Story Arc 2- The Conspiracy

[Crash Override]

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

Yeah,it is. You watched the humanity for so long and have problems with that?

[Ivan2006]

At the Gate:
-transmition-
This is the EES Vortex Engineering Dreadnaught.
We are here to se if we can do anything to at least partially repair the gate and prevent any futher demage from being done.
-transmition end-

---private message from EE to Orion Confederation---
We have gained intelligence according to which an "Intrepid" is far more powerful than you described.
We trust this source.
The fact that you sent a heavy battleship to our borders and claimed it to be a light scout will not result in war, but don´t expect it to improve our relations either.
---message end---

[EE is now TENSE to Orion Confederation]

---Public Broadcast of the Eggman Empire---
Today, a meeting of an activist group in Portal [OOC: Capital city on Mobius] was attacked by terrorists.
Investigation suggests that the attack was performed using a Cavnin explosive.
The surpreme Grandmaster has this to say on the topic:
"Altough it seems the attack originated from the Cavnin Nation, I do trust them and I believe that it was either a terrorist group which managed to get access to said explosive or an outside force.
My troops are currently investigating the route of the frighter the bomb was located on. To prevent further similar attacks, the scans on ships entering EE space willl be more precise, with any unscannable spot, internally and externally, being searched manually. The Eggman Empire will neither fall into the quite obvious trap and become agressive towards our allies from the Cavnin Nation nor let itself be provocated by the fact that the target was a meeting about keeping peace with the Strigiforme Union.
---end of message---

---message to NeoRome---
Your Diplomats have arrived on the Death Egg II.
The negotiations will be held with Great Grandmaster Dr. Hope Kintobor representing the Eggman Empire, as I currently have my hands full with terrorist attacks.
---end of message---
[OOC: Fenway, I rely on you to open the negotiations]

-internal:
Ivan walked around in his office, searching for a solution to that new crisis with the bomb attack.
Then he sat down on his chair and pressed a button.
"Establish a secure connection to Agent Changeling"
Voice: "Connection established."
Voice 2: "This is [cansored] HQ, what can I do for you?"
Ivan: "Connect me to Chrysalis. Security code 'Golden Apple of Nothing'."
Voice 2: "Oh, yes, Sir, right away."
Chrysalis: "Yes, Boss? Why are you calling?"
Ivan: "[censored; uncensored version in PM if you are authorized]"

[Crash Override]

Spec Ops: I have then on sight...
Commander: Keep calm,major. Wait a bit longer.
Spec Ops: The telemetry indicates a conversation.

*A small group of andromedan terrorists were there,talking about planting a bomb on a ship and assassination of leaders. This was a bad decision.*

Commander: Do you have a clear shoot?
Spec Ops: Yes.
Commander: Kill then.

*A burst of fast snipers shoots elminates each one of then that are there. When they note the sniper,3 soldiers go from the top with a fast rope,descending killing each one of then with a neural shock wave*

Commander: Clear the area.
MISSION COMPLETE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MESSAGE TO ORION CONFEDERATION [Encrypted]
- Dont make the wrong decisions. Moving fleets at open will make everyone think that you are mobilizing. Thats why we have stealth engines.

MESSAGE TO UAC[ENCRYPTED]
- I killed Sylvertis Baltanis,one of the leaders of the andromedans rebels. The Messier 32 is one of our staging areas so as we cant send any reinforcement,you can support our SPECTRE teams there? We can lead sabotage and assassination missions to slow then down.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENCRYPTED INTERNAL
-Calling...done.Begin the construction of the PARADIGMA.
-Ok sir,any other order?
-Information on the bomb that exploded in EE space.
-Well...one of our teams were there hiding as EE cleaning teams. We got photos of the place. The bomb appears to be from Cavnin.
-Hmm...What happened?
-One of our sensors sighted a normal freighter with unnusual meson readings in it. The port agents dont recognized the bomb and...everything went to hell.
-Who was the crew?
-No information whatsover.
-Hm...I trust cavnin,they wont do this...*Drink coffe* Nice. Recover one piece of the bomb and extract the agents there ASAP. The Shadow Presence have information on this?
-Yes,they were there. The agents were extracted already.
-Nice.Carry on,Williams.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ACH0225]

Public message from the Strigiforme Empire

"We are filled with sorrow to be informed that such inspiring peace activists were killed by the Cavnin, and have decided to take action for it. As of now, no Cavnin ships are to be allowed inside of our borders. We place this embargo to prevent a repetition of the recent events on Mobius, and hope the Cavnin will come clean about their actions, and allow Galactic Justice to be applied."

[Prototype]

:::BROADCASTING TO ALL EMPIRER:::
This is High Commander Theta of the N.S.C.D. broadcasting to all empires

We recently lost a patrol that was on the outskirts of our system, they dissapeard without a trace, and there was no sign of a sturggle, but we know they were destroyed.

As a result, the Grand fleet and the Archetype have been mobilised, and put on red alert, should any ship enter the system unauthorised, it shall be destroyed immediately.

I am broadcasting to inform you of this, so that you can warn your subjects, we don't want to vaporise anyone unnecessarily.

We also ask if any of you know what may have caused this, an entire patrol fleet simply vanished, not even the Shiva cannon can have that effect.

If we find any of you to be behind this, you will feel our wrath.


:::END:::



:::RESEARCH FACILITY PK-76:::
Zero: why must you run these tests on me?
Omega: who is speaking here? Zero or Phi?
Zero: I am, Zero, Phi is being quiet again, he says this is a different universe, is that true?
Omega: yes, it is true, we passed through your universe, and happened to fly over the outpost, we immediately saw two things light up, you and the weapon
Zero: you mean nightmare?
Omega: yes, we figured that Nightmare was hostile, and you didn't stand a chance, so we sent the marines in to pull you out.
Zero: but I almost had it, I would have been fine
Omega: we could see other things, you most certainly did not have it
Zero: oh...
Omega: we are almost done with these tests
Zero: why are you running them?
Omega: *sigh* you possess an incredible ability, you are able to telepathically communicate with any being, and seem to be able to influence real world things with your mind alone, such a trait would seem impossible, and so we want to know how you do it
Zero: so you can what? Build a weapon? Extinguish all life? You know that is not our creed
Omega: this is Phi speaking now?
Phi: yes, yes it is.
Omega: that mind frame has left Theta, he no longer wants the destruction of life, however there are a few rouge groups
Phi: yes, and when those groups get large enough, and overthrow Theta? What then?
Omega: ... They cannot overthrow Theta
Phi: why not? It's perfectly possible.
Omega: yes, but Theta is integrated with the planet, it would be very difficult to remove him, he would not allow them access to any of the weapons, especially not the shiva cannon.
Phi: shiva cannon?
Omega: nothing you need to worry about.

[Luna]

Public message from the Strigiforme Empire

"We are filled with sorrow to be informed that such inspiring peace activists were killed by the Cavnin, and have decided to take action for it. As of now, no Cavnin ships are to be allowed inside of our borders. We place this embargo to prevent a repetition of the recent events on Mobius, and hope the Cavnin will come clean about their actions, and allow Galactic Justice to be applied."

OOC: It was hard suppressing a laugh while reading this.

[Luna]

Broadcast from CNN (Cavnin Nation News): A bomb has appeared to have detonated in near an EE diplomatic building. The bomb points to origins of the Cavnin Nation. No one knows how the bomb was obtained, or how it even got out of Cavnin boarders. The EE appears to trust us enough that they think it was staged. The president has stated that there are no known operations or missions that would do this. We are also unsure who would do this. We suspect Taln Protectorate but again, we don't know for sure.

In other news the new supercarrier has finished production and the first one is now being stationed in our home system. This carrier has the ability to field thousands of drones, hundreds of fighters, and dozens of pinnaces. With the recent announcement of the Archetype from NCSD, it is hoped this ship will have the same effect of scaring enemy vessels.

From CNN, Thankyou for watching

[Prototype]

:::TRANSMISSION FROM DELTA TO THETA:::
Delta: nothing is showing on long range scans, requesting permission to fire a warning shot with the shiva cannon

Theta: don't, we might need that shot later, and you risk upsetting the other empires and nations, if they knew we had mounted a gun that powerful on a spacefaring vessel, we would be in trouble

Delta: roger, warning shot suppressed

:::END:::

OOC: for reference, the shiva cannon is a massive cannon on the front of the Archetype, I can show what is currently built of it, but its kind of not distinguishable as a cannon yet, so I can show you the concept drawing instead:

Spoiler:

I just need to make sure this isn't too OP, because at the moment it's a one hit a dreadnought job, hell, one hit a Titan.

Also for reference, it works by creating a gamma ray burst, now I know gamma rays don't often interact with things, but when they do, they make a mess, the shiva cannon creates a burst dense enough to actually interact with anything it hits, plus it has pretty good penetration, so it ionises the whole ship and everything else inside it, rather than just the bit it hits.

[Chairman_Tiel]

Fleet Marshal Arxin Tiel tapped his wing impatiently on the table as he considered the impassive faces of his peers seated around it, as well as the single owl opposite his position relative to the piece of furniture. He was a hulking figure for a diplomat, at least 3 meters high, his feathers twitching every so often as he attempted to find a comfortable stance in the too-small Tien chair.

He sighed, his first expulsion since the beginning of the meeting. All eyes in the room immediately went to him, the owl delegate's beaked countenance looking across the table with a noticeable degree of apprehension.

"I still don't understand why you're asking this of us while we're still recovering."

The owl replied without a hitch. "The SDI requires more decentralized fleet elements to function properly. There's a quota all member nations have to meet-"

"A quota that should have been met by our relegating an entire fleet to you." One of Arxin's colleagues spoke up before the diplomat could finish. He was about to go on, but the Marshal waved him down with a slight gesture of his wing.

"What Consul Marxla means to say is that even we can't mobilize military forces without convening a general assembly. Even just the deployment of the 2nd fleet passed by a small margin." Arxin leaned back in his chair, a look of amusement on his features. "Some of our esteemed representatives were even pushing the notion of leaving the SDI entirely."

"Three battlegroups doesn't quite constitute a fleet, wouldn't you agree, Marshal?" The owl replied dryly.

Arxin bristled. "Neither does the paltry selection of ships the Striigiforme elected to send the SDI."

"Striigiforme is the SDI. We are the glue holding this alliance together." The owl diplomat seemed to consider his words for a moment, then continued. "In any case, there is a human saying I have picked up, recently."

"Oh?"

"Do as I say, not as I do." The owl glanced across the room. "What the Striigiforme does or does not do is none of your concern. You trust us to keep our end of the treaty just as we do you. Those ships are a crucial matter of security."

Arxin stood up, his crimson red uniform bending and straightening as he did so, and clasped his wings behind his back.

"I agree, Ambassador. It's not a matter of those ships being considered unimportant to our mission statement of peace. It's a question of where to obtain them."

"You-"

Arxin cut him off. "Our ships are currently undergoing patrol duties equally crucial to maintaining our own borders. Until the next production cycle has completed, pulling them aside for joint operations would be tantamount to an invitation to the numerous pirates and other unscrupulous characters just barely kept in check by our current defense forces. I am sorry, but we of this committee cannot grant the SDI what it requires at this point in time."

The Striigiforme delegate began to voice a retort, then sucked it down. "Very well. I am certain the other members of the SDI would very much appreciate it if you would bring this matter to general assembly, however." Then, without another word, the owl smoothly stood and walked out the conference room door into the hallway beyond, his talons scraping across the marble tiling.

Arxin felt an overture of relief from the three other Tiens in the room as he walked over to the wall-height transparisteel window that looked over the sprawling cityscape of Cayla. He heard the two Directorate representatives' footfalls as they left the room, and then the quieter steps of his aide coming up behind him.

"Well, that went well." He said cheerfully.

Arxin turned and stared balefully at the soldier. Commander Architus was only twenty standard years old, but was already a commissioned officer in the Centurion Home Guard, the most elite branch of the military. He had hoped to speed up the competent guardsman's promotion by selecting him as the second military representative on the Foreign Relations Committee, but thus far the young man's superiors had not seen fit to advance him.

"Yes, indeed." Arxin returned his attention to the ivory city, observing the detail in each buildings for a moment, and then said, "The next thing we know, the Protectorate's out of the SDI."

"Would that be so bad?"

"No, save for the fact that it's our job to keep us in." He turned back to the junior Tien, but before he said anything noticed a stricken expression on the commander's face. His rebuke hadn't been bad, had it? Then he saw that Architus was in fact staring past him, to the window, and as Arxin reoriented his vision towards the aperture his beak opened up in horror. A plume of smoke gushed from one of the residential buildings below, fires greedily licking up oxygen as they rapidly spread throughout the structure. It was then his eyes also notice a carbonized hovercar lying smoldering at what looked to be the epicenter of the 'accident'. Arxin traced the vehicles route with his eyes and saw it would have reached its climax...here? He shuddered, despite himself. Had it's drive unit lasted just a handful of seconds longer...

Suddenly, a message erupted over the room's intercom, fuzzy, but still comprehensible.

"Taln scum cannot fight wars themselves, so they frame others. Your days are numbered. Taln scum cannot fight wars themselves, so they frame others. Your days are numbered." The message repeated over and over, until a final explosion emerged from the crashed car and turned the transmission into static, then silence.

It was at that moment that Architus spoke. "Cavnin."

[Phalanx]

At secret UAC command bunker:
President Arkanian was furious. "Bastard traitors!" he yelled. "I am sick and tired of having my fleets destroyed. Retract all units from positions outside of our territories." "Yes, sir!" His chief admiral replied. "I cannot say I like having my fleets destroyed by NeoRoman traitors. Frankly, I am near the point to cutting off all communication with the Milky Way." His diplomatic aide winced, but quickly covered the look. "I also need production accelerated tenfold. Get me a dreadnought. I need to retaliate. Let's show these bastards we bite back. Hard."

(Note: the UAC is not hostile towards NeoRome in any way, just the NeoRoman people that chose to betray their home nation. (Like the rouge admiral that blew up one of my fleets apparently without permission from its own government)

[DeadlyMiddie]

PRIVATE MESSAGE TO THE EE:
We have not sent anything bigger than a frigate within 15 lightyears of your borders. You must be mistaken. If your source was talking about the incident in the Anstrilia System, that was not any weapons firing. That was a corrupt AI core taking over the ship. It kamikazied into one of our carriers. Along with this message, we are sending you the schematics of the Intrepid in question. You can have your intelligence experts check it, we can assure you that they're not fakes.
END

Internal Affairs:
Apollo Dreadnoughts have arrived at their destinations. Sending Shock Team Alpha to the Anstrilia System to secure the outpost as as security force.

TRANSMISSION TO DARKSTAR:
Ok. We won't move our ships any further than the Anstrilia System. We weren't mobilizing. By the way, when is the next UGC Council meeting?
END

[Professor Fenway]

OOC: Prototype, your Shiva cannon is fine. SOME ships will be able to survive it, but of course, crippled. It classifies as a Superweapon.

Hierarch Fenway was silently reading the news.

Terrorist attack on a Strigiforme Peace Meeting... Cavnin suspected... Fenway knew better. The Cavnin wouldn't do such a thing. And the fact that it was a Strigiforme Peace Meeting suggested they were behind it. Still, it wasn't their problem whether some hippies got killed.

A terrorist attack on Taln. Again, Cavnin suspected. The evidence behind this was undeniable. This time it was their problem; SDI members. So Fenway sent off a small team to Cayla to investigate. Small matters.

The unveiling of the Archetype and the Cavnin Supercarrier was distressing. Fenway was confident the Ragnarov was tough enough, especially considering the new upgrades, that it could face both. Still, though, things could escalate. Quickly.

He also had obtained more information from the planet in the Dark Matter cloud. Another puzzle. Perfect. He writ it off to be analyzed by a lab and then opened a window in his office. It showed NeoRome unfurling beneath, a delicate series of cities and traffic. He poured himself a glass if Ylixx and pondered the problems of his empire. Numerous, to say the least.

//NeoRoman News Broadcast//
Border security has lessened slightly after thorough checks were completed in the entire government structure. However, please still expect very tight protocols and checkings as we recover past these events.
//END//


||ELSEWHERE||
As with any well-laid out plan, Murphy's law, however old it may be, comes to hand.

As the diplomat's details were not released, neither empire knew who they would be negotiating with. Which lead to disaster.

After the incident with the virus, Markus Telluride, lead researcher there, had been repurposed into the Foreign Relations branch. Hope Kintober was on the other side. They didn't get along too well.

Markus was sitting in his office after an unproductive session of negotiations. Given the classified level of info obtained from the device, he had to be very cautious about what he said. He mentioned Hope's data chip once. Just once, which had been left behind after Hope had returned to the EE. Which of course, sparked an argument.

Hope claiming, without reason, that NeoRoman privacy details are very restricted and it is a violation of EE laws, while Markus disagreed, saying no information, other than access codes, had been obtained.

Only one thing was agreed on; The data obtained by NeoRome was not as breaching as previously thought. No conclusions could be made, based solely on the classified codenames of the devices used in the mechanism.


||PRIVATE MESSAGE TO: Strigiforme Empire||
We are certainly willing to help construct your flagship.

In a tightly-secured convoy we are sending two N3-Scale Fusion Reactors, the same used on the Ragnarov, and three HI-Fusion Coil Splicers. These are the heaviest of the FCS series, only mounted on larger flagships, heavy defense installations, and the Ragnarov, which has several. Use caution with these, as their power drain when at full power may cause severe damage to standard Aluminum-Lithium power conduits.
||END||

[Chairman_Tiel]

Arxin suppressed a grimace as he looked over the incomplete Excelsior, little more than a skeletal frame protected within the confines of the Century class shipyard. Only a handful of days had passed since the incident on the surface, and while a NeoRome team did come to investigate, they found little of consequence and went on their way to go do whatever humans do.

The Marshal couldn't help but smile at his inward remark. 'Go do what humans do'. The anti-outsider sentiment radiating from Cayla like a sun must be getting to him. A folly. Their real concern should be those blasted felines and the threat they posed to the Protectorate, not allies in a thus far lucrative alliance. He was here to survey the advances in construction work on the 4th Fleet so as to better assess their strategic options against the Cavnin. Granted, the politicians would never authorize a pre-emptive strike unless the scum hit them again, perhaps even harder, but when the day came that the Directorate would let go of the military's leash, Arxin wanted to know his capabilities.

The 2nd Fleet was still operating with the SDI. They could be recalled. The 1st Fleet was on border patrol, though with any luck they could be missed for a brief campaign or flanking maneuver, should the need arise. That left the 3rd Fleet as the only free task force immediately available for any offensive/defensive operations. He nodded to himself, as to confirm his errant thought as he quickly pulled up his tablet and made a few stray marks that placed the flotilla holding idle over Cayla under his direct command.

As he pocketed the device, the Equine that had been his guide through the facility gave a polite cough. Arxin fought the urge to give her a burning glare and instead looked back out to the cavernous interior of the Century. The 4th Fleet would not be in play for some time, he thought, and then gave the tan furred Equine a slight gesture to continue the tour. Something needed to be done, soon. It didn't matter how much red tape he had to barge through, the Cavnin would suffer for this outrage. He would make certain of it.

[Vinyl]

[BROADCAST BEGIN]
My name is Cere Thanus, and thank you for joining us here at NCN. The time is 6:15 here at beautiful Jaarl, Ude. Today's live broadcast is brought to you by Esparagon E-Trade.

Earlier this week, a petition was created that will bypass L-3305, which many of you may know as the bill that would ban avian species from Novus Colonia. L-3305 was ori- we've just received word tha-

[BROADCAST END]

The Red Glove, a terrorist organization within Novus, mounted an attack against the NCN building. The NCN bulding was 155 stories tall, and fell to the west where the building crushed about 70 different buildings including stores, homes, and even a planetside shipyard. The Novus military is investigating the issue.

A few new ships have been finished:
Astrus-Class Corvettes (Cruiser)
Onesty-Class Light Frigate (Cruiser)
Penetrator-Class Corvettes (Frigate)
A small orbital shipyard orbiting Ceeranoo II, it can build Corvettes and Light Frigates (Frigates and Heavy-Cruisers)

OOC: [excuse for absence]I took a break from my computer the last few days.[/explanation for absence]

[Ivan2006]

---Public Broadcast---
Today, Surpreme Grandmaster Ivan Kintobor has made a public statement saying that the terrorist attack neither originated from Cavnin nor from any other members of the Equestrian Coalition.
He also said it was almost impossible the attack came from the UGC either, leaving only the SDI and some minor outside groups like the Novus Colonia and terrorist cells.
It is also assumed that the recent attack on the Taln originated from the same source which seems to attempt to spark a pan-galactic war between the SDI and the EC.
---Broadcast end---


internal:
Hope sighted.
She started the diplomatic talks on the basis that the NR had obtained a highly classified prototype device, but it turned out they had the data chip from her pad she used during the Virus-crisis as well, making things much more complicated.
However, it appeared NeoRome didn´t get as many pieces of information as shefeared they would have. This is certainly complicated, especially considering she was talking to Marcus who heared some of what she said to Jefferson.
A very complicated situation indeed...