Alexandre Card
Member
Posts: 180
(6/29/03 8:05 pm)
Act III, Scene 7: Second Thoughts. 3 Hours post-announcement of War.
Shadows danced lightly across the finely sculpted marble walls of Bervenia's Citadel. The pale strands of moonlight breaking through the balcony's window crept across the silent features of Alexandre Card as he satbefore the large monitor upon his desk. A troubled look nestled upon his typically light-hearted features. Fingertips folded across the line of his jaw as Alex leaned forward in thought.
"Tomorrow I'm going to give an order that may very well send millions of people to their death. Against an enemy I neither know, nor hate. Simply because we made the decision to ally ourselves with the NDI..."
"Having second thoughts, Alex?" The meoldic voice of Admiral Linsey Jensen broke the dull silence that had begun to creep over the room. The woman was leaning against the side of Card's desk, facing him. She was a sight to see, even in the dark. Long golden locks falling loosely over her shoulders, peircing blue eyes and a well-toned, well endowed body.
"Nope. I'm nothing if not loyal." Alex paused, offering a wink to his friend before continuing, "but... This alliance we're going against... Why? Yeah, they attacked the NDI. I'm sure they had their reasons, though. The NDI isn't perfect. And yet, here we are lunging into this headstrong without any consideration to how many living, breathing people will die as a result. How many Koqui citizens will be killed? And for what? We don't have any vendetta against them. They didn't attack us."
"What if they had?"
"That'd be different."
"Why is that, Alex?"
"Well, we wouldn't be blindly devoting our lives to someone else's cause."
"And the NDI?"
"What about them?"
"Would they be devoting their lives to someone else's cause?"
Alexandre glanced up, just now considering the ties of their alliance when reversed. "Heh. Thanks, Lin."
Linsey smiled softly, leaning forward to gently run her hands through Alexandre's thick cerulean locks, gently placing a kiss to his forhead before turning away and heading for the door. "Get some sleep, Alex. We've got a big day ahead of us, tomorrow. G'night."
Alex nodded softly, a gentle whisper escaping his lips. "G'night." Shortly after Linsey's departure, Card leaned forward, tapping a few keys, the monitor before him lighting up the room, casting shadows of his body against the pale walls. Upoin the screen, the form of Prime Minister Keiji Akari, settled in a rather awkward appearing chair.
"How's it goin' Alex?"
"Not so good. I'm doubting my actions. You know the effect that can have on things..."
"You'll do fine. How's Johnson?"
"He's still rogue, we're not going to re-initiate contact until the NDI does so with their vessels."
"Good call. If the NDI is in the wrong here, it'll give good PR coverage."
"...You act like PR means anything at all. We're far enough from home that this won't mean shit on your next election."
"I don't care about the elections - It's the relations with the rest of the governments out there I'm concerned with."
"Gotta love democracy, huh?"
"Yeah... So, how's things with Lin?"
"Meh - Nothing new. Rhiana might still be out there, Keiji. I'm not gonna betray her trust..."
"You're gonna die a virgin, Alex. But with hair like that, I guess we've always known that..."
"Heh, bite me."
"So, I guess you'll be needing some things on my end, eh?"
"Yeah. Regular supply dumps. We're at War now. We're constructing several lunar bases around Zerinthes IV right now. I'm also undergoing a new project to create an artifical planet on one of the gas giants not too far from here. It'll be mostly cosmetic, but be a good production planet."
"Sounds good. Don't step on any toes out there, though. Now isn't the time. Have you kept tabs on the Neo project, or the Honour Guard at all?"
"The Honour Guard and Defense Fleets are still working together, are they not? And the Neo-Project has been continued on Zerinthes, with the aid of the Eldar and Protoss."
"The Honour Guard has fractured off into several seperate military powers. You're technically the CNIC of twelve military factions, now."
"Great. Even more delegating of responsibilities on my part."
"Heh. Welcome to my World. Speaking of which, will you have Templeton read off the required War time supplies to me?"
"Yeah, they should be ready in about 12 hours time. I still need to account for the new fleets. We're going to lose our productivity once this whole thing gets underway. I'm thinking 25% atleast in the first few months. Substantial increases after that, depending on losses."
"We'll adjust accordingly."
"Sounds good. I'd feel a little safer out here with the eleventh en route, though..."
"They'll get there with the supplies."
"Thanks."
"Alright, Alex. Get some sleep. We'll speak later."
"G'night, man."
20 hours after the NDI announcement of War.
"Everything has been accounted for, the supplies will arrive from Koqui in 55 hours, approximately." Echo'd the voice of Admiral Goldberg.
Alex glanced up casually waving a hand in the man's general direction. "Alright. Any word from Johnson?"
"Nope. He is still rogue, but has no doubt hooked up with the NDI fleets by now."
"Alright. Have every other assembled fleet ready for combat in the next three days. Upgrade the System wide alert to level 2. Make an official announcement across all of Zerinthes local space."
"Yes, sir. As well, I've heard that the Eleventh will be moving in-system soon."
"That's right."
"Shall I account for the population increase?"
"Yes, get everything ready. Be prepared, though... Keiji is announcing things right about now. We're going to get a massive population in-flux in the next month from devoted citizens wanting to join the war effort."
"Will do, commander. Will we be in touch with the NDI to help out in that deperatment?"
"Bet your ass on it, Matthias."
Koqui Prime - Broad Cast from Prime Minister Akari.
The large frame of Keiji Akari stood firmly wedged behind a navy podium, decorated with various government related symbols. The crowd bustling silently awaiting his address to the people. "Less than 20 hours ago, the Nerimian Defense Initiative declared War upon the Jaaq'Taah Alliance."
There was a stagnant pause before the barrel-chested man continued with his speech. "As a result The Koqui Imperial Forces have officially declared a state of aggression with the Jaaq'Taah Alliance. It is asked that in this time of need, both for Koqui and our Nermian allies - The government that gave birth to what we now call home, that our citizens rise up to support their government, their allies and the rights we as a people believe in. We will overcome this strife together."
Admiral Princeps Thraven
Member
Posts: 31
(6/30/03 5:15 pm)
Act III, Scene 8: Cowardice Breeds Dissension Hall of the Republic, Ayenee City - Ayenee Prime.
Four hours after the Draconian declaration of War.
The large, domed building was filled with the hum of voices. Tiered seats rose from the ground upwards, ten tiers thus far, but with more planned. Each tier consisted of at least fifteen individual 'booths'. Each 'booth' would act as the speaking platform for the Senatorial from a given world, or sector. At present, none sat any further than the third tier, and most booths had at least one vacant slot dividing them.
The Hall of the Imperial Republic of Ayenee at present held no-where near as many Senators as that of the much larger Draconian League, but it did hold Senators - with a different title - and entire systems were still represented here; from the semi-mechanical representatives of Praxia, to the dark-skinned Sitter from Renns World. The quiet hum surrounded the central platform, currently occupied by Thraven, and his advisers,in the form of Suriel, and Senator Weston. The Hall now knew what had happened at the Draconian Senate - or as much as the NDI were willing to tell. and now it was up to them to decide what would happen next.
Thraven would have made the decision himself, but this was too large a choice for him, or even his War Council to make. This would, in some way, involve every planet which flew the banner of Ayenee, and so they must have their say. With a brief glance to his advisers - Suriel on his left and Weston on his right - Thraven touched a sensor pad on the display before him, and the platform rose gently, its Grav-Plates humming almost silently as they held it aloft. It was designed to raise much higher, but Thraven halted its ascent at little more than two metres.
"Sitters, as you all know, two hours ago, the Draconian League effectively declared itself at war with the Jaaq'Taah Alliance. Whilst we maintain no direct links with the Draconian League, we share a beneficial alliance with Nerima, head of its Confederacy." he paused for breath, turning to meet the intent gazes of the Sitters "With the Draconians decision of War, Nerima has been pulled into this - more precisely, they have launched themselves into it headlong. This leaves us with the unpleasant decision of where we stand in this". He took a half-step back, effectively opening the Senate for debate.
The Tirocean Sitter stood, and as he spoke, the same Vox-casters that had effortlessly filled the Hall with Thraven voice, carried his voice to the others "Is it true that NDI forces were despatched, even before the Declaration of War?"
Thraven nodded "It is true. But we have come to expect little more of our Nerimian allies". The Tiroceans had been almost totally isolated from any contact with the NDI until recently, and still knew little of them.
"That has no bearing on this. Surely there is no debate?" The dark-skinned Sitter from Renns World had risen to her feet. Lithe and graceful, she was a powerful woman, despite her looks "Our allies have been attacked. We have to act as they would were the circumstances reversed. We are bound to aid them"
A murmur rose around the Hall, but it was impossible to tell whether agreement or denial. Thraven had made the same point to the Council of War earlier.
"Sitter Orealis, although the skies above your world may be filled with warships, the same cannot be said for all of us" Now the Sitter for the Mora system stood. He turned his gaze from the Renns World booth to Thraven "The pertinent question here is whether we can actually afford to aid them. They may be our allies, but what good is that if we are left so weakened by helping them, that we leave ourselves open to attack?" he looked to the other booths "We all know that there are many systems who would dearly like to strike at one or another of us"
Thraven moved slightly forward "I understand your concern, but I can assure you that any aid we gave would never leave us so depleted as to be defenceless"
"We were not defenceless when the Tyranids came, nor the Chaos forces. Yet they still destroyed nearly half the population of theis, the capital world of the Republic" snapped Moras Sitter.
"You know as well as the Admiral that we are in a much stronger position than we ever were then" Orealis' turned a hard-eyed gaze on the shorter man across the Hall from her "Were the situation to re-occur, we would stand united as never before." She turned to Thraven "Admiral, what is the current status of our Defence Forces?"
Thraven quickly tapped a series of commands on his panel, and the relevant figures were displayed on his screen "The Space Coalition is at its largest since well before the First War. We have four fully operational fleets at present, with more under construction. Ground Forces are currently at 95% percent of optimum, and constantly increasing. The Space Troop Corp. is at capacity, and turning away applicants due to lack of funding" A few more keystrokes, and the data flashed onto the screens of all the Sitters.
"Funding which would no doubt become available, were we to join with the League, and declare ourselves at war?" That from the Moran Sitter, whom Thraven was already taking a dislike to "Of course Admiral, allow me to explain..."
***
And so the debating had begun. Four hours after entering the Hall, Thraven left, feeling tired, and a little beaten. Despite his arguements, and those of several others, the Hall had decided that direct military intervention was inadvisable at this time. thraven sighed softly. A part of him was happy in their decision - no more killing, no more pointless destruction - but another part of him felt awful; as he, and a great many of the Imperial officers saw it, they were duty-bound to aid those with whom they had allied themselves. Doing this, they were betraying them, and sullying their own honour. But it seemed many of the Sitters cared not for honour, or duty.
It was with feelings of regret that Thraven again hailed the NDI:
"NDI Command. This is Thraven. The Imperial Republic of Ayenee regrets that it will pledge no military support at this time. It is the decision of the Hall that we will aid you in any way you need as far as logistics and support are concerned, and you are free to use our bases and ports, as the allies you are. Thraven out."
Thraven paused for a moment, then keyed in a channel he hadn't thought to use again. One he wasn't sure he should be using no. He could see thet threat posed by this war. If they remained aside, either side might take it into their heads to strike at them as potential enemies. But the Hall would not see it.
He activated the channel, and secured it through his personal terminal, and prepared himself. The channel was an older one, but one that Thraven had hurled defiance down often enough - it had once connected to Cameron Blackblade.
"Admiral Blackblade - of that is the rank you hold still - this is Admiral Thraven. We may not have seen 'eye-to-eye' in the past, but now I feel is the time for those differences to be laid aside. You are about to undertake a great struggle" if this was not the turmoil Suriel had forseen, then nothing would be "And I for one believe that we should aid you, despite the wishes of the hall. If you recieve this, then contact me, and me alone. Thraven out"
Mobile Space Command
Member
Posts: 12
(7/2/03 1:32 pm)
Act III Scene IX Act III Scene IX
Incident: +42 Hours
Near the Border of Draconian Space
"...and I would like to let our presence be known to the NDI, and also that we offer any assistance that we may give in upholding peace in the galaxies.â€
