The Galaxy is Ours

Tranquility

"I have transport," Palgzair said with a nod, "They're outside; I gave them a quick signal to know that the meeting was concluded."

She paused as she looked over the street, "That is their car."

"I am worried slightly, the Bureaucracy wanted Human allies since our defeat in the Kalaedian Colony wars," She led the other ambassador, "Even their recent revolution hasn't reassured many. I suspect that pressure will be on me to support the Verandi as a show of good faith. I am convinced that the best result would come from playing the two off eachother; if neither gains complete control, then S24 will have some more control themselves."

She got in the car and looked out the door, "If that were impossible, I think I would still sooner the Sirians stake their claim; Verandi have a difficult past with other species"

Caroline

Cwec'hŷr looked over the body quickly, taking stock of injurys,

"Gwône, gwône," He said looking him, both looking for obvious injuries and prodding lightly where he suspected there might be less visible injuries under his patient's clothing or body surface, gauging the patient's reaction, "Dôngâr du rhà gwof cwâm du."

He looked him over the patient, "Anywhere that particularly hurts?"

[Tranquility - Galactic Nations Compound]

Mnhiri nodded to Lord Tebigon and slowed down, but she was still headed for the nearest cafe. "Indeed." She said, looking over at him. "Unfortunately, I had some rather urgent personal matters to attend to early this morning. That dragged on for much longer than I would have liked..." She shrugged. "But it's all sorted now, and hopefully I won't have to deal any such issues again." She paused, briefly. "Anyway, I was just going to get something to drink. Would you care to join me?" She really doubted that he would, but it was polite to ask. "A Terran friend of mine told me about these things called 'cap-pu-chi-tos' and I was intrigued. Ever heard of them?"

edited 30th Apr '14 3:42:34 PM by Blackfire667

Only after Erruan had relieved the terrorist of his weapons did Hrof put his own away, a bit hesitantly. "We may need something like a stretcher to get him down to medbay" Hrof observed, and started looking around for just that; a stretcher or something that could stand in for one.

(Could I join this?)

Sweet Caroline - Bridge
John's terminal, and Solaris's communicator, would give whatever indication it usually gave when there was a high-priority message.

It was from Bobby, and had the subject "First Mate Yeslah Injured, Requires Medical Attention in Medbay." The body of the message was a brief 11,000 word summary of the basic medical procedures used and legal information regarding treatment of unconscious entities cross-referenced with employment contract clauses, which was probably easiest to just skip over, followed by "Thank you for your time, Bobby".

Tranquility

It took a moment for Mnhiri's accent to process through Tebigon's brain. His eyes light up when he realized she was talking about getting a cup of coffee. Come to think of it, he probably could go for a fresh cup. Or whatever passed as fresh on Tranquility. As much as he preferred the coffee his own people made, he was not one of those air headed twits that passed for nobles who insisted on bringing every pampering comfort with them on their journeys away from home. While it did not compare to his preferred drink, what the Sol System had would suffice while he worked.

"Yes, I am familiar with the drink. I believe early humans used to refer to it as 'life blood' in their times." He paused and broke into a genuine smile for the first time this day while he waited to see if Mnhiri got the joke.

Tranquility

"Verandi has its head off in a completely different galaxy." Zelophehad said before checking himself. "No, I'm not being fair. Hemant had his head in a completely different galaxy. The girl queen might prove more reasonable. I heard her father never really paid much attention to her, hopefully his stupid stubborn control-freak streak didn't rub off on her."

Hopping into the vehicle, the ambassador made himself comfortable. He sat sideways, letting his body face Palgzair while they continued talking. "Regardless, Verandi will make a fight over it, if only because they think finding the system gives them rights to it. But of all nations they get along best with the Sirian Union. I can't help but feel they're going to work out some deal privately."

He fixed Palgzair with a hard stare. Not an easy feat since Zelophehad was naturally stony faced. "Why the sudden desire for a human ally? Are you so certain the Solar Republic will pose a threat to the frontier nations?"

"Our loss against the Kalaedians has long had the Citizens rather shaken up," Palzgair spoke with a resigned tone "The move towards the GN is essentially to secure a stronger position since we cannot predict the actions of the Solar Republic; revolutionary governments are often wont to spread themselves."

"A human ally would give us some leverage and a means of defence," Palzgair continued a bit more assured, "and a means to forward our own interests within the GN."

edited 5th May '14 11:03:58 AM by Fauxlosophe

Caroline

"Get away from me, you feathered freak!" The terrorist shouted when Cwec'hŷr came to close. It was a bark with no bite, the man was in no position to do anything with only one foot left.

Solaris grumbled something about the man just as Bobby's message reached her. Confronted with a wall of text her first thought was an internal exasperation. Norbs. Then a second glance at the subject line allowed the words to sink in.

"My good sir, I am afraid I have another favor to ask of you." She said to Cwec'hŷr. "My first mate is in critical condition in the medbay. Could you see to him once you are down there? Prioritize him over this filth." She looked down with contempt at the surviving boarder, who returned her feelings with the universal gesture of disrespect. Solaris considered kicking the bastard before deciding she had higher priorities than the idiocy of this lowlife commoner thug.

Rubbing the back of her neck, Solaris went over to Johnathan. "Have the authorities responded yet?" Then she looked at Hrof, who was not going to find anything stretcher-like in the immediate bridge vicinity. "Mister Hrof, did you not say you need the radio?"

"So that may be." Zelopehad said before lowering his voice. The bluster disappeared, replaced by a solemnity that was uncharacteristic for the curt little quadruped. "However, as a friend, I strongly urge you to keep the Bureaucracy at arm's length from Verandi. Mark me, Palzgair, that place it a supernova waiting to happen."

edited 7th May '14 3:53:27 PM by Parable

Hrof stopped his search and turned to the captain. "The prisoner takes priority. If we could discover from him the intentions of his colleagues, then depending on what that is, I may not require the use of the radio after all" Hrof answered simply to the captain, his tone as usual rather neutral. "Once I am no longer capable of assisting in the prisoner's interrogation, I will then commandeer the communications equipment if still necessary" he continued, still rather matter-of-factly, though once again there was that implication; he wasn't going to ask to use the communications equipment.

Frankly speaking, such conduct was pretty unconventional compared to the reputation Grexian mercenaries normally had. "Now if you'll excuse me captain, a stretcher is still required to take the prisoner to medbay, unless you will give me permission to interrogate him here" Hrof said, then started to leave the bridge. He had not been ordered to get a stretcher, or ordered to leave the bridge in any fashion; in fact, hadn't Hrof technically been ordered by Solaris to accompany her to the bridge? In a way, leaving without permission was a violation of that order, which was practically unheard of for Grexian mercenaries. (Except when ordered to do one of the few things their contract says they can't do, like shooting unarmed civilians.)

[Tranquility - Galactic Nations Compound]

Mnhiri didn't know a whole lot about Terran culture, much less the finer points of Terran history, but she knew enough to have some vague understanding of the joke. Besides, Tebigon was an influential man. The last thing she needed was an awkward moment with him.

She chuckled softly. "Excellent. I guess it must be pretty good then, huh?" She said.

Mnhiri had never had a cappuccino before, but the Terran friend that had told her about them described them like they were some kind of supreme beverage. She had high expectations and Tebigon had raised them, if only slightly. But cafe drinks could wait; she'd missed out on the meeting earlier today, but was determined to get some politicking done anyway. "By the way," She said. "I haven't really had a chance to finish reading today's transcript, but I did notice that a 'species S24' was a matter of some rather vigorous discussion. Might you be able to tell me a bit about that?"

Uhuo MEZ

"Admiral, it appears the Aggressor fleet is retreating and regrouping. We cannot allow them to regain their balance."

"If they want to play a game of cat-and-mouse then so be it." Zalez responded. "Cat always wins in the end."

Even as he said it, Zalez wondered if the saying was lost on the Sirian woman. And again he could not help but find the similarity between Sirians and dogs amusing. Cat catches mouse, dog catches cat. So were they the cat or the dog in this scenario?

"One way to find out." he said under his breath. "Alosseil, we should increase velocity and rejoin with the attack group immediately."

No sooner was the transmission sent that her began barking orders to his own fleet. "Take us to .12 lightspeed. Adjust our angle of ascent. We're going over the asteroid belt. Reassemble the formation. Once we're back in range engage the Agressor."

The huge warships stopped firing their weapons but blazed alive once more with renewed energy as they sped towards their target. Huge round and egg shaped vessels criss-crossed each other to get into the proper attack formation, looking almost like a the beginning of a game of pool. Advanced computers ensured the ships did not crash into each other as they all moved at once. Once finished the formation looked like a three pronged claw.

edited 7th May '14 2:33:45 PM by Parable

Tranquility — Azunn

Azunn took the rising din coolly, sitting and waiting politely for calm to be restored. He looked the very image of serenity as Tebigon finally called for a recess. The white furred Sirian already knew that the Verandi wouldn't be thrilled with his proposal, but as much as he respected his counterpart his remit was to safeguard and promote his civilisation's interests rather than keep Verandi happy. However, that didn't mean that Lord Tebigon and his cohorts didn't deserve an explanation - or an attempt to find a mutually beneficial agreement. Azunn knew that most humans were pragmatic individuals.

He got up to leave, his entourage joining him swiftly. The ambassador deftly deflected attempts to grab his attention by the swirling mass of species that clumped around the building. Inwardly Azunn wished that he could get some peace and quiet; with the racket he could hardly think straight. Perhaps when he got some spare time he could finally finish the model of an old Sirian capital ship he had been painstakingly working on for far too long. Unfortunately, he doubted that would happen any time soon.

However, there were more important things to attend to - such as forging links between himself and the other ambassadors. If he couldn't broker a deal that was palatable for both the Union and Verandi, he wanted to make sure that he could count on as much support for the Sirian bid as possible.

Azunn quietly scanned the crowds for any ambassadors he recognised. It didn't take long for him to spot Charles. If nothing else, it would be a start. The Sirian walked briskly over toward the SR representative. Extending a hand for him to shake, he said, "Greetings. I have something I would like to discuss with you, if I'm not being a nuisance." The alien's expression was one of restrained friendliness.

Caroline

"Complain as you like, tânŷgwân," Cwec'hŷr worked to make a quick bandage to stop the bleeding, while insults and arguments were traded, "I have no intention to let you bleed out on the bridge. Fà 'ocw en, Cwŷmelârh e 'elâr. Primum nil nocere."

He turned up after finishing a rather mark shift bandage.

"That should hold," Cwec'hŷr said, "prioritize as you like captain, but I hope to find him alive on my return. Now, if a spare attendant could take to your medical bay, I would appreciate it."

Diplomatic Car

Palgzair let out an amused buzz which passed for a laugh amongst her people, "That I intend to be cautious even if the Citizens do not give it much thought. Frankly, I suspect they just want their allies to be far off and the Humans to be divided. As it stands they are the local power and a dangerous one at that. They have factions but the Citizens do not see that. To them it has been as it was since our first encounter; a great pink wave, ready to meet us in parts and unwilling to hear reason. Encouraging dispute, or "civil war" as it is sometimes called, amongst them is something they would greatly like and think that could be achieved with this."

Palgzair sighed, "However, I have a great deal of autonomy here and I need it, I serve essentially as a second head of state. Horrifying in truth to many principles but am told that I have proven myself."

She paused for a minute to weigh that and then moved to another thought unable to escape the power placed in her hands by any position at the GN and how radically this altered the politics of the Bureaucracy.

"Tell me then, Zelopehad," She paused, "If I may call you that. Who would you recommend as friends? The Bureaucracy considers you our closest friends but we only made this move as it became clear that we have to turn to other avenues and gain allies. Isolation is simply not suitable in the long term as things have begun to shape up."

edited 11th May '14 8:24:48 AM by fauxlosophe

Caroline

Who talks like that?

Solaris found herself not sure what to make of the guard's words. However, there were still other pressing matters to attend to at the moment, so she put the matter to the back of her mind. She spoke before he could take another step to leave.

"If it is that urgent, then find out whatever you need to know now." She tapped the floor as if to say here and now. "Miss Erruan, please take the good doctor to the medical bay."

Meanwhile, if he did not need it, Solaris certainly did. The captain moved over to the radio, hoping someone had replied by now. Titania was not the only populated center around Uranus, why was there no response yet? "Switch to all clear, broadcast this to the whole system if you have to: This is Solaris Viela, captain of the cargo freighter Caroline. Titania has come under the control of Black Phalanx and they have seized control of numerous vessels en route to the inner worlds. I repeat, Titania is under the control of Black Phalanx and they have ships heading to the inner worlds!"

From the floor, the terrorist Cwec'hŷr had been attending to let out a small snicker. "Lot of good that will do you. Won't stop them from crashing the party at that alien club house."

"It was the last part of today's council session." Tebigon said to Mnhiri as he walked her towards the door. "Our expedition groups recently discovered a primitive planet on the frontier. Sentient #24 is the official designation of the world's dominant life form. Naturally we informed the Galactic Nations to let the civilized peoples decide how to handle them. Verandi is confident that we will win approval to take S24 under our wing."

Or we were until Azunn spoke up.

"I wish you had been there, my dear." Tebigon said while they made their way passed the throngs of people in the lobby. "Your people are a shining example of a lesser species benefiting from civilized intervention and entering a higher order because of it.

"Bah, rabble rousers and pundits think destabilizing a foreign power is as simple as leaving trash talk online. You could kill them all and still get criticism from hell before breakfast." This was Zelophehad's method of showing support for his new friend from an old ally. He sat in silence for a moment to let Palgzair finish speaking and then pondered over her words.

"But now that you mention it. I've been working on old Deel-Rye, to try and convince He-Tai that an alliance with Jiptohr is not in their best interests. The empire has been sounding them out for some time now, my sources tell me, and they might be close to a deal. With He-Tai supporting them, the Jiptohri will be motivated to press harder against us. But if you and I can offer a sweeter deal, then this monster will stay in its cave for the forseeable future."

edited 12th May '14 1:39:07 PM by Parable

Hrof stopped as Solaris spoke, turning his head just enough to look at her. "Very well captain" Hros muttered, and turned around to move towards the Terrorist and Cwec'hŷr. His pace slowed a bit as he heard the terrorist speak up, his fists clenching as he stepped up to just beside the crouched avian-like alien.

"Bird. Move" Hrof said, an emotion finally slipping into his voice. Anger. Whether or not Cwec'hŷr did move, Hrof then looked at the terrorist. "What is their plan?" he asked, the anger audible, pushing against the Grexian's self restraint.

[Tranquility]

Inwardly, Mnhiri cringed a bit. "While that's kind of you to say," She began, cautiously. "I suspect that many of our historians would contest the notion that the intervention of those human colonists who landed on our homeworld all those centuries ago was entirely good for us." She continued, as they walked. "While it's true that the event advanced our technology immensely, it can also be said to have indirectly led to the various wars and the deplorable conditions my people endured until our first emperor arose." She shrugged. "It's still a hotly debated issue back home, you see, and Empress Tanis has yet to make a public statement on the matter."

We'd certainly be different if there had never been an intervention. She thought. If I remember my history lessons correctly, there might never have been a revolution if we hadn't advanced as fast as we did. Then we wouldn't have had an emperor at all!

Caroline — Erruan

"Yes, Captain!" Erruan was relieved by the fact that the wounded terrorist had nothing on him. However, Hrof's oddly agitated state prevented her from relaxing quite yet. The Sirian hadn't seen him express anything except a measured emotional response, so this was rather unexpected. She wanted to lead Cwec'hŷr to the med-bay as soon as possible so that she could return to the bridge. The Sirian motioned Cwec'hŷr over to her. "I believe we've got a job to do."

As soon as the Bolaemian complied, she would exit the bridge.

Cwec'hŷr nodded and followed after.

"Do you know anything about the condition of the patient?" He asked following after.

Caroline

"Like I said," the terrorist tried to smirk again but just ended up wincing in pain. "All those bigwigs at the moon who let the empire die are scheduled to meet the space liner to hell!"

A dozen silent ships streaked across space, making their way into towards the inner system. Their speed was daunting, reckless even, for any human on board. From the vast emptiness before them however, even the velocity they were approaching seemed like a snail's pace. It would be hours before they reached the orbit of Jupiter.

Once they passed the asteroid belt planets started getting closer together. The travel time between the orbit of Mars and Earth was minimal. And the ships continued to increase speed.

"Historians live in the past." Tebigon said dismissively. "Our duty is to live in the here and now, with an eye towards the future. The ultimate good of today is something we must cherish, even if it came at a price. Would wars and horrible conditions for the common people not have happened anyway, dear Mnhiri? I doubt the colonist brought anything that was not already present among the therans."

As they neared the old-style coffee shop Tebigon moved forward to open the door for the Izeran ambassador. "By the way, the new ambassador from the Free Minds Society will be hosting an event tonight. Will you be coming?"

edited 21st May '14 5:21:27 PM by Parable

Hrof's head lifted up a bit, his face, invisible behind his mask, one of shock, realization, and anger. His worst fears hadn't been realized; but they almost had... Besides, enough damage to the moon would cause irreversible changes to the planet's environment, so in fact that possibility was still open. "I see" was all he said to the terrorist, before turning around and facing Solaris. "Captain, I must use the communications equipment. Now" Hrof stated firmly, then made his way towards that console without another word.

edited 23rd May '14 12:43:41 PM by FirockFinion

Caroline

Hrof was so demanding that Solaris did just take a step back to allow him access to the communication controls. Jonathan, still in his seat, just looked at him in bafflement.

"Okay, contacting... who now?"

[Tranquility]

"Oh, thank you." Said Mnhiri, as Tebigon held the door for her. There was hardly anyone in the cafe, and the cashiers were all free, conveniently. "Just a moment, please." She said to him, with an emphasis on politeness as she briskly walked up to the cash and asked for a "cappi-chio." It took a few moments of guessing and clarification, but soon enough, Mnhiri found herself with the cappuccino she'd been seeking all day.

"Now, where were we?" She said, returning to Tebigon with the beverage held gingerly in her hands. Mnhiri was familiar with coffee, as it and local variants of it were well-known in Izera, but this was the first cappuccino she'd ever encountered. "Ah yes; the colonists' influence." She continued. "Honestly, it's difficult to say what we might have become, had they never landed on our planet. Many records and artifacts from the time before our first planetary government were destroyed in various wars. All surviving evidence points to our being quite primitive at the time of their landing, however." She shook her head, slightly, but cracked a small smile. "Stone-tipped spears and whatnot. How terribly quaint." She muttered.

She motioned to a nearly table and chairs that were free. "Would you care to join me?" She said. Either way, the conversation continued. "Wars, yes. Those likely would have happened. Most civilizations, it seems, have some amount of large-scale conflicts in their past. But the extreme wealth disparity? The oppression of the working class?" She shrugged. "As I said, it's hard to know for sure. Perhaps, if we hadn't advanced so quickly..." She decided to leave that notion open-ended.

"So, you said Verandi would like this new planet and its people 'under your wing,' correct? How much intervention is being discussed, exactly?" She said, about as casually as she could. "Oh, and yes, I most likely will be attending the Society's event. Is it a formal affair? With a specific subject in mind?"

She took a sip of her cappuccino and paused, positively puzzled by the taste. She resolved to drink the whole thing, but so far, the experience was a disappointing one.

Hrof had to think for a moment, realizing that there was only one place in the system that there was guaranteed to be Grexians to contact. "If there are no Grexian ships around, then beam the transmission directly to the space station Tranquility" Hrof told Jonathan, the emotion still audible in his voice, but he was still rather straight-forward and direct.

edited 23rd May '14 12:43:31 PM by FirockFinion

Caroline

Johnathan earned his pay by connecting to Tranquility's main communication array faster than most others would have. Not an easy feat simply because there were so many channels on Tranquility alone, let alone locating the main one.

"This is cargo freighter Caroline to Tranquility Control. Urgent Message from Uranus." Jonathan flipped a switch and looked to Hrof. "You're transmitting to the station head honchos now."

"Controlled intervention." Tebigon replied while takking the seat opposite of Mnhiri. "While I am convinced it is the duty of higher beings to uplift their wayward brethren, I do acknowledge that your history shows the danger of going at it in such a disorganized manner. Therefore, our proposed plan of action would be carefully implemented. It would be of limited scope, our arrival, so not to disturb the local order too much. However, once we have established a solid foundation with trusted members of the local government we can work out exchanges that would be beneficial to both parties. All under Galactic Nations supervision, of course."

He noticed the other ambassador's expression after tasting her coffee. "Not to your liking, my dear? Not enough milk?"