Rpg: Starscape

[Kothra]

IC(1-10): "Ah yes," mumbled the attendant, fumbling with his datapad. "The escort should be here any moment..."Right with the schedule the Torios senator had laid out, a large open-topped motor vehicle rolled into view. Standing on the moving platform was the senator who had proposed the feast and initially greeted the Thernians, accompianied by several aides. "Welcome!" he shouted, spreading his arms. He then looked to the Thernian leadership and stepped down to greet then personally."I'm afraid we don't have the ability to transport so many people at once, so we'll have to walk. Of course if you would rather not, you can ride on the platform. I myself will be walking, as it is by my own fault that your people will be walking." He gave a slight bow then turned to one of the aides, telling him to alert the other administrators of the event to fall back to a secondary plan formed for this occurence (basically just a push back in timing).

Edited November 11, 2011 by Revolutionary Saint Kothra

[Fighty]

IC: Captain Tanakus paced the deck of the I'ako anxiously, his mind still on edge after the encounter with the aliens. What agonized him more than anything was his forced silence; Valaticus had warned him not to tell anyone in an attempt to dispel a possible panic. It was hard beyond belief to look his wife in the eye when he hologrammed her and tell her that everything was going well, when at any minute a possibly superior race could fly in from the heavens and exterminate them.As Tanakus roamed the hallways restlessly, he gathered that he wasn't the only nervous one: engineers, medics, and pilots alike were twitching at the thought of a possible holocaust. They had thought of extraterrestrial contact before, but they hadn't expected it to arrive so soon. One day, roughly a fortnight after the first contact, the ship was torn asunder as a massive alien fleet suddenly flooded into the system. "Prepare for enemy contact; soldiers, man your battlestations. All arms to the ready. Initiating preliminary contact interface now!" Tanakus' face was grim as he fired up the ships' outward communicators. He hoped to heaven that these aliens were friendly; if they weren't, he probably wouldn't be breathing in an hour. Tanakus keyed the Consulate and the four Colonies into the comm-feed, and then sent the second message."Incoming spacecrafts," Tanakus declared in his best attempt at a confident voice. "You are entering territory that is property of Valaticus Kh'ronos, Supreme Consul of the Sanshoran race. Please identify yourselves and your intentions. Do not move to come any closer or we will be forced to open fire."OOC: Alright, the proverbial ball has begun to roll.

Edited November 8, 2011 by TheMightyFighty

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

OOC: Fighty, there, ah... There aren't any massive fleets in the game.None. At all. Maybe a few almost-not-tiny ones, but no massive fleets. And I see no signs of anyone invading one of your systems, so what was that post about?

[Toast of Awesomeness]

OOC: So, I'm stuck till Necro gets here.Joy.Well, Rover, wanna send a visitor my way?

[Fighty]

OOC: Fighty, there, ah... There aren't any massive fleets in the game.None. At all. Maybe a few almost-not-tiny ones, but no massive fleets. And I see no signs of anyone invading one of your systems, so what was that post about?

It was Lloyd beaming into one of my systems with five ships. Yes, not a massive fleet, but compared to the one ship I have patrolling the system, it might as well be the whole god-darned Swiss army.Plus, Lloyd isn't "invading" my system, but if you were a ship captain and all of a sudden five unidentified ships beam into your general vicinity, what would your first reaction be? Better to be prepared for war than expect peaceful compliance.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

OOC: 'Fraid my only mobile unit is standing guard over Caerdydd until I can get a colonizer out there.

[Lara White]

OOC: That'd be me, TSOT. And a dreadnought and four frigates easily outguns a single Medium ship any day, so I don't blame to poor guy. :PIC: [Infinitus]There was a blink of reality and a flash of Cherenkov radiation as the Infinitus appeared in the system that the aliens had occupied, flanked by the four frigates Spire of Fury, Shield of Baross, Born in Fire and Slave to Wisdom. The frigates, holding close formation at fifty thousand kilometers, flew to port and starboard of the massive, grey-and-red Infinitus, escorting it through the system. As they approached the colonized planet, they silently drew in as much information as they could, examining the ship orbiting the planet and the colony on its surface. The kinds of technology that this alien race used were catalogued and analyzed, and the emissions that the ship was giving off was noted--it gave an idea of the reactor power, crew size, and weapon capabilities.Licht watched all this from the bridge, floating in the center of the busy control post in zero G. As the planet and its lone guardian drew nearer, a comms officer spoke."Sir, we're being hailed. Same message as last time.""Alright, prepare to return--" The Admiral was interrupted by Licht's curt order."Belay that order, Lieutenant." He said. "Do not respond to hails. Helm, begin deceleration. Bring us to full rest relative to the planet at two AUs distance." He was gambling that they didn't want to risk opening fire while the chance of peaceful resolution still existed. He believed that the sheer size of the Infinitus would stave off a chance of attack in fear of brutal retaliation. Besides, two AUs wasn't that far away."Aye, sir." the helmsman responded. "Beginning deceleration. All hands, prepare for deceleration.""Prepare for deceleration!" The XO called. Throughought the ship, the call rang out over internal fiberoptic wires: "Prepare for deceleration!"Outside the ship, the vessel fired its manuvering thrusters, seeming to flip in space a complete one hundred and eighty degrees. When its engines were facing the planet, they began to fire gently, slowing the heavily-armored, speeding behemoth slowly to a halt. The tiny forms of the two escort frigates imitated the move, but they were barely noticeable compared to the large mass of the flagship Infinitus. Finally, the large metal beast lay at rest, silently waiting in the void like a sleeping giant.

[Fighty]

IC: Sweat began to emanate from Captain Tanakus' pores as he saw the foreign craft beginning to descend towards the planet. Unwilling to initiate fire, he simply watched with his mouth agog as the massive flagship and its accompanying frigates came to rest beside them. "What should we do, Consul Kh'ronos?" Tanakus mouthed, his voice a hoarse whisper."You know the routine. They've disobeyed express orders. Send a missile across their bow and order them to move away from the planet until they reveal their intentions." Valaticus's voice faltered, realizing that he could very well be signing the crew's death warrant. Tanakus nodded, the fear evident in his eyes, and aimed a t'sukai missile right across the flagship's bow. With a deep breath, he pulled the trigger.The missile soared from its resting place in the starboard gunwale, barely missing the prow of the alien flagship. Tanakus picked up his comm-link, roaring into it at the foreign vessel. "Unidentified spacecrafts, revert to a higher altitude until you have made your intentions known. Failure to comply will result in lethal engagement."

[Lara White]

OOC: Two AUs away is 3 million miles away from the planet. ;)I'll edit in an IC in a moment.

[Xomeron]

186 million, actually.IC:Colonizer complete. Warping under guard of two Changelings to 2-15Construction of a Dragon-Class battleship begun over Ath, to be completed 11/14/11.IC: 2-43After the Syrrinx dive team had left the city and returned to their ship, it shortly took off, and upon reaching safe distance for a jump, the craft jumped to 2-42.

Edited November 8, 2011 by King Of Shadows

[Fighty]

OOC: Disregarding the fact that I'm a moron, you did move closer when I asked you not to. I think a little warning shot is forgivable. =P

Edited November 8, 2011 by TheMightyFighty

[Xomeron]

OOC: Where's this little skirmish happening?

[Fighty]

1-46. And it's not a skirmish, per se. More like a less-than-congenial prelude to negotiations.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

OOC: Yeah, missed that post at first. Well, happy hunting.Also, the original post declaring construction on my Carreg-dur trio was made last Monday at 11:02 PM, EST. It is now 11:20 EST (gotta love Daylight Savings Time).Therefore...IC: The Lord President watched the screens flash red as the Starbases went online, bringing with them the very first operational weapons in the Diemawr navy.As soon as construction was comfortably finished on the Starbases, the Lord President sent out a message to the engineers in charge of Diemwnt-Cwn's shipyards."The job's only half-finished - if the Starbases are going to be operating at full capacity, we'll need a full compliment of fighters for each. To work!"OOC: Class Name: HebogClass Size: FighterClass Function And Description: These trident-shaped craft are designed specifically to support in a defensive effort. While just as maneuverable as one would expect from a Fighter, the missile-based payload carried by them was produced with the intent of causing serious problems for moving targets.Class Weapons: Gwenyn quick-fire missiles (3)Name: Gwenyn quick-fire missilesWeapon Size: SmallMechanics: An array of three missile tubes, each with an independent loading and ignition system, all slaved to a single fire-control computer. Each missile carries a small targeting computer to help it find its target, at which point it's up to a shrapnel bomb composed of armor fragments and 10 kilograms of plastic explosives to get the job done.30 Hebog fighters per-planet under construction, to be completed in 1-day intervals, with construction on the entire batch concluding at approximately 11:38 PM, November 10, 2011.

[Lara White]

OOC: Alrighty then.As a side note, this was written to the H*** March from Command and Conquer. Licht frowned. Gutsy buggers. "Train lasers on that ship." He said. "Let them know we mean business.""Aye, sir." The weapons officer said. "Bringing GLS-X online, acquiring firing solution. Waiting for your order, sir.""Hand off the trigger, Lieutenant." Licht said. "Let's see what their next move is.""Sir, they're hailing us again." The helmsman reported. "The translation program is able to get an 80% certainty of translation. They're ordering us to move away from the planet.""Good." Licht said, satisfied. "Withdraw one thousand kilometers and respond to their comms."[I'ako cruiser]Once the tight-beam radio transmission had been realized to be a video encoding, the comms station went to work trying to make it compatible with their own systems. Thankfully, it seemed to have been designed with an unfamiliar comms officer in mind, and was very easy to figure out.On the viewscreen appeared a strange creature, almost appearing to be a golem. It hovered in the air of what was clearly a ship bridge, sitting unperturbed in thin air, its legs crossed and its arms laid over its knees. The creature was a short (by their standards) being that appeared to have most of its mass in its torso, where its stone skin was thickest. Its joints seemed to glow a deep red, doubtless the source of the red color scheme that designated the loyalty of the three intruding ships. The being's head had one glowing eye and was in a roughly teardrop shape, but again, appeared to be carven from stone.Suddenly, a strange sound began to play in the bridge of the ship. It was an odd thrumming sound, which varied in pitch and volume."What is that?" Captain Tanakus demanded."It's their language." The comms officer reported. "It is speaking."A synthesized voice, clearly speaking understandable (although somewhat broken) Sanshoran."Greetings, Sanshoran people. I am [untranslated 1] Licht, and I represent the Osalieli Imperium. I wish to speak with Supreme Consul Valaticus Khronos in person. I have prepared a welcoming [untranslated 2] for him and his aides on board my [untranslated 3], the Infinitus." The proper nouns were left untouched, coming across in Sanshoran as something similar to a bass solo. "I have prepared an [untranslated 4] for him and anyone he wishes to bring along, to greet him properly before we discuss matters of state."

Edited November 8, 2011 by Lloyd: the White Wolf

[Fighty]

IC: Captain Tanakus finally roused himself from his stupor and took his eyes off the strange creature, riveting though it was. He turned to Valaticus' hologram, which gave a stiff nod of approval. Tanakus reignited his comm-link and hailed the foreign vessel once more. "The Supreme Consul has heard your proposal and has agreed to it. Please give him a few moments to prepare." Tanakus deactivated the comm-link and went about preparing the teleporter, readying it to transport Valaticus and the three other party leaders to the ship's bridge. Using the teleporter would cause the Jump Drive to go offline for a short while, but it wasn't as if they were planning on running anywhere. After a few minutes of careful calculations, the teleporter was ready."It's all clear, Supreme Consul," Tanakus motioned to Valaticus' hologram. The hologram gave another anxious nod to Tanakus and then vanished. A few, tense moments followed, and then all of a sudden the teleporter roared to life. A fierce blast of light and sound filled the bridge, disorienting all on deck. It took a few moments for their crew-members to regain their senses, but once they did, they saw Valaticus Kh'ronos, Calameus J'rhonikus, H'rushan Vartik and Ju'das Hi'shar standing there in their midst. "Tanakus, hail the ship and let them know that we are ready. You will be joining us for the negotiations." Tanakus gave a solemn nod and picked up his comm-link once more. "Osaelili vessel," Tanakus dictated, without much surety. "The Supreme Consul has prepared himself and is ready to board. He, three other consuls, and I will be boarding your ship to engage in these discussions."

[Necro]

OOC: So, I'm stuck till Necro gets here.Joy.Well, Rover, wanna send a visitor my way?

OOC: Schoolwork trumps internet RPGs. Nothing personal, it'd apply to anyone else, but I have other things going on, too. Pretty important things as well - getting straight A's gets you into an honor society, which works wonders for scholarships in colleges. Saving a few thousand on tuition is a very nice thing to do, after all. What exactly is going on with you? Edited November 8, 2011 by Necro

[Lara White]

[Infinitus, Shuttle Bay]The Infinitus had been set into rotation to simulate a comfortable gravity, lower than that of Baross, to afford a more comfortable greeting ceremony for both sides.As the shuttle glided quietly into the docking bay, the crew quietly cleared out, as they had drilled to do so many times. The door of the hangar closed and air hissed into the room, pressurizing it. The breath of every Osaliel on the hanger--indeed, on every deck of every ship in the system--was witheld, no one wishing to even slightly disturb the proceedings with so much as a whisper. First contact was about to happen, for real. So many had dreamed of this day, so many had sacrified to make it happen, and now every Osaliel on board one of those five ships would be able to tell their great-grandchildren "I was there."The shuttle's loading ramp hissed as its pressure equalized with that of the hangar, and then slowly slid open on hydraulic pistons. Supreme Consul Valaticus Kh'ronos stepped out into the hangar and looked around, regally taking in the sight of the inside of an alien ship.The hangar sat almost empty now, aside from racks of equipment hung on the walls. The only beings visible to him were two groups of these creatures that called themselves "Osalieli," standing in ranks three deep and ten wide, facing each other to form an aisle wide enough for three Sanshorans to walk down it shoulder-to-shoulder. They wore armor which covered their whole bodies, with red accents upon a grey body. Their glowing eyes were hidden behind small panes of glass on their helmets, upon which were small displays for the soldier to keep track of a situation. Cradled in the arms of each was a rifle.The door to the hangar hissed open, and two more Osalieli stepped into the room. One wore nothing but a formal robe--clothes were not necessary for an Osaliel (thanks to their exoskeleton, and Licht chose not to use them any more than was necessary as a function of state, feeling that an expression of his comfort and confidence showed his control of a situation. The other wore what appeared to be a military dress uniform, similar to those of the honor guard, but more decorated both his and the guards' could quite clearly stop most weapons from killing the wearer, despite their dress uniform status.As the two entered the hangar, the one in the military uniform called out an order in an unfamiliar language, harsher than the Osaliel tongue that the Sanshorans had seen so far."Die Waffen...legt an!"With a crash, the honor guard moved to "present arms" in a finely drilled presentation, their feet coming together at an almost-perfect forty-five degree angle and their bodies perfectly straight and stock still.Licht stood at the far end of the hangar, watching the Supreme Consul's every reaction and waiting for his move.

[Toast of Awesomeness]

OOC: Oh, I understand, bro. No problem.One of my ships popped into one of your systems and sent a Prime Number sequence to contact you.

[Necro]

OOC: Alright then, will whip up a response for you. What was the sequence up to?

[Fighty]

IC: Valaticus tried to take in all of the regalia that stood before him: the strange creatures, their ornate spacecraft, their menacing weapons... but he emotionally deterred himself from expressing any outward signs of awe. He took a deep breath, and then spoke."Quite... a... hrbsphm... nice... hr'ksht... place."Licht cocked his head in a confused sort of way. Desperate to salvage their appearance from Valaticus' incessant babble, Calameus stepped forward to intervene. "The Supreme Consul offers you the humblest greetings of the Sanshoran race. He wishes to know who you are and what you intend to do regarding this system that we have so recently colonized. I am one of his fellow consuls, Calameus J'rhonikus.""Yeah... whsr... what... hresrh... he... said... motherfusrhehs."

[Xomeron]

IC:The Changling, after doing a long passive scan of the 2-42 system, spun up its engine and went to warp, with plenty of data collected on what appeared to be these four races' homeworld. Possibly at the same time, possibly a moment before, likely a bit later, the Changeling appeared in the 2-47 System and proceeded to start another passive scan.

[Lara White]

IC: [Infinitus, Shuttle Bay]Licht couldn't grin, as Osalieli had no mouths. Thankfully, that gave him an excellent poker face. If their display had apparently managed to reduce this "Supreme Consul" to apparent babbling (to which Licht took no offense--rather, it gave him some pleasure), then it had managed to impress them as it was intended. He spoke, his exoskeleton thrumming with pleasure. The mechanical translator in his hand, however, did not portray that, a glitch for which he was thankful."I assure you that we have no intentions of invading your territory unless you give us a reason to, and from your conduct so far, I doubt that will happen." He assured them. "I simply felt that it was my duty as head of state of the Osalieli Imperium to meet you with my flagship, personally. Now, if you'll come with me, I have a small stateroom prepared for us. You'll have to forgive the small hallways--our designers are very utilitarian."

[Xomeron]

IC:An hour or so to spool up the drive felt like a long time to Sienta. Even though she was here, taunting these dogmatic aliens by scanning their worlds with apparently nothing they could do about it, Sienta was nervous. The ship made the subtle jump to 2-41.

[Fighty]

IC: Valaticus, regaining some composure, followed Licht down the hallways as the consuls and Tanakus fell in line behind him.

[Lara White]

IC: [Infinitus, Stateroom]The stateroom was fairly small, occupied only by a table (upon the surface of which was displayed a computer screen) and chairs. Licht pushed himself lightly off the ground, taking advantage of the small G that the ship was experiencing to simply float over the table and to its head rather than move around it. He turned and sat, then gestured to his guests."Please, sit." He said. Once they had done so, he spoke. "Let us get down to business." He folded his hands. "I have noticed--and you have mentioned--that this colony is relatively new, and that you have only devoted a single ship to its defense. Would I be correct in assuming that you are still getting on your feet, shall we say?"

[Xomeron]

IC:"System looks empty." The ship's astrogator announced, knocking Sienta out of an hour long chain of thought on a wide variety of topics, from mythology to warfare to candy. "Preparing to jump on through."

[Fighty]

IC: Valaticus bristled a bit. It was true; the colony was fledgling and defense was inadequate. But he hated the thought of conceding inferiority to this strange new creature and his impressive military. Finally, he let some of his ego slide and replied."Yes, we do have a bit of work to do before this colony is well-established. We have several other colonies to deal with however, plus the needs of those on our homeworld as well," he said factually, as if this justified the humble state of the colony.

[Lara White]

IC: [Infinitus, Stateroom]Licht felt that he was getting the feel of these beings' body langauge and that was most definitely a defensive statement. "I see." He observed, choosing a fairly neutral term. "Well, what would you say to a military and trade alliance? We can help defend your planets if they're threatened and you get access to our industrial power to bolster your navy while you get on your feet. In return, all we ask is that the agreement be mutual." He said. He'd often found that the best way to ensure that someone would accept a deal was to make it as sweet as possible and not bait it. They'd look at it funny at first, but once they foudn out they had everything to gain and nothing to lose, most people went for it. Now he'd see if that applied to aliens as well.

[Xomeron]

IC:Changeling "Night Wanderer" from 2-41 to 2-40.

[Fighty]

IC: Valaticus turned to his fellow consuls, each of whom gave him a different glance. "May we converse privately for a moment?" Valaticus requested, and Licht nodded deftly. Bowing gratitude, Valaticus motioned for the three consuls and Tanakus to join him out of earshot of Licht.As soon as they were gathered, H'rushan launched into his customary spiel about Sanshoran independence and exceptionalism. After he'd blown some sort of fuse in his brain and shut his mouth, Calameus began."They're stronger than us. That's a key element to this deal. This 'Licht' may not be telling the truth, but if we accept or if we decline, we don't stand much of a chance either way. If he is telling the truth, this could be a huge advantage for us. I say we go with it.""The Qur'asha demands peace amongst brothers. These creatures are our equals, our brothers - disagreeing would not produce peace, but conflict. I concur with consul J'rhonikus," J'udas stated blankly. Valaticus rolled his tongue around his lips in thought, and finally conceded."I agree; we don't really have the leisure of choice in the matter." Walking back to the table, Valaticus let Licht know of their decision."We've examined your proposal, and, trusting that you will keep your word, we've found it to be conducive to the benefit of our people. We accept."

[Lara White]

IC: [Infinitus, Stateroom]Licht nodded. "Very well." he said, and tapped the computer, accessing a few options. The computer quickly wrote up a legal document in Osalieli and presented it under the glass of the table. "I will provide an aural version of this in Sanshoran for your people to turn into physical legal documents, but I trust that you will keep your end of the bargain." This was his riskiest gamble yet, but most of them seemed honest. There was one last thing. He'd rather not be blind, looking at the people he was signing an alliance with. "As an initial show of good faith, I suggest we exchange navigational data. That should help allay any fears you have about the ability of our industry to support you."OOC: Incidentally, I have two free Industry right now.P.S. It's getting rather late over here, so feel free to finalize the deal etc etc etc.

Edited November 8, 2011 by Lloyd: the White Wolf

[Xomeron]

IC:Random chance is a fickle thing.Alarms blared at the astrometrics station of the ship; something had triggered the ship's meteor warning system.Whatever formulas the Tsui'Lantai(that's it right?) and the Syrrinx used for calculating jump locations couldn't have been that far off."It's the tssu-uhh, the Slavers." The officer reported as he shut down the alarm. "The ones we just probably made our eternal enemies. Artistic principles and spectroscopic readings are a match.""Weapons online, get me a firing solution." The ship's Commander ordered."Captain, possible inhabited planet detected, four million kilometers out." The Telescope Officer called."Don't fire yet. We'd best not start a war on someone's doorstep, and beam them the usual First Contact Signal.""1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19"

Edited November 8, 2011 by King Of Shadows

[Necro]

OOC: Two people in one night? Kudos, this is more than I got at the start of IL. Though I'm not sure if you count since you're the GM...IC: The communication officer looked at the monitor, confused. It wasn't typical of the navy's comms corps to send pointless messages. Particularly two identical messages from two different ships in-orbit. And with something as unexplanatory as a series of numbers. it was even odd if it was a civilian craft, which was more likely since it didn't register in any military records. He shrugged, running talon-like fingers over the glowing screen."Unidentified craft, please explain the purpose behind your last message. Transportation of non-active personnel to sub-protectorate colonies is restricted, and your ship model isn't recognized in any official logs."The message was broadcast out to the two craft, though whether or not it would be deciphered from its native language would be another matter.

Edited November 8, 2011 by Necro

[Xomeron]

IC:"Greetings from the Syrrinx republic, and welcome to the stars." Was Sienta's reply, delivered with a grin at what she imagined the alien's face to look like at that moment.

[Necro]

IC: The comms officer stared at the reply, confused by the jumble of seemingly meaningless characters one of the ships sent back."...Unidentified craft, please respond coherently, or your presence will be reported to the Natiru Colonization Agency, which will result in your ship being impounded if you're found to be here illegally."OOC: Given we're supposed to play realistically, I figure language barriers would be relevant. How have others overcome this?

[Xomeron]

OOC: Universal translators that "work because shut up."IC:"We're Aliens." Was the simple response.

[Necro]

OOC: Works for me. Those things only work one way though, wouldn't they?

[Xomeron]

OOC: Nahh. We should really have discussions like this over Steam though.

Edited November 8, 2011 by King Of Shadows

[Necro]

OOC: Fair enough.IC: He sighed, holding a hand to his forehead, continuing typing to the responding craft."Not in the mood for jokes, unidentified craft. Please identify yourself."