back his hand.

"However, I would like to meet the rest of your allies at this meeting. If we are to become truly involved in this greater conflict, then it would be prudent if I knew who stood with us. It will make my report to the Elders more complete along with my personal reflections."

Admiral Pellaeon has added to the list of possible locations a couple of systems in the Milky Way Galaxy that he knew the Woodians (another ally of Coreworlds) have that are quite empty of sentient life. They were also well hidden and although it would take a talk with Jedi Master Whitfield and the Woodian Prime Minister, he was sure they would approve alleviating the Colonies' situation. Plus, the systems are fairly close to Earth, meaning that the Empire would never dare attack or risk war with Earth's powerful space nations. He gave the coordinates to the Admiral with a note to ask the Woodian government first.

In the meantime, it is very important at this point to gather intelligence on the current state of the Colonies. Even if the Godulan attempt fails, there are always others. Then there's the Coredian Embassy. He was concerned for the Ambassador's livelihood and that of his staff. And then there was the mention of Kobol.

"Madam President, if I may?" Admiral Pellaeon asked for Roslin's attention. "Would it be possible to have my people assist yours in checking up on Kobol? Since Admiral Cain's in charge now, the Empire will soon know of Kobol, if they haven't already, and perhaps it may be a target for the Imperials. Speaking of that, I would also like to check on our Embassy. We've lost contact with it, and although it may be just their shields interfering with communications, it doesn't hurt to see what's happening on Caprica, either. Many of our ships have cloaking devices, so it's only a matter of telling them where to go."

My attention has been brought to this thread?

It just happened to be mighty convenient for the Coredians and refugees alike that the Jedi Master Whitfield just happened to be planetside, observing the latest snowfall from the Jedi Temple, and occasionally getting the urge to lob a snowball at unsuspecting padawan passersby. But a presence grew in the back of the Jedi Council Member's mind. A problem seemed to be brewing.

Six million frantic souls in orbit, all asking themselves, "What next?" more or less simultaneously. Considering that his native nation, Evil Woody Thoughts, had just had a civil war of its own...

A third of said nation's population killed off in that war meant a few hundred million surplus housing units, unemployment that was practically negative, and most important of all, an empathetic and understanding populace. All in all, a good place for refugees to stay while they figured out what to do with themselves, all things considered. Though processing six million asylum claims at once might tax the resources of a government short a few bureaucrats...oh well.

Having not yet met the proper authorities with which to speak about the refugees, the Jedi Master's attention turned to one Daniel Masaki. Who was about to get an unexpected surprise.

"DANIEL MASAKI! I SENSE SIX MILLION REFUGEES IN ORBIT! WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL ME TO GET MY ASS UP THERE!"

The Jedi Master smiled to himself. That'd get Daniel's attention, all right. He was never like that...

Only one voice could make me feel like a Padawan once more. I shuddered and hoped it didn't devolve into a Trial.

"Captain Lukien, I now present former Prime Minister, now Jedi Council Member Jacob Whitfield. He has connections with the nation known as Evil Woody Thoughts, one of our staunchest allies." I replied, somewhat nervous that I had momentarily forgotten to send Whitfield off to meet with the Colonial leadership.

"Master Whitfield! If I knew you were around, I would have sent you off!" I shot back. "Now I tell you to find a ship and get up there posthaste!"

OOC: Bloody hell, I almost forgot

Skye cleared his throat once again. For the most part amused at the notion that yet another entity was angry at being left out of the loop.

"Mister Masaki. We were expecting an answer to our question. What was included in the warning you presented to the Colonials?"

Arcturus: Hey... the Woodians are here?

Skye: Master Whitfield, yes.

Arcturus: Holy shit. They'd be perfect!

Skye: Perfect for what?

Arcturus: Oh, seems the Farstars ambassador and I are dickering over who should take these folks in and what tactics are better against the Imperials.

Skye: And the Woodians would be a good middle ground, eh?

Arcturus: Not even these bloody Farstars twats could argue against it. Kindred souls, well defended, and tenacious... it'd be a step in our favor at the very least.

Skye: Don't mention it up there yet. It would be rude of us to put any onus on the Woodians without their permission. Whitfield is about to head up himself.

Tell him I'll be there in five minutes.

Master Whitfield scurried off to the reception area of the Temple, where Daniel and Lukien might be found. Suffice it to say that it did not take him long to find the two parties, Masaki and Lukien. He had said he would arrive in five minutes. He managed to do it in four, and the eighty-something-year-old Master wasn't even short of breath.

"Daniel Masaki, I should challenge you to a Trial of Grievance, but the presence of the refugees makes me feel more merciful than I should. Captain Lukien, a pleasure to meet you, and could you please explain why my presence was not requested earlier?"

"Mister Masaki. We were expecting an answer to our question. What was included in the warning you presented to the Colonials?"
"We gave them sufficient evidence -hell, I used my latest duel with Remiel as a testimonial. (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=497421) He used his daemon forces to stage a fake messiah complex on an underdeveloped world.- that the Chronosians are treacherous enough to warrant a 'Stay Far Away' warning. It is to my sorrow that it was not heeded." I sighed.

"Daniel Masaki, I should challenge you to a Trial of Grievance, but the presence of the refugees makes me feel more merciful than I should. Captain Lukien, a pleasure to meet you, and could you please explain why my presence was not requested earlier?"
"I could say the same for you. Your presence was requested, but for some reason, the message didn't get to you."

"'Stay Far Away' notifications do very little when the Chronosians decide to come to you," Skye replied. "Their methods are myriad and insidious, and warnings alone are not enough to defy the Chaos Dogs' onslaught. You and I both know this. The Abh SHOULD know this. You acted for that primitive people when the Chronosians attempted their god complex, why did you leave the Colonials to face the Chronosians and their deceits alone?"

"A failing." I said simply. "I failed to act when it was right. Now they suffer. Now we suffer."

Whitfield stroked his chin. "Hmm, you screwed up? Perhaps we should have that Trial." A wry grin crossed the old Master's face...

Turning to Skye, he added, "Do tell."

"Daniel Masaki, I should challenge you to a Trial of Grievance, but the presence of the refugees makes me feel more merciful than I should. Captain Lukien, a pleasure to meet you, and could you please explain why my presence was not requested earlier?"

Lukien placed a hand over his bronze breast plate and curtly bowed. "A pleasure to meet you as well Master Whitfield."

Once he had finished introducing himself, the captain politely stepped aside to allow the others to continue their conversation.

"Not much to tell," Skye replied to Whitfield's query. "From what we are given to understand, several high-influence folks in the government from whence the refugees overhead originated were engaged in diplomatic proceedings with the Coredians and the Abh. They presented the Colonials with a friendly and unfriendly contact listing with references and various logs, but when word came that the Chronosians had made contact on their own, the Coredians and Abh took no further action.

"Give the Chronosians an inch and they'll take your head clean off. It is not the exact phrase, but it more aptly summarizes the severity of the consideration. No doubt the Chronosians simply called the warnings into question and, lacking a counterpoint, got away with it. Not even a shot needed be fired by the Chronosians. The Colonials were effectively duped into doing it to themselves. Chronosian supporters versus Coredian supporters, with Imperial soldiers looking on with glee.

"As it stands, neither I nor the Godulan Legion knew of this whole thing. A failing on our part as a result of several... things we are focused on.

"Now, generally this would be an issue in and of itself, but mister Doran of the Abh here," Skye nodded to the smug bastard in question, "apparently bragged about the fact that they not only knew of the impending disaster but did nothing to assist... on the bridge of the Colonial fleet flagship, in front of the fleet commander. And then, when the Colonials demanded an explanation and attempted to arrest him under their laws which held sway on their ship upon which the incident in question took place, he mocked and further provoked them before eventually being escorted off of the Colonial Vessel.

"The Coredians failed to act, but at least they did not flaunt it, and at least they regret it. As far as we can tell, the Abh seem to have no such compunctions. If a trial of Grievance is to be exacted, let it be on Doran here for forcing the issue into the light and making an already tense situation into a diplomatic catastrophe of epic proportions."

"MISTER MASAKI," Whitfield demanded, "are the Godulan allegations true? And does this Doran have the slightest clue of what a Trial of Grievance is?"

"If he doesn't, he will know soon." I replied darkly. "And yes, it is all true."

Doron smiled only like an Abriel could. "Yes Daniel, do tell. What is a Trial of Grievance?"

To Lukien: "Doron here is the Prince of the Abh. And this dude is Baron Skye, leader of Godular. Both nations are also allies of Coreworlds."

To Doron: "Woodian military protocol has several Trials that a soldier may undergo. To rise to another rank, he undergoes a Trial of Position. To settle disputes, one undergoes a Trial of Greviances. Challenging decisions is a Trial of Refusal. As you can imagine, each Trial is martial in scope, a one-on-one duel between the challenger and the challenged. The challenger chooses the parameters of the duel once the challenged accepts."

"The Trial of Greviances is acceptable in this instance because you and I have both failed to warn the Colonies of Chronosia. Master Whitfield is aggrieved by our inaction and wishes to express his displeasure in a trial by combat." I said, acknowledging the possibility he could duel me as well if he wishes.

Personally, though, he should wait until he's met President Roslin before initiating the Trial.

"Hmmm, an odd tradition but it does sound interesting."

Doron then turned to Lukien and snapped a quick salute. "Ah yes, I have heard of your people though I do not remember who initiated contact. Oh I remember now. I believe it was his highness, Dusanyu, that met you when the Gaians were out and about during their brief stays. Well welcome to the club."

Being a military man, Captain Lukien tried to stay out of the boiling argument as much impossible. Still, when he was introduced he politely said hello and introduced himself.

"A pleasure to meet you and yes I believe you are correct though I think Elder Thrandur met your Lord Dusanyu. It was a long time ago though."

When the elf was introduced to the others, he bowed as he had to everyone else with his right hand over his breast plate. "An honor to meet you Baron Skye though I am afraid I have not heard of your people before."

"It is an honor, and we prefer it that way," Skye replied with a slight nod. "Though in dealing with the Godulans, it is best to keep the phrase 'No Better friend, no Greater Enemy' in mind. We assist those in need without question, but we have a long memory for past wrongs."

Skye smirked slightly. "We also do not tend to get out much. Combined with our constant work in technological development, one can generally assume that no one engagement with a Godulan force is ever the same."

"Then that is something we have in common. Seclusion has been our preferred stance on the galactic realm. Unfortunatly time has not been kind to us. Tyrants still have managed to seek out our location and try to rip out our freedom. Still, we have managed to drive them off for now but that doesn't mean they won't try again.

But I am rambling. You did not come here to listen to an old warrior recount boring battle stories. Again, an honor to meet you Baron."

Skye waved somewhat dismissively and his smirk intensified somewhat. "Ohhh... they tried to come for us... once..."

Crimson left Juvi to her work and walked over to the group of delegates. He heard the introductions and listened in on the conversations. "We had our share of interplanetary invasion well before we had developed space flight. Oh let me introduce myself, Captain Crimson Torry."

OOC: Where is Abh? I wanted to do a Trial of Grievance against Doron due to the Abh attitude concerning the refugees, possibly a two on two with Godular as the second challenger and Daniel Masaki as a co-defendant. However, if that's going to kill the thread due to people not posting, I'll move on to the practical issue of dealing with the refugees.