NationStates Jolt Archive

In one fluid movement, Nathan had risen, faster than his appearance had credited him with. He stood and slid easily between the two scrapping beings, arms outstretched to seperate them both as far as possible,
"Now lads, play nice," He stated simply, "No need to get nasty with guns and swords and kicks and whatnot. Can't we sort our differences out like sensible Beings? Give peace a chance and all that crap"

The kytaf sighed, then suddenly grabbed Mirog's arm, twisting it sharply then grabbing and tossing the his shotgun across the room with his other hand, sweeping his legs at the same time and then slashing once across the man's face, leaving a faint trail of blood across the man's eyelids and cheek.
"I said no weapons, coward."

Mirog flipped back up, one arm hanging limp. "This is more like it." Claws sprouted from his one mobile hand and his eyes changed to a deep red color. "Now look what you done, you got me all worked up." Mirog pushed Nathan out of the way and brought his claws across the Kytaf's face. "I was just asking and was going to cause you no harm, but now I think I will just kill you for the fun of it." Mirog slammed his forehead against the Kytaf's and let him fall back.

Mirog flipped back up, one arm hanging limp. "This is more like it." Claws sprouted from his one mobile hand and his eyes changed to a deep red color. "Now look what you done, you got me all worked up." Mirog pushed Nathan out of the way and brought his claws across the Kytaf's face. "I was just asking and was going to cause you no harm, but now I think I will just kill you for the fun of it." Mirog slammed his forehead against the Kytaf's and let him fall back.

OOC: Cough, Toth, see my post...directly above yours

OOC: Cough, Toth, see my post...directly above yours

OOC: I pushed you out of the way.

Adam caught Roman's eyes and asked him a single question.

"You are going to make the mistake of giving HIM your tech?"

He shook his head and waited for the Host to stop the display.

OOC: Cough, Toth, see my post...directly above yours

OOC: Oh let him have his fun.
IC:

Mirog flipped back up, one arm hanging limp. "This is more like it." Claws sprouted from his one mobile hand and his eyes changed to a deep red color. "Now look what you done, you got me all worked up." Mirog pushed Nathan out of the way and brought his claws across the Kytaf's face. "I was just asking and was going to cause you no harm, but now I think I will just kill you for the fun of it." Mirog slammed his forehead against the Kytaf's and let him fall back.
Four streaks (I assume Mirog has 4 fingers) of dark red blood appeared across the Kytaf's face, mingling with other battles scars and the self inflicted crude swirls, lines and animal designs that marked his clan. Arrakis barely noticed the headbutt, recoiling from the impact then using the using the momentum to leapt at Mirog, in full bloodlust mode, and began clawing at him, before kicking back off using Mirog as a springboard, then held his ground, a disturbingly long angularly forked tounge slithering from his mouth and flicking a few beads of blood off his face, waiting for the other combattant to make the next move.

OOC: Oh let him have his fun.
IC:

Four streaks (I assume Mirog has 4 fingers) of dark red blood appeared across the Kytaf's face, mingling with other battles scars and the self inflicted crude swirls, lines and animal designs that marked his clan. Arrakis barely noticed the headbutt, recoiling from the impact then using the using the momentum to leapt at Mirog, in full bloodlust mode, and began clawing at him, before kicking back off using Mirog as a springboard, then held his ground, a disturbingly long angularly forked tounge slithering from his mouth and flicking a few beads of blood off his face, waiting for the other combattant to make the next move.

Mirog flew back into a wall and picked himself back up. His front was tattered and his chest more scared. "Is that all you got. My drill Sargent hit harder than that." Mirog moved forward at a fast speed and jabbed his claws into the Kytaf's throat and twisted, then dropped them and slid it off his claws back into wall. he than moved back.

Mirog flew back into a wall and picked himself back up. His front was tattered and his chest more scared. "Is that all you got. My drill Sargent hit harder than that." Mirog moved forward at a fast speed and jabbed his claws into the Kytaf's throat and twisted, then dropped them and slid it off his claws back into wall. he than moved back.

More scars were added to the kytaf's wide repertoire, blood pouring from his throat. He opened his mouth to growl, mutely screeching, before pouncing at Mirog, knocking him to the floor and then dropping down to bite his throat. When near death, a kytaf's 'bezerker' glands kicked in, pumping adrenaline and a natural analgesic, giving the kytaf a better chance to take whatever was attacking it to the grave with it.

OOC: I assume you want Mirog to survive?

More scars were added to the kytaf's wide repertoire, blood pouring from his throat. He opened his mouth to growl, mutely screeching, before pouncing at Mirog, knocking him to the floor and then dropping down to bite his throat. When near death, a kytaf's 'bezerker' glands kicked in, pumping adrenaline and a natural analgesic, giving the kytaf a better chance to take whatever was attacking it to the grave with it.

OOC: I assume you want Mirog to survive?

OOC: Nope. he dies and a much more leval headed person comes along.
IC: Mirog jammed his claws in the Kytaf's stomach and twisted.

OOC: Nope. he dies and a much more leval headed person comes along.
IC: Mirog jammed his claws in the Kytaf's stomach and twisted.

OOC: So can I kill him then?

OOC: Yes.
IC: Mirog smiled with blood running down his lips from his mouth, and twisted his claws again.

OOC: Yes.
IC: Mirog smiled with blood running down his lips from his mouth, and twisted his claws again.

OOC: Faaaantastic.
IC: The kytaf did not even wince, his system running pretty much on the painkillers coursing through his veins. He mutely roared, swiped once across Mirog's face, cutting from ear to ear and along the eyes, before finally biting down into Mirog's neck then flicking his head back, serrated teeth ripping out a chunk of the man.

OOC: Faaaantastic.
IC: The kytaf did not even wince, his system running pretty much on the painkillers coursing through his veins. He mutely roared, swiped once across Mirog's face, cutting from ear to ear and along the eyes, before finally biting down into Mirog's neck then flicking his head back, serrated teeth ripping out a chunk of the man.

Mirog smiled and made a rasping sound that seemed to be a laugh. His head fell limp and his claws pulled out of the Kytaf.

Mirog smiled and made a rasping sound that seemed to be a laugh. His head fell limp and his claws pulled out of the Kytaf.

The kytaf stood clutching his stomach, kicked the head of the dead man, pressed a few buttons on his wristpad, then leant back against the wall.
"It appears I have won." The voice came from his wristpad, the computer speaking for the currently mute alien. "If you will permit it, I will ask the Sabbath to come pick me up. I need it's cloning vats and bacta tanks to [untranslatable] my former self."

The kytaf stood clutching his stomach, kicked the head of the dead man, pressed a few buttons on his wristpad, then leant back against the wall.
"It appears I have won." The voice came from his wristpad, the computer speaking for the currently mute alien. "If you will permit it, I will ask the Sabbath to come pick me up. I need it's cloning vats and bacta tanks to [untranslatable] my former self."

At that moment a bright light fills the room from outside in space. A message appears. A large man in a cowboy hat and trench coat appears. "So the asshole is dead?" Looks around. "Oh I am sorry. I am Commander Trak, I am now in control of the NightFang. I wise to apologize for my predecessor. I promise you he did not speak for us. He inhaled noxious fumes a couple months back and went mad. I however would like to request permission to come aboard and attempt to patch things up. I await the response of one delegate."

Trak turned to his secon in command. "I never liked the guy you know."

OOC:

I am waiting for Deltan to post. I don't have the authority to accept your arrical, it is his place after all.

OOC
Very well.

(Sorry. went to parents for the holiday...)

Roman used the distraction of the fight to help himself to the tray of pasta. He quietly ate while the fight came to a bloddy end. Taking a drink to clear his throut, he turned to face the newcomer.
"Commander Trak, I am Roman. You are welcome to join us. Please arrive at your discression." He turned to Adam. "Since you objections no longer matter, as the fool is dead, I shall here this new guest. If he does not fit my requirements, I will not turn over the new system to him."

Adam watched the two fighting without any real interest other than to see the foolish creepy merc fall, finally silencing his annoying voice. Adam noticed Roman calmly eating as if he frequently watched death duels during dinner. Roman spoke to the newcomer that seemed to send a holo asking permission to come down, and then turned to Adam.

"Since you objections no longer matter, as the fool is dead, I shall here this new guest. If he does not fit my requirements, I will not turn over the new system to him."

Adam shrugged and looked up to the ceiling for a few seconds, his eyes seemingly focused elsewhere and then subconsciously nodded. He turned to Roman and spoke.

“It seems the decision may not be entirely yours.“




In Orbit:


The first sign of trouble was when they began to fade into existence from nowhere. Several ships entered Real Space seemingly from nowhere. There was no wormholes, no flash of jump drives, nothing to indicate how they arrived only their fading into existence. The second was the sensors going haywire as they detected nineteen new stars appearing in close proximity to the ships. Once the sensors were reset, they would detect immense power signatures, possibly causing the technicians try to reset them again thinking they were still broken.

Ships in orbit would see eight frigates matching the one they detected near the freighter. Accompanying them were several bizarre craft all bearing the telltale black hulls and spines or spikes protruding from the ships, almost as if they were living vessels. They were not large, the frigates only measuring 60 meters. The other ships were at least twice the size of the frigate, sometimes nearly thrice.

Shipchart (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/beldragos/shipchartregular.jpg)

Accompanying them was a large vessel nearly six times the greatest craft, obviously their command ship. The thousand meter Intruder Carrier (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/beldragos/intrudercarrier.jpg)had its launch doors open and ready for deployment. Her escort ships took offensive positions while the carrier held position. It was clear the other ships would fire if anything was directed toward the command ship.




T-Space:


The Heart of Darkness floated in a cloud of violet lightning while nearby was The Hades, waiting patiently for communication from across the veil. Discharges strong enough to disintegrate entire planets were absorbed by the Dimensional Shields and redirected back. T-Space, or the 7th dimension did not tolerate matter very well and as a matter of fact it was quite violent. It was a lot like its predecessor, Space Minus (the 6th Dimension) which would only allow energy to exist and anything entering it was instantly and irrevocably converted to pure energy. At least with the proper precautions one was able to enter T-Space without being instantly obliterated. The unseen ships waited undetectable within T-Space for the signal.




Real Space:


The ships remained silent, watching those below with interest waiting fore something.

(Sorry. went to parents for the holiday...)

Roman used the distraction of the fight to help himself to the tray of pasta. He quietly ate while the fight came to a bloddy end. Taking a drink to clear his throut, he turned to face the newcomer.
"Commander Trak, I am Roman. You are welcome to join us. Please arrive at your discression." He turned to Adam. "Since you objections no longer matter, as the fool is dead, I shall here this new guest. If he does not fit my requirements, I will not turn over the new system to him."

'Very well. Commander, I believe. My shuttle shall arrive shortly." Five minutes later, a second Shin-tac shuttle landed in the bay. As the ramp lowered a large shape in a trench-style coat and cowboy hat walked down. "Hello, I am Commander Trak. First I wish to apologize for my predecessor and any actions he committed that were offensive." Behind Trak seven men exited the shuttle. "These are representatives of the groups under my command." Points from right to left. "Marines, S.E.A.L.s, Rangers, Green Sashes, Infiltrators, Sharp Shooters, Demolitions and Construction." A eighth small, figure came out of the shuttle. with a tone of annoyance and scorn. "This is Yaw, he is with the Navy Investigations Bureau, or N.I.B." Trak leaned in and whispered. "If he talks you have my full permission to shoot him, repeatedly. Or you could just toss him out of the air lock."

OOC:

Trak leaned in and whispered. "If he talks you have my full permission to shoot him, repeatedly. Or you could just toss him out of the air lock."


HAHAHA

I loved that part.

Klaxons sounded onboard the Aspiration as the crafts appeared, the whining rippling through the naval comm network, until it was quite a while away.
"Hmm?" The bridge was not dark, but the relative gloom of the lights made it almost impossible to see anything with the naked eye. However, if you looked carefully enough you would eventually make out that the 'bridge' was little more than an illusion. There was an actual bridge on the Sabbath where the Admiral sat in the command chair, the holographic bridge around her a video of the true bridge, but it was here that most of the decisions were made. The ones of limited importance and, sometimes, of great importance. There was no middle ground for dealing with Icy Hand (http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/homeworld/images/thumb/7/76/Karan_unbound2.jpg/300px-Karan_unbound2.jpg), the Sabbath's AI. Sitting half submerged in the liquid that kept it alive, it turned in the vat, waving it's hand over a panel, which lit up.
"I know, Icy. If you would jump to assist."
Affirmative, Admiral. I will comply. Turning once more, the panel went back to it's translucent state. Icy Hand closed it's eyes, then sank down into the vat. Moments later, the liquid turned an iridesant blue, before a large warp portal opened in front of the dreadnought, pulling it and it's escort in.

A few moments later, there was a sizeable outward pulse of energy (similar to that when a stargate activates, but on a far larger scale and is caused seemingly by nothing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KuQfFibBy0&feature=related)) as the blue portal soldified the link between the two destinations, then an eclipse of the bright light it produced as the massive bulk of the Sabbath (http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z107/Kain1235/sabbathclass.jpg) dragged itself through the gap, followed shortly by 5 of Prodigy class frigates (http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z107/Kain1235/Prodigy-classPDFFrigate.jpg), 5 Nemesis class cruisers (http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z107/Kain1235/Nemesis-classCorvette.jpg) and a Narwhale-class Carrier. (http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z107/Kain1235/Narwhale-classCarrier.jpg) As soon as the ships exited the jump gate, it closed behind them in a swirl and they assembled into a arrow formation, Sabbath in the lead, railgun and forward batteries speaking for the craft which kept a deathly silence - until Icy Hand manifiested itself in the meeting room, the silvery cyborg's hologram hovering above the table.
"Wydda." It bowed. "Or, hello, in Basic. I am Icy Hand, spokesintelligence for the Battlefleet. We mean no harm, as long as no others mean us harm. However, I must point out that at least one faction here has caused us harm already." It clicked it's ghostly fingers, the injured Kytaf disappearing in a flash of white light. "It is up to my admiral to decide the correct course of action. I am simply here to record and observe."

Trak smiled. "I would like to meet the man who killed Mirog, and thank him before continuing to the meeting, if that is okay with the host."

Trak smiled. "I would like to meet the man who killed Mirog, and thank him before continuing to the meeting, if that is okay with the host."

"The Kytaf who killed the excuse for a sentient named Mirog is of Templarian command. The decision whether you should meet him or not is fully up to my Admiral. And he decides against it." The AI continued floating placidly in mid air.

Trak turned to AI. "I don't want to kill him, I wish to present him with this" Trak pulled out a wicked looking curved blade. "By killing Mirog, may his soul rot in Mak-Tra, he has earned this weapon that was carried by a war-lord, who was killed by a much better man, than Mirog, but who was under Mirog's command and had to hand it over. I feel that he would be the more worthy to carry it than me, now that I have it back" Trak looked at the AI, head tilted. 'Hang on, why is your Admiral not here? If he has judged us on Mirog, I beg him to judge us again. Mirog was scum, we are expatriates, of a Solar System not long gone." Trak bowed deeply, and then rose his head once again. His right eye glowed red. "Mirog was once a good man, i would have followed him into the fires of Mak-Tra, but then he was promoted to Grand-General. One of on;y four to receive that honor. After that he became greedy with power, i blame it on the training center they sent him to. They wanted more vicious leaders, and he was a prize student. But still I followed him. He was better than the other three. But earlier this year he took in large amounts of a rare chemical compound called XV-78 or Distilled Scat Gas. He went insane. But I could not bring myself to kill him. He was what was left of my brother. Mirog was the Grand-General, Yorig was my brother the proud commander who was promoted to Grand-General. I lost my right eye when that side of my face was blown off by a sniper. Only my bloodlust, kept me alive long enough for Yorig to drag me to a medical tent and demand my treatment. The right side of my face is metal, and the eye is robotic." Trak smiled. "We were brothers Yorig and I. I was supposed to protect him, me being the elder, but he seemed to save me more than anything else." Trak's face turned cold. "But now that Mirog is dead, I feel no pain. I don't want revenge, Yorig would have wanted Mirog gone." Trak then looked up and smiled. "So where is the meeting room?"

The AI's voice maintained a cold, clinical arrogance.
"An interesting relationship you have with Mirog backslash Yorig. You call him scum and wish him to Damnation then say you love him as a brother. How quaint."

The AI's voice maintained a cold, clinical arrogance.
"An interesting relationship you have with Mirog backslash Yorig. You call him scum and wish him to Damnation then say you love him as a brother. How quaint."

Trak looked at the AI. "I thought AIs were supposed to be intelligent. I wish Mirog to Damnation. Yorig, was not Mirog, he was my brother and I loved him. But of course machines like you are incapable of understanding that kind of logic. You can count beans and always be right, but you never will be human. You are imperfect."

Trak looked at the AI. "I thought AIs were supposed to be intelligent. I wish Mirog to Damnation. Yorig, was not Mirog, he was my brother and I loved him. But of course machines like you are incapable of understanding that kind of logic. You can count beans and always be right, but you never will be human. You are imperfect."

Icy's eyes closed, a brief smile flickering over it's lips.
"I am not an AI. I am Unbound. I am, for lack of a better word, perfect." It nodded. "And your race still fails to meet my expectation." It sighed. "If only the Council had not outlawed the forced evolution genome, then we might have been able to fix you. Or at the very least make your head explode."

Icy's eyes closed, a brief smile flickering over it's lips.
"I am not an AI. I am Unbound. I am, for lack of a better word, perfect." It nodded. "And your race still fails to meet my expectation." It sighed. "If only the Council had not outlawed the forced evolution genome, then we might have been able to fix you. Or at the very least make your head explode."

Trak smiled at Icy. "Oh we have advanced genetics. And you are imperfect. By being perfect, you are imperfect." Trak turned and head to the meeting place. "Oh and i have had my head explode, remember" Trak tapped the right side of his head. "It was not as fun, as one would think."

Trak smiled at Icy. "Oh we have advanced genetics. And you are imperfect. By being perfect, you are imperfect." Trak turned and head to the meeting place. "Oh and i have had my head explode, remember" Trak tapped the right side of his head. "It was not as fun, as one would think."

"That logic is flawed. The very nature of perfection defeats the possibilty of an imperfection. And that was only half of your head. I'm sure we could get rid of the rest as well."

"That logic is flawed. The very nature of perfection defeats the possibilty of an imperfection. And that was only half of your head. I'm sure we could get rid of the rest as well."

Trak looked at Icy. "No your logic is flawed. It defines perfection as never being wrong. The real definition is being able to learn from ones mistakes." Trak pointed at his Marine. "Take Det, for example, he made the mistake of thinking that he could take a yot-re head on. Almost died when the whole group stampeded. Now he knows better." Trak touched the right side of his face. "I have no fight with you machine. But I am more than willing to test your EMP resistance capabilities."

"That logic is flawed. The very nature of perfection defeats the possibilty of an imperfection. And that was only half of your head. I'm sure we could get rid of the rest as well."

OOC:
Perfection is relative and has no real meaning outside of a specific context. The concept of an absolute form of perfection is by it's very nature a flawed one.

Now, why do I never end up in these kinds of of conversations?


Anywho, I'm going to engage in a little temporal bifurcation here and skip ahead to a point where the sitch with the AWOLS has been resolved, as it doesn't seem like they're coming back.

IC:

Augustus yawned, bleary eyes watching the crimson twilight of the setting sun, the distributed network that was his core conciousness only tangenticly affected by the fatigue his original body now felt; a simple biomod could remove the need, or curtail it, but such was life, and York, like many of his peers, was of a sentimental sort.

A sudden awarness drew him from his reminessing, a mental glance comfirming the recon drones he'd ordered had been delivered; a Displacer Platform-equipped KAG outpost a few dozen lightyears from his shipself Plowshare deploying them via FTL teleport in staged arrays, where the light from the initial attack was just now arriving.

He nodded then, absently, as indipendent confirmation of state-sponsored piracy played out befor this new extension of his senses, downing the last of his whisky. Placing the decorative glass aside, he made a note to retrive those drones later, and readied himself for bed.

But while the flesh slept, the mind remained active, and it posessed many bodies through which it could act.

----

Half a galaxy away, the freighter incident resolved, cause confirmed, drones finally once more recalled to bays, and untrackable displacer drive lone sense recharged, Augustus York again queued up that same outpost, contracting a spread of cheap Forerunner recon drones and transfering payment.

The pirates' meeting coordinates were cross-refferenced with long-range astrometric maps, the moon's projected location noted, and a point a dozen lightseconds away selected at random, probability weighted after running a quick space traffic extrapolation algorithm.


And so it was a dozen sensor-studded silver baseballs - actual, unalloyed silver, but not - simply apeared without flash of fanfare 3.6 million kilometers from the moon, spread over half a lightsecond of empty space.

Vanishingly weak gravity waves tickled the edge of mass detectors as active EM and other sensors probed FTL and not with power suprising given their small forms, each massing in fact no less than several very real tons, their datalinks an exotic form on undetectable entanglment.

Yet here fact diverged from form, as the vessel those familiar with Kanuckistani practices would have expected to follow seconds on the Forerunners' heels failed to apear. That a transmission, relayed through a random probe, took it's stead may have had something to do with the two battlefleets now facing off.

"'ello there!" the audio broadcast began in bright tones and accented English, as clever extrapolation sought to divine the shadow of spoken words off rock and hull, "I do belive y'all made an offer o' compensatin' fer that lil stunt there, an' seein' as I be down a dozen multi-missiles as a result I thought I'd be droppin' by ta take ye up on that. 'ope ye nae be mindin' m'tardyness, 'owevah; 'ad a bit o' business ta finish 'afore I left that wouldn't keep."

OOC: I can't actually do anything until the other guy comes back, if he comes back...

OOC: I can't actually do anything until the other guy comes back, if he comes back...

OOC:
Heh - seems like we aren't ment to RP together. :p

(OOC: I can't keep up with fast paced RPs and easily lose track of them)

Trak, put his com piece into his ear. "Keep me updated boys"

OOC:

I am waiting for Deltan to respond to my arrival over his moon.

(OOC: sorry for delay. other issues to deal with. Oh, and Roman isn't really monitoring the space above the moon, as he has no ships there, so continue with your plans.)

After listening to the banter between the newcomer and the other, Roman put down his fork. "So, now we can get down to business, yes? Here is my primary offer. I give you access to this digiPresence technology, and you all agree to give my ships complete freedom to travel as they please, without harassment or interuption.

(OOC: to be honest, I've run out of ideas to go with this story. Anyone want to 'shake things up a bit'?)

(OOC: to be honest, I've run out of ideas to go with this story. Anyone want to 'shake things up a bit'?)

OOC:
Trust me, that won't be a problem for much longer. ;)

(OOC: sorry for delay. other issues to deal with. Oh, and Roman isn't really monitoring the space above the moon, as he has no ships there, so continue with your plans.)

After listening to the banter between the newcomer and the other, Roman put down his fork. "So, now we can get down to business, yes? Here is my primary offer. I give you access to this digiPresence technology, and you all agree to give my ships complete freedom to travel as they please, without harassment or interuption.

(OOC: to be honest, I've run out of ideas to go with this story. Anyone want to 'shake things up a bit'?)

Trak gave Roman a blank look. "digi what? There are other lanes to harass." Trak spotted, what was left of the food. "Do you mind, if I eat, I have not eaten in several days."

Adam got Roman's attention.

The Childer’s child-like voice made what he was about to say seem surreal in a way.

“Excuse me, I felt it fair to warn you we intend to test some of our equipment upon your vessels and your moon base since you have determined by your actions it is acceptable to do so. We are at least warning you beforehand unlike your own tactic. After we are done here if testing is not completed in a satisfactory manner, I know the plan is to locate your fleets and do some proper testing. We invite any others who wish to participate to contact us. There is a Battlegroup in orbit waiting orders.”

Adam sat back to watch the meatbags freak out with a content look painted across his face. Soon these Deltan fools would know what it was like being treated as test subjects by another. It was either allow the testing without a complaint or risk war with a much greater power than they were. The Ta’Nar knew others were not pleased with the recent actions of the Deltan Empire and might decide to join in. If they wanted to, they would be welcome and space would be made.


OOC:

Is this "shaking things up" enough for you?

Adam got Roman's attention.

The Childer’s child-like voice made what he was about to say seem surreal in a way.

“Excuse me, I felt it fair to warn you we intend to test some of our equipment upon your vessels and your moon base since you have determined by your actions it is acceptable to do so. We are at least warning you beforehand unlike your own tactic. After we are done here if testing is not completed in a satisfactory manner, I know the plan is to locate your fleets and do some proper testing. We invite any others who wish to participate to contact us. There is a Battlegroup in orbit waiting orders.”

Adam sat back to watch the meatbags freak out with a content look painted across his face. Soon these Deltan fools would know what it was like being treated as test subjects by another. It was either allow the testing without a complaint or risk war with a much greater power than they were. The Ta’Nar knew others were not pleased with the recent actions of the Deltan Empire and might decide to join in. If they wanted to, they would be welcome and space would be made.


OOC:

Is this "shaking things up" enough for you?

Trak looked at Adam. "You are 'I have exited my human form' boy right?"

Adam looked over to the Merc General's replacement.

"I suppose that would be one of the descriptors that would be margonally accurate although I have heard more colorful ones over the past four centuries. What do you wish?"

Adam was giving the newcommer a chance, disregarding the actions of the foolish one he replaced so he could make his own first impression.

Adam looked over to the Merc General's replacement.

"I suppose that would be one of the descriptors that would be margonally accurate although I have heard more colorful ones over the past four centuries. What do you wish?"

Adam was giving the newcommer a chance, disregarding the actions of the foolish one he replaced so he could make his own first impression.

"Well, some get so anal about being called Ascended. But why do you look down at us who reside, down here? You can die, just like us, as far as i know"

Interesting, he thought. "So, you wish to turn the tables, eh? Very well." He stood up and reached for the device on his belt. "What exactly did you have in mind?"

Trak spook with his back to Roman. 'If you are going to try to kill me, at least have the guts to do it hand to hand, and not back shooting."

Trak picked up a piece of meat and sniffed it. "Spicy, yet tangy"

Adam cleared his “young” throat.

“I believe he means me and not you Trak. He feels threatened by my words and for comfort reached for the device upon his belt.”

Adam turned to look Roman in the eye.

“I do not know what Lord Ga’Ton has planned; military matters are not my forte. You would have to communicate with them but I can assume it will be ship to ship systems, even if they have to track your communications back to your home system instead of this out-of-the-way outpost you converted for this meeting. It stands to reason because you used a ship based weapon on our vessel that he would decide to return the favor.”

Adam glanced at the device Roman was reaching for.

“Well, are you going to use it or not?”

"All in good time," Roman replied. "It is not a weapon, if that's what you mean."





(OOC: number 300!!! :D)

"That would be good for I don't believe you want a mess to clean up here. I must coment, it does have some interesting power emissions around it."

It sounded like the Childer could see energy patterns.

"That would be good for I don't believe you want a mess to clean up here. I must coment, it does have some interesting power emissions around it."

It sounded like the Childer could see energy patterns.

Trak looked at Adam. " we do have the Tech to kill your ki9nd if you are what i think you are, Childer." "So please don't think that I wont hesitate to eliminate you, if you get too stuck up. I already have to deal with that bitchy A.I., and that Naval investigator." Trak looked deep;y into Adam's eyes. 'Kill him please"

"Why would I want to? I am not an assassin. If you want Roman dead, do it yourself. I will not dirty my hands for you. I am just here to observe and report."

Adam smiled.

"Besides, you have no idea what I may or may not be."



OOC:


If you try to kill him it will have to be something specific for I have determined long ago what cana nd cannot kill Childer.

"Why would I want to? I am not an assassin. If you want Roman dead, do it yourself. I will not dirty my hands for you. I am just here to observe and report."

Adam smiled.

"Besides, you have no idea what I may or may not be."



OOC:


If you try to kill him it will have to be something specific for I have determined long ago what cana nd cannot kill Childer.

Trak looked at Adam, the Naval Investigator. Just then the investigator spoke up. 'So child you think that you hoard great power, well lets see just how well it does after i am done with you." Trak looked at Adam. 'All day, everyday. it drives me up a wall, and i cannot kill him, because they would take it the wrong way." trak then leaned in. 'Although as far as i know they don't really like him either. just put him in space, a accident and we go on.'

Adam sighed.

"Well, if you wish to carry out this line of thinking we can all dig out tape measures to see who is the biggest but that won't sort anything out. I suggest you put aside your huge ego and remember where you are. You are on a moonbase without your ship anywhere near under the power of your host who managed to anger at least one Power greater than they are and you are trying to see who 'measures up' to be the biggest and openly talking about killing others? Your big talk only proves you to be a small man indeed. I have given you a chance to make a first impression seperate from your first represenative but you are not unlike him. You both seem to have to be the center of attention, with the need to prove yourself to be better than any around yourself, and threaten to use violence when you are proven wrong. You are truely a represenative of what is wrong with your race. If you plan on attacking me for speaking the Truth then it only proves the words I spoke a moment ago to ring with Truth."

"As I have said already, I am not here to fight but to act as an observer and to communicate. I have only done both so far and I will continue to do both until I am recalled by my superior officer."

"Also remember this Mr Trak, I have only showed you what I wished you to see. You do not know me and you will not live long enough to."


OOC:

Remember, Trak only knows what he has witnessed. Also, I took it as you were telling Adam to kill Roman when you looked in hiis eyes and said "Kill him". The post or two before that you accused Roman of trying to shoot you in the back.

"Gentleman, calm yourselves," said Roman. "Perhaps we need a recess. I suggest we return to our respective ships, and meet again in a few days time."


(OOC: any sugentions for where we can go from here? I kinda lost my train of thought from when I started this....)

Adam sighed.

"Well, if you wish to carry out this line of thinking we can all dig out tape measures to see who is the biggest but that won't sort anything out. I suggest you put aside your huge ego and remember where you are. You are on a moonbase without your ship anywhere near under the power of your host who managed to anger at least one Power greater than they are and you are trying to see who 'measures up' to be the biggest and openly talking about killing others? Your big talk only proves you to be a small man indeed. I have given you a chance to make a first impression seperate from your first represenative but you are not unlike him. You both seem to have to be the center of attention, with the need to prove yourself to be better than any around yourself, and threaten to use violence when you are proven wrong. You are truely a represenative of what is wrong with your race. If you plan on attacking me for speaking the Truth then it only proves the words I spoke a moment ago to ring with Truth."

"As I have said already, I am not here to fight but to act as an observer and to communicate. I have only done both so far and I will continue to do both until I am recalled by my superior officer."

"Also remember this Mr Trak, I have only showed you what I wished you to see. You do not know me and you will not live long enough to."


OOC:

Remember, Trak only knows what he has witnessed. Also, I took it as you were telling Adam to kill Roman when you looked in hiis eyes and said "Kill him". The post or two before that you accused Roman of trying to shoot you in the back.

Trak looked at Adam, "no I wish to find out why we were invited here, but someone has yet to dumb it down to terms I might understand. As for the naval investigator, he hates anything not like him."

The AI sighed.
"Enough. Such idiocy is barely tolerable even by my standards. We will join you in your weapons testing if it allows us to be rid of this fool." It waved it's hand in Trak's direction.

"To make it dumbed down enough for you, he offered an undetectable remote attack system that we detected so it is not secret. It is to compensate you for being attacked but your ships ran away before you were attacked so you would not logically qualify for compensation."

Adam paused and looked to Roman.

"Is that about it?"

(OOC: any sugentions for where we can go from here? I kinda lost my train of thought from when I started this....)


OOC:
Well, I'll tip my hand and let you know I'm planning a punitive expedition in retaliation for your use of state-sponsored piracy.

But at the moment I'm waiting for a reply to my hail, or for something of interest to happen that would justify dropping in befor a reply is recived. And in the mean, monitoring all conversations taking place with those drones.

The AI sighed.
"Enough. Such idiocy is barely tolerable even by my standards. We will join you in your weapons testing if it allows us to be rid of this fool." It waved it's hand in Trak's direction.

Trak, smiles at the AI. "I finally figured out why your boss, sent you. You are so darned annoying that he knew that, it would be well annoying. As for my idiocy and foolishness, I apologize i was not raised as a cold, unfeeling, construct of metal, plastic, and projectors. No I was raised as the punching bag of a abusive father and a drunken mother. Any other memories that you want to dig up? brain scans? mind melds? rectal probes? ' Trak tuned to Adam. "Oh and we did not run, we were ordered to move to a safe location, by Mirog, oh a hlaf-crazed whim of his.' Trak tuned to Roman. "You. You either have a job for us, or we shall be on our way. I have grown tired of being treated like a Ner Tra. Either way we will be taking the shuttle my brother took when he came." Trak sat down with a sandwhich, with six meats, six cheeses and a pickle. "Yum. oh and if you hire us, part of our cost, will be food staffs."

Adam spoke directly to Trak but made it so all could easily hear.

"That's right, it was right after I told him we wanted to eat his ships. He didn't take a moment to even consider if it was a bluff or if I was being literal. He just panicked and ordered the ships to run away out of fear.”

“Now, are you going to continue wasting time babbling like a KihrTir beast or are you going to actually put your money behind your mouth. You have spoken up a storm but I still fail to see anything to back up your incessant jabbering. Perhaps you will choke on your sandwich so we can be spared your voice.”

Trak, smiles at the AI. "I finally figured out why your boss, sent you. You are so darned annoying that he knew that, it would be well annoying. As for my idiocy and foolishness, I apologize i was not raised as a cold, unfeeling, construct of metal, plastic, and projectors. No I was raised as the punching bag of a abusive father and a drunken mother. Any other memories that you want to dig up? brain scans? mind melds? rectal probes? ' Trak tuned to Adam. "Oh and we did not run, we were ordered to move to a safe location, by Mirog, oh a hlaf-crazed whim of his.' Trak tuned to Roman. "You. You either have a job for us, or we shall be on our way. I have grown tired of being treated like a Ner Tra. Either way we will be taking the shuttle my brother took when he came." Trak sat down with a sandwhich, with six meats, six cheeses and a pickle. "Yum. oh and if you hire us, part of our cost, will be food staffs."

"I appear to be far more advanced than your AIs. I am an Unbound. A cybernetic entity, tied to my chosen craft. That means I have control of it." The AI disappeared from the meeting room.

In orbit, a great line of red light suddenly illuminated the sides of the Sabbath as it turned to face the Nightfang. This particular dreadnought was a V series, or Violator varient, equipped with a cannon which fired a number of hull-piercing gas shells, followed up by boarding craft. It turned to face the Nightfang broadside on, cannon rotating to point at it as well.

"I appear to be far more advanced than your AIs. I am an Unbound. A cybernetic entity, tied to my chosen craft. That means I have control of it." The AI disappeared from the meeting room.

In orbit, a great line of red light suddenly illuminated the sides of the Sabbath as it turned to face the Nightfang. This particular dreadnought was a V series, or Violator varient, equipped with a cannon which fired a number of hull-piercing gas shells, followed up by boarding craft. It turned to face the Nightfang broadside on, cannon rotating to point at it as well.

Trak, grinned. "Nightfang arm, the exodus. I meant no insult Mr. A.I. but your guns will not harm my ship. That I can be sure of." Trak tuned to Adam "Here is my money, where my mouth is"

Trak, grinned. "Nightfang arm, the exodus. I meant no insult Mr. A.I. but your guns will not harm my ship. That I can be sure of." Trak tuned to Adam "Here is my money, where my mouth is"

The AI, being onboard a spaceship, did not hear the comment. If it did, it would not most likely have cared. The Sabbath alone, never mind it's escort, could destroy this bug of an enemy craft.

The Sabbath began firing it's turbolaser broadside to test the enemie's shielding.

Trak turned to the others in the room. "The Nightfang's shields absorb weapons fire, using it to power the shields and other systems. Her shields are conical, instead of the usual spherical design. She has batteries for every type of situation, or at least our designers assure me as such, and she has weapons production plants. Oh and Exodus"

Trak turned to the others in the room. "The Nightfang's shields absorb weapons fire, using it to power the shields and other systems. Her shields are conical, instead of the usual spherical design. She has batteries for every type of situation, or at least our designers assure me as such, and she has weapons production plants. Oh and Exodus"

OOC: I'll assume your reaction to my salvo was to cackle evilly.

IC: "Sir, we are running scans and monitoring the briefing room. From the specs gathered, we're seeing some sort of cone-shaped shielding system."
"Focus all fire at the smallest point of the cone."
"Very good sir. I shall tell the rest of the fleet to comply."
The Admiral span around in her chair, turning on the raised platform inside the pit that housed the main systems.
"Ensign, how're the weapons holding up?"
"Full right broadside charged and firing, Violator cannon awaiting the go and all marines prepped and boarded. A pair of Kytaf clan-lords have also comandeered Charlie and Zeta."
"Lovely. No better treat for them then some fresh meat eh?"

The fire suddenly intensified, the majority of the battlegroup joining the Sabbath's fire at the tip of the cone-shield.

Trak, smiled. "of course, as i am sure, most of you are saying, but a cone is smaller on one end. and that is why they layered two in opposite directions, of course more power consumption, but it does eliminate the problem.' Trak flipped his communicator on. "Fire up overlapping shield" Trak smiled, "Oh and fire the thermite tipped, high explosive rockets at the points I have indicated"

Sir, hostilities have opened between the newly arrived Templar ship and the Mercenary vessel.

Monitor the situation for now. Use the sensors aboard this vessel to probe the battle but the rest of the Battlegroup should be searching for other vessels and to locate signs of the Deltan worlds.

We have already picked up old transmissions from a pre-FTL age that seem to be entertainment based. These are the coordinates of the source as well as several other sources. They appear to be grouped in a single arc of the sky so they might be the Deltan Imperium.

Continue probing with long range scans. I want targets to be found. Lord Ga’Ton wants targets for his systems.

Yes Sir, continuing scans with all vessels.

Trak snapped into his communicator. "Send in Drax." He turned back. "This is the other half of what I wish to show you."

Trak, smiled. "of course, as i am sure, most of you are saying, but a cone is smaller on one end. and that is why they layered two in opposite directions, of course more power consumption, but it does eliminate the problem.' Trak flipped his communicator on. "Fire up overlapping shield" Trak smiled, "Oh and fire the thermite tipped, high explosive rockets at the points I have indicated"

OOC: Few things.
1) Why have two conical shields? Why not have one spherical shield? Two cones still have a weak point from above and below.
2) Could you please react to it? Shield/hull taking damage before you activate the other shields? I did just hit you with the full broadside of a dreadnought plus escort.


IC: "Sir, we have incoming missiles."
"Strategem defensor 457." The commander sipped a cup of tea he had been brought by his XO.
"Very well sir. PDF systems online, Prodigies moving in."

Small turrets pricked out from the ship's hull, activated and immediately began aquiring targets and firing at them. In addition, 2 of the five dedicated point-defense frigates took up position on either side of the dreadnought, their turrets also firing torrents of fire at the missiles.

Sir, the two ships are exchanging volleys.

Sensors, are you getting any useful data?

Yes Sir, there are cracks in their shield coverage. They concentrate too much in their cone formation. It is highly inefficient for the results they are trying to achieve. A sphere would be much more efficient and stable.

Heh, to each their own. The important thing is to note their weaknesses and to plot counters to their maneuvers. Also, scan for weaknesses in their ship design. I doubt there willl be an exhaust port leading directly to their core but you never know.

Yes Sir, continuing to scan.





OOC:

Attention Deltan, Toth, and VT. Please post any results my scans would show. I cannot decide what they would show, only you can.

OOC: Attention Deltan, Toth, and VT. Please post any results my scans would show. I cannot decide what they would show, only you can.

The scans would show only the Sabbath. The other Templarian craft were hidden in a sensor cloak of some kind eminating from the Narwhal carrier. This was intentional, a sort of technological flexing of the muscles. The main power generator was well protected, hidden deep within the bowels of the ship behind an interior hull plate, damagable only from the inside with some serious explosives, as by the time you broke through the exterior hull and the generator's interior hull the entire ship would be beyond repair anyway. Power lines snaked out throughout the craft, leading most interestingly to hidden cannon ports guarding the small hangar bay on the rear of the craft. The forward cannon had a number of shells already loaded, as well as 5 boarding craft ready to be fired. The bridge had its own personal shield generator as a backup. The engines were the weakest shielded part of the entire ship (my sheilds are hull tight to minimize surface area and maintain strength over a smaller zone). The most vulnerable part of the craft was probably at the front, where the cannon shells containing the neuro-toxin gas were held. Detonating these would result in a number of important decks being made unusable for a fair period of time. This would mean either concentrating a lot of fire on the front of the craft or flying a boarding vessel down the cannon barrel.

"Report."
"All the fires are out, containment fields have been placed over the engine room and we have damage control teams working now. The engines are wrecks, sir, they're not much good even as scrap metal, but the good news is that the hull integrity has had less than a two percent reduction."
Jackson sounded cool, and Tanj knew he was more than a little miffed at being locked in the cargo hold along with most of the crew. It seemed foolish now, looking back, but at the time he had thought it a sensible thing to do. If those damned pirates could have made up their minds and attacked, he at least would have had justification for his actions!

"Very good, keep me updated." Captain Tanj tapped a button and the communications cut. He was alone on the bridge, as usual, the rest of the crew was either assisting with the damage assessment or attempting repairs on the damaged systems. It sounded like they would have to overhaul the engines completely, not an easy nor inexpensive task, not to mention the fact that their delivery would be quite late. Tanj supposed that they couldn't get any more late than they were right now, and those Corporation ships didn't seem inclined to do much more than guard him, contrary to their words. Perhaps they were having some kind of technical difficulty, or trouble getting authorization for action. Whatever it was, he didn't have much of a choice in what happened to them: Without engines they couldn't move, without weapons they couldn't defend themselves, and without functioning scanners they couldn't see anything beyond a relatively close range to their ship, only a couple AU. Blind and crippled, late and damaged, in the middle of deep space.
Wonderful

OOC: Few things.
1) Why have two conical shields? Why not have one spherical shield? Two cones still have a weak point from above and below.
2) Could you please react to it? Shield/hull taking damage before you activate the other shields? I did just hit you with the full broadside of a dreadnought plus escort.


IC: "Sir, we have incoming missiles."
"Strategem defensor 457." The commander sipped a cup of tea he had been brought by his XO.
"Very well sir. PDF systems online, Prodigies moving in."

Small turrets pricked out from the ship's hull, activated and immediately began aquiring targets and firing at them. In addition, 2 of the five dedicated point-defense frigates took up position on either side of the dreadnought, their turrets also firing torrents of fire at the missiles.

Trak muttered. "since I am sure, you have questions about the shields they are built like that, because we have silly engineers. We have taken some damage, but nothing major." Trak's face turned dark "Activate the Exodus"

Trak muttered. "since I am sure, you have questions about the shields they are built like that, because we have silly engineers. We have taken some damage, but nothing major." Trak's face turned dark "Activate the Exodus"

OOC: The Exodus does..?

OOC: Trak will explain before it fires.

A few of the missiles broke through the wall of PDF fire, impacting against the side of the Sabbath, causing the shields to appear for a moment, a green translucent film covering the ship before fading away once more. The group kept up the fire.

Trak tuned back to the room. "The exodus, is a highly advanced weapon that we pulled from the ruins on our third moon 55 years ago. It emits a beam that travels through any medium and protective device, leaving all non-organic and non-electric systems intact. We use it as a last ditch boarding device."

ooc: *raises eyebrow* well normaly i'd wait for a resonce from Deltan as to whether i can enter but now I just can't hold back any more, especialy since I'v read a few of the opening pages... Deltan check your TG's if you havn't already please, if you don't want me here i'll delete my posts.

IC: 4 Strikestar battle-frigates decloaked, thier broadsides pointing in the direction of the Nightfang. With out hesitation they opend fire and sent out a general hail

Attention mercenery vessles, you have acted agresivly to an ally of the Dragona empire. As such we advise you to flee now before our combined might destroys you and your 'home' as you call it. You have 2 minuits, not that we'll cease fire anyway.

As the transmition ended 2 talon battlecruisers droped out of transwarp (they had been called in a while ago, around when the thread began, as the strikestars have been sat quite hapily observing everything ,cloacked) and targeted the Nightfang aswell. How ever, for the time being, they held fire.

OOC: I fell I should point out that you, Toth, have been rather stupid. Not only have you threghtend several very large nations (and very powerful at that) but have engaged in combat with one of the newest and most powerful drednaughts VT has.

I would advise you to atleast withdraw the night fang if it is truely your peoples home or it'll soon be little more than a cloud of wreakage...

Trak tuned back to the room. "The exodus, is a highly advanced weapon that we pulled from the ruins on our third moon 55 years ago. It emits a beam that travels through any medium and protective device, leaving all non-organic and non-electric systems intact. We use it as a last ditch boarding device."

OOC: Can you RP the boarding then? I can't really reply to that.

OOC I am not boarding.
IC. Trak continued 'However in this case, we, if necessary will hit the ship with exodus and pull it into a sun. We cannot at this moment tolerate hostilities from anyone."

ooc: FFS, clearly you didn't unserstand what Void was saying. He cant respond to that heap of GrammerNazi you call a post because, funily enugh, absoluty nothing has changed acording to you, at least from what his forces can tell. Your suposed to react to what he's doing and vica verca!

News flash!! you;re being hostile to everyone here, it's doubtful anyone would care if you would tolerate hostiles at the moment with that in mind.

I may be wrong here but wouldn't the sensable thing to do under this much fire is run like I'v warned you to or board the sabath after firing exodus... which incidently the Dragona class as an atrocity.

OOC I am not boarding.
IC. Trak continued 'However in this case, we, if necessary will hit the ship with exodus and pull it into a sun. We cannot at this moment tolerate hostilities from anyone."

OOC: Please fire something. I stand can't respond any further than 'I keep up the fire.'

OOC:

They do have a point. You should also be posting damages and reactions to everyone’s actions like VT’s firing, IH8U’s firing, my scans, and any other actions people are taking against you. Without you detailing your reactions nobody knows what you are reacting to or if you are even reading their posts.



IC:



"Sir, several ships decloaking and opening fire at the Merc vessel."

"Status?"

"Unchanged. We are continuing to monitor the situation."

"Good, continue until we are needed. If we joined in the battle would be too one-sided. Besides, how often do we get the chance to witness a battle this close? Keep sensors painted on every vessel in the area, cloaked and uncloaked."

"Yes Sir."



Moonbase:


Adam looked at Roman.

"I told you he was longwinded. He is acting like this is some sort of game and he is the commentator. It appears he has lost his sense of reality and cannot fathom the trouble he is in. A second force has arrives, allies of the Templars that took offense to his actions. To think you considered working with him and his crew.”

Adam looked over to the commenting Trak and just shook his head and sighed.

OOC: I summon my goddamned level 50 troll. Happy? good.

OOC:... no.
I'll be happy when things start making sense again, or when I get some booze to help make things clear around here.

OOC:

If you want us to understand your posts they have to be clear and concise. If you want us to react to your actions, you have to post your reactions to our actions.

Those are simple and easy to understand concepts of the internet in general. I really don't understand why it is so hard to get a decent response from you, it is like you are trying to be the winner while on NS there is no winner, only the story which has to be entertaining for everyone reading it, not just one person who seems like thay are trying to win.

If I am wrong about thse concepts I will post an apology so correct.



Now, can we get back to the story?

OOC:
There's also the small issue of a weapon that ignores every defence to savage crew and electronics without impediment sounding just a wee godmodish, atleast if you expect it to work as advertised.

Also, Ih8uwannakillu, it's generally considered bad form to arrive and attack in the same post. In fact, it's generally best to post your forces being nearby or enroute first, to minimise the whole 'instant reinforcments from nowhere' things. For future reference.


And Xiscapia, if you want to bypass our AWOL friend there, my ship is still in system, and well within your couple AU's of remaining sensor range, if you want to ask him for help.

OOC:


As is my ship, the Frigate from earlier in the Thread is still there.

Tanj didn't like it one bit. Aside from his Guardian Corporation ships, he could still see at least two vessels within sensing range: One ship, an evil-looking thing that practically radiated foreboding, which had not attempted communications with him but was still hanging around for some reason. And this other one, a new arrival he guessed, no less strange looking than the other, but he had at least heard a conformation (lie?) about where it was from and who was piloting it: Captain York something-or-other Conspicuously Dangerous Plowshare. The freighter Captain chuckled at the name as he initiated communications with the ship, remembering to switch to Galactic Common before doing so:

Captain York, I presume? I am Captain Tanj of the civilian freighter Errant Venture, en route from the Kitsune Empire to Corporation borders when we were attacked by pirates, of all things. Ridiculous, isn't it? Our engines have been turned to slag, and as you no doubt can see the Corporation has sent ships to guard the Venture, but the problem lies in that word: Guarding. They appear to either be having technical trouble or difficulties securing authorization to extract my ship from this area, and we have a timetable to keep, deliveries to be made. If you could assist us in getting to a Corporation port I'm sure we could work out a deal that would be beneficial to you.

OOC:
There's also the small issue of a weapon that ignores every defence to savage crew and electronics without impediment sounding just a wee godmodish, atleast if you expect it to work as advertised.

Also, Ih8uwannakillu, it's generally considered bad form to arrive and attack in the same post. In fact, it's generally best to post your forces being nearby or enroute first, to minimise the whole 'instant reinforcments from nowhere' things. For future reference.


And Xiscapia, if you want to bypass our AWOL friend there, my ship is still in system, and well within your couple AU's of remaining sensor range, if you want to ask him for help.

OOC; Last time i checked what i described was simply a advanced form of a EMP, and most likely will exist someday.

OOC; Last time i checked what i described was simply a advanced form of a EMP, and most likely will exist someday.

No, see an EMP is an Electro-Magnetic-Pulse, it causes anything electrical to shut down technicly it could be refined to a point, but most likely not how you've sugested. Besides thers bound to be some sort of anti-EMP thing on most ships, after all being hit by an EMP is the last thing you want to happen in space.

As to it being a little GM-ish, not nesecerily. It's possable to make weapons that do that, hell I think I have one some where in my empire, but they're usualy dificult to make and/ or need to be adjusted untill the last nano-second before firing if there likely to work. Then theres the recharge and such...

ANYWAY!! to avoid this turning into a mass OOC-fest shall we just say he does have a weapon capable of what he says and move on... hopefuly

IC: the 2 minuits expired and the Talons opened fire with thier heavy cannons, bolts of red energy screamed towards the Nightfang

"Captain Augustus York, Kanuckistani Civilian Vessel Conspicuously Dangerous Plowshare," the reply confirmed in accented Common, "Greetings Captain. I've already made independent confirmation of the attack, and was just plotting something of a punitive expedition in retaliation for this act of state-sponsored piracy when you called," A civilian? Plotting war against a nation? "I'd be happy to forestall those plans to assist you, however, if you'd make the details known to me. I have a rather nice, and fully stocked, molly-fabber at my disposal here, and decent medical facilities - towing might be problematic, but if it comes to that I'm sure I can figure something out."

OOC:
Would Galactic Common be plain English, or do you treat it as another language?


OOC; Last time i checked what i described was simply a advanced form of a EMP, and most likely will exist someday.

No, see, an EMP is actually very easy to protect against; physically, a Faraday cage or layer of conducting or superconducting material, would do a great job, properly employed, and shields are a whole encyclopedia to themselves; as a rule of thumb, they stop everything unless battered down.

As for development, well, it is rather limited in it's operating principal - you could get something kinda-sorta like that with high-energy-radiation, like a gamma ray laser, in that most of it's energy should go atleast some ways into the ship befor being deposited, leaving a cylinder of hot, irradiated metal, (cooked)meat, and air. ...unless they have armour that can stop that kind of thing(I actually have a specific component in my composite armour to deal with high-energy radiation; I call it Neutronium Laminate, tho it's probably not what it sounds like), and most energy shields, well, you'd have to batter through them normally.


Besides there's bound to be some sort of anti-EMP thing on most ships, after all being hit by an EMP is the last thing you want to happen in space.


I generally assume a level of competence on the part of the ship's IC designers that would render EMP fairly moot - even without shields, they're fairly easy to deal with; at most I'd expect a temporary blinding of EM-sensitive sensors, befor systems reset.

It is, for example, a long-established fact that everything I build is EMP shielded, if only for practicality's sake in light of details I won't get into now - this post is long enough as-is.


As to it being a little GM-ish, not nesecerily.

See above: I know my stuff. And it's only godmodish because he claimed it could penetrate any defence - that's basic RP etiquette right there, especially in freeform sci-fi or fantasy, where he doesn't know what our defences might be, and most equipment violates the laws of physics. If his dialog wasn't intended to explain the weapon's function to us, the players, I'd take it as IC boasting, but the way it's presented leaves the taste of an OOC claim.

Now, we could just accept it and move on, but that would only be steering him into trouble in future RPs; educating him serves him better, while tolerance only reinforces what he's doing, for his future ill.

OOC: Nah, that's good ol' English.
Tanj frowned to himself. What in all the Forgotten Realms is a molly-fabber?

At the moment we are immobile and can under no conditions move under our own power. Otherwise we're okay, aside from a decrease in sensor efficency that can soon be fixed with enough time and the proper tools. As to your payment, a certain percentage of the price of our cargo would probably be sufficent: Say five percent of the total cost of several metric tons of lead, raw copper, silver and shaped iron?

'Lead, copper silver, iron? They're transporting scant tons of these common raw materials interstellar? The hell? My fabber feed stocks dwarf what they claim to be carrying', Augustus was convinced the other captain was lying, although he couldn't discount some oddball economics justifying the expense, and wouldn't blame anyone for lying about the value of their cargo after what they'd just been through.

Still, he wasn't in this for the money, and even if he was, the pay-per-view sensor feeds from this clusterfrak on his Zipnet channel were already making decent money.

"Errant Venture," the reply began, "We can worry about payment after we get you under way; yer giving me the creeps just drifting like that," a chuckle, "Have you had a chance to look over what's left of your engines? I assume they got your FTL, too - that'll be the tricky part, if it needs parts I can't fabricate."


OOC:
What are the dimensions of the Errant Venture, anyway?

OOC: Length of 1,500 meters, beam of 442 meters, height of 640 meters.
IC:
Naturally Tanj had been loathe to disclose exactly how much material he was carrying, even to an apparently friendly person: Aside from the fact that he was not shooting at them and engaging in a easy-going conversation, he had no real reason to trust Captain York, and he didn't want to give any more pirates that were lurking around -or that other ship- a reason to try and board him again.
But there was yet another problem, one that when solved would give the freighter Captain some breathing room and marginally more trust and faith in the master and commander of the Conspicuously Dangerous Plowshare.

Our engines aren't worth much even as scrap, and though our hyperdrive is functional, without engines it doesn't do us any good. But we have a slight problem: My First Mate reports that there continues to be two pirate boarding shuttles attached to our hull. They may either have been left behind or are trying to hold us here, but I shudder to think what might happen if you attempt to tow us FTL and they are still locked onto us, or worse, they board while we are in transit. We need them off of us, but we have no weapons and I dare not try to remove them and possibly injure or kill any of my crew. Can you help?

Captain, I am still monitoring the communications between the damaged freighter and the Kanuckistani freighter. It appears they wish the remaining boarding pods removed from their hull.

Is the Kanuckistani vessel in position for such a maneuver?

It seems not to be, it still lays several AU away.

Contact them over the Battlenet and offer our assistance.

Yes Sir.


Greetings

This is The Ebon Blade.

We have noticed the communication between yourself and the stricken freighter. It seems they need some parasites removed but at the moment The Ebon Blade is in a better position to remove them than you are.

We would be willing to deploy assistance immediately to remove these Deltan parasites but since you were asked, we needed to present the option to you. OF course, there will be no charge for the service to neither you nor the freighter.

Furthermore, when they are ready, we could arrange an artificial wormhole to transport them to their destination, we only need the coordinates.

Also, just to inform you, there is a Battlegroup currently parked in orbit above the moon Deltan is using as a meeting place. Grand Admiral Ga’Ton apparently wishes to return the favor and use their ships and worlds to test prototype weapon systems since their actions have demonstrated this is acceptable in their culture.

Sir, message sent and awaiting response.

Prepare half a dozen Kythons for the excursion. Remind them they are not to damage the Freighter, the target is only the boarding pods and the occupants within.

Do you wish to take any alive?

If they encounter resistance bring their bodies back, we can extract what we wish from the corpses. Go for a clean Infection and Conversion.

ooc: I'm gonna give Toth untill tomorow to actuly respond. If he doesn't then i declair it an glorious victory and a not-so- enjoyable noob bash. Not technicly fair but by then it'll be safe to assume he's left and it'll stop the thread from grinding to a halt.

OOC:
My ship is only 20 light seconds away, an AU is more than twenty times that distance. :confused: Nor is it a freighter - it's a decommissioned paramilitary warship turned astrometrics cruiser.

Also, civilian ships don't have access to the military Battlenet - some people have... connections, but that's mostly successful KAGers whom the military has reason to keep tabs on, and that access is very limited. For the sake of minimising player hassle, let's pretend it was a tightbeam or something. York does some pirate hunting now and then, but nothing spectacular


And finally, please pretend that York's accent didn't mysteriously vanish in my last two posts. Heh-heh... *facepalm*

IC:

"Ebon Blade, this be Capt'n Augustus York o' t'KCS Conspicuously Dangerous Plowshare," the reply came from one of the few remaining drones left undocked, where her ASPEW fields wouldn't hamper FTL comms or sensors; broadcast so the Balroggans, and the Errant Venture, could hear, "I be apreciatin' t'offer, but tis really t'Errant Venture ye oughta be askin' - I ken do it m'self, but m'biggest concern be them pods self-destructin' vindictively o' otherwise explodin' an damagin' t' freighter. If ye be thinkin' ye ken do a better job o' it, and Capt'n Tanj dun object, neither'll I."

"Now, as ye seem t've been eavesdroppin', ye may've heard our crippled friends 'ere've still got thar 'iperdrive, n're just lackin' sublight; ye could prolly drop 'em 'are they wanna go and they could getta tow from there, but I figure they'd be better served ifn' I fixd 'em a new sublight drive - pushin' data, looks like I've got stocks o' anythin' I ken nae fabricate."

"Capt'n Tanj, now, I trust ye've 'eard all that, an' I know y'all're falling behind on yer schedule, but I 'magine yer savin' on late fees nae pay fer new engines, neh? I think I ken get ya under way inside a day, two on t'outside. 'ave ta cannibalise a bit o' me own kit ta save time, but little I cannae rebuild, an that I 'ave ta buy ain't too 'spencive, so dun worry 'bout the cost on m'part."


OOC:
And yes, that was... fun, to spell check. :D

OOC: Heh, kind of like writing half a post in an alien language, then trying to spellcheck :p
IC:
Tanj listened to the latest broadcast from Captain York, then keyed in his own comm.
"Ebon Blade, this is Captain Tanj of the freighter Errant Venture. If you think you can get those shuttles off us without damaging my ship then by all means, do so. You have my thanks for your assistance."

Next, along the same frequency, he messaged the KCS Conspicuously Dangerous Plowshare:
"You are very generous, Captain: Your repairs will save me many credits and days spent waiting in port. I am going to send you the specifications on our sublight engines now, so you can replicate them as you see fit. In the meantime I will work on clearing the stern of the Venture of the debris from the destroyed engines, so the replacements can go in easier and more quickly. If there's anything you need that we can provide, don't hesitate to ask. A thousand thanks for your kindness."

Attacked by pirates and saved by strangers, Tanj thought to himself, this will be a day to write about.

ooc: I'm gonna give Toth untill tomorow to actuly respond. If he doesn't then i declair it an glorious victory and a not-so- enjoyable noob bash. Not technicly fair but by then it'll be safe to assume he's left and it'll stop the thread from grinding to a halt.

OOC: Victory more like I had to go speak with those of the human population who don't drool over the 78' Star wars Christmas special or hotly debate who is better Kirk or Picard.

OOC: Victory more like I had to go speak with those of the human population who don't drool over the 78' Star wars Christmas special or hotly debate who is better Kirk or Picard.

OOC:
You vanished, so he was attempting to save that part of the thread from stalling. Just say you were busy with RL, it happens to everyone, we understand - there is no reason to start throwing childish insults.

Freeform Roleplay is an exercise in cooperation, not petty rivalry.

ooc: Thank you Kanuckistan. As for you Toth, I'd advise you to be careful, I've declaired wars for people doing almost exactly what you've done this entire thread...

But, to retaliate slightly, in the hopes this wont turn into a full blown argument (again).
1) lucky for you, you get to meet humans. But you see I'm not a human at all. I'm one of the lobster people from the planet Neptune and so am unfortunatly unable to meet with you fleshy pink things.
2) Up untill recently I hadn't even heard of the 78 starwars christmass special.
3) I have no opinion on either Kirk or Picard
:p:p:p.
Im guessing thoe that at some point you ARE going to post, I'll give you another 2 days unless you actuly tell us you can't post for what ever reason, or at last that you can't post.

OOC:
Don't taunt him, that's almost as bad, in some ways worse. And threatening IC retaliation for OOC bickering is... absurd, to say the least(And yes, I'm aware he's given ample IC justification, but you're presenting it as an OOC matter). Refer to the bit about RP being based on cooperation if you think an IC war between feuding players would work.

I ask both of you to exercise a little maturity.

OOC:an IC war between feuding players would work.

OOC: Come on chaps, we can be civilised about this.
And Yin, I'm sure neither of us want a repeat of the Varian War farce. :D

Trak, looked around the room. "However, we wont be using her today. we do have morals, you know. Any way I wanted you to meet Drax." In came a half crazed looking man. "So Trak, what you need me for?" Trak looked at Drax. "Simply a demonstration. Any volunteers?"

ooc: Did you not READ the last 5+ postst!!!! After the bombardment you're under your shields would have failed, stupid desighn that they are. Please just post SOMETHING that some who who is posting can actuly respond to... like, I'dunno, maybe how your shields are hit by several hundred energy bolts.

Trak, looked around the room. "However, we wont be using her today. we do have morals, you know. Any way I wanted you to meet Drax." In came a half crazed looking man. "So Trak, what you need me for?" Trak looked at Drax. "Simply a demonstration. Any volunteers?"

OOC: Please. Just use your weapon and fire back at my craft. (http://www.opaquelucidity.com/facepalm.jpg)

OOC: Now why would I waste a perfectly good time, to annoy you people? I admit, that i am new to this version of role play, yet i fail to see how we can have a unkillable force walking around on the ship making a slight ass of himself, and yet when i produce a ship that has weapons and shields that make it almost invincible, I am defying physics. What I have described is scientifically possible, where as a what I must assume is a being from another dimension, cannot as far as i know exist on this plane. Oh and Ih8 they absorb weapons fire, and kinetic energy and use it to power themselves and other systems, it is possible, and would mean that my shields are fine, yes i would have some minor hits but nothing to write home about. Also Void as much as I dislike that A.I. Trak is supposed to be at the center of his being a human person, he is not like Mirog, hotheaded yes, but he would not fire, that particular weapon or any other on people he is trying to get a contract with. However, i think we can work through our diffrences and get on with our goal.
IC: Trak flipped the com on once again. "Power down the Exodus and send Transmission to that damned A.I." Trak waited until he was told he had a line. "A.I. return if you may to the negotiations and we shall continue. I know you have little respect for Organics, but are you really willing to strain what little peace we have by letting your own hypocritical sense of superiority, blind your superbly built and crafted logic circuits."

OOC:

Can you please respond to the other people's actions? They are waiting for you and obviously are getting frustrated. As you can tell, they are getting close to IGNORING you which is not good.

This is a Cooperative Role Play where everyone is supposed to work together. Please try to work with them to get this story rolling again.

OOC: I have missed the past posts and have no real, want to go back and shift through about three pages worth of material. Can anyone quickly and consistently sum it up for me.

ooc: too late. your last poost on the previous page is enugh reason for me to ignore you and VT is already ignoring you... I think it's safe to say you've nearly killed this thread.

ooc: too late. your last poost on the previous page is enugh reason for me to ignore you and VT is already ignoring you... I think it's safe to say you've nearly killed this thread.

OOC: Good thing too. I never did like a ass, who hated hearing others opinions. I listened to you, and provided my own criticism. You on the other hand choose to ignore it.

Oh, btw that shield is actuly godmodding, seeing as you make it out to be indestructable and how it's only possable with solid shields.

Anyway, I don't have to sit here and get flamed so bye bye people and small child who can't listen fer s**t

OOC:

Please, can we all stop acting this way and get on with the RP?

OOC: Not gonna get involved, I've had enough n00b bashing recently to last a while and this looks particularly unpleasant.

I'm actually waiting for Kan and you, Bal.

OOC: *sigh*

Toth, if you can't be bothered to read what others post, then why are you here? Also, the fact that you haven't responded to attacks, even if only to say they did no damage or whatever, is at the least rather rude, as you're effectivly ignoring the actions of other players, be that your intent or not.

And finally, what is scientificly possible or not, beyond a point(and energy shields are pure technobabble), is secondary to principals of ballance in an RP. Without some serious drawbacks or limitations, you're getting into dangerously godmoddish terratory.


And it's not bashing if you're trying to help them. :)


As for the RP, Christmas has left me exhausted. I'll post IC when I have both the time and energy.

OOC:

I apologize, all this OOC stuff distracted me and I had hoped it would have blown over so everyone could continue on without it disrupting the RP.




IC:


A tight beam laser communication was returned to the decommissioned battleship in an immediate response.

We will do our best to remove the cancerous growths from the Freighter. I will dispatch aid immediately.

After the communications laser was retracted back into the ebon hull, six black shapes were launched from the ship. They were about 3 meters in length and sensors would detect a heavy metal and a power signature. There were no engines detected but from their individual twists and turns, they were clearly powered by something.

Errant Venture, This is the Ebon Blade. Please do not be alarmed but your sensors should be picking up half a dozen launch signatures. They are not attacking you, they have been sent to deal with the hitch hikers you have acquired. I repeat, they mean you no harm and are en route to deal with the boarding pods.

Lieutenant, have the Kythons been launched?

Yes Captain, they are under way already.

Make sure they understand they are to initiate a Controlling Infection instead of a destructive one. We want no damage done to the Freighter in any way.

Yes Sir, they will make sure to prevent further damage to the damaged vessel.

I changed my mind, avoid organic contamination by the Infection Protocols, I want the remaining crew alive, we will extract info from them, no matter how long it takes or messy it gets.

Orders amended Sir.


Outside, the black shapes sped toward the vessel and as they neared, the group split in half with three attending their own boarding pod. When they arrived, they began to crawl over the surface of the pod leaving black marks wherever they touched. As they watched, the blackness began to spread across the hull, actually changing the composition of the hull. Titanium and steel became Thur’Tahg. As the blackness spread across and through the hull, black spots began to form on the inside of the hull where it reached through.

While the physical transformation began to take place, another transformation also was going on. An awareness began to form, the collection of the minds of the blackness outside was undertaking it’s own control of the electrical system. The first thing it disabled was any self-destruct followed by comms, weapons, engines, and then once it achieved complete control, life-support. Once control would have been achieved, the ships would disengage safely and fly over to the Ebon Blade. That would be the modification to the Standard Infection Protocols which have been activated.

All they could do is wait to see if they were successful.

OOC: Enough of this OOC childishness, kiddies. I shall hear no more of it.
Toth, do not think I am having a go at you, but not responding to any fire is rather aggravating. In future, try to remember to say whats happening, even if your shields are completely deflecting it or a strange reaction has occured and made a sentient race of garden gnomes somewhere in the galaxy, its important to the RPs continuity and ooc peace.
Ih8u, come on now. I remember our first RP and the amazing godmoddery that went on there, cut the guy some slack, he's fairly new.
Now then, shall we all just come together and celebrate something wonderful that has happened at christmas. And that, my friends, is longcat. (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y120/joeyblue/longcat3.jpg)

IC: "Sir, we are receiving hails. They are asking for peace. Shall I continue the fire?"
The captain shook his head. "No, call off the fire. I don't want anybody to think that we're back to Torquearmda times." The AI felt a shiver pass through both its physical and cybernetic form at the mention of the name.
"Very well sir. Returning hail."
"A.I. return if you may to the negotiations and we shall continue. I know you have little respect for Organics, but are you really willing to strain what little peace we have by letting your own hypocritical sense of superiority, blind your superbly built and crafted logic circuits."
(((I probably should have mentioned his earlier :$ but Unbound are humans who have had their entire system, respitory, nervous, you name it, replaced with cybernetics. However, they also have no natural way of keeping cool because of this and Unbounds who venture out of their pool of liquid are prone to spontanious combustion. They are, for all intents and purposes, Borgs with less mobility but more freedom.)))
"Very well. My Admiral has decided to give you a second chance. Consider yourself lucky. How do you propose we end this little escapede?"

OOC:

Should I let Deltan RP his dropships or shoud I do them in myself? It doesn't feel right RPing his two ships so I will either give him a couple more days or RP it at your word.

OOC: Seeing as Deltan abandoned those two ships when his fleet retreated I don't think he particularly cares what happens to them (though he might have actually forgotten about the vessels). I think you should probably just go ahead with it, I doubt he'll mind any.

OOC:


I will continue as requested. If Deltan wishes me to, I will withdraw this post




IC:


The Kythons closed upon the two drop ships attached to the wounded freighter like two lampreys latched only their prey. The small but fast projectiles twisted and spun as they closed. <
Moments before impact, the three projectiles stopped. By stopping, I don’t mean slowing to a stop, they completely and instantaneously stopped as if they were ignoring inertia. A meter from the hull of each ship floated a living nightmare. An eyeless reptile head topped an insect body consisting of an upright thorax and the abdomen forming the horizontal body of the being. The thing appeared to resemble the centaur of old myth but instead it was reptilian and insectoid. The thing had four arms ending in long flexible hands that were human looking except for the presence of extra joints making them appear to be too long/ The legs were definitely insect, there was no doubt about it in the least. A row of spines ran from the back of it’s head terminating at the end of it’s abdomen. While the form played with the basic fears of both insects and reptiles, the most unsettling thing was its composition.

The things were made of black metal

They were not robotic; they were made from what appeared to be living mercury which was utterly black. Light seemed to flee from their very presence as they hovered a meter from the drop ship. The blind heads turned to each other as if they were talking but nothing was picked up on the sensors. As one, they extended their hands and touched the drop ships. Their touch left a black mark in the shape of a hand. As moments passed, the blackness began to spread outward as if the touch of the creature had not only discolored but also spread like some sort of plague.

Indeed it was a plague.

As the discoloration spread from atom to atom, the area afflicted grew and covered more space. The individual patches soon merged until the entire hull was covered. The Infection spread inward until it hit the electrical systems which caused another infliction. The electrical system was taken over by the collective Shipmind of the developing Kythons within the hull and walls of the diseased vessel. Soon, Shipmind had complete control of the ships and unlocked them from the hull of the freighter. Drives were engaged and the two drop ships, now a familiar ebon color flew away from the damaged freighter toward the waiting frigate. They seemed to merge with the frigate followed by the original six Kythons who escorted their new brethren to the Ebon Blade.

Within the frigate, the two ships formed a bubble inside the solid vessel. The trapped crews were terrified at the changes that took over their ship, afraid to touch the black metal that was everywhere. Soon the Ta’Nar and the Childer would begin interrogation of the crew and dig deep within their minds, not allowing any to die before they knew everything about them. If they died, there were other ways to get what they wanted.

A message was sent from the frigate to the freighter.

They have been removed without any harm to your ship. If there is anything else you need please send a request.

The Nightfang took sever hits, and Trak turned to his com. 'Nightfang pull back, we will meet with you if and when this is done." The Night fang was surrounded by bright electrical discharge once again and it vanished from the system. Trak turned back to the room. "Now where were we?"

OOC:
Not dead, just busy.

Sorry about the wait - 'lotta things got lost in the holiday clutter, and I'm still sorting everything out, when I can find the time.

...Otherwise I probably wouldn't be typing this at 4am. Ug.


IC:


"Act'ly Cap'n, while a ken prolly build replacments ta yer old spec, I was plannin' ta give ya an Inertial Direct Drive - spiffy reactionless thing, nae unlike m'own. Let's m' slash time off fabbin' by pullin' most o'th important bits from me spares, an canabalising a few o'me aux systems an' whatnot. Ken garuntee t'work fer 'least two million hours 'operation, too - 'at's a bit o'er two hundred years constant operatin' w'out more 'an trivial maintaince, s'long as she ain' abused 'r shot up, 'ocourse."

"Nae that I mind o'course; either's good, an she is yer ship. Jus' take longer, tis all."