Story Arc 2- The Conspiracy

[Phalanx]

Phalanx Industries is producing more combat ships to fill in gaps and strike on enemy starships.

[DeadlyMiddie]

ENCRYPTION LEVEL 10 ZULU FLASH TRAFFIC TO ALL SHIPS:
Disable all AI cores immediately. There have been multiple security breaches with other empires.
END

ENCRYPTION LEVEL 5 GAMMA FLASH TRAFFIC TO OCS-AENEAS
Stay in the vicinity of the quantum gate and await further orders.
END

//ABOARD THE 1ST FLEET INTREPID//
*The ship arrives in the Anstrilia system*
Commander: Everyone gets to rotate on 8 hour R&R. Good work guys.
*Ship starts making course corrections without the helmsman doing anything*
Helmsman: WTF?...
*Ship Accelerates toward one of the Leonidas carriers*
Commander: BRACE FOR IMPACT!!
*The ship crashes into the port fighter bay, nearly tearing the ship in half, as the shields were down and the armor was being refitted. The carrier rips free from the docking port*

//CONFEDERATION HIGH COMMAND, CYRANIA II//
General Saxon: Chancellor, am I authorized to shut down all ship AIs?
Chancellor: Yes.
*General Saxon hits the emergency AI override, shutting down all ship and other vehicle AIs*
Comms Officer: SIR! One of the 1st Fleet's carriers was severely damaged by a rogue Intrepid. Hull integrity is nearly 0%. According to Admiral Hackett, the only pressurized area is the wardroom.
General Saxon: crap...

//2ND FLEET; ABOARD THE OCS-AENEAS//
Helmsman: Do we turn back sir?
Admiral Schwarzkopf: Negative. Flash traffic says to stay here and await further orders. Are all AIs shut down in the fleet?
Comms Officer: Yes sir. We did so immediately after the message came in.

//CHANCELLOR BAUER'S OFFICE//
The Chancellor was reading over the progress of Project Epsilon. It was nearly complete. The Chancellor nodded to himself, then incinerated the paper. "We don't want anybody seeing that, now do we?" he thought to himself.

[Professor Fenway]

The NeoRoman fleet arrives through the gate in Andromeda, right into the midst of a battle. Two small fleets exchanging fire over each other, one rebel and one UAC, obviously for control of the warpgate. Admiral Laina observes the battle from the deck of the Harmony. A few seconds later, a communication arrives.

"Finally help!" Squawked a voice from the UAC fleet. "They were trying to destroy the warpgate, we managed to hold them off for a while..."

"Don't jump to conclusions," Laina said, smiling. "We're here for our own reasons."

"But..." Laina cut the transmission. She turned to the bridge.

"Open fire on the rebel fleet, leave no surviving ships." A neon-green beam shot out from the main cannon of the Harmony, instantly piercing the shields of the rebel battlecruiser. It exploded in a shower of particles. Several of the rebel ships began to turn around, but they too were picked off. Laina then turned her attention to the UAC fleet once again. They wouldn't interfere, but just in case. "Open fire."

The NeoRoman fleet decimated the UAC fleet with no survivors and no escaped communications. After arranging the debris to make it look like a rebel's work, the fleet jumped out of the system, headed toward an unexplored and unknown system. They had business there.

//2.5 Million Light Years Away//

Fenway, sealed in his office, was in the middle of a heated argument with Central Security. Discarded beside him was a glass of Ylixx, a sweet Strigiforme drink he had come to enjoy recently. His holo-desk showed several images of the Harmony, and text annotated to several regions explaining security and mechanisms of it.

"Laina has been stripped of her rank and citizenship in NeoRome," Fenway said. "Which means that, given the mechanisms and security in place on the Harmony, that the ship should no longer be under her control!"

"But that is not the case," Karith, the dreadnought operations specialist, said. "All mechanisms are currently responding to her actions."

"Why can't you manually deactivate the dreadnought?"

"You think we haven't tried that? Something is interfering with our signals! We connect to the Harmony and then it disconnects! We do not have control of the fleet!" Fenway modified the holograms above his desk, and showed a simulation of the control mechanism.

"With 2.5 Million Light Years of space between us and them, I'm not surprised." Fenway waved, and the council disconnected. He opened up a direct communication signal to the Harmony. It connected, and barely stayed connected when something tried to push it out. They were right, something was interfering. He couldn't send anything.

So instead, he connected to the warpgate. It was crippled, he knew, but the signal booster still worked. He managed, with some difficulty, to access the warpgate on the other side and directly connect to the Harmony. No signal interference this time.

He ordered the dreadnaught's self-destruct. In the explosion, the entire fleet was taken out. Sad, but it must be done. Once that was over, he switched to other matters. He refilled the glass with fresh Ylixx and opened up recent communications.

[Prototype]

Theta watched from the top room of Alpha Citadel, the tallest single building on ARK-1, and the home of the NSCD high command, as the hulking Flagship unearthed itself from deep within the bowels of ARK-1's giant internal shipyard, this was the second time it had ever been mobilised.

The enemy was unknown, but it was clear that something was approaching ARK-1, outer defence patrols had simply disappeared, no trace of any struggle, this constituted a suspected invasion, meaning that all defence ships, including the behemoth Archetype, the sight was quite breathtaking, not that Theta or any of the other inhabitants of the Alpha Citadel had breath, but watching a 5km ship climb out of the bowels of a planet is quite extraordinary in anyone's books.

It would take another hour or so before the ship reached orbit, but until then the existing fleet should provide ample defence, but Fleet 2 and Fleet 4 were still elsewhere in the galaxy.

So far they could not identify the attack, but no attacks, except for a hacking attempt on one of the close orbit dreadnoughts, had come within the solar sphere of the CRH system, but if something could make a patrol disappear like that, it was certainly powerful, hopefully a display of power would warn any attackers off.

[Chairman_Tiel]

The NeoRoman fleet arrives through the gate in Andromeda, right into the midst of a battle. Two small fleets exchanging fire over each other, one rebel and one UAC, obviously for control of the warpgate. Admiral Laina observes the battle from the deck of the Harmony. A few seconds later, a communication arrives.

"Finally help!" Squawked a voice from the UAC fleet. "They were trying to destroy the warpgate, we managed to hold them off for a while..."

"Don't jump to conclusions," Laina said, smiling. "We're here for our own reasons."

"But..." Laina cut the transmission. She turned to the bridge.

"Open fire on the rebel fleet, leave no surviving ships." A neon-green beam shot out from the main cannon of the Harmony, instantly piercing the shields of the rebel battlecruiser. It exploded in a shower of particles. Several of the rebel ships began to turn around, but they too were picked off. Laina then turned her attention to the UAC fleet once again. They wouldn't interfere, but just in case. "Open fire."

The NeoRoman fleet decimated the UAC fleet with no survivors and no escaped communications. After arranging the debris to make it look like a rebel's work, the fleet jumped out of the system, headed toward an unexplored and unknown system. They had business there.

//2.5 Million Light Years Away//

Fenway, sealed in his office, was in the middle of a heated argument with Central Security. Discarded beside him was a glass of Ylixx, a sweet Strigiforme drink he had come to enjoy recently. His holo-desk showed several images of the Harmony, and text annotated to several regions explaining security and mechanisms of it.

"Laina has been stripped of her rank and citizenship in NeoRome," Fenway said. "Which means that, given the mechanisms and security in place on the Harmony, that the ship should no longer be under her control!"

"But that is not the case," Karith, the dreadnought operations specialist, said. "All mechanisms are currently responding to her actions."

"Why can't you manually deactivate the dreadnought?"

"You think we haven't tried that? Something is interfering with our signals! We connect to the Harmony and then it disconnects! We do not have control of the fleet!" Fenway modified the holograms above his desk, and showed a simulation of the control mechanism.

"With 2.5 Million Light Years of space between us and them, I'm not surprised." Fenway waved, and the council disconnected. He opened up a direct communication signal to the Harmony. It connected, and barely stayed connected when something tried to push it out. They were right, something was interfering. He couldn't send anything.

So instead, he connected to the warpgate. It was crippled, he knew, but the signal booster still worked. He managed, with some difficulty, to access the warpgate on the other side and directly connect to the Harmony. No signal interference this time.

He ordered the dreadnaught's self-destruct. In the explosion, the entire fleet was taken out. Sad, but it must be done. Once that was over, he switched to other matters. He refilled the glass with fresh Ylixx and opened up recent communications.

Hierarch Fenway, seen here with a bottle of Ylixx.

[ACH0225]

[Classified]
>/Deep within the shipyards of Cuuyth's moon

The shipyard's automated assembly line had been in constant use for the past few weeks. It had been assembly sheet after sheet of hull base, while its' brother had been welding together massive, thick sheets of armor plating. The metals moved down and into the assembly dock, where mechanical arms took the plates and welded them together. The dock was almost 10 kilometers by 10 kilometers, and had its own reactor, separate from the rest of the shipyards. Slowly, from the darkness, rose a massive ship.

Message to NeoRome[classified, eyes only]

We have recently been made aware of actions within your own government of treason, possibly caused by enemy subterfuge. We would wish to assist you, so we have enclosed within this message the schematics for a device that contains within it all the electronics scanners we know of, as well as several mundane ways of checking. We would also advise that you create a room or building contained within a Faraday cage, which will prevent any transmissions to enemies, or transmissions at all. We would advise that you take these measures to prevent any further spread of corruption.

[Professor Fenway]

OOC: Tiel, that made me laugh so hard. It was so appropriate

BIC:

//NeoRoman News Broadcast//

Extreme security measures have been put in place for ALL persons and ships entering NeoRoman space. Everything will be searched and items may be confiscated or destroyed at any time.

Large amounts of NeoRoman personnel have been stripped of rank and citizenship, after thorough security checks, for treason. Other measures may be put in place based on their actions. These include;

Admiral Laina of the 4th Defense Fleet- EXECUTED

Admiral Tarish of the 3rd Battle Fleet- EXECUTED

Admiral Yarl of the 2nd Defense Fleet- EXECUTED

Judicator Almarex, NeoRoman Security Council- IMPRISONED

Judicator Barish, NeoRoman Research Division- IMPRISONED

Judicator Amash, NeoRoman Archive Division- EXECUTED

Praetor Kyle, NeoRoman Foreign Relations- IMPRISONED

More than these prominent members have been affected. This constitutes a standing order by Hierarch Fenway to destroy corruption from the Organization.
//END//

||PRIVATE MESSAGE TO: Strigiforme Empire||

We have received the schematics, and their quick manufacture has allowed us to capture a multitude of corrupted personnel. We appreciate your help.

In addition, the shield generator and they Yttrium-Terbium Power Core has been implemented within the Ragnarov. The shield generator is working on par with the normal shields at low power, and the Power Core performs on a level comparable to our N-Scale Fusion Reactors. The Ragnarov should be operational again within a few days.

||END||

[Prototype]

The Archetype made its way through the upper atmosphere of ARK-1, it's multiple carrier pods extending outward, and fighter decks descending fully loaded.

The flagship was captained by Commander Delta, another of the origin series units, and was Theta's slightly younger brother.

:::COMM LINK, DELTA TO THETA:::
>_We are approaching the Exosphere, soon we will be in open space, what are your orders?

>_Your orders are to make sure nothing gets to the planet, have all fighters on standby, Launch Cruiser AB-1, for additional support

:::END:::

A large panel on the top of the Archetype pushed out, and slid over, revealing a largish cruiser, roughly 300 meters in length, The Archetype carried six of these as a close defence system, as well as one Vivisector and multiple Bruiser class and Beluga class frigates.

The cruiser AB-1, an extinctor class, launched out of the giant opening made in the hull of the Flagship, accelerating away from the ship, turning a tight circle around the midsection of the ship.


::::::
>_AB-1 launched
::::::

[ACH0225]

Classified message to NeoRome

Very good to hear. We would also wish for you to reciprocate, if it isn't too much trouble. We are attempting to construct our own flagship, and would wish it to be as effective as possible.

[Crash Override]

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Nice report... *IN his desk,on a remote space station,he was analysing a series of reports.

First,some information on NeoRome and UAC. One moment,a fleet is sended to help. In another,the UAC and the Neorome fleet disappear ? That is not good. Drinking a coffe cup from Starbucks [In the future the name make sense] he was a little worried.New reactors? *
*He pushed the phone,calling...*

-Hello.

-Oh,Boss! Well...what you need?

- I want to know the progress of the Diquility.
-Well..its going very well,sir!
-Please,send to me a sample. Train the Beta types early.
-But sir,they are sill kids after all.
-Be gentle,but begin to train then.And send a SPECTRE team to the sector =CENSORED= . I need to know what these reactors are made off.


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

[DeadlyMiddie]

//ABOARD THE OCS-AENEAS//
Sensors Officer: Sir! We are detecting EE ships entering the system. They appear to be engineer ships.
Admiral Schwarzkopf: Open a channel to them.
Comms Officer: Right away sir.
Admiral Schwarzkopf: Approaching EE ships, could you please transmit your identification codes? As you know, there have been multiple mishaps. Please respond.

//INSIDE SHIPYARD ALPHA, CYRANIA I//
Overseer: Are the dreadnoughts complete?
Construction Officer: Yes sir.
Overseer: I had better tell the Chancellor

//CHANCELLOR BAUER'S OFFICE//
Bauer was reading over 2 reports. One was from shipyard alpha, the other from --CENSORED--. 20 Apollo Class dreadnoughts had been completed. Project Epsilon was also complete. Bauer opened a channel to General Saxon.
Bauer: I want 5 Apollos assigned to each fleet.
General Saxon: Right away sir.

[ACH0225]

Trade ship 224-591-38C was a mid-size ore freighter. It was crewed by a motley group of various species, mostly humans though. They all shared one trait though; they were all born in the Strigiforme Empire.
They were raised to follow the strict nationalistic codes and conducts of the Strigiformes, and were more owl than their own respective species because of that. So, as an "independent" trading group, with no affiliations to any nation, who wouldn't let them into their ports to trade? They were subject to all the checks everyone else was, but there were hundreds of similar trading groups like them.

That's why they made a perfect attack group.

They were legitimate traders, but they were also Strigiforme nationalists. They worked for both their own company and the Strigiforme Empire, taking weapons to insurgent groups and ore to allies of the Empire. But this job was something else. They had, secreted away in their ship's hidden compartment, a bomb built by the Cavnin nation. They hadn't acquired it legitimately, but it was a real bomb nonetheless. Their goal was to sneak it into the capital of the EE, and detonate it near a meeting held by one of the groups who wanted peace between the EE and Strigiforme. The bomb would leave all the traces of a Cavnin weapon, because it was one. As they crossed the border into EE space, their ship was searched extremely thoroughly, and a few times the weapon was almost discovered. Luckily, it was hidden in a compartment that was accessed through the outside of the ship, and searches of the cargo bays would prove useless.

The ship was admitted, and proceeded to Mobius with few delays, despite numerous checks. None of the search officers knew they were from the Strigiforme Empire, as they had practiced the accents of the Novum peoples, and they were stopped only a few times to have every inch of the ship searched with multiple instruments, but the outside of the ship wasn't searched, and the compartment, which had no door or hatch, was never found. The ship made it's way to Mobius, and on arrival, sold all it's ore for a very good price.

To the authorities that could be watching, they appeared extremely normal.

The crew then went on a trip to the city, using their ship to get there. Unorthodox, but cost effective. Still normal merchant behavior.

They passed by a skyscraper, conveniently holding the annual meeting of the "Galactic Peace" organization, as well as their sub-group, the "EE-Strigiforme Peace" group. As the trade ship passed, the bomb detonated. None of the crew was left, and a skyscraper filled with peace activists was destroyed, and for all the cosmos, it looked like it was the Cavnin or their cohorts.

[Crash Override]

INTERNAL:
-A explosion.
-Yes sir. One of our agents that was offshore there looked it all. The entire building falled apart!
-Yes,is what happens when someone explode a bomb nearby.
-Sorry for this sir...anyway.what we should do? And if the blame is on us?
-Nope.
-I can´t understand sir.
-Will not. We are not the type that get there using a freighter.
-Yes...
-Ok. Reinforce the security protocols and insert the Diquility crystals in the new reactor.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Darkstar ships arrive at the HCRC and expand a counter measure network to prevent any intrusion or hacking.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENCRYPTED TO CNL:

Ok. We estabilished a outpost nearby the HCRC. I´m sending in a SPECTRE team to secure everything and clear the area inside. When we get the base again,you can come in. Expect this gift as a token of goodwill.

[Luna]

Spoiler:

Trade ship 224-591-38C was a mid-size ore freighter. It was crewed by a motley group of various species, mostly humans though. They all shared one trait though; they were all born in the Strigiforme Empire.
They were raised to follow the strict nationalistic codes and conducts of the Strigiformes, and were more owl than their own respective species because of that. So, as an "independent" trading group, with no affiliations to any nation, who wouldn't let them into their ports to trade? They were subject to all the checks everyone else was, but there were hundreds of similar trading groups like them.

That's why they made a perfect attack group.

They were legitimate traders, but they were also Strigiforme nationalists. They worked for both their own company and the Strigiforme Empire, taking weapons to insurgent groups and ore to allies of the Empire. But this job was something else. They had, secreted away in their ship's hidden compartment, a bomb built by the Calvnin nation. They hadn't acquired it legitimately, but it was a real bomb nonetheless. Their goal was to sneak it into the capital of the EE, and detonate it near a meeting held by one of the groups who wanted peace between the EE and Strigiforme. The bomb would leave all the traces of a Calvnin weapon, because it was one. As they crossed the border into EE space, their ship was searched extremely thoroughly, and a few times the weapon was almost discovered. Luckily, it was hidden in a compartment that was accessed through the outside of the ship, and searches of the cargo bays would prove useless.

The ship was admitted, and proceeded to Mobius with few delays, despite numerous checks. None of the search officers knew they were from the Strigiforme Empire, as they had practiced the accents of the Novum peoples, and they were stopped only a few times to have every inch of the ship searched with multiple instruments, but the outside of the ship wasn't searched, and the compartment, which had no door or hatch, was never found. The ship made it's way to Mobius, and on arrival, sold all it's ore for a very good price.

To the authorities that could be watching, they appeared extremely normal.

The crew then went on a trip to the city, using their ship to get there. Unorthodox, but cost effective. Still normal merchant behavior.

They passed by a skyscraper, conveniently holding the annual meeting of the "Galactic Peace" organization, as well as their sub-group, the "EE-Strigiforme Peace" group. As the trade ship passed, the bomb detonated. None of the crew was left, and a skyscraper filled with peace activists was destroyed, and for all the cosmos, it looked like it was the Calvnin or their cohorts.

OOC: do you mean Cavnin, cause if you frame a non-existent Empire, your plan won't work.

[ACH0225]

I do indeed. Spelling in another language isn't easy.