NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: OOC thread can be found here for lol :

http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=534322

IC:

Traileric Capital Planet: Primus Trailica, capital city: The Met

It had been six hours since the unscheduled arrival of three full fledged Colossi fleets, five hours and fifty-eight minutes since the emergency lock down of the Odysseus Corridor had been enacted, cutting off all communications and FTL traffic into and out of the system, and a scant five hours and twenty-one minutes since the first shots had been exchanged between the three fleets and the fleets of the High King Guard. Since that time, a three thousand year regime had begun to realize these were its last hours. Yet they still thrashed about like a predator cat, wounded unto death but still hissing. Archangel Hadriel's pondered all this as his Colossus superdreadnought entered the middle atmosphere above the burning capital.

Pockmarks of fire dotted the cities face, marking the graves of High King Guardsmen ships that had been caught with their pants down and had payed for it with their lives. The embattled city had passed into nigh now, but the light of artillery and the late descent of burning ships that were only just now succumbing to gravities tug lit up the city like midday. Hadriel could not help but watch as a frigate baring the mark of his own brood fell past, leaving a contrail of smoke and fire. He winced slightly at its impact miles below, unable to let himself think about how many lives had been lost this day. Certainly todays cost in Traileric blood was great, but removing Themistocles from power would doubtlessly save many lives. His personal aides had already taken the liberty of leaving his command platform. He had set these events in motion alone, and he would see them to the end alone. The bloodshed would have been far greater if the planets mammoth defensive grid had been brought online, but fortunately, a few sympathizing Guardsmen foot soldiers had secured the control bunker that rested deep under the capital city that oversaw such things and had done a deal of damage to the planetary defense mainframe. Not a transmission had been heard from them in three hours, and doubtlessly their comrades had executed them on the spot for treason. Even now a battle raged in the streets, but it would not turn in Themistocles favor. The Guardsmen were only supplemented by city law enforcement and had no air cover or mobile armor. Not outnumbered but out gunned, the Guardsmen's resistance would pass, the city would fall, and Hadriel would face Themistocles and pass judgment for his three millenium of crimes against the Gods and the Trailarii. A new era would begin this night. An era born of fire.

Pax Trailicana.

A brief wash of probability made its presence known in the space just at the edge of the Primus Trailica system, briefly confusing any sensors pointed in that direction as to what actually existed, because, for just a brief moment, physics and the laws of reality were turned inside out and hung out to dry. For a fraction of a nanosecond, six very-nearly identical, but not quite, ships existed in roughly the same space, before reality figured out something was up and snapped the briefly intertwined alternate realities back into their correct places, leaving the single Tandu ship to slink inwards, towards the fighting.
As they were wont to do, the Tandu ship hovered just beyond the weapons range of its opponents, apparently content, for now, to watch as the fleshbags pounded away at each other. The ships Acceptor had been hauled off after overstimulating itself on the battle, apparently it had been investigating a particularly impressive explosion and had been overcome by the energy release, falling over in the sensory web and twitching in ecstasy as the sheer joy of things happening overtook it.
More or less oblivious to this, the ships crew carried on, relying on the more traditional sensors, although these were not up to par with the Acceptors psi skills, they provided a modestly accurate picture of what was going on. Watching these creatures kill each other, not only the same clan, but the same nation, was an interesting project. Until now the Tandu had been content to raid isolated loners, gathering data here and there, now it seemed, they were studying the humans. Word had come down that several humans had been captured alive, apparently to test if they would be worthy clients. It seemed they were more than suitable for genetic modifications, although their kind had a defiance and disorderly nature which was difficult to remove. Perhaps it was simply a monkey thing.
The Tandu ship lounged, observing the battle and being unobtrusive. Somebody higher up was very interested in these oily, squishy, bags of water and meat. Even the Episiarch seemed more attractive from the Tandu point of view, a certain elegance which was, admitably, negated by the arrogance, beastile nature and sheer insanity of most of the client species. The shaggy beasts had a tendancy to do things their own way, regardless of the punishments applied to them by their masters.
It was so very frustrating.

-TAG- IC post will come later or tomorrow.

Im TAG right here 2

OOC- Le bump, I need to continue the plot.

A shockwave from the fallen frigate's impact rocked the central plaza of the "Pendatri" vista of the city, sending Master Spearman Dion Andipolis skidding across the street and into a victory column which no longer stood upright, but now listed heavily to one side. Gyro stabilizers took over, and the soldiers powered armor took control, setting him upright. His Spearband had fared no better, having been knocked around in various parts of the plaza themselves. They had run into one of the cities few law enforcement armored vehicles, which had taken the liberty of biting a chunk out of his phalanx before air cover had decommissioned the behemoth. As he regained control of his power armor, the neorologic backlash momentarily caught up with him, causing him to void his stomach and his bowels into his suit, which promptly ejected the slurry away from him in a discreet fashion.

It was too much. To march on ones own capital, kill ones own people. Warning signs of a breakdown were accessed, and the suits neural lace quickly deadened his senses with a few micropulses to the right nerve trunks before hammering him with adrenaline. The powered armor slapped a slab of tungsten composites into the back of it's standard issue rotary arm cannon, and called,

"Regroup! Regroup you bastards! We're just gettin' started!"

========================

Archangel Nylathriel's Colossi hovered around one of Primus Trailica's three moons. The battle for the Met was nearly at an end, but the battle for the system had only just begun. Five columns and a whole Armor corps were flooding into the Met, With two more columns in reserve aboard the three fleets. It would take a few days to mount an affective assault on the other planets of the capital system, where more Guardsmen were stationed. It was only a matter of time before loyalist fleets popped in to make a mess of things. The ground forces were behind schedule..This could get ugly.

Moonside, repairs were being made to some of his capital ships that had taken a beating in the first wave. Fortunately the moons had defected almost immediately, or else their defense systems, which were on a separate grid from the rest of the system, could have proved to be trouble. Nylathriel opened a line to his compatriots, the brothers Hadriel and Cadriel.

"How fare the marines? We haven't much time left to secure Sanctuary."

Hadriel responded first, "Not to dodge the question, but does it seem strange that not a single loyalist ship has shown up, and it has been nearly half a day? I mean, were I not involved, I would certainly have investigated sooner than this."

"I wouldn't worry about it just yet, Hadriel. I for one am less than eager to fire upon my countrymen.." Cadriel trailed off for a bit. "What if we are wrong? What if the old Gods have abandoned us, and we have just dealt our Empire a death blow before it can even truly come into being?"

Nylathriel could sympathize with his comrades, this wasn't easy to cope with.."We must try, Cadriel. It is too late to think such things now. Our armies have followed us, and if we fail in this endeavor, they die with us. Hold together for their sake. Your Excellency, " He referred to Hadriel, "With your permission, I will begin the assault on Dominus Trailicus ahead of schedule. We cannot handle ground resistance and loyalist fleet elements at the same time, we will be overwhelmed."

Hadriel sighed heavily before wearily responding, "Very well. Please, if you can, avoid unnecessary bloodshed."

"As you command" Came the reply. Within minutes, Nylathriel's brood pulled away from the Traileric moon and set out for the second most important planet in the system.

Bump.

tag--interested to see how this will go. How can I get involved?

OOC I'll TG you ND.

OOC: Discussed ahead of time, with some mods.

IC:

The lone science vessel M2-456 was heading into Trailarii space, and began its move into Corridor Station, part of a scientific team from UCLA with some advanced research equipment. The MacIntyre Administration was nominally at war with the Trailiarii, but no military secrets were being exchanged here and this was reviewed extensively as part of an ongoing and economically necessary science project with a Trailarii institution (making it kosher with the GFFA's War Declaration). Evidently from a government that was nominally at war, for its part it was at an uneasy (if Sitzkriegish) truce with the Dornalians. Besides, it had a flag of truce if anybody was really concerned. So, the Commissariat of Science let this one go.

Professor Lawson of the UCLA med school looked at his watch as they docked. Hopefully, things were going to proceed normally, despite the ominous movement of ships he had noticed earlier. Hopefully, he and his complement of students would be able to get into the area, and get on with their research. The students in back were chatting, playing video games, or watching HoloNet broadcasts that were getting somewhat fuzzy of the most recent Muay Thai fight. People could be heard slamming the set, trying to get it to work.

An ominous feeling hung over the scene, as the pilot radioed the station for permission to enter. Why was Lawson so nervous?

EDIT: Oops, I kinda assumed the science vessel had docked. :x

At that moment, the first shots of the revolution were fired. Corridor station rocked with the silent shockwave of an explosion in vaccum. Within moments, a Guardsmen border security frigate drifted by the launch bay, fire blazing from its starboard side as it bled atmosphere. A second slug slammed into the dying frigate, punching through it like paper.

Neo-Greek symbols appeared upon the New Dornelian communication screen; these accompanied by flashing red lights were obviously the Traileric equivilant of a red alert. From other launch bays nearby, interceptors were being catapulted into view, firing upon some unseen opponent. A second silent explosion viciously rocked the station, this one apparently knocking out the power grid. Emergency lights flickered on, illuminating the launch bay below the science vessel. Encrypted military chatter raced back and forth across open channels as Guardsmen filed into the science vessels launch bay and began to entrench. Outside the open end of the hangar, a massive Traileric Hiveship eclipsed any view of the stars, slowly turning so that it's single, enormous hangar bay faced the station. A myriad of transports were closing the distance between the vessel and the station..But that didn't make a damn bit of sense..Why would a Hiveship be sending marines against entrenched Guardsmen? One would have little time to wonder as the first wave of transports essentially crash landed into the bay, spilling out entire platoons of heavily armed and armored marines. Outnumbered but not outgunned, they advanced on the Guardsmen and security officers, unencumbered by the small calibre fire that nicked at their thick armor. Heavy, nearly anti-tank arm cannons punched through Guardsmen armor and flesh with ease, turning the would-be battle into a slaughter. The routing forces were mowed down en masse, few escaping. Cries of victory on some a channel not available to the science vessel were accompanied by rounds fired into the air in celebration. For a few minutes, Marines and a few heavily armored Guardsmen duked it out on the catwalks high above, but to no avail. Corridor station had fallen, and at that moment, high above the Traileric Homeworld, a burning frigate was falling.

At this moment, one of the ranking marines noticed that the New Dornelian ship was not in fact a Traileric vessel..Nor, apparently was it of military origin, or void of life. This news was soon relayed to the Hiveship, who was busy mopping up a few escaping Guardsmen interceptors. Silent communication went back and forth before an open (albeit fuzzy) communication was sent across all civilian frequencies.


Xeno vessel, this is Vicearch Heletorus of the New Traileric Empire, state your origin and business or you will be elminated.

At this moment, one of the ranking marines noticed that the New Dornelian ship was not in fact a Traileric vessel..Nor, apparently was it of military origin, or void of life. This news was soon relayed to the Hiveship, who was busy mopping up a few escaping Guardsmen interceptors. Silent communication went back and forth before an open (albeit fuzzy) communication was sent across all civilian frequencies.

OOC: My bad.

IC:

This was bad. To be threatened with death was not good, especially as the scientists were not equipped to do much in the way of war, just to do much in the way of research. To get out of this alive would take some doing.

Lawson then told his men and women aboard the ship, "Calm down! I will persuade them we are peaceful, we mean no harm."

He then walked up to the communicators, and replied to the message by saying, "I am Professor Michael Lawson, P.h.d, Professor of Medicine at University of California Los Angeles Medical School, and this ship is the Science Vessel M2-456 of the New Dornalian Commissariat of Science, from the Workers State of New Dornalia.

We are here on a peaceful scientific research mission, and were scheduled to enter the area to perform research along with a Traileric institution. Scan us if you please; we have research equipment and almost nothing in the way of self-defense."

The disembodied voice crackled back over the science ships communication array.


Ah, I see. I would welcome you to the hallowed cradle of our nations might..but..I'm afraid that you have chosen a bad time to visit. We are in a state of "rebirth" if you know what I mean.

A few moments pass, and the marines backed away from the science vessel.

I'm afraid that due to our dire circumstances we cannot allow you to jump home. We will not leave you here to rot however, I have just recieved orders from our Emperor Himself that you and your ranking officers are to be presented before him immediately. Unfortunately, faster than light inhibitors are at full power in system, so we shall have to wait for His Excellency's arrival.

The moment the Vicearch stopped talking, the dock-locks on the underside of the science vessel released, and exit telemetry was fed from Corridor Station to whomever handled such things on a Dornelian vessel.
====================================================
The battle for Dominus Trailicus was won quicker than expected. Archangel Foederacles, who had been given dominion over the planet nearly eight-hundred cycles before, defected to the New Empire as soon as Nylathriels Brood circled the planet. The single moon Pestle was not too fond of this defection; resulting in some very nasty moon-to-planet fire.

The results were catastrophic, since the planet could not fire back as long as its defense grid remained offline. Nylathriel's warships swarmed over the small moon and its various orbiting stations, and disabled it's guns by force, but not before hundreds of thousands of Trailarii died needless deaths on the planet far below. The Guardsmen in the system had been shattered, and two of the four terraformed planets fell under Hadriel's control. But the finishing blow did not capture the attention of the new Imperator, oh no. What had him thinking was the mysterious absense of Themistocles, the greater absense of Guardsmen capital vessels or heavy infantry, and a little civilian science vessel from a faraway nation called New Dornelia..

The Dornalians recieved the coordinates, and the navigation systems immediately headed, under sublight, to the new coordinates. If the word was true, then the Dornalians had come at a bad time indeed: a full fledged coup was underway, and Dr. Lawson would be damned if he would let these evets swallow up his men. He called up the crew, and told them of the events; the result was shock. When Lawson said, "We are, unfortunately, unable to leave; however we are to meet with their leader." the mood grew dim, yet hopeful. Perhaps they could straighten something out, and maybe get the exact skinny on what was going on.

OOC: I assume this is going to the Emperor's, yes?

Tagged for possible entry as well.

OOC: I assume this is going to the Emperor's, yes?

OOC: Indeedy. Post later.

A single day had passed on the Traileric capital planet since the last of the "Old Guard" had either defected or been eliminated. The firestorm that had spread across The Met had died down to a few smoldering spotfires which were now being hastily dealt with. The other planets had likewise fallen, seeing as they were nearly defenseless and at minimal garrison due to some clever treachery on the part of the separatists. The three broodfleets were in the midst of repairs, and grounded defensive satellites clouded the skies and darkened the light of the binary suns as they retook their positions. Corridor Station was still in it's FTLi mode, as it was speculated that a loyalist counterattack could come at any time. A few defecting elements had filtered into the system, but nothing substantial. A good three quarters of the Traileric Navy had either declared loyalty to Themistocles, or had not yet responded to communications from either side. Word had come with the handful of new rebel ships that a few planets were in a state of revolt, but they were unsupported armed civilians, and doubtlessly such unrest would be short lived.

Hadriel sat upon his throne, deep in the bowels of the Colossus, and pondered these events. What was supposed to be a quick, decisive coup was destabilizing into a full blown civil war, and he had no way to rectify this situation. He held one system, but there were still eight who either stood with Themistocles or were dealing with minor revolts of their own. Was this not the fashion in which the empires and civilizations of old Earth had died?

Then there was the matter of the Dornalian civilian ship in that now hovered near his first line of defense..Abruptly, the watery cauldron that is a Traileric communicator sloshed upright and became the image of one of his Vicearchs.

Imperator? Those whom you requested to see are likely prepared to dock. I have received word from your Bailsmen that they are ready to receive one craft, frigate size or smaller.

"Very well, Heletorus, we shall take over from here." Replied Hadriel, and with a bow, the waters became a smoother blue once more.
============================================
Upon the bridge of the Dornalian craft, the misty image of a uniformed Traileric female appeared. Compensators struggled to rectify the differences between Traileric and Dornalian technology, and finally succeeded in putting the audio through.

Greetings Dornalians, the Emperor is prepared to give you audience, we are prepared to take dock con measures at your word.

OOC: Crap... tag. Gets my good read.

The Dornalians recieved the message. The transition between Trailieric and Dornalian tech, while somewhat troublesome was not that bad of an obstacle to the Dornalians--they were used to a lot. Of course, with the events going on outside....that was a different matter.

The message was recieved as follows, and Professor Lawson, not one to let his flock down, listened intently.


Greetings Dornalians, the Emperor is prepared to give you audience, we are prepared to take dock con measures at your word.

He then replied back on his comms, motioning for his staff to get the ship ready to dock at any moment and the personnel ready for the audience: "This is Professor Lawson. You may commence dock con measures, we await further instructions."

Please follow the designated circuit to the interior hangars. A guide will be with you shortly after touchdown.



A subsequent flight path was sent to the science ship, cleverly weaving the Dornalians through the labyrinth of the Colossus's interior.
========================================================

Hadriel Colossus, Hangar ACL-00963-5

Hoplon Second Rank Edeuses of Theleopolis waited patiently in the hangar that had been designated to the Dornalians. He was already a bit tall for a Trailarii, with his height augmented by the Hoplite powered armor he was in. Unlike the marines who were scurrying to and fro about the hangar, he did not have marine sword and crescent planet insignia emblazoned on the chest and shoulders of his armor, rather, he had what appeared to be a circle of ancient Hoplites circled in a shilchrchon, spears pointed outward defensively. He was a Traileric infantry hoplite. One of only a few hundred who had defected. The man was watching the traffic above intently, the organic and cybernetic implants in his left eye (which appeared to have too many pupils) flexing and contracting as he looked at different distances, watching for anything out of the ordinary. His commanding officers hadn't been nice enough to let him know which lock unit in the six kilometer long primary hangar had been designated to these.."Dornalians" was it? At any rate, being late to guide what he could only assume were a bunch of pompous foreign dignitaries to the Emperor himself was not something one would like to get chewed out for. So he watched, looking for anything unfamiliar, just in case he had to grab a buzzcart and haul ass.

The Dornalians proceeded through the windy path, the pilot taking it slow to navigate safely. Heading to the Interior Hangars, they proceeded to dock in the designated area.

The ship lurching to a halt, Professor Lawson proceeded to adjust his outfit, a simple business suit with a bow tie and a PDA with spectacles, before exiting the vessel to meet his escort along with a couple of grad students to join his party. Greeted by the sight of a large man in powered armor reminscent of Greece or Rome who didn't look too happy to be here, he was understandably somewhat nervous. He then bowed and smiled, saying in his humblest voice (trying NOT to get killed), "Good day. I am Professor Lawson, University of California At Los Angeles, Doctor of Medicine. I am also a citizen of New Dornalia. I was to speak with the Emperor with my party?"

Fortunately, the science vessel had been allocated a lock station not far from the hangar exit they were to use. Edeuses scratched absently at his bald head, the scale like organs that protruded from where a humans sideburns would be clicked against his thick skin impatiently.

"Well you're certainly dressed for the occasion, Xeno. I am Hoplon Second Rank Edeuses of Theleopolis. I will show you to the ships interior bridge."

With that, the little head in the big suit turned and clomped toward a nearby circular door, which once he was near, split into to yin and yang halves and slid into the ceiling. The hoplite turned around, that left eye's multiple pupils pulsating in a disturbing fashion.

"This way, sirs." A general wave at the door before he ducked through.

"This way, sirs." A general wave at the door before he ducked through.

Lawson and his men followed through. As they did so, they took in their surroundings. Large, loud, noissome but somewhat awe-inspiring in terms of its size. Their escort was also an interesting alien, to say the least--though his appearance was somewhat unnerving to one of the grads following Larson. Larson glared at him quickly, noticing his aides' discomfort, telling him in effect to say nothing.

The enarmored hoplite walked as he talked.

"Ahem. Now that we are out of the hangar, I can greet you properly. Welcome aboard the Traileric Imperial Colossus Hadriel. This warship is the largest, most powerful, supercapital vessel in the line. The Traileric Navy has only produced ten Colossii, for they are enormously expensive and take many cycles to produce. The first prototype went into service way back in the first Daedokai conflict. The Mameluke I think it was called. Got torn all to pieces making a stand outside the Odysseus Corridor by the little bastards, but it held its own against a fleet long enough for support to come along. Thirty-two kilometers from bow to stern, eight from port to starboard, and about nine tall at its widest point. I'm no navy man, so I wouldn't know its armamant, but when Primus Trailica fell the other day, this thing swept aside three Old Guard hivegroups like it was nothin... Largest Colossus in the New Order fleet. We got three of 'em in the capital system. But the loyaltists have seven others as far as we know..let along the other thousands of loyalist capital ships.."

The hoplite continued in this vein all through the fifteen minute trek to what appeared to be a bubble hovering in a glass tube.

"We're about two hundred meters below the command bridge now; we Trailarii like to put our bridges at our ships core, you see, because it's, y'know, not dumb. This transport will take you to His Imperial Majesties bridge, just get out of the thing when it stops and wlak to the end of the platform, he'll meet you there."

And with a nod, the powered armor with a little bald head sticking out of it clomped away.

"War. One of the few constants of the universe and something one could count on. Many decried it, saying it was evil, wrong, and wasteful; man, they didn't have any clue on what they were missing."

-Warlord Sha'nar, Ionis VI Campaign


War was, indeed, something other races did not understand as well as the Kaldathi did. They lived off of it, breathed it, ate it, became one with it. The Dominion fed off of war and as such, when large conflicts flared, they were watching, and when excited enough, fought in them. With the Traileric Civil War, and the massive amounts of death and destruction, the Kaldathi could take no longer and sent a force to join the fight. Only a small tithe of their strength; most of their forces were held back patrolling their empire, and fighting in the various wars they had started, while starting new ones. While it was rare for them to fight in a war they didn't start, it did happen and they had the most fun in those.

And so it was that a fleet of Kaldathi ships slammed into the edge of the FTLi field, their jump drives being jerked out of their normal duty and forced to enter the system the old fashioned way. A single Devastator-class Heavy Cruiser (http://www.classic-space.com/plugins/autogallery/Gallery/BigShips/11.jpg), one Scythe-class Destroyer (http://www.classic-space.com/plugins/autogallery/Gallery/BigShips/img_large173.jpg), two Hammer-class Cruisers (http://www.lcarscom.net/fsd/art/images/dbas-1.jpg), and four Shadow-class Frigates (http://www.third-space.net/graphics/up_whitestar_3ds_001.jpg), along with their support craft. All of these were part of the battle group sent to aid the Trailerians currently trying to overthrow the government. While they lusted for war, the Kaldathi weren't stupid and they knew they would eventually need allies. So, making sure this new faction allied with them was a priority; the Kitzai herself had made it clear that this had to happen. So, here they were. Battlemaster Jelkai stood on the bridge of the Heavy Cruiser Annihilation, looking at the data rolling in on the screens and keeping an eye on the Trailerian ships. The ship A.I. pinged and began to speak. <"Battlemaster, I am reading a massive fleet in orbit above a planet; the amount of industrial facilities and population indicates this is their capital. The destruction I am seeing from the moons and the planet shows a battle was fought here, but its over now." Jelkai sighed. An opportunity missed. The A.I. went on. <"An inhibitor field is up, preventing us from coming any closer using the jump drives. We will have to go on normal engine power. They have also noticed us by now. What are your orders?">

The Battlemaster crossed his arms and sighed. <"Open a channel to the fleet in the system; we'd better get this started. The faster we find the war, the better." The computer sent its acknowledgment and began to work on the channel. The Battlemaster sighed in frustration. He wanted to fight a war; not be a diplomat. The combat coming up had better make up for this political crap...

<"Channel ready, sir.">

Greetings noble fighters for liberation! I am Battlemaster Jelkai of the Kaldathi Dominion. We have arrived to offer our aid in fighting this war and seeing you win over the forces of your former King. We wish to be allowed to enter the system and speak with you.

The hoplite continued in this vein all through the fifteen minute trek to what appeared to be a bubble hovering in a glass tube.

"We're about two hundred meters below the command bridge now; we Trailarii like to put our bridges at our ships core, you see, because it's, y'know, not dumb. This transport will take you to His Imperial Majesties bridge, just get out of the thing when it stops and wlak to the end of the platform, he'll meet you there."

And with a nod, the powered armor with a little bald head sticking out of it clomped away.

Lawson and his party took in the speech, nodding and with Lawson only saying, "Sounds like a powerful ship indeed." The man's speech indicated that this ship, the Hadriel as it was called, was indeed part of something impressive. And if the other part of the man's words was right...then indeed, a military coup--no, a civil war--was on. This was serious stuff.

He noted the transport--the bubblelike structure. Somewhat nervous about stepping on, he and his "retinue" stepped aboard the bubble, and let it take them to the bridge.....

The unexpected arrival of the Kaldathi detachment caught system defenses a little unawares. All sensors were scrying as far as they could for Traileric specific signatures you see. The floating first line of defense that was the Odysseus Corridor hurriedly cycled up its compression field to over 28:1, casting a spherical sickly green shield around itself. The handful of capital ships near the station did the same, while maneuvering into defensive stances. No fighters were launched, however, as space could at any moment be filled with capital fire. Tensely, the handful of defenders waited.

TIN Hadriel, Traileric Capital systems edge

Bridge Admiral Io shouted orders to the six Imperial Syclos who were suspended above the Command Pool, which was frequently changing under their will, issuing movement orders, scrambling a defensive line, and ordering planetside siege shields and the Symphony defense network to power up. The four habitated planets subsequently raised said shields as mammoth mass drivers amongst other things raised from the ground. In the still smoldering city, the whine of assault sirens could be heard, in tandem with the deafening roar of kilometer long atlas slings cycling up. Civilians fled once more to the underground bunkers, huddling together..

Unidentified warcraft, remove yourself to a distance of one quarter light hour from Traileric space. Your presence could not have come at a less appropriate time. Your dignitary will be sent for. Power down weapons and shields until further notice or you will be fired upon. This is your only warning. I say again, please distance yourself until you are no longer within range of our planetfire, or you WILL be on the recieving end of it.

Shortly after, assuming compliance, a small flotilla detached from the frail defensive line and approached the Kaldathi fleet.

OOC: Lawl. That won't win a Peabody.

Lawson and his party took in the speech, nodding and with Lawson only saying, "Sounds like a powerful ship indeed." The man's speech indicated that this ship, the Hadriel as it was called, was indeed part of something impressive. And if the other part of the man's words was right...then indeed, a military coup--no, a civil war--was on. This was serious stuff.

He noted the transport--the bubblelike structure. Somewhat nervous about stepping on, he and his "retinue" stepped aboard the bubble, and let it take them to the bridge.....

The transparent door closed with a whisper, and the scientists could feel the slight heaviness of upward motion as the lift brought them up at a decent clip. Moments later, the bubble stopped, and with that whisper the doors slid aside and up. Before the entourage of scientists, a cavernous chamber could be seen. Hundreds of dormant Traileric cauldron-screens cast a watery blue glow on the chamber. Extending out over the spherical space was a rather broad walkway which ended in a raised platform. Upon that platform, a creature sat upon a throne. The Emperor's powered armor gave off a faint golden glow produced by a myriad of nanocircuits interwoven into the cloth of the ornate robes and hood of the former Archangel Hadriel. The powered armor appendages of the man were also glowing with circuits, only fainter, for it was the hood that was the neural shunt. The Emperors face was shrouded in darkness due to the deep hood of his Archangel fleet control suit. Ones eyes had a hard time focusing upon the fabric, it seemed to slip in between substantial mass and transparency, as if in a state of dimensional flux. Flat blue tentacles of the same hard to focus fluxing material floated from the back of the suit, the ends of which frequently poked into the various cauldron-terminals around the chamber, stirring the waters and apparently transferring Hadriel's commands from his mind to his fleet. The Emperor did not seem to notice his guests yet, as an uninvited Xeno fleet calling themselves "Kaldathi" had just slammed into his FTLi field, drawing all of his attention to readying defenses.

The Emperor did not seem to notice his guests yet, as an uninvited Xeno fleet calling themselves "Kaldathi" had just slammed into his FTLi field, drawing all of his attention to readying defenses.

The exotic nature of Trailieric--or was it Trailiarii?--technology was an amazing sight. Especially the cauldron screens, which made Dornalian holographic projectors and flatscreens look mundane by comparison. Terribly mundane.

Stepping onto the cavernous bridge (for it seemed these people made everything outsized), they noticed the man they were to speak with busy dealing with other matters. Just like at the University, people could get distracted, and thus it was time to get his attention.

Putting his hand to his mouth, he let out a polite, yet audible and attention grabbing cough before saying, "Excuse me. I was to have an audience with the Emperor?"

Light on a good number of the screens became dim as those tentacle interfaces unplugged from them. The emperor shifted his weight upon his throne before casting a gaze upon his audience.

"Er, yes, you are the Dornalian scientists that the previous government had arranged for, is that not correct? As I am sure you have figured out, things have become rather turbulent.."

The Emperor stood up from his throne, servos whirring, and stepped down from his throne, he was still a bit uncomfortable talking down at people from up there. Now on their level, more or less, he explained his dilemma.

"I have no diplomats to spare. My only spare Hand is speaking with the Abh. We, the New Order, are heinously outnumbered here. A counterattack could come at any time. We need outside support. The Extra Solar Union rarely gets involved in these sort of affairs..We desperately need you to convince your government to either send us a proper dignitary, or a battlegroup. They are still formerly at war with Themistocles and the rest of our nation, after all."

The Emperor stopped, seemingly distracted momentarily by information being filtered in to his interface. After this he brought his attention back to the Dornalians.

"Assist us and we will pave the way to peace between the Extra Solar Union and the Galactic Federation.."

Jelkai watched as the alarms went off and the A.I. described the increasing events of the Traileric response as they basically started running around like their pants were on fire. <"Reading power surges all over the system; shield systems activated along first line of defenses and ships. Shields over the planet and cities have been activated and planetary defenses coming online. Traileric ships moving to defensive vectors."> The Battlemaster grinned. Ah, this was quite hilarious. Although proud of his nation, the Dominion was nowhere near as powerful or as large as these Traileric folk. Yet, a simple nine ship fleet had sent them into total disarray.

Priceless.

His thoughts were interrupted by the A.I. <"Incoming message."> The message from the Bridge Admiral was displayed.

Unidentified warcraft, remove yourself to a distance of one quarter light hour from Traileric space. Your presence could not have come at a less appropriate time. Your dignitary will be sent for. Power down weapons and shields until further notice or you will be fired upon. This is your only warning. I say again, please distance yourself until you are no longer within range of our planetfire, or you WILL be on the recieving end of it.]

Jelkai sighed in irritation. <"Open the channel again."> The A.I. complied and the board pinged. Sighing, he began to speak, his language perfect Terran.

"This is Battlemaster Jelkai, received and understood. We are proceeding to move to the coordinates you have designated. We have not yet powered up weapons or shielding, so you don't have to worry about that. Moving to the coordinates, and we will await you there." Closing the channel, he turned to the bridge crew.

<"Do what he says, get moving. As much as I like battle, I would like one where we weren't so outmatched."> The fleet stirred and then all nine of the ships smoothly turned and moved back one quarter of a light hour away from their spot. They soon noticed the flotilla coming at them and they calmly waited, doing their best to suppress their growing impatience.

Preparations have been made. If you have someone aboard who can speak on behalf of your nation, or at least your fleet, we would have a word with him in person before he is given audience with the Imperator.


The flotilla halted a modest distance away, seeming to indicate a central small civilian carrier as said dignitaries destination. Many wondered why this post was so short, then decided it was a sign of the coming apocalypse, which they accepted with dignity.

OOC: Lol. Apocalypse.

IC:

Another message was sent, again in Terran. "Understood. I will be arriving soon." Battlemaster Jelkai left orders for who was to remain in command during his absence and what they were to do. Then, he boarded a Phantom (http://www.classic-space.com/plugins/autogallery/Gallery/SmallShips/conc4.jpg) and proceeded to exit the ship. Flying through space, alone, he broadcasted who he was and his intention to board. Nudging the shuttle forward, he headed for one of the hangars and landed. Shutting down the systems and retrieving his cloak and battle armor, he exited down the ramp, only to find an escort waiting for him.

...The Emperor stopped, seemingly distracted momentarily by information being filtered in to his interface. After this he brought his attention back to the Dornalians.

"Assist us and we will pave the way to peace between the Extra Solar Union and the Galactic Federation.."

Lawson took in the words, and began racking his brain. He replied, "Wow....this is big. Hold on."

He got into a huddle with his grad students, and they began talking, whispering to one another.

The debate was fierce, and though conducted in whispers, indistinct sounds of murmuring could be heard across the room. On the one hand, these guys promised peace. As a scientist, Lawson had no love for war himself. Also, the other grads who weren't so peacefully minded thought perhaps the Emperor had a point. They were technically at war, this could end the war faster. Besides, the Abh were already involved. And if the Abh were negotiating....

On the other hand, there was a reason to be skeptical. These guys didn't seem interested in hurting them, to be sure. They would have done so already if that was the case. But, who was to say the ESUS wouldn't get itself involved, anyway?

Ultimately, the clincher was their need to contact the Dornalian government ASAP. They could worry about the politics later. After several minutes in the huddle, Lawson got out and said, "I have spoken to my colleagues, and I have decided on this. We will call out for a proper dignitary and possibly a small force of ships to escort him in. All I need is a method to contact New Dornalia, as soon as possible, and we can do business."

The Emperor, seemed visibly relieved.

"It will likely be best if you were to communicate using your own equipment, as the filtering process for Traileric-Dornalian communications is long and tedious. On your mark, we will blink our inhibitors so that the message can get through. Your guide is waiting at the bottom of the elevator. That will be all."

With that the Emperor turned and strode back to his throne, those tentacles swimmily making their way back to the cauldron-screens as the Emperor resumed fleet command.
=====================================================

The civilian carrier opened a single hangar on the starboard side, a handful of blinking lights designated this as the course the Kaldathi should take. As the shuttle touched down, a small detachment of unarmored men approached the foreign vessel, eyeing the creature that walked down the ramp towards them. A few words were exchanged amongst them before the man who was apparently the ranking officer spoke.

"Follow us."

Direct lot, these Trailarii.

The Battlemaster grinned under his helmet; his armor, covered in spikes with black and dark green paint all over it, he looks quite the intimidating force. Not that it would affect this guys one whit. Nodding, he spoke in Terran. "Very well, as you wish. Lead the way." He walked after them, being led by this small group.

It was a fairly direct route to the small carriers (The thing was absolutely dwarfed by the nearby Kaldathi warships) bridge. The cluster of lightly clad officers were obviously a bit miffed at the warlord they were leading, and thusly made it a point to say nothing to him.

A few lefts and a right later, they stopped before a closed door.

"In there." Spoke the leader again using their native tongue as he pointed at the door (Which is NOT Terran, yet more miffery at that).

Inside, a three people sat. Well. One sat, two were suspended by an array of cables over a boiling cauldron of blue light. It seemed to be a tapestry of many layers of data screens and terminals. The woman who sat in the command throne was Bridge Admiral Io, formerly known as the Angel Ioterus. She now sat, her Angel class command armor retired forever, facing the two suspended Patriarchs (The New Order had not yet come up with a suitable re-name for those). Using her neural lace to keep an eye on their logistical miracle. As the Kaldathi entered, she turned and stood up, speaking before he had a chance to, or if he had started first, overriding him in that muleish way military females have.

"Warlord, or whatever you are, I appreciate your support, but, for Zeus's sake, send word BEFORE you arrive next time! I had a petty officer break down crying damnit."

She held up a finger.

"Now. Lets start with who you are, where you're from, and why you are gung-ho for the losing side?"

The Emperor, seemed visibly relieved.

"It will likely be best if you were to communicate using your own equipment, as the filtering process for Traileric-Dornalian communications is long and tedious. On your mark, we will blink our inhibitors so that the message can get through. Your guide is waiting at the bottom of the elevator. That will be all."



Lawson bowed, and said "Thank you." He and his retinue then went into the elevator, and took it down to where the guide was waiting. He then informed the guide of the need to get back to his ship, to carry out the Emperor's instructions.

Jelkai made his way after the group and came out onto the bridge. He raised an eyebrow under his helmet at the suspended Traileri but he chose not to say anything. Glancing at the Bridge Admiral, he could see in her eyes that she was about to say something, an outburst. Choosing to keep quiet, he didnt have long before she broke out in reproach.

"Warlord, or whatever you are, I appreciate your support, but, for Zeus's sake, send word BEFORE you arrive next time! I had a petty officer break down crying damnit."

A deep-throated chuckle erupted from the Kaldathi, enhanced by his suits speaker. People nearby would hear the sound as incredibly wicked and the kind that makes grown men shiver. The kind of laugh one knows when a being feeds off of pain and enjoy suffering. "That is good to know, milady. After all, what better way to harden oneself for war than to have a warfleet appear on your doorstep. The galaxy is not kind, as I am sure you know, and those who plan to survive, nay, thrive, will need to harden themselves. Besides, we are capable of much more than a simple surprise appearance. If your officer cries at this, I would hate to see her reaction to how we make war. Also, we didn't quite get the chance to send a message, as you see, your wall of inhibitors cut our plans for that short, so it was of your own making, in a way. but enough of this.


I am Battlemaster Jelkai of the Kaldathi Dominion. The Dominion is what your kind would class as "sadistic, cruel, and fucking insane", as one of our prisoners said before he died. We like war, Traileri, and we thrive on it. Wherever there is a battle, if we are not there, you can be sure we are watching. Battle is something that calls to us and the universe is not lacking in supplying avenues for our hunger. As for our....reasoning, if you want to call it that, we like war. And more specifically to our situation, we like it to last longer. Aiding the old regime, no offense to the skills of you and your people, may cause this to last even less than it will. That and, revolutions excite us. Old, boring, used-up ideas, people, and the general aura of a nation is destroyed and something new, exciting, with potential is started. Lastly, a logical reason for you, we are still rather small compared to the major powers in the galaxy. We know at some point, we will piss off, or somehow get into a conflict with, someone we cannot handle ourselves. So, this is a key way of gaining a good ally. Allies are better forged in the fires of battle, than with the weak keystrokes of a pen."

The Bridge Admiral listened patiently to his retort, showing no reaction to his intimidating demeanor. After he was done, she addressed his points.

"Do you know what we called those who enjoyed and thrived upon war for the sake of war on our old world? We called them barbarians, and no matter how many times they rose in there numberless thousands, they were always pushed back, and eventually they collapsed upon themselves, and we plowed them under. Little has changed here, many thousands of years after that time. Allow me to put this in terms you can relate to. Not once since the Hasserbaijan Conflict have we taken prisoners, not a single one. You do realize that we are fighting a losing battle here? Outnumbered twenty one, only moderately defended, and sitting on top of planets that we just subjected to siege fire. You have made a major investment in us winning against all odds; if the Emperor does not succeed in this endeavor..Themistocles will burn your worlds, and see to it that every trace of your species is rent asunder. Do you truly want to risk the loss of what you have before your kind even begins to flourish in the stars? And as for what you are capable of..Our ancestors were laying the plans for prototype Hiveships while yours were still knocking rocks together. In a less dire time, you would have sorely regretted not knocking first. But..If you truly want to give us your support, I will not stop you, I will only warn you. We are not cruel, or fucking insane. Only practical. Mere occupation is a waste of logistical resources."

With a wry smile, the Admiral looked to the suspended Patriarchs, who were clicking at one another.

"I don't want to see Primus Trailica burn a second time."
====================================================
Edeuses had waited patiently for the Dornalians at the bottom of the elevator. When they arrived he wordlessly showed them the way back to their vessel.

"I have to go, if you find yourself in need of any basic necessities, arrangements have already been made, just grab a passerby and demand the presidential suite."

With that, the soldier turned and clomped off.

Edeuses had waited patiently for the Dornalians at the bottom of the elevator. When they arrived he wordlessly showed them the way back to their vessel.

With that, Lawson quickly headed back aboard his ship, and instructed his retinue to begin composing a suitable message to New Dornalia. This was important. Very important.

After several minutes, a message was composed, consisting of the following words. The Commissariat of Science would get it, but it would be passed onto the proper authorities soon enough.

"Attention Commissariat of Science--

This is the science vessel M2-456. In case you are suspicious, we are sending out a confirmation and encryption code to confirm it is in fact us.

Our mission to Trailers has hit an unexpected turn. It seems a local coup has broken out, and forces opposed to the present government are now engaged in what seems to be the opening stages of civil conflict with their opponents.

We have spoken to these forces opposed to the government, and they request a dignitary or a battlefleet to come and support them. They say if we support them, then we can expect their cooperation in forging a peace between the ESUS and GFFA, thus bringing a closer end to the present conflict. They also indicate they have contacted the Abh in this endeavor, and they seem like they would welcome aid from New Dornalia.

With your permission, we would like to bring in a dignitary and a force of ships to escort him or her in.

You may doubt the truth of these men. However, we can vouch for their honesty and trustworthiness, for if they were neither trustworthy or honest, we would not be writing to you now.

Professor Michael Lawson
UCLA
Under contract from CoS."

After it was composed, Lawson then ordered the comms officer to get the message ready for broadcast. Then, he gave the signal, saying, "Command, this is Professor Lawson. We are ready to transmit our message."

"Do you know what we called those who enjoyed and thrived upon war for the sake of war on our old world? We called them barbarians, and no matter how many times they rose in there numberless thousands, they were always pushed back, and eventually they collapsed upon themselves, and we plowed them under. Little has changed here, many thousands of years after that time. Allow me to put this in terms you can relate to. Not once since the Hasserbaijan Conflict have we taken prisoners, not a single one. You do realize that we are fighting a losing battle here? Outnumbered twenty one, only moderately defended, and sitting on top of planets that we just subjected to siege fire. You have made a major investment in us winning against all odds; if the Emperor does not succeed in this endeavor..Themistocles will burn your worlds, and see to it that every trace of your species is rent asunder. Do you truly want to risk the loss of what you have before your kind even begins to flourish in the stars? And as for what you are capable of..Our ancestors were laying the plans for prototype Hiveships while yours were still knocking rocks together. In a less dire time, you would have sorely regretted not knocking first. But..If you truly want to give us your support, I will not stop you, I will only warn you. We are not cruel, or fucking insane. Only practical. Mere occupation is a waste of logistical resources."

Jelkai laughed, his head falling back as his body shuddered under the weight of the laughter. "Call us what you like, milady, but let it be known. We have been around, maybe not as long as you, but long enough to have gone through many trials of a nation. Barbaric as we may seem, we merely take a constant of the universe, war, and embrace it. Do not lie, every sentient beings at some point, even in the darkest depths of their mind, loves war. Their heart quickens at the idea of attainable glory, of leading vast armies to victory over their enemies, and of securing a name in history for themselves with their blood of their foes. We merely ceased lying to ourselves, and embraced it; so, I'd say we are more advanced than you in that regard.

Oh and Admiral, if your people are so wise and powerful compared to weak ole us, tell me: Who's the one currently involved in a bitter civil war? We've never experienced this; I'd say this explains the difference in...stability of our nations. Again, Admiral, threats do not work on us; they only excite me. As for the odds, we Kaldathi like a challenge, and again, there is more fun to be had fighting on the 'losing' side.

Two practical reasons, however, are that revolutions are fun and they breathe new life into a nation and we are curious to see where you go with your new nation, and two, we want to establish relations with somebody. We aren't stupid, Admiral, we don't take on those we can't win against, at least with the full might of our nation. Our Kitzai can easily explain away our actions as Kaldathi being taken over by battle madness; it's happened before, we have records. So, technically, we are expendable. We do need an ally, and with our aid, I'd say we have a strong basis for hammering out an agreement later."

"Besides, wouldn't you like an ally who would be ecstatic to fight your wars FOR you?" He chuckled at her smile and his finished speech. "Also, Admiral, going out fighting is the EXACT way we Kaldathi want to go, if our end comes. Your leader would only increase our morale, and I'd say that campaign would create lots of losses, especially with all the nosy nations who might jump in and attack your nation, weakened as it is by the destruction of its civil war."

"But, enough of this back and forth debate. I am here to aid, not lecture. You do not wish to see it burn, we can aid in stopping that. After all, what's best to distract an enemy than something that keeps attacking, even until death and despite all you throw against it? Let us be your shield, Admiral, we won't quit until we die, and we'll enjoy it. Morale will not be a concern for you."

The Bridge Admiral nodded. "And we appreciate your support. I am in control of first line tactics. Themistocles gathers a monstrous fleet even as we speak. They will with ease be able to engage our defenses here, and go for the planets at the same time. They will do everything they can to capture the Ulysses Corridor and shut down our slipstream inhibitors. We must hold them there as long as we can, so that planetary defenses will have the proper time to prepare. Now, this is no place to discuss proper tactics, but that is the general defensive idea. The planet based installations are the hardest hitters we have, but they are useless if they are attacked before the siege shields can raise and the long guns can be run out. We need your help holding them at the station, where we will perform a phased withdrawal to Primus Trailica. It is there that we shall make our stand."

The Admiral nodded, mostly to herself.

"You have been granted access to the system, if you will kindly maneuver your ships near the station, we can discuss details properly."

bump for Trailers.

OOC: After it was composed, Lawson then ordered the comms officer to get the message ready for broadcast. Then, he gave the signal, saying, "Command, this is Professor Lawson. We are ready to transmit our message."

If that was meant for me, please assume that the FTLi blinks long enought to do the telemetry.

Please type a reply from your gov't so I can bring in the bad-guys and wrap this thread up all ready. =D

OOC: Damn. I had a post, but then a glitch occurred....

IC:

The message recieved by the New Dornalians, they immediately sprang into action. After some contemplation, a message was wired back to the Trailieric Rebellion, saying on a secure (OOC: SIC) line,

"New Trailieric Government--

We have heard of your plight from one of our science personnel in your country. We have also heard of your need for aid, and of your offer to help ease the end of the present conflict.

Therefore, we will be sending a preliminary force of 5 Mao Zedong battleships, and 12 Heavy Cruisers. They will escort a vessel carrying an ambassador. We ask that you let them through, so they may contact you and begin proper negotiations.

Sincerely,

Robert MacIntyre
Comrade Premier
Workers State of New Dornalia"

Then, the signal cut out, being distrupted by the FTLi field. Meanwhile, the fleet was being sent out....

http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=12979858#post12979858

Final battle thread.

Lets get this wrapped up, yaw.