Ashes of Sol

[Bosh]

WHAT INFORMATION SHOULD I SEND IN WITH MY ORDERS?

I don't think I was clear about what sort of format I want people to send in their orders in, so I'm going to try to clear that up. I don't care about the exact format but here is information that I want in your order PMs (note: if you're a bit fuzzy on Fate 3.0 rules and send me in freeform orders I'll do my bet to translate what you say into Fate 3.0 terms so don't sweat this too much):

A. How many Actions am I taking? Remember you get a -1 on all actions for each action after the first. An action is any act that tries to change the world in a meaningful way.

B. What Attribute am I using to do each action? Most of this should be pretty easy to figure out, if you don't know just ask me :)

C. Do any other Attributes help me do my Action (Supplemental Attributes)? For each action you can have one supplemental attribute that's helping you do what you're doing. This works a bit like skill synergy in 3.5ed D&D. Basically if you have another Attribute that helps you do what you're doing and is higher than the Attribute that you're using to do your action then you get a +1.

Examples

I. You're building something using Manufacturing and you use Population as a supplemental attribute to represent your large labor force.

2. You're shooting guns at people using Gunnery (duh) and you use Computing as a supplemental attribute to represent your gunnery AI.

D. Is what I'm doing a regular Action or a Maneuver? If you're fuzzy on the difference basically Actions are trying to overcome an environmental obstacle (like flying through an asteroid feild) or to beat someone at something. A Maneuver is trying to change something about the world in a way that will help you overcome obstacles later (for example getting an enemy in your sights or scanning their ship for weaknesses before you start shooting at it).

E. Am I using (Tagging in Fate terms) any Aspects to help me do my actions? If you don't use Aspects in Fate 3.0 very very bad things will happen to you since that +2 bonus matters a lot. Aspects normally cost 1 Fate point to use but you can use a temporary Aspect that you made in a Maneuver one time for free. Some very very difficult things will have very high difficulties, sometimes difficulties that are so high that its IMPOSSIBLE for you to do them without using some Aspects.

F. Are you using Fate points to do anything else? You can use them to get +1 on any roll or to create helpful coincidences or to do a little bit of backstory ret-conning.

G. If anything you go worthy of me giving you a Fate point. If you do something that gets you into trouble becuase of one of your Aspects, I'll probably give you a Fate point for free. Getting Fate points is good!

Sample set of orders (I don't care about the exact format as long as you send in the basic info):

Action 1: I'm going to shoot my station's guns at the pirates that are blackmailing me. This will use Gunnery and I'm going to supplement that with Computing because of the computer targeting systems. I'm going to spend one Fate point to tag my "damn I hate pirates!" for a +2 bonus. So my 2 gunnery skill, +1 for the supplemental Attribute, +2 for the aspect, -1 for taking two actions + 4d3-8.

Note: 4d3-8 is how you get the same results as rolling 4 FUDGE dice.

Ation 2: I hate those stupid Martians and I have one of my spies already infiltrated into Martian society. I'm going to have him investigate how the Martian leader's bodyguard operate to prepare for my future assassination attempt. So I'm going to use Espionage do a Maneuver to create a Temporary Aspect of "Martian bodyguards have been getting lazy." So, I'm going to tag the "deep undercover" Aspect I created last turn with a Manevuer for free since this is my first time using it. So that's my 3 Espionage +2 for the aspect -1 for taking two actions + 4d3-8

Also I think that what I'm doing is damn risky so I think I should get a Fate point because of my "never tell me the odds!" aspect.

Makes sense?

[Stormthorn]

((Yes...i dont think i declared any major actions yet tho...))

[Bosh]

Working on replying to everyone, already did the OOC thread, will go on to the PMs when I have time.

Johel: I'm thinking that the Indian government was fairly weak and decentralized and a the elite moved most of their wealth up into space, when the Indian army started running into problems during the war there were massive riots against the spacer-dominated government. That was your opening.

puppyavenger: scavenging workable machinery and getting it up and working again would fall under Engineering.

Eldan:

"To Callisto station, this is Europa: what is the nature of your emergency? We currently have no interplanetary fleet, but if you have any ships, we can help you evacuate or trade you food and water. Please confirm."

"Mechanical breakdown of the life support systems, we've run out of spare parts and the water recycling system is already on the verge of breaking down. There's plenty of ice under our feed but we have insufficient purification systems. We need major assistance or evacuation as rapidly as possible or we will be reduced to melting the local ice or drinking the coolant from our reactors."

Yggdrasil:

Nice description of the train route. All of the internal maneuvering makes a lot of sense, just the sort of thing I expected from you...

Don't think there's much that I need to respond to here...

[Bosh]

Note: we're working on hashing out space ship speeds that are both realistic and gamable on the OOC thread, I'll post more info here when we have better numbers nailed down.

Aux-Aux:

Message received from Nero Station: "we are experiencing severe fuel shortages, we have shut down all non-essential systems but we are having difficulty maintaining habitation temperature, it is currently at 4 Celcius and falling, we fear for our plankton tank populations."

Raz_Fox:

Response from the Skallagrim:

"We are in need of immediate evacuation, we experienced a serious hull breach and had to seal off the lower levels to maintain air pressure. Our refugees need immediate evacuation, send all possible assistance."

However it seems that the Liandri Corporation has gotten there before you.

Stormthorn:

Just to confirm, you're shooting the missiles to confirm your existence not trying to shoot at the approaching Russians, right?

The problem with encrypted messages is if he sends and encrypted message you can't read it either, to do that you'd have to meet them face to face, agree on the code and then start sending it back and forth afterwards.

"Russian military vessels: Prepare to meet escort at ((location near Charlie Prime)) and be boarded for inspection before proceeding any further."

The Russians repeat their request for refueling and this time they are offering you what was once a prince's random in Terran Units (Earth money) although they refuse to allow you to board them.

Arcane Stomper:

I'll work on calculating the speeds needed to get you where you want to go once we all finish nailing down how we want speed to work on the OOC thread.

thevorpalbunny:

Right, we'll have to wait until the results get crunched but spreading fear of external enemies is always a good way to keep people together.

Ekpyrotic:

Okay, One more thing. Do I say I want to use a fate point or does it come into effect based on the above?

You'd include that as part of your PM about your actions to me.

Narkis:

Intercepted message from the Skallagrim:

"We are in need of immediate evacuation, we experienced a serious hull breach and had to seal off the lower levels to maintain air pressure. Our refugees need immediate evacuation, send all possible assistance."

Your men board the ship and the crew and passengers offer no resistance. They seem to be the refugees that they claimed to be.

Greystone:

OOC: Please send me actions in PM form, having them all in my PM folder makes it easier for me to keep track of all of them. With as many players as there are in this game having things be easy to keep track of is VERY important for me.

What about North Africa?

I assume its under local control unless anyone moves in an claims it.

drakeblood:

Your attempt to fix the leaking reactor will be adjudicated with the rest of the end of the turn stuff, make sure to include it in your Orders.

Johel:

I'm still working on responding to this thread, having checked PMs yet but:

but I don't know if european troops still occupy North Africa so I'm waiting for the GM to answer a PM.

Assume that they've pulled back home to deal with local disturbances.

((Yes...i dont think i declared any major actions yet tho...))

Yup that was directed at the players in general.

OK, OOC thread and IC thread caught up on now just, erm, 17 unread PMs to go :) Have patience with me people, I'm getting to everything as fast as I can.

[Johel]

UN (Madagascar) :

The name was indeed familiar and many crewmen began to whisper among themselves as the captain had to take a decision. Still no answer for M'paka. The fat general was probably discussing the liberation of some prisoners with their wifes.

"-Curse him... Ok, guys. This one's just using the name to frighten us !! Me too, I can play the big amiral if needed !! That's just bluff, ya hear me !!"
"-Bluff or not, they got bigger ships than we do. We'll be fishfood by the time we get in range."
"-No we won't. Watch and learn. I did the same to a Australian frigate once."

He took back the megaphone :
"-Have you any proof of your identity ? You'll agree it's difficult to trust such words... Admiral. What about I and a few of my men get in board to check ?"

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If yes, let's skip to the face-to-face meeting.
Around twenty soldiers will escort the captain, all veterans.
If the admiral is on board, they'll just negociate.
If the admiral isn't, then that's going to be "pretty sailors vs ruthless veterans".

Victoria Lake :

"-Ready ?"
"-Ready. We've spent quiet a time on it but now, it's functionnal again. Only question is the powerfeed."
"-And ya got the answer just by looking there."

The officer pointed at the massive fusion powerplant built along the Lake's bank. It had been active since decades now and somehow, it had survived the last war. Maybe the europeans had thought the battle would be easy and they wanted to use the mass driver after the war ? Well, too bad their air force had been crippled in the early months of the conflict.

Now, the whole Great Lakes megalopolis benefited from the electrical power of the plant. But more than civilian welfare, the most useful application of this electricity went to the gigantic mass driver which ran from here to the top of the Kilimandjaro mountain. Once used to deliver bulk in orbit, it had then been disaffected when space elevators were built in the Pacific Ocean. But today, those space elevators were no more and the DURP had to find a way to reach space anyway.

"-Shall we..."
"-Proceed"
The engineer took a micro.
"-Warning !! All personnal must evacuate the mass driver's pulse area. Repeat : Warning !! All personnal must evacuate the mass driver's pulse area. We're about to carry on with the tests. Evacuate the area."

As the Mass Driver powered up, the civilians living in the ruins of the megalopolis could only stare blankly. How could the DURP find money and time for such things when the population was still lacking so much basic commodities ?

"-For the People. For the Greater Good."
"-Launch test #1. Green. GO !!"

[Greystone]

Bosh: I... sent them already.

Johel

"Negative, if you come any closer we will be forced to sink you. The admiral is back at base directing all UN naval forces. We can patch you through on the radio however"

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Their not stupid, remember they probably really don't trust you anyway, plus they are professional soldiers.

[puppyavenger]

U.N. Nautilus, Luna

hmmm, then I must congratulate you on your extremely efficient hydrophonic and waste disposal systems.or skilled or soldiers.

Anyway, what official verification do you want? As we haven't had any outside contact sine that attack on New York, I find unlikely we'd have any very recent U.N. documents around. When an officer from Huygens gets here with the rest of the troops you talk to that with him.

[Johel]

DURP

UN (Madagascar) :

"-...Do they think we're idiots or what ?"

The captain didn't answer his subordinate. He called back at the big ship.
"-You know, this isn't going to prove anything. Radio voices can be faked. Give me something which can prove you aren't some of the League's agents, trying to lure our good people into following a puppet "U.N. state" ?"

He then turned towards the radiocrew.
"-Any news from the General ?"
"-We...we got a crypted transmission. A squadron of JF-17 is ready to take off. They'll need about 30 minutes."
"-Tell them to come. We'll confirm the air strike later."

[Yggdrasil]

[ooc: This can go into the public arena as I don't think it directly affect any of you, if you think you shouldn't know it, use mental blocks.[/ooc]

Office of the Senator for Winchester

“We're still being slammed in the press for refusing to comment on the call for a re-vote.”

Edward Grey-Halley stood staring out into the Pavonis crater, the Elevator cable, a black thread to heaven hanging to his left and the vast expanse of red rock to the right. “If I come out for it, everyone here sees it as political favouritism against my beliefs, if I'm against I'm a traitor at home. I've explained I'm not saying anything.”

“Theres only one more thing. . .”

“Go on.” Edward sipped from the heavy bottomed glass in his right hand, golden fire-water on the Red Planet.

“We believe that Van Ullen is going to put down a motion tomorrow to allow the secretariat to observe and state when the Declaration is being broken, including the right to freedom of government.”

Grey-Halley's shoulders slumped. “Larsson again. Time to trade in a favour with Faure. Tell our little source of Wisdom that 'we're desperate and will be in their debt.'”.


HighWire – two days later

Police were called upon today to ensure the protection of property when the ongoing demonstrations in Winchester between supporters of the New Republic part, victorious in recent elections and the Collegiate party, the seemingly outgoing government clashed in Touchdown Square. Estimates of the size of the crowds vary but sources in the Prince's Office suggest that as many as 10% of the population were present.

Calling for calm Prince Michael made no direct statement as to whether an investigation into the regularity of the elections had begun but called for, 'All citizens to continue to act responsibly whilst the democratic process was underway.” There has still be no word on who the Prince will appoint as Prime-Minister or ask to form a government.


Encrypted Call, Office of the Senator for Winchester to the Office of HRH Prince Michael Mountbatten, Prince of Winchester & The United Kingdom - the next day

E G-H – Good morning Your Highness.

HRH – Good Morning Senator.

E G-H – Sir I am calling to offer you my advice in the matter of the Parliamentary elections.

HRH – It had been noted that you had failed to do so until now.

E G-H – It does not strictly fall into my political remit Sir.

HRH – Regardless, you are the only politician of my government not currently a lame duck.

E G-H – Yes Sir. My office and I have made every effort to avoid comment coming from Nyhaven however this is fast becoming the leading domestic political issue.

HRH – That was entirely to be expected.

E G-H – Your Highness?

HRH – Winchester is one of the strongest settlements in the Republic and you are the leader of a political bloc. We are news.

E G-H – Yes Sir, that is why it is my professional political opinion that Your Highness should attempt to encourage the formation of a Unity government. To reject the election would look dangerously autocratic, to accept it may exacerbate civil strife beyodn the demonstrations of the past few days. A few years of political impotence in which royal assent plays a balancing power will preserving the Principality domestically and in the eyes of others.

HRH – A coalition government.

E G-H – Yes Sir.

HRH – And your personal opinion?

E G-H – Is irrelevant Sir.

HRH – Yet the Prince, the Prince you helped put on an independent throne, 'to stand as our constitutional guardian' is asking for it.

E G-H – New Republic is a dangerously populist group whose politics are entirely based on affairs to be left to the Senate whilst ignoring the domestic needs of Winchester. They are the rightist remains of those who think that as Europe did, now Tharsis should push the Declaration and democracy out across Mars. They are dangerously short-sighted; I didn't vote for them and I don't see how anybody could.

HRH – We thank you for your honesty. Your advice will be taken into consideration.

-Call terminated-

_________

Communication. Secretary-General's office to Haven Shipyards

Station operating under callsign Haven.

Salve. This is Artsutanov Asteroid Settlement, district office of the Secretary-General of the Tharsis Republic.

We have received through relay your communication.

We have no knowledge of the Technical capacity of the Europa Settlements, therefore in gratitude for your offer of technical assistance we will also place a number of medical personnel and researchers in our delegation to provide whatever aid they may to your people.

Senatus Populusque Tharsi. Over.

[Raz_Fox]

Elysium Base

The assault on the upstart corporation in Elysium was brutal. The Atzlion didn't go in for storms of missiles or huge armies, that wasn't their style. They quietly slipped forward from the jungle solo or in small teams, striking without warning from everywhere at once.

They were outnumbered, but they were coordinated and stealthy. They cut open fences, shot down the gates and killed guards. But this mission was important, and they fought their hardest.

After all, The Jaguar led them, and was going to kill the leaders of this upstart corporation herself. What good is a leader that cannot lead the battle?


Skallagrim

The HMC Titlacauan cruised towards the Skallagrim, ready for combat.

HMC Titlacauan to LMS Void Lion. We request that any able-bodied crewmen help your captain remove his head from his ass and stop him from doing anything idiotic, such as firing upon a Martian vessel - you should have heard of us, if you weren't cowering underground during the War. Now, unless you're a masochist who wants to start a war with the best damn pilots in the entire system, I suggest you stand down and let us assist the refugees, which we are much better suited to do - unless, of course, you're just the bunch of organized space pirates we first believed you to be.

Oh, and I'd think carefully about your reply, as it is being transmitted directly to Mars.

On the HMC Titlacauan, the gunner aimed the H*M Rexus Railguns at the LMS Void Lion, identifying weak points in its construction with an experienced eye; the pilot began plotting out evasion maneuvers to avoid the drones and maneuver closer to the enemy vessel.

[Narkis]

LMS Void Lion, Asteroid Belt

"Captain, they..."
"Yeah, I heard them. Can they be as stupid as they sound? No, don't answer that. Just open a channel"
***
"HMC Titlacauan. I would not insult the man with the trigger if I were you. The Skallagrim is in our backyard. Someone who insists that its people don't accept the help that's right next to them is insane, at best. Go home, Titlacauan. Your "assistance" is not needed here."
***
"ALPHA, contact the boss. Tell him we have a problem here and might need some backup. And what's the status of our boarding party?"
"The drones have met no resistance. The crew welcomed them, and is asking when their systems will be repaired."
"Tell them to hand over command to the drones, we will take them to a nearby repair station. Move us next to them, and prepare for towing. Wait for my command. I won't reveal the location of the Bubble with those nuts here. Oh, and have Skallagrim's captain send a message to the Martians that they don't need their help."

LB-1, Asteroid Belt

Christopher Liandris was in his office, talking with an attractive woman in her twenties.

"Yes, Lisa, I understand that you want to see your family. But you know how the situation on Earth is. New York doesn't exist anymore. I am sorry, but..."
"I apologise Mr. Liandris, but we have a situation"
"Can't it wait, AURA? I'm in the middle of a meeting here."
"The situation requires your immediate attention Mr. Liandris."
*sigh*"I'm sorry Lisa. Can we continue this later? Yes? Thank you. I will see you as soon as I solve this problem"
"Now, what's so important?"
"Captain Thurston has run into a Martian ship. They demand to be allowed to help Skallagrim. The captain has requested assistance."
"Hmm. Show me an updated map of the area. Good. Have Void Fox and Void Tiger on stand by. Instruct Captain Thurston not to open fire first, but not to hold back if they do. And not to let them near Skallagrim."
"All done, Mr. Liandris"
"Good. Keep me informed on the developments."

[puppyavenger]

out of boredom/for fun, here's a quick summery of the Lunar political factions.

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the Lunarist a.k.a. "loons"

Want centralization of power, view current situation as merely a stop-gap.

accused of being authoritarian, tyrants.

highest number so seats in the Congress, mild to no support in most parliaments, except the ones right next to Huygens.


Autonomists a.k.a "auts"

Pretty much "part of the status quo"

accused of being weak-willed, lacking will to change supporters o a stop-gap system doomed to fail.

Large amounts of support in remote Divisions, a few members in the Congress, notorious for interfering with ministerial appointments.

Reformists

want to radically change the system, change voting structures, standardize economy, increase Central control, letting it appoint those in charge of stuff currently controlled by the parliaments.

accused of being radicals, autocrats, revolutionaries and anarchists.

not much support anywhere

[Greystone]

U.N. Nautilus, Luna

"Thank you, our hydroponics are quite advanced. I can assure you that this base is UN property and that we do not intend to relinqish control of this base. We also don't wish you harm, so I hope this can end without incident"


UN- Madagascar

The answer is long in coming as Nobunga contacts home base for confirmation "The Admiral is coming himself. He has confirmed that contact has been made with your group and diplomatic meetings were supposed to happen."

The ships still stay in a defensive position, but do not open fire. Any corvettes that move to close gets a warning shot, but no hostile action is made unless it appears you will attack. They do spread out a bit to completley block the way to Madagascar.

[Johel]

DURP

UN (Madagascar) :

The captain's answer had a serious but sad tone.
"-So be it..."

He put down the megaphone, then turned to his second.
"-Don't call back the air strike yet. We might still need it."

------

Eventually, Luganda Pepo, a former Mozambian populist opponent before the war, now president of the People Republic of Mozambic, arrived to meet the Admiral. A bit of tension and an hour of small talk through the radio later, identity of both sides was confirmed and a meeting was agreed.

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I let you decide where the meeting's going to take place but I assume both sides have access to the location so avoid "an secret underwater U.N. base" or something like that.

[Greystone]

UN Transmission Outpost, Madagascar

The originating area of the transmission was on a high hill in Madagascar, a small facility with only five crew. The security was tight however as UN soldiers guarded every entrance and manned anti-air emplacements.

Luganda Pepo was escorted by several of the soldiers. Admiral Redeker awaited him in a rec-room turned conference room. He was tall and his uniform was cleanly pressed. He nodded to the President.

"Mr. Pepo, welcome to Transmission outpost 23-t, you received our message it seems"

[Johel]

DURP

UN (Madagascar) :

"-Admiral..."
The "president" nodded back as he entered the room, looking around with both suspicion and appreciation. This installation was in a much better state than most of the DURP infrastructures and would probably make a good addition to his domain...

"-Thank you... Your message was...difficult to miss, if I may say."
The man wasn't tall or impressive. More the white coat type, probably with a sweet tongue and enough charisma to entice the crowds of peasants...but probably not a lot of brain behind it. A politician and an opportunist.

"-Before we begin, I must tell you that I can only speak for the People Republic of Mozambique. The rest of the DURP might have a different opinion about your presence near our borders. I'm here to establish peaceful relations and to trade informations. The world is in chaos and we aren't sure of what's going out beyond the Indian Ocean right now."

[puppyavenger]

U.N. Nautilus, Luna

mhmm, anyway, the CO should be over in a few minutes, perhaps a face-to-face meeting is in order?

[Eldan]

Sarpedon, Europa

"We simply can't do it. Even if we somehow managed to get a ship built in the next few days, we have no way of launching it. No surface stations, deadly radiation. Impossible."
But somehow, the crowd wouldn't listen. Shouts were heard from the people gathered at the repurposed opera hall of Sarpedon Central. Once, it had been a prime example of useless, decadent luxury: gilded fake roman statues, marble pillars, red velvet curtains. It had all been removed, the pillars used to anchor habitats to the sandy ground beneath the europan sea, the curtains made into clothing, the roman statues, made from plastic underneath the gold, molten for electric insulations. What once was a hall were now two floors of private rooms and a combined dining and gathering area.
"Those are living people!" - "You WILL save them!" - "Come on doc, you always claim to be so smart, were's the solution now?"
The man on stage, Wandeler, was a german professor from Sarpedon East, in one of the largest habitation complexes and quite often the inofficial spokesperson. He was in his early forties, with small glasses on his nose, full brown hair and wearing the same clothing many others did: a remodeled labcoat, sleeves cut off in the middle of the lower arms, various insignia stitched on, the entire thing shortened to just over the hips and repaired with patches of the new greyish fabric Sarpedon produced from a special kind of algae these days.
"As I said: we don't have the capabilities to help them at the moment! We can barely build enough habitats for the people we have, the new garden and farming domes are eating their share of energy and we simply don't have any spaceships!"
The crowd was still grumbling, with occasional shouts demanding better explanations when Wandeler left the stage, wiping his brow with a patch of old curtain.
"I tell you, Ben, next they'll demand that I bring Europa closer to the sun, melt the ice and create mermaids and whales from thin air. Heck, eight out of ten were technicians, engineers or scientists themselves! Why can't they have some sense of what we can and can't do?"
"Bad luck, Christian", replied the man waiting out in the corridor, a half-japanese, half-american man in his late twenties.
"I mean, there we go, broadcast the first incoming message all over the moon as a sign that there are other people out there, and what does it turn out to be? A distress call form our neighbours!"
"Murphy's Law. We should have known."

[Greystone]

UN (Madagascar) :

The Admiral was a shrewd man and quickly sized up the man. Probably good at his job, but dangerous in his ambition.

"peace is what the UN wants, and I would think that Africa would as well, sinced they sided with the UN during the War"

He raised an eyebrow "Explain to me the DURP will you? I have heard scattered reports but nothing definitive"

U.N. Nautilus, Luna

"He can only come with ten men, I don't want to see some sort of attempt to attack the station if he brings to many" a pause "An escort will wait by the side airlock"

[DrakebloodIV]

OOC rolling

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Using Engineering to fix the reactor on the frighter

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(1d3-2)[0](1d3-2)[1](1d3-2)[0]+2 total +3

Using manufacturing to produce a blockhade of ships to defend my trading monopoly.

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(1d3-2)[1](1d3-2)[1](1d3-2)[0]+4 then -1 total +5

[DrakebloodIV]

Oops, need to roll twice more

(1d3-2)[-1] For the blockhade New total- 4

(1d3-2)[0] For fixing the generator Total still the same

[puppyavenger]

U.N. Nautilus, Luna

A swarm of rovers and atmospheric shuttles arrived at the area, carrying around 500 troops from the professional army commanded by High Commander Aderyn.

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pretty much the most troops that can be mobilized realistically with current power supplies.

After a short conference with the local officer, Aderyn arrived with two techies, an NCO, his third in command an ensign and four well trained bodyguards at the side entrance. This is high Commander Aderyn CO of Lunar forces. requesting permission to enter.

[Stormthorn]

Stormthorn:

Just to confirm, you're shooting the missiles to confirm your existence not trying to shoot at the approaching Russians, right?

The problem with encrypted messages is if he sends and encrypted message you can't read it either, to do that you'd have to meet them face to face, agree on the code and then start sending it back and forth afterwards.


Quote:
"Russian military vessels: Prepare to meet escort at ((location near Charlie Prime)) and be boarded for inspection before proceeding any further."

The Russians repeat their request for refueling and this time they are offering you what was once a prince's random in Terran Units (Earth money) although they refuse to allow you to board them.

((Think of those rockets as giant signal flares.))

@Russians: "We appreciate the offer but we cannot accept earth money at this time. Do you have food or colonization pods? Please be advized that we are running an external scan of your ship in lieu of the more invasive boarding."
The Aitne vessels float above the Russian fleet like a grim reminder of the reapers scythe.

@Firmament Station (orbiting 90degrees off solar plane)
"This is Therajis Faction Charlie Prime what is your status? Requesting permission to send scout vessel to your projected location, over."

-A large group of small ships are near Jupiter and are all sending out mayday signals.

@Unidentified fleet
"Unidentified ships, please state nature of emergency, faction, and heading. Please be aware that this is Therajis Faction territory and we have dispatched a Daphne cruiser that will assist you if possible."

[Johel]

DURP

UN (Madagascar) :

"-Oh, yes, we do. We are peaceful and reasonable people, after all. We just want a more equal and fair distribution of Mankind's resources."

With a fake smile, Pepo answered the question.
"-Well, it's fairly recent, you know... With the U.N. busy up there..."
He showed the sky, probably meaning space.
"-...most of the countries around here had to defend themselves against the League. Especially against the EU and the many mercenaries and rebel factions it financed. Things got worse since New York was...you know."

He marked a short pause.
"-But that's in desesperate time that mankind is the most resourceful, isn't it ? The people of this continent have set aside their divisions and are now united under one single flag. For the greater good of Mankind. Things aren't perfect, of course, but you can trust me when I say that our glorious leaders...hum, this includes me, by the way...that our glorious leaders are working to offer a bright future to all of its citizens. And eventually, for all of Mankind."

At the face of the soldiers, President Luganda realised his speech was kinda empty and too politically correct.
"-We are working for a world where it's your everyday work who determine you, unlike the old capitalist world order was. Most of the old african nations have joined the Assembly, the ruling body of the DURP. Together, we've pushed back the EU from our shores. I may be a bit hasty but, by the end of this month, most of the people from South Africa to Bangladesh are to rally our flag. And with you..."

He stopped just in time. It wasn't the moment, yet...
"-But I'm talking, I'm talking, and I don't even know how one of the most decorated of our admirals got lost here, on a forsaken island, far from any warzone. I thought the U.N. needed all the good officers it had. Especially since China is out of the war. So, are you trying to bring the U.N. up by yourself or is there...something bigger at work ?"

[Eldan]

Rhadamanthus, Europa

Walker spun around in his chair, a relict from when the computer labs were newly equipped. He had managed to keep it hidden from the salvaging crews, when they had used the fillings in all chairs and sofas as impromptu isolations against the cold outside.
"What I am telling you is, that Wandeler, while being a brilliant geneticist, is no engineer or astrophysicist. If we cut back on the garden domes and slightly delay the trades we have signed up for, we can construct an unmanned missile that should be able to deliver emergency relief to callisto."
His colleague was dressed in the blue overall of the Rhadamanthus Mining Company, being one of only five mining engineers sent here before the war to inspect possible mineral depos, grinned.
"You know, I'd love to see his face when he sees this. He has spent the last three days telling everyone we can't help, now we tell'em we can have a rocket ready for launch soon. So, what exactly does unmanned mean?"
"Well, see..."
With three clicks on his touchpad, walker opened a set of blueprints on his screen.
"Basically, we use a very old prototype with new engines. I mean, look: Fusion engines for initial acceleration away from Europa here. We will drop those once it's near Io, which we will use for slingshotting. Old-timey Hydrogen/Oxygen-combustion for course-corrections and slowing down. Leaves us with a carrying capacity of... hmm... probably about thirty, fourty metric tons. I'll have to check with the guys in manufacturing for hull materials. Now, here's the interesting part: we can construct three automated landing drones. Callisto has only about 1.3 Gs, slightly less than we have. The athmosphere is probably still too thin for landing by parachute, but if we include a combination of thrusters and thouse bouncy things here, hell if I know how they were called, probability indicates at least two should make it to ground level. We will have to ask the Kallistians what parts they need, but we should be able to send three copies each, along with several tons of food and water, it should keep them alive until we get some real ships to evacuate them."

[Stormthorn]

Charlie Prime, Therajis Faction

Originally Posted by GLU outer System affairs broadcast to Trojans



This is a reply to the Trojans Confederacies broadcast

Greetings! We are the GReater Lunar Union.

We're eager to open relations with any friendly power, and hope for a friendly and profitable relationship. We've currently established our control over almost all of Luna and are attempting to rebuild it. We've got large sections of the factory complexes up and running again and we're looking for any raw materials or anti-matter fuel.


If possible, please reply, our Capitals is on Mon Huygens but a signal anywhere over Luna should be picked up.



Repeat, Greetings, we are the Greater Lunar Union....

The Warlock pick the message up as it flew past Jupiter out into the Trojans. A grin slid across his face as he radio'd command.
Caught something in the web, Sir. Here, have a listen....Yes. I agree. Of course i know where it comes from....Yes sir, gladly.

After a few minutes of tinkering with his machines the warlock flicked a switch on the metal plate set into his outer jaw and began to speak, his voice faintly metallic but smooth and calm:
"Lunar Union, this is the Therajis Faction. Its nice to know your out there. It would seem, unfortunatly, that you have little to offer us, as we already have a vast factory system. While we have the ability to make anti-matter, we dont keep much as fuel. If you need hydrogen or other light gasses we do keep those."

The scout ship Driven Snow arrives over the moon of Europa and broadcasts the following message.
"Greetings Europa. This is Driven Snow of the Therajis Faction. Is there anything we can do for you? Request permission to land. Over."

[puppyavenger]

Smilein, Cerjie quickly sent out a reply

Hello Therajis Faction. We'd be very eager to get some hydrogen or minerals. Send a ship over and we can work out a deal without making it public to anyone with a radio transmitter

[Stormthorn]

Hello Therajis Faction. We'd be very eager to get some hydrogen or minerals. Send a ship over and we can work out a deal without making it public to anyone with a radio transmitter

"That is acceptable. Scout ship is being launched. Expect arrival shortly."


((How long would it take a ship accelerating at 3.0 Gs to get between Jupiter and the Moon?))

[Eldan]

Europa, Surface, to Therajis ship in orbit

The message seems to come form what is little more than a large radio antenna near a deep, narrow hole in the european ice, filled with water that has somehow been pumped into it.


***Greetings, Driven Snow. This is the European Research Association. This is Emmanuel Yee. Apparently, I'm to be in charge of all non-european landing maneuvers.
Currently, we do not have any landing facilities for craft of any kind, but if you direct your attention to the crater at 79km west-north-west of the station we are broadcasting this message form, you will see that there is an old access shaft that has been drilled into the ice during the original terraforming project. If you intend to land a shuttle with a delegation, we can send some submarines to pick you up there.
Currently, we are interested in trade and can offer the following goods:
Purified Water, various custom-engineered plants, algae and fungi containing essential nutrients and other resources as well as general technological expertise in the areas of terraforming, engineering, computing and biology, especially microbiology, genetics and terraforming. We are in need of all kinds of base and exotic metals and minerals and especially manufacturing capabilities, ships and fuel, and machinery of all kinds. If you are not interested in trade, we still welcome you as a neighbour and offer diplomatic relationships."
***

[Greystone]

UN (Madagascar) :

An eyebrow raised "So your communists?" he shrugged "Not that it matters. Yes, I am one of six UN memebers on the Emergency Council. We are attempting to rebuild as well"

"You see, the war is as over as we can get it. Eventually we will attempt to open political ties with our erst-while enemies after a time, but no one can afford war in this time"

"Is there an overall leader to your... DURP?"

U.N. Nautilus, Luna

"Granted"

The men are met at the door by no less than twenty well-armed UN soldiers, in full Null gravity body armor. The leader moves to the fore and nods "My name is Captain Reynolds, anyone coming through the facility will have to go unarmed"