NationStates Jolt Archive

The flames had died out, sooner or later they always did, even though they had been caused by nuclear holocaust on a planetary scale. Much had changed since that fateful day, the day when Imperial aggression had led to the destruction of yet another planet, Asfaltum Prime, a planet that would go down in history for being the place where Emperor Palpatine was killed.
Several years had now passed, the survivors of Asfaltum Prime, along with all other inhabitants of the Asfaltum realm, had literally fled the galaxy. In a quiet mass exodus they had all vanished, choosing to rebuild their homes in another place, keeping their location secret from the warmongers, the Galactic Empire, who if possible might even contemplate the prospect of tracing their steps into another galaxy, and violently putting an end to their self-imposed exile. Thus they remained unheard of.

Not all had fled the galaxy however. A small taskforce chose to stay; men and women who had nothing to lose, or who had lost nearly everything one possibly could. They set up base on a distant planet that had only recently been discovered at the time of the Imperial attack, and which had been kept a secret by the military. Within months, all the ground-breaking experimental research which the Asfaltum military had ever conducted, on weaponry, robotics, bio-medicine, nanotechnology, energy-harnessing, and everything in between, was being utilized in the construction of a new military force, a small but fearsome power that would never again subdue itself to tyranny. Over a short period of time, advanced military installations and shipyards rose from the ground, sprung from nothing. Soon enough, 300 powerfull ships stood ready, a small fleet which was commonly referred to as "The Rogue Legion".

These men and women stood under the leadership of one commander. A man by the name of Bruce Payne, a legend of sorts, commonly reffered to as "The Ghost". Nobody knew much about his past except that he had been on friendly terms with the royal family, and had lost everything dear to him during the Imperial attack. Even though advanced biotech research had granted a certain degree of "psi-powers" and greatly enhanced physical capabilities to the men and women who served in the "Rogue Legion", it was rumoured that the mysterious commander-in-chief possessed (or was possessed by) even greater powers of unfathomable magnitude, which he in some unexplainable way had aquired during, or after, the Imperial attack. Some said it was a gift granted to him, other rumours said it was a curse, which drove him to ever more hazardous stunts in his search for vengeance. No one knew for sure. The only obvious fact, was that wherever he showed up, evil individuals had a tendency of dying in the most tormented ways...

Currently, commander B. Payne sat in the captain's seat of the RDS Confuser (http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/1854/chrisdrysdaleharbourer5.jpg), an ancient support cruiser which had been refitted in order to serve as a "conference ship" of sorts, a ship aboard which diplomacy could be discussed without interference (the ship's heavy weaponry would insure the latter). He wasn't quite used to the lavishly decorated interior of the ship, accustomed as he was to the spartan and functional design of the battleships he usually commanded. Nonetheless, he was about to be guested by several foreign officials, and a little display of wealth was undoubtedly something most cultures appreciated, no matter how much he personally objected. These visits were after all something he had been looking forward to; although the nation of Asfaltum had left the galaxy, the Rogue Legion still had several inofficial contacts within numerous nations, and it was through these that he had managed to spread out invites to a large number of realms, all of which disliked the Galactic Empire's expansion plans.

His offer was simple; let the Rogue Legion set up surveillance stations within your territory, so that we will be notified in the case of any Imperial agression. Thus you will gain the strength of 300 additional powerful warships to aid in the defence of your territory against the Empire (or anyone else that seeks to harm your civilians). In return, we ask that you aid us in any eventual attempt to capture, or kill, key officials within the Empire. It was a straightforward offer, and so the commander of the Rogue Legion now waited, at the specified location for the meeting (an asteroid belt belonging to an uninhabited backwater system) to see if anyone would show up for further discussions. The meeting would officially commence in one hour, so soon enough people should start dropping in, he thought to himself, as he sipped on his cappuccino...

OOC: Thread is open to anyone who has unresolved issues with the Empire, or who just wants some extra security. I unfortunately don't have internet access on weekends, so I'll post again on Monday, hoping that there will be responses until then. Feel free to post some background information about your country, who you are sending to the meeting, why you have decided to send an envoy etc etc...

The diplomatic cruiser APNS John Adams arrived in the system, loaded down with diplomatic personnel from both the Republic, and their allies in The Longinean Order.

They where concerned about the ongoing conflict with the Hive that they where waging, but there was only so much they could do, and findign allies was one of them.

The ship moved toward the location of the meeting, TAP'ian flags flying proud.

OOC: Diplomatic Team consists of
Colonel Simon Long, TAP Air Force (M, Human)
James Longstreet, Ambassador (M, Human)
Sana Elegos, Ambassador (F, Camassi)
Rohm, Patterner (M, Human-Patterner)
Cardinal-Colonel Meredith Jaques St. Croix, Ambassador and Knight of the Order (M, Human)
12 Man Noghri Honor Guard

(OOC: Welcome back Asfaltum)

It was certainly a circuitous path taken for envoys to contact the Godulans with this particular offer, though contact they did, via a remarkably direct path once a suitable Avatar was informed. Once notification came, the arrangement was mulled over for a veritable eternity, as many seconds passed while everyone in the entire Godulan side of the Overlink put forward their own recommendations and noted misgivings and randomized other forms of bureaucratic hullaballoo that might have taken months if it were decided in a similar manner via conventional means.

As such, the envoy recieved in response to his offer a thoughtful glance and a shrug. Had the agent actually been fully aware of how much had gone on during that thoughtful glance, he would have truly appreciated the shrug. The Avatar then made assurances that a delegation would attend the 'meeting' without delay.

And without delay it was. A single vessel appeared some distance away from the coordinates indicated to be the site of the meeting. Not much larger than a freighter, the ship was nonetheless significantly more intimidating as a result of the fact that it was a big free-floating mass of forward-pointing obsidian blades arrayed around what appeared to be a pillar of solid greenish light.

A single voice rose up on all frequencies to greet those already present:

We represent the Godulan Legion, the Godulan Strain of the Kython Scourge. Our presence has been requested and thus have we come. Please provide entrance protocols so that we might be able to get this meeting underway.

Devenis had for a long time been the jewel of the Phenixican Empire, strict pollution control and recycling had left the planet in pristine condition. But the Empire on the other hand was a different place then it was during the reign of Emperor Belcameron II.

A general distrust for all foreigners was over the heads of every citizen, nobody could be trusted because they could hurt the security of the Empire. Religions like Sith and Jedi were spit on for the trouble they caused during the cold-war and the people wanted revenge.

It had taken the death of a monarch, a economic recession and a string of Isolationist policies to make the Empire boil in it's own loathing. The news of a old ally was great news indeed and the Imperial Court and its Empress were quick to reply.

It was in the city of Phenixica, with it's blood red sky where Empress Nadine sent a message.

On behalf of a alliance our people shared we wish to join this meeting, we have much to talk about and sadly my father cannot join you since he died about a year ago at the hands of illness.

The Empire and it's citizens thank you for this opportunity.

Yours Sincerely,

Empress Nadine Cook of the Phenixican Empire

40 minutes later a huge blue portal opened in the system where the meeting was taking place, out of it a Hercules Class warship (http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i116/Belcameron/ss49-hires-1.jpg) and several fights came out the other side.

It hails the station.

"This is the IPN: Genesis III, we wish permission to send our diplomat to the meeting in order to represent the interests of the Empire"

The Diplomat was a man named John Krusi, cousin of Perius Krusi and was head of the Imperial Senate for 35 years before he had to step down because age was finally getting best of the 97 year old man.

He was a trusted friend of the old Emperor and mentor to the Empress, he was Grand Senator during the crisis that lead to such a sad state of affairs.

Bruce had been observing recent developments from his command-chair on the bridge. He slowly stood up, nodded a you're-in-charge nod to the captain, and started walking to the conference room. A few seconds later the Confuser started broadcasting a non-incrypted message to all ships in sector. The observers would see Captain Archibald de Spada, a tanned, middle-length, black haired young man, with a latin accent, who in other times (if supplied with a black mask, cape, and horse) could easily have passed as a known hero of the people. As it was, he wore the usual uniform used by the Rogue Legion, consisting of a leather-like material in black and dark green, with various golden ornaments and other stylisations, somewhat resembling a mix between armor and superhero suit. He stood in front of his command-chair and adressed viewers in his charming, utterly calm, latin accent...
Greetings!
I am Archibald de Spada, Captain of the RDS Confuser. I am most honoured to welcome you aboard my ship to meet with our commander, Bruce Payne, who I believe you have already heard of. We will deploy several droid-craft, whom your various pilots are advised to follow. You will be led to an appropriate landing bay, where you will be recieved with full honours, after which you will be led to the conference room where our commander-in-chief awaits your arrival with much anticipation. I might add that your shuttle-crafts will be thoroughly scanned upon approach, which, as you can imagine in these turbulent times, is standard procedure. Thank you, and welcome aboard.

Just as he had said, three small droid-craft, their blue exhaust ports burning brightly in the darkness of space, where deployed to meet with the diplomatic craft from each ship, and slowly lead them towards the various landing bays which had been prepared for their arrival. Upon approach, they would be rigorously scanned. Upon landing, they would be recieved by three officials wearing the priviously described standard uniform type, who would welcome them aboard, and lead them through the ranks of idleAS-guard soldiers (http://www.boxofficeprophets.com/images2/irobot728.jpg), down a few corridors, up an elevator, and into the conference room. (In the case of the officials from the APNS John Adams, the 12 man honour guard would have to wait in the landing bay, unconditionally.)

The conference room was huge, "enormous" might be a better description. (It was in fact, an ex-landing bay, refitted.) The decoration consisted of gold, and a profuse amount of plant life (the ceiling wasn't visible, due to all the greenery), wherever the eye looked, along with several miniature waterfalls. In the middle of the huge room, was a round conference table, also in gold. Bruce Payne (http://www.cine.se/bilder/ghost_rider.jpg) sat in one of the seats. In stark contrast to the room, he was wearing what seemed to be ordinary looking leather clothes. No uniform, no decorations, just ordinary "working clothes" as he liked to put it. He motioned the foreign officials to step forward with what he hoped was a calm and graceful smile. He stood and shook hand with all of them, invited them to sit, and asked them if there was any particular type of beverge they liked. Alcohol? Fruit juice? Water? No? Candy? he finally offered, munching apologetically on a few jelly-beans which had previously filled the wine-glass next to him. Finally a silent smile (if not awkward smile, he was so not used to this whole diplomacy thing) directed at no one in particular made them understand that they were free to unleash their enviably well-rehearsed rethorical skills...

John sits down in the transport as it follows the droid-craft, as he sits down he takes a deep breath and puts a hand through his grey hair. He did miss his Cousin and Belcameron, he remembers his first assignment as a Diplomat to the nation of Mationbud how much things have changed.

As always he had neat, short and parted on the side hair with the typical Pale skin of every Phenixican. He walks with a cane now the weakness of age was starting to take it's toll, he was 97 and not really in the shape for politics but this was a different matter.

By the time he reached the conference room the pain in his legs was getting bad. He looks over to Bruce and smiles, he nods his head and he makes his way to a seat. He sits down with relief as his legs recover, he knew this would be the last diplomatic trip he would ever take.

"I am the representative from the Phenixican Empire, John Krusi ex-Grand Senator of the Imperial Senate"

The small bladed craft, being the diplomatic vessel deployed on behalf of the Godulan Legion, shifted to meet the droid escort ship in a manner that could almost be characterized as 'daintily'. Blades merged and split as the ship reoriented itself casually to follow the droid vessel back to the massive station, and the central pillar of light flared momentarily, but showed no other signs of activity. As it moved forward, it left neither exhaust nor ion trail in its wake, nor did it present any form of thermal signature indicative of propulsion. Sensors would rather easily detect the gravitic signature placed in front of the vessel, however, and the question as to how the damn thing was moving at all would be plain to see.

As the vessel approached the station, scanners attempting to delve into the vessel would find a mystery wrapped inside of a conundrum and glazed with enigma-flavored frosting. The vessel itself by the very virtue of its shape revealed an absolute inability to host any form of life-form within its confines. It did not provide any clue as to what systems might be contained within as for all intents and purposes there were no systems to scan. Electromagnetic scanning would reveal a power signature of disconcerting strength, given the small size of the vessel. Indeed, the fact that it would present a power signature of rough equivalence to a Victory class Star Destroyer might seem odd. At the same time, however, no overt weapons emplacements were recognized, nor did it seem like the vessel had any specifically dedicated power expenditures. As for interior scans themselves, one might say the ship 'confused' scanners.

After all, when one glance presents the image of a strange freighter, another might show scans of some form of plantlike construct, a chunk of rock, or in one odd case... a teddy bear.

If one were to properly recognize why the one in five million chance of receiving a sensor scan result resembling a stuffed animal, that person might better understand the mechanics of the universe as a whole. Or go insane, it really depends on whether the poor sod actually knows hyperdimensional quantum mechanics. Its a toughie, it really is.

The ship eventually came to a landing within an enormous docking bay, and for a moment soldiers milled about, curious as to where the boarding ramp might appear. A ship such as this made things a tad confusing for people expecting some sort of conventional entrance. However, since the Godulans did not truly mind pomp and circumstance save in when such went into notable excess, the materialization of the Godulan in their midst (accompanied by a startled yelp) was accompanied with little more than a shrug from the newly arrived Avatar.

He stood approximately six feet tall and had a body of such perfect musculature and build that one had trouble discerning whether the Godulan was an organic being or some sort of sculpted figurine. His long black hair waved oddly in the distinctly nonexistent breeze, and green eyes stared through the soldiers and bored holes through their souls like some form of high power mining laser. Though there was no malice in his 'stare', his gaze was nonetheless unnaturally intense... and for some reason, every single soldier in the room had the feeling of being watched in equal measure. He wore clothing that accentuated his torso musculature, employing a somewhat middle-eastern flair in his well-embroidered vest and baggy trousers. His feet were bare, though that was hardly as notable as the fact that he hovered a foot off the ground. When he spoke, his mouth did not move. The air around him shimmered slightly as his entire body vibrated to produce the necessary voice.

"We are Shin'Raxis, envoy of the Legion. We are pleased at the reception, though we would be more pleased to be taken to the conference room post-haste. There is business to attend to."

Shin'Raxis did not appear to take any notice of the size of the conference room upon his arrival, nor did he stop to sit at a chair. He simply hovered in the air in full view of everyone else in the room and repeated a phrase from the earlier communication:

"Our presence has been requested and thus have we come. There is business to attend to, and what business we believe it to be."

John could not help but raise a eyebrow at the new arrival, his attire and appearance did not in any way suit a diplomat. His sentence made him laugh on the inside, who ever this was he had a ego. In a simple sentence he had shown weakness in his diplomacy skills which in such a situation could prove fatal.

Phenixican politics was honest and to the point, diplomatic matters were always considered a nuisance that did help make the nation more influential but yet again just plain got in the way of plans.

The Diplomatic Team made their way into a Shuttle (http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/thumb/0/05/Theta-class_Shuttle.jpg/180px-Theta-class_Shuttle.jpg) in the Ship's Hangar. It was painted in the colors of Air Force One (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Air_Force_One_on_the_ground.jpg), with the words United States of America being replaced with The American Privateer.

As the shuttle landed, the Honor Guard leaned back, ready to spend hours in simulated wargames via the SoulNet (All TAP'ians have wireless internet links built into their brains that connect them to an Alternate Universe where their Souls and Minds are able to roam free of the Body) , as the Diplomatic Team made their way to the Conference Room.

The Diplomatic team accepted waters, on orders to avoid intoxication on the mission, and looked around at the others who had arrived.

Colonel Long and the Ambassador James groaned as the Godulans arrived. Where ever they where, things tended to get a little weird. The other group, they where unfamiliar with, and a quick flurry of whispers led the team to conclude that the Phenixians where some one they had not met before their Isolation.

Letting the others speak first, the Colonel sat back, linking up to the SoulNet, and running the same War Game his Honor Guard was playing with a small portion of his mind, a ghost of a smile cross his face as one of the grunts protested that it wasn't fair that the Colonel participate, and his fellow soldiers shushed him down and apologized.

Sana gave a short introduction of herself and the delegation, her Caamasi robes shimmering in the verdant light. She motioned to the man in the blue dress Uniform, introducing Colonel Simon Long first. Then she motioned to the rather fit looking man in a standard State Department suit (black slacks and coat over lace up vest with high-collar), and introduced the chief ambassador of the mission, James Longstreet. "Named after the Confederate General, of whom I am a descendant," he announced proudly, to a well practiced sigh and scoff from the Colonel seated to his right. Then she pointed to the man on her left. He didn't look like a normal human, and even though scans of all attendents had revealed the heavy cybernetics that where inherent in TAP'ian citizens, his was obvious. His eyes where slightly glazed over, and his recognition seemed to come from far away, for Rohm was a Patterner, and he had been activated for the mission, his ability to see patterns being a potential benefit. Then, last but not least, she introduced the man in the Cardinal's Robes, Colonel Meredith Jaques St. Croix, Ambassador and Knight of the Holy Order of Saint Longinus.

Then, she sat down, and let James take over. He was the senior diplomat on the mission after all. As he did, Sana became entranced by the flora in the room, wondering if there where any fauna in among it...

The Godulan envoy had undoubtedly received a much less enthusiastic reception than he was used to. While human soldiers, with a not so extensive training as that of the Rogue Legion, might have gathered around the foreign craft in admiration and curiosity, the AS-guard ranks reacted with what could best be described as total indifference at the sudden apparition of the Godulan newcomer. They stood at attention, face forward, eyes apparently focused on the opposite wall, but although their immobile faces betrayed no emotion, the Godulan could undoubtedly sense that his every move was being observed, weighed on scales of immaculate calculation, and meticulously catalogized for future analysis, by every single artificial soldier present.

The group of human officials who had been sent to welcome the diplomat were more annoyed than awed. You'd expect such an advanced life-form to at least have the diplomatic insight to understand that hovering over the ground and speaking without moving one's lips was not accentuating the likenesses between different races (something usually appreciated during first-time diplomatic contacts), and might make "regular" humans a tad uneasy. Unless of course that was the intended effect. Nonetheless, once a thorough glance at the surroundings did not reveal any traces of flying carpets or discarded oil lamps, the officials gave the Godulan a sly smile, and started hovering above the floor as well, greeting him telepathically. After all, what's the use of a total mutational make-over, if you can't use your newly aquired skills when needed. Wether this was an attempt at finding "common ground" between different races, or just a polite way of flipping him off, the Godulan would have to figure out for himself...
_________________________

Presently, Bruce Payne nodded at his guests. "Well, I presume we better get down to business. I think some of you already know what has befallen my nation during past years, how we were attacked by the so-called Galactic Empire, and, when forced to surrender due to being heavily outnumbered, our planet was nuked by one of the very allies who had done little to aid us. Sure, Emperor Palpatine died on our planet, but that is of little value, in comparison to the suffering which innocent civilians were put through..." His thoughts trailed off, as he remembered his wife and son, how beautiful they had looked as they ran around the garden playing hide and seek, how the child would come into the kitchen and marvel at how mom and dad prepared dinner, and how scared they must have been in the cramped shelter, before being incinerated by a cylon bomb. He forced himself to forget, for the moment.

"The men and women who serve in the Rogue Legion have nothing to lose, or have already lost everything. We are the few citizens of Asfaltum who have not fled the galaxy, and we dedicate our life to prevent similar tragedies from happening. we look for funding, and/or military aid, to be put at our disposal, in order to simplify our task. In return, we will do our best to protect your civilians, and bring vengeance upon those who threaten them. We are not mercenaries. We will not fight your wars for you. We cannot be bought. We will only act against aggressors who have shown themselves as retaining no regard for civilians, or who have made threats to that effect. We will only attack objectives of military importance, and ideally we seek to target the enemy leadership, in order to shorten the conflict, and thus the suffering of both civilians and soldiers." Bruce looked at his guests intently before adding "Any questions?".

"Well," said James, uneasy at the thought of the genocide that had been committed, "I have been authorized to open up Republic Space for your people. You will be able to claim a Moon as your own, unless you wish to have a planet of your own, in which case we can donate a Titan class vessel (http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=titan+AE&www_google_domain=www.google.com&hl=en&emb=0&aq=f#) for use. This includes Shipyards for your vessels, and much of the Logistics Technology of our people. On top of that, many of your leaders would be given Diplomatic Immunity, and all members of the Rogue Legion would be offered Dual Citizenship."

James looked around, getting nods from his fellow members, "And, we would equip you to be able to fight Hive in case a new invasion comes through."

"Well," said James, uneasy at the thought of the genocide that had been committed, "I have been authorized to open up Republic Space for your people. You will be able to claim a Moon as your own, unless you wish to have a planet of your own, in which case we can donate a Titan class vessel (http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=titan+AE&www_google_domain=www.google.com&hl=en&emb=0&aq=f#) for use. This includes Shipyards for your vessels, and much of the Logistics Technology of our people. On top of that, many of your leaders would be given Diplomatic Immunity, and all members of the Rogue Legion would be offered Dual Citizenship."

James looked around, getting nods from his fellow members, "And, we would equip you to be able to fight Hive in case a new invasion comes through."

Bruce nodded thoughtfully. "I think that is an offer we can accept. Although we are not looking to aquire further territory (we have systems of our own), a base of operations within your territory would be beneficial... the moon you mentioned would do fine I believe, I'm sure it could function as an "embassy" of sorts, as well as being a link in our intelligence network. Shipyards, we can build ourselves; our advanced nanotech division could have several shipyards and defensive installations up and running within weeks, if not days. Diplomatic immunity, and dual citizenship, are matters which I personally am not entirely comfortable with, although I realize that in this age of beaurocracy they might come in handy... I'll talk to my people and see how they feel about that..." Bruce paused for a moment, then added "This "Hive" that you talk about, please give me some background history on them... where do they come from, what is their objective...?"

OOC: If James takes a while to find a datapad with information on the Hive, I'm sure the diplomats from Godular and Phenixica could state their position on the proposition in the meanwhile...

John was quick to offer what assistance Phenixican could mention.

"On behalf of the past Emperor our nation is sorry we could do little to help, we were under threat of invasion and because our military is not boasted by things like Clones and devices of doom we could not spare any troops. We can offer a 'Warp-Gate buoy' which when activated will allow for a warp-gate to lock onto your position in a matter of minutes. When this is activated we can send a fleet of a few hundred ships through and assist you in a emergency"

The past Emperor was sorry for not coming to help his allies in the LoFW during the war but as mentioned Phenixica was in deep trouble.

"Also medicine and supplies can be offered, which yet again can be sent by the Buoy technology. I know the others have mentioned a moon, but we have a whole sector of our galaxy that is under populated. I also have a Political Officer who can stay behind to help out in whatever efforts and ordering what resources you need, The Empire is going through a economic surge at the moment so we can more then afford to give aid. Our relations with the Galactic Empire are uneasy at best, Sith and Jedi are dirty words in our nation and nothing would make our empress more happy then to finally rid the world of those Force-Using scum"

The hive was unknown to the Empire so no point in bringing it up, might as well wait for it to be explained.

OOC: He has one available, but he will wait for the others.

IC:
Sana looked incensed at the comments about Force Users as scum, bu it was Colonel Long who seemed truly angered, his pictor torque flashing an image of Auschwitz touched in crimson as he remembered an old poem written about the holocaust.

"Are they not sapients? Do they not have rights as thinking beings?"

Bruce smiled at the old Phenixican diplomat. "Phenixica is an old ally and friend, and I appreciate your offer. As I said previously, we're not looking for new territory; a small moon as an embassy within Phenixican territory maybe? The warp-gate buoy will prove useful, I have no doubt about that. As for resources and aid, I think, as a battle fleet and army, we are quite capable to sustain ourselves, but should we have to aid or evacuate civilians from a realm that we have agreed to protect, I'll be sure to contact you. The territory and aid you mentioned would make for a great refuge in dire times..." Bruce paused, as he noticed that an argument was about to ensue between the envoys from TAP and the Phenixican diplomat. "Gentlemen," he said, in a tone which was stunningly sharp for coming from what seemed to be such a genial person, "I think what our friend from Phenixica meant, was that while force-users may be sapients, and have their own rights as thinking beings, their past actions and conflicts have enveloped more than one realm in destruction and suffering, and haven't always taken into consideration the rights of others. That can be said concerning any number of races, but our Phenixican friends have had a particular bad time with force-users, something which could make anyone a tad prone to generalizations..." he said, smiling apologetically, but still maintaining the iron-fist-in-soft-glove tone which told the diplomats to let the issue rest.

"The Sith tried to kill and destroy not only the Empire but our very existence, before Force-Users tried to meddle in our business we were content with getting along with everybody. It was the Force-Users who tried to absorb us into their Empire, it was them who tried to turn us against friends and it was them who tried to destroy us when we simply said no. So yes I might be prejudice but my people have every reason to not trust a people who outright abuse their abilities"

The Order of the Burning Sky which was the bodyguard of the Monarchy practiced Phenixican Magic, but that toke years of commitment and discipline and by Phenixican experience with force-users they lacked all forms of control.

"This is not some quick judgment on our part so do not even try to demonize our words, we are not a bigoted people by nature and in fact the Empire itself is made up of many different cultures but sadly years of bad luck in Diplomacy has badly affected the public view towards Force-Using outsiders"

When they were practically told to get back to business John knew it was for the best

"Then lets continue with whats important, a Embassy would probably be best in the end at the capital on Devenis."

((OOC: Phenixica has only had contact with Sith, so their viewpoint on Force-Users is very one sided)

The Colonel continued to simmer, but he calmed down. He didn't take down the Auschwitz pict, but he modified it so that only the Phenixican could see it.

However, if looks could kill, then Cardinal Meredith would have killed his Phenixican opposite number twelve times over.

Both of them had ancestors who had been slaughtered because one group decided that another had no right to exist, and both of them had lost their family to the exact same cause. It didn't help that Colonel Long, looking the part of the Aryan, had been taunted in childhood for it. He had already bought his next body, and made sure no trace of German ancestry was visible, annoyed by the way Germans had been treated first in the US, and then in TAP.

Deciding to try and smooth things over, James sent a questioning look over to Bruce, and picted permission to explain the hive in a tight band so that only the head of the Rogue Legion could see it.

John smiles at the colonel, he knew how angry they were at him but no offense to them....he was just to old to care.

"We don't wish the creation of a 'master race' and We want the Force-Using factions you call 'Sith' to learn responsibility for their powers. Now child calm down and focus on diplomatic matters at hand. Some picture of a camp which has no relevance to Phenixican history....at all will not really prove a point, we are not Earthlings"

He coughs a bit and starts playings around with a pen in his hand.

"Anybody who has power should have responsibility, would you give a madman control of a nuclear bomb?. That is our problem with Force-Users, not some racial tension but the simply matter of fact in our experience they have been nothing but to put it bluntly...pricks with way to much power for their own good".

Colonel Long scowled at the Phenixican, "Then you have never met the Samurai..."

And with that, he stood up and left, heading back towards the shuttle which had taken him there.

Sana looked like she was about to follow, but Ambassador Longstreet simply shook his head, telling her to stay here, and let the Colonel deal with his anger in the TAP'ian way. They exchanged a quick flurry of picts as they did so, before Longstreet decided to discuss the Hive.

He activated his pictor for a broad-casted image. The three pictures covered in turn a ball covered in tentacles that ended in beak-like mouths, a creature that appeared to be a cross between a bear and a stag beetle, and something that resembled a massive white maggot with numerous teeth inside the open maw.

"They are the Hive." Longstreet said, "Gorgons are the balls of tentacles, the Beetle-bear things are the Soldiers, and the white maggots are simply called Gluies. If it weren't for the TAP'ian Samurai," he sent a signifigant glare toward the Phenixican with that, "The gluies would have eaten three of our worlds already."

"There is no mind for them. Rahm here has been forcibly assumed into the collective mind, and it is but a gut with a minor nerve cluster that tells the gut what to eat. They are able to move in skinny digits, nigh absolute Zero in fact. They can obtain FTL by forming up into spheres, and eventually they always learn how to produce shields to protect them from interstellar debris."

"They do not understand sentience, only hunger, and are able to convert matter into resonant energy. So long as one sphere out of millions is eating, all the Hive will continue to live. But, thankfully, they only consume Organic Matter."

"When they go through an area, the only thing left of the sapients therein are synthetic fibers and teeth. They come from another Universe, through a Manifest Zone in the Large Magellanic Cloud, and are but physical manifestation of Entropy. They are uncommon in our space, but with the Manifest Zone being located therein, we tend to get a Sphere or two of Grogons from time to time."

OOC: Sonofa... y'all just took right off while I was sleeping. Mind not doing that?

Whether the crew were fazed or not by the Godulans appearance did not actually concern the avatar in the slightest. Though he did not betray any emotion at the supposed lack of awe or consideration, that the individuals sent to escort him also decided to hover above the floor was of amusement to the avatar, and when they projected their thoughts at him he almost burst out laughing. Over the course of a microsecond, a conversation took place between members of the Godulan Legion, unrecognizable even by the telepaths:

I see we made an impression, no matter how much they try to hide it.

Mimicry is the sincerest form of flattery, as they say.

The biggest thing seems to be the fact that I am floating. They do not know us very well, do they?

We have never had contact with them before, of course they would not know us very well. Had we been informed of what was transpiring between these people and the Galactic Empire we might have been moved to intervene, but alas our isolationism hinders as much as helps us in that regard.

Indeed. Perhaps there is a chance to make amends, but I doubt it. There is rage here, however much they do not wish to show it.

Were we so different?

Ours was not placed at the feet of the Imperials.

Of course not, but there is more kinship between our two peoples than they could know.

This is a truth. Proceed as normal?

Proceed as normal.

The reason, however much the Godulans did not feel the need to provide such information, that the Avatar was hovering was actually quite simple: if he did not, he would likely cause significant structural damage to the docking bay and any floor he walked on. The Godulans had been to Anti-GE summits before, and there was always some weasel that ended up betraying the whole damn thing before it could ever truly get off the ground. That being the case, the Godulans resolved to ensure that whoever was responsible for any treason in this case would meet a swift and satisfying demise at the hands of a mass-augmented Avatar whose present weight was somewhere in the area of six metric tons. Considering that such mass was condensed into the form of a human man, with two points of contact to the floor, even shifting stance was likely to create notable gouges in the metal bulkheads. And gods help anybody who got their foot stepped on.

As for the speech patterns... well, the Godulans did not like to expend energy on something so simple as a facial movement unless something was truly required in order to convey that a joke had been spoken or that sarcasm was being employed. Godulans were not organic beings anymore, so such movements were simply not 'necessary' or 'instinctive' for them.

So the Avatars hovered not for the sake of effect (though it was amusing to gauge reactions, as the Godulans were always interested in how sentients might react to unknown situations), but for the sake of their hosts. Shin'Raxis merely puttered along, paying inordinate amounts of attention to how his hosts behaved around him, interested as always in their movements and actions.

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

Shin'Raxis listened to the proposal offered by his host while sitting indian-style over the space that would formerly have occupied a chair. His expression went thoughtful, and he responded (hopefully after the argument has died down)

"We only heard of the troubles your people faced well after the fact, particularly after we learned of several remarkable depredations by those we would formerly have referred to as our allies. Had we been aware at a time that we were capable of timely intervention, we would most assuredly have moved to assist. For that we can only apologize.

"We sympathize with your plight, goodness knows we have experienced a devastating betrayal of our own. We learned of the fate that befell the twelve colonies as well after the fact, though we were still able to intervene after a fashion.

"Would it amuse you to know that in our efforts to assist and rebuild the twelve colonies, that their interactions with the Imperials have been essentially decimated? Whereas the Chronosians under Remiel initiated the scheme to discredit the Coredians and bring the Colonials to the fold without firing a shot, so too have we responded by providing reconstruction assistance and an understanding of how the Imperial leadership works. Now, thanks to our 'assistance', and the self-righteous blundering of Darth Vader which worked to our advantage simply through the sheer foolishness of his own actions, the ties between Coruscant and Caprica are all but shattered, the Balroggans are just waiting for a reason to leave, and even the Chronosians are disillusioned with Imperial leadership.

"Granted, the latter two have also been involved in some sort of hullaballo elsewhere but we cannot seem to get specifics on the matter. A shame, really. One must always be ready for the worst when dealing with the Chronosians. Silver tongues and sharpened blades the lot of them.

"But we digress, and also hope that we have not come across as gloating. We simply wish to point out that perhaps blowing things up is not the optimum pathway to damaging the Imperials. There are times for it, sure, but as they say, when one is a hammer every problem looks like a nail.

"All that being voluminously stated, we must reply to your proposal in the following manner:"

Shin'Raxis' expression turned into a sad smile as he continued.

"Please do not take this personally, but the moment anybody puts an non-Godulan installation within Godulan Territorial Boundaries is the moment that it gets blasted out of existence.

"Our worlds are spread out across the fringes of the Galaxy, so there would be no point in the measure anyway. There would be no way for you to get the necessary sensor information or logistical assistance required for you to respond to a threat posed by Imperials at any of our worlds in a timely manner. We have little problem doing so, thanks to some networks of our own, but for more 'direct' forms of FTL, the travel times would be too varied to be of any reliability.

"That being said, we have a proposal of our own to accomodate your wishes and our 'considerations': We propose to station an Avatar as an envoy with the primary purpose of notifying you if anybody should be stupid enough to assault one of our worlds. If you are still inclined to exact vengeance upon the Imperial foe then we will be more than pleased to provide a Bulk Transport capable of jumping your entire fleet to a point just outside the battlezone so that you can get your battle.

"This Avatar will also notify us of the moment that your people should come under assault, and provide us with a method to intervene in a timely manner that we were unable to conduct previously. We would also be willing to provide assistance on any precision strikes that you might conduct, if we feel that the strike if of sufficient tactical importance and if we cannot devise a method to achieve similar ends through... guile, deceit, and significant amounts of bribes.

"Any questions or comments thus far?"

"The Galactic Empire often does die and rise again, that is it's worst trait for us. In fact the Phenixican Empire was a part of the council which brought about the Empire as we know it today. We left before anything was made official because the Galactic Empire did not represent the values in which Phenixican Society based itself on. Also attempts by the Sith to try and influence our religious teachings it as you can imagine a huge no no. I am amazed to hear that about the Chronosians since when we last had communications they were the most loyal, Balrogga on the other had always seemed to simply do what benefits there own nation without consideration for real loyalty. If the Empire is so near to separation then yes maybe outright war would not be the best path"

He takes a deep breath, he was clear to use the term 'Sith' to try and calm down matters.

"I have never seen a species that can survive in space without technology, I mean biologist have mentioned it possible but never in the Citerian have we come across anything that advanced in it's Biological makeup"

As much as the Hive interested him it was not what he came here to discuss and wanted to stay on the topic. When they had finished talking about the Galactic Empire then they should talk about other matters, but yet again he had to remember he was used to talking in the Imperial Senate where it was one subject as a time and this was obviously a very different atmosphere....heck it has less hostility.

"Perhaps we could use the Hive. I hesitate to say so, but perhaps, we could use them as a weapon. They home in on Resonant Beacons, and if we could get people near Imperial military assets while ignoring civilians, we could cripple their military infrastructure, and at the same time ignore those nations and groups that seek to split, I am sure that the Chronosians would see it as the will of their Chaos Gods to split if they observed Chaos Incarnate turning on their former allies..." Longstreet looked VERY uncomfortable as he spoke of this, unsure as to how well the Hive could be controlled, and unsure as to how much damage aould be dealt to those in the way in between the two locations.

"We are in a position to understand their relations with the Galactic Empire. The Balroggans joined to acquire force capabilities and the necessary training to wield it responsibly. The Chronosians have been feeling restrained of late, and as such are likely to sever contact simply because they dislike being chained. Granted, our analysis would be more precise if we knew what it was the two of them were so worked up about at the moment. The Balroggans are being remarkably tight lipped for some reason."

Shin'Raxis smiled momentarily at the information regarding the Hive, filing the data away for further consideration but otherwise amused that such things would give the others such remarkable amounts of trouble.

OOC: Edited to add a small thing:

However, hearing about the notion of employing the beasts as weapons made the smile fall away immediately.

"We hope you are not proposing to employ these creatures on inhabited worlds. That would be very... unfortunate."

A small shudder ran down James's spine at that. "No way, these things are monsters that eat all in their path. Specific warships, automated defenses, entire fleets if we have to. Their ability to shut down electronics and destabilize anti-matter containment fields would be a great boon and leave the ships helpless. It would be the worst thing we could do to them, and I fear I should not have raised the idea."

Looking over at the Godulan Avatar, he could tell that he was sceptical of their threat level, "These things can activate self-destruct systems from half a galaxy away if they are able to find a harmonic. They can deactivate all electronics in ships. And worst of all, they are able to insinuate their way through even the strongest force-field. All of our ships have been equipped with 21st Century Howitzer Batteries to be able to continue to fight them. All of our information shows us that Huntaer relies heavily on state-of-the-art technology, with few mechanical or chemical backups, they would have no chance against the Hive, and as soon as they have served their purpose, we kill the Hive, all of them across the galaxy with a simple push of a button, canceling out the Res signal and waiting six months for the next generation of Hive to learn how to fly..."

"Ah, very good then..." Shin'Raxis replied, the smile returning somewhat. "Though we must point out that using biological agents for military purposes tends to lead to untenable situations on the part of those employing such methods."

"Yes we do understand that. It makes us wary to do so. Though doubtless someone," he gave a rather pointed glare at Rahm at that, "has already leaked the requisite information to certain rogue elements within our nation. I do not view it as a good weapon, or even a desirable one. We consider them Microbiologicals in terms of WMD's, but just like with our Nukes, if backed into a corner, the use of them might be a requirement for survival in the short term, or at the very least to buy time to transfer our Ressurection Chambers to another part of the Universe and set up the Republic anew..."

"But at least nukes do not have a disturbingly high likelihood of attacking you after they've finished being destructive against the enemy."

"True, but there is always the threat of a Ghost loyal to Nova turning them on us..." James looked nervous as to what this would mean for future contacts with the rest of the Universe. It had been a long time in Isolation, and the debate over Hive as a weapon was still fast and furious, with the Ultra-Nationalists in Nova being those most willing to use them as such. Longstreet just wanted to make them someone else problem, the fear of them breakign through the Picket Line driving many to suggest thigns they would later regret.

"But that is besides the point," he said, tugging at his collar, "we are here to discuss the Rogue Legion and how we can use more...conventional means to assist them in their mission."

"We are jumping ahead a bit I think, our first operations should be to simply examine the Empire. We cannot just go into outright sabotage because the Chronasians might simply be bored with the recent lack of activity and the Balrogga might find renewed Vigor when they finally have a common enemy to face. It happens allot in history, people who dislike each other can become best friends when a common threat is involved just look at the Earth example of Capitalist working together with Communist during the second world war"

They had to approach this with caution, if they acted to quickly they could find the Empire able to crush them into the dust.

"Perhaps, we should send in individuals to investigate the Galactic Empire. One of the best things we could do would be to get Psykers into the Empire, and have them get within hearing range of government and military facilities. The ability to go in and know what they are doing could be a great boon to us. Perhaps we could also send in Ninjas, for this I would suggest we use the Hidden Leaf village or our own Hidden Dragon village, to conduct espionage of different types..."

"We could spare agents from our secret services, they are more from the shadow type of agents"

By agents he meant the Order, since Phenixican Magic was undetectable they could prove useful. Also they were the best of the best of the arsenal of the military and would give their lives to the Empire.

Shin'Raxis smiled his ongoing inscrutible smile. He was somewhat satisfied that at least his recommendation to the others that they follow less actively hostile pathways had gotten through, for the most part, though he felt that they did not quite understand the full depth of the concept.

The Imperials were remarkably adept at turning even the slightest misstep into a propaganda nightmare. Well, not really, but they were remarkably skilled at yowling very loudly about the slightest supposed injustice, manufactured or not.

Mostly manufactured.

Within the Godulan overlink, a momentary debate raged for an eon of instants. They argued whether they should mention that The Godulans and the Balroggans were still the most steadfast of allies despite their supposed 'differences' in philosophy. They argued whether they should point out that the Godulans and the Chronosians were on frosty but friendly terms despite the Godulans' ongoing campaign against the Imperials. They argued about whether such information actually had a point. They argued about whether pointing out that the supposed hive weaponry could be annihilated in moments by Godulan weaponry was of diplomatic use. They debated whether they should say anything whatsoever about Godulan weaponry. They debated about why there was actually a debate about mentioning anything whatsoever about Godulan weaponry, because that was a really dumb debate proposition. There was also a debate about whether they should run a quick sociological experiment involving smashing through the conference table and howling 'WE WILL BURY YOU!' in the exact voice of some old-time Russian Premiere and seeing what would happen.

There was also a debate about whether they should order tea.

Shin'Raxis ordered some tea and asked if they had some brandy with which to spike it, quietly signaling to nobody in particular that all debates had been concluded over the course of James' comment about sending people to investigate the empire.

Shin'Raxis' expression turned into a sad smile as he continued.

"Please do not take this personally, but the moment anybody puts an non-Godulan installation within Godulan Territorial Boundaries is the moment that it gets blasted out of existence.

"Our worlds are spread out across the fringes of the Galaxy, so there would be no point in the measure anyway. There would be no way for you to get the necessary sensor information or logistical assistance required for you to respond to a threat posed by Imperials at any of our worlds in a timely manner. We have little problem doing so, thanks to some networks of our own, but for more 'direct' forms of FTL, the travel times would be too varied to be of any reliability.

"That being said, we have a proposal of our own to accomodate your wishes and our 'considerations': We propose to station an Avatar as an envoy with the primary purpose of notifying you if anybody should be stupid enough to assault one of our worlds. If you are still inclined to exact vengeance upon the Imperial foe then we will be more than pleased to provide a Bulk Transport capable of jumping your entire fleet to a point just outside the battlezone so that you can get your battle.

"This Avatar will also notify us of the moment that your people should come under assault, and provide us with a method to intervene in a timely manner that we were unable to conduct previously. We would also be willing to provide assistance on any precision strikes that you might conduct, if we feel that the strike if of sufficient tactical importance and if we cannot devise a method to achieve similar ends through... guile, deceit, and significant amounts of bribes.

"Any questions or comments thus far?"

Bruce smiled at the "guile, deceit, and significant amounts of bribery" comment, although the smile was more reflexive than honest, as he hoped that the Godulan wasn't being serious; he had had enough trouble with guile and deceit to a last life-time (one he would spend without the people that were dearest to him), joking about that was outright rude. Although the Godulan envoy could of course not be expected to take that into consideration. "I welcome your proposition to station an Avatar among us, although due to security reasons we do not admit outsiders to the main systems under our controll, you are more than welcome to station an envoy at the embassies we will set up within Phenixican or TAPian territory, if they do not mind, that is... (Bruce slyly reasoned that any allies of the Rogue Legion would be even more trustworthy if they were to uphold diplomatic relations, or alliances, between themselves, and thus decided to create an opening for just that...) As for the Bulk Transport, I'm not entirely sure we will be needing that... our ships have various abilities which allow us to basically appear anywhere we want, anytime. The technology has it's limits, I have to admit, but I'm positive that we are more than capable of solving any transportation issue by ourselves, although I thank you for your concern."

In response to the proposition of using the Hive as a weapon, Bruce first listened to the somewhat negative response that the Godulans had to offer, before putting forward his own reasoning. "I think," he said tentatively, "that the Hive is much less of a threat than you might imagine. Although their efficiency as a weapon may be debated, I do think they may prove quite useful.." he continued with a smile. "They could for instance fill a quite central strategic purpose in any future conflict, namely that of being "bait", or shall we say, "cannon-fodder". You mentioned something about the Hive being just that, a hive, connected, linked to one another. That, I think, is something we can utilize to bring them under our control, and at the same time rid your nation of this perceived threat (pointing at the TAPians). We have in recent years encountered, and brought under our controll, a rather advanced life-form with an amazingly high rate of survivability, which we have incorporated into our ranks, and which simply goes by the name "symbiotech". It has a tendency of corrupting it's host, while at the same time making it even more powrful. We have been able to exclude the corruption process from the equation (at least concerning ourselves), and now a significant portion of our fleet consists of "Symbiotech Ships", while all our ships are armed with the weaponized version of the entity, which among other things can be used to take over enemy ships and personel at a tremendous rate, causing havoc and distruction among their own ranks. We are in total controll of this "weapon", and, well, I think you can see where I'm going. We let it corrupt the Hive and turn it into our obedient servant. You no longer have the threat, and we both have a secure and safe weapon to add to our arsenals. Just a suggestion... you are welcome to think about it..."

"As for the idea of letting the Empire be, I would have to agree. In ancient human history there is the example of the Roman Empire. Through years of peace, prosperity, and internal power struggles, they were eventually rendered weak, and when they sooner or later were perceived as weak by their neighbours, they were defeated and torn apart, being attacked from different directions at once. The day when the Empire is perceived as weak, and is attacked from all directions, has not come yet, it will take a while for the surrounding realms to work up the nerve to attempt something like that, but when the time comes, the Rogue Legion will be ready. In the meantime, I think I have made myself a little unclear; the Rogue Legion, while considering the Galactic Empire as the prime source of tyranny within this galaxy, is mostly a defensive force, who will defend innocent civilians against any threat. We are not "fixated" with the Empire, as I believe you may have assumed. In fact, one of our former allies, the Cylon, who destroyed our home-world, can expect a visit from us, sooner or later. It is just a matter of time, and a matter of personal vengeance, for us. But in the meanwhile, the Rogue Legion offers it's services to anyone who has a use for them, provided that the use is legitimate, as in fact I believe yours are..." he concluded, taking a sip of water.

"We would be more then pleased to allow the Rouge Legion to setup a embassy in our capital and the offer is to everyone in this room. Phenixica does understand the time to attack is not now, we are still weaker then the Empire and quite un-united in our views. First thing we will need in order to fight the Empire when the time comes is some sort of trust which will hopefully lead to organization. Besides the upgrades to the Phenixican Navy will not be completed for another year, construction has slowed down because of the recession we had before our recent economic boom. Also the government is still in shock from losing the Emperor, we have still yet to employ a new Grand Senator and Empress Nadine is still very young when it comes to Inter-Galactic politics. The real reasons I was told by the Empress to come here is to start new relations to replace the old which had to be ignored in order to protect the Empire from invasion and destruction"

John was also being cautious, as much as he would love to send secret services in to help in assessing the Empire he simply did not trust these people enough to risk it. It was nothing personal but you simply cant take a leap of faith in these situations, not in diplomacy because what you need more is clear thought and trust.

James nodded at the comment about embassies. It was what he was here for first and foremost after all.

At the mention of the hive being not as much of a threat as his people seemed to think, he gave a smile that said quite simply "you have no idea as to just how wrong you are," but for the most part stayed quite until the talk of the "symbiotech," at which point he and the rest of the members of the delegation began to pict back and forth, each person showing a dozen or so images, tinged with colors. Finally, they turned back, and said simply, "Well, we will have to perform an experiment on them to see. Just a warning though, if it doesn't work once, it will never work..."

"One reason why it might be useful to get some people inside and have them do what they can to sow a little...Chaos. Rome fell from decadence, so, let us spread decadence, and try to give rise to a second slaanesh from inside the Empire. We might even be able to make them fall as the Eldar did."

Cardinal-Colonel Meredith smiled at the thought of war being taken against the Cylons. They had useful technology, and he felt it was being wasted on beings with no souls.

But for Rahm, one thing was clear. NOVA was the best asset they had. And so, he began to formulate a letter to NOVA as to how they could strike some Chaos in the Galactic Empire, and offering them access to a Titan should they leave TAP'ian space before doing so...

Grand-General Mirog stepped on a skull as he pushed open the door. "Oy any one home? I am here to offer my services."

Shin'Raxis retained his strange smile as Bruce went on about various things, some of which even included his counter-offer. He had not been joking in the slightest about the 'Guile, Deceit, and liberal amounts of bribery' comment. As for the Cylons...

"The Cylons are a touchy issue for tactical considerations, particularly from our view. In our contact with the Colonials, we have learned some basics as to how they operate. And those basics are essentially summarized as 'they are batshit nuts', and not in the mindlessly destructive sense either. They are quite calculating in their efforts to cause harm and protect themselves from retribution.

"For instance, if under assault, they will actively kill any and all innocent civilians that they can reach, and a goodly number that they cannot simply by virtue of trying very very hard. They take the concept of human shields to something of an extreme, primarily because they can live through being killed and in most cases the attacker cannot and in almost all cases those innocent civilians can not survive either.

"They have also worked somewhat masterfully to maximize that particular quirk by surrounding themselves with very large numbers of innocent civilians. If you point a gun at them, they drop a nuke on an innocent village... or twenty... thousand.

"While we would agree that the Cylons do need 'the killins', we would point out that right now, the Galactic Empire would be the easier target, particularly if you wish to prevent such widespread death and destruction from happening again, as you say."

Then Shin'Raxis shrugged dismissively.

"But if you are merely seeking to assist in defensive operations we do not believe that would be a real complication for you, would it?"

"If we were to try and make the Empire collapse on it's own our best tactic would be to tatter the already tattered relationships between the nations. The Emperor cannot take any form of treason and will gladly attack any nation for simply saying no to him. All we have to do to spark the powder-keg is plant seeds of distrust in the Imperial Ranks, enough seeds and the Emperor will try to weed them out as always through sheer firepower. If we do this right the Empire will enter a civil war and collapse on itself, then all we have to do is pickup the pieces and conquer Coruscant"

After hearing about these beings called Cylons and Hive, John raised a eyebrow about how the subject always seems to steer off course.

"The best interests of everyone here and in fact the reason everyone is here is to talk about how to deal with the Empire, other matters should be talked about after we decided our course of action. As much as the Cylons and Hive might be a threat they are insignificant compared to the Empire and what would happen to us if the Empire knew we were talking about destroying them. We were threatened with complete destruction just for saying no to a order the empire gave us and we were not even members of the Empire. If we want to do some good in the Universe then our only goal today should be how to finally destroy or simply disband the Galactic Empire"

(OOC: Potential tag for Entry, pending observation and opportune entry time)

OOC: Just an intro/tag to help get back into this after a year on hiatus. Here is a thing about them

http://www.nswiki.net/index.php?title=Kraeton

IC

For a long time they disappeared in the massive shadows of the universe, laying dormant on their last remaining hive world. To survive the lack of food and resources, this was their only choice.

Choice... a term used loosely with a race of hunters.

Grotesque organic spires shot through the red atmosphere, choking the planet with a thick crimson miasma that to the unprotected would result in death. Tendrils spread from the bases of each spire dug into the ground and from them a thick latticework of membranes covered the landscape. This would was a wasteland to all those that would visit it, yet a haven for the species on this planet.

They are the Kraeton.

A race that technologically is as advanced as a simple creature. They are devoid of rational thinking save their supreme ruler. However, what they lack in intelligence they gain in evolution. Leaps and bounds were done to make each specie of Kraeton a walking killing machine. Breed in numbers with different species taking on different roles, the Kraeton were once feared by any who heard the name.

But that time has long passed...

Now they are simple remnants what they once were. The Great Exodus left the Kraeton without food and resources and with that they have become a scattered race of animals ruled simply by primal instinct. Most were asleep in the underground colonies to survive but some still roamed, left to hunt each other on the surface. Each day it was the same. Survive, eat one another, and simply recycle that body to create more.

But this day was different. Spreading quickly like a raging inferno, psychic energy flowed through the synapses of each creature on the planet. From the depths of the world opened a massive organic maw. Ten bioships were vomited out from the gaping maw of the organ, each one filled with dormant killers throughout the canals of the creature-ship. Amidst the ten ship there was an eleventh one, colossal in size even compared to the other ten. Aboard this ship were a crew of sleeping predators await for the command of their master. This ship was different however in that at the helm, there was one creature that lay awake and ready.

His name was Niiat. He was the one known as the Caedes, the main ruler of this splinter fleet. He was older and less powerful with the lack of food and resources. However, his psychic abilities were still formidable and potent and it allowed him to rebuild a small fleet and pilot it to being taking backwater jungle worlds uninhabited by sapient lifeforms. It would be easier to take a world with no defenses while they built up. Within just one system he entered there was one beautiful jungle world ripe for the taking. As the ships descended upon the defenseless planet, spreading its tendrils around the world, Niiat sensed a gathering of sorts in a system farther away. He scanned the broadcasts and intercepted several messages about a resistance against a massive empire.

"Hmmm..." Niiat mused, "I have been gone for quite a while. Asfaltum... that name is familiar..." Niiat thought about this opportunity. The Galactic Empire sounded very big and that meant planets rich with life and resources. If I were to help, Niiat thought, I could at least grab a few planets to spread to and grow. This would increase our dwindling numbers and allow us to demolish a potential enemy.

Niiat sighed a bit as he piloted his ship away from his fleet. "Some of these people may remember me and my kind," Niiat said aloud. "I will have to go by myself to show I am no longer a threat, at least not to them."

The ship warped from the doomed system towards the asteroid belt of the nearby system. What appeared before him was a great amount of ships around a beautiful cruiser.

"Well now, perhaps I should have brought more ships," Niiat laughed. "I guess I should send a message before I get shot down." Niiat's massive brain could sense a strong psionic force coming from the cruiser. "Hmmm... well I guess contacting him would be a good idea."

Niiat concentrated a bit and sent out a message to the psionic force known as Payne as well as a message to other captains of the other ships.

"Do not be alarmed. I come in peace," Niiat said. "I was interested in helping with this alliance against the Galactic Empire. Permission to come aboard."


Now all he could do was wait.

Whether the others had recieved the telepathic communique Shin'Raxis did not know, so it may well have passed without explanation that the Godulan Avatar suddenly burst into laughter.

Nor did he feel it necessary to explain his outburst either, merely clean up the sloshed droplets of spilled tea before commenting to bruce the following:

"Our analysts have come to a conclusion and it is thus: This must be a fine establishment, it is drawing all the best people."

The Overlink began to debate somewhat whether Shin'Raxis should take a stand about the issues before this rather impromptu committee, arguing amongst each other back and forth with sufficient enough support for each side such that the argument actually went on for longer than a few seconds...

A man on the IPN: Genesis opened his eyes, to a Phenixican it was a whisper but it was there. This man was Henry Samuel, a man loyal not to the Empire but to the Empress he was a member of the Phenixican Knightly 'Order of the Burning Sky' which means he was trained in the use of Magic and had some form of psychic ability.

He was quick to communicate with the Captain of the vessel.

"Sir we have a new arrival in the system, I cannot recognize who it is but it is their. They simply want to join the meeting but I thought I should let you know of their arrival"

"Thanks Henry, we are on it"

With so many ships in the system the lone vessel started to keep tabs on every single on, scanners were fixed onto all activity in order to make sure no funny business could happen without the entire Phenixican Navy in the system.

OOC: Back from weekend... hope you guys are still around...:sniper:

IC:

"The Cylons are a touchy issue for tactical considerations, particularly from our view. In our contact with the Colonials, we have learned some basics as to how they operate. And those basics are essentially summarized as 'they are batshit nuts', and not in the mindlessly destructive sense either. They are quite calculating in their efforts to cause harm and protect themselves from retribution.

"For instance, if under assault, they will actively kill any and all innocent civilians that they can reach, and a goodly number that they cannot simply by virtue of trying very very hard. They take the concept of human shields to something of an extreme, primarily because they can live through being killed and in most cases the attacker cannot and in almost all cases those innocent civilians can not survive either.

"They have also worked somewhat masterfully to maximize that particular quirk by surrounding themselves with very large numbers of innocent civilians. If you point a gun at them, they drop a nuke on an innocent village... or twenty... thousand.

"While we would agree that the Cylons do need 'the killins', we would point out that right now, the Galactic Empire would be the easier target, particularly if you wish to prevent such widespread death and destruction from happening again, as you say."

Then Shin'Raxis shrugged dismissively.

"But if you are merely seeking to assist in defensive operations we do not believe that would be a real complication for you, would it?"

Bruce smiled somewhat enigmatically at the mention of Cylon tactics, and the GE being the easier target. "Yes, they are a rather spineless gathering aren't they? Although it is said, that one often meets destiny on the road one takes to avoid it ...I can assure you that Cylon aggression will not be tolerated for much longer..."

"If we were to try and make the Empire collapse on it's own our best tactic would be to tatter the already tattered relationships between the nations. The Emperor cannot take any form of treason and will gladly attack any nation for simply saying no to him. All we have to do to spark the powder-keg is plant seeds of distrust in the Imperial Ranks, enough seeds and the Emperor will try to weed them out as always through sheer firepower. If we do this right the Empire will enter a civil war and collapse on itself, then all we have to do is pickup the pieces and conquer Coruscant"

"As much as the Cylons and Hive might be a threat they are insignificant compared to the Empire and what would happen to us if the Empire knew we were talking about destroying them. We were threatened with complete destruction just for saying no to a order the empire gave us and we were not even members of the Empire. If we want to do some good in the Universe then our only goal today should be how to finally destroy or simply disband the Galactic Empire"

"But enough about the Cylon," the Rogue Commander continued, "our Phenixican friend has a point. ("Although telling someone what and what not to discuss, on their own ship, is a tad indelicate..." Bruce commented to himself.) "I am glad to note that you gentlemen have accepted to co-operate with the Rogue Legion in behalf of your respective realms, that is one of the more important results of this meeting. We will also co-operate with the people of The American Privateer in order to vanquish the Hive that threatens their home.

As for the Empire, I believe that in order to maximise the effects of our efforts, we should utilize a two-sided strategy. Causing separations within the Empire is one very important side, which I believe all of you are more than capable of accomplishing. The mission of the Rogue Legion, the other side of our strategy, would be a more direct one. By employing precission strikes, and evading Imperial retribution, we would enforce the sense that the Empire is weakening. This would counteract pro-imperial critics within member-nations of the empire, as it would encourage dissidents to view the Empire as weak and ineffective. At the same time, the GE leadership would be aware of this, and would be more prone to react with agression, in order to uphold it's reputation, and in order to weed out the dissidents from within..." just as Payne was about to continue he was interrupted by Niiat, and his telepathic message.

"Do not be alarmed. I come in peace," Niiat said. "I was interested in helping with this alliance against the Galactic Empire. Permission to come aboard."


The moment Niiat entered the system, even before he broadcasted his message, Bruce was aware of his presence. Images of worlds being destroyed, civlians being slaughtered, and entire races being eradicated presented themselves to him, as he struggled to controll his reaction. The staggering amount of innoccent life which this entity had taken, was enough to nearly send Bruce into a most distructive berserk rampage. Or it would have been, if Bruce had not actively practised excercising controll over the being that inhabited him, since several years now. Still, the intense evil which concentrated itself into the persona of Niiat was enough to strain even Bruce's huge amount of self-controll. He tried not to let his guests notice anything of his internal struggle, although to be honest he blundered quite pathetically.

Whether the others had recieved the telepathic communique Shin'Raxis did not know, so it may well have passed without explanation that the Godulan Avatar suddenly burst into laughter.

Nor did he feel it necessary to explain his outburst either, merely clean up the sloshed droplets of spilled tea before commenting to Bruce the following:

"Our analysts have come to a conclusion and it is thus: This must be a fine establishment, it is drawing all the best people."

Bruce was not amused in the least, as his level Clint-Eastwood-stare made clear to the Godulan envoy in a more than obvious manner.

As Bruce quite innoccently attempted to put down the glass of water he was holding, several red-hot patterns of melting glass became visible, marking the place of his grip. He quickly grasped the glass again, looking for another place to position it, outside his guests' line of vision. Alas, there was no other major object on the conference table, so he resorted to standing up and depositing it on a nearby tray, among other beverages, hoping that his guests wouldn't notice the rise of room-temperature which had taken place during the last few seconds. To the Godulan envoy the whole affair would have been even more revealing, as he for a the minutest part of a split-second caught a glimpse of unlimited amounts of energy, an entire dimension to which Bruce seemed to have the function of a portal, and seemingly endless entities which inhabited it, a network even greater than anything the Godulan was accustomed to, one filled with unlimited pain, suffering, memories, evil, retribution... but it was something even the Godulan's powerfull skills would have only sensed, more like a dream or a vision, than a real perception. Something he could not get a clear vision of, before it disappeared again, leaving him wondering if what he actually had seen was real or just an elaborately fantastic illusion.

In the meanwhile, Bruce sat down again and responded to Niiat with a simple answer, on an open frequency which could easily be picked up by other entities in the system (the Godulan included).
Permission granted.

A hint of a smile crossed Bruce's expression as he turned to his guests again. "I believe we have a representative from another realm who might or might not decide to join the meeting... certain circumstances require that this meeting be held in privacy, but until that event I'm more than willing to continue discussions concerning the Empire... after which you will be offered a small (but exquisite) snack, and hopefully after those refreshments we can continue our discourse. Now, where were we..." he continued...

OOC: There are two ways this can go down Ed, either Niiat senses a trap and leaves immediately, or he stays in the system and is destroyed by Bruce. The choice is yours... nothing personal, I enjoyed RPing with you in the past, but the new direction I'm taking for Asfaltum does not leave much room for co-operation with races prone to genocide... I'm afraid hostile encounters are the only encounters possible...

Sana had noticed the glass, but while she was worried about the thought of a mutant losing control over his powers, for so far as she could tell he was simply a man with an X-Factor Gene, she calmed as she watched him calm himself.

She had felt a slight tickle in her hyperythalmus, indicative of a Psyker broadcasting something, but like the rest fo the Diplomatic team, and all citizens of TAP, her cybernetic Mindscreen helped to protect her from anything potenentially...dangerous.

Huh, powers over fire and telepathy in the same body, and unusual mutation, or perhaps he is a mutate...

Ambassador James Longstreet paused as a buzzing filled his ears, "Excuse me, I have received a call, I need to take this real quick." With that, he stood up and nodded to Sana as he left the room, telling her to take over and offer them some of the tech via picts.

Sana stood up, and began to speak of technology they had to offer. Tesseract Drives that can get people almost anywhere in the universe, instantly. So long as the Gravimetric Data for the area is available that is. Power sources that use subspace and quantum phoam to power their ships, with the exception of during a jump that is. Chromium Hull Plating that could deflect away energy weapons from the target, so long as it wasn't too scratched that is (and hopefully it wasn't an anti-photon beam, in which case it was useless). And last but not least, the Kauffman Drive, which allowed nigh-stealth (out beyond 300 ly) and was unaffected by many of the same FTLi that the Tesseract Drive was immune to.

OOC: Oh no you don't.

Shin'Raxis allowed himself to sense the supposed vision put forward by his 'host', and was decidedly not impressed. The Godulans had seen things far greater than anything Bruce could possibly hope to fathom, and bent such things to their will on a regular basis. This supposed network in his vision was little more than a small fraction of what the Godulans could bring to bear, if they were so inclined.

And so, in response to Bruce's "Glimpse", Shin'Raxis again began to laugh. This time so hard that the room began to vibrate with the sheer intensity of the Godulan's mirth. As swiftly as he began he stopped, causing silence to reign for a moment, and with an emerald-eyed glare (that had no visions attributed to it even though the Godulans could render Bruce into a babbling heap of insensate flesh hunkered in a corner if they so chose) he replied, deciding not to clarify his comment to the others:

"Honestly, sir. If you want to go there why not just whip it out and get a ruler?"

John was not comfortable in the least, he did in fact notice the change in temperature because Phenixicans had such a sensitivity to temperature and he noticed the burning glass which did little to settle his nerves . The fact that Shin'Raxis laugh also did little to calm his nerve the team controlling the warpgate buoy on the Genesis was preparing to activate at the first sign of trouble bringing a Imperial fleet into the system.

John eyes were shining orange like cat's eyes caught in the light, this was a natural defense mechanism when a Phenixican sensed something wrong. It did not mean John had any real magical power but in the end every Phenixican has Phoenix blood in his body but only few choose to use it or have the discipline to control it.

These situations would of suited the past Emperor, but he was not around anymore so it was up to John to try and keep this meeting on track.

"Tell me more of Chromium Hull Plating, deflector shields is something Phenixica prides itself on but we will admit our Armour technology is rather Standard"

EDIT: (OOC:John is meant to be forward, typical straight to the point Phenixican politician who doesn't like wandering off subject. not being rude. Sucks that I killed off Emperor Belcameron II about 7 months ago but I thought a change was needed to make Phenixica more aggressive :P)

OOC: Oh no you don't.

Shin'Raxis allowed himself to sense the supposed vision put forward by his 'host', and was decidedly not impressed. The Godulans had seen things far greater than anything Bruce could possibly hope to fathom, and bent such things to their will on a regular basis. This supposed network in his vision was little more than a small fraction of what the Godulans could bring to bear, if they were so inclined.

And so, in response to Bruce's "Glimpse", Shin'Raxis again began to laugh. This time so hard that the room began to vibrate with the sheer intensity of the Godulan's mirth. As swiftly as he began he stopped, causing silence to reign for a moment, and with an emerald-eyed glare (that had no visions attributed to it even though the Godulans could render Bruce into a babbling heap of insensate flesh hunkered in a corner if they so chose) he replied, deciding not to clarify his comment to the others:

"Honestly, sir. If you want to go there why not just whip it out and get a ruler?"

OOC: I respect your character abilities (which I'm not entirely aware of), please respect mine (which you are not entirely aware of)... stop acting like a five-year-old who always has to be better, faster, stronger... I'm not competing, just trying to introduce the character I'll be RPing in the future... your annoying wankish ubermensch attitude is not helping here, save it for the Imperials... that was my whole point of not letting your character be entirely able to know my character's abilities... that way nobody can wank and say they're stronger/more advanced, I was doing both of us a favour... but I guess you didn't quite follow up on that hint... :rolleyes:

IC:

Bruce had just gone back to his normal controlled self when the Godulan envoy first laughed an insane laughter, followed by an even more insane abrupt silence, and a truly insane comment about whips and rulers which Bruce didn't not even try to figure out. He simply raised an eyebrow, wondered if his personal aversion towards evil entities was being mocked, and if all Godulans were as insane as the envoy they had sent, after which he decided to do what was required of a true diplomat and ignore the man. Heck, he was obviously having a stressfull day... Bruce went back to listening to Sana and her description of TAPian technology.

OOC: Ed, there's a third option too; Bruce detroys Niiat, and lets the Symbiotech take over his forces. That way incorporating them into the Rogue Legion, even more powerful than they were before... oh and the "destroying" part is up to Niiat, he may well be more powerfull than I think...

((What has Asfaltum done that's so bad? compared to your 'uber-god/alien' Character who always does have to be just that little bit better then everyone?))

OOC: Ok folks, let's cut down on the OOC posts/arguments ...I think if everyone does their best to avoid stepping on each other's toes we'll be just fine... remember: GE, common enemy. Common enemy unifies people.. so let's all act unified... :)

"Tell me more of Chromium Hull Plating, deflector shields is something Phenixica prides itself on but we will admit our Armour technology is rather Standard"

"We imported it from another Universe with whom we do regular business. So long as you keep it polished, which for some reason drones cannot do," the Cardinal looked really frustrated over that one, as The Longinean Order had put him in charge of trying to reverse that, "Then lasers, including turbolasers, blasters, tachyon cannons, etc. will be deflected. It also tends to reflect what is in front of it, granting some minor stealth. Just a warning though, you will need to keep shields up at all times, interstellar debris can scratch it all to hell fairly quickly, and then it doesn't work any more. But if you are able to put this stuff on a Vogon Constructor Ship and park it in front of a Death Star, it will deflect the laser back into the Death Star. The mirror finish will be ruined and it will require seven months to repair just the one section melted, and a further four to smooth it out, but it works. And, with the GE focusing on Energy Weapons, with the exception of Chronosia, this will be a major boon to all in the Legion."

OOC: Ok folks, let's cut down on the OOC posts/arguments ...I think if everyone does their best to avoid stepping on each other's toes we'll be just fine... remember: GE, common enemy. Common enemy unifies people.. so let's all act unified... :)

OOC: Seconded

OOC: It is important to note that thus far all of the supposed actions that Shin'Raxis have taken have had legitimate reasons tied to them. So lets just run through a quick list of 'things to keep in mind' when dealing with the Godulans in this particular thread.

1. Shin'Raxis is composed of several minds inhabiting what amounts to a super-dense stone golem. At present he weighs upwards of six metric tons as a result of mass-augmentation which really means that he just a lot more 'stone' in his frame than the standard Avatar. He is augmented in such a manner as a result of the Godulan Legion being somewhat paranoid because they have been to other anti-GE meetings and such things tend to end with some bastage copping out to the Impies and screwing everything up. They intend to make it so if somebody goes "Ha! We have you right where we want you!" Shin'Raxis can smear that somebody over the far bulkhead as fast as if somebody had thrown a car at the defender. Suffice it to say, even the most rudimentary of scans would have shown the same information as one would get from scanning his ship.

2. Shin'Raxis' initial attitude stems from the Godulans natural trepidation for such meetings, not any sense of arrogance. They came because they were asked and would feel it wrong to deny others of a chance to get proper advice in their intended dealings.

3. Shin'Raxis is not hovering because he likes to show off. Remember that six ton frame? If he were to set down, the fact that he weighs so much in a compact package would very swiftly cause damage to bulkheads and elevators. He is allowed significantly greater amounts of mobility by 'floating'

4. As Shin'Raxis is advocating the path of diplomacy, that everybody keeps shifting back to "OMG MAKE EXPLOSIONSES!" is proving to be remarkably off-putting, and so his comment about 'being a fine establishment' was in fact a roundabout jab at how the meeting was drawing a large number of remarkably bloodthirsty people. They don't want to hear about the latest and greatest weapons and technology everybody has to offer, they came because the meeting was meant to propose a defensive alliance, not a band of ravaging brigands. If the Godulans wanted to fall in with pirates they'd send an agent out to hire some.

5. Shin'Raxis is being remarkably quiet save for his dissertation about Diplomacy and non-combat methods being the more efficient path towards dealing with the empire. The Godulans have had extensive dealings with the Chronosians, the Balroggans, and a great number of folks in the GE and would be a remarkable resource in understanding what would and would not work, and y'all respond to his comments as if he's joking. Sigh. Another reason he's being quiet is that his actions are presently being dictated by the Godulan Legion as a whole, not just him. As a result of several debates going on at any one time, he is more naturally inclined towards quietly observing, only making a comment when the Legion's sentiments spike in one direction or the other.

Now, while he will not actively state any of this information unless asked, I hope that at least outlining why he is doing such things in a large wall of bolf-faced text might prove enlightening and perhaps allay any suspicions of Shin'Raxis behaving like 'some kind of wankish ubermensch'. He's not an ubermensch at all. He can pull off what he does as a result of an extensive support network that allows him a large amount of adaptability and tactical benefits, to say nothing of a lot of this stuff having RP background too. It would be a similar situation to one of Mekanta's Minagoroshi avatars: significant amount of resources went into presenting the Envoy in the manner they deemed necessary. I spent a long time building the Kythons, the nature and balance of Godulan tech, from freaking scratch I might add.

Apologies for this last bit of OOC, but it needed to be done. There is a lot of confusion that needs to be put to rest.

IC:

Shin'Raxis simply hovered over his section of conference table with the same wan smile, sipping some tea and mentally shaking his head at the sheer folly of it all.

>>I tried. I did try.

We cannot leave just yet. We need to know what they intend so we can understand how badly we will be set back if they decide to go forward with something. Fools can still cause significant damage if allowed to run uninhibited.

Did you see the look on his face when I mentioned bribes and deception? They think I am trying to be humorous! Slipped right back into going on and on about making things blow up, they did. You all saw it.

I like how that one said that the Chonosians would think they were beset upon by the Chaos Gods themselves. They really do know nothing, do they?

Do I need to be more vocal? Maybe I should augment my vocal parameters. Perhaps speaking all in capital letters would get their attention.

No. We are trying to be tactful here. You know how it is with people who have undergone such significant stresses.

Yes yes. Do not provoke the psychopath.

Indeed. Just stay put for the time being and observe. Respond if queried but keep always to our objectives. Be conservative in your comments if such is needed and just try to discourage them from the more deleterious pathways.

Acknowledged. This tea is nice by the way. I really must compliment the sensory algorithm programmers on the vividness of the flavor.<<

And so Shin'Raxis remained silent, giving no external indication of his inner frustrations.

"So I am guessing it simply does not allow any friction to occur which would normally cause something to explode? I will say that is impressive, our shielding is electro-magnetic based which we find makes it more effective against material objects like missiles and other forms of ammunition yet is a bit weaker when it comes to Energy based weapons like Lasers. Because instead of forcing it to blowup early like it would a missile it tries to absorb the energy which only weakens the blast that hits the ship and infact if the blast is powerful like from some kind of planet based Ion-Cannon it can overload the shielding altogether"

OOC: Tag.

OOC: I respect your feelings Godular, but I was only referring to your rather un-diplomatic way of taking liberties in post #46... as I said previously, my intention was not to measure my character's powers with yours, but to simply introduce another aspect of him, for further RPs... that's why I made his abilities a tad unclear to outsiders, so that none of us could claim to be the better or more powerful, as some are prone to do. It was a hint, I should have explained it OOCly, my bad... anyway, nevermind... oh and maybe you recall my character mentioning a dual strategy, not only consisting of aggressive tactics, but subversive and aggressive tactics as a two sides of the same strategy... your character has made no effort to comment on the issue...

IC:
Bruce listened to the discussion about the Chromium Hull Plating, and, when a pause in the discussion permitted, he visualized in front of his guests a thought off his, or several, to be more specific. In the image that hovered above the conference table could be seen a battleship, with Chromium Plating. What was different from the picts which Sana had shown, was that this ship had a large number of spheres consisting of what appeared to be Chromium, gently moving around the ship in random patterns. When laser-fire was seen approaching the ship, the spheres acted as a sort of "mobile armor system", as they placed themselves between the ship and the incoming fire, swiftly moving about and deflecting shots, sometimes even back at the aggressor. The next image showed the same system being applied to small fighter-crafts who where involved in dogfights, small spheres cirulated around them and deflected incoming shots from any angle. Again the next series of images showed this system being applied to tanks, armored vehicles, and soldiers, as an incorporated part of their armor/battle suits.

"This is just a thought of mine," Bruce said, as the vision came to an end, "I'm not entirely sure how far one could go with this, but if one could make a sphere of Chromium, containing a shield generator within, and connect it to a gravitonic system of sorts, or an intricate set of tractor beams in the worst case, wouldn't that be quite effective? I mean, clearly this Chromium plating you speak of must be quite expensive to maintain, and not too cheap to purchase either one would assume... the spheres on the other hand can easily be replaced when needed, and in the case of warships, while not constituting the main armor, they might still be able to serve as a first line of defense, deflecting the smaller projectiles, and leaving the ships armor to take care of only the major hits... I can imagine how time-consuming and irritating it must be for your people to make repairs on this type of armor..."

"So I am guessing it simply does not allow any friction to occur which would normally cause something to explode? I will say that is impressive, our shielding is electro-magnetic based which we find makes it more effective against material objects like missiles and other forms of ammunition yet is a bit weaker when it comes to Energy based weapons like Lasers. Because instead of forcing it to blowup early like it would a missile it tries to absorb the energy which only weakens the blast that hits the ship and infact if the blast is powerful like from some kind of planet based Ion-Cannon it can overload the shielding altogether"

"It is the mirror finish actually. Most energy weapons use EM Radiation of some kind. The Chromium is able to deflect the energy weapons away. Your ships will still absorb heat which can cause some warping. We use liquid nitrogen for cooling on that, which drags the heat towards meta-stable hydrogen that is cooled to around 7 kelvin via Ytterbium lasers. But the mirror finish is why it is so expensive. For some reason, robots cannot put the mirror finish on it correctly. But the need for the smooth finish is one reason why we use...7 different shield technologies on top of that." She sent a questioning glance to the Cardinal, who just shrugged. That wasn't his job.

"I bring this up, because despite trying other methods, including corruption, diplomacy, etc. We are going to have to face them at some point in combat. And this will be a great boon to us when that combat takes place."

OOC: I respect your feelings Godular, but I was only referring to your rather un-diplomatic way of taking liberties in post #46... as I said previously, my intention was not to measure my character's powers with yours, but to simply introduce another aspect of him, for further RPs... that's why I made his abilities a tad unclear to outsiders, so that none of us could claim to be the better or more powerful, as some are prone to do. It was a hint, I should have explained it OOCly, my bad... anyway, nevermind... oh and maybe you recall my character mentioning a dual strategy, not only consisting of aggressive tactics, but subversive and aggressive tactics as a two sides of the same strategy... your character has made no effort to comment on the issue...

IC:
Bruce listened to the discussion about the Chromium Hull Plating, and, when a pause in the discussion permitted, he visualized in front of his guests a thought off his, or several, to be more specific. In the image that hovered above the conference table could be seen a battleship, with Chromium Plating. What was different from the picts which Sana had shown, was that this ship had a large number of spheres consisting of what appeared to be Chromium, gently moving around the ship in random patterns. When laser-fire was seen approaching the ship, the spheres acted as a sort of "mobile armor system", as they placed themselves between the ship and the incoming fire, swiftly moving about and deflecting shots, sometimes even back at the aggressor. The next image showed the same system being applied to small fighter-crafts who where involved in dogfights, small spheres cirulated around them and deflected incoming shots from any angle. Again the next series of images showed this system being applied to tanks, armored vehicles, and soldiers, as an incorporated part of their armor/battle suits.

"This is just a thought of mine," Bruce said, as the vision came to an end, "I'm not entirely sure how far one could go with this, but if one could make a sphere of Chromium, containing a shield generator within, and connect it to a gravitonic system of sorts, or an intricate set of tractor beams in the worst case, wouldn't that be quite effective? I mean, clearly this Chromium plating you speak of must be quite expensive to maintain, and not too cheap to purchase either one would assume... the spheres on the other hand can easily be replaced when needed, and in the case of warships, while not constituting the main armor, they might still be able to serve as a first line of defense, deflecting the smaller projectiles, and leaving the ships armor to take care of only the major hits... I can imagine how time-consuming and irritating it must be for your people to make repairs on this type of armor..."

OOC: Using subversion is a given. But we are going to come into physical conflict from time to time, and so these technologies might be able to give us a leg up.

IC:
"Well, we already have Shield Drones, which are able to Tortoise their shields into those of our ships. So we can share those with you. And yes, we do use the Chromium on all of our vehicles, including ground combat vehicles. It can be expensive to maintain for ground vehicles, one reason our combat ground vehicles are all stored in a vacuum when not in use, and in warships, a layer an inch and a half thick in the minimum to deflect a heavy turbolaser. The Death Star would be able to melt right through due to the sheer amount of heat involved, as would the spinal beams of Sovereigns and Eclipses, much to our...dismay at a recent battle..." She shook of the memory of the destroyed freighter that had flitted the wrong way in an attempt to escape a hive sphere, only to have the spinal weapon on the APN John F. Kennedy punch a hole straight through.

"One thing we will be doing to help hold down maintenance costs with the technology is that we will install Kauffman Drives on all of the ships that receive it, which enable Trans-Luminal speeds by never actually traveling at the Speed of Light. They are only able to work because of frictionless distortion fields that will prevent interstellar debris from damaging the finish. Purchase of the materials is not expensive. Application is. We are talking about hundreds of thousands of man hours per ship. One reason why we use a composite hull composed of unique minerals from several universes across the Multi-Verse, as it cuts down on the actual amount of armor needed."

Beside her, the Cardinal chuckled. "Much as I wish I could blame those fools in Universe-135 for not simply killing all of the Hive via Complimentary Resonant Pulses every few months, they did allow us to place those distortion fields on our ships. They are expensive to maintain at times, but they cut WAY down on the costs to maintain the shine on the Chromium."

At that point, James Longstreet stepped back in, a wide grin on his face. "It would seem that Augustus managed to discover how to calculate Hive Resonance and it's Compliment based on generations. The latest generation just froze, and thus we have at least six months before the next incursion. Best of all, they are going to have Commodore Farragut hanging int he sky over Hive Worlds to activate the Res Pulse whenever they become active. Looks like we don't have to keep those damn Scarab Crickets in our houses anymore."

OOC: Sorry for the shortness of this reply I am cramming it out before i go to work...I wont be back until 10 pm est

IC

RNS-Longknife
Meeting System
Unknown Location

The Republican Cruiser decelerated from hyperspace not to terribly far from th location of the conference ship. The meeting was to be a collection a nations opposed to the oppressive rule of the Galactic Empire, such a meeting could not be fulfilled without the inclusion of the GE's oldest enemy. the Republic Remnant. Theirs was a troubled past with the Galactic Empire, at one point the GE ruled supreme, the Republic occupied, then Palpatine had died and the Old Republic was reestablished. Now though the Empire had risen again that event now decades old and the Republic was shattered, forced to control only a remnant of what they once had.

Times had changed though the last decade brought no renewed assaults from the GE, whose hatred was concentrated on the Coreworlds. This event had allowed the Republic to regain its strength and to ready itself for what was to come.

Yet, they would need friends in the future and that was the purpose of this meeting. The ship requested permission to send over the envoy, and once that was given they would do so and join in the discussion.

ooc: There it is a breif description of my nation, and my wanting to join in the talks here. Ill be back tonight.

"The Phenixican Empire has a fleet that is capable of fighting the Empire and we could more then help when the time of full-scale war emerges. With our warpgate technology we could raid several systems and be out of there in 15 minutes before any ship can retaliate. To put it simply the Empire would not know what hit them"

John drinks some Tea before continuing.

"Our only weakness is that unlike the galactic empire it is illegal to use clones in any aspect in Phenixica, if we lose a ship and it's crew we cant just grow a new crew straight away, they have to be trained and graduate. So if we were to enter a Stale-Mate when we go hostile it could make a huge drain on our resources"

"We might have a solution to that. We call them Ressurection Chambers. It allows someone hooked into the Soul Net to either rest there and act as AI's, which we call Ghosts, or download themselves into an artificial body. The most common type for the humans in our nation," Sana's snouted twitched toward Longstreet at that comment, "is called the Olmy. A largely self-contained body that only requires food once a month and water once a week. It may not be in violation of your laws as these bodies must have a Ghost installed to function. You will gain many more technologies alongside them if you so choose."

"Actually the law in question states that we cannot use any technology to replace a worker if the worker can do the job just as efficiently, so that would be illegal...it is just typical Red-Tape you find in every government"

"Awww, but it doesn't replace the worker, it replaces the body. It is, in fact, the exact same person, just with a new body. If nothing else, the Ghost Tech would be worth it to allow you to have large numbers of AI's available to you."

OOC: Think Cylon Resurrection Chambers for Human Form Cylons...

OOC: sigh...I'm going with a fourth option

Niiat was tired. Lack of food for such a long period of time made him mentally fatigued. Still, it didn't take a psychic to have enough common sense to know to watch yourself in any diplomatic meeting. Niiat knew not this psychic entity named Bruce, but he did sense a form of anger from him. Niiat couldn't really blame him. For the longest time Niiat believed the Kraetons to be a superior race to all creatures in the galaxy. But now... he needed them more than ever. This would have to require a humble presence on his part.

Niiat broadcasted to all people in the system at this meeting.

"This is Niiat, envoy of the Kraetons, preparing to dock into the Confuser. Appreciation is given for allowing me entrance into this meeting."

Niiat prayed this would at least earn him some time for an audience. If not he was prepared for what may happen in the event of a much deserved destruction.

The massive bio ship's synapses went afire as Niiat's tendrils disconnect from the neural passageways of the ship. The membrane covering his brain-like body unfolded, revealing a fully metamorphosed Niiat. He was tall and humanoid with four arms and his membranes had become wings. The tendrils lay limp from his back. The wings folded around his body like a cape and he began walking towards the orifice that can only be described as a hangar.

The bio ship set up a shuttle-sized transport organism for Niiat. The inside of it was drained of any toxic miasma that would otherwise kill any dangerous organism. Niiat walked inside of it and sighed.

Well, he thought, here goes nothing.

((OOC: Yeah I know what your getting at, but like I said Phenixica has so much red-tape on that area they just don't touch it. Phenixica is a nation slightly choked by Bureaucracy and Socialist groups so they find it hard to make any serious change to Industry. Something I like Rping because it makes the Empire seem more 'real'))

"I can think of a Earth saying that would suit the subject 'I will not touch that with a ten-foot pole' to implement that means I have to go to a thousand Social meetings, talk to Unions and assure the population it will not replace their jobs. Sure they might control the robots through A.I but Phenixicans do not see the difference and even then we would have to decide little things like does the technology mean the soldiers wont get hazard pay for going to war. Trust me during my time in office I wished the Bureaucracy did not exist because in the Empire all it does is hinder change, but sadly their is no getting rid of it short of a gun to it's head"

"Understandable. It is a shame though. It allows us much greater freedom in conflict to carrying out combat actions, and then have the people re-birth themselves back home. As such, we would be willing to take the Point on any kind of combat actions due to that." James Longstreet said.

"Anyways, lets start talking about our first actions. We have a splinter group, an Ultra-nationalist group for that matter, that would be willing to do this if we eased up on them some. They are extremely skilled at corrupting officials at numerous levels of government, including people inside the Intel Services."

"On top of that, the Republic Security Bureau has business persons they would like to try to infiltrate into the Empire. All of them are legitamate business persons, many of them prosperous entrepreneurs, who want to do this job. It helps that they can just download into a new body if they are caught. Plus, like all TAP'ians, they have Mindscreens that help to block out Psychers and Jedi. And then we have our Ghosts themselves, but activities such as that are FAR above my pay grade, so I can't tell you exactly what they would be doing there..."

OOC: I respect your feelings Godular, but I was only referring to your rather un-diplomatic way of taking liberties in post #46... as I said previously, my intention was not to measure my character's powers with yours, but to simply introduce another aspect of him, for further RPs... that's why I made his abilities a tad unclear to outsiders, so that none of us could claim to be the better or more powerful, as some are prone to do. It was a hint, I should have explained it OOCly, my bad... anyway, nevermind... oh and maybe you recall my character mentioning a dual strategy, not only consisting of aggressive tactics, but subversive and aggressive tactics as a two sides of the same strategy... your character has made no effort to comment on the issue...

OOC: The key issue here is that you have assumed that he is trying to come off as superior as a result of his actions. He initially tried to be of assistance in the beginning by pointing out that diplomacy should be the first option. Beyond showing his exasperation at the conversation repeatedly turning back to some sort of unspoken itinerary of gimpy gadgets and machines of war, he has avoided speaking. His comment in regards to the Kraetons' telepathic hoodoo was that he could sense portions of their 'outlook' in their view and recognized that a remarkably bloodthirsty entity had entered the fray, and that Bruce's vetting procedures seemed to be sorely lacking.

In response you did the equivalent of dickwaving at him, presenting some kind of image that YOU said would be outside of MY guy's sphere of reckoning. YOU are not permitted to say what MY people think. THAT is what post #46 was about.

I recognize that I made some gray area comments in the beginning, saying that perhaps your folks would be a tad startled by an Avatar appearing right in their midst, and how the scans of the ship would prove confusing. You will notice that after your response showing that they took it all in stride, my character was not bothered. He wasn't trying to prove some sort of innate superiority, nor did he really care if anybody thought he was. He would have been interested in the notion for purposes of future studies, but beyond that Shin'Raxis was not trying to prove anything. He is comfortable with his nature. He is comfortable with being a six ton stone golem that can channel remarkable powers. The only 'semblance' of acting superior comes from him just floating around and not using his mouth to speak.

If anything, I should have been offended when your folks tried to reply with telepathy in the docking bay. He used conventional speech to speak to your folks and you tried to intrude upon his mind. He SHOULD have mindblasted your psions into oblivion. But he didn't. He was being diplomatic.

I really am sorry for this. I just want to get this stuff dealt with.

Short bit of IC to show that this isn't wholly an OOC post:

Shin'Raxis decided it necessary to point out a small issue, his reaction somewhat delayed by his ship notifying him of a republican ambassador from the Farstars territories (will edit if this is not the case, I tried to catch up with Wick earlier but he was gone). Though he did not show it, he felt significant relief that another more experienced entity would be arriving at the negotiations.

That being said, he felt it necessary to comment in regards to the alleged fast-attack fleet:

"We are uncertain if you have noticed, but the Imperials happen to have significant amounts of technology at their own disposal. While there might be lasers of world-death or missiles of also-world-death, the one of particular concern is that they have a particularly aggravating Faster Than Light Interdiction field that prevents any old band of marauders from hopping in and out before proper defenses can be organized. The one employed by the more fortified worlds in particular employs a form of dimensional stability field that prevents one from using spatial warps of almost any kind, which would include warp gates among entirely too many other things.

"If we might impose ourselves, we would suggest that if you seek to cause damage to the Galactic Empire, try to avoid relying on trinkets and baubles and actually employ some sense of strategy. The possibility of subversion and covert tactics would be rendered completely moot if you lot were to start throwing around signature moves. We are dealing with an entity that has had a significant amount of time to entrench itself and refine its defensive strategies in regards to a remarkably varied array of armaments.

"Who has the shinier gun becomes a non-issue when the only thing that happens is one of you gets shot in the head."

Secondary OOC: Durnit, TAP fired up another post while I was writing mine up.

After hearing Longstreet's proposal about some sort of splinter group, he shook his head earnestly.

"The first step in infiltration is to employ people who actually live within the territory into which you are attempting to insinuate your influence. Sending in just any old clump of spies would be... ill advised."

Shin'Raxis decided it necessary to point out a small issue, his reaction somewhat delayed by his ship notifying him of a republican ambassador from the Farstars territories (will edit if this is not the case, I tried to catch up with Wick earlier but he was gone). Though he did not show it, he felt significant relief that another more experienced entity would be arriving at the negotiations.

That being said, he felt it necessary to comment in regards to the alleged fast-attack fleet:

"We are uncertain if you have noticed, but the Imperials happen to have significant amounts of technology at their own disposal. While there might be lasers of world-death or missiles of also-world-death, the one of particular concern is that they have a particularly aggravating Faster Than Light Interdiction field that prevents any old band of marauders from hopping in and out before proper defenses can be organized. The one employed by the more fortified worlds in particular employs a form of dimensional stability field that prevents one from using spatial warps of almost any kind, which would include warp gates among entirely too many other things.

"If we might impose ourselves, we would suggest that if you seek to cause damage to the Galactic Empire, try to avoid relying on trinkets and baubles and actually employ some sense of strategy. The possibility of subversion and covert tactics would be rendered completely moot if you lot were to start throwing around signature moves. We are dealing with an entity that has had a significant amount of time to entrench itself and refine its defensive strategies in regards to a remarkably varied array of armaments.

"Who has the shinier gun becomes a non-issue when the only thing that happens is one of you gets shot in the head."

"Well, that means our primary method of FTL are out, cause it sounds like they can block Universal Transposition."

"And you are right, blatant attacks by us for the sake of attacks would render all of our espionage tactics moot. However, we have to deal with the possibility of getting the entire Galactic Empire coming down on our heads. Thus, we need to be prepared for this. Are covert ops going to be our primary methods, Hell yes, but at the same time we need to follow the Boy Scout Motto. Be Prepared. That is why we are bringing up this Defensive Technology. It will help all members of this group if we get in trouble."

"Now, you obviously know more about the Empire than we do. So please, if we are aggravating you through our lack of experience and actionable Intel, help us, because in case you haven't noticed, we don't have much of that available to us for this cause. We are groping around int eh dark right now, trying to establish trust amongst ourselves before we reveal any kind of information that might compromise us to the Empire."

Secondary OOC: Durnit, TAP fired up another post while I was writing mine up.

After hearing Longstreet's proposal about some sort of splinter group, he shook his head earnestly.

"The first step in infiltration is to employ people who actually live within the territory into which you are attempting to insinuate your influence. Sending in just any old clump of spies would be... ill advised."

OOC: He He, Gomen

IC:
"One of the reasons why NOVA Corporation might be useful. We send them in, encourage them to set up shop inside the Empire, hire Imperial Citizens, buy Politicians. They will start buying off officials and conducting espionage as a matter of course." He descended into a grumble about them owning 25% of the TAP'ian Economy to some extent or another within a few months because they had conducted similar methods inside the Republic. "These guys appear completely legit on the surface, and the money funneling between the Corporation and the actual Nightwatch are such that even with a thousand RSB agents working on it, we STILL can't find the path that links them together. Trust me on this, NOVA is one of the best things we could do with this. Plus, then maybe we can get rid of NOVA Corporation's Illegitimate groups that way and turn them more legit..."

Shin'Raxis shook his head again. "What will HELP is putting forth a united front. All the defensive technology in the universe won't help you if Darth Vader turns the Galaxy Gun on you. The first method to striking down an entity such as this is not only remaining unified but also trying to keep yourselves 'invisible', in a metaphorical sense, of course."

Edited: Blargh! AGAIN!

"It would be better advised to employ smugglers and pirates that already have a bone to pick with the Imperials. We are certain that they would enjoy recieving money for performing services that do not involve them actually being shot at. One would not even require remarkably convoluted agents to function in this manner, as for a preliminary thing you would really need only to be some sort of nameless entity with a lot of money.

Shin'Raxis shook his head again. "What will HELP is putting forth a united front. All the defensive technology in the universe won't help you if Darth Vader turns the Galaxy Gun on you. The first method to striking down an entity such as this is not only remaining unified but also trying to keep yourselves 'invisible', in a metaphorical sense, of course."

"True, the Galaxy Gun is a big hazard. Biggest one they have in fact. One more reason to encourage misdirection via NOVA. Get them focused on a Criminal Corporation inside their own borders, and attention on us will...wane. Especially with as much of a thorn as NOVA tends to be." He descended into even more grumbling on the matter of NOVA.

"And yes, the Unity is key. That is why we are offering up this technology, as a show of trust. Without trust, there can be no Unity."

OOC: WHEEEEEEEEE! I forgot to put this in because I think you added a little edit as well...

"And yes, we do have more experience. We also happen to be occupying a major Imperial world. The importance in opposing the empire is not in regards to your guns but in how you can use them. Always fight on your terms. The moment you let them dictate how or where a fight takes place is the moment you have failed. Are you all familiar with the works of Sun-Tzu?"

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

And now back to the proper flow of time... hopefully

"We would mean invisible in this case as in... not capable of being tracked. If they manage to glean the fact that your infiltrators are in any way associated with your folks, the system fails again. When infiltration comes in, it would be most efficient to employ a form of cell system. Minimize the number of people who would be compromised when an agent is taken by the Imperials, we will not employ the word 'if' as you can rest assured an agent of ours will be captured.

"There are methods of interrogation and torture that do not actually involve them beating the shit out of you in order for you to cough up the pertinent details of what they wish to know."

OOC: Hehe Hoodoo. I am actually listening to Hoodoo by Muse

The shuttle organism departed from the orifice. It began heading towards the Confuser at cruising speed. The main bio-ship stayed back away from the other ships range and prepared itself to launch a special psychic signal to the other bio-ships in systems farther away. A signal called the Caedes Artifice which would essentially create several new Caedes Kraetons that would take Niiat's place after they matured. Niiat hoped this wouldn't come to this but it doesn't hurt to be prepared...

"Niiat, requesting directions on where to dock on this cruiser," he said.

OOC: WHEEEEEEEEE! I forgot to put this in because I think you added a little edit as well...

"And yes, we do have more experience. We also happen to be occupying a major Imperial world. The importance in opposing the empire is not in regards to your guns but in how you can use them. Always fight on your terms. The moment you let them dictate how or where a fight takes place is the moment you have failed. Are you all familiar with the works of Sun-Tzu?"

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

And now back to the proper flow of time... hopefully

"We would mean invisible in this case as in... not capable of being tracked. If they manage to glean the fact that your infiltrators are in any way associated with your folks, the system fails again. When infiltration comes in, it would be most efficient to employ a form of cell system. Minimize the number of people who would be compromised when an agent is taken by the Imperials, we will not employ the word 'if' as you can rest assured an agent of ours will be captured.

"There are methods of interrogation and torture that do not actually involve them beating the shit out of you in order for you to cough up the pertinent details of what they wish to know."

OOC: Sun Tzu, required reading in all of my Nation's Schools.

IC:
"Yes, I am. I have The Art of War, The Five Rings, How to Make War, certain sections of the Bible and Koran, the US Armed Forces Handbooks going back several centuries, and much more stored, up here, in my Cyberbrain." Longstreet tapped his head at that. A slightly metallic sound coming from within.

"Yes, NOVA is conspicuously tied to us. But most importantly, several members are also wanted for acts of Terrorism against the Government. The Republic Security Bureau has made no secret about how much they want to bring NOVA down. In fact, it might work similar to the way that Wedge Antiles infiltrated Coruscant in Universe-1822. Get them to focus over here, while they do something else over here. On top of that, John No would never admit that he is that close with the Government he wishes to overturn. He would not inform any NOVA Nightwatch of their true mission, they would be more likely to turn on him and replace him than go through with the mission if he revealed that to anyone." The Cardinal commented, a smug look on his face, "Then, as they focus on them, the RSB can work on developing assets in the Empire. And trust me on this, the RSB is not afraid to die. Ressurection Chambers and all that."

"I am not talking about rushing into a war, just saying that when a war does breakout and don't fool yourself here a war is bound to breakout. The Phenixican Empire will be ready to strike the Empire fast and hard, their technology to halt raiders from escaping doesn't work either because our warp-gate technology would not be effected simply because the technology that creates the gates would be galaxies away. Our ships couldn't escape using their own hyperdrives but they could escape using Wargates"

John then breaths and continues

"In fact reason why I am not contributing to the talk about the intelligence side of matters is that to be honest except for surveillance we don't use it for much else, so any agent we send will have to stay with the Tapians to gain experience in the matter. WOD or 'weapons of doom' as I like to call them all have a weakness"

OOC: Darn, RL is busy, I'll get an IC post up tomorrow hopefully...

Shin'Raxis turned to face John, edging his expression out of his wan smile into one of grim recognition.

"Your 'gates' may very well be able to punch through in order to enter a system, but good luck getting your forces out again. Whether the generator is inside or outside the area of effect is irrelevant. The dimensional breach that you will create with your generator is inside the field, therefore it would be affected.

"We can manage a breach ourselves because of a mechanical aspect of our primary drive, but we can never get back out without disabling the field itself. Even we are limited in our movements, though we do make it an aspect that works to our advantage. This is where it is important to establish what tactics you would seek to employ and thereby best fit your own capabilities around the things you wish to achieve. If one has a gun, but does not know where to shoot it, what is gained?"

"The floating guy has a point," Longstreet said, crooking his thumb at Shin'Raxis, "Getting in might not be a problem, but getting back out would be the hard part. Any access would be almost entirely one way unless it is done via covert ops."

Turning to Shin'raxis, he bowed slightly, "Thank you for that information by the way, you have saved more lives than you can imagine. Normally we would send in probes to test calibrations, but that would be a big mistake Tesseract Drives create gravimetric disturbances that can be detected with a radius of 300 Light Years."

"It looks like this is going to be a largely infiltration mission by neccesity, until the Galactic Empire decides we need to be squashed that is. Maybe we should get our R&D guys to start looking into ways to stop the Galaxy Gun, just in case..."

"The Phenixican Fleet strength is in hit and run tactics, our weakness is in long drawn out fighting. In war we tend to hit the enemy mostly in their War-Economy like Shipyards and Ammunition factories, then when they are weakened we start hitting their fleets in the same manner and if the raids have had the right effect they would barely have the industrial capabilities to rebuild quick enough. Thing is if we get stuck our ships find themselves with not enough firepower to defeat the enemy so it will either be destroyed or suffer crippling casualties"

He also adds after a deep breath

"The galaxy gun could only be destroyed by something equally as powerful, our 'shadow project' which would create a black-hole where a sun used to be. Problem is everything else in the system gets sucked in, so it would be overkill"

"I am thinking more along the lines of defensive measures. Any attempts to strike the Galaxy Gun would be suicide. Unless Abaddon could be activated, but no, that is an End Game."

"Well the only thing that could stop the galaxy gun that I know of is being out a range, the Citerian Galaxy is far out of range so most worlds in the Phenixican Empire would be safe from a hit. A good defence would be to make sure the galaxy gun is not moved outside the borders of it's native galaxy as long as we stay far away to not be hit we should be safe enough, but in the end the only safe bet is either destroying the galaxy gun or defeating the Empire before they have a chance to use it. The projectiles alone are impossible to counter"

Bruce had been listening to the ongoing discussion with interest. "I was thinking about an elite strike team to sabotage the galaxy gun from the inside. It would be a suicide mission, but I have the people who would be willing; the Technoton Clerics. They fear nothing and no one, they are specifically trained to take on enemies in staggeringly outnumbered situations, and they would hardly be possible to track back to any of our nations. The only hard part would be finding this Galaxy Gun you speak of. I think, I'll have to agree with our Gordulan friend. Covert operations are the best we can do at the moment, the only reason I previously underlined the aggressive part of this co-operation is that from experience I know of allies who often back off when it comes to actual battles; I wanted to make sure everyone here accepts the probable eventuality of war. Now, if you would be so kind as to continue this discussion over some refreshments, I will take car of something and be back in a moment."

OOC: The envoys are offered a wide variety of refreshments based on the scans taken when they entered the ship. Niiat is shown into a room, where Bruce is waiting for him. I'll post more on monday...

"We have been preparing for a war against the Galactic Empire since our arrival in this Universe. Our technology trading with other Universes has been aimed specifically at preparing for it. And we are ready for a covert ops strike, just aim us at the traget, and a team will be there within seconds."

Shin'Raxis waved a hand in rather urgent dismissal, his expression taking on a look of shocked horror. "No no no no no nononononono. Even if we were inclined to terminate the device rather than simply adapt to the conditions of its existence, there are several annoying issues that would arise with a strike team. One, we have to find the Galaxy Gun first. Two, from what information we have been able to divine from our own efforts, the damn thing moves. Three, the Imperial propaganda machine has been saturating the communication network with so many faked reports of Rebel Terrorism that if they have an ACTUAL strike to work with they would trumpet it so loudly it would somehow manage to carry through space and still blow your eardrums.

"The Galaxy Gun is reason to beware, yes, but do not give them fodder for their incessant prattle. The first thing any covert operation should be focused on is information. Without information, you are shooting blind. What we do after that should be based on our capabilities of acquiring information after the network is established."

Niiat's ship docked into the hangar and he stepped out. Niiat was led to the room where Bruce was stay. Niiat bowed and spoke.

"It is good to see you," Niiat spoke. "My name is Niiat of the Kraeton race and there is much I have to discuss with you as well as offer."

"We have already gone over setting up a intelligence operation to find the galaxy gun, to be honest I don't care what the Imperial Citizens hear because it is to be expected with any war you enter. I suggest the Tapians take charge of finding the gun and then when time is to strike we can all assign the best of the best of our nations to take it out. It looks like a fair war cannot even begin until this gun is taken out"

John looks over at the Godulan, he was troubled by the fact this man was so keen to make sure we only gathered information on the Empire for now. Naturally we have to do that, it's obvious yet why is the subject have to stay at something we all know we have to do.

If John didn't know any better he would think the Godulan was in some way trying to protect the Empire from any serious threat. Which would explain why every time they talk about doing damage to the Empire he always has to try and draw conversation away or dismiss the idea altogether.

Thing is if we spend to much time just gathering information then if the Empire found out they would attack us before we could retaliate, last thing Phenixica needed was a galaxy gun destroying it's worlds before they had a chance to know what hit them.

"I second that. But remember, there are other things we can do as well. In a tyrannical society such as the Galactic Empire, there are Three types of people. True Believers, the smallest group, these make up the soldiers and the officers, and are the most dedicated to the cause. The next group are the dissenters. Some of them do so just for the sake of it and are nothing but malcontents, but others have honest gripes against the State."

"It is the largest group that we will be relying on. The Double Thinkers. These are the people who while they doubt their government deep down, what ever private griefs they have are going to be buried deep, and their children admonished to lie to their friends and pretend they are following the dictates of the government as if they where True Believers."

"This is the most basic nature of a dictatorship, especially one as educated as the Empire. So long as they have someone which they can blame for the crackdowns, an enemy they can point to and say, 'See, they wish to kill you all, they are the reason that you are living this way,' they will maintain some small amount of unity. We need to turn them on each other."

"If you would like, we can furnish all here with a copy of a 21st Century Book on the matter which we have found holds true still to this very day."

OOC: The above is based on real world observations by those who have lived in actual Fear Societies (USSR, China, North Korea, Turkmenistan, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Nazi Germany, Vietnam, Facist Italy, etc.) and all of them can be found in The Case for Democracy, which will be part of my planning for espionage actions on that basis. I encourage the GE who are reading to try and make their nation realistic in that respect, but if they don't to, I am willing to RP it as a mistaken assumption by my Ambassador.

OOC: Well don't know if you just missed my reply Asfaltum, but barring any objects im now posting entering the meeting.

IC:
Daneh Ghorbani had long been used to being sent on important diplomatic mission such as this one. She had helped repair the schism between the Republic and the Coreworlds and had often debated policy with their "allies", among these those of Godular. Daneh remembered the Godularan Triumvirate and its supreme confidence in its own superiority over everyone else. To her Godular represented the personification of arrogance. Yet, as she neared the conference room and overheard the discusion within she thought that perhaps arrogance was not just a trait of the Godular.

She entered the conference room her eyes scanned the room from left to right taken in her surroundings and the others gathered there, her assistant standing just behind her.

"Greetings Gentlebeings, My name is Daneh Ghorbani, I am an Envoy from the Republic. You say you here are all enemies of the Galactic Empire and some of your say that you have been preparing for a long time to fight the Empire. May I suggest first that you take consul from someone whose nation has been resisting the Empire since its creation and has survived. Whether you heed what I would say to you all or not is up to you, however we have been openly at war with the Empire for sometime and perhaps you should ask yourself just why we are still able to do so, just why not all of our worlds have been destroyed by the Galaxy Gun you all so fear. " Daneh told them and waited for a reply.

OOC: Well don't know if you just missed my reply Asfaltum, but barring any objects im now posting entering the meeting.

IC:
Daneh Ghorbani had long been used to being sent on important diplomatic mission such as this one. She had helped repair the schism between the Republic and the Coreworlds and had often debated policy with their "allies", among these those of Godular. Daneh remembered the Godularan Triumvirate and its supreme confidence in its own superiority over everyone else. To her Godular represented the personification of arrogance. Yet, as she neared the conference room and overheard the discusion within she thought that perhaps arrogance was not just a trait of the Godular.

She entered the conference room her eyes scanned the room from left to right taken in her surroundings and the others gathered there, her assistant standing just behind her.

"Greetings Gentlebeings, My name is Daneh Ghorbani, I am an Envoy from the Republic. You say you here are all enemies of the Galactic Empire and some of your say that you have been preparing for a long time to fight the Empire. May I suggest first that you take consul from someone whose nation has been resisting the Empire since its creation and has survived. Whether you heed what I would say to you all or not is up to you, however we have been openly at war with the Empire for sometime and perhaps you should ask yourself just why we are still able to do so, just why not all of our worlds have been destroyed by the Galaxy Gun you all so fear. " Daneh told them and waited for a reply.

"Please, do share. Any information we can gather before sending people in will be very useful."

"What is it you want to know? The location of the Galaxy Gun? What will you do with that information exactly? How are you going to infiltrate such a secure facility guarded by Legions of clones and half the Imperial battle fleet? Believe me when I tell you we have tried but Palpatine has learned from his past mistakes and is quite effective at eliminating infiltrators. It is folly to pursue that mission. If you do so you will awaken the Empire and they will strike out at anyone they deem a threat. Most of you are from other Galaxies, we are not. The Empire will strike back, and the Republic will be their target. We will become embattled with their fleets and targets of the Galaxy Gun's projectiles once again. We have defeated both in the past and will do so again.

"If it is the Galaxy Gun you fear learn how to defeat its projectiles that is its weakness."

"Half the fleet. Perhaps...no, that is End Run, nothing more. So attacking the Galaxy Gun is apparently not possible. What about sowing mines in the path of it's course? Not obvious ones, but cheap ones. Little clumps of minerals that are inert at skinny digits, but will detonate on contact when sufficient energy is introduced. Naquadah, Iron, Potassium for one. Caesium, Oxygen, and Hydrogen for another. Or even a dense cloud of Anti-Matter sprayed in the path of it's travel."

"And as for the infiltrators. What if they make it obvious that they are entering? What if they make a lot of noise about their entrance? What if they have a completely legitimate cover story for their presence there? We have a splinter-group in our nation who would gladly take up the mission to infiltrate the Empire if there is a profit to be made for them in legitimate businesses on top of getting paid to spy for the nation they hate, Bleeding the Beast they call it."

OOC: I am looking for other combos for my defenses. The Nq, Fe, K one is the most powerful and is used for Anti-Shipping, while the Cs, O, H is used as an anti-fighter one.

Also, I got a book to read to work on tactics, so I might not be posting much until monday, just FYI

Shin'Raxis showed little emotion at the entrance of the Farstars ambassador. He half agreed with her assessment, half in agreement because the Galaxy gun was of significantly reduced efficacy to their own worlds, but half in disagreement because knowing every aspect of one's enemy and their intentions was even more important than actively trying to fight them.

"The Galaxy Gun torpedos rely on hyperspace, outside of major trade lanes they would require multiple course corrections and alterations of trajectory in order to avoid being gobbled up by some star, planet, or other celestial body of note.

"Knowledge is power. Know where the Galaxy Gun is and you can calculate expected pathways from the gun to an intended target. Know when and where a torpedo emerges into realspace for a course correction. Intercept, interdict, and terminate."

Turning a serene expression to Daneh, he continued:

"We reside within this Galaxy as well. Our worlds are well known and the system of Thorn remains a monument that the Imperials are not invincible. We openly defy them and no torpedos have befallen us. We do not fear the Galaxy gun nor do we fear the Death Star. What we fear is an ill-considered attack on the Imperials, uniting them despite their strained relations. Our work will be undone and we will be forced to start over with a warier foe. We are in the same boat here, as the saying goes, and despite our past disagreements we remain willing to cooperate.

"The more we know about our enemy, be it the location and orientation of some aggravating weapon of theirs to whether one world is suffering a shortage of armaments in the face of pirate raids, we have more methods to strike in a method to which they cannot retaliate without suffering consequences beyond the scope of the potential battle itself."

Returning to the others. "We do not advocate planning a strike on anything before we have actually attempted to gather proper intelligence on our mutual foe. How can you know what might be effective if we do not know where the vulnerabilities lie? Strikes should be considered on a case-by-case basis, not as some overarching objective to be considered before anything else is properly actualized. Like constructing a building, one must first build a foundation."

Shin'Raxis showed little emotion at the entrance of the Farstars ambassador. He half agreed with her assessment, half in agreement because the Galaxy gun was of significantly reduced efficacy to their own worlds, but half in disagreement because knowing every aspect of one's enemy and their intentions was even more important than actively trying to fight them.

"The Galaxy Gun torpedos rely on hyperspace, outside of major trade lanes they would require multiple course corrections and alterations of trajectory in order to avoid being gobbled up by some star, planet, or other celestial body of note.

"Knowledge is power. Know where the Galaxy Gun is and you can calculate expected pathways from the gun to an intended target. Know when and where a torpedo emerges into realspace for a course correction. Intercept, interdict, and terminate."

Turning a serene expression to Daneh, he continued:

"We reside within this Galaxy as well. Our worlds are well known and the system of Thorn remains a monument that the Imperials are not invincible. We openly defy them and no torpedos have befallen us. We do not fear the Galaxy gun nor do we fear the Death Star. What we fear is an ill-considered attack on the Imperials, uniting them despite their strained relations. Our work will be undone and we will be forced to start over with a warier foe. We are in the same boat here, as the saying goes, and despite our past disagreements we remain willing to cooperate.

"The more we know about our enemy, be it the location and orientation of some aggravating weapon of theirs to whether one world is suffering a shortage of armaments in the face of pirate raids, we have more methods to strike in a method to which they cannot retaliate without suffering consequences beyond the scope of the potential battle itself."

Returning to the others. "We do not advocate planning a strike on anything before we have actually attempted to gather proper intelligence on our mutual foe. How can you know what might be effective if we do not know where the vulnerabilities lie? Strikes should be considered on a case-by-case basis, not as some overarching objective to be considered before anything else is properly actualized. Like constructing a building, one must first build a foundation."

"Oh, we have no intention to attack them just yet. But there are other ways to strike at your opponent. Aim for the heart and the mind, and appeal to the survival instincts that are hammered into people from birth. Survival of the Family. PsychWar and PropWar are things we have experience with. Chronosia will be hard for us to target as we don't fully understand their thought processes, but the citizens of Huntaer and others should be easier, as they are more...normal. More of your typical citizen of a Fear Society."

Shin'Raxis plucked a small cube of sharp cheddar from a plate with a toothpick (having told the orderlies that such was sufficient given the fact that a simple scan would not have been sufficient to dictate what his palate might have found agreeable) and pointed it at John (OOC: Or James? I can't remember)

"We have some understanding of the Chronosian thought processes due to our somewhat less-than-hostile relations with them, and thus shall we enlighten you: They are a swarm of backstabbing psychopathic zealots completely dedicated to a force that likens itself to pure unmitigated chaos. They also make remarkably good wine, though it makes us feel dirty whenever we try it.

"As for the Huntarians we might suggest that you approach their non-Imperial affiliated faction for initial insight. As we said, foundations are important and where better to get initial operational parameters than from somebody relatively close to the horse's mouth?"

Daneh looked to the delegate from TAP,

"Your splinter group can certainly try, but they will fail. Byss is an Imperial Fortress system. Its only inhabitants are the Clone Troopers of the Empire . There are no civilians in the system who have legitimate business. Unless you have access to the clones built on Kamino there is simply no way to infiltrate the Galaxy Gun in Byss.

"You are all correct in assuming the Empire is built upon fear, the Empire practices the Tarkin Doctrine. Anyone who resists the Empire is killed. But after so many years people have forgotten what life is like other wise, and for all its fault the Empire has brought order and security to its citizens. The Republic has worked tirelessly to subvert the concept that it is unnecessary to sacrifice political freedoms in order to secure security. There are dissidents in the empire and rebels, but we are taking the long road. In time the Empire will collapse in on its self and the people will rise up in rebellion. It is up to all of us to survive until that day comes.

"People dont know other ways of living because nobody has showed them, I think some parties hear know about Tsarist Russia. They spent centuries in a Autocratic state yet all it takes to spark a rebellion is spread doubt in the system, spread the idea's of freedom and a voice and the people will run to it. We are talking about a Empire that its already weakening yet if we spread anti-imperial propaganda around the Galactic Empire we can put the nails in the coffin and strike when their morale is at it's worst"

John then declines the offer of cheese, not a great fan (OOC:Honestly :P)

"The only reason we think the Empire is unbeatable is because we have been taught to think it by the Imperial war machine, I mean during these talks we have barely discussed the weakness of the Imperial's navy which just shows how even we are effected by their 'rule by fear' policies. instead of focusing on what we know of the GE Strength and our weaknesses lets focus on the opposite. What do our nations have that can threaten the Galactic Empire. For example my nation excels at Raiding and 'Project Shadow' can destroy entire star systems in a matter of 2 hours. Phenixica is in a economic golden age and our military has not bee so strong since the days of the UPE"

"The Empire is not strong everywhere and the Imperial Fleet is not invincible. Our Navy has defeated them in battle before, which is one of the reasons why we still exist. It is not a case of the proliferation of propaganda either, The Republic has lost many worlds to the Empire, but every day we smuggle out refugees and transmit pirate broadcasts to resistiance cells behind the lines. This is just a part of everyday life that has existed as a mater of fact in our galaxy for more then a hundred years."

"There is one grave concern I have with some of what you have said, John. This 'Project Shadow' of yours. You have stated that it is something which can destroy a world in a matter of hours. Know this you to join our fight against the Empire, that the Republic will not tolerate any use of a weapon that destroys planets. We have lost to many worlds to such weapons already, even our capital has been stripped to a lifeless rock because of such weapons. But no allied power of our will employ doomsday weapons. To use these weapons against the planets of the Empire will make us no better then they. It will claim the lives of too many civilians and that is something we can not tolerate. If you intend to use these weapons of mass destruction then we can not be associated anymore, and I will leave this conference.

"Trust me the project would only be used in desperate times, we agree that destroying worlds would not exactly be the best way to win over the hearts of the people. Besides we have yet to have a ship that can carry the huge projectile needed to turn a sun into a black hole, it alone is the size of a football field"

Shin'Raxis plucked a small cube of sharp cheddar from a plate with a toothpick (having told the orderlies that such was sufficient given the fact that a simple scan would not have been sufficient to dictate what his palate might have found agreeable) and pointed it at John (OOC: Or James? I can't remember)

"We have some understanding of the Chronosian thought processes due to our somewhat less-than-hostile relations with them, and thus shall we enlighten you: They are a swarm of backstabbing psychopathic zealots completely dedicated to a force that likens itself to pure unmitigated chaos. They also make remarkably good wine, though it makes us feel dirty whenever we try it.

"As for the Huntarians we might suggest that you approach their non-Imperial affiliated faction for initial insight. As we said, foundations are important and where better to get initial operational parameters than from somebody relatively close to the horse's mouth?"

OOC: James

IC:
"About what we expected from a society that dedicates itself to the worship of pure Chaos. Though the wine thing is...interesting. Probably feed it with the blood of their enemies."

"The Huntarian Alliance. We have had some small contact with them. Those Nebulon-C's are truly remarkable warships. We shall begin diplomatic relations then. Perhaps even work on bringing them into the Legion."

Daneh looked to the delegate from TAP,

"Your splinter group can certainly try, but they will fail. Byss is an Imperial Fortress system. Its only inhabitants are the Clone Troopers of the Empire . There are no civilians in the system who have legitimate business. Unless you have access to the clones built on Kamino there is simply no way to infiltrate the Galaxy Gun in Byss.

"You are all correct in assuming the Empire is built upon fear, the Empire practices the Tarkin Doctrine. Anyone who resists the Empire is killed. But after so many years people have forgotten what life is like other wise, and for all its fault the Empire has brought order and security to its citizens. The Republic has worked tirelessly to subvert the concept that it is unnecessary to sacrifice political freedoms in order to secure security. There are dissidents in the empire and rebels, but we are taking the long road. In time the Empire will collapse in on its self and the people will rise up in rebellion. It is up to all of us to survive until that day comes.

"So infiltrating Byss is impossible. I guess all of the ships are controlled by clones as well, so we wouldn't be able to get in that way. One way to speed the spread of the "Cancer of Freedom and Hope," to translate the Chinese term for it, is through propaganda, and the creation of communication methods that the Government has trouble controlling. The SoulNet would be a good tech for that one. Especially since right now it is only TAP'ian ghosts on it. We could use the insight of Ghosts from the Empire."

"People dont know other ways of living because nobody has showed them, I think some parties hear know about Tsarist Russia. They spent centuries in a Autocratic state yet all it takes to spark a rebellion is spread doubt in the system, spread the idea's of freedom and a voice and the people will run to it. We are talking about a Empire that its already weakening yet if we spread anti-imperial propaganda around the Galactic Empire we can put the nails in the coffin and strike when their morale is at it's worst"

John then declines the offer of cheese, not a great fan (OOC:Honestly :P)

"The only reason we think the Empire is unbeatable is because we have been taught to think it by the Imperial war machine, I mean during these talks we have barely discussed the weakness of the Imperial's navy which just shows how even we are effected by their 'rule by fear' policies. instead of focusing on what we know of the GE Strength and our weaknesses lets focus on the opposite. What do our nations have that can threaten the Galactic Empire. For example my nation excels at Raiding and 'Project Shadow' can destroy entire star systems in a matter of 2 hours. Phenixica is in a economic golden age and our military has not bee so strong since the days of the UPE"

"We need to be careful about the type of Propaganda we use. The best kind would be something along the lines of "Freedom brings Prosperity." It might be one reason why the Alliance has not been successful so far. They are not a very economically strong nation, especially compared to the Empire. Show them images from a nation with 2% unemployment (OOC: Boom baby!) that has been made extremely prosperous thanks to inter-universal trade, and that might be able to change."

"Dark Matter Warheads, they can create micro-black holes that suck everything within about fifteen meters into them. Resonant Torpedoes that are able to dissolve the bonds holding molecules together, with a blast radius of about twenty meters for the ship carried ones. We also have a huge array of Terrain Modification technologies, including one that can recreate the Devil's Tower with a simple warhead. There is also the Tachyon Cannon, which is twice as strong as your average heavy turbolaser, but we only but those on Sovereings, Lusankyas, and Viscounts. REALLY expensive to procure. And then, there is of course our Planet Killers that we like to use against Hive after they have eaten all life on the world. Horizon, Cobalt-Nukes, Apollyon..."

"The Empire is not strong everywhere and the Imperial Fleet is not invincible. Our Navy has defeated them in battle before, which is one of the reasons why we still exist. It is not a case of the proliferation of propaganda either, The Republic has lost many worlds to the Empire, but every day we smuggle out refugees and transmit pirate broadcasts to resistiance cells behind the lines. This is just a part of everyday life that has existed as a mater of fact in our galaxy for more then a hundred years."

"There is one grave concern I have with some of what you have said, John. This 'Project Shadow' of yours. You have stated that it is something which can destroy a world in a matter of hours. Know this you to join our fight against the Empire, that the Republic will not tolerate any use of a weapon that destroys planets. We have lost to many worlds to such weapons already, even our capital has been stripped to a lifeless rock because of such weapons. But no allied power of our will employ doomsday weapons. To use these weapons against the planets of the Empire will make us no better then they. It will claim the lives of too many civilians and that is something we can not tolerate. If you intend to use these weapons of mass destruction then we can not be associated anymore, and I will leave this conference.

"Which is why we shall restrict them to use against legitimate military targets in space. Warships, Battle Stations, the Death Star, the Galaxy Gun, etc. We will follow the WIck should WMD's be used against any planet. The civilians are not our targets. The Military of the Empire is."

"Trust me the project would only be used in desperate times, we agree that destroying worlds would not exactly be the best way to win over the hearts of the people. Besides we have yet to have a ship that can carry the huge projectile needed to turn a sun into a black hole, it alone is the size of a football field"

"Then you have never seen a swarm of 300 Dark Matter warheads detonate near a star before. The Universe we bought them from has done so in the past. Disgusting to watch an entire solar system go Nova just because five hundred people where dissenters."

Daneh heard the communicator in her ear speak to her,

Code Alpha recall. Big Bertha located out of nest. Hostilities with enemy imminent.

She took a moment to absorb those words. The Galaxy Gun had left its permanent base most likely to assume a new firing position against Republic worlds, but somehow they had spotted it before it launched. This was a chance they had to take they would send a task force against it. Whether the counterstrike was successful or failed it would result in one thing, war with the Empire.

"Gentlebeings, I have been recalled to Mon Calamari due to an emergency. The Empire it appears has resumed hostilities against the Republic. I wish you luck in your own fights against the Empire, I must go see to our own."

OOC: If you are interested in reading the thread just search for my name, and subscribe. Its called Prophecy.

"Do you require assistance?" Shin'Raxis asked quickly as Daneh began to make her exit. "We have already spoken of presenting a united front as a major consideration. We do not say something unless we intend to back it up."

"Just let us know where to go, and We will be there."

The Ambassador sent a message off to Rebeca St. James, and advised powering up Apolyon, just to be safe.

"Phenixica would gladly help any nation fighting against the Empire, our legions stand ready and out fleet already stationed at the warpgates. Assistance can be offered"

Daneh did not leave just yet, after hearing the words of the others. She gave them her last thoughts.

"The Empire is vast and it spans the enireity of the Galaxy.If they mean to resume the war between us after this last decade of ceasefire then we will oblige them. But it will not be a short conflict and they will have to commit a great amount of their Fleet and ground troops in order to have a chance of subjugating the Republic. We have had ten years to prepare for this day, we will bleed them, we will occupy them. Do not send your forces into the Republic, I am not saying we do not want your help, and if the campagan is lost we may yet ask for it. Instead attack and raid the Empire where they are weakest. If you send forces into the Republic the Empire will simply concentrate more forces there. I wish you all luck in your own efforts, if there is anything the Republic can do to support your missions we will do our best to do so." She nodded to each of them, "The Rebel Alliance has changed its face much over the centuries of civil war, some have surrendered others collaborated, few have managed to survive to fight to this day. All of you are rather new to the fight but the Republic values you support in it. I caution you not to hurry to join the fight, pick your battles, the war is long and only by surviving it can you be victorious."

"May the Force be with us All." With that she left the conference to return to the Republic and the war fortified by the nations she interacted with today.

"Okay, someone pull out a map of the Empire. Lets start planning out our attacks just in case. I am going to call in the Heads of the Armed Forces. Do you mind if we transfer this over to a Ramiles Class Star Fort should the Vatican decide to assist?"

John turns to the others.

"If we do enough raids on the Empire we can draw fleets away from the Republic, think about it if we force the Imperial Fleet to separate not only can the Republic have less pressure but we could weaken them before we commit to a full blown war. It will take some effort, we would have to find a system not completely in Imperial control so we can create a base of operations to organize our forces without a huge battle on our hands. When the UPE existed one of the members was a Sith Lord named Darth Meosis, in fact he is the whole reason we became aware of the Empire. He told us of a region of space in the Empire that is mostly uncharted called simply the 'Unknown Region' where there is several chartered systems which are completely unused by the Empire. I would have to find a reference from the Imperial Archive but I think we could find a spot on the map where we can land troops using our warpgate technology they would not detect our vessels unless they were immediately in the system. If we can setup a base of operations we can strike from the shadows against the Empire, this should make the Empire divert troops to hunt us down".

John takes a deep breath and continues, age was getting the better of him.

"I am no general or war leader. If we can find a base of operations in the Unknown Region to strike against the Empire while they are caught up in war then we can force the Empire to divert and lose more troops then they thought possible thus ensuring a smoother war. Without the location of the base they couldn't use the Galaxy Gun effectively and by the time they find the system we simply move to a new base of operations and keep moving around until we can fight openly"

"I second that on the Unknown Regions. If nothing else we can get all of you proper Blastswords. If we are going to base there, then we should base near Adumar. Shorter supply lines so we don't have to move all of our supplies in via Jumpships. Hell, we can send in an entire Dwarf Planet if we have to. Our Capital World, the moon we call New Tortuga, has it's own Jump Drives. Not to mention the sheer numbers of weapons that planetoid carries. I will have to discuss this with Admiral Ray and President St. James first, but if we use them, it would be a great boon."

After placing a small holopad on the table showing a map of the Galaxy in which the GE resides John responds.

"Adumar might be to near to Mon Calarmari, our knowledge of wildspace is very outdated so you would have to enlighten us to it's exact location. If this works we can actually see a real result in this meeting that does not end up in us simply making plans that never come into fruition. Our advantage is surprise and we have to make sure we take advantage of it before the Galactic Empire finds out about us and prepares for a assault"

Niiat's ship docked into the hangar and he stepped out. Niiat was led to the room where Bruce was stay. Niiat bowed and spoke.

"It is good to see you," Niiat spoke. "My name is Niiat of the Kraeton race and there is much I have to discuss with you as well as offer."

Bruce nodded at the macabre entity that stood before him. "Tell me, Niiat, what were you planning to discuss, and what is there that you can offer me, that I do not already have, or am not interested in? Your race is steeped in the blood of the innocent, you yourself have caused immense suffering and death. How profound is not your insanity for coming here today, and expecting me to let you live? But no, your confidence amuses me, so I will let you have your say. And then I will destroy you."

After placing a small holopad on the table showing a map of the Galaxy in which the GE resides John responds.

"Adumar might be to near to Mon Calarmari, our knowledge of wildspace is very outdated so you would have to enlighten us to it's exact location. If this works we can actually see a real result in this meeting that does not end up in us simply making plans that never come into fruition. Our advantage is surprise and we have to make sure we take advantage of it before the Galactic Empire finds out about us and prepares for a assault"

Among the profuse greenery of the conference room, a small door glides open, and a white-clad figure emerges from among the leaves. "I see you have begun planning. Mind if I join?" As he approaches the table, and sits down in what had previously been Bruce's seat, the young man (http://pds.egloos.com/pds/1/200507/22/60/a0004660_8492511.jpg) smiles an apologetical smile at the envoys and introduces himself. "My name is of no consequence, you may call me... V, which is my code-name, actually. I am one of the five Technoton Cleric omnimasters (http://www.unfilmable.com/image-1.jpg), and I have come to fill in for Bruce, while he is away taking care of another issue which requires his... attention. Please continue as if I wasn't present, if I think of something worth letting you know, I will." he said, smiling a charming smile that would undoubtedly win the heart of any female envoy in the room (alas, there are so few). "I would also like to point out, before you continue, that while current events are likely to move us towards a more aggressive direction in relation to the GE, I think it best to think of this as a single event; a small operation to aid our friends from the Republic, that should in no way result in a full-out war, or lessen our attempts at a more indirect resolution of the type our Godulan friend suggests. (V had been following the entire meeting so far, from another room.) Now having said that, I do realize we are discussing the well-being of a significant number of our ally's civilians, so, what is the best location for a forward base of operations, and more importantly, I suggest we plan ahead. We should by all means lay out at least three other plausible bases of operations, as it is in our interest to keep our forces on the move, dodging the Empire as much as possible, and inflicting the most damage for the least retribution... in fact, since our TAPian friends have the ability to bring in planetoids, would it not be advisable to keep away from the charted territories and systems, avoiding "landmarks" altogether and simply setting up base at specific coordinates in deep space? The Rogue Legion is btw more than willing to assist in setting up an asteroid-belt or two, if the planetoid can be provided..." V smiled again, giving the word to the TAPian officials.

Among the profuse greenery of the conference room, a small door glides open, and a white-clad figure emerges from among the leaves. "I see you have begun planning. Mind if I join?" As he approaches the table, and sits down in what had previously been Bruce's seat, the young man (http://pds.egloos.com/pds/1/200507/22/60/a0004660_8492511.jpg) smiles an apologetical smile at the envoys and introduces himself. "My name is of no consequence, you may call me... V, which is my code-name, actually. I am one of the five Technoton Cleric omnimasters (http://www.unfilmable.com/image-1.jpg), and I have come to fill in for Bruce, while he is away taking care of another issue which requires his... attention. Please continue as if I wasn't present, if I think of something worth letting you know, I will." he said, smiling a charming smile that would undoubtedly win the heart of any female envoy in the room (alas, there are so few). "I would also like to point out, before you continue, that while current events are likely to move us towards a more aggressive direction in relation to the GE, I think it best to think of this as a single event; a small operation to aid our friends from the Republic, that should in no way result in a full-out war, or lessen our attempts at a more indirect resolution of the type our Godulan friend suggests. (V had been following the entire meeting so far, from another room.) Now having said that, I do realize we are discussing the well-being of a significant number of our ally's civilians, so, what is the best location for a forward base of operations, and more importantly, I suggest we plan ahead. We should by all means lay out at least three other plausible bases of operations, as it is in our interest to keep our forces on the move, dodging the Empire as much as possible, and inflicting the most damage for the least retribution... in fact, since our TAPian friends have the ability to bring in planetoids, would it not be advisable to keep away from the charted territories and systems, avoiding "landmarks" altogether and simply setting up base at specific coordinates in deep space? The Rogue Legion is btw more than willing to assist in setting up an asteroid-belt or two, if the planetoid can be provided..." V smiled again, giving the word to the TAPian officials.

"It all depends on how mapped out Adumar is in this Universe. The Universe we visited, it was part of the GFFA, following the Yuuzon Vong invasion. IF they have not investigated it in THIS universe, then it would be off their maps. Though I am starting to doubt that. Which would suggest to me that we should look for a world West of N'Zoth. Then, we can open up Jump-points to areas near Tatooine and Ord Mandell and then Our ships can activate Tesseract Windows to allow us to jump to where ever we wish to strike."

"It is also our capital. And the home of a billion of our citizens. We have Emergency Cities on some of our Farm Worlds that we can use, but that would take time to conduct evacuations for, and the people like their homes."

After placing a small holopad on the table showing a map of the Galaxy in which the GE resides John responds.

"Adumar might be to near to Mon Calarmari, our knowledge of wildspace is very outdated so you would have to enlighten us to it's exact location. If this works we can actually see a real result in this meeting that does not end up in us simply making plans that never come into fruition. Our advantage is surprise and we have to make sure we take advantage of it before the Galactic Empire finds out about us and prepares for a assault"

"Adumar is closer to Ord Mandell and Iridona, on the North East-North Edge of the Galaxy, while Mon Cal is closer to the South-South East Edge."

OOC: Maybe this could help?

http://www.kolumbus.fi/antti.lusila/starwars/galaxymap.html

OOC: yours doesn't include Iridonia, Adumar, Ord Mandel, and a few others.

I am using this one (http://www.xs4all.nl/~wrvh/galaxymap/images/navcomputer.jpg)

Bruce nodded at the macabre entity that stood before him. "Tell me, Niiat, what were you planning to discuss, and what is there that you can offer me, that I do not already have, or am not interested in? Your race is steeped in the blood of the innocent, you yourself have caused immense suffering and death. How profound is not your insanity for coming here today, and expecting me to let you live? But no, your confidence amuses me, so I will let you have your say. And then I will destroy you."

Niiat smiled at Bruce. "Your race's arrogance knows no bounds. Threatening someone who has come of their own free will to meet with you. It's very... impolite." Niiat paced a bit then continued in a more serious tone.

"I have come to you today in hopes to change things about my race of creatures. For a long time I have been away from the main hive mind and the murderous tendencies of my people have slowly but surely gone away. More of my human side is surfacing and the regret of things past is haunted. While I can never gain the forgiveness of the planets I have razed and the races I have devoured, I can at least help a new generation rise in this galaxy."

Niiat's wing membranes began to retract into itself as they morphed into a new set of arms, now a total of six. His tendrils also retracted into his back and he shrank, going from seven feet to 5'10". His face took a more humanesque appearance and he continued speaking.

"What I can offer is expendable troops. Fearless troops. Troops that can attack using unorthodox means like underground assault. Troops that can be deeply infiltrated in enemy territory, whether it is by living in subterranean colonies or taking mental control biologically. Our larvae's physiology may interest you in plans of infiltration and taking key officers under your control."

Niiat sat now in a nigh-human figure, a white toned skin and his extra four arms now mere vestigial hooks of flesh on his ribs. "I can also give you one of our greatest assets. Our blood. See our blood cells have rapid cell regeneration abilities, allowing many of my soldiers to regenerate from nigh-fatal wounds. This allows for my soldiers to attack and keep attacking, keeping some of your men safe."

"Now in return for this I only ask one thing. We will require food. I do not ask for planets, nor do I ask for humans. All I ask is that during this campaign we feed on some of the life forms on the planets you reclaim. We will not stay there permanently and the planets will still function normally. Once this war of reclamation is over, me and my kin will leave this galaxy forever unto oblivion. Then you will never have to hear from us ever again."

Niiat cleared his throat, "So I am offering you a massive and very capable army for your control. I am willing to work for your cause and I promise that once everything is finished and you have your empire, we will leave forever, never to return to this galaxy."

OOC: If Bruce does like some lie detecting thing, he'll find Niiat is really telling the truth

"The Phenixican Empire can send what we like to call 'Fort Base (http://phenixica.webs.com/installationtypes.htm)' to protect our position in the Galactic Empire. Adumar seems like a good location, outside the rule of the galactic empire yet close enough that we can strike the Mid-Rim to the Coruscant itself in the long run. No known hyperspace routes so they will find it hard to attack us directly without us knowing, In fact that region would be perfect because of the fact several of the star-systems either have no Imperial presence or anti-imperial resentment which we can use for bases and places to draw local troops. What we do, is we all send a small fleet each to the planet we choose to use where we will start operations and first objective will be to construct a proper base of operations either on the planet or on a space installation"

"Hence Adumar. It is a nation of Fighter Jocks, literally. And they have massive arms manufacturing industry. I would suggest that we don't build on the planets themselves. Orbitals can be hidden, they can move. No one crosses paths accidentally in the black, and we need to use that to our advantage. Hell, look at Earth's History, after 99942 Apophis swung by in 2036. Disappeared. We can go into these systems and operate in the Oort Clouds. They are denser than the Asteroid Belts, with the exception of the Hoth Field that is, that field is a freak of nature. No Belt is naturally that thick with Scraps. Anyway. The Oort Clouds are our best chance. And again, use Orbitals. That way if we get fingered, we can Jump Out and move to a new location. So scout out several systems. Stick to the Unknown Regions, and avoid the Chiss Ascendency. They may be Isolationist, but they do have enough contact with the Empire to pose a problem. If it get's really bad, fall back to the Milky Way, or more specifically, the Large Magellanic Cloud. We are working with some of our Galactic Partners to make that thing nigh-impenetrable."

"If we can, we are going to suggest that NOVA makes contact with the Hutts. Those two groups of slime should get along well."

"Well if somebody can lend the technology to hide a space-station the size of small city we could hide a Fort Base. Nothing can get by the firepower of several star-destroyers put together along with thousands of fighters and hundreds of ships that can be docked all at one time. Naturally we wont send thousands of men to fight at the start when we are just raiding but I am saying our Fort Bases can practically be used as a Base of Operations until we need something larger like a planet"

Niiat smiled at Bruce. "Your race's arrogance knows no bounds. Threatening someone who has come of their own free will to meet with you. It's very... impolite." Niiat paced a bit then continued in a more serious tone.

"I have come to you today in hopes to change things about my race of creatures. For a long time I have been away from the main hive mind and the murderous tendencies of my people have slowly but surely gone away. More of my human side is surfacing and the regret of things past is haunted. While I can never gain the forgiveness of the planets I have razed and the races I have devoured, I can at least help a new generation rise in this galaxy."

Niiat's wing membranes began to retract into itself as they morphed into a new set of arms, now a total of six. His tendrils also retracted into his back and he shrank, going from seven feet to 5'10". His face took a more humanesque appearance and he continued speaking.

"What I can offer is expendable troops. Fearless troops. Troops that can attack using unorthodox means like underground assault. Troops that can be deeply infiltrated in enemy territory, whether it is by living in subterranean colonies or taking mental control biologically. Our larvae's physiology may interest you in plans of infiltration and taking key officers under your control."

Niiat sat now in a nigh-human figure, a white toned skin and his extra four arms now mere vestigial hooks of flesh on his ribs. "I can also give you one of our greatest assets. Our blood. See our blood cells have rapid cell regeneration abilities, allowing many of my soldiers to regenerate from nigh-fatal wounds. This allows for my soldiers to attack and keep attacking, keeping some of your men safe."

"Now in return for this I only ask one thing. We will require food. I do not ask for planets, nor do I ask for humans. All I ask is that during this campaign we feed on some of the life forms on the planets you reclaim. We will not stay there permanently and the planets will still function normally. Once this war of reclamation is over, me and my kin will leave this galaxy forever unto oblivion. Then you will never have to hear from us ever again."

Niiat cleared his throat, "So I am offering you a massive and very capable army for your control. I am willing to work for your cause and I promise that once everything is finished and you have your empire, we will leave forever, never to return to this galaxy."

OOC: If Bruce does like some lie detecting thing, he'll find Niiat is really telling the truth

Bruce raised an eyebrow. "I see... so you are human... and the main hive mind made you into the murderous creature that stands in front of me today? I find this whole thing rather... surprising. Too good to be true, actually. How do I know that you truly regret what you have done? How do I know that you will keep your word? And most importantly, what's in it for you? I don't see how you gain from this arrangement... unless of course, your aim is to feed, grow in strength, and continue your rampage in another galaxy, which would explain why you haven't moved to another galaxy yet... No, I'm afraid that what you ask is unacceptable. But, if your stated intentions are true, and you are willing to pay for your murderous past in blood, your own blood, which will flow freely in the coming conflict, then maybe I can make you an offer. I would like to remind you that this is a one-time offer, that constitutes a major risk on my part; I could very well kill you myself right here and now, track your ship, and put an end to your rampage once and for all, and believe me I have the will and the power to do that. But I will make you an offer...

What you ask in return for this "favour" of yours, is not acceptable. We cannot "liberate" planets quite yet (we don't have the strength to risk a full out war with the Empire at the moment) and even if we could, slaughtering and consuming the local wild-life would hardly make us popular. No, that's not an alternative. The Rogue Legion has however brought under it's control an entity we call "Symbiotech". It has the power to take over the mind of it's host. In fact, it's entire evolution is based on just that, given that it's existense centers on finding a host. The host, in return, is granted additional powers, but, sooner or later, it's mind is entirely corrupted. We have found a way to halt the corruption, and to benefit from the powers granted to us. We have a good number of "Symbiotech" warships in our fleet, and our ships are armed with the weaponized version of the entity, which when unleashed on an enemy can take over ships and personel, creating havoc within their very own ranks. More importantly, the Symbiotech strain feeds not on organic material, but on heat, and other forms of energy. The raw energy that we have in our ship-reactors constitutes somewhat of a feast for the organism, and we have had to find means of containing it's expansion and evolution in order for it not to grow out of control. I have thus two conditions for an eventual cooperation: condition one, is that you let our Symbiotech strain take over you and your army, thus mutating your gene-pool and ridding you of the craving for organic material, at the same time linking you into our Symbiotech network, giving us control over your armies. The second condition is that you aid us in finding and destroying the hive mind you previously spoke of. I think this is a reasonable compromise... what do you think?"

"Hence Adumar. It is a nation of Fighter Jocks, literally. And they have massive arms manufacturing industry. I would suggest that we don't build on the planets themselves. Orbitals can be hidden, they can move. No one crosses paths accidentally in the black, and we need to use that to our advantage. Hell, look at Earth's History, after 99942 Apophis swung by in 2036. Disappeared. We can go into these systems and operate in the Oort Clouds. They are denser than the Asteroid Belts, with the exception of the Hoth Field that is, that field is a freak of nature. No Belt is naturally that thick with Scraps. Anyway. The Oort Clouds are our best chance. And again, use Orbitals. That way if we get fingered, we can Jump Out and move to a new location. So scout out several systems. Stick to the Unknown Regions, and avoid the Chiss Ascendency. They may be Isolationist, but they do have enough contact with the Empire to pose a problem. If it get's really bad, fall back to the Milky Way, or more specifically, the Large Magellanic Cloud. We are working with some of our Galactic Partners to make that thing nigh-impenetrable."

"If we can, we are going to suggest that NOVA makes contact with the Hutts. Those two groups of slime should get along well."

"Well if somebody can lend the technology to hide a space-station the size of small city we could hide a Fort Base. Nothing can get by the firepower of several star-destroyers put together along with thousands of fighters and hundreds of ships that can be docked all at one time. Naturally we wont send thousands of men to fight at the start when we are just raiding but I am saying our Fort Bases can practically be used as a Base of Operations until we need something larger like a planet"

V nodded at the ongoing discussion. "Yes, I would have to agree with your deductions. A continuously moving base of operations not too close to planets and systems is a good tactic... now that we have decided more or less where our base will be located, which are our primary targets in the area?"
___

In the mean time, a man approached the ambassador from the Republic, Daneh, who was just about to depart. "Pardon me, I'm a representative of the Technoton Clerics. We would like to ask a favour of you. We know that this would be a huge favour to ask from such a new aquaintance, but we would like to send a representative along with you, that your government may inform him of the location of the Galaxy Gun. You have our word that this will be a most confidential arrangement, and that it will not result in any fleet deployments. We simply aim to, perhaps, send a team of five Clerics, to aid in the capture or destruction of the weapon. We know that you cannot make this decision yourself, but we would view it as a great favour if you let a representative come along and present our case to your military command... I'm sure you will find the Technoton Clerics to be an asset in any eventual battle with the Empire..."

Edit: Here's a response to a TG I sent to US yesterday:
As for aggressive moves against the Empire, that's fine, as long as you understand that retaliation will be swift and brutal, primarily because as a player I dont have much RL time these days to spend writing posts, so I'm really strapped to do anything at this moment in time.

I would advise opening with attacks on Huntaer, Balrogga and OG, since I don't have the time to fully RP them right now.

Thanks,
Sith.

V nodded at the ongoing discussion. "Yes, I would have to agree with your deductions. A continuously moving base of operations not too close to planets and systems is a good tactic... now that we have decided more or less where our base will be located, which are our primary targets in the area?"

"Iridonia. The Zabrak chafe under Imperial Rulership. On top of that, it is a connector between the Outer Rim and the Inner Rim."

"We should stick to the Mid Rim. They are already known as Pirate Havens, so we should be able to strike at them with relatively little return grief, so long as we operate under false flags. The problem is, that we do not have very good intel on the Empire and the worlds that should be targeted. So anyone else have any suggestions?"

"At the moment our greatest intel will come from the Republic, but as for raiding our first goal should be trying to separate the Imperial Fleet on two fronts to weaken their ability to retaliate and then put strain on the Economy my raiding hyperspace routes. Hopefully when the locals notice a serious threat to the Empire they might join our cause, but I agree we have to at first fight under the pirate banner otherwise we can find our home soil under trouble"

(OOC: I suspected as much which is why this is a better time then any to attack, while the Empire has few active members and is caught up in war. If we give time for the US to return that could make our job that much harder)

"One good reason we still have our flags from when our nation where pirates. It is amazing what a couple decades on your own can do to Privateers. We should also reach out to the Pirates who operate in the region normally, and give them reason to target the Empire instead of civilians and each other. That will only help to give more credence to it simply being an increase in the number of pirates."

"Looks like our disguise will be pirates then until a open war is declared, we should try and forge ties with Adumar, Ilum and Iridonia. If we can make friends locally then we shouldn't find it so hard to supply our troops and also will give us some ears in the Empire. Then we can raid the Hydrian Way which should hamper there control over the Northern part of the galaxy and allow us to expand our operations into the Gricho sector where we take full control of the Hydrian Way and when we do this we should have reliable supply routes to launch more serious assaults on the Inner Rim"

"Iridonia will be dragged in no matter what. Their status as a Trade Point between the Outer and Inner Rims guarantees that. Perhaps by promising protection in return for assistance, the Zabrak will be more willing to assist us. Adumar is a fractured world. We should aim at uniting the opponents of their nation of Cartann. We should focus on Yegadon, Halbegerdia, Tetanne, Thozzelling, and a handful of others."

"Other locations we should target include Thyferra and Kashyyyk. Thyferra due to the Bacta supply, and Kashyyyk to target the slaver ships that would be supplying the Empire with it's labor. Both worlds have an resistance on them, even if they never really do much to actually fight beyond propaganda. Then, we need to send some recruiters to Bothan. Those slicers are the best in the Galaxy, and that is what we need right now, people who understand the systems. Especially if the Council of XIII has a chance of connecting to the HoloNet."

In the mean time, a man approached the ambassador from the Republic, Daneh, who was just about to depart. "Pardon me, I'm a representative of the Technoton Clerics. We would like to ask a favour of you. We know that this would be a huge favour to ask from such a new aquaintance, but we would like to send a representative along with you, that your government may inform him of the location of the Galaxy Gun. You have our word that this will be a most confidential arrangement, and that it will not result in any fleet deployments. We simply aim to, perhaps, send a team of five Clerics, to aid in the capture or destruction of the weapon. We know that you cannot make this decision yourself, but we would view it as a great favour if you let a representative come along and present our case to your military command... I'm sure you will find the Technoton Clerics to be an asset in any eventual battle with the Empire..."


Daneh turned and listened to the representative of the Technoton Clerics.

"You may send your representative and team provided they reach my shuttle before I do. I have been recalled, there is no time to waste." With that much said Daneh turned and continued on her trek to her shuttle if the man had more to say he could say it but she really did need to leave. When she got to her shuttle she would have a few extra guests with her or she would not.

A communicator starts buzzing and Joh puts it to his ear to listen, he had gotten what the Imperial Court thought was reasonable to send to such a mission.

"The Phenixican Empire will spare 15 Warships (http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i116/Belcameron/ss49-hires-1.jpg), 40 Valkyrie Frigates (http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i116/Belcameron/Halo_3_42_500.jpg) and 2 Carriers (http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i116/Belcameron/Carrier.png). After some thought by our scientist they think they have found a way to transport the Fort Base to other Galaxy so we will have a base of operations. They will also send 1000 Legionnaires (http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i116/Belcameron/charodstug6.jpg) and 2000 Colonial Troops (http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i116/Belcameron/marines.jpg) the Empress has agreed to send 200 Order Knights to this assignment. The Imperial Court has said that until a formal declaration of war has been declared they cannot send any more men"

"I think that's the start of a plan, I think right now we should decide how many men will be sent to Imperial Space. I agree with Thyferra being a target, without the supply of bacta hopefully the Empire will simply have to rely on how quickly they can pop out clones to stay in the war"

"Oh, we plan to send in a fifth of our ground forces, one of our fleets, including the World Devastator attached to it, and, oh, 90% of the Spec Ops teams. That will give us a massive number of Ghosts from the Council to assist us in hacking in. Those spec ops teams will give us more operational capacities."

"I don't like the week long Logistics Trains. Makes me feel vulnerable. Especially with the two minute recharge time for our Jump Drives. We might need to get a second fleet to act as escorts."

Daneh turned and listened to the representative of the Technoton Clerics.

"You may send your representative and team provided they reach my shuttle before I do. I have been recalled, there is no time to waste." With that much said Daneh turned and continued on her trek to her shuttle if the man had more to say he could say it but she really did need to leave. When she got to her shuttle she would have a few extra guests with her or she would not.

The man smiles as Daneh walks off in a hurry. She will find a Technoton Cleric waiting by her shuttle...
_________

V shakes his head. "I feel," he said slowly, "that these resources are wasted, if we do not think wisely. Our current strategy has too many unsecure factors involved. We can only trust ourselves. Nobody else. We can barely do that either, given the fact that we might be infiltrated, although given the fact that none of us have drawn Imperial attention to ourselves lately, the risk should not be so high. To the officials of TAP I would also like to point out that the "World Devastator" you are planning to bring, well, the name doesn't really sounds right, I just want to make sure you understand that we will only be targeting military resources; civilian casualties are not an option. Now, if this is going to work, we will have to remain invisible, undetected. The Empire must not know what hit them. Once we do hit them however, they will be on high alert. We will only have one chance at inflicting vital damage to their forces, so I suggest we go all in. I suggest we attack Coruscant. It's bold, it's suicide, it will send a message to the Empire and to the rest of the Galaxy, and heck, I can't find a single reason why we shouldn't. Our main problem is to find a way of disabling the thousands of FTLi systems in the area. After that is done, I'm quite positive we can find a way of landing a massive fleet in the middle of the whole thing. Getting in and getting out is the tricky bit... you guys want a real challenge? There you go... degrading ourselves to piracy isn't going to get us nowhere, it's a waste of resources, it allows the Empire to portray us as weak in their propaganda, and it allows them to know we're there. They mustn't know we're there. Ever. Surprise is the only key to victory against the Empire..."

"No argument there. We don't like the name of the ships, but that is what they are named by the Empire, and the name has stuck. They're job is to latch onto a world and start strip mining it. We have put in Life Signs detectors, and put Ghosts in charge of them, so that they cannot harm civilian populations. Without them, our logistics trains would be even longer."

"IF we are going to strike Coruscant, I would suggest that we start off with SpecOps forces infiltrating the city-world. That way we can have some people on the ground and ready to fight as soon as it starts. However, I don't like it. A strike at the Empire is bold, yes, but we would be defeated, and it would hand the Empire a propaganda victory. As you say, it would be suicide. The Outer Rim chafes under Imperial Occupation, so I say we target Imperial Naval Ships out there. Remove their presence, and make us impossible to find. So long as we take out Imperial Warships, especially Star Destroyers, and get away and suffer few losses, then it is a net win for us. Especially in the Propaganda sector. What better way to strike at them than to start whittling away at their ships without getting caught. We target vessels with the Merchant Marine and the Imperial Navy, and then slink away into the Black. It will make them terrified."

"Look at what happened during the Gulf War. The B-2 won that war. Not because of it's speed or it's payload, but because it was able to strike, and then disappear into the night with out ever getting one shot down. That is why I suggest that we hit Imperial Navy vessels."

Daneh’s shuttle was a naval pinnace, roughly the size of a 20th century passenger jet, they were routinely used for policing systems, orbital to ground insertions, and ferrying light amounts of personal between ships. When they would have got inside the ship it would have been a Spartan affair and the best they could offer the representative was a canvas seat. She saw the cleric as they reached the pinance. The two Marines sentries in power armor came to attention as Daneh drew near. She spoke to their new passenger next,

“Get on the Shuttle we have places to be.” As they walked up the ramp she noted the seemingly trademark smell of a marine pinnace a sort of combination of stale body odor and machine lubricants, to her it would always be comforting.

She turned to her assistant.

“Kevin, go forward to the comms station and see what you can find out about the situation. I want a sitrep before we reach the Deliverance.”

“Yes, mistress.” He said with a small bow as he moved forward.

She pulled a small device out of her ear and dropped it onto a table, then spoke to the cleric. “What is your name, I assume you can speak your mind? Its good we are leaving the conference, it appears that the best plans your people can come up with is to create a pirate band based out of the unknown regions and the incredibly stupid notion to assault Coruscant.” She said with some disgust if it was as easy as their new allies made it sound they would have won the rebellion long ago instead she only said,

“Bloody amateurs.”

The man smiles as Daneh walks off in a hurry. She will find a Technoton Cleric waiting by her shuttle...
_________

V shakes his head. "I feel," he said slowly, "that these resources are wasted, if we do not think wisely. Our current strategy has too many unsecure factors involved. We can only trust ourselves. Nobody else. We can barely do that either, given the fact that we might be infiltrated, although given the fact that none of us have drawn Imperial attention to ourselves lately, the risk should not be so high. To the officials of TAP I would also like to point out that the "World Devastator" you are planning to bring, well, the name doesn't really sounds right, I just want to make sure you understand that we will only be targeting military resources; civilian casualties are not an option. Now, if this is going to work, we will have to remain invisible, undetected. The Empire must not know what hit them. Once we do hit them however, they will be on high alert. We will only have one chance at inflicting vital damage to their forces, so I suggest we go all in. I suggest we attack Coruscant. It's bold, it's suicide, it will send a message to the Empire and to the rest of the Galaxy, and heck, I can't find a single reason why we shouldn't. Our main problem is to find a way of disabling the thousands of FTLi systems in the area. After that is done, I'm quite positive we can find a way of landing a massive fleet in the middle of the whole thing. Getting in and getting out is the tricky bit... you guys want a real challenge? There you go... degrading ourselves to piracy isn't going to get us nowhere, it's a waste of resources, it allows the Empire to portray us as weak in their propaganda, and it allows them to know we're there. They mustn't know we're there. Ever. Surprise is the only key to victory against the Empire..."

"That is why we will only be sending a small force at first because sending a entire fleet and army will more then get attention. I must say I did not consider the imperial propaganda but you are correct that was a rash idea, our first aim then should be to simply find a location for us to send the fort base and about disabling FTLi in the area well that is barely possible which is why we have to try and get the Imperial fleet spread thin"

He then looks to the Tapian

"A strike on Coruscant would be suicide no matter what forces we could muster, we cannot run and attack the Capital of the enemy when their military is at it's strongest otherwise any win will be a Pyrrhic Victory and I will not send thousands of Phenixican soldiers to death just to win one planet. A attack on Coruscant will only be possible when we have weakened the Empire to the point we will not have thousands of ships on our backsides the moment we enter the system. We stay basic and our focus will be as far in as the Mid-Rim for now. If we attack the Coreworlds this campaign will be over before it begins. If we cannot go with piracy then we stick with the plan of simply harassing Merchants and trade between the Empires Coreworlds and it's northern borders by sabotaging the Imperial Navy in that area at first. Then when we have done that we move to another area until we have warred down the Imperial Navy to the point it is barely operational and then we even think of attacking a Coreworld"

He then points the talk to everyone in the room

"If we want to keep our mission simple the we simply sabotage efforts and any ships we send will simply be to protect HQ if the Empire finds our location. So I suggest we send small fleets and small armies unless they are units made to collect information on the enemy, it will be risky they will not stand a chance in a open fight against the Empire but they will also not get noticed so quickly"

"Disagree. The attacks on their ships, lured away from the bases, is one thing we need to do. We lure them away to answer Emergencies. Then, we attack them. Destroy them. Whittle them down one by one. And we do this all over the galaxy. We make it seem random. Like a bunch of Pirates are striking them. Hence the False Flags. No stands unless we absolutely have to, I agree with you there, but we need to whittle down their ships, a few at a time."

"As for Coruscant, if we are going to do this, and V, I think it is a very bad idea, then we send in the PsychOps teams. We have a thousand Battalions of them we can send in. And they are good. Each Company has their own Ghost, and we can sprinkle them across the planet. Half of them at least. Corellia, Bothan, Hutt Space, anywhere we can get the people in and have them start spreading propaganda. If the rest of you are nervous about this, we will take care of it, our Res Chambers and access to the SoulNet makes this a low risk situation for us."

"Maybe our Kitsune as well, though I am loathe to try to send them in. Damn snakes don't play by the rules. And we will contact NOVA, they will be prime vectors."

"Coruscant is way down the line of what we need to do, so better leave that until we are actually in a place to do something about it. We cannot make open anti-imperial propaganda without the Empire right on us so best thing to do is spread typical idea's of Democracy and freedom and show the Imperial citizens they don't have to live in fear of tyranny. Military options as mentioned will solely be raiding and weakening the Empire with a battle being the last we want. Civilian casualties are a huge no-no since we have to try and win over the favor so we can be seen as liberators rather then conquerors. Then when the end of the war comes closer we can decide what we are going to do with the Empire. Our subject now should be where will my Empire send the Fortress Installation because we are going to need Coordinates for the Warpgate and it can hold about 900 ships docked at a time so we would want to keep our first wave about that small"

"Well, We are going to send our force out ahead. We have Modular Taskforce Cruisers that we can send out as vanguards to search for locations. We can reach there in a week and then alert you to the locations. We are going to mainly look for places at least 300 ly out from inhabited worlds. That is the distance out at which a Gravity Spike dissipates. I will send in eight of our Olympus Star Bases to act as bases and resupply points. At the same time, we are working on opening up a gate that might grant us access to some...interesting benefits. We will let you know how that works out."

John can see this Coalition was going to take some maintenance if it is going to last long enough to be a threat to the Empire.

"We will mobilize, train and bring our military up to scratch with the plan and do multiple drills to bring the Imperial Forces up to date with the tactics they will need. We will prepare Fort Shiron for transport to Imperial Space and do what we can to upgrade the infrastructure so it can hold more vessels and men. Do not worry even tho it's 9 centuries old it can still handle itself in a fight and has been in over 6000 defensive engagements since it's creation. When it arrives we should create a council of war where we can talk about plans without going back and forth across the universe"

"Agreed. If this goes through, I expect the President will accompany the Fleet."

"Well I do not know how the Empire puts together it's FTLi but if it's electronic we can use EMP's to disable them. If it's per system we can create a solar flare to hit the planets in the system disabling all power, which we could easily do with a well placed missile on the system sun. If we do manage to disable this FTLi system then the assault on Coruscant has to be very carefully planned and to be a real message it has to be a victory at all costs because a defeat will just feed the Empires ego and propaganda, The Empress can order her men to fight to the death for a victory and we have the arsenal to make a victory happen no matter what. The problem is if we lose that battle, if our fleets are completely destroyed then we cannot survive a retaliation and I think nobody here wants a repeat of what happened to Asfaltum Prime. Phenixica is so centralized it cannot survive without Devenis"

Shiron System, Phenixican Empire
When they received orders to totally re-vamp the Fort in a week the Engineers were surprised, they had to make room for another 10,000 people and the orders to the local fleets to move closer to the warpgates was not comforting either.

"Something big is happening and they are living us in the dark" said one of them

The Legions were training in brutal conditions, the scars on their bodies were from simply training and disipline was forced by severe punishment and practically brain-washing them with Loyalty to the Empire.

Colonial Garrisons were as always simpy doing their patrols, but would soon going to start a crash course in War tactics from Legion Commanders.

Phenixica, Devenis, Capital City of the Empire
When the Empress heard of the good news she was happy that finally she can bring glory back to Phenixica, her father had always wanted to strike at the Galactic Empire for the humiliation they put him through.

Almerius Monran, who she had appointed a military advisor was in the room with her. It was obvious they shared more then a professional relationship.

"When are you going to tell the population?"

"In 2 days they will be told about it, at the moment it seems like this war will either make us or ruin us"

"You do understand your majesty that if our fleets are destroyed we cannot just replace them. Phenixica will be left defenseless against any threat from Lord Vader to the Bandits in Ex-Qwelva space. Our armies cannot hold control of the vast star-systems without a fleet to back them up"

"We will not lose, I am sending Order Knights to assure that even if we lose it will still be a dark day for the galactic empire"

Daneh’s shuttle was a naval pinnace, roughly the size of a 20th century passenger jet, they were routinely used for policing systems, orbital to ground insertions, and ferrying light amounts of personal between ships. When they would have got inside the ship it would have been a Spartan affair and the best they could offer the representative was a canvas seat. She saw the cleric as they reached the pinance. The two Marines sentries in power armor came to attention as Daneh drew near. She spoke to their new passenger next,

“Get on the Shuttle we have places to be.” As they walked up the ramp she noted the seemingly trademark smell of a marine pinnace a sort of combination of stale body odor and machine lubricants, to her it would always be comforting.

She turned to her assistant.

“Kevin, go forward to the comms station and see what you can find out about the situation. I want a sitrep before we reach the Deliverance.”

“Yes, mistress.” He said with a small bow as he moved forward.

She pulled a small device out of her ear and dropped it onto a table, then spoke to the cleric. “What is your name, I assume you can speak your mind? Its good we are leaving the conference, it appears that the best plans your people can come up with is to create a pirate band based out of the unknown regions and the incredibly stupid notion to assault Coruscant.” She said with some disgust if it was as easy as their new allies made it sound they would have won the rebellion long ago instead she only said,

“Bloody amateurs.”

The Cleric chuckles at Daneh's comment. "Yes, well, it would seem like they are rather over-enthusiastic, although I do understand why one of our omnimasters suggested the strike on Coruscant. Mainly two reasons; we want to be sure that we can count on our allies, no matter what. As you can see, they had their doubts, but they were willing to aid, even in a suicide mission, which I might add, I do not think will be happening anytime soon. Also, we cannot exclude the possibility that we are being monitored. Our best option at the moment is to be unpredictable, after all, on one hand we might go off and play pirates, on the other we might consume Coruscant in flames of suicidal rage, our strategy is not exactly predictable, wouldn't you agree?"
__________

V smiled at the envoys. "Attacking Coruscant would be foolish, of course... meeting an overpowering enemy on his own terms, and in his own territory, is not even on the list of last resorts, but I'm happy to see that you would have considered doing even that. It shows that you realize the importance of striking at the heart of the empire, at their weakest spot; their pride. No, what I was really thinking about was to make the Imperials come to us. We know that they have informants throughout their territory, we can use that... all we have to do is prepare the trap, and lay the bait..."

V smiled at the envoys. "Attacking Coruscant would be foolish, of course... meeting an overpowering enemy on his own terms, and in his own territory, is not even on the list of last resorts, but I'm happy to see that you would have considered doing even that. It shows that you realize the importance of striking at the heart of the empire, at their weakest spot; their pride. No, what I was really thinking about was to make the Imperials come to us. We know that they have informants throughout their territory, we can use that... all we have to do is prepare the trap, and lay the bait..."

"I like your thinking. I was worried you where brain addled there for a second. The Trap Idea is a good one. If we can get them to go to the Maw, and lay Decoy Drones there, we might be able to remove many of them simply by forcing them to maneuver into black holes. Or perhaps...Hoth. That asteroid Field is dense, far too dense to be natural. But if we can force them to pass through that field, then perhaps we can even the playing field. Especially by including Naquadah-Pottasium warheads in the field. I don't know how to do so though, just yet anyways. I will get back to you guys on that one."

OOC: Happy Thanksgiving!

"Defence would give Phenixican ships the advantage since our ships are made for holding the line. What we need is to set a trap somewhere with a civilian presence and lure them there with bait like a small patrol sized fleet and when they send a show of force which knowing the Emperor's cockiness will be a entire Armada we surround and destroy the fleet. We make it so the fleet is to big to ignore yet not so big we wont lose allot of ships in the process. We create a ball around the Imperial Navy and bombard them like hell, Star Destroyers main weakness is being attacked from behind because they are almost completely designs to be most effective when firing in front at a target so being surrounded would overwhelm there defences".

The Cleric chuckles at Daneh's comment. "Yes, well, it would seem like they are rather over-enthusiastic, although I do understand why one of our omnimasters suggested the strike on Coruscant. Mainly two reasons; we want to be sure that we can count on our allies, no matter what. As you can see, they had their doubts, but they were willing to aid, even in a suicide mission, which I might add, I do not think will be happening anytime soon. Also, we cannot exclude the possibility that we are being monitored. Our best option at the moment is to be unpredictable, after all, on one hand we might go off and play pirates, on the other we might consume Coruscant in flames of suicidal rage, our strategy is not exactly predictable, wouldn't you agree?"

"I do not agree."

Her tone had changed from the diplomatic politeness she had exuded during the conference, replaced by cold finality,

"Your nation has lost one planet, you and those gathered here know nothing. While you are playing at pirate or planning some more unpredictable attacks upon suicidal targets, it will be my nation that will suffer. It is our worlds that are known to the Empire, while your new friends back in the conference will hide in deep space, or be born out of resurrection chambers, it is our worlds that will bear the brunt of the Empire's ire."

Her eyes stared daggers at the cleric as if angry at his nonchalance daring at him to say something more,

"Wouldn't you agree?" She asked of him.

OOC: Just to make a clear distinction for those members starting to become more knowledgeable about the GE, it should me made clear that the information garnered through wikipedia and wookiepedia are, in our case, outdated. The Galactic Empire in NS is one that has encompassed, in near entirety, all of the Star Wars galaxy either through direct means of Imperial forces and colonization, or through the dividing of territory to allied partners. So when you talk of allying with native species and their problems, etc, you are speaking of a world that, while existing, is not how the wikis explain. The WIck should know exactly what I mean by this.

((OOC: Trust me, allot of things about how your GE works makes us understand how we cannot rely on any database from starwars.))

OOC: :D Good. Mission Accomplished. Also, I would advise looking over certain GE members factbooks, to make sure that you don't overlook anything important...

"I feel uncomfortable and if my old bones are right this conference has become somewhat compromised, I think it would be best if we continue the preparations for the attack on safer channels otherwise we could find the Empire using this information against us. I came to this conference to put together a serious threat to the Empire, that threat will not exist if they are prepared for our arrival"

((OOC: Not a good idea to show how great a interest you are taking in our discussion, I wont talk about any plans I consider 'Important' any longer because it will be used against us. I am not leaving the meeting and will be joining in our goals against the Empire I just think we should continue the more important issues some other way))

OOC: Understand that the conversation you're part of in this thread is "Secret IC" thereby making it inviolate or of use to any GE members since we're not there. Meaning no worries. Plot away and have fun.

"I do not agree."

Her tone had changed from the diplomatic politeness she had exuded during the conference, replaced by cold finality,

"Your nation has lost one planet, you and those gathered here know nothing. While you are playing at pirate or planning some more unpredictable attacks upon suicidal targets, it will be my nation that will suffer. It is our worlds that are known to the Empire, while your new friends back in the conference will hide in deep space, or be born out of resurrection chambers, it is our worlds that will bear the brunt of the Empire's ire."

Her eyes stared daggers at the cleric as if angry at his nonchalance daring at him to say something more,

"Wouldn't you agree?" She asked of him.

The man smiled. "No, actually, I wouldn't agree." he said quite simply, shooting a sharp glance back at Daneh. "First of all, it was your idea not to let us aid you in your battle against the Empire." he calmly continued. "Secondly, recent developments seem to point towards the fact that the Empire intended to attack you anyway. The only way we can, maybe, influence this, is by engaging the enemy on a seperate front, thus drawing resources away from you, giving you more of a fair fight, if there ever is such a thing when engaging the Empire... If before they planned to attack you, now they will have to think again. They will most likely decide to clean up their backyard, before engaging you on a distant frontier. Unless of course they deem us to be an unimportant threat, upon which they, more likely than not, will unleash their full fury upon your worlds. So, in your best interest, and in order to convince the Empire that they should take our threat seriously, you better hope that we devise the most bloody, suicidal, and outnumbered attacks possible..." he concluded, giving Daneh an expressionless glance before going back to observing the shuttle's interior.
_____________

V stood up. "I think we have reached a consensus as to what needs to be done. I suggest that we meet again soon, to plan further details..."

OOC: I agree with Thrashia, although I had no plan whatsoever to stick around discussing tactical details on the public forums anyway, even OOCly, so therefore after the weekend I'll continue the more detailed discussions in another place...

"We could meet on our Capital city of Phenixica on Devenis, security is tight and you could discuss these matters with the Empress herself and the Imperial Commissioner. As long as your do not mind 40-50 egree Celsius of pure dry heat then we should not have a problem"

"No. We need No Chambers. Without them, Psykers, Pre-Cogs, Jedi, all of them will be able to access our thoughts or see what we plan. It was stupid of us to try and plan these activities outside such a chamber."

OOC: As Isolationists, We don't know much about the GE. But we do know that it is based off of the Galactic Empire. And as we have had contact with a Universe with extremely slight differences from the one of the movies, we are basing our knowledge off of that Universe.

OOC: For you information, the Galactic Empire on NS is directly spawned fro the Galactic Empire in the SW universe and fiction. Our Galaxy is set five hundred years after theb attle of Yavin, where a reborn emperor palpatine was released from cryo stasis along with clone troopers and his apprentice darth vader.

Launching a quick invasion upon the Galaxy and liberating the Coreworlds from the jedi menance "Coreworlds" :-} The Empire was quickly refounded.

We are the SW universe in almost full reality, just a large extension of it.

If you want any more OOC information feel free to ask.

"Nobody except those who have been invited know where the Citerian even is, it's the Empires greatest strength and yet our main weakness when it comes to forging allies. The galactic empire cannot lay eyes on our homeworld unless their heads are on a spike"

A thousand thoughts were running through Daneh's head. There was a good reason for her telling the nations gathered at the conference not to assist directly the Republican Navy in the coming fight against the Empire. For more then ten years now the Farstars Navy and the Republican Navy had not only trained together but fought together in battle. The two organizations have become one in tactics and melded together seamlessly in battle. It would not be the case with the rapid introduction of allied forces, that would lead only to issues of chain of command, procedures, tactics, and strategy. Which was why at the time she suggested that they instead commit fully to their tactics of raiding and opening up a second front against the Empire. Simply what she had issues with was the suggestion that assaulting Imperial Center could be a good idea, or that bloody suicidally attacks could hurt the Empire. The Empire could wipe out all 300 warships of the Rogue Legion, at the cost of 600 of their own and would consider it acceptable losses. There was no Pyhrric victory in the Empire's mind only Victory.

Instead she asked of the Representative,

"My nation has had little contact with yours in the past. We were only vaguely aware of the atrocity wrought on your homeworld, sympathetic though the Republic is to you and yours we could not hope to help you then. Now, It is not that we wouldn't want you to help us in our time of need, but that it would have been impractical for us to integrate that assistance in time for it to be an benefit rather than a burden in combat."

"I would like to know more about your organization, you called yourself a cleric, tell me about your order, your abilities, how you gain them, principles that you follow, and how you could be of assistance to my nation in the future."

OOC: http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=574670

For Asfaltum's eyes only

You sure it's the smartest move to threaten a nation with allies much, much more powerful then you?

OOC: It's Hataria...but like Sith said, if you've any question, just ask.

Still, even if it is Hataria it is not playing as Hataria :P

I just find it funny how he tries to create a Alliance agaisnt violent nations and yet...he threatens a nation for no reason other then gaining a foothold.

OOC: http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=574670

For Asfaltum's eyes only

OOC: Oh how utterly amusing... reply has been posted...;)

A thousand thoughts were running through Daneh's head. There was a good reason for her telling the nations gathered at the conference not to assist directly the Republican Navy in the coming fight against the Empire. For more then ten years now the Farstars Navy and the Republican Navy had not only trained together but fought together in battle. The two organizations have become one in tactics and melded together seamlessly in battle. It would not be the case with the rapid introduction of allied forces, that would lead only to issues of chain of command, procedures, tactics, and strategy. Which was why at the time she suggested that they instead commit fully to their tactics of raiding and opening up a second front against the Empire. Simply what she had issues with was the suggestion that assaulting Imperial Center could be a good idea, or that bloody suicidally attacks could hurt the Empire. The Empire could wipe out all 300 warships of the Rogue Legion, at the cost of 600 of their own and would consider it acceptable losses. There was no Pyhrric victory in the Empire's mind only Victory.

Instead she asked of the Representative,

"My nation has had little contact with yours in the past. We were only vaguely aware of the atrocity wrought on your homeworld, sympathetic though the Republic is to you and yours we could not hope to help you then. Now, It is not that we wouldn't want you to help us in our time of need, but that it would have been impractical for us to integrate that assistance in time for it to be an benefit rather than a burden in combat."

"I would like to know more about your organization, you called yourself a cleric, tell me about your order, your abilities, how you gain them, principles that you follow, and how you could be of assistance to my nation in the future."

The man nodded, welcoming the shift of subject from military strategies to historical facts. "The 'Technoton Clerics' derive from the Asfaltum Jedi Order, although they have evolved considerably in comparison to the traditional Jedi and Sith force-users. Our ideology centers heavily upon balance, the balance between good and evil, male and female, nature and technology, strength and weakness etc. etc. I could go into a lot more detail, but I think it is sufficient for you to know that we value all innocent life, and are strongly opposed to everything the GE stands for. We seek to master the art of combat, training heavily when we are not studying or meditating. Our main fighting style is what we call "Gun Kata". This fighting style is based upon the Cleric's main weapon: the gun. This may surprise some, as force-users normally prefer to utilize bladed weapons. We are in fact quite profficient in the use of bladed weapons, but our primary weapons are fire-arms of all types. Through analysis of thousands of recorded gunfights, the Cleric has determined that the geometric distribution of antagonists in any gun battle is a statistically-predictable element. Gun Kata treats the gun as a total weapon, each fluid combat-stance represents a maximum kill zone, inflicting maximum damage on the maximum number of opponents, while keeping the defender clear of the statistically traditional trajectories of return fire. By the rote mastery of this art, ones firing efficiency will rise by no less than 300%, and the Cleric will be highly skilled in analyzing any battle-situation, predicting trajectories and using his knowledge not only to dodge, feign, and eliminate, but also to cause opponents to cross each other's path of fire, effectively making them eliminate each other. The difference of a 200% increased lethal proficiency makes the master of Gun Kata an adversary not to be taken lightly. We utilize high-yield kinnetic ammunition which we have developed specially for ourselves." here the man pulls out what appears to be a regular middle-sized bullet, with strange engraved patterns on it's surface. "This ammunition helps us to utilize our force-powers, in order to effectively bend the trajectory of said bullets at will, enabling us to engage at will, and eliminate, objectives hidden behind obstacles of various sizes and dimensions, as well as dispatching multiple enemies with one single shot. We also utilize "Dimensional Compression" technology, sometimes referred to as Flat-Space technology, which is used to store objects in a pocket dimension. Simple objects are stored/retrieved, and more complex ones systematically deconstructed/reconstructed in what to outsiders may look like a flow of sparkling lights. A significant number of items and weapons can be stored for easy retrieval without burdening the user with either weight or size. The technology mainly takes the form of easily overlooked wristbands and other adornments, such as these silver patterns of armour on my black gloves, although for example, one-inch scabbards holding 42-inch swords are also a possibilty. Handguns (some with 18-inch swords stored in their six-inch grips, with enough room remaining for great amounts of ammunition), and also ammunition are hidden in this same manner (the ammunition flying from the wristbands into the magazines on command). The technology is also used to create habitable pocket dimensions, such as briefcases or backpacks used to transport injured individuals away from the battle-field... to illustrate this, I can tell you that I'm currently equipped with 30 firearms, and 10 bladed weapons, as well as various other items..." he calmly concluded, looking over at Daneh to see if she had any questions.

"So where should we continue this meeting? I still recommend Devenis for it's safety from pretty much any foreign force"

OOC:If you choose Devenis then il just use a old TCP forum (The Confederacy of Phenixica) which I have tons of all around the internet.

OOC: You got a TG Phen...

Bumping The WIck

OOC: I think we should go with a new forum, like the GFFA and the ESUS alliances. Set up some of the information there, and begin recruiting into it those we trust in FT.

The shuttle docked with the Farstars Cruiser which immediately jumped into hyperspace. It would be a long trip back to Republican Space. But messages could be sent in real time between the cruisers and the Republic through the use of its shipboard ansible.

In the Hanger bay it was just Daneh and the Asfaltum Cleric. Daneh listened to his long speech and only glean a few important tidbits from the rambling statements of his Order's strengths and weaknesses. She decided then that it was time to get to the bottom of it all and to conduct her own research on the matter.

"Walk with me Cleric." She told the Asfaltum man. As they moved through the hanger deck as they walked by working technicians, sailors, and marines, they all came to attention as Daneh passed. Some greeted her with Mistress Ghorbani, or Warden. “I do not believe you have told me your name Cleric, I would like to know it. If you were not aware, I am Daneh Ghorbani, I hold the title of Warden and am responsible for the protection of the Republic’s borders and am command of her special units, and as you tell from this trip I often moonlight as an Envoy to foreign nations when matters of our national security are concerned.” She informed him before her voice grew serious again,

“I am not now however acting as a civilian envoy to a foreign national entity. You are on a warship in a time of war. You will not be allowed to send out any signals, unless you do so from the comms shack, use our codes. You will be given quarters, and a pass to access medical, recreational, and mess services through out the ship. However you will not be allowed into any secure areas such as engineering and the bridge without a marine escort. You will also offer common military courtesy to the men and women of this vessel, such as myself you will call me Mistress, or Warden. You have not done anything to cause me to distrust you, these are simply routine security precautions that every foreign passenger must adhere to.”

They continued to walk for a while in silence making their way through the corridors.

“It is good that your Order values balance but be wary of your automatic hatred of what the Galactic Empire stands for, such hate can lead to the darkside. You must realize that there exists no innocence in the Galaxy, none of us are good, or evil, but rather shades of gray. In defending the Republic I have been responsible for military actions that have resulted in the deaths of civilians, and I have watched the life leave the eyes of men and women I killed. No, there isn’t much good in that.”

They were getting close to their destination, a hatched opened automatically and they walked into an empty storage bay. She walked into the center of the darkened cargo bay. She reached into opened the jacket she was wearing and reached into it, her back to the Cleric. She asked him one final question.

“What good is having 30 firearms and ten bladed weapons when you need only one to kill a man?”

She then turned to face him in her left arm was a Pulser, a targeting laser already struck the cleric in his chest, it was avoidable given the circumstances. The weapon fired without warning as five 10mm hyper-velocity darts moving at 6 kps, guided themselves to the target.

OOC:Alf told me he was going to make them, so we should be able to continue this soon. Thats right your nickname is now Alf :P

The shuttle docked with the Farstars Cruiser which immediately jumped into hyperspace. It would be a long trip back to Republican Space. But messages could be sent in real time between the cruisers and the Republic through the use of its shipboard ansible.

In the Hanger bay it was just Daneh and the Asfaltum Cleric. Daneh listened to his long speech and only glean a few important tidbits from the rambling statements of his Order's strengths and weaknesses. She decided then that it was time to get to the bottom of it all and to conduct her own research on the matter.

"Walk with me Cleric." She told the Asfaltum man. As they moved through the hanger deck as they walked by working technicians, sailors, and marines, they all came to attention as Daneh passed. Some greeted her with Mistress Ghorbani, or Warden. “I do not believe you have told me your name Cleric, I would like to know it. If you were not aware, I am Daneh Ghorbani, I hold the title of Warden and am responsible for the protection of the Republic’s borders and am command of her special units, and as you tell from this trip I often moonlight as an Envoy to foreign nations when matters of our national security are concerned.” She informed him before her voice grew serious again,

“I am not now however acting as a civilian envoy to a foreign national entity. You are on a warship in a time of war. You will not be allowed to send out any signals, unless you do so from the comms shack, use our codes. You will be given quarters, and a pass to access medical, recreational, and mess services through out the ship. However you will not be allowed into any secure areas such as engineering and the bridge without a marine escort. You will also offer common military courtesy to the men and women of this vessel, such as myself you will call me Mistress, or Warden. You have not done anything to cause me to distrust you, these are simply routine security precautions that every foreign passenger must adhere to.”

"I fully understand, and am quite comfortable with your precautions." The Cleric assured Daneh. "My name is Artorius della Classe, also known as Art, and my code-name is "Rage Of Velocity"." he added, remembering that she had wanted to know his name.


They continued to walk for a while in silence making their way through the corridors.

“It is good that your Order values balance but be wary of your automatic hatred of what the Galactic Empire stands for, such hate can lead to the darkside. You must realize that there exists no innocence in the Galaxy, none of us are good, or evil, but rather shades of gray. In defending the Republic I have been responsible for military actions that have resulted in the deaths of civilians, and I have watched the life leave the eyes of men and women I killed. No, there isn’t much good in that.”

They were getting close to their destination, a hatched opened automatically and they walked into an empty storage bay. She walked into the center of the darkened cargo bay. She reached into opened the jacket she was wearing and reached into it, her back to the Cleric. She asked him one final question.

“What good is having 30 firearms and ten bladed weapons when you need only one to kill a man?”

She then turned to face him in her left arm was a Pulser, a targeting laser already struck the cleric in his chest, it was avoidable given the circumstances. The weapon fired without warning as five 10mm hyper-velocity darts moving at 6 kps, guided themselves to the target.

Unpredictable? Maybe. But definitely fast. Artorius was a Class 1 Technoton Cleric Master who thought of combat much as he thought of poetry or dance. It wasn't something to be learned, or mastered, but something to be lived, experienced... an art. So, it was no surprise that he distinctly felt the hostile intentions of his guide as they walked into the empty cargo bay. He saw the movement of her body and limbs as she reached into her jacket, her back turned towards him. His instincts kicked in without a moment's hesitation, his mind unconsciously analyzing the developing situation within split-seconds. Considering the distance between them, he concluded that the most effective weapon for her to use was a fire-arm. By looking at the leaning of her body he could predict which of her hands was grasping the fire-arm, thus enabling him to predict in which direction she would turn, in order to bring the muzzle to bear upon him with the shortest possible time lapse. He saw everything in slow-motion for a moment. Just as she started turning around, the tiny cube which had been released from the Cleric's belt struck the floor noiselessly, activating a duplicate hologram in the place where he had stood just a split-second before. Artorius himself had leaped noiselessly out of the way, twirling in mid air, two pistols appeared in his hands, as he landed behind Daneh. As she had turned around, he had moved in the other direction, following her back, and avoiding her line of vision. As she finished firing at the duplicate hologram, the slugs passing harmlessly through it, she heard an almost whispering voice behind her. "Did you bring me here to kill me, or are you just testing my patience?" If she decided to turn around she would find herself staring down the barrels of two guns aimed at her head, barely one metre away from her. At the same time the Cleric activated a small burst of Tachyon energy, that would reveal any cloaked objects in the room...

Daneh turned and saw the flawless imagine of the Cleric projected by the hologram. She knew it was not the Cleric though, she felt no life from it. She did fire one shot at the projector itself destroying it, the image disappearing quickly. Then Daneh heard his words. She raised her left arm, the pulser she held loosely with only her finger curled around the trigger guard. She answered the Cleric. She did not answer his questions because she did not care what so ever for his patience or his life.

"I do not know much about your order but I can tell that your base your actions on the most probably reactions of your opponent." She told him matter of factly as she let the pulser fall to the deck. She then turned around slowly and faced the cleric both her hands still raised above her head.

“Why did you come with me Artorius? You wanted to plead your case to join our fight against the Empire, to join in the mission to destroy the Galaxy Gun? I know nothing of you though, I do know how you will likely reaction in combat, but I can not yet trust those reaction with my life or with those under my command. I feel that you live for combat, that it is such a part of your life that you live only for it. Where as I do not live for combat, I live today because I have survived it, there is a difference there.”

“If I let you join our fight your most dangerous enemy will be the Sith. The Sith are not predictable, their actions random, or if you think you know what they are doing its all because they are leading you into a trap. You may even have them at your mercy but not realize it is you who are in danger, know that they have broken the greatest of us without taking one direct action.” In her eyes there was a hint of emotion of painful memory and intense feelings, all things she has tried to conceal because of how the Sith exploit such feelings.

“You can walk away right now, it will be a while before you can return to your nation, but you will. Or you can stay here and show me what you are worth, but if you stay, I can not garentee your safety, you may die.” If Artorius left now she would watch him leave the bay without any reaction, a pair of Marines would lead him to his quarters if he remained,

“You weakness is your primary doctrine of defense and attack relies on prediciting the most statistically likely of your opponents actions. When you are fighting the Sith though you must predict the unpredictable and react quickly with violence and intensity or die.”

Her hands were still above her head, then she clenched them into fists, the Force acted upon the Clerics firearms placing them under intense pressure, they were crushed as if by a massive clamp. As his weapons were destroyed Daneh force pulled her lightsaber from its holster under her jacket and activated it with a flourish as she held it in a reverse grip in her left hand.

She did not give the Cleric any more time to recover from the situation he found himself on, as she feinted slashing the saber at his chest, instead at the last moment she fell into a crouch and kicked out her leg attempting to sweep the clerics out from under him. If she did she would then attempt to stab her saber down on his fallen form.

Daneh turned and saw the flawless imagine of the Cleric projected by the hologram. She knew it was not the Cleric though, she felt no life from it. She did fire one shot at the projector itself destroying it, the image disappearing quickly. Then Daneh heard his words. She raised her left arm, the pulser she held loosely with only her finger curled around the trigger guard. She answered the Cleric. She did not answer his questions because she did not care what so ever for his patience or his life.

"I do not know much about your order but I can tell that your base your actions on the most probably reactions of your opponent." She told him matter of factly as she let the pulser fall to the deck. She then turned around slowly and faced the cleric both her hands still raised above her head.

“Why did you come with me Artorius? You wanted to plead your case to join our fight against the Empire, to join in the mission to destroy the Galaxy Gun? I know nothing of you though, I do know how you will likely reaction in combat, but I can not yet trust those reaction with my life or with those under my command. I feel that you live for combat, that it is such a part of your life that you live only for it. Where as I do not live for combat, I live today because I have survived it, there is a difference there.”

“If I let you join our fight your most dangerous enemy will be the Sith. The Sith are not predictable, their actions random, or if you think you know what they are doing its all because they are leading you into a trap. You may even have them at your mercy but not realize it is you who are in danger, know that they have broken the greatest of us without taking one direct action.” In her eyes there was a hint of emotion of painful memory and intense feelings, all things she has tried to conceal because of how the Sith exploit such feelings.

“You can walk away right now, it will be a while before you can return to your nation, but you will. Or you can stay here and show me what you are worth, but if you stay, I can not garentee your safety, you may die.” If Artorius left now she would watch him leave the bay without any reaction, a pair of Marines would lead him to his quarters if he remained,

“You weakness is your primary doctrine of defense and attack relies on prediciting the most statistically likely of your opponents actions. When you are fighting the Sith though you must predict the unpredictable and react quickly with violence and intensity or die.”

Her hands were still above her head, then she clenched them into fists, the Force acted upon the Clerics firearms placing them under intense pressure, they were crushed as if by a massive clamp. As his weapons were destroyed Daneh force pulled her lightsaber from its holster under her jacket and activated it with a flourish as she held it in a reverse grip in her left hand.

She did not give the Cleric any more time to recover from the situation he found himself on, as she feinted slashing the saber at his chest, instead at the last moment she fell into a crouch and kicked out her leg attempting to sweep the clerics out from under him. If she did she would then attempt to stab her saber down on his fallen form.

Artorius was amused. He had told her only a part of the Technoton doctrine, but she seemed to honestly believe that he had told her everything. He unerstood why the Sith underestimated the Jedi. And he also understood why his Order had left the traditional views of the Jedi Order, and embraced what some would view as a slightly more sinister doctrine, which, while deriving from the Jedi, made them so much more of a threat to the Sith. He could not predict all that his enemy would do, but the force could, and his Order was profficient in the manipulation of force, in order to predict, and feign. She spoke of being cautious even when having a Sith to one's mercy, knowing not that no such thing existed within the Technoton Order. Mercy against a Sith was not an option, only immediate death was viable, any pause or deviation from "the routine", and you were dead. The moment a Sith was at the mercy of a Cleric, was the moment he died.

The doctrine simply gave combat the same status as anything else one did in life, wether it be drinking a glass of water, or going for a walk. It taught the Cleric to concentrate on whatever he was doing at the moment, and whatever surrounded him at any point in time. Thus, if it was necessary to fight, the Cleric dropped all else, and life became combat, thus rendering every breath of his an attack, every step a combat-stance, every blink of an eye a tactical consideration. In that particular frame of time, he lived for combat, for the simple reason that in that particular moment, life was combat.

As his guns were crumpled together, Art sarcastically commented to himself "...and then she asks what use there is for carrying more than one weapon..." as he used his psi-abilities to leap backwards with astonishing speed and accuracy, soaring into the air and avoiding Daneh's attacks, making a backward flip, and landing in front of the opposite wall. He had felt a sense of painful emotion when she spoke of the Sith, and he intended to see exactly how weak she was. He decided not to kill her, for despite the scar on the left side of her face she was rather cute, and when he exited the emotionless state of combat he would probably want to invite her to dinner (he was quite a good cook, actually), although for now he was quite merciless.

"If they have fallen without the Sith taking one single direct action, then maybe they are not in fact as great as you believe them to have been... wouldn't that be a logical conclusion of sorst?" he asked, as two new guns appeared in his hands, spewing forth kinnetic shield-piercing rounds at a tremendous rate. Artorious flexed his force-powers like he had done so many times before, bringing the rounds under his controll and altering their trajectory at will. As their tremendous speed made them invisible to the naked eye and propelled them towards their target, the runes etched into them rested firmly in Artorius' grip, aligned as they were with his particular force. Daneh could not hope to gain control of them, only deflect them or shield them away (deflecting all of them with her sabre was an impossibility, only force surges might hope to affect them), which was going to be difficult, as the shield-piercing bullets approached from all angles, and were coated with a paralyzing toxin, which didn't kill, but meant that even a glazing shot would paralyze the target. Daneh had approximately 0.48 seconds to decide what to do...

Daneh’s leg swept under the Cleric as he executed his back flip, she did not follow through with her attack but instead stood and faced the evading Cleric, she watched him as if looking through him and his thoughts.

“You seem to think you have the strength to defeat a Sith Lord? An enemy neither you nor your order has ever truly faced. There are few enough of us who are alive that opposed Palpatine’s resurrection and survived.”

That event occurred more then two decades ago during an era when the New Republic had established its dominance over the Empire whose few remaining Moffs had remained contained in the Bastion Remnant. Then Palpatine had return after he had corrupted the soul of our Chancellor and slowly, carefully, methodically, spread the seeds of the Republic’s destruction When the New Republic ruled there were thousands of Jedi to defend it against the vanquished dark threat of the Sith and Empire, but the resurrection was bloody the Republic and the Jedi were forced to fight clones, Sith, and themselves before Asfaltum Prime found itself under the guns of the Empire. Now the few battered and scarred survivors of the Jedi Order like Daneh were struggling every day to preserve the Republic, and no other organization had more experience fighting the Sith and the Empire then they.

It was at this point the cleric commented on the fallen and his quip at logical conclusions.

“There are no logical conclusions when trying to understand the actions of the Sith” was all she told him. She did not tell him about the specifics of how the Sith would manipulate your friends, loved ones, comrades and turn them against you. She did not tell him about what that cost her and how she earned the scar. But she need feel much anger build a bit at how he so casually dismissed that threat and the good people who lost to it.

The Cleric then drew his two new weapons and unleashed his renewed attack on Daneh. She recogned his ability in manipulating the force to predict her own actions and to guide the projectiles to hit his target, her. Daneh was one of the few Old Jedi Masters of the Ossus Order. She was one of three who had survived the purge, from the Old Order. Jedi Master Hawkins was another, he did not have the most finesse when utilizing his powers but his light saber skills and raw talent in combat were unmatched. She was different however, her greatest asset was in understanding the nature of the force. She read the ancient holocrons in the library at Ossus and meditated often looking in to the past and future, things that a warrior like Hawkins would have scoffed at. But her knowledge of the Force allowed her to recognize some of what the Cleric was attempting.

She also recognized his error he was trying to control the force, to make it bend to his will to manipulate it. The Force was not something to control, it was not to be made subservient to your whims. Rather the Force was something to be embraced, to guide your actions, and sometimes the results of those actions would not be what you would like, but the Force they say works in mysterious ways.

When Artorius did attempt to manipulate the Force and the projectiles they were considerably slowed giving her plenty of time, nearly half a second to react. All she did in her defense was raise her light saber in front of her with both hands and closed her eyes.

One projectile grazed her neck she felt her warm blood begin to pour out of the gash running down her shoulder. Another hit her thigh but still she did not move or attempt to block, the toxin was already entering her bloodstream as quickly as her own left her.

She fell onto her knees as the remaining projectiles closed in to finish her. The entire cargo bay seemed to darken to a pitch black the only illumination was a small area around both Daneh and the Cleric. She could not move and was growing pale at the loss of blood, she was at Artorius mercy.

Artorius was not one to be fooled easily. As he directed the bullets to graze her, only inflicting superficial wounds but still delivering the paralyzing poison, he could feel that her anger had grown, due to his comment on the dead. He wondered if she was really fit to fight the Sith, but decided that it would be decided later in time. He stopped firing, the guns vanishing from his hands as he placed them behind his back, observing his opponent. He did not in any way try to finish her off. He would wait until the darkness closed in on her completely and she collapsed on the floor, before going out the door and calling a medic. He knew she wouldn't bleed to death during the short time it took, all he had to do was wait...

Daneh fell face first onto the deck of the hold and laid there unmoving for several minutes before the toxin overtook her. If Artorius checked he would have found that the toxin had indeed overwhelmed her system, his weapons were effective.

He moved quickly to the hatch to open it to request aid from the sentry standing watch outside of it. When the hatched opened before him he did not see the corridor outside the bay, he saw nothing but the reflection of himself and the bay behind him. If he turned around to look to Daneh’s fallen body he would have watched her body turn black slowly it lost its form and became a flock of raven, the large black birds flew into the darkness the laid all along the ceiling of the cargo bay. The entire bay was cast into a pitch black now. What little light had illuminated where he and Daneh had stood was now nothing.

There was no sound in the bay except for the beating of Artorius heart and the occasionally call of a raven from the darkness. Then there was the sudden snap-hiss of a light saber activating. Its blade activated not a foot from Artorious’ back the blade igniting in his upper left back side piercing his lung. A Hand clapped over his mouth silencing his scream as the blade was pullout out and thrust into his spinal column. Daneh spoke into his ear as he became a quadriplegic.

“Your pride was your undoing Cleric. You assumed you had more strength then I, that you had me at your mercy and did not finish me.” She held his body upright since he no longer could. “Why did you not? Because you thought the women who had pulled a gun and shot at you was an ally? That this was but a test? I did tell you that you could die today.”

With that she thrust her lightsaber through his right lung destroying it. Breathing would be all but impossible now for the crippled cleric.

“My scar…my son gave it to me. He had fallen to the darkness only I was blinded by my love for my child. When he tried to kill me I bested him, and thought to detain him, it was a ruse and he was the one in control, he nearly took off my head. Your closest of Allies, your loved ones and comrades can turn against you, and you must kill them, there can be no mercy no prisoners.” She told him her voice ice. She could feel that he had only seconds left to live as she dropped his broken body to the floor she had one last statement

“You have known me for less then a day but could not finish me. What chance do you have against the Sith. You have heard my words today but you have not listened. I have my anger but the Sith are right that great strength can be drawn from that at great cost. You have a dangerous pride and nothing can come of pride but death.” As the cleric breathed his last and shut his eyes, and died.

+ + +

They were then back in the brightly lit cargo bay, Daneh was standing in front of him as if nothing had happened what so ever. Only a moment after she had asked him about the need to have so many bladed weapons and fire arms.

“Artorius you need no weapon but your mind that is what makes one powerful.” Daneh told him.

Cloaking devices are nice things. So are advanced ectoplasmic holograms, that seem to contain life, which in fact they do, to a certain degree, thus specifically constructed to fool psi/force-users. Artorius winced as Daneh sliced up the particle shell of his replica, the one he had activated as Daneh fell to the floor. Using the inanimate hologram had been a ruse, to make her relax in the assumption that he underestimated her force capabilities. He stood behind her, invisible to eyesight and sensors alike, listening to what she said. A few years earlier, the illusion would have felt just as real as reality itself, but, due to the mutational enhancements done to all who served in the Rogue Legion, along with the Symbiotech suit he was wearing who was not easily fooled, he was quite aware of what was going on, letting part of himself experience the illusion, but still remaining in contact with reality. Besides, Jedi mind tricks only worked on the weakminded, he chuckled to himself.

As Daneh brought the illusion to an end, he blinked in the sharp light (or pretended to do so), while feigning a very humbled appearance. "I, I appreciate you pointing that out, I agree, our mind is what makes us most powerful..." he said, pretending it to be an attempt at regaining his composure. "Might I inquire as to when lunch-hours are? That excersize left me a tad hungry..." he continued, trying a sheepish smile, as if he was in a hurry to change the subject, after experiencing a fatal blow to his ego. He was aware of her quite advanced force-powers, and it was quite possible that she had been able to detect the fact that he had utilized the advanced hologram during the illusionary battle, but she would remain ignorant of the fact that he had been able to see through the illusion. She might even suspect, but she would not have been able to detect any signs that suggested that it was the case. The Sith were quite good at feigning weakness and inability, and as the Technoton doctrine of balance dictated, the Cleric was not above using such tactics. Besides, even if she had some suspicions, his feigning weakness would be a strong contrast to the supposed pride which she accused him of having, and she would most likely not admit to herself the possibility of being wrong... or the possiblity of her being deceived by anyone other than her son.