STGOD: DAS: Main Game Thread.

[SirNitram]

It begins in fire, it ends in blood. Such is the way.

[Bugsby]

[img=left]http://spyderizer.orcon.net.nz/pics/alert.GIF[/img] ALERT
PRIORITY 1 DISTRESS
Location: xxx-xxx

Commercial Freighter
reg: BZE-JKR

LIFE SUPPORT FAILURE
REACTOR DAMAGE
HULL BREACH

REQUIRE IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE

Ober Fleet Control
""Sir, distress call. It's coming from fairly far away, but it's in deep space and it looks like we are the closest people to them."

"Is it one of our ships?"

"No, sir! Commercial Freight out of Fiji."

"A bit far from home, eh? Well, let's take a look. Put the location up on the monitor." The monitors in the control center flickered, then displayed the coordinates of the distress call.

"Hmmm..." the commander thought for a second. "Well, we're not necessarily the closest. That's pretty close proximity to the dwarves as well. And HoH is nearby, too."

"Should we let the dwarves handle it then?"

"The dwarves?" the commander scoffed. "They hide in their mountains seeking riches. They care nothing for the troubles of others. Dispatch a fleet group. I get a bad feeling about this one, and I don't want any surprises."

"Yes sir!"

"And send a notice to intel and foreign affairs. Foreign affairs should contact the Dwarves and the HoH to let them know we are sending a group to aid this call. We don't want to have an encounter with the either of them when we get there. They should also let the Starborn know that we are in motion to aid their ship."

"And what should I tell intel?"

"Get the spy network humming. I want to know what that freighter is doing out this far. We've got their beacon - trace the registry. Let's find out what we're going to save."

Message of Intent sent to the Dwarves
Message of Intent sent to Hegemony of Heavens

Notice of Rescue sent to the Starborn

Fleet Group dispatched:
1 Memoriam
2 Requiem
5 Lux
5 Mater
10 Pax
20 Mortis

[Spyder]

Registry trace:

B808 Minke
Commercial Freight Carrier
Registered: Pegasus Shipping -
Nation of Registry: Fiji

(OOC: Note - not Starborn)

Last Flight Plan Logged:
Small goods cargo transport to Huxley VI - Independant Colony
Route: [a long series of numbers follows]

=========

The 'rescuers' arrive to find the freighter, a large hole has been blown through the side. A Nova frigate, Kensei class, is sitting alongside the vessel and appears to be in the process of conducting a bording operation.

[SirNitram]

A dazzling flash of energy accompanied the trio of Wanderer 'ships' out of hyperspace, approaching the Nova frigate and the freighter. The 'Pike' leading the pair of 'Dancers' was impossibly sleek, and all the ships were slightly transluscent, revealing their nature as little more than shaped telekinetic will.

We are the Wanderers. You will stand down immediately and cease boarding operations. Identify yourselves.

[UCBooties]

-The Bialystock-

The Duke of March, shook his head, realizing that the General was probably waiting for him to say something. He offered a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I was just thinking that in the old days this would all have been a clever ruse, and about now I would make my daring escape."

His expression turned serious as he stood and bowed formally. "However, times have changed." He slowly unbuckled the white gun belt which still held his ceremonial pistol. "I hereby place myself in your custody." He formally folded the belt under the holster and laid it on the table.

"As I said Madame, I am entirely at your disposal."

[Spyder]

A dazzling flash of energy accompanied the trio of Wanderer 'ships' out of hyperspace, approaching the Nova frigate and the freighter. The 'Pike' leading the pair of 'Dancers' was impossibly sleek, and all the ships were slightly transluscent, revealing their nature as little more than shaped telekinetic will.

We are the Wanderers. You will stand down immediately and cease boarding operations. Identify yourselves.

"Nova frigate, NGF-17, conducting rescue operations. Negative on request Wanderer vessel, your authority is not recognsied in this sector."

[Bugsby]

"Realspace in five, four, three..." With a lurch, the Oberin fleet dropped out of hyperspace, forming up quickly.

"Sensors, what do we have?" The Oberin captain asked quickly.

"Five ships onscreen, sir. One is the freighter we were here to rescue. There's a Nova ship pulled alongside the freighter, and three unknown vessels on intercept."

"Well, we're clearly the biggest party here," the captain said, looking around. Why the hell had fleet command sent out such a large battle group? There had obviously been some internal debate over the order. He had heard everything from a simple search and rescue to a massive pirate attack.

"Well, as long as we're here, let's do this right. Hold the fleet back, I don't want anyone getting spooked. This is a rescue mission, not an international incident, am I right? Comms, what have you got?"

"Nova Frigate reports that they are performing a rescue op."

"Mercenaries asked to perform a rescue?" The captain frowned. Not entirely unheard of, but certainly unusual enough to warrant suspicion. The odds were just as good that the Nova were undertaking illegal salvage ops.

"Any news from intel on this freighter?"

"Not yet, sir."

"Ok then. Here's how we play this...."

Nova Frigate NGF-17, you are operating near Oberin space. Oberin Fleet claims jurisdiction. It is not our intention to interfere with a rescue op, but we are sending some escorts closer to observe the proceedings. Who hired you for this mission?

Unknown ships, please identify and state your intention.

Freight Carrier Minke, this is Oberin Fleet. We received your distress call and have come to offer assistance. Please provide an update on your status. Is there anything we can do to help?

[SirNitram]

We are the Wanderers. We are here to ensure the few are not trampled by the many. Identify yourself... Your minds resemble Humans, but they are not. The psionic transmission was picked up easily enough by normal communications gear.

The three ships glided effortlessly through the void towards the freighter and the frigate. They clearly had no intention of listening to the mercenaries and their claims of lack of authority.

[Bugsby]

Here to ensure the few are not trampled by the many? A worthy aim to be sure. We are the Oberin, and while we might look and sometimes act human, we aren't. We have your nation in our logs after the Coaltion conference, Wanderers, but it seems this is our first face-to-face contact. We will ensure that the standard diplomatic packet is sent your way. However, this is not the time to establish embassies. As the nation with worlds closest to this accident site, Oberin Fleet Command is claiming jurisdiction. We are currently attempting to assess the status of the freighter and the frigate, and aid in whatever way is possible. Your assistance would be appreciated. This is hardly the ideal situation for a first diplomatic encounter, and we apologize if the large fleet presence causes you alarm. We were told to expect pirates, but haven't seen any so far.

[Spyder]

Nova Frigate NGF-17, you are operating near Oberin space. Oberin Fleet claims jurisdiction. It is not our intention to interfere with a rescue op, but we are sending some escorts closer to observe the proceedings. Who hired you for this mission?

"Oberin vessel, we were on deep space tactical manoeuvres when we intercepted the distress call. We are assisting as per standard protocol. There's been no response to hails. We have a team aboard the freighter searching for survivors. Now perhaps you can answer something for us; Since when do distress signals merit the response of an entire battle group?"

Freight Carrier Minke, this is Oberin Fleet. We received your distress call and have come to offer assistance. Please provide an update on your status. Is there anything we can do to help?

The com is silent.

[Bugsby]

"Oberin vessel, we were on deep space tactical manoeuvres when we intercepted the distress call. We are assisting as per standard protocol. There's been no response to hails. We have a team aboard the freighter searching for survivors. Now perhaps you can answer something for us; Since when do distress signals merit the response of an entire battle group?"

"You got me, Nova. I do what I'm told. The word I got was pirates, and either they've come and gone or we got bad intel. And I admit this is a bit of a hefty force even for pirates, but... well, those were the orders. We're not able to get anything on hails from the freighter, so that much of your story checks out. We don't want to get in the way of a rescue op, so we're just going to stick around and watch until more orders come our way...." The commander paused.

"Copy that to the Nova frigate and await reply. Meanwhile, form up. I want the fleet well back, give these people some room to breathe. But I want a 5-ship set in there to watch the proceedings. I still don't trust mercenaries on rescue missions. Send in 4 Mortis and a Lux. Any word on what that ship was carrying?"

"Basic info from intel HQ just got in. Pegasus Corp. freighter, carrying some general goods. Was able to dig up a full cargo manifest." The aide handed the list to the captain, and he scanned it quickly.

"Well, this all looks innocuous enough. Shilds are down on the freighter?"

"Of course, sir. They're dead in the water, and the frigate is boarding."

"Well, have our fly-bys buzz that ship good with every scanner they've got. We're looking for life signs, and we want to try and make sure the cargo's staying where it belongs. Anyone has a right to help a rescue, but they have no salvage rights here.

"And keep an eye on those Wanderers. We don't want anyone getting trigger happy. Despite the big fleet call, looks like this is just a rescue op."

[consequences]

Drakol Five

Drakol was a peaceful system, but by no means complacent. Their Fleet was first rate, proven in action against the ever present raiders and brigands, as well as against other more organized navies in the petty squabbles that tended to break out on the edge of civilized space.

The first warning anyone had was when people began collapsing en-masse aboard the primary commercial station for the system. The second warning anyone had was the three distinct Interdiction and jamming sources that sprang into being around the edges of the inner system. The third was the massed fleet springing from ftl at the intersection of the Interdiction effects, with ten escorts arriving at carefully calculated positions around the system.

The fleet swept forward in complete silence, as additional jamming and Interdiction sources aboard the dozen cruisers spun up. In complete disregard for conventional tactical wisdom, the escorts utterly ignored their normal screening duties, and swept down upon any civilian ship that might make it to the edge of interdiction, disabling or destroying them en passant. Even without them, the invaders had the edge in numbers against the forces in-system, with the weight of metal being even more tilted in their favor.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Bridge, Drakol's Fist

"Reports coming in, a binary nerve agent released in multiple locations abaord the Prime Orbitter, along with sabotage to the life control systems. Thousands reported dead already."

Flag Captain Daknir snorted "Bastards are so sure of their victory they want to make sure they get our infrastructure intact."

" Seventeen hulls in their primary force, twelve heavy cruisers, three Battlecruisers, two Battleships. Tentative ID by System Tracking, confirmed by Imperial Intelligence." The lieutenant on communications paused, shaken "It's the Beasts".

Silence fell over the bridge, broken by the hysterical sobbing of a rating on his first deployment "That's it man, we're fucked. Game over man, game ov-", He was cut off by a grizzled senior chief laying him out in a matter of fact fashion.

Captain Daknir looked back at the Admiral, still calmly seated in his command chair. Receiving the tiniest of nods, he cut in the all hands circuit, and pitched his voice to convey supreme confidence. "This is our day. There may be more of them, and they may be bigger. But we are damned well smarter, and there's no way in the Seventeen Hells that those soulless bags of flesh can match our spirit. All we have to do is cripple them so the defenses can hold. We may all die this day, but their unholy blight will not touch our homes. The order is no quarter gentlemen."

A rousing cheer rang fom the crew, as he unhurriedly moved back to the comm section. "Punch the signal out to everyone, what's here, and in what strength."

The lieutenant was shaking his head, even as his hands flew at the board "Sir, I don't even know if we can punch a signal back home right now, and it's only going to get worse as they close. They've got the power of two or three dedicated sigint ships out there, but it's diffuse enough I think they may have made everything a jamming platform. That's not even counting the three point sources they have bracketing us at a distance, and they're right on the vectors to the closest systems."

"Do your best. Who's going to clean up after our glorious victory if we don't get the word out? He patted the man on the shoulder as he continued back to the Admiral. "Sir, the fleet stands ready for your command"

" Move out to engage Captain. Tactical control is yours for the duration of the engagement" The Admiral nonchalantly perused his padd, as he continued quietly without moving his lips: "We're all dead anyway Dakie, and I'm just a broken down political appointee. Try to pull another miracle out of your arse though, will you son?"

"By your command. All ships move to engage the enemy, Formation Delta-four"

Sixteen ships broke orbit, eight destroyers, six cruisers, and two battleships. Ahead lay seventeen ships, but almost twice the firepower, backlit by the occasional explosion as the escorts they didn't even deign to bring with them dispatched the occasional transport.

With both fleets closing rapidly, the missile engagement was brief. Unfortunately for the Drakolian fleet, it was entirely in favor of the attacker, as their jamming rendered the attacking missiles half-blind, while their three heavy bombardment platforms concentrated fire to methodically burn destroyers out of space. By the time extreme energy range was reached, two destroyers were gone, with three more suffering from heavy damage. Two of those immediately exploded under massed fire from the enemy cruisers, while the two attacking battleships seemed content to engage their opponents one on one, and heavy torpedos started hammering the defending cruisers.

In response, the massed batteries of the Drakolian fleet fired as one on the first of the attacking Battleships. Its fire abrubtly cut off, as it was forced to feed more and more energy to shields, which still suffered from localised failure as beams started playing across the bare hull. Virtuoso manuevering by the defending cruisers made them seemingly untouchable, even as the attackers attempted to double team each of them. Fire from the Battlecruisers slacked off, as the engines of the Battleship under fire fell silent. It was a pure shining moment of heroism triumphing over the odds, and even the soulless invaders seemed momentarily cowed, as the defenders vengefully turned on the remaining battleship.

The timeless moment was broken, as five more cruisers, at the fore-front of a massive armada of assault transports arrived in-system, in position to cut behind the engaged fleets, but close enough to possibly be engaged. The moment of hesitation and confusion proved fatal, as the attackers launched full alpha strikes and immediately pressed the attack. Two defending cruisers vanished in incandescent fireballs, along with the remaining destroyers. Six ships raved against nearly three times their number, then five, as a third cruiser broke in half.

Drakol's Fist plunged forward, combining fire with its sister to burn a Demon out of space, as they moved as the spear tip against the enemy center. A full volley of enemy torpedos, to close and fast for point defense, veered suddenly aside to obliterate a fourth heavily damaged cruiser as she reversed her jammers to give her comrades a bare sliver of hope. In a move of desperation that her designers would have sworn was impossible, the Fist snatched up the drifting hulk of the disabled enemy battleship with its tractor beams, and pressed forward using it as a shield. Perversely, this only hastened the death of her sister, as all the remaining heavy guns concentrated solely on Drakol's Kick(to the G'nads as she was affectionately known by her crew). In her death, she still managed to cripple two more Demons.

The last two cruisers burned, but Drakol's Fist was nearly to her goal. Reversing the polarity of their tractors, they managed to shotput their shield at the bombardment cruisers, which frantically broke formation as it shot by. The guns of the undamaged battleship pounded on the Fist, but were unable to do critical damage on their own as the Fist arrowed in on a collision course.

Captain Daknir felt a brief moment of impact then heat, then nothing, as he left this life. It was a small mercy that he was ignorant of his failure, as another Demon had rammed his ship from the side, sacrificing itself to drive the Fist's debris off-course.

In complete disregard for the heroic sacrifice of the defenders, the Assault column continued on its way, as its escort cruisers battered at the defenses.

Space Assets of Food Source 32 eliminated. Losses: Two Demons. Serious damage to one Defiler, estimated repair time six weeks. Significant damage to five additional Demons, estimated repair time less than two weeks. Minor repairs and replenishment to remaining forces to be concluded within three days. Replace damaged ships with ships from system defense, and prepare to move on Food Source 34 in six days. Conclude ground operations against Food 32 with all possible speed.

Strategic assessment: Short term is highly critical. Accelerate all production to severe system degradation at the five year mark, make preparations to accelerate production further as needed

[Cincinnatus]

The Kaloum re-entered realspace expecting to find only the freighter and perhaps a few pirate ships. Instead, the ISF cruiser found a veritable armada of ships around the damaged freighter.

"Depths take me," Captain Vordin Taagon mummered to himself. "What in hell is happening here?"

After exchanging communications with all three groups, the dwarven captain was able to get a picture of the situation.

"Captain Vordin Taagon, it seems quite likely that the Starborn vessel is responsible for the damage to the Minke," said the ships executive officer.

"Perhaps," the captain said, stroking his beard.

The Starborn were far outside of their own borders, "deep space tactical maneuvers" or not. However, the freighter's distress signal had not mentioned pirates, only that the ship was critically damaged.

That hole in the side of the freighter, though, definitely did look like it was caused by weapons fire.

Captain Taagon came to a decision. The Starborn may be completely innocent here, but if they were responsible, then they must be held accountable.

"Commsdwarf Tho Gilor, open a channel, all frequencies."

Nova Frigate NGF-17, the damage to the Minke looks very much like it was caused by intelligent beings. Certainly you recongize that you, being so far outside your own space, and not having informed any nearby power of your rescue attempt, are the most likely suspects. While I pray that we find that you are not responsible, I must due my duty and investigate this matter. Therefore, I ask you not to leave this system until this matter can be sorted out.

"Open a channel to the Oberin commander."

Oberin fleet, I propose that if the Starborn craft attempts to flee the system before we get to the bottom of this, we disable its engines. If it turns out that they are innocent, I will take full responsibility and the Kingdom of Isdenistilom will pay full reparations for the act.

[SirNitram]

Who are these fools? Confusing Nova mercenaries with these 'Starborn'? The broadcast was psionic but certainly not concerned by the brazenness of it. The Pike and one Dancer broke formation departing the system as they headed to return home. A single Dancer remained, close to the Nova Frigate, as it's occupant probed the hull of the freighter for lifesigns.

[Spyder]

"Now perhaps you can answer something for us; Since when do distress signals merit the response of an entire battle group?"

"You got me, Nova. I do what I'm told. The word I got was pirates, and either they've come and gone or we got bad intel. And I admit this is a bit of a hefty force even for pirates, but... well, those were the orders. We're not able to get anything on hails from the freighter, so that much of your story checks out. We don't want to get in the way of a rescue op, so we're just going to stick around and watch until more orders come our way...." The commander paused.

"Our team has just completed their sweep. All compartments have been completely vented. Looks like there were no survivors. Oberin vessel, if you'd like to make yourself useful you could help haul off this cargo. Our team says its marked for the Huxley system, that's not far from here and they're anything like the rest of the region they're probably hurting for the supplies.

...and if you'd like to exert some of that jurisdictional authority over those approaching Wanderers, we'd appreciate it."

Edit:

Nova Frigate NGF-17, the damage to the Minke looks very much like it was caused by intelligent beings. Certainly you recongize that you, being so far outside your own space, and not having informed any nearby power of your rescue attempt, are the most likely suspects. While I pray that we find that you are not responsible, I must due my duty and investigate this matter. Therefore, I ask you not to leave this system until this matter can be sorted out.

"Attention moron vessel. We're a commercial entity, we don't have 'our own space'."

[Academia Nut]

At the edges of the Straltoc Federation, mind bogglingly far from where the drama was unfolding near Oberin space, a small flotilla waited for the arrival of some special guests.

Within the organically sculpted confines of the Mralki-class battleship leading the group, choirs and symphonies of minds sang the songs that drove the enormous edifice of war through the void between stars. Inter-ship chatter between the various cruisers and destroyers that made up the task force told the interlinked minds that commanded the ship that the long range sensors on the Aquiej-class ships had detected the forces in-bound. Soon the delegations from the Grand Republic of the Skybear and the Golden Sky Combine would be here. Soon.

[Bugsby]

The Oberin commander sighed in dismay as the comms officer brought up another message. Claiming jurisdiction and having a huge fleet was supposed to make things EASIER, but instead he found himself playing lead to an increasingly touchy situation. "What's the situation on those scans?"

"Fly-bys reporting back now. No life aboard the freighter, and the cargo seems to be in place."

"Ok, ok... three messages."

Nova vessel, standby. We have some very touchy dwarves in-system, and they've threatened fire. That's the last thing that any of us want. We've got no reason not to trust your account, but things could get a bit ugly if you try to leave this space before everyone is satisfied. This will probably involve a boarding party from everyone here, which could take a while. Sit tight.

Dwarven vessels, if it turns out these mercenaries have done nothing wrong, it doesn't matter who stands up and takes responsibility if our ships open fire - we'll still take heat. Unless an immediate threat presents itself, our guns stay silent. That being said, we share your concerns about the role of the Nova frigate in this incident. I assure you, we will get to the bottom of this. Threaten the Nova yourselves, if you want. While you are doing that, it would be best if you prepared a boarding party.

Wanderer vessels, it looks like we got here too late. The Nova vessel reccomends we help move the cargo to a nearby system that the freighter was headed to. We're more than happy to oblige - people need supplies. We are planning on sending a boarding party and investigating the disabled freighter. You are invited to join us, if you are curious.

"Send those immediately and prepare a boarding party."

"Are we picking up the cargo?"

"Yes. That, and looking over the ship. I don't think the Nova had anything to do with this, but freighters don't completely vent for no reason. I don't know about anyone else, but I won't be satisfied until I know exactly how this ship came to be floating here. We got the registration and beacon for the Nova ship?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, I don't imagine we'll find any registration info on the Wanderers, so start working on the Dwarves. We have an entire battle group's worth of personnel here - let's put em to work."

"Investigating the other rescuers? Sir, aren't they helping us?"

"I don't see any enemies in the system," the captain replied grimly. "But that doesn't make these ships our friends. Do the checks, and get as much info on these Wanderer ships as you can. Intel will have my ass if we don't deliver a full report."

[SirNitram]

The remaining Wanderer ship in the area was a bizarre thing to scan. It wasn't made of any material in the normal sense, just telekinetic force, almost identical to simple shields, molded into a shell. It glided and can to a halt alongside the Nova vessel, relative to it, without any apparent exhaust, though the sensors could tell it was using telekinetics to move.

We hear and agree. The psionic broadcast went just to the Oberin vessels this time. This is a curious situation, and we do not trust these mercenaries.

Mercenary vessel. We will be coming aboard, if you have a hangar suitable for a shuttlecraft, as part of this unified investigation. Our psionics may reveal what happened to the crew.

[Spyder]

"Request granted. We're opening our shuttle bay."

The shuttle bay doors of the small frigate open, a strip of moving lights indicate the entry path.

[Crossroads Inc.]

The Following Is a message sent out on
secure wavelengths directed to Diplomatic
members of the NGTO As well as Earth Coalition of Nations

ATTENTION
“Within the next two months, the UISC Military shall finish construction of it’s newest “Studibaker” Class Battleship. This ship shall be the Fourth class of ship to bare this title and the UISC shall be proud to show off the newest in a long and historical line of Command Ships.

To this end, the shipyards of Galacticus, under tight watch from the UISC military, shall be opening its doors to all diplomatic officials who wish to attend the launch of the Studibaker-VI.

It is hoped that an launching this ship in an open and friendly environment will help to foster Galactic circumstances such that such a massive ship shall not need to be used in aggression.

For those diplomatic entities that wish to view the Launch, please register in advance with the UISC military for proper authorization as well as security procedures. Please direct all such entries through the automated RUDI Network for maximum efficiency.

[Message repeats in all appropriate languages]

[rhoenix]

Within the organically sculpted confines of the Mralki-class battleship leading the group, choirs and symphonies of minds sang the songs that drove the enormous edifice of war through the void between stars. Inter-ship chatter between the various cruisers and destroyers that made up the task force told the interlinked minds that commanded the ship that the long range sensors on the Aquiej-class ships had detected the forces in-bound. Soon the delegations from the Grand Republic of the Skybear and the Golden Sky Combine would be here. Soon.

They did not have to wait very long at all, in retrospect.

The astrogators noted the pinprick of light appear, a bare second later exploding liquidly into two small ships. The Straltoc sensors quickly noted that only one of the two ships, the larger cruiser, had weapons - however, it was also noted that power wasn't even being routed to them at the moment.

The communication came swiftly, in the form of a calm-faced Gliesan woman with unnaturally clear green eyes, in comfortable-looking robes. "Greetings, forces of the Straltoc. I am Archon Aya Brea aboard the transport vessel Calm Gaze, of the Golden Sky Combine. I am here for the purposes of peaceful exchange. Please make your intentions known."

[Academia Nut]

After a second, the lead ship in the formation transmits the message, "Greetings Archon Brea, I am Captain Jurloc of the battleship Grenla, here to provide an escort for the ambassadors of the Golden Sky Combine and the Grand Republic of the Sky Bear to Crulmathi, capital world of the Federation. We thank you for coming here and ask of you a small amount of patience as we wait for the other delegates to arrive. In the mean time, as a matter of protocol would you allow one of our sensor ships to perform a deep scan of your ships? We are primarily looking for any biological material that might be inadvertently harmful to our ecosystem."

[A-Wing_Slash]

"Slowing to sub-light in five, four, three, two, one. Captain, sensors are reading two Golden Sky Combine vessels, in addition to the Straloc ships. Their weapons are not powered, sir."

"Hail the lead Straloc vessel." The destroyer's captain turned towars his passenger. "Ambassador, if you would please?"

This is Amassador Pitsiark, of the Grand Republic of the Sky Bear, aboard the GRS Kullervo. I apologize for our tardiness, and I hope that we did not keep the Golden Sky vessels waiting.

[Starglider]

K.O.D.X. Destiny Star
High Earth Orbit

Kari'naha gazed out through the enormous windows, watching the engineers from the Destiny Star slowly repair the wounds in her ship. The Elucidate's 400 metre bulk completely filled the larger ship's enormous primary docking bay, which took the form of a hollow ovoid on its underside that could split open to engulf ships up to the size of a cruiser. It was one of the many features unique to the huge flag ship that many had derided as a useless extravagance. but they are shown to be wrong now truly this is a glorious craft The bay was pressurised, but still in zero gravity; she could see tiny winged forms crawling over the hull and floating about over the exposed sections. Every so often there was a distant pop, as particularly large and unwieldy components were displaced in directly from the Destiny Star's cargo bays.

She a trill of echolocation from behind her; not to navigate in the brightly lit observation bay, but a courtesy to avoid startling her. Looking over her shoulder Kari'naha saw the Destiny Star's general co-ordinator, Taxaani-Emeris#4-Jaar'ethh, striding into the room. The weapon bracers on his forearms were particularly noticeable as the only things obscuring his glossy grey fur. He met her eyes briefly and then joined her in watching the Elucidate's return to fighting trim. Some of the xenos called Kiroter'nah ships ugly, merely for lacking the continuous hull plating most ships had. But to Kiroter'nah eyes the smooth ovoids nestled in their protective structural lattice made each ship seem like a giant spacegoing nest, not bothering to conform to a aerodynamic shape that would be pointless in the airless void of the deep sky, but clearly suggestive of flight and spread wings in its overall configuration.

"Repairs are progressing fast. Your ship should be back up to full capability well before we have to leave. A few secondary systems will need a proper layover to fully repair, but nothing essential. Our engineering staff are most complementary of your systems co-ordinator, Bo'kaarisa isn't it? They say that without her initial work, the mess would've been much worse." Jaar'ethh's intent was only to reveal the other commander's thoughts; he knew she had been studying the repair progress reports in near-obsessive detail.

"Yes. The talons of those Hegemony kar-zekels ripped into us, but we outflew them. Not without cost. I lost many fine crew." There was a moment of silence in the observation room. The knowledge that they would eventually be reborn on Haven was reassuring, but still, the loss of flock mates was always never taken lightly. not by the chiro terah at any rate An extensive series of human grieving rituals is on file. but in their history they often seemed to throw away lives without remorse many of their great leaders even killed many of their own population

"I would like to request that the outer hull coating not be restored. We will bear the scars of their attack proudly. The humaans should know that we will not soon forget or forgive."

"I am sure you meant to say the Hegemony." Jaar'ethh smiled slightly. "We admitted some humans in the xeno flock after all. Of course Avee'kamee would be very disappointed to hear you say that."

"Somehow I find myself unable to care what that mewling unukaas thinks. Her sentimental notions of peace with all the xenos has done enough damage as it is." Kari'naha's leonine tail lashed, and her tone was anything but amused.

"Quite. If events proceed the way I expect, her support should start gliding away rather quickly. In any case I anticipated your request and it is of course granted. Now come, we will make things clear to the Contactiphiles." Comm packet: @to Honush-Co'sota#36-Cahaan'nol @to Honush-Co'sota#36-Tara'shaani @request presence in command space in four chronons.

----

"Tara'shaani required now." The words came softly but firmly through the audio transducers lining flight space beta. High pitched and simplistic, they were equivalent to baby talk in human terms. The Destiny Star's sheer size permitted many luxuries unthinkable on a smaller craft, one of them being these huge flight spaces. At first glance the chamber looked like a bio-dome containing a slice of jungle, though the 'trees' were merely textures applied to support beams and much of the vegetation was fake. The small blue forms of unshelled, off watch Kiroter'nah darted and wheeled about, many chasing insects released regularly into the space, or hung nibbling at bunches of fruits.

Tara'shaani was flapping leisurely along in the central airspace when her exercise was cut short. oh must go bad me wanted but is fun but must see what flock needs Without her shell's processors to aid her, her thoughts were as simplistic as that of an earth chimp. Stretching her wings out to cup a cushion of air, she glided down slowly and alighted next to a row of shells in recharging cradles, their limbs slack and eyes staring blankly at nothing. She crawled into the capsule in the open chest of her own shell. Within seconds the cyberlinks had extended, connected and entwined her organic form with her artificial extended self. The familiar brief disorientation, momentary sense of claustrophobia, expansion of awareness and strange pixelation of vision washed over Tara'shaani's consciousnes as it reformed into its expanded form. She blinked, shook her head and stood up. Queued message: requested in the command space in two chronons @from (general co-ordinator) Taxaani-Emeris#4-Jaar'ethh.

Jogging through the corridors to the command space she caught up with Cahaan'nol. He looked somewhat better than he had in their last few days on Terra, but his face still betrayed the stress he was under.

"You too? What do you think he wants?"

"I don't know. Based on what we've seen of him so far, probably some manner of grand-standing."

Finally the pair emerged into the Destiny Star's command space, another extravagance which was fully ten times the size of its equivalent on the cruiser that had brought them to Terra. Typical for Kiroter'nah architecture, the space was highly three-dimensional, filled with support struts between which were nestled work stations on many different levels. Care had been taken to ensure a line of sight from every station to the command platform slightly aft of the centre of the space. Jaar'ethh perched in the centre, with Kari'naha to one side and a handful of deputy co-ordinators nearby. He saw them enter and fixed them with a penetrating gaze.

"You diplomats certainly keep a relaxed schedule."

Tara'shaani hung her head, ears flattened, but Cahaan'nol merely replied "We are here now."

Kari'naha gestured at the central holoprojector. The tactical display of the surrounding space was replaced by a view from one of the ships remote monitoring drones. The Destiny Star hung in space, the human planet visible as a blue-white ball far below. The sleek, fluted Chamara envoy ship and its boxy Sky Bear counterpart looked like toys, holding position a kilometre from the huge Kiroter'nah ship's dorsal surface. At the edges of the frame the remaining Terran escort ships could be seen keeping station with the tiny fleet of visitors.

Jaar'ethh rose to speak. Open comm channel: general relay to all personnel. He waited a moment for the ship's company to pause in their tasks.

"All hands, listen carefully. We have seen that the humans may have no regard for sentient life, not even their own. And for this reason, flockmates, I want to impress upon you the need for extreme watchfulness. The enemy may come openly, or ve may come in stealth. Ve may even come in the guise of our own flock mates. But however ve comes we must stop ver. We must not allow ver to compromise the security of the Overflock's flag ship.

Shields will be maintained at 30%. Distortion projectors and particle/lasers to be kept at cold standby, but point defence turrets and primary propulsors to be online at all times. I want constant sensor sweeps, external and internal. The terrans may have shrouded boarding pods, they may have teleportation of a type unfamiliar to us, they may have saboteurs already on board or super-weapons of a wholly unknown nature. I am ordering personal weapons units distributed to all staff, to be worn without exception. Be vigilant for anything out of the ordinary, any sign of infiltration. I would sooner accept a few casualties through accident than lose this entire ship and its crew through carelessness. Any variation on these rules must come from me personally.

Now, flockmates, in conclusion, I would like to say that, in the two megachronons it has been my privilege to be your general co-ordinator, I have always expected the best from you, and you have never given me anything less than that." Close comm channel. Kari'naha looked satisfied.

"Co-ordinator, surely this is paranoia!" Tara'shaani burst out. A sudden hush fell. Jaar'ethh smiled condescendingly and gestured for Kari'naha to respond.

"Little diplomat, you will leave tactics to those who understand them. You were not there when the humaan weapons ripped into our ship, you did not hear the screams of the dying over the comm channels. We will indulge your attempts to make friends with these xenos a little longer. But we will not leave our throats exposed to them again. Serenaas was weak of mind, but at least he appreciated how dangerous our position here is."

Tara'shaani glared defiantly back, while Cahaan'nol kept his voice carefully neutral. "The embassy station project is proceeding then?"

"If the humans permit it. You may transmit the final design to them for approval."

----

For the attention of all earth governments and space control agencies:
Galactic Friendship Station (Kiroter'nah designation: 'large multi-purpose deep space facility ten')
To house embassy modules for the Kiroter'nah Overflock, the Chamara Kingdom, the Nephilim Consensus, the Republic of the Sky Bear, the Union of Inter Stellar Civilizations and the Golden Sky Combine.
Configuration: 400 metre diameter 80m thick disc.
Requested location: Geosynchronous orbit above North Africa (Co-Operative Trans Genetic Alliance territory).
To include NGTO liason and public relations office, Nephilim-supplied computer core, Chamara fusion reactors and Kiroter'nah displacers, light shielding and active point defence system.
Basic structure and fittings to be provided by the Hegemony of the Heavens in reparation for the unprovoked attack on the K.O.S.C. Elucidate.
Internal security to be provided by Golden Sky Combine personnel.

We hope that this new station will be a symbol of the friendship between our diverse peoples and will promote understanding and civilised interstellar relations in this troublesome time. People of earth, we hope you will endorse our proposal, for if all else fails it will become our last, best hope for peace.

Honush-Co'sota#36-Tara'shaani, Kiroter'nah Xeno Relations Group

[Thirdfain]

(2-part post, 1 for White Haven, one for SirNitram.

Katowica Station
Earth

The guns of the Polish near-Earth squadron tracked the ballistic shuttle with baleful intent. A heavy, fat-bellied transport rose from the atmosphere below, hull marked with the blue, red, and white of the Polish Republic. It closed slowly and deliberatly with the target vessel, the maverick shuttle full of seemingly mad psykers. A recovery vehicle was dispatched to pull in the tattered, frozen corpse which had just moments before been lasted into space on impossible energies.

-::RENEGADE VESSEL, PREPARE FOR BOARDING. YOU ARE UNDER ARREST BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE POLISH REPUBLIC FOR FLAGRANT DISREGARD OF TRAFFIC CONTROL LAWS, WILLFUL DESTRUCTION OF GOVERNMENT PROPERTY, AND MURDER.::-

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Message to the Wanderers

"The Polish Republic has strong reason to believe that those arrested at the Coalition of Nations conference hall were in fact representitives of your people who were merely operating under a massive misconception as to the proper protocols for diplomatic and civil contact. Therefor, the Republic requests that you send a vessel to pick up your citizens. However, we can offer no apologies whatsoever for our actions, which were measured and prudent. We will send a representitive of the Polish Republic as ambassador should you so desire."