Phoenix War III

[Ra]

"He makes no mention of a leader, just a collective; or - more likely - he wants to keep that leader hidden from my sight," Ra pondered. "A pity really, I had hoped to get better aquainted with them. All the better to drag them into a war against the Free Jaffa. Heh. He's hiding something alright, but then again, so am I."

Ra then spoke, "I don't see a problem with that at all. We, also, value our privacy. We leave you alone, you leave us alone, and all of us will be happy." He smiled at that statement, genuinely glad someone didn't want to ruffle his feathers for once.

Ra then examined the systems the Zerg occupied, and waved a hand, saying, "I see no problem. However, I do feel that I should tell you that most of my subjects are of races called the Jaffa and humans, and there are many factions of both races spread throughout the galaxy. I simply haven't... regained the territory yet. These people are rogues and savages, and without the power of the Goa'uld keeping them at bay, they could be unpredictable."

Ra then pushed several buttons, showing neutral human, Tok'ra, and Free Jaffa systems on the galactic overlay. It also showed the location of the systems under Baal's control, but it was sufficiently distant away from Zerg systems to be of little concern.

"I'm just covering my ass here. Those Free Jaffa and human goons will attack the Zerg at first sight, and I don't want them thinking it was me. I've got enough problems on my hands as it is without that. Fortunately my goals here are nearly done, and I can recall Madar from Coruscant," Ra thought, continuing to mess with the map until Namartu had all he needed. As he looked back up at Namartu, his thoughts were more gravitating toward Meryetre's mission on the border, and what the A'millians were up to...

[Ra]

"Well," Adam asks Meryetre, "simple data such as number of planets, their moons, and their composition will save us an hour or two when we arrive. You see, we have never done detailed maps of the system before. We know of the star and the presence of a potentially previously inhabitable planetary system around it, but nothing more detailed. Any charts you could provide now will save us from having to map it when we arrive, meaning we could proceed directly to our subsurface scans."

"The Tais system has six major planets and eight minor ones, none of them with any permenant population," Meryetre explained. "The first planet has twenty-four moons, the second planet none, the third has two planets, while Tais IV has only one. Tais V has nine moons, VI only four, while the rest of the minor planets are also moonless."

She then brought up a map of the system, displaying the various planets onscreen. Most noticeable was the first planet, an enormous red gas giant over twice as large as Sol's planet Jupiter. It had twenty-four moons as Meryetre had stated, being virtually a miniature star system within itself. None had atmospheres, however, since their close proximity to the star Tais made each moon a burnt, scarred hell. Most of the moons were iron-nickle based. Tais II of course was a small, rocky planet much further out, composed mainly of various insignificant ores and metals, while III and IV were both larger, frozen worlds composed of materials much like those found on M-class worlds; however, the planets themselves were far too cold and thin of atmosphere to ever be considered for colonization. V and VI were two more methane gas giants of rather small size, while the rest were minor planets akin to Pluto or Xena in the Sol System, mainly composed of rock and frozen methane.

She then added, "I think you should also be aware that the second planet is also the location of a small Goa'uld military outpost for this sector, and a network of Early-Warning satellite platforms are also scattered throughout the system; otherwise, it is of no real significance. Are there any other questions on your mind, Lord?"

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

"As for what we desire, our requests for now are very simple. All we need is room to establish ourselves. We are a peaceful society, and only wish to live unmolested. As such, I'm afraid that I will have to insist that we have no visitors to the systems we have colonized, for we value our privacy. This will be non-negotiable, and any intrusion will be met with deadly force. I trust that that won't be neccesary. You seem like a reasonable people. I've marked the systems we've inhabited on this datacard. Now, is there anything I need to know?"

Ra then spoke, "I don't see a problem with that at all. We, also, value our privacy. We leave you alone, you leave us alone, and all of us will be happy." He smiled at that statement, genuinely glad someone didn't want to ruffle his feathers for once.

"Gentlemen, please."

Darth Kreshna rose his hands, then turned to Namtaru, "it seems that your nation is looking for asylum. Well I couldn't see why your needs could not be fulfilled, since the planet you occupy is uninhabited after all --as most part of the Milky Way galaxy."

He then continued, "now, as you have been aware of, I am Darth Kreshna of the Sith, representing the Galactic Empire. We, as some other governments here, came from other galaxy as well. This batt- I mean, this space station symbolizes our presence in this Milky Way galaxy, as well as facilitating various nations to work out their differences peacefully. It's a port of call --a project commissioned to preserve peace for the future generations; especially after the last great war against a mysterious race called 'the Guardians'."

"Now, if you wish to be inquired about the great war I've mentioned, there would be much time to discuss it later. For now own, I, on behalf of the Galactic Empire, offer a diplomatic relationship with the Zergs. However, due to the recent changes in my government's policy, your embassy is to be placed here on this station instead of the Empire's capital."

The Sith was quite sincere with his intention of peace; he, after all, was not aware of the aggressive nature of the Zergs. Besides, representing the largest and most powerful nation among others, Kreshna was quite confident with the Empire's ability to handle everything. Even his small Ceremonial Forces was quite formidable indeed, considering Imperial's advantage in firepower and technology.

He waited for the Ambassador's reply.....

[Destructionator XV]

Adam ponders for a moment about the layout of the star system... "sounds like planets II, III, and IV are where we should focus our scans. The others could not possibly support humanoid life, where as these three may have been terraformed. As we know that the planet for which we search was also rendered uninhabitable by malfunctioning terraforming equipment, those are still plausable."

"Now," he continues, "you guys have a base on the second planet. Have you done any detailed scans of the planet? Found any evidence pointing to the presence of an ancient civilization there at one point? Ruins, underground facilities, terraforming equipment?"

"We arrive in the system in fifteen minutes" the Lady informs them.

[Ra]

"Underground facilities!" Meryetre remarked in her mind. "My fortune gets worse by the second. Well, not entirely... it is, after all, a worthless ball of rock; that's why we chose the site. Hopefully I can convince them of that much."

She remained completely calm, however, and stated, "Not to my knowledge. Our scans of the planet indicated the planet has never held any past civilization, and no traces of ruins have been found. To clarify; during the War, Lord Ra scoured his territory for possible Ancient artefacts to battle the Guardians, and the Tais System was among those searched. Of course the Tauri had found most of the Ancient weapons before the War, so as you can tell that plan bore very little fruit."

[Destructionator XV]

"I see. Did you also perform searches of the second and third planets in the system?" Adam asks, "We might not even have to stop here, if you have already done what we intend to do."

Before an answer could be heard, there was a beep from the communications console, and the Lady goes over to check it.

"Datagram from the embassy on the Death Star," she reads, "new alien presence, currently meeting with Darth Kreshna, Lord Ra, and Lord Detritus. Calls itself Zerg, and a picture attached..."

She opens the attachment, and on the screen, a picture of Namtaru in Palpatine square.

"Looks like a fucking Hunter Killer," Adam says.

"They are probably nothing like Starcraft Zerg. Hell, Starcraft is just a human game, not a history book."

"Of course. Still, unsettling."

"Yeah. Our guy didn't make his way into the meeting, the datagram says the others teleported away and left him behind, so we won't have any more information until it concludes."

"Yup" he says and looks back to Meryetre for an answer to his question before being interrupted.

[Ra]

Meryetre heard about the Zerg encounter, and stared at the screen. She'd have to look into that. The images of Namtaru were quite catching, and displayed what looked to be a fearsome race of beings, sheathed in an armored carapice.

Her own interest had to be pushed aside, however. Meryetre cleared her throat, and looked back up.

"Excuse me, Lord. As for the planets, we did scan them as we did Tais II, showing no sign of past civilization or abandoned equipment, but Tais III and IV do hold much more promise for optimum conditions. Unlike II there is the presence of an atmosphere - albeit thin, on both worlds, and the planets have surface gravities of 0.9 and 1.2, respectively. Tais II has a meagre gravity of 0.4, and the outpost there requires grav plating for its skeleton crew."

-------------------
OOC: I'm just throwing out some data so that you might be able to at least scan the two planets, rather than leave completely empty-handed. Like that the planets might have once been better off than they are now, perhaps.

[Destructionator XV]

The science ships come out of warp near Tais IV, and spread out to begin their scans of the planet.

A couple hours later, they meet back up and set a course for Tais III, after finding nothing of interest at the fourth planet.

Once again, they spread out, and begin subsurface scans of the planet. About half an hour into the search, Lord Adam has something.

"I think I've found the reason the Goa'uld would build a base out in the middle of nowhere," he says shaking his head from the science station.

"Naquadah deposits. You guys stuck a token base in the system just in case Ba'al or anyone else found this Naquadah you could say 'we were here first, it's ours', didn't you?"

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

Above the Tais II.....

Tais II was the most secure, remote, and well-hidden of facilities, buried deep under a barren dustball of a world. It was the Goa'uld's equivalent of their Tauri adversaries' Area 51, albeit a much better-kept secret. But while Meryetre had confidence that the A'millians would not detect the base (outside of the minor military outpost that served it, which was obvious), she still didn't like it.

"I think I've found the reason the Goa'uld would build a base out in the middle of nowhere," he says shaking his head from the science station.

"Naquadah deposits. You guys stuck a token base in the system just in case Ba'al or anyone else found this Naquadah you could say 'we were here first, it's ours', didn't you?"

Neither the Goa'ulds and the A'millans were aware that they had been monitored by a Hyperspace Orbiting Scanner. Belonged to Darth Kreshna's Sith Guards, these undetected, hyperspace-based satelites had been deployed extensively throughout the Milky Way galaxy since the end of the Empire/Guardian War; the very same scanners that enabled Darth Kreshna's forces to detect Ba'al naquadah facilities and WMD plants --and Ba'al still wondered why he kept failing to hide the fact from the Empire.

Nonetheless, allies did spy each other. As the Trolls had planted bugs inside Darth Kreshna's office, the Sith himself had also secretly deployed Hyperspace Scanners throughout the Milky Way without the knowledge of other nations; a totally undetected network of scanners that constantly sent the information back to the Death Star Three.

As the Sith himself was busy in a diplomatic meeting with Ra, Lord Detritus, the A'millan Diplomatic Corps, and the Zerg Ambassador Namtaru in the Sith Grand Palace, he had actually been aware about the existence of Ra's secret facility on the planet since weeks ago --of course, it was not something he would touch during the meeting....



OOC: alright, how about the diplomatic meeting? DesertFly, where are you?

[DesertFly]

Ra then spoke, "I don't see a problem with that at all. We, also, value our privacy. We leave you alone, you leave us alone, and all of us will be happy." He smiled at that statement, genuinely glad someone didn't want to ruffle his feathers for once.

Namtaru smiled, or made a motion equivelant to it, "Very good, I'm sure my superiors will be pleased that we have found such an accomodating galaxy.

Ra then examined the systems the Zerg occupied, and waved a hand, saying, "I see no problem. However, I do feel that I should tell you that most of my subjects are of races called the Jaffa and humans, and there are many factions of both races spread throughout the galaxy. I simply haven't... regained the territory yet. These people are rogues and savages, and without the power of the Goa'uld keeping them at bay, they could be unpredictable."

Ra then pushed several buttons, showing neutral human, Tok'ra, and Free Jaffa systems on the galactic overlay. It also showed the location of the systems under Baal's control, but it was sufficiently distant away from Zerg systems to be of little concern.

"But these Tok'ra have me somewhat worried, as they are close to some of the systems we are settling. What about this faction of your species is so different from your own? And how am I to have assurances that other system lords will be as....accomodating as you?" Namtaru asked, genuinely puzzled. He was connected with a creature in his quarters who had quickly gathered the neccessary info, but as far as Namtaru could tell, the Tok'ra were identical to the Goa'uld, save perhaps for some minor idealogical differences. Division amongst one species was still something Namtaru was trying to get used to. He was almost completely unfamiliar with it, since he came from a race that was completely unified.

[DesertFly]

"Gentlemen, please."

Darth Kreshna rose his hands, then turned to Namtaru, "it seems that your nation is looking for asylum. Well I couldn't see why your needs could not be fulfilled, since the planet you occupy is uninhabited after all --as most part of the Milky Way galaxy."

"Excellent," thought Namtaru. Fewer occupied planets means more room to expand and less resistance when the day comes.

He then continued, "now, as you have been aware of, I am Darth Kreshna of the Sith, representing the Galactic Empire. We, as some other governments here, came from other galaxy as well. This batt- I mean, this space station symbolizes our presence in this Milky Way galaxy, as well as facilitating various nations to work out their differences peacefully. It's a port of call --a project commissioned to preserve peace for the future generations; especially after the last great war against a mysterious race called 'the Guardians'."

Namtaru couldn't help but notice the slight verbal slip in Darth Kreshna's message. "Mere space station my sinous ass," he thought. Although it was stated as such in the official records, Namtaru recognized little things here and there that hinted at its true purpose: a platform to enforce Pax Coruscantum and eventually lead to the domination of this galaxy. Though perhaps unknown to the average Imperial citizen and maybe even those higher in the government, there were dark times ahead for the galaxy, and Namtaru saw that the Empire was most likely to be his deadliest adversary.

"Now, if you wish to be inquired about the great war I've mentioned, there would be much time to discuss it later. For now own, I, on behalf of the Galactic Empire, offer a diplomatic relationship with the Zergs. However, due to the recent changes in my government's policy, your embassy is to be placed here on this station instead of the Empire's capital."

"The better to keep an eye on us, and dispose of us when this war of conquest begins." thought Namtaru. No matter, though, even this could be worked around.

The Sith was quite sincere with his intention of peace; he, after all, was not aware of the aggressive nature of the Zergs. Besides, representing the largest and most powerful nation among others, Kreshna was quite confident with the Empire's ability to handle everything. Even his small Ceremonial Forces was quite formidable indeed, considering Imperial's advantage in firepower and technology.

This firepower and technological advantage was what worried Namtaru the most. Imperial turbolasers would be more than adequate to punch through even the thickest of Zerg hides in only a few shots, while their shields would protect them from all but the fiercest of retaliation. On the ground things would be different, as Zerglings moved fast enough that targetting them would be next to impossible for the average infantry, but space is where the important battles would take place, and it wouldn't matter if the Zerg won every ground battle if the Imperials controlled space. Namtaru didn't know about BDZ, but he figured there was some similar protocol in the Imperials' repertoire.

Fortunately, the Zerg had a powerful tool for helping them overcome even the most advanced technologies: they were adept at assimilating alien life forms and using the knowledge they possessed to further enhance the Zerg fighting potential. In fact, it was just this that had allowed him to arrive at the station by hyperspace. Several of the systems they invaded had held small colonies of settlers; only now did Namtaru know that they were from Imperial space, which explained their technology. It wasn't up to military grade, but their shields, weapons, and hyperdrive all gave the Zerg a head start to gaining the ground that stood between them and the Empire, something the Empire wouldn't be expecting and the source of one of the only advantages the Zerg would have when they began their "expansion".

He waited for the Ambassador's reply.....

OOC: And he'll have to wait just a little bit longer. But I'll have it up tonight, I promise.

[Ra]

"But these Tok'ra have me somewhat worried, as they are close to some of the systems we are settling. What about this faction of your species is so different from your own? And how am I to have assurances that other system lords will be as....accomodating as you?" Namtaru asked, genuinely puzzled. He was connected with a creature in his quarters who had quickly gathered the neccessary info, but as far as Namtaru could tell, the Tok'ra were identical to the Goa'uld, save perhaps for some minor idealogical differences. Division amongst one species was still something Namtaru was trying to get used to. He was almost completely unfamiliar with it, since he came from a race that was completely unified.

"The Tok'ra were severely weakened by the destruction of the Guardian War, but still pose a minor threat, even to myself," explained Ra. "They have shaky but established enough relations with the Tauri; Earth, making them pesky enough as it is. The only real good thing about the whole situation is that the Tok'ra are somewhat more... pacifistic than we Goa'uld are. That said, they are still not to be trusted. If I were you, I would not try to negotiate with them at all." Ra's face was adamant; he certainly didn't want potential new allies diplomatically "getting in bed" with the despicable Tok'ra; the fact that they hadn't been obliterated by the Guardians pissed him off to no end.

Ra then continued in a much more soothing tone, "As for the System Lords, the Replicator War; or more specifically their leader, a machine-clone of the Tauri operative Samantha Carter, claimed most of them. To be frank, outside of insignificant leaders and local governors under my absolute control, myself and Baal are the only remaining System Lords."

"Baal is the trump card," Ra added with a sigh. "He's unpredictable, and while not as powerful, militarily, as myself, he's very cunning, has cloned himself numerous times to evade assassination, and posesses a vast naquada arsenal. If one gets in the way of Baal's dreams of conquest or furthering his power, he is prone to start little wars of conquest. However, it isn't anything you really need to worry about. Considering how the Imps and Trolls are shitting bricks over his increased spending on naquada-enriched weapons programs, I think the threat of a combined Goa'uld-Imperial-Trollish taskforce utterly steamrolling his worlds would be enough to keep his ass in line. Baal is unpredictable as I said, but he is anything but stupid."

What Ra never mentioned was that in fact it was Baal's idea - using Tauri guided missile technology with naquada-enriched warheads - that gave the Goa'uld the firepower to survive the Guardian War and play on the level of the big boys; that being the Empire and A'millians, but Ra would never admit that in a million years. If the Imperials were so worried (and to an extent, justifiably) over Baal's accelerated proliferation, Ra would readily go the direction the wind was blowing and side with them. Baal was always Ra's archnemesis in the galaxy, and the thoughts of seeing his faction obliterated with alacrity and finality gave the Goa'uld a pleasent tingle down his spine.

[Ra]

"I think I've found the reason the Goa'uld would build a base out in the middle of nowhere," he says shaking his head from the science station.

"Naquadah deposits. You guys stuck a token base in the system just in case Ba'al or anyone else found this Naquadah you could say 'we were here first, it's ours', didn't you?"

Meryetre raised an eyebrow, actually surprised that the A'millians would make such a fuss over resource deposites. She quickly supressed the eyebrow, and gave a neutral, emotionless expression. No matter. So she'd overlooked the fact that there was naquadah on Tais III; she was a genetic scientist, not a geologist or bean-counter. But then again, Lord Adam didn't know that particular detail, unless he had done a hack job into some Goa'uld system and pulled up her bio.

Meryetre then added a faint smile, and interlocked her fingers, trying to maintain a calm, civil tone for both parties involved. The Jaffa answered, "With all due respect, m'lord, is that not the right of any spacefaring civilization? I am hardly an ambassador to speak for my Lordship's government, but we discovered this deposit, and claimed it as our own. The destruction of several major naquadah-mining worlds during the Guardian War would justify such a... 'land grab', would it not?"

[DesertFly]

Namtaru looked around the room. "Gentlemen," he began, "this has been a most enlightening evening. Personally I feel that we have much we could accomplish if we work together, and will strongly recommend that an alliance be drawn up with your great nations in my next report. As soon as I have more information I will get back to you, let's put it tentatively at three days from now. Now, if someone could kindly show me the nearest refreshment facilities.... Namtaru followed an aide out of the room, leaving the leaders alone. Or, at least they thought they were alone... Unnoticed to any of them, a small creature had crept out of a cavity near the base of his tail, and burrowed into the floor while they were talking.

[Destructionator XV]

"Pathetic petty primitives," he thought to himself.

"Of course," Adam said, "we have done the same thing, we call it PPP, the Point to Point Protocol, where we put an outpost on various points to establish ourselves. You could have outright said that is what it was, but no matter, it is your business and no concern to us."

"Columbia reports completed scans; negative results. Pathfinder reports P-7991 negative," the computer voice announces.

"Well, then, we're finished here. Set course for system I-1071, warp eight. En-"

"Message from Challenger" the computer interrupts.

"On speakers."

"Sir," the captain of the Challenger addresses them, "we just picked up something strange on the subspace antenna. Looks like a shadow of a coded hyperspace burst transmission. Didn't get any details on it; it was just a subspace shadow."

"Probably just a transmission from the Goa'uld."

"That's the thing sir, it came from empty space around the second planet. Not from the surface nor any of the ships."

"Nevertheless, we aren't here to monitor transmissions. Let your Jaffa advisor take a look at the recording if he wants, but we're moving on."

"Yes, sir."

"Engage."

The three ships go to warp heading toward system I-1071, near the far border of Goa'uld space.


OOC: on my Paint map in the OOC thread, this planet would be located at about a 45 degree angle up-left from Tais II, right on the green line.

[Ra]

"Sir," the captain of the Challenger addresses them, "we just picked up something strange on the subspace antenna. Looks like a shadow of a coded hyperspace burst transmission. Didn't get any details on it; it was just a subspace shadow."

"Probably just a transmission from the Goa'uld."

"That's the thing sir, it came from empty space around the second planet. Not from the surface nor any of the ships."

Meryetre's heart leaped from her chest in terror. She hoped Lord Adam didn't notice the look of terror in her eyes, but as the A'millian starship enters warp, the female Jaffa decided to make a hasty exit from the bridge.

Someone was spying on her facility, and whoever it was probably knew more than the A'millians did. As Meryetre made it to her stateroom, she took a seat and opened a transmission. The first one was to Tais II itself; she typed up a transmission rather quickly:

TO: COMMANDER, TAIS II OUTPOST, SUPREME SYSTEM LORD RA
FROM: SCIENTIFIC ADVISOR, GOA'ULD

SITUATION WITH A'MILLIANS STABLE. HOWEVER, BEFORE JUMP A'MILLIANS DETECTED SUBSPACE MASS SHADOW IN ORBIT OF TAIS II. REPEAT: SUBSPACE MASS SHADOW IN ORBIT OF TAIS II.

MESSAGE ENDS.

SIGNED, MERYETRE

Finally, she sent the transmission, and opened another with Ra's personal comlink at DS III, sending the same coded transmission. If the A'millians asked why she was transmitting, she would explain herself truthfully. Someone was spying on her state, and it was her duty to report it.

[Ra]

Ra nodded as Namtaru made his exit, glad the whole diplomacy thing was over with, and he could get down to business with regard to his little problem on Tais II.

But just as his mind shifted to that ball of dust, he felt a vibration in his pocket. Taking out a small black device - which a Tauri might mistake for a "cell phone", but was helplessly more advanced - he saw Meryetre's message appear on its screen. Ra's face remained neutral as he read the message, but inside he was about to panic. Subspace shadows? It could only mean that something in hyperspace was transmitting something, and the thought of that worried him. Worse, it was too obvious who would have the technology to do that. Ra looked up at Darth Kreshna without any sign of emotion on his face, and put his communicator away.

"So, Darth Kreshna, this has been a most interesting evening," he stated. "I expect we ourselves have much to discuss."

For better or worse, he thought. From that alone, Ra had a good feeling that he was going to become Baal Mk. II in DK's eyes, and before long, Public Enemy #1.

"You never learn," Ra heard in his mind. His eyes flinched for just the briefest second, wondering what the hell that was. It was not his own thoughts, to be sure. Was he finally going mad?

[Dartzap]

Detritus, who had been quiet during the meeting was annoyed for some reason. until the creature had left he'd not noticed what was wrong, but not that the presence of the creature had faded, he knew what it was.

Gentlemen, Unless I am very much mistaken, that Alien has in somehow psychically probing us, I know I was able to deflect it, I can tell that he almost certainly had an effect on atleast one of us ,

he briefly looks at Ra, who is squirming in his chair.

I am unsure as we should best progress with this at the moment. If that lone creature had that much power to effect person such as Ra.. well it will not be a good thing to be on their ugly side, eh? I shall be setting up surveilence of him, just to ensure we are able to avoid any.. problems

[Ra]

OOC: Dart, that wasn't the Zerg in my head, it was Lady Galadriel
==============

"Affect me?" Ra muttered to himself. "What is he talking about?"

Whatever. He'd have to contact Madar, and soon, considering Meryetre's little revelation in the Tais System. He increasingly felt the urge to simply leave Darth Kreshna's little treehouse, and vape the Tais II outpost before anything else was compromised. If the accursed Imps knew about the outpost - how the hell they did was simply beyond all comprehension - they probably also knew about Meryetre and the other individuals working on Project Fireday.

The outpost had existed ever since post-war, when Ra's scouts found a particularly vast naquadah deposit on Tais III; unbeknownst to him the A'millians had figured that much out. But as Ra's research into the Guardians and the Force escalated during his business ventures, the Tais II outpost was considered perfect for hiding a top-secret lab.

Ra paid a nice little visit to Tais II in secret, and got "aquainted" with their crew, eventually re-crewing it with people he trusted. Every precaution was taken, and Ra began sneaking Ha'taks to Tais II to begin construction of the lab. Due to its naturally sensor-fouling minerals and density, the planet seemed perfect at the time. The Early-warning satellite platforms already in place to keep track of any intruders trying to get at Ra's naquadah were upgrated covertly to become even more effective at scanning incoming vessels.

Further, his number-crunchers had determined how often a Ha'tak could service the Tais II outpost without looking as if an unusual amount of traffic was coming to such a backwater planet. There was no unusual amount of traffic to alert anyone (the main advantage being that a Ha'tak can hold a helluva lot of cargo, enabling one ship to service multiple outposts in one deployment), not to mention Ra didn't even deny presence of the outpost, the stupid mistake the Tauri made with Area 51, ensuring that every single beer-guzzling redneck and Starbucks-sipping yuppy in the United States knew the place existed.

What had gone wrong? And where? As he awaited Darth Kreshna to speak, he could only wonder; how much did he know, precisely?

Madar had suggested mobile labs built aboard a newer-class Ha'tak, and she was right. Damn it all to hell. Even remaining in port, a Goa'uld mothership would have drawn far less attention than a fucking shithole base.

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

"So, Darth Kreshna, this has been a most interesting evening," he stated. "I expect we ourselves have much to discuss."

"It is," the Sith replied tiredly while sinking in his chair, loosening his collar. Today had been tiring indeed, and he really longed for a dip in the bath tub, accompanied with a piece of Romeo y Julieta cigar and a glass of Stolichnaya vodka.

His reply, however, was pretty much innocent; he had been aware of Ra's secret facility for months --and he was regularly updated as well--, but for him it was nothing more than standard intelligence report. Furthermore, Ra's facility was unlike Ba'al naquada plants; it did not pose a threat to the peace and stability around the region. At least not yet.

So it was not surprising that Darth Kreshna was not thinking about the facility at all when replying to Ra.

In fact, there was actually something else occupying his mind.

The Trollish Ambassador's message still rang inside his head.

'Lord Kreshna, my staff have just informed me that a vessel approaching this station is giving off similar psychic signals to those detected by the joint task force recently. We don't know what speices it is, but I urge you to be careful! I beleive the commander of the embassy garrison has already contacted Lord Detritus, he and the task force will be here within the day, or he can trasmat if needed be.'

Now what was that supposed to mean? The Sith thought. The Zerg Ambassador seemed to show that the Zerg was a reasonable sentient race, but there was something that made him feel uncomfortable with the Zergs in general.

And Lord Detritus was not the only one who sensed the Ambassador psychic probe; Kreshna actually sensed it too. While Namtaru's psychic ability was certainly no match for the Phoenix, it left an 'itchy', uncomfortable sensation nonetheless. He turned at Detritus and said, "for the record, I actually sensed the psychic probe too."

The Sith then rose from his chair, glanced around and spoke, "gentlemen, since the Zerg Ambassador has left us, I think we'll have more freedom to discuss certain things.

Kreshna took a breath for a moment, then continued, "several days ago, the Trollish Imperium and the Galactic Empire performed a joint operation to investigate a heavy psychic fluctuation on a remote planet called Dellious Prime. The Trolls, as we already knew, are naturally immune to psychic disturbance, while Imperial Dark Troopers can defend themselves using the Dark Side of the Force. Naturally, a joint mission between the Trolls and the Empire was considered most appropriate."

"Lord Detritus himself decided to lead the operation," everyone in the meeting room stared at Detritus as Darth Kreshna mentioned, "I shall spare you the details, but suffice to say that the psychic signal we found on the planet bears a disturbing similarity to that of Ambassador Namtaru, and perhaps the entire Zergs."

Darth Kreshna paused for a moment, then turned to Detritus, "what do you think, my jolly good friend? I think you have things to say as well regarding to this matter."




OOC: Darth Kreshna merely expressed his concern, but the others don't have to agree with him. Ra, for instance, or the A'millan diplomats, may dismiss Darth Kreshna's worries. In fact, it seems to be more reasonable (story-wise) if it is only Detritus that shares Darth Kreshna's concern.

OOC 2: and yes, Adam; there were A'millan diplomats in the meeting room, alongside with Ra, Lord Detritus, and Darth Kreshna. Perhaps you wanna' play them too?

[Ra]

"If I may add something," Ra interjected, putting aside his growing impatience over the Goa'uld's original point for being aboard DS III to start with, "He wasn't all that accomodating. I want to know who the Zerg's leader is, and I want to know what their real motives are. 'Live in peace' my pretty ass. They may not pose a threat to this galaxy, at least not as long as we don't provoke them, but take it from me, Kresh. Something's up."

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

"If I may add something," Ra interjected, putting aside his growing impatience over the Goa'uld's original point for being aboard DS III to start with, "He wasn't all that accomodating. I want to know who the Zerg's leader is, and I want to know what their real motives are. 'Live in peace' my pretty ass. They may not pose a threat to this galaxy, at least not as long as we don't provoke them, but take it from me, Kresh. Something's up."

Darth Kreshna turned to Ra and replied sympathetically, "We don't have any evidences, but I know what you mean. Damn, I don't like this either. Psychic probing --what Namtaru was up to, actually?"

"Oh, by the way, the Sith continued, you mentioned something about the Sith Archives. Do you have something particular in mind? What are you looking for?"

This time, he said it with rather proud tone; the Sith Archives was one his pet projects. Since the end of the Empire/Guardian War, Darth Kreshna was only a Sith in nobility status --his Dark Side of the Force was totally stripped off to make a safe room for the Phoenix Force. However, their investigation of Darth Plagueis' study on the Guardians had stirred his interest to discover more about the history of the Sith --not an easy task, since the notes and artifacts of the Sith were hard to obtain due to their secrecy. During the Old Republic, especially since the defeat of Exar Kun, most Sith's teaching was passed through oral history from the Master to the Apprentice, while literatures and artifacts were always well-hidden. That's why obtaining Sith historical evidence was a difficult archaeological task.

Nonetheless, collecting and archiving the historical sources of the Sith was Darth Kreshna's primary interest since the end of the Guardian War. Written literatures were digitized into hypertext format, found artifacts were digitized into solid holograms, and ancient Holocrons were converted into modern executable formats. Stored in a clustered Cybot PowerCompute servers, and funded by Darth Kreshna's personal wealth, the goal is to make an 'online museum' of the Sith. However, the goal was far from complete, as he realized there were still so many uncovered historical information compared to what he had collected --hence the Sith Archives itself was continually under construction.

But Ra's interest on the Sith Archives had stroked his ego nevertheless, and he was more than pleased to show the Goa'uld System Lord what he had collected so far.

[Dartzap]

Darth Kreshna paused for a moment, then turned to Detritus, "what do you think, my jolly good friend? I think you have things to say as well regarding to this matter."

If we are to believe that this was the same kind of phsycic enery as we found on that planet, that means there are far more of them, that disturbence was stong enough to to shatter a warp storm, there would have to be millions to have caused such a energy spike.

The main question we have to ask ourself is this: Where are they now? and what are they up to?

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

Darth Kreshna paused for a moment, then turned to Detritus, "what do you think, my jolly good friend? I think you have things to say as well regarding to this matter."

If we are to believe that this was the same kind of phsycic enery as we found on that planet, that means there are far more of them, that disturbence was stong enough to to shatter a warp storm, there would have to be millions to have caused such a energy spike.

The main question we have to ask ourself is this: Where are they now? and what are they up to?

DK turned to Lord Detritus again, "the funny thing was that Ambassador Namtaru never mentioned about their activity on the planet. Weird. Was he deliberately hiding the fact?"

[Ra]

"We don't have any evidences, but I know what you mean. Damn, I don't like this either. Psychic probing --what Namtaru was up to, actually?"

No idea. He was quite the manipulator, getting a ton of information off of us, and providing very little in return. The abruptness of his departure angers me to no end, that he would play us in such an obvious manner."

"Oh, by the way, the Sith continued, you mentioned something about the Sith Archives. Do you have something particular in mind? What are you looking for?"

"Ah yes," Ra answered, finally bearing a light smile. "The request may seem a little strange, perhaps, but I needed to look into technology developed by the Sith; particularly, I wanted to know if the Sith had ever developed a Force-based technology to affect the mind."

The cat was out of the bag now. Ra would have to see how the Phoenix-Incarnate responded to such a request.