Chiron Chronicles: 2200 - Page 5

Cyber · September 30, 2001, 03:37

OOC: Sorry, I couldn´t post earlier, but here goes...

The Spartan Commando copter near Believer-Cult Border

The relieved Spartan commando was sitting in the copter with the rest of the team, next to him the mysterious capsule, satisfied of yet another succesful mission. No enemies had even caused them trouble. Had they been so effective?

Suddenly he smelt something odd. As if it was the smell of...rotten. Soon the whole team could smell it. After a while of confusion, they found out the cause. The capsule was leaking.

What the team never understood was that the little fungus spores inside the capsule were dying, because they had been ripped out of the vicinity of other fungi and their comforting mental radiation, and were now being transported Planet knows how many feet up in the sky.
Normally, the only problem would be the smell, but now with the Super-Grow substance inside the capsule reversing the process from accelerated growth to accelerated rotting. The outcome was alot of gases in the process, which were about to completely pressurise the capsule, or in other words, to detonate the home-made bomb.

"Methane...d*mn... whispered one of the commandos, and scrambled for the capsule. The others made quickly way, as he took the capsule and opened the copter door. He could feel the huge pressure inside the fragile capsule.

As he threw the capsule out, it detonated a few feet from the Spartan. For a moment, only a cloud of flames was seen on one side of the commando copter.

The resulting shrapnel and fungi rain shredded the commando on the door, and covered all the others with dead fungus and deadly shrapnel wounds. The copter tilted badly, its one side blown up, and crashed down in a grand explosion, in Believer territory....

OOC:Natan, okay the hive pilot got away... this time

The scout mindworm unit

The scout boil was dissatisfied. It had moved too slow, and now they had lost their objective.

It dicided to stop, hide and watch the ongoing aerial show...

The locust swarm...

Between the burning napalm clouds, screams of locusts could be heard. The already badly wounded flock was even weaker now. The remaining flock, that had mostly survived with the help illusion, decided not engage back but to instead to return to base for the process of regrowth.
They contacted Nest of Fear, and reported their situation. As an answer, Nest of Fear was in the process of sending three battle-ready locusts swarms to stabilise the area.

The tired flock continued out of the battlefield, knowing that the enemies that would not quickly do the same, would soon suffer...

The west coast of the central continent.

The IoD quickly engulfed two youngling boils. Then it quickly disengaged and drove full speed towards the Cult coast.

The mindworm hunters were watching the Isle as it dissapeared into the horizont. It had been a good first harvest, but would it help their people? Would ten more good harvests help their people against the dark cloud that was the Believers and their allies?

Cult-Believer front

The Cult forces went into full alert in a record time. All units were ready, and three airborne units were on their way to clean the newest battlefield from enemies...
Meanwhile, dozens of telepaths, hidden amongs the many valleys and fungus patches behind the Cult bulk of forces, were ready to begin their deadly task of encouraging the growth of the native life in Believer territory...

DarkCloud · September 30, 2001, 13:26

OOC: Lets just do the vote now. instead of having it drag on forever.

H.A. Prokhor Zakharov

Zakharov places his vote for Planetary Governor for the Spartan Leader, Colonel Corazon Santiago.

Kassiopeia · September 30, 2001, 13:41

From: Father Theodore Deacon
To: Planetary Council

Sister Miriam is personally unavailable at this time, but she has authorized me to place the votes of the Lord's Believers to

Colonel Corazon Santiago, leader of Spartan Federation.

Argonaut · October 1, 2001, 18:45

From: Datajack Roze
To: Planetary Council

To no surprise, the Data Angels vote for myself, Datajack Roze of the Data Angels

Cyber · October 3, 2001, 08:11

From: Cult Ambassador Quzer
To: Planetary Council

The Cult of Planet has not deemed any of the candidates (without saying: especially Colonel Santiago...) worthy to vote for, so...

we abstain.

Natan · October 3, 2001, 20:34

From: Chairman Sheng-ji Yang of the Hive
To: The planetary council

On behalf of the Central Committee of the Hive, I cast the votes of our faction for Colonel Corazon Santiago of the Spartans.

Mr. President · October 4, 2001, 01:55

From: CEO Nwabudike Morgan
To: The Planetary Council

There are some principles which endure for all time and do not change, regardless of what else may take place. Among these are the rights of all people and all nations to exist in peace and freedom, without interference from outside forces.

Following an agenda incomprehensible to the free peoples of Planet, the Peacekeeping Forces and their allies, under the umbrella of the Chiron Alliance, have consistently disrupted the existence of other factions and infringed upon the very rights that they swore to protect.

In the interests of freedom, of security, and of capitalism, I, CEO Nwabudike Morgan of the Morganites, on the behalf of the Morganite people, place our vote for Colonel Corazon Santiago of the Spartan Federation.

May she lead the Council and mankind to prosperity and liberty!

Guardian · October 4, 2001, 05:06

U.N. Thunder flight...

"All units, stand by to execute maneuver on my mark."
She quickly switched frequencies to address the person she believed to be a Believer at Far Jericho...

"Copy that, sir. Disengaging now."
She momentarily wished she could have seen the look on the Believer's face when the nasty, nasty PK b**ch suddenly rolled over and addressed him as "sir"... She almost giggled at the thought, then she took one last look at the dark dots up ahead...
"Spartan Bravo Squadron, this is U.N. Thunder lead. Adios amigos!"

In that same moment, all the PK jets went to full burner as they pulled up and away. Within seconds, they were all heading back up north.

"Believing Radar... sir, U.N. Thunder is disengaged and heading home. We should be exiting Believing airspace in approximately 2 minutes and 40 seconds. Thank you for sharing your weather data with us. Have a nice day, sir."

She looked over to her left and got a thumbs up from her wingman as they raced across the sky heading back up north.

DarkCloud · October 9, 2001, 16:37

The University Sun-Governor

Santiago can Claim Victory!

In the election for Planetary Governor, barring a large disaster, Colonel Corazon Santiago can claim victory. She boasts 4 factions' votes, three of the factions being some of the largest and most influential on Chiron.

The only way in which she may lose the election is if the Free Drones, Pirates, Cyborgs and Gaians give their votes to Roze or Lal.

Santiago- 4
Roze- 1
PK's- 1 (Guardian?)
Abstain- 1

(OOC: What is the priate vote, free drones vote?)

Cyber · October 12, 2001, 08:54

Dawn of Planet

Cha Dawn was watching through his office window the endless, beatiful fungus hills that surrounded the Capital of the Cult. Dozens of well kept fungus 'roads' criss-crossed through and around the surrounding fungus fields, and further away could be seen the shameful remarks of the desperate situation of Cultists. There, huge factories produced day and night more weapons for the brave people on the front, fighting and dying for their common ideology. And those factories were completely against the Cult ideology.

What should I do? Should I keep the Cult neutral?... will the end of this war come finally?...if not, then what could I do to end it now? thousands of questions were racing in Dawn´s mind, but with very few answers.

What will happens to us if Santiago gets in power as Planetary Governor? Will she turn the world against us?The Cult needs allies...
Dawn quickly went back to his desk and opened a comm. channel...

From: Prophet Cha dawn
To: Datajack Roze, Data Angels

Greetings again Datajack,

The situation seems a little more hopeful for the Cult, but what will happen to that situation when Santiago gets to power worries me much. I fear that hostilies will not end here, but doublefold. So, as much as it is worth and for hopes of better friendship, we will after all vote for you in the Planetary elections. I know it isn´t much, but better than nothing...

Prophet Cha Dawn

OOC: I really can´t explain why the Cult didnt do this earlier

From: Prophet Cha Dawn
To: Commisioner Pravin Lal, The peacekeeping force

Greetings Comissioner,

Although the war between us and the Believers seems to be finally ending, I fear that the situation might turn ugly if Santiago takes place as the Planetary Governor. So, as a favor and remembering the time when we helped you against the Spartans, keep your troops in New Hope, atleast for the time it takes to assure that Santiago and the Believers aren´t up to anything. Your precense will surely make them think twice, if they ever decide to make yet another backstabbing crusade.
What do you think Commisioner?

Prophet Cha Dawn

Kassiopeia · October 12, 2001, 14:37

Voice of God News Network

Peace negotiations to begin after governor election!

In a statement made at the Planetary Council, the Believing representative Father Theodore Deacon informed the planetary community that the Believers are ready for a cease-fire.
The reactions of the public to the news is to be found out, but the Voice of God's own political analysts tell that... more on page 2.

Planetary Governor election takes a new turn

...as Commissioner Pravin Lal of the Peacekeepers informed the Council today that he retires from candidacy. It is common belief that this maneuvre is an attempt to bolster Datajack Roze's possibilites of prevailing Colonel Santiago. The Hive and the Believers have already voted for Santiago, as so have Morgan Industries and the University of Planet. The votes of the Chiron Alliance members are yet to be given, and therefore everything is now possible.
Also, a dispute rose up in the Council as Ambassador Quzer of the Cultist delegation withdrew the earlier vote of the Cult, now informing that they are voting Roze instead. The Spartan representative Karl Solo immediately argued at the matter... more on page 5.

Believing Embassy at Planetary Council Base

Sister Miriam read the news from the Council.
It all was so clear... The Alliance votes would now go to Roze. Lal was not a stupid man. If Roze would be a mediator at the negotiations, New Hope might never leave the Continent. But, Roze had her differences with Lal. Maybe it wasn't as clear as she first thought.
Miriam flipped the intercom switch and informed the security teams that she would be leaving for the Council building in a few moments.

Sprayber · October 15, 2001, 00:07

[OOC: IIRC I wrote that the choppers with the evidence had already landed shortley after the jets did. They did leave the scene before the Pks got into the area. But oh well, I suppose there is no point in going back to it now. I had to edit my Spartan Captain's name because his name must have been considered obscene.

]

Righteous Sentence

Captain Castor activated the decryption sequence on his recently arrived message. Force 10 had been lying low since their arrival in Believing territory. Force 10’s 50 man team had arrived separately in different units over a three year period. The last of the men had arrived four months ago and had blended in until Castor had received a signal to await further instructions. Now apparently, those instruction had come. After he had decoded the message and read it, Castor leaned back in his chair. “Well, if this doesn’t get someone’s attention, nothing will.” Castor looked further down the list. He didn’t like having a big long list of people to watch out for. Sparta Command was tying his hands by insisting on these people’s safety. And if that wasn’t enough, he had been told to wait until final authority had been given. He would have ran things better, but at last that wasn’t his place. He deleted the message and destroyed all traces that it ever existed. Then, he got up to go assemble his team.

On the other side of Righteous Sentence, a Spartan transport plane came to a smooth stop at the end of the runway. Various officers and many armed Spartans assembled around the transport. After a few moments, the side door opened and two soldiers stepped out of the door and assumed positions on either side of the step ladder that had lowered. They wore the black and green armor of Jade Falcon. As more and more of the amore plated soldiers emerged from the plane, the soldiers outside in formations drew themselves straighter. Everyone there respected the Jade Falcons. Mostly for who they guarded. The last to emerge was Colonel Santiago. The base commander walked up to her and saluted. He attempted to welcome her to the Spartan base but she simply held up her hand to dismiss his speech. “Take me to your command and control facility. I wish to link up with the Command Nexus.” “Of course Colonel, this way.” As Santiago walked behind the commander, her Jade Falcons formed up around her moved out. Six others stayed behind to guard the transport.

******Level 5 Encryption*****
To: Marshal Kessel
From: Colonel Santiago

Marshal, you are to order the northern army groups to maintain their operations. The Southern Army groups are to pull back but are not to reenter their support bases. Simply adjust their movements according to plan Clandestine. Inform the Hive of our troop movements as they will come close to their territory in the North and South. Operation Market Garden may be needed to slightly modified. You were right to initiate movement for Force 10. I have decided that a personal visit to the Council under the conditions that we discussed before may be in order. Although I am hopeful that that will not be necessary.

Guardian · October 15, 2001, 11:00

U.N.S. Peacekeeper, approaching Planetary Council Base

Commissioner Lal was somewhat startled when the ship's klaxons went off.
"General Quarters! General Quarters! Man your battle stations! This is not a drill!"
(Running footsteps echoing through the ship...)
The executive officer came walking briskly down the corridor, heading for the bridge.
As he was passing, the commissioner grabbed him by the arm. "What's going on?"
"It's just a security precaution, sir. We're approaching the Planetary Council Base and we want to make sure there won't be any nasty surprises on the arrival." Lal frowned. "What kind of surprises?" The XO shrugged. "We don't know that, sir. Probably nothing, but we're ready for anything, just in case..." Great! Just great! The U.N. flagship was going to arrive at the Planetary Council Base in full battle mode! Wonderful! "Now, if you'll excuse me, sir..." Lal realized he was still holding the man's arm and reluctantly let go. The officer excused himself and continued his brisk walk towards the bridge. After hesitating for a moment, the commissioner followed...

New Hope

"New Hope tower, this is Thunder flight with 4 Firebirds."
"Roger that, Thunder. You are cleared to taxi." As she pulled out of the hangar area and started rolling towards the runway, the man in the tower gave her the most recent weather update and informed her that - as far as anybody at New Hope knew - there was nothing new to report on the overall world situation or the more local conditions on the Cult/Believer front. Things had been quiet for the past several days now. Cilia was taking her flight out on a patrol mission in the border area to see what - if anything - was going on. The patrols that had been out yesterday and the day before had reported seeing troops from both sides holding positions on their respective sides of the border. Today she would see for herself. -And this time, she would make sure not to cross into Believer airspace. As she had said in the briefing room, there was "No sense in pissing them off when they're finally going where we want them."

Aboard the Peacekeeper

The entire task force was on alert now, sweeping the PCB and the surrounding waters and airspace with their long range scanners. Everything looked calm, but they'd stay on alert a little longer, just in case. On the aft deck, a squad of Marines were getting ready to board a chopper.

Lal hoped they would stand down before anybody noticed that they were on alert in the first place.
Yes, he could appreciate the need for precautions, but coming to the Council base with a fleet all set for war didn't seem like a very good idea for anybody and especially not for him...

On the bright side, he had just received word from General Braddock that the Spartan forces along the border appeared to be backing off a little. In response, the Peacekeepers had decided not to recall their personnel from the joint border posts. Staring off into the distance, he was lost in thought for a minute or so. He came back when the Marine helicopter took off with a roar from the aft deck and went swooping out across the waves towards the Planetary Council Base.

Mr. President · October 15, 2001, 19:57

Morgan Industries Central Command
11:30 Central Continent Time

Defense Minister Michelle Pellegrino activated the videophone. She was due to receive a briefing on the terrorist situation from the field.

The screen came to life, showing the picture of a young officer, still in battle uniform. In the background Pellegrino could see heavily armed soldiers walking back and forth, and a reconnaisance rover parked, its broadcast antenna moving slowly.

He saluted. "Sergeant 1st Class Matthias Svensson, Special Forces. Reporting, Minister," the man said crisply.

Pellegrino nodded. "Please continue, Sergeant."

"Interrogators report that the terrorists claim to be from a group called the Steel Arms of Gaia. We're checking with Military Intelligence for data."

"I doubt you'll find any," the Minister said. She had spent most of the previous night reading reports on currently-active terrorists from all corners of Chiron, and had never heard of the Steel Arms of Gaia. "I don't think they exist."

Svensson frowned. "Then, with respect, Minister, who is shooting at us?" he asked.

Pellegrino sighed. "I don't know," she said. Pause. "Is there any more word on those Gaian nationals?"

"One dead, one captured, two unaccounted for," Svensson replied. "None reliably identified."

The Defense Minister rubbed at her eyes. What a total mess. "Thank you, Sergeant. Carry on. Report as normal."

Sergeant Svensson saluted, and his picture faded out. Pellegrino was left to consider the problem of identity. No-one seemed to know who the terrorists were. The signs pointed to governmental involvement, but no government stood out as a clear suspect. The insurgents who had been identified were mostly Morganites, with a couple of exceptions. Aside from the four Gaians, there were some Free Drones, Nautilus, University, and even Cybernetic nationals. Between groups that never existed and people with no names . . .

DarkCloud · October 15, 2001, 22:53

The University Sun Governor

Deadline for Votes Approaches

With the deadline for Planetary Governor voting fast approaching, all factions but the Free Drones (14 votes?), Cyborgs (11 votes?) and Gaians (8 votes?) have placed their votes for a leader.

Unless they vote soon, it is apparent that Col. Santiago will win the election with her 41 votes.

The Believers placed their (6 votes?) to the Spartans.
The University's (12 votes?) went to the Spartans.
As did the Morganites (11 votes?)
And the Spartans (12 votes?)
-41

The Peacekeepers, in a remarkable show of bipartisanship, voted for Roze with their (14 votes?)
Svensgaard's Pirates voted Roze with their (16 votes?)
-30

The cult and its (5 votes?) abstained

Guardian · October 17, 2001, 10:01

U.N.S. Peacekeeper

"Secure from battle stations!"

Commissioner Lal felt a rush of relief at the captain's order. He had been trying to stay out of the man's hair and let him do his job, but he had also been quite clear about not wanting to arrive at the Council Base with weapons hot. The captain had nodded his agreement, but had waited until he got the "all clear" from the Marines before he ordered the stand down. Now they were about 20 minutes out of the harbor. Just enough time to get set for a somewhat more dignified arrival. He let out a soft sigh of relief. Good. He'd better get himself ready...

Clear Skies · October 20, 2001, 09:48

In the area around the Ruins...

Not far from Silverbird Park, a Gaian survey team had discovered something quite unusual. A Unity pod, half-buried in xenofungus, with scarlet tendrils snaking all over its surface.

They quicklinked their findings back to Silverbird Park, who sent out a scout detachment to activate the pod.

It took them a while to get in close enough, but eventually they were able to clear the xenofungus from the main access panel and jack into the pod's circuits.

Within seconds, the pod split open...and a rush of native lifeforms raced out, engulfing most of the scout team in a pulsating mass. Psi attacks screamed through the air, mingling with the shrieks of the terrified Gaians.

The survey team drew their flame guns, but just as they were about to burn the lifeforms into husks, a woman stepped out of a fast scout rover and restrained them.
"No. Let me see what I can do."

Quickly, she linked to the Planetmind, feeling the sheer rage of the worms pulsing through the neural net. She tried to calm, to soothe the ruffled waters of the Planetary consciousness.

I am earthlindly, she sent. Do you know me? We are from earthdeirdre. Please, calm the attack.

Slowly, the worms began to cease their assaults. The seething masses stilled, and spore launchers stopped their relentless psi bombardment. Locusts which had been screaming around the heads of the horrified scout team landed again, folding their wings around their bodies.

Eventually, the worm boils spoke, in a thousand voices and in one. Their voice thrummed through Lindly's mind, resonating deep inside her consciousness.

You are earthgaians. Planet loves you. We will not hurt.

Suddenly, Lindly found that the boils had linked with her, giving her control of their actions. She used her empathic powers to ask them to move away so that the scout team could regain their rovers.
As the mass of worm, locusts and spore launchers hurried to do her bidding, her eyes gleamed in the sunlight. At a single stroke, she had almost doubled the size of the Gaian army of native life...

Guardian · October 22, 2001, 06:41

U.N. News Network

Commissioner Lal arrives at Planetary Council Base

Commissioner Lal arrived today at the Planetary Council Base on board the U.N. flagship Peacekeeper. After a brief visit to the local U.N. Embassy, the Commissioner is expected to appear in the Council itself. What exactly he will do there is currently somewhat unclear, but at least the Commissioner will be present in the Council for whatever proceedings the next days may bring. There is currently much confusion over who will be the next Planetary Governor, and the alternatives seem almost equally uninviting; Will it be Santiago, who we know will put "sovereignty" above the U.N. Charter, or will it be Roze, who claims to respect and uphold the Charter, yet turns her back on it when she has a disagreement with the Commissioner and appears willing to sacrifice the lives of thousands of civilians to achieve her own personal goals?
Or will it be neither?
Perhaps the best alternative would be to leave Morgan in place, at least for the time being?
We do not know. What seems clear here and now is that we can not and will not support any of the remaining candidates and that - as far as we can tell here and now - a victory by either one of them could signal the beginning of some very dark times. Currently, we're still hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst. Stay with us for a more in-depth discussion of the current political crisis and possible resolutions after the news update.

Forces still on alert...

U.N. Central Command today announced a general stand down from red to yellow alert for Peacekeeping Forces world wide. General Braddock was quoted as saying that the situation is under control, but otherwise refused to comment ongoing operations...

Sprayber · October 22, 2001, 21:18

Righteous Sentence

Colonel Santiago leaned back in her chair. She had gotten word of the Gaians vote an hour ago but hadn’t had time to reflect on it. It wasn’t really a surprise of course. Lady Deirdre couldn’t have been expected to vote for the Spartans at this time. But perhaps a seed of doubt had been planted in the Gaians mind. Santiago allowed herself a moment of reflection. Planetary Governor Santiago did sound good. But in the end the position would have caused more trouble than it would have been worth. She allowed a smile to creep across her face. Kessel had wanted it far more than her. He would have made a good Governor but that would not be good for Sparta. In her estimation, Morgan made the best PG for Sparta’s interests. Just as long as the weakling Lal, the immature Sven or the unknown Roze didn’t hold the seat she would be content. She turned around and began a message to Solo at the Planetary Council. After encrypting and sending the message, she prepared another message. This one meant for Captain Castor.

On the other side of Righteous Sentence, Captain Castor sat and read the message that he had received. His mission had been put on hold. It would have been a bold and decisive operation that would have solidified his place in Spartan military history. But all was not lost. He had been given new orders. He would be visiting the Planetary Council Base, just not the way he had first thought. He made destroyed the message and got his gear together. He then walked out of his room and headed over to the opposite side of the base.

The ground crews had just finished the preflight checks when the procession of soldiers made their way towards the Spartan transport. Without fanfare Colonel Santiago and her Jade Falcon escort walked up to the awaiting plane and entered. The engines fired up and the plane lifted effortlessly off the runway. When the plane had gained the appropriate altitude, it turned towards the north and begin its short journey to the Planetary Council Base. Sitting at the rear was Captain Castor wearing the black and green armor of Jade Falcon.

DarkCloud · October 22, 2001, 22:56

(OOC: Sprayber, ever read Battletech

)

University Base HQ

Zakharov: No... no... Kamil- no I do not believe that we will attempt an assassination... There is no reason- even if the Free Drones vote for Roze. I believe that we can manipulate her to our desires if we wish... Can we not, Ian.

Ian: Yes sir.

Kamil: But sir... The possiblilites, once Roze is kaput...

Zakharov: Kamil- she could be used by us- besides, if she dies, then her assistant assumes the Planetary Governorship... and we know how horrible that would be for the University

(All nod)

Zakharov: In other matters... we can always bargain with her about the 'terrorism' of her forces on University soil... Especially since we have found good, pure evidence of Data Angel probes on our soil, involved in the "Nerve Gas Incident"

Kamil: Ah, I see- I believe I can fabricate some evidence to add to that...

Zakharov: No... there is no need... no... I believe we have enough evidence...

Commander of Armed Forces: Scott James Zool-Poole: Sir, I believe that it would not be wise to bring up that as a bargaining chip- I believe some Data Angels escaped the explosion.

Zakharov: But who will believe them.

Scott: I see... Very well- do as you will.

Ian: About the Believers...

Zakharov: Yes?

Ian: Could we use our evidence against them as well.

Zakharov: Possibly- If they present a problem and the Cult becomes strong enough to warrant involvement in their war. We can surely use the argument that the Believers have been involving themselves in our lands by hiring Perfect Society members to caputre the Mindworm Nerve Gas to use on Cultist Mind Worms.

Scott: Excellent idea Sir.

Ian: I am glad that I proposed it.

Kamil: Reasonable solution to a puzzling problem.

Sprayber · October 24, 2001, 03:52

*****Level 5 Encryption*****
To: Governor Powell of Hero’s Waypoint
To: Governor Conner of Survival Base

From: Marshal Kessel

As per the order of Colonel Santiago. Governors, your production queue has been emptied. Before you can start on your next set of objectives you are to produce one supply crawler each and transport the quota of minerals to Sparta Command. Be aware that you are not to discuss the destination of these supplies to anyone. I regret the delay that this will cause you in achieving your goals. I will try and make it up to you later down the road. It is for an extremely good cause.

*****Level 5 Encryption*****
To: Governor Halifax of Sparta Command
From: Marshal Kessel

Governor, you are to begin work on the Neural Amplifier as soon as your queue is empty next week. I do not have to remind you the importance of this project to the security of Sparta. Rest assured that Colonel Santiago will be watching your progress very carefully. I have every confidence in your ability to produce results. For added security, an additional probe team will be dispatched from Commander’s keep. And you should expect extra minerals to be made available to you.

[OOC: Does anyone have objections to me using crawlers? Darkcloud: Yeah, I've read Battletech. If you have ever seen Farscape, look at the Peackeeper armour and that is kind of what the Spartan soldiers look like. Yeah, I know peacekeepers.

]

DarkCloud · October 24, 2001, 14:02

(OOC: Never seen Farscape... sorry to say.
-Yes, I broke out laughing about the "Jade Falcon" guard

Using Crawlers... how many?)

Mr. President · October 25, 2001, 22:30

[In the Planetary Council, CEO Morgan's QuickLink beeps quietly. He activates it to see: 1 new message, Re: Eco-terrorism . Quickly working the keypad, he reads:]

All Gaian nationals have been accounted for. One is a former mid-level employee of Planetary Council. Sporadic fighting continues on Northshore. Pellegrino.

Morgan pursed his lips. The Council employee could have gained access to vital information about trade convoys and industrial parks from the Council Base's computer banks. Worse, they could have used the powerful servers, supplemented by Data Angel-made suitcase hacker supplements, to infiltrate secure sectors on MorganNet, which hosted thousands of gigabytes of government and economic data. Finance, troop movements, government communications - all might be compromised.

Almost as worrying was the news of fighting on Northshore. The coastal areas near Morgan Industries Base were home to crucial factories and mines, and produced the largest volumes of syntholine on the Central Continent. Morgan could be facing an energy crisis on top of the political and diplomatic ones. Security in the capital had already been placed on the highest status of alert, but would it be enough?

Johansen, thought Morgan, is already giving me needlejets by the brace. But does a needlejet help against an enemy with no land, with no name? The group the insurgents claimed as their own did not seem to exist. Were they Data Angels? Cultists? Gaians? Perfect Society? None of the above?

It did not matter. None of that mattered, so long as they were stopped. There would be time for finger-pointing and name-chasing later. The only good terrorist is a dead terrorist. In spite of himself, Morgan smiled.

Guardian · October 26, 2001, 08:45

Planetary Council Base

Commissioner Lal was leaving the UN Embassy, heading over to the Council building.
All around him was an entire platoon of armed and armored Marines. They would - of course - not actually enter the Council, but they would escort him to the doorstep and then lurk nearby... -just in case...

Lal didn't like it one bit, but it couldn't be helped.
Colonel Santiago was coming...

[OOC: You're right. The Peacekeepers don't trust her one bit...]

Sprayber · October 26, 2001, 14:04

The Spartan transport plane came in high above the Planetary Council Base. The pilot transmitted his identification code and received permission to land at the bases airstrip. After the transport landed. the door slide open and the first squad of Santiago’s security stepped out. Their black and green armor glistened against the backdrop of the bright Chiron sky and their black face shields reflected the intense light. Soon Colonel Santiago emerged from the transport wearing her simple Spartan uniform. It was a black jumpsuit trimmed in tan. A Spartan emblem adorned her left shoulder. Her long black hair was pulled back in a pony tail. Not a single hair seemed out of step with the rest of her disciplined appearance. Her bronze skin seemed to soak in every ounce of heat given off from Chiron’s primary. After a moment she turned around to her security chief and told him to pick one soldier to accompany her and her aide. The chief didn’t like only one person with the Colonel but knew it was unwise to question his orders. He indicated one of the soldiers in front, who then stepped out and took position behind the colonel and her aide. Colonel Santiago looked at the soldier. “You are to leave your rifle here.” He complied immediately by handing his rifle to the nearest of his comrades. Santiago turned around to see a young man in a PK uniform with a PCB patch where his UN patch would be standing there. Since the conversation between herself and her men had been conducted in the Spartan Military language, the young man seemed to have confusion on his face, but to his credit he quickly hid it under Santiago’s gaze. Show us the way to the Planetary Council Chambers. My aide and this soldier will accompany as far as the first check point. Then I will proceed alone to the chamber. The young man took out his quicklink and had personal transport come to their position. Santiago’s aide took out a device and swept the transport and gave the go ahead nod. All four of the individuals got inside and proceeded to the Chambers.

[OOC: Santiago isn’t afraid of anyone. When she walks in, she will walk in alone and sit down right beside Solo until she is ready to speak. She will allow Lal to speak first if he wants. Oh and I thought maybe that the Spartans would have a specific language of use in their military. Something that would confuse others yet still be able to communicate well in combat situations. Somewhat like a closed society. You may notice Spartans conversing in this language ever so often when they wist to talk without other knowing what they are saying. It would be a cross between German and Spanish but simplified.]

Guardian · October 26, 2001, 16:47

When they got word that Santiago was on her way and had no armed troops with her, the UN Marines backed away from their positions and let her pass unchallenged.

Mr. President · October 30, 2001, 01:37

The Daily Industrialist
(Morgan Industries' First Newspaper, Bringing The News You Want For 100 Years)

Trade Talks Stall Over Ecological Issues: Officials expressed concern over Morganite-Cultist trade relations after tariff negotiations broke up without progress. They were scheduled to conclude yesterday...

Planetary Governor Election Still Deadlocked: The Planetary Council announced that no governor has yet been chosen. Many are wondering, how much longer can this go on?...

Scientific Report: Scientists studying the Manifold Nexus say they are making little progress in decoding the strange symbols on its walls, floors and ceilings...

Sprayber · October 30, 2001, 15:33

Commander's Keep

Captain Banner was sitting in the command module of the colony pod when his comm unit went off. As he read the message a small smile spread across his face. Finally after weeks of sitting at Commanders Keep with the colonist growing restless the word had arrived that they were moving out. And the best news of all was the destination. Their trip across the ocean in the transport module had been cacelled. Sparta would not be sending the colonists a over seas. Instead, there were heading north. The transport Lera would still pick them up and take them but this was just going to be a short cruise up the coast past Fleet Anchorage and then a bit further north. Fort Liberty would not be an significant military outpost far from home. I would become the northern defense for Sparta. This made his job as future Chief of Security all the more important. Apparently though he would be delayed somewhat. At the end of the message he received word that reporters from the Spartan Information Service would be going along with them. Something about broadcasting live the momentous journey of the Colony pod north. That was something different.

Blast Rifle Crag

To the north Banner’s counter part Captain Crais, was going over the final security protocols for what would become Hydrodock. Crais was a navy man sure, but being assigned to a Sea Colony Pod was not what he had in mind as an assignment of a lifetime. But he had been promised that this was only temporary. Just to when the new base was up and running.

November 1, 2001, 21:51

Past orders...before being stuck in the Council

To: Lieutenant Jones
From: Captain Svensgaard

Can you get the Psi Corps ready for possible war? I would like to transfer nearly all of the Isle of the Deeps to Chiron Sea and the ocean north of Eastern Continent. Also, try to acquire some groundbase mindworms from either the Gaians or hunting for them. They don't have to be fully tamed, as I intend to have them release to the wild again afterwards. Can say it will be an extension to Operation Trojan.

Captain Svensgaard

To: Admiral Proudmoore
From: Captain Svensgaard

Start to gradually equip the ships part of Operation Blitz with the new chem missiles from the Sweetdream Project.

Captain Svensgaard

(OOC: It is not Nerve, but people may mistaken it for a new kind of Nerve at first, especially the Spartans)

To: General Stromgarde
From: Captain Svensgaard

Start equiping the Marines part of Operation Blitz with the new grenades from the Sweetdream Project.

Captain Svensgaard

(OOC: Will find out what the Sweetdream Project is AFTER its first use)

November 1, 2001, 21:55

From: Branko
To: Captain Svensgaard

Probe Cruiser Mirage is ready to deploy Probe Team Seven. Give the order and they will go.

Branko
Chief of Intelligence