NationStates Jolt Archive

(OOC: The nation I intend to use for this is The Planetary Republic (http://www.nationstates.net/the_planetary_republic). However, as it is having trouble logging into the forums, I will use my MT nation for the moment. And all ship designs are credited to the website www.starfleet-museum.org unless otherwise noted.)

At the edge of the home system for the Planetary Republic, in a far corner of the galaxy, a new type of starship reactor is about to undergo its first flight test...

"Control to Little Nell. Releasing docking clamps now." A dull thud shook the ship for a moment as it dropped away from the mothership.
"Copy control," replied the pilot, "we're free. Engaging impulse drive now." The little ship slowly began to move away from the modified Bison-class (http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h52/nx9100/MOPaR/Bisonconmandship.jpg) transport.
"Activate the reactor," the pilot ordered.
"Reactor powering up," replied the co-pilot. "Antimatter flow is stable. Reaction rate is stable. Plasma flow is stable." He looked over to the pilot. "I think we're ready!"
"Control, this is Little Nell II (http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h52/nx9100/MOPaR/LittleNellII.jpg). Matter/antimatter reactor is online and good to go. Standing by."
"Understood. We're recieving your data transmissions. You are go for warp, repeat, you are go for warp!"
"Copy control. Stand by for warp speed." He turned to the co-pilot. "What's our status?"
"Reactor is stable. Warp nacelle is charged and ready!"
"Then here we go..." He slowly pressed down on the controls, and in a flash, the ship jumped to warp speed. Both of them watched as the starlines flew past the viewscreen. "Well?" the pilot asked.
"Reactor output is 85%," reported the co-pilot, "matter and antimatter streams are stable. Plasma flow rate is climbing slowly, but still within the safe zone." He looked up, "What's our speed?"
"Warp 2.8 and holding," the pilot replied. "Stand by. I'm taking us out of warp." He worked his controls, and the ship dropped back to sublight. "Let's get back to the transport." They made another short jump, and returned back to the mothership.
"Control to Little Nell II: What is your status?"
"Reactor is online and operating perfectly," reported the co-pilot. "We had no problems with the warp system. Everything checks out."
"Understood. Stand by for docking. Control out."
Finally, the two men we able to relax. "Well Harry," said the pilot, "looks like we're heading for the history books."
"Slow down Tom," Harry replied. "We still have more tests to run first before the new reactor can be certified."
"I know that," Tom replied, "but we still pulled it off, right?"
"I guess we did," Harry said, a smile starting to form on his face.
"That's the spirit. Now, when we get back, I know just the place where we can go celebrate..."

(OOC: I'd join in but there isn't an opening, others need a reason to enter; apart from the old "we happened to enter the system and..." routine.)

OOC: A routine I'm about to use
IC:

A small Greywatch vessel dropped cloak shortly after the vessel came out of warp. The captain looke dto his officer, "Hey, tactical... what is that?" The tactical shook his head, "Dunno, doesn't look hostile. Looks like someone was testing FTL travel..." The captain gave a puzzled look. "Well we're out of cloak now, send a message."

<Greetings, alien vessel. We are from the Empire of Greywatch, we happened to be scouting the area. Perhaps you could fill us in on what you were just doing?>

(OOC: Lol, fair enough haha )

A Klikiss Hive Ship, fourteen klimoeters in length and resembling an immense termite hive abruptly appeared in the system; giving no indication as to it's entrance it simply went from not being there to being there.

The Breedex on board this vessel had been monitoring the flow of information in the Central Hive, listening in on the events transpiring lightyears away with a small group of aliens and another Breedex, this Breedex therefore was surprised to see not only a new race exiting warp but also a Greywatch vessel. She addressed the newly found race first:

"Greetings, i am a Breedex of the Klikiss race. I was monitoring an area of space at the quantum level when i detected a vessel utilise a form of warp drive. Intrigued i have come here to investigate and perhaps learn about a new race and the possibilities it opens."

She then turned her attention to the Greywatch vessel:

"Greetings Greywatch vessel, i am a Breedex of the Klikiss race. I mean you no harm, for i know a small amount about your kind. We simply here investigating as you yourself are."

(OOC: just wanted to see what would happen...)


On the bridge of the Bison-class transport, Doctor Shaw watched the viewscreen with awe.
"Doctor, what do you recomend we do?" asked Commander Gazz. The bridge crew all paused. While Gazz was in command of the ship, Doctor Shaw had operational control of the test flight mission. But no one expected it to become a first-contact mission.
"I," Shaw paused, "Can we contact them? Maybe find out who they are?"
"I'm not sure," replied Commander Gazz. "Our COMM equipment is limited."
"Commander! Take a look at this," said the officer at the COMM station. COmmander Gazz and Doctor Shaw both moved to view the screen.
"What kind of signal is that?" asked Gazz.
"Some kind of COMM signal I think," the officer replied. "I'm not sure that our system can understand it, though."
"Why don't we send our own message?" suggested Shaw. "Maybe they'll reply on the same frequency."
"Agreed," replied Gazz. "Fire up the radio, Lieutenant."

"This is Commander Frank Gazz, of the Planetary Republic. Our COMM equipment cannot understand your type of transmission. Do you have Y-Band radio capability?"

------

"Tom?"
"I see them," replied Tom. "Finish the docking manuver, then worry about those ships."
"Right." Harry began to calm down, and returned his attention to his control board. "Reactor is offline. Activating docking clamps." A quick jolt shook the ship as it docked to the bottom of the transport.
"Alright," said Tom as he succured the helm controls, "Now, let's get aboard and find out what's going on here."
"Right," Harry replied, he followed Tom to the docking hatch and back onboard the transport...

"Hmmm...I thought there wasn't supposed to be too much activity in this sector, Eve. Yet here I am, picking up quite a few large ships on the scanner. You sure the Syndicates didn't follow us here?"

Rob Pulson watched the trio of ships carefully. He knew the Greywatch ships well-he had dodged more than one of their patrols in his time, and had good sense to give the Greywatch fleets a very wide berth, and he was somewhat familiar with the Klikiss, but whoever owned that third ship was a newcomer.

Shifting in his extremely comfortable captains chair, he toyed with his rather large pistol casually, wondering what he should do. Rob was a space cowboy, an old-fashioned bounty hunter, smuggler, and all-around pirate. Well concealed thanks to Eve’s rather advanced stealth fields, he yawned loudly and took a big bite of a slice of half-eaten pizza lying on a expensive-looking control module.

No eating on the controls, Rob. How many times do I have to tell you? A soft, feminine voice suddenly filled the ship’s cabin accusingly. Rob sighed and threw the remaining pizza into a receptacle. Out of all the advanced A.I. vessels in the galaxy, he apparently chose the only one with a significant OCD complex. Eve-at least, that's what she preferred to be called-possessed stealth fields, weapons systems, and ingenious self-repair mechanisms. Luckily for Rob, she was also completely automated; a ship that should have required a crew of thirty now only needed a pilot.

Rubbing sleep from his eyes, he wondered what his next action should be. He certainly wouldn't mess with Greywatch; he certainly wasn't that dumb, and he didn't really know enough about the Klikiss to be confident in a fight. Not to mention the Klikiss ship was gigantic compared to him. The third vessel could be valuable, however...Rob decided to simply wait it out, and hope no one discovered his position before he made his move.

"Eve, try to drift us closer to that third ship. I want a full readout on what it can do and who it belongs to, if you can get close enough."

"Captain, I don't think they can understand us. They responded with a completely different frequency." The captain thought for a moment before looked back at his comms officer, "Try to match it." The comms officer went to work, "May take a little bit of work..." A few minutes later the comms officer looked back up from the controls, "I thinkI may have gotten it. Jeez... that are using one old form of comms..." The captain shrugged, "Resend and see if they get it this time..."

<Greetings, alien vessel. We are from the Empire of Greywatch, we happened to be scouting the area. Perhaps you could fill us in on what you were just doing?>

"Sir! We're recieving a transmission!" The COMM officer nearly jumped out of his chair.
"On speakers!" ordered Gazz.

"Greetings, alien vessel. We are from the Empire of Greywatch, we happened to be scouting the area. Perhaps you could fill us in on what you were just doing?"

"Amazing," muttered Shaw. "Commander, due to the nature of the situation, I'm handing over operational command to you."
"Understood Doctor," Gazz replied. "Lieutenant! Send a SitRep back to Command! And give me an open channel."
"Aye, sir!" After sending the message, he opened the channel, " go ahead Commander."

Greywatch vessel. We have come to the edge of our system to make test runs of... of a new prototype ship. What are your intentions?

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

"Sir! We've intercepted a transmission from the Warp Test Mission!"
Commander Jenh moved to the COMM station. "Dear lord!" he exclaimed. "Alien ships!?"
"I've passed the message back to FleetCom, but it will take a while to get there," replied the COMM officer.
"Right. Helm! Prepare for a warp jump! Get us to the test sight ASAP! Tactical, polarize the hull and stand by on weapons!"
"Yes sir!" both officers replied together. Moments later, the frigate P.R.S. Violet Night (http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h52/nx9100/MOPaR/Amarillo-Class.jpg) jumped to warp to assist her commrades....

The captain smiled at the response, "Good job, comms. Now we can get somewhere..."

<Our intentions are peaceful. This is a scout ship, nothing more. It's not often Greywatch accidently walks in on someone performing tests on new ships. We'll be sure not to interfere.>

The Breedex received the newcomers message, she easily matched the frequency, and broadcasted her message once more:

"Greetings, i am a Breedex of the Klikiss race. I was monitoring an area of space at the quantum level when i detected a vessel utilise a form of warp drive. Intrigued i have come here to investigate and perhaps learn about a new race and the possibilities it opens."

The bridge was silent as the alien transmissions played over the speakers.
"What should we do now?" asked Doctor Shaw.
"We keep talking," replied Commander Gazz. "They appear to be friendly, at least at the moment. Let's see what we can learn from them."

This is Commander Gazz, of the Plantary Republic. We have concluded our test runs of our new matter/anti-matter powered ship. This is mainly a transport vessel, and is not equiped for a first contact mission. Once I get orders from my commanders, perhaps we can guide you to one of our fleet stations.

"Are you sure that would be wise?" asked Doctor Shaw when the channel was closed. "Should we lead these aliens back to our inhabited planets?"
"We must appear friendly," replied Gazz. "Besides, we do have first contact protocoles set up. FleetCom will reply with orders to either escort them in or remain here."
"Very well." Shaw sighed. "We shall wait..."

Garbled messages poured through Eve's cockpit as Rob raised his eyebrow, trying to decipher their meaning. He glanced around the room helplessly; for all his skill as a pilot, he knew little of his own ship's mechanics. Gently, Eve acknowledged his silent request.

The new ship is using a different frequency, one that I'm somewhat unfamiliar with. Please give me a moment while I jack in to the airwaves... Eve went silent as she ground out the calculations needed to adapt to the new frequency. Suddenly, a blaring message, albeit one Rob could understand, came through.

...come to the edge of our system to make test runs of... of a new prototype ship. What are your intentions?

Our intentions are peaceful. This is a scout ship, nothing more. It's not often Greywatch accidentally walks in on someone performing tests on new ships. We'll be sure not to interfere.

Rob frowned. Perhaps this wasn't as interesting as he originally surmised. He thought for a moment about contacting the Ravean fleets; Rob would probably be well rewarded for making contact with a new alien race. He dismissed the idea quickly, recalling that he was still a fugitive and that he had stolen the very ship he was sitting in. He hovered his finger above the Comms switch for a moment, then pulled it back.

Not yet...

<Ah, I see. New ship, eh? Must be exciting. Well, we look forward to meeting you and your superiors in person, if they choose to speak to us.>

The captain was interested in how this was going. It wasn't everyday you met a new race. He looked back to comms for a moment, "Please prepare a SCN to Prime... They may want to know about this."

"I will be delighted to meet with your superiors. I shall await directions"

"Commander, we have a priority one signal comng in!"
"FleetCom couldn't have replied so quickly," said Commander Gazz and sat back in his command chair. "On my screen, please." He reached over and activated the monitor next to his chair. After a moment, the message came up...

MOPaRttp://FLEETCOM/STARBASE 7.mil.Sector7Command/
//SitRep Intercepted. Passed on to FleetCom. Sending reinforcements to
//your position. Do not, REPEAT do not lead them into Republic space. Wait
//for your backup.
/end file/

Gazz switched off the screen and sat back. "Well, that's it then," he said.
"What?" asked Doctor Shaw. "How did you get a response so fast?"
"Simple. That message came from Starbase 7, not FleetCom," Gazz replied. "We've been ordered to hold position and wait for backup. Lieutenant, open the COMM channel, please."
"Yes sir!"

This is Commander Gazz. I have recieved new orders to wait here for the moment, and will contact you when I have more information. Out.

"Why would Starbase 7 be ordering you to remain here?" wondered Shaw. "And why send more ships? Isn't that a little aggressive?"
"I know, Doctor," replied Gazz. "It does seem a little strange. Nevertheless, we have our orders."
"Still, what is FleetCom up too?" Shaw asked.
Gazz looked at the two ships on the viewscreen. "I wish I knew..."

<Understood. I have contacted my government and they've told me to follow your protocols for the time being. We'll wait here until instructed to do otherwise.>

"We shall await your orders"

Rear-Admiral Harper stood on the bridge of his flagship, the fleet cruiser P.R.S. Vindicator. One the few Tannhäuser-Class (http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h52/nx9100/MOPaR/Tannhuser-ClassHeavyCruisers.jpg) heavy cruisers in the fleet, it served as the command ship for the 7th Fleet. "Status?"
"On course, Admiral," replied the Navigation officer. On a large ship such as this, the bridge featured seperate navigation and helm station. "All ships standing by for sublight."
"Good. Drop to sublight on my mark." He watched the mission clock above the viewscreen. "Mark."
With a flash, three ships dropped out of warp behind the transport. Leading the way was the Vindicator, followed by a pair of Amarillo-class (http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h52/nx9100/MOPaR/Amarillo-Class.jpg) frigates. Harper studied the scene, then decided to take action.
"COMM, raise the transport."
"Yes, sir."
A moment later, the speakers came to life:
"Commander Frank Gazz reporting sir."
"Commander, I have read your situation report. Have the aliens made any moves since then?"
"Negative sir. They appeared willing to wait here with us."
"Your opinion, Commander?"
"I recomend you talk with them, sir. They appear to be non-hostile, and willing to have a peacefull contact with us."
"Understood. The frigate Violet Night will be here in a moment. They have orders to escort you back to Starbase. We need that prototype to return safely."
"I understand, sir. Good luck."
"Godspeed Commander." Harper ended the transmission. "COMM, switch to wide-band transmission."
"Ready sir."

This is Rear-Admiral Harper, of the Planetary Republic, to the unknown ships. I am here as a representitive of my nation, and am authorized to speak for my government. May I ask, what are your intentions here?

This is Rear-Admiral Harper, of the Planetary Republic, to the unknown ships. I am here as a representitive of my nation, and am authorized to speak for my government. May I ask, what are your intentions here?

The Breedex received the message, formulating a response using the standard artificial voice all Klikiss used to communicate:

"We are here to investigate, learn and meet with new species of all sorts. To discover what possibilities and potential they hold and to see if they can offer us anything and if we can in turn offer them something."

The Breedex sent the message, although the Klikiss were not naturally hostile they were logical and objectivist; wanting to obtain something from every action.

Eve remained dead in space as the large cruiser and pair of support ships dropped out of warp and entered the scene. Rob nervously started calculating a series of escape and attack routes in case he was unwittingly discovered. Eve's cloak was top-notch, but there was always the off chance that a full scan of the area would pick up her slight radiation traces or just a hint of the engine's hypersonic vibrations.

At least he had a name now. The Planetary Alliance... Rob had never heard of such an organization, and wondered exactly where that particular system lay. He debated whether or not to simply jet out of space right now; he doubted anyone could pinpoint him or slap a trace on his ship. Still, the possibility that a whole new system could be ripe for the picking didn't escape his mind either.

All there was to do was to wait. The presence of the new cruiser meant that Rob was certainly outgunned, although perhaps not outsmarted. Fate could only decide the next move.

"Well time to explain ourselves again..." Muttered the captain.

<This is a Greywatch scouter. We're here because we were scouting the area, looking for anything of interest and all the rest. We happened to be nearby when that transprt dropped out so we decided to make contact. I've already contacted my government and they've told me to follow your protocols, and anything else that will make this first contact run more smoothly.>

The Heart Of Armageddon had detected the signatures from the vessel that had gone FTL near its territory. Only two possibilaties were reached:

1. That a extraterrestial civilization had just taken its first steps into intergalactic space.
2. That another human faction that had splintered from Earth during The Great Fall had re-achieved intergalactic flight.

In the case of the first, the extraterrestials must be found and exterminated as fast as possible. In the case of the latter, they must be welcomed as fast as possible. This could only mean sending in a liquidation/contact-fleet. The nearest one was dispatched.

DD-677, Edge of The Planetary Republic Home System

The Jump Drive brought the Ripper-class Destroyers DD-677 and it's sister ship, FG-678, abruptly back into realspace.

The Ripper-Class was the workhorse escort of the HOA Fleet. While not as powerful as the fleet's cruisers, heavy cruisers, and battleships, the Ripper still could be a formidable vessel for more primitive civilizations.

Upon entry into the Republics home system, the Frigates did a scan and confirmed that the civilization they were dealing with was human. Then they sat there and waited.

Harper watched the two alien ships, and thought of a response. We allways new this day would come, he thought, but I never thought it would be me out here on the chopping block.
"Sir? Do you wish to respond?" asked the COMM officer. The rest of the bridge crew waited at their stations.
"Very well," replied Harper. "Open a channel."

This is Rear-Admiral Harper. Perhaps if we could continue this conversation in person, we could come to some terms regarding each other. Toward that end, I invite each of you to send a representitive here aboard my ship. I await your response.

"Commander, prepare the main conference room," ordered Harper. "And open the shuttlebay doors."
"Yes sir!"
Harper returned his gaze to the viewscreen. "Let's hope this works..."

(OOC:
-Ravea, are you thinking of giving my people their first interstellar war?

-Red Tide2, are you in the same area, or should I have another ship stumble upon your presence?)

OCC: Possibly. Pulson's independent, nothing more than a pirate at best. He might call for backup though, and that would mean the Ravean space fleet.

Whatever direction you want this to go in, I'm fine with.

OOC: Just to tell you, the scouter is a small 15-30 man ship. It can fit in most docking bays, depending on the space you have, and doesn't possess any actual shuttles of its own, only escape pods.

<Understood, face to face might be best. My ship doesn't actually have any shuttles of its own. It's small, though, so I assume your bays could hold it. We're moving forward now.>

With that, the scouter pushed toward the open bay doors.

"I shall send a representative so we may meet in person."

A section of the Hive Ships outer hull shimmered as it resolved into an image of the Klikiss hanger, a pentagon shaped transport vessel exited, heading towards the hanger.

Admiral Harper waited outside the shuttlebay entrance, watching as the alien ships slowly entered. It was a tight fit. The two craft just cleared the bay doors and ceiling. As they settled to the deck, the spacedoors closed and atmosphere filled the bay. Once the air was back in place, Harper entered and walked up to the alien ships, waiting for his new guests to appear...

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

Meanwhile, back at Fleet Command on the capital planet deeper in the system, A young man was also waiting before another set of doors. Only, instead of an alien ship, these doors led to the most secure conference room on the planet. Only the highest ranking officers were allowed to enter, not Lieutenant-Commanders like himself.
The doors opened, and an orderly stepped out.
"They're ready for you, sir."
"Thank you." Summoning all his courage, he entered the room, and found himself standing at the head of a long table. Six officers sat on each side, with a single man at the head. He stood. His rank pin shining in the light revieled him to be Grand Admiral Hood, Supreme Commander of the Military Organization of the Planetary Republic.
"Lieutenant-Commander Romano. Service number 83-80265B. Do you know why you are here?"
"No sir." He tried to ignore the beads of sweat forming on his forhead.
"You are here to be briefed on your new assignment." Lord Hood sat down and waved to the older man at his left. "General?"
"Thank you sir," the General said as he stood up. "As of 0900 this morning, the crew testing the new warp drive prototype ship made contact with two alien vessels." He hit a control on the table before him, and an image of the ships appeared on the screens above the table.
"As of this time, they have given no indications of being hostile. However, we cannot yet rule that out. Rear-Admiral Harper was sent from Starbase 7 to intercept them and determine there intentions. We are waiting for his report." He sat down, and another man, an Admiral, stood up.
"Gentleman, at this time, my department has recomended pushing the Cirrus development schedual ahead and to begin construction of the first vessel." Suprised looks flashed around the room. Romano stood silently, wondering what this had to do with him.
After a moment, Lord Hood stood.
"While some of us believe that we should be fearful of these aliens, I believe that a peacefull contact can still be carried out. However, the Planetary Congress has made it clear that after the last colonial uprising, we need to increase the size of our fleet." He tapped his own controls, and another image replaced the aliens. It was the designs for a large cruiser.
"Lieutenant-Commander?" The young man starred into the Admiral's eyes.
"Yes sir?"
"I want you to assume control of design and construction of this new vessel. I have reviewed the design studies that you created and submitted for warp fighters. They have convinced me that you are the person we need to complete this ship on schedual. Do your accept your new assignment?"
He couldn't believe what he was hearing! He had worked on his own time for nearly two years on his fighter design. Now the head of the entire military was personally asking him to take control of the design on an entire starship!
"Yes sir!" He didn't try to hide the excitement in his voice.
"Excellent!" said Lord Hood. "Report to Drydock 9 by 0800 tomorrow morning. Dismissed." The other officers stood and began to file out of the room.
"Oh, Lieutenant-Commander?" Lord Hood called.
Romano walked up to him, almost in awe. "Yes sir?"
Hood starred right into his eyes. "I am pleased that you decided to accept this assignment. However, there is one last detail that needs to be taken care of."
"Sir?"
Hood reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box, which he handed to the young man. Romano took it and opened it, starring at the small metal pin inside.
"Congratulations Commander Romano." He held out his hand. Romano shook it.
"Thank you sir...."

OOC: FYI, here is the nation that I started this thread for. I can log it into the forums now.

Once the scout ship was in and secure, scans were done to make sure atmosphere had been restored. When everything checked out a small hatch on the top of the craft opened up and a Leanorian followed by a human climbed out. The Leanorian looked like any another, a lion-like creature standing a good 7 feet in height while the human stood at about 5'6". Both were dressed in brown and gray uniforms like those of any scout. The Leanorian ran his hand though his mane for a moment while the human next to him stood without saying anything. When the Leanorian noticed Harper, he quickly walked over to him. "Greetings on behalf of Greywatch," he said with a grin, the human followed but said nothing.

OOC: Leanorians are like Anthro lions

Blub Colonial Navy (BCN) Dominator-Class Battleship Raven

With a sudden, chaotic surge of malfunctioning energy a ship would appear in the system not far from all of the action. Emerging from the jump bubble was a rather ... big warship. The five kilometer long ship was painted bright green and bore on its blunt bow a white circle with a green rising sun emblem. Those nations who had traversed the galaxy once or twice would probably recognize the flag as being that of the MIGHTY Blub Colony.

From the forward port side of the ship poured a massive cloud of venting ice crystals into space. The water instantly crystalizing and floating away in a perfect column from the tear in the ship's armor. Looking within the wound, one might note that the armor was a dozen meters or more thick, and whatever had caused the wound had to have been moving at incredible speeds.

There came a disoriented moment and then a broadband, multiple frequency signal both in laser communication and radio would be broadcast. The video stream when picked up would show part of the ship's bridge, and an ODD little alien sitting in a padded chair. Looking more like a little green snail without a shell than anything else, it was adorably cute and had tentacles. Turning eyestalks to the camera, it began to squeak in the language of Blubs. A universal translator kicked on, converting it to multiple languages and instructing recieving programs to use the appropriate language.

"Greetings! I am GRAND ADMIRAL Bribbit of the Blub Colonies and commander of the BCN Raven. Uhm. How are you? We're fine. We're just stopping by to visit. On that note, we DEMAND that this puny world deliver to us two million liters of fresh or otherwise potable water."

There came a chattering from offcamera, and the Admiral glared with his eyestalks at someone behind the camera. There was a moment of argument, as oblivious to the live data stream the Blubs bickered.

"Don't tell them we need water, they'll charge extra!"

"What?"

"If you make it seem important they'll gouge us on the price."

"Oh."

Eyestalks turned back to the camera as the strange little alien made his demands.

"We don't really need water. But.. you give it to us anyway or we'll shoot missiles at your moon and mess it all up or board your ships and take your stuff. Oh! Do you have any watermelons? If so, we DEMAND tribute of a thousand fresh watermelons. That is all. You may respond with your government's reply."

This of course was broadcast to everyone, since whoever owns this system wasn't obvious. That, and even a foreign ship might be carrying a load of watermelon.

As the Razgriz disengaged it's slipstream drive all crew on board gasped. Even Admiral Hekan Deltev had never seen this before. Many ships of many nationalities were here in this puny part of the galaxy.
"Well there goes HQ's idea of invading this planet. Ohhh allies are here thank the gods."
Secret encrypted messege known only to Charzakian colonies.
Hail Greywatch we have come to take this planet held by this puny civilization. As allies we request your aide. This will provide the planet Charzak with even more natural resources and it may also hold valuable minerals for mining. Will you join us?
end transmission

The Klikiss transport landed in the hanger, a ramp clanged down onto the foor and a single insectoid Klikiss drone skittered out. Resembling a bettle it simply stood and looked around at the surroundings, it clutched a small black box beneath it.

The tactical officer looked up from his console, "Sir, new contact. Can't make it out from in here but it's big..." The comms officer then went, "And here's the message." The captain listened to the alien's demand for pure water, "Odd 'demand' to make. Sounds like this could get ugly..." The tactical officer looked down at his console to see that yet another ship had arrived, "Just great... another ship. Sir, yet another contact." The comms officer was shocked when he saw the encrypted message and had to take a moment to comprehend it before looking up at the captain, "Uh, sir? You may want to hear this..." The comms officer played the message on the bridge, the captain raised an eyebrow and sighed. "Great, just fucking perfect. Someone, dig up info." The officers went to work and a few minutes later the captain got a response, "The first ship, got nothing. The second ship, I recognize the comms frequency and have identified it as a Charzakian vessel." The captain looked back, "Who?" The comms officer looked back to the console for a moment, "This race is... or at least was, at some point, putting up a planet for colonization. Greywatch happened to be interested, we sent a colonization party." The captain gave a quizzical look, "And this makes us their allies and conquering buddies... how?" The officer went further, "There was an alliance established for planetary defense which Greywatch participated in." The captain groaned, "Really? And suddenly we're conquering buddies? That has got to be... ugh. Open a channel." the comms officer nodded and an encrypted transmission was sent back:

Negative. For starters, this is a scout ship, it's actually suprising you're able to detect us while we're inside another ship but that's a topic for later. Secondly, Greywatch doesn't do conquering, we're expansionist but far from imperialistic. Thirdly, our government has asked us to do perform first contact with this race, so we can't go against our orders. Lastly, there are several uninhabitted worlds and other star systems... why this one?

Rodger. We came to investigate this gathering of military ships. Since this system is close to ours we fealt threatened and decided to investigate with orders to destro all hostile craft but seeing as allies are here and this could be a new ally on the way we have sent back a report to our base. Our new orders are to establish peaceful relations with this race

The Admiral then began to transmitt on all open channels.
This is Admiral Hekan Deltev of the Empire of Charzak. We would like to establish peaceful relations with all and we await your response.

Admiral Harper studied his guests for a moment. Well, it takes all kinds, he thought to himself before stepping forward.
"Greetings, and welcome aboard. I am Rear-Admiral Harper of the Planetary Republic. Please follow me." He led the aliens out of the hanger and into a turbolift. After dropping down a few decks, the lift stopped and the group entered a quickly prepared conference room. A square table sat in the center with chairs, and a screen on one wall showed a starmap labeling five seperate systems. Harper pointed to the map.
"As you can see," he began," the Planetary Republic is based out of this system. However, we have established colonies in four neighboring systems and are preparing to move beyond that." He turned to face his guests, waiting for there responses...

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

This is Captain Kyle of the P.R.S. Vindicator. To the Blub and Charzak vessels. Rear-Admiral Harper is unavailable at the moment. Feel free to send a representitive aboard our ship to join his talks with our other guests.

The captain coughed at this response and didn't bother to send a communication back, "Yeah, I'm sure..." he said, voice full of sarcasm.
------
The two Greywatchers followed without words until they arrived at the conference room. The Leanorian spoke first, "I see. Not too much unlike the Empire of Greywatch in that respect. And pardon me for not saying so before, my name is Korr'sha. My companion here is Mathew Wilkins." The human nodded.

The insectoid Klikiss followed to the conference room, studying the various races. It listened intently to the Admiral but said nothing, intent on gathering information.

"Greetings," replied Admiral Harper. "To continue, the Planetary Republic is, I guess you could say, still new to interstellar travel. You witnessed are test of a new ship." He changed to image from the map to the prototype ship. "This is the Little Nell (http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h52/nx9100/MOPaR/LittleNellII.jpg). It was built to test a new matter-antimatter reactor to power our vessels. We use fusion reactors now, but they use a large amount of fuel and can only get a top speed of warp 3.5. With the new reactors, we hope to achieve up to warp 6 or 7."

"Ah, that would explain it." Said the Mathew, always good to see a race attempting faster forms of space travel." The Leanorian nodded, "I imgaine trying to keep tabs on so many colonies so spaced out with only this 'warp 3.5' must've been difficult. Perhaps you'd care to explain this 'warp' to us?"

(OOC: best image I could find)

"Certainly," Harper replied. He changed the image to a diagram of the ship's engines (http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/blueprints/web/uss-majestic-ncc-87001-sheet-9.jpg). "Here is a diagram of one of our warp nacelles that are attached to our ships. The field coils generate a subspace bubble around the ship. According to the laws of physics, any object approaching the speed of light would increase in mass, therfore would need more energy. The subspace bubble prevents this, allowing are ships to travel faster then light." He scratched his chin. "I admit that I am not to versed in warp theory. Perhaps I can have the data made available to you? And yes, it does take several weeks to travel between star systems now. But with our new matter-antimatter reactors, we hope to cut that down to a few days."

"Message recieved we are sending a representative out to meet you."
The assault shuttle left the docking bay along with two Charzakian fighters. As they approached the ship the Admiral hoped for the best.

"I see. An interesting concept to say the very least." Korr'sha said while Mathew simply nodded. It was indeed something Greywatch had never used or developed, but then again, Greywatch didn't need to use warp when it had PSR.

In the main docking bay, crewmen guided the shuttle to a landing, but eaved off the fighters as the bay was now crammed full. Lieutenant Hane waited for the ship to land, so he could lead the new arrivals to the conference room...

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

"Thank you," replied Harper. "Forgive me, but I am curious about your own people. Have you had interstellar flight for a long time period? Or are you as new to space as we are?

As the Admiral walked down the boarding ramp he ordered the fighters to go back to his ship. The Admiral walked up to the representative and was glad to see the man was not astonished by his four legs and tail spikes. "Greetings I am Admiral Hekan Deltev of the Empire of Charzak. We are here to welcome you in open arms to the final frontier known as space. What is your name for it is our custom to greet others in out traditional welcoming phrase?"

Korr'sha nodded, "Yes, we have. Or more accurately, the other races of Greywatch have had access to FTL travel for awhile now in the form of PSR. My race, the Leanorians, have only recently been brought into Empire of Greywatch." Mathew added to this, "PSR is a fast, if not somewhat dangerous, form of FTL travel that is completely unique to Greywatch."

After a moment, Hane recovered and found his voice.
"Welcome aboard, Admiral. I am Lieutenant Hane, Rear-Admiral Harper's assistant. If you could follow me, I will take to to see the Admiral." He lead the newcomer out of the hanger and to the conference room.
"Sir, Admiral Hekan Deltev of the Empire of Charzak here to join you sir."

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

"Interesting," said Harper. "So your Empire is a mix of-" He broke off as Lieutenant Hane and entered and anounched the new arrival. Harper stood to greet him.
"Welcome aboard. I am Rear-Admiral Harper of the Planetary Republic. Please join us."

The two Greywatchers turned around to see the newcomers, they gave a respectful nod before looking ahead again. Korr'sha waited for Harper to continue.

Harper continued, turning back to the Greywatchers.
"As I was saying, it is interesting that your nation is made up of different species. Is a optional membership, or did one take over many to form your empire?"

(OOC: leaving later today for the weekend. Will be back online sunday.)

Admiral Hekan Deltev took a seat beside the Greywatchers.
He contently listened to the Rear-Admiral and waited for his turn to speak.

"Believe me, if it had empire through conquer, he and I," the Leanorian pointed to Mathew, "probably wouldn't be friends. No, it is quite optional. The word 'empire,' may be a bit misleading as it's more of an alliance than anything else. Every race has a certain skill and they work along side all the other races to benefit the alliance as a whole."

Harper nodded. "I see. Sort of a democratic empire. Interesting. The Republic is a democratic body, where each planet has a seat on the Congress. However, in recent years, the Military Organization of the Planetary Republic, or MOPaR, has slowly become more powerful politically, ever since the colonial uprising." He paused for a moment, then turned to Admiral Deltev. "How about you?"

"Just before I launched here I recieved a messege from my right hand man Captain Thi Gor. The Empire of Charzak is currently in the midst of a civil war to remove our evil Emporer Charzak the Second from the throne. However once it is sorted out we will be holding free elections to elect a new Emporer."
The Admiral had a sad expression upon his face. His tail swayed back and forth with anger.
"I should be there! I should be helping my comrades! No, no. Peaceful relations witth other nations is more important."

A single transport ship entered out of Warp-space with crackling red tendrils of energy leaping out behind it. It was damaged, with holes in several places and slowly leaking glowing blue fluid. An emergency broadcast was sent out on all channels.

This is Black Sword transport Couldecort, asking for immediate emergency assistance. We were on job and *several coughs are heard* took some bad hits trying to get out of there. Sorry, but we don't have video feed, COM get hit, sensors got hit, it's a miracle that Warp-space is still intact, we have no weapons and are at half crew. Luckily, we still have audio transmissions. But anyone, I repeat ANYONE come assist us. Captain Johnson and Commander Drakilzac are both dead. Anyone, help *more coughs* Master Chief Petty Officer Franklin Smith, signing out.

The ship simply sat in space, near dead.

The desperate plea was picked up byt he scout ship within the hanger, the captain sighed. "Oh for the love of..." Greywatch protocol was to help all craft in need of assistance unless they were targeted as being the enemy or were in someone else's territory. While the scouter itself could do nothing to assist this new vessel, it certainly possessed the capacity to call in some people who could help. SCN, a wonderful little tool whenever a Greywatch craft needed to get some information accross fast. As much as every scouter captain hated to get involved in things like this, and despite the fact that this wasn't really in Greywatch's hands, the request was still put through. Hell, Greywatch could back down if it needed to, but that was something for later. Within fifteen minutes, a full fledged 2Km Explorer pulled out of PSR some few hundred kilometers away. Immediately after pulling out it began moving towards the damaged vessel. A transmission was first put out to everyone:

This is Greywatch Explorer 229. We have no hostile intentions, out focus is to take care of the damaged vessel and nothing more.

The Explorer pulled closer until it sat right above the craft. An encrypted message was then sent to the craft:

Explain the nature of the damage and, if you can, gather your crew in one place so we can mass blink you aboard our vessel. After that is done we can begin about whether your ship can be repaired.

Frank Smith sat at the remains of the COM console, reading the message on the cracked holo-screen. He tried to stand up, then fell back on the seat, gasping and clutching his side. He slowly peeled off the cracked Deckna-II armor and gingerly touched the gaping raw wound on his side.

It was black and smelled of death. Frank swore violently for a moment, pausing once to cough up blood. He then rolled off the seat and went to the in-ship speakers. "Alright everybody. Head down to the hanger bay. If someone is wounded, carry 'em. If not, they walk. Get going!"

Frank hobbled back to the COM and sent the following message.

Give it five minutes, then teleport everyone from the docking bay at the lower end of the ship. You should read a lot of life-signs. By the way, send a medical team to the bridge.

"I wish to know what that blasted racket is."
With that the Admiral looked out the window (i am gonna asome one is in the room). He saw a badly damaged ship.
"Yet another race that still doesn't understand the art of battle."

Understood.
The captain made it so, he waited for a good 5-6 minutes. When there was a large mass of life being detected he had the lifesigns blinked to the Explorers hanger. Several medics (and soldiers) were on standby already. The soldiers simply had their weapons ready, they cuold never be too careful. Their white armor shimmered in the light of the hanger. All the smaller fighters and shuttles in the hanger had been moved to provide more space. Within a few moments the medic moved forward, the human medics had face masks on, the Leanorians simply strode over as comfortable as could be in their white robes. A Leanorian looked over the group, "If you're lightly wounded, go to the humans. If you're heavily wounded, or know someone who is heavily wounded, bring them to us." The Leanorians were tall, standing at least seven feet in height, looking over the wounded.
Meanwhile, while one group had been taken off the ship, another was put on it. The alien ship's bridge, or at least what was assumed to be be the bridge, now had four new members. A small medical division consisting of a Drone, two Leanorians, and a human were blinked to the bridge. All of them wore typical Greywatch armor, mainly because they had no idea what the situation was. For all they knew they could have been blinked into a fire.
The two from the Scouter looked out the window (playing on the assumption that there is one) and were quite suprised. "A Greywatch Explorer?" Said the Leanorian.

About a third of the men headed towards the Leanorians, with multiple fractures, large cuts and other serious wounds. A few of the less wounded carried the ones who couldn't walk. The rest limped toward the humans, and quietly formed semi-straight lines near the doctors, waiting for treatment.

In the bridge, Frank turned towards the new arrivals. "Hey" he said in a cheery tone, smiled, then collapsed on the floor.

OOC:Frank has serious plasma burns wounds, internal bleeding and multiple fractures. One arm is broken, as is one leg. Two ribs are cracked, and the burn is basically still spreading from plasma residue.

(OOC: sorry for the delay. back home now....)

The door to the conference room opened, and a young ensign appeared. "Admiral?"
"Yes, what is it Ensign?"
"Sir, more ships have appeared. One is heavily damaged and is calling for help. A few minutes later, a second ship, claiming to be a Greywatch Explorer arrived and is assisting the damaged vessel."
"Understood." Harper stood from his chair and moved to view the scene from the viewport. "I trust that the Greywatch ship has the situation under control. But have the captain send an offer of assistance. Perhaps we can make some additional friends today."
"Yes sir," replied the ensign before heading back to the bridge.
"Now then," said Harper, "where were we?"

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

Transport Couldecort, this is the P.R.S. Vindicator. Can we be of assistance? You are located at the edge of our home system. A repair ship can be sent out right away, if you require it. Please respond.

The humans got to work, there being about fifteen of them. They began tending tothe minor injuries with the more standard medicines. The Leanorians' hands began to glow a soft blue and they simply began placing their hands on the areas of damage, repairing serious wounds in about 30 seconds each. Those being healed by the Leanorians would feel no pain as their bodies appeared to almost instantly regenerate under the faint glow of the Leanorian Encryptic healing.
-----
The Greywatch team rushed over immediately. A human began performing scans, "Fallen gods... plasma burns among other things... he needs to be in medical bay stat." A Leanorian moved forward, "Forget that, he's too wounded. I need to heal him some here and now." She placed her hands on him and they began to glow, first she focused on repairing the fractures, ribs, and internal bleeding. The other Leanorian began working on the broken arm and leg. The others began preparing a blink network between the ship's bridge and the med bay. One of the humans looked at the man, "Are you still with us? Is there anything here that you need?"

"What in the blazes happened!" the Admiral said. "A ship that is badly damaged just happens to slip into a confrence with three of the most well known empires. Well sir it seems highly suspicious to me!" The Admiral picked up his communicator. Razgriz I want you on full alert. I want to be notified if anything suspicous happens."

Onboard Starbase 01, orbiting the capital planet...

"Admiral?"
Lord Hood, supreme commander of all MOPaR forces, looked up from his fleet updates. "Yes?"
"Sir," said the lieutenant, "we have received an update from Rear-Admiral Harper. More alien ships have appeared at the edge of the system."
"More?" stated Hood. "Are they friendly or hostile?"
"Friendly for the moment," replied the lieutenant. "Harper is still negotiating with his guests."
Hood stands from his desk, and turns to face the viewport behind him. "Continue to monitor," he orders. "Inform me of any change in the situation."
"Yes sir." The Lieutenant leaves the office, while the Grand Admiral watches the stars. I fear that the time has come, he thinks. Now we discover the fate of our race. Will we be conquered by some unknown force? Or, perhaps, take our place among the heavens...

"Well let's not let this new ship ruin the meeting. I'm sure our peoples are quite capable of handling themselves, hmm?" said Matthew as he took his seet, followed by the Leanorian. "Indeed," started the Leanorian, "Is there anything else you wished to ask?"

Harper sat quietly in thought for a few minutes. Finally, he spoke
"To be quite honest, I am unsure where to go from here," he said. "This is the first time we have had contact with another race. Perhaps you have some sugestions on how to proceed?"

"Well typically there's talk of peace treaties, NAPs, trade agreements and other things like that. If there's anything else you wish tp know about us we'll tell you if we can. It's that kind of stuff. I suppose at this point I'd actually have to contact my homeworld to get an NAP document." Said Matthew.

"I do have a suggestion. We, meaning all of us, could set up trade routes and scientific projects between our nations. We would all of course have to go into much more detail but I wished to know what you all felt about it first before I sent for a treaty.

ooc:whoops i was writing this when Greywatch posted so i couldn't see what he said.

"Any treaty would be welcome by the Planetary Congress," replied Harper. "Might I suggest that we return to our respective governments to draft a treaty and meet again to sign it. We would be honored to host your delegations on one of our starbases for the occation."

"Yes I think that would be great."
The Admiral's comm began bleeping. He picked it up and listened to the messege.
"Well, I think this treaty will become easier to sign now. The Emporer is dead and the Charzakian Civil War is over. I have been nominated for the throne as well."

The Leanorian pointed to the Explorer, "All I have to do is put a report through to them and they'll have a treaty back to you within the hour if not sooner. Matthew and myself were really nothing more than makeshift reps, that ship carries the real deal diplomacy wise. You'll probably be dealing with them from this point on." Matthew nodded, as soon as the Scouter left, there was a good chance it wouldn't return to this section of space for a good long while.