(DS)

*-----------------------------------------------------------*
Dear Mr. Stolvey

    I have information that is of interest to you.
Many years ago you attended an auction to purchase
a recovered data block from a world invaded by the
Vasari. Due to unavoidable circumstances the
archive was unable to be sold. It is now once
again available to the highest bidder. If you are
still interested, please come to the Lavra System
and place your bid. Details of the exact location
and time of the event are included and encrypted
in a message waiting for you from a pharmaceutical
salesman from Lavra.
                        Regards...

*-----------------------------------------------------------*

    The message Henry read earlier in the day lingers in his mind and consumes his thoughts.

    "Hey Henry!" Jacob Duffy yells from a couple dozen feet away.
    Henry, half startled, looks around to see who was calling him.
    "I didn't see you at my lecture earlier.  Was hoping to hear your thoughts."
    "Oh sorry...  I'll review the records within the week and let you know."
    "It's no big deal, don't worry about it."
    "If you say so."
    "What's with you?  You okay?"
    "Yeah, I'm fine.  Just have a lot on my mind."
    "If you need help with running things around here, Molly and I are available."
    Henry snaps out of his distracted state, "No...  No, thank you, uh, Roesh and I have everything under control, I just think with five lectures today we kind of over did it a little."
    "Seems fine to me, three down, one in progress, and one to go...  The general mood around here appears to be light hearted."
    Henry looks around and observes sever groups talking and laughing and several more deep in discussions followed by handshakes.  "I guess so."
    "Yeah, it looks like this conference can't be labeled as anything other then a success.  We got people to show up.  We're passing along decades worth of information.  Contracts are being made.  Goods should start to flow like the golden age of the Trade Order." Jacob says with a smile.
    "Absolutely." Henry says while checking out the time. "Erik should be almost done with his lecture.  Want to go with me to Molly's lecture?"
    "Unemployment and You...  Keeping numbers down by putting your corporate ass in debt." Jacob says half joking.
    "It's only a temporary thing.  I ran some numbers the other day and it looks like we can make it all back in a year." Henry notes.  "Quicker if all of our expanding attracts people and business looking to make a permanent home here."
    "Good to know I'm not working for a group that doesn't have staying power."
    Henry chuckles. "Don't worry about that...  With all of the people Roesh and I know and the time we've invested in making key trading partners all through the Trade Order, it's just not possible for this company to fold...  Not unless we get extremely reckless and somehow convince everyone to go crazy with us."
    "I don't know, if everything works out well, regardless of how crazy an idea sounds, you'd probably get everyone to go along with it."
    "The dangers of success...  Well, enough standing around, if we want good seats, we should get heading over to Hall J now."
    "Right in front.  We need to stop along the way and get some drinks that we can slurp every time she says 'Um.'"
    "You've been hanging around with Todd and Casey haven't you?  Those two can't help but to annoy the hell out of each other at the most inopportune moments."
    "I know, looks like a lot of fun, doesn't it?" Jacob says with some laughter.
    "We'll need the large cups." Henry adds getting another chuckle out of Jacob.


-= Lavra System - Trader Space =-  

Radio traffic:
    "Gauss Turret down."
    "Concentrate on the star base, I want it taken out so we don't have to deal with it later."
    "Scout six reports mine field at zero-five-five neutralized."
    "All boots on the ground, forcing entry into the compound."
    "Tornado is heavily damaged, breaking off and heading to eight-eight for repairs."
    "Sensors are reporting the star base is going critical, all ships stay clear."
    "Hanger defense inoperative."
    "Light resistance, we should have the package in moments."
    "Fighters are harassing repair operations, we need cover, please assist..."
    "We have it! We have it!"
    "Proceed to extraction point Echo."
    "Echo is no joy... Requesting hot extraction from Lima."
    "Lima is green, repeat, Lima is green."
    "All other teams make for best op and report ready status."
    "Roger command."

    "Sir!  Heavy fleet elements are jumping into our gravity well." a sensor officer reports.
    "All ships, form up and provide maximum protection for our landing craft." Captain Bari orders.
    "Sir." A comms officer reports. "Two teams are already on their way back, one has the archive."
    "Have them come straight here." Prince Yaremka orders.
    "Yes your highness." The sensor officer says with a bow and returns to his station.
    "How long until all of our teams are back?" Captain Bari asks.
    "Five minutes.  The last teams are boarding their transports now." another officer states.
    "Good, notify the fleet that once the last transport is docked, break formation and get the hell out of here."
    "Aye captain." the officer acknowledges.
    "More heavies inbound." the sensor officer reports.
    "Tactical to the main holovid." Captain Bari orders.
    Several tactical personnel relocate their stations to the central holovid. "They're trying to block our escape." one of them notes.
    "Fortunately for us, they have to protect two routes, that divides their forces." another one notes.
    "Unfortunately for us, both routes are close enough together that once we pick one, the other can hit us from the side or move to flank us." a third one notes.
    "No strike craft?" Yaremka asks.
    "There are several carriers, all craft are staying at home presently." a sensor officer responds.
    "Good for us." Captain Bari states.  "When we break formation, head for this group." he says while pointing at the hologram displayed. "Send all strike craft to disable and destroy as much as they can to the second group.  Before we hit weapons range have the fleet turn for the second group.  We'll punch through them and hope the first group can't react fast enough to catch us from behind."

    The tactical officers begin simulations of the scenario and coordinate attack targets with the fleet.  Once the last landing craft reports docked status, Yaremka's fleet breaks formation and makes final preparations for another round of battle.  As ordered all strike craft head for the second group, while the fleet makes their best speed for the first.  Several squadrons of enemy strike craft are launched in response.  Several enemy ships are destroyed in the first pass while Yaremka's fleet takes heavy damage in return.  Every ship with anti strike craft weaponry does it's best to drop targets as fast as possible.  As expected, the second enemy fleet breaks from their holding positions to support the first fleet.  Just before entering weapons range, Yaremka's fleet breaks off their attack and turns for the now out of position second fleet and the easier jump point.  Each ship makes their best speed and takes their shots as they pass by.  The first enemy fleet breaks formation and tries their best to join the fight even though they had the disadvantage of being at a full stop.  Several ships in the second fleet explode as the heavier, better armed portion of Yaremka's fleet begin their passing runs.

    "Don't wait for formation, just jump when ready!" Captain Bari orders after seeing several smaller ships getting picked off by bomber squadrons.

    As each ship reaches the edge of the gravity well, they cut their main engines and begin charging their jump drives.  In small groups, Yaremka's fleet reduces in size.  As the number of targets dwindle and elements of the first fleet catch up, ships take heavier and heavier damage.  Many succumb and fail to jump in time.  Exiting phase space on the other side, Yaremka's fleet finds themselves involved in another heavy firefight.

    "Tactical!" Captain Bari screams.
    "We're on it sir, recommend running like hell." one of the officers responds.
    "Our lighter elements that jumped first are reporting severe damage.  Several have already been destroyed." a comms officer reports.
    "I would have to agree with tactical, Captain.  Comms, order the fleet to retreat to any safe harbor of their choosing.  Contact home as soon as possible." Yaremka orders.
    "Yes, your highness." the comms officer says.
    "It would seem that our intel was a little lacking wasn't it, my prince." Captain Bari notes.
    "Yes, it would seem so.  This was an ill fated operation from the beginning, but still a necessary one." Yaremka laments.
    "Hull breach sir!" damage control reports after the ship violently rocks and shudders.  "Decks zero four through zero nine.  Bulkheads eight and nine.  Emergency automatic controls have sealed off the affected areas."
    "Tactical, get with helm and plot us a course out of here!" Captain Bari demands.
    "The fleet is broken sir, we are lost." a sensor officer comments.
    "Nonsense!" Captain Bari screams with anger.  He rushes over to the comms station and communicates with the fleet himself.  "All ships, make your best speed to the star and get out of here now!  Two jumps is all it is to save your lives!"
    "Helm." Yaremka says as calmly as ever.  "A knighthood awaits you at home if you save this ship.  We are all counting on you, and will forever be in your debt."
    The young officer nods to the prince and wipes the sweat from his face.  Turning off the auto pilot assist and taking full control of the ship, he pushes the speed beyond it's rated maximum, and does his best to avoid the larger ships, while ignoring the collision warnings and plowing right through the smaller ones.

More like Real Life took over. Didn't help that two of the writers had issues with the way Rebellion was released (Steam) so that cut our crew in half. Personally I have one or two more storylines I would like to get going but like I said RL limits me.

You guys are pretty good...

All except for you bison, I always skip yours...

jk

jk

and the ending of tier was soooooo disappointing...  I was so mad when she died

Bah, useless commentary...

(DS)

-= Finley System, Conference Day 3 =-

    Roesh walks up to the podium in meeting hall J.  He presses a button which dims the lights a little bit alerting the crowd that he's ready to begin.
    "Thank you for coming today everyone." he begins.  "This lecture on Piracy and Protections is also being holocast in meeting hall K, those of you there, at the conclusion, feel free to ask your questions to the attendants who will then forward them to me for answering."
    Henry and Karl Astor walk in and take seats behind Roesh.
    "This ought to be good." Henry notes.
    "Why is that?" Karl asks.
    "Let's just say Roesh is an out of the box type businessman."
    "Oh, so he's somewhat of an authority on this subject."
    "You could say that."
    Roesh speaks up to hint that he can hear the other two. "Piracy has been around since mankind put a value on goods.  The minute one good became more valuable then another, the stage was all set for somebody to believe that they were owed more, or that they shouldn't have to pay full price...  Regardless of the real reason piracy started, one thing we can all be sure of is that in today's day and age, it's a nasty business.  Private security firms and planetary militia activity has been on a steady rise over the decades.  With the Trade Order having to deal with the war, system security has become a second thought.  To make matters worse, those crazy enough to salvage in hot war zones to get the best of the debris are usually pirates or black marketeers.  This has not only turned piracy into a relatively unchecked business on the large scale, but it has also turned it into an extremely violent one.  So how does one go about protecting their interests and goods?  They could arm and train themselves which can be costly.  They could hire outside protection.  They could even partner with a bigger corporation who already does one of those already.  They could even do something completely different.  So which is the right strategy?"
    "None of those!" a voice yells out from the crowd causing murmurs of conversation to spark up everywhere.
    "This is a lecture, please hold commentaries and questions until the end." Roesh says to quiet down the crowd.  "As I was saying, which strategy is the best one?  That really depends on your reach.  If you're a local planetary merchant, the odds are you won't come into much contact with the well armed pirates that we're focusing on here today, and your planetary militias are probably more then adequate to handle your security needs.  If you're a very large interstellar conglomerate with hundreds, or even thousands of merchant vessels to worry about, the odds are, it would probably be better for you to be maintaining your own security forces and putting armed guards on every ship and at least one highly capable warship in each of your ports of call.  Of course, size of your operations isn't the only concern.  You still have to deal with overhead costs of all of these new ships and personnel who aren't income earners.  In some cases, it's sometimes better to just hire retired veterans and their battle tested ships to run security for you.  Definitely a smarter option if you're far from active conflicts, yet close enough to have to deal with black market arms being used against you."
    Roesh takes a second to sip from a glass of water.
    "He doesn't like being in front of crowds." Henry notes to Karl.
    "Then why is he the name and face of the corporation?" Karl asks.
    "Just one of those mysteries of life." Henry says as Roesh continues.
    "If armed security isn't something you want to get into, then there are other things you can do to secure your goods.  You can transport your goods in high security containers for example.  You can't ship as much, but the containers can only be opened by you and your recipient, and should anyone else try to access them, the contents are vaporized.  You might be asking yourself, what's the point of destroying your own goods?  Well, consider this.  You're being pirated, you've already lost your goods.  Why not screw the pirates out of their plunder and make them think twice about expending all of that time and effort in raiding your ships for nothing.  Personally, I only see this as a temporary solution since all you would be doing is making them pick other merchants in the area to target or buying time until they figure out how to defeat the security of the containers.  It would, however, give you time to either pick new routes, or get whatever armed security service you have available to be aware of and make steps to prevent further issues."
    By this time a well dressed man has made his way up to the front of the hall and approaches Roesh.  "Well, those things are all fine and dandy, but how about a more elegant approach."
    "Please return to your seat, you'll get a chance to address the audience at the conclusion." Roesh says to the man.
    "I'd like to offer a solution that the owners of this fine establishment have used greatly to their advantage." the man continues while ignoring Roesh's request.
    Henry quietly slips off the stage and calls for security who show up before he's had a chance to get back to his seat.
    "It's almost as vile and treacherous as the actions of those whom they're talking about now." the man says.
    Security approaches him forcing him to pull out a weapon and point it at Roesh causing a small panic within the crowd.  In response, Roesh waves the security officials off of their rapid pace.  The screen on his podium displays the man's identity.  "Ladies and gentleman, please stay calm... Captain Walker Black..."
    Captain Black bows slightly to Roesh and moves him aside before addressing the audience himself.  "If piracy is a problem, then maybe the best option for you is to give them what they want, and then hire them to squeeze out your opposition.  Maybe even make it clear that if anyone wants to do business, you get a cut of the action."
    Right as Captain Black finishes his comment, a loud rumbling can be heard and the building shakes violently for a couple of seconds.  Roesh being caught off guard falls to the floor giving security a chance to move in and force the captain to surrender.  Henry immediately starts making calls to figure out what just happened as panic sets in and the crowd begins to scatter outside.
    "What's happening?" Roesh asks Henry while getting back up on his feet.
    "It seems that our anti-gravity generators are under attack." Henry answers.  "Two have been destroyed, several more damaged and shut down.  Power around the city...  Is shutting down.  This could get ugly quick."
    Roesh pulls out his sidearm and points it at Captain Black. "I don't know who you think you are, but I won't tolerate this kind of bullshit."
    "I can assure you, I have no involvement in this." the captain retorts.
    "Your assurances don't mean a damned thing to me." Roesh says angrily.  "Lock him up, if I find out he's involved, I'll kill him myself."
    Security nods and drags the man off in restraints.
    "Well, Karl, you're the Governor here..." Henry says.
    Roesh gives him a second before speaking up, "Go!  Reassure the people everything is under control.  Make up some story, tell them the truth, I really don't care."
    Karl rushes outside to start calming their visitors.
    "Things were just starting to go so well too." Henry notes before contacting Clinton Brigs. "Clint, we've got a problem here."
    "A big problem." Roesh adds after noticing the room starting to tilt slightly.
    "Data on this end says the city is listing twelve percent to the north." General Briggs informs them.  "I'm sending all standby personnel to the planet to prepare for evacuating the city."
    "Thanks Clint." Henry says before breaking the connection.
    Roesh and Henry head off to survey the damage personally.


-= Yitobav System - Trader Space =-

A probe drops out of phase space near the star and begins to transmit a repeating message.

*Emergency*
*Fleet is broken and scattered*
*Need immediate assistance*
*Priority - Critical*


-= Finley System =-


    "Todd, where the hell are you?!" Roesh screams into a comm unit.
    "Easy boss, Casey and I are almost there." Todd replies.  "I've got undermanned repair crews scattered all over dealing with the cascading black out.  Good thing who ever did this didn't know the AG generators and public power stations are on two completely different system or our bad day could be a whole hell of a lot worse."
    "I think it just got worse." Casey adds.  "Your friends from your old stomping grounds just requested our help in rounding up what's left of their fleet."
    "What's left?" Henry asks taking the comm unit away from Roesh.
    "Yeah, they got ambushed in a system called Lavra.  Heavy losses, only a couple of ships have reported back in." Casey answers.
    "Tell them we need our fleet here due to the conference and other issues, once people are on their way out, we'll assist." Henry orders.

No, so get to writing. 

(DS Lore)

    Todd and Casey rush into the room where Henry and Roesh are waiting.  Todd immediately stops as soon as he enters causing Casey to run into the back of him.
    "What the hell?!" she says as she shoves Todd forward.
    Not even noticing that he got pushed, Todd hurries over to the damaged anti gravity generator in front of all of them. "WOOOOOW!" he says in amazement.  "This thing is trashed...  It could take me weeks to figure out what happened to it."
    Henry looks at his data pad and pulls up a holovid of damage surveys from around the city. "Similar reports are coming in from everywhere."
    "Who has access to these places?" Roesh demands.
    "Oh, the usual maintenance crews, us, higher up security officials and military personnel." Todd answers.
    "We know no one from the military has been here, and security has been screened and re-screened to death because of the conference, we'd have found an anomaly by now, it wasn't any of us..." Henry adds.
    "So that leaves maintenance!" Casey somewhat sings out with a giant smile on her face.
    The other three look at her and Henry comments on her amusement of the situation. "Why are you so happy about that?"
    "Because." she answers. "Todd is always going on and on about how most of my people have shady backgrounds and aren't allowed access to many things whereas his are all educated and model citizens in any up standing society...  But none of mine have ever put the lives of thousands of people, hundreds of foreign delegates, and the top employees of this company at risk!"
    Todd walks out of the room as Henry starts to question Todd's point of view that Casey has painted for them all. "So what do you have to say about it?"
    "I have to say..." Todd says with a slight frown that turns into a smirk as he looks back at everyone. "I have to say that it wasn't us."
    "You're sure?" Roesh asks.
    "Absolutely boss.  This access lock was bypassed.  If it was us, or even someone who had access to us, they wouldn't have needed to circumvent security."
    "Good point." Henry says before opening up a comm channel to security. "I want a team to review all holovid footage of everyone entering and leaving the maintenance tunnels.  Anyone who doesn't check out as an employee is to be flagged and detained." he orders and then closes the connection.
    "Oh, I think I just figured it out." Todd says while moving about hurriedly.
    "Weeks, huh?" Henry notes.
    Roesh, who's demeanor returns to it's normal calm and controlling, nudges Henry. "What can I say, he's a bright kid."
    Casey after taking a quick moment to read Todd's thoughts decides to laugh.
    "Care to tell the rest of us?" Henry more suggests then asks.
    "Okay, so here's what I'm thinking.  First, a little EMP action on the security system knocks it out, then the door gets forced open by a few people or some small hydraulics setup or something, a gravity generator is installed on the AG generator and the culprit leaves and closes the door on their way out." Todd states with much excitement.
    Henry leans over to Roesh and softly says, "Now I know why she laughed."
    "Um, Todd..." Roesh says. "You do understand that A, an EMP blast would alert security, B, the hydraulics or manpower needed to open this door, let alone close it would be noticed, C, we have the smallest AG generators that money can buy, at best, who ever did this would have to move in equally massive machinery, and D, they'd have to have a lot of this stuff or move very quickly to hit so many places at once so fast."
    "As much as it pains me boss, there are those much higher up on the technology food chain then us." Todd replies.
    "That's what I'm thinking." a familiar voice says from the shadows forcing all four to draw their sidearms and point them out the door.
    "Who's there?" Henry demands.
    "Oh come on! They never answer." Todd says with annoyance on his face.
    Roesh nods at Casey who reaches out with her mind only to be struck down with intense mental pain.
    "It's true, they don't." the voice says acknowledging Todd's comment. "But they do almost always reveal themselves."  The pain Casey is feeling stops as Lord Ryat steps into the light.  "Those weapons aren't really necessary are they?"
    "Depends on why you're down here?" Todd says.
    "Relax Todd." Roesh says as he and Henry holster their guns.
    "Why are you here?" Henry asks as he helps Casey up to her feet.
    "And how did you do that?" Casey asks.
    "I'm here because you're here." Ryat states.
    "Oh, well, now that we got that all cleared up, get the hell out." Todd says while pointing his gun back at Ryat.
    "Did somebody piss in his cereal this morning?" Ryat asks half jokingly.
    "I'm sure it's the stress of knowing he's going to be quite busy for the next few weeks." Roesh says as he walks past Todd and makes him put his gun down.
    "Sure, let's go with that." Ryat says.  "I'd hate to spoil an old acquaintanceship so easily."
    "Come on Casey, let's get you up to some fresh air." Henry says helping her toward the door.
    "My apologies, Ms. Tahira." Ryat says as he pulls out a rod from the inside of his coat. "It's what we call a witch stick, it helps non Advent to more fully utilize Advent technology."
    "Interesting." Roesh says.
    "A useful side effect is that it supercharges anti Advent technology as well." Ryat says knowing fully well that it was he himself that blocked her probing.
    Roesh gestures for Ryat to follow behind Henry.  Ryat nods and follows along.
    "I hate to ask again, but why are you here?" Henry questions.
    "I'm a powerful leader and a fairly important person, when a city I'm on happens to unexpectedly start to fall out of the sky, I tend to get curious as to why, and when your database had no information, I looked for myself." Ryat answers.
    "We've known about each other for a long time." Roesh says. "Do you really think I'd buy that excuse."
    "No, but that's the official answer."
    "So what's the unofficial one?" Henry asks.
    "There's a fair bit of trouble brewing, more so then what you know.  What's going on here is nothing compared to what's about to start happening everywhere else."
    "And you had to visit in person to tell us that?"
    "No, I came to visit you in person to ask you to release Captain Black.  He's a deep cover spy working for me and gaining credibility by being here and causing trouble.  He's not responsible for this."
    "I don't suppose you know who is responsible?" Roesh asks.  "I know you don't expect me to just release someone because you asked nicely."
    "The responsible party is the U.E." Ryat says.
    "And you know this how?" Henry asks.
    "Simple.  Xenon told me." Ryat states proudly before presenting a video showing that he's holding Xenon captive.  "Xenon was head of their research division, you pissed him off by attacking elements of his fleet, he plotted revenge, and here we are."
    "You couldn't have said something before?" Roesh asks.
    "I was unaware this plot had already been put into motion.  I've had Xenon under my 'protective custody' for a little bit of time now, and you hadn't even had this city anywhere close to being constructed, nor did anyone know that you would invite anyone here.  So...  I had no reason to say anything." Ryat admits.
    "So we trade then." Henry states.  "You give us Xenon, we give you Captain Black."
    Ryat laughs as they all exit the maintenance tunnel.  "Xenon is much more valuable to me then Black.  I can always find and train someone else and send them off to earn credibility somewhere else.  I just don't want to waste the time I've already put into this one, and the sooner I get him out in the field the sooner I start collection much needed information on the U.E."
    "Why the interest in the U.E.?" Roesh asks.
    "That's what I will trade you for Captain Black." Ryat replies.  "You let him make a daring, yet successful escape, and I'll fill you in on why I trained him and what he'll be doing.  At any rate, I can assure you that once he leaves, you'll never see him here again."
    Roesh considers it for a moment. "Alright, he's being held here.  If you make a non lethal assault to spring him, I'll make sure the fleet is too busy and spread out to catch a fleeing scout."
    "I can work with that." Ryat says before stepping away to communicate with someone.  After a short moment, he returns to the group.  "He'll be out in ten."
    Roesh opens up a comm channel to Tim. "Hey, I know it's asking a lot, but can we pull our capitals from the star and stage them around the system.  The David's Lions are down for upgrades and the RDA is going to be pulling out of here once they recall all of their people.  We still have ongoing issues all over the system because of those phantom Vasari ships, Rhyne is still suffering from the Gloval disaster, Bunaidh is still in a police state from the insurgency, and now this attack."
    "Yeah, we're bleeding out all over the place." Tim states.  "But pulling those ships means we can't effectively bar access to the interior."
    "I know, but I think for right now we need to make a statement that says we're in control here, let the population know that I'm tired of this shit and it all ends now." Roesh says.
    "I understand." Tim acknowledges.
    "Also, we got word that Prince Yaremka's fleet was destroyed.  I want to know who did what and if the people of Yitobav are seeking retaliation, I want us to be a part of it." Roesh demands.
    "That's stretching us awfully thin.  We could be setting us up for many more disasters." Tim notes.
    "We could, but if we manage to pull this off, we come out looking much stronger, which then means more business, and less hassles down the road." Roesh says.
    "It's a big risk, I'll let all of the captains fleet wide know that at the first sign of trouble, call in for support, fall back, and no heroic stands unless there are no other options." Tim says.
    "That's fine." Roesh agrees. "Let's get everyone moving immediately, we've already lost too much control around here, we're getting it back."
    Tim nods and closes the connection.

    Most of the RFT capital ships at the star break up and head for both jump points to spread themselves out around the system.  The remaining move to the edge of the star and are quickly joined by dozens of frigates and cruisers.  Once they've formed up, they jump out of the system to make their way to Yitobav.  The ten minutes pass and Roesh receives notice from security that their holding facility is under attack and there's no backup due to the chaos around the city. Roesh orders them to stand down and protect themselves rather then trying to fight it out, even to flee if necessary.  Shortly after, Ryat receives notice that the raid was successful and that Captain Black and his people are stealing transports all over the city adding to the chaos of the departing population.  The military in orbit is inundated with a flood of delegates returning to the safety of their own ships and cannot stop the traffic leaving the planet.  Ryat officially offers the aid of his fleet to help regain control of system, which the RFT gladly accepts.  As his fleet moves in to assist, one of the scouts is boarded by Black and some of his people and they somehow manage to gain control.  The scout immediately runs and evades all other ships as data transmitted reports that the bridge has been taken and a running fire fight is ongoing.

    "I'm sure it's ongoing." Roesh notes with a slight chuckle.
    "Data...  So easy to manipulate." Ryat adds.
    "So how about that info?" Roesh requests.
    "Right.  As you know, the U.E. fleets not too long ago were engaged in open battles all over the region.  Next thing you know...  Silence."
    "We've been too busy to notice."
    "So I've seen...  Anyway, the powers that be over there are gearing up for an all out civil war.  All of their systems have been put on full lock-down.  That means I no longer have easy access to what's going on.  Naturally, that concerns me and I have to take steps to ensure that...  For the safety of everyone and the relative stability of the region...  That I stay very much informed of what is happening in those systems.  What I know already is Carbon, as nice and friendly as he is, is leading the resistance, but hasn't managed to gain enough support to be much of a threat without his fleet."
    "So you're planting spies to get information and help Carbon out but doing so with people that can't be tied back to you."
    "More or less, that's correct."
    "I've played this game before.  I might have to set some of my own pieces on the game board."
    "I figured.  Oh, by the way, I've heard lots of rumors from Trader Space that concerns me as well. Something about the Trader Emergency Coalition is losing control of it's members, the Vasari looking to stop the bloodshed, and even the Unity having issues with it's all of one mind philosophy...  And I didn't even have to go to Trader Space to hear that one. Your Casey is a bit of an example of that, and my intelligence reports that some factions of Advent out here operate on their own accord."
    "I've heard those same rumors."
    "The U.E. seems content to keep their problems to themselves for now, but if these other rumors I've heard turn out to be true, then their internal conflict may become an external one and we'll be right back to where we started all those years ago with the first invasion."
    "Yeah, I don't think anyone wants to go back to those days."
    "Do us both a favor.  Your fleet that left for Trader Space, have them collect as much information as they can while they're out, and when they come back, send me the data and I'll put my people on it right away.  Once we've learned what we can, I'll send you a copy of the report.  Professional courtesy for being the delivery service and all."
    "Yeah, and meanwhile, you sit here and play watchdog over the region and are in a position to take over majority control if the U.E. crumbles."
    "If they do, and if I find myself holding the majority of the former U.E. systems, then those that helped out would also be in a position to benefit."
    "We'll see.  In the mean time, I have a system that is under attack from at least two different foes, an ally that lost it's fleet, a population in panic mode, and a trade convention that seems to be pretty much over..."
    Ryat nods in agreement with the statement. "I should be going, you seem to be far too busy for me to continue monopolizing your time."
    "Yeah, interesting times." Roesh says.
    "Interesting indeed." Ryat agrees as he walks away to return to his ship.

Xenon sat in his usual place. In front of a large matrix of monitors, all feeding him info from the corners of the galaxy. His command station aboard the Osiris appeared to have a life of its own, humming with the power that fed it. It was Xenon's only companion. He has long since sent his crew away, with Paragon Iron tightening his grasp on power over the -Ue , not much stood left of the resistance Xenon had mounted. Once Iron took complete control of the -Ue war machine, it would be little time before he put his sights on targets outside of -Ue borders.

Not that Xenon would mind if he killed off a few of those people, but a few had helped him in the past, and he felt like he owed them something in return. Xenon stood and slowly unplugged himself from the computer. He has shed his humanity not long after the battle for Kyrene. His brain, the only real organic tissue left from his former body. And he would rid that too if he had the technology to do so. Xenon pushed himself across the room, floating from his chair to the door. There was no need for life support, just a reactor to keep things running.

From the untrained eye, the Osiris looked like just another hull floating though space. Having been towed to the large scrap yard with thousands of hulls similar to the Osiris. Only one other man knew his location. And another knew how to contact him.

Ryat's message would appear on the largest of the screens, pulsing red, to draw attention to it. Xenon would read it once, then reply to it. 

" See me in person if you want a chance of me even entertaining this as a possibility " -Xe

(DS)

(Distant Stars Systems)

Chapter 66 of Teir -

Freebird -
January 7th, 2289 (01.07.2289.00.01)

Out Of The Dark Comes The Light -

Part One-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxCdyss9Rr0

-Teal

The light fell out of...

Was it the sky? 

Or was it Heaven?

Were we moving through the mist of the afterlife... or were we simply hallucinating?

Sound came from somewhere.

Sound that was...

Confused.

Mixed.

one-

The sound of falling... the rush of air close by your face, as your eyes blinked. Is that even possible? I thought you were dead.

two-

And fire, a crackling, raging heat and rush of air feeding it. Blisters on your face as you turn your face to the doorway where the fire rages strongest.

three-

Wasn't there a squad? I can't remember how many, was there three, or was it six? I think it was six. I don't think they trust us very much. "They can make you think things..." one of the men said. I think he's right, we could. I can't remember very much, but I think I remember that.

four-

Space is cold beyond the cacoon, wrapped about me. My mind moves in eon like turns. The fall of light across my face registering slowly... then again... but it somehow seems longer... like a day, or a week later... I am not sure... the cold whispers beyond the edge of the cacoon that speak of... time... how long? And somewhere a slow pull of gravity... an asteroid maybe? It isn't very strong, just a small steady tug that pulls us closer.

five-

The black fell out of the shattered night sky and was... evil? Was it... lower than that... not even base emotions... lower... instructions... programming... but programming is only someone's intent... but who? Who's intent? It didn't matter... she could feel it at the periphery of her consciousness. Wasn't she dead? That also didn't matter... she wasn't now, and that is what counted.

six-

There was a sound behind me... I thought I heard... but when I turn it isn't there. Only my imagination. The ship is damaged very badly. I thought the corridor smashed and open to space, but it is only smashed. The stairway to the right of the vault door goes down toward the launch bays and the engine room. There is a pulsing... in the hulls, slow... the heartbeat of a ship that is slowly dying. I move past the doorway where I had crouched in fear past it, descending the twisted and barely navigable stairs toward the bays below. If I can only find a shuttle, or a fighter that isn't damaged, then I'll have a chance.

Sere,

Pris.

Mother and Teal,

Seyla,

Teir,

Rennie

Looked up, the white light falling around them and the sound... the sound a rushing, screeching, screaming, yelling, roaring, raging... rush of noise as the world rushed in around them.

'Not dead...' Sere thought, dimly, though she wondered how it was possible. She should be dead... even if the hostile agent hadn't blown her brains out, she should have run out of time... but somehow... the chemicals they had used in the ship when they took a sample of her tissue/dna? She would have to ask Pris and see what it was that had happened. Not dead..." she thought again. It was a miracle.

Not dead.

//

(DS)

Chapter 67 of Teir -

 Sweet Georgia Breeze, Part One

 In the fall of 1957, when the hot dry air off the Georgia grasslands was giving way
to the cold that was coming down out of the Canada's, and John Patrick Anderson hadn't yet
asked Maddy Franklin to marry him. When Buddy Holly was still singing 'That'll Be The Day'
hard and strong on the radio, I turned 14.

That was the year Arlo Henny drowned at Penitent lake, and he was two years older than me
and had been a very good swimmer, and people just couldn't figure how such a thing could happen.
And Jackie Paulsen came to live with mama and me in the three story plantation farmhouse mama
had inherited from her daddy, out at the end of highway 25.

It had been a hard year, and now mostly done when November 12th came. It was tuesday and
supposed to be a school day, excepting that mama called the school and told them i was
sick, even though i wasn't. She said she planned for us to go to the in-door pool over in
Jefferson as a surprise birthday outing.

To get away from little ole Rochelle and run out to the big city, or at least mid-size city for something special.

Even though that fancy pool, that even heated, was still over an hour away.

"An' a little white lie don't hurt none, just so long as you don't take it into yer mind
that ya can do it any time ya want." She said.

Which to be honest I thought about, but I figured it was probably too easy to get caught,
and so i smiled and told her yes ma'am I wouldn't take advantage like she said.

That was when we ran into trouble though, 'cause even though I hadn't planned on lying, I did, and
that sort of led to a whole rash of other things that I wish hadn't happened, but by then it was
too late to change any of that.

...

Late morning when we finally got out of the house, leaving the key to the house with Mrs. Johnson next door so that Jackie Paulsen could get in and get dinner if mama and I weren't home before dark.

The sun was getting high and the air already hot. Mama drove and I sat on the passenger side listening to Elvis sing Jailhouse Rock, but it was an old song already and I was getting tired of it. I leaned back in the seat and hung my arm out the window, feeling the rush of wind and the sound of it whistling by the mirror, mama humming some church ballad under her breath as we rode out highway 41.

That is when I had the dream.

The one that I was dead and falling through a thin draped blue sky toward a deeper ocean below. 

The wind howled.

In exactly the same way as against the mirror.

I wiggled my fingers and felt the air slide over them and tried to open my eyes, but I couldn't.

I tried hard, more than once and then tried to call out to mama... Mama!

"Mama!"

But it wasn't sound that came out of me and slide out into where ever I was. It was just air. Just a croaking, squeaking sort of sound that you make when your scared and you feel like you are in over your head.

It happened like that when Jimmy had asked me swimming and we'd gone out to the old quarry that had hit water and had to be abandoned. When we'd swam out and he had tried to kiss me, grabbed me in the water as if neither of us needed to tread water just to keep our noses from going under. I had tried to push him away, and started to sink, my head going under and him pushing against me and i tried to catch a breath. 

All I got was a mouthful of water. I gagged and kicked, catching him in the stomach and pushed back up above the water, shaking my head and trying to catch my breath.

It was like that.

Trying to catch my breath.

Scared like it was the end.

Thinking it couldn't be...

I mean, in the movies it's all...

Well... just then I thought maybe real life wasn't like the movies at all.

Nothing like them.

Scared.

My breath catching in my throat and me wanting to scream.

To scream as loud as I could.

That is when...

When I caught my breath and sat up on the table.

The room was empty.

Mother and the car were nowhere to be seen.

But then...

I wasn't... who I thought...

Or maybe I was,

and this was the demented dream that invades the consciousness right before the car runs the light and the sound of whooshing wind suddenly becomes the screech and scream of rending metal.

The smooth ride in the right side of the old Buick 88 suddenly become the twisting motion of the car slamming into the old white Chevy pickup that Jed Waters had decided had enough time to get by.

The scream died in my throat as I sat up, halfway through a scream and was confronted with an empty room. It wasn't Cordele Hospital, or even Doctor Johnson's office in Tifton.

This was someplace else.

I was someone else.

I think it was the last part that made me want to start screaming all over again.

But at least that got someone's attention.

Three nurses in pretty blue outfits came through the doors carrying clipboards and worried expressions.

All except the last one, that simply frowned and put her hand in her pocket and pulled out a syringe.

"Now, now, we shouldn't be having none of that now should we?" She said and maneuvered her way past the other two standing by the door.

It was then that I wished there were windows in this crazy place, instead of solid white walls. It was true I wasn't dead, but I wondered it that were any better.

The third nurse came across the floor smiling, but her smile wasn't pleasant at all. Carrying her syringe raised as if she were a baseball player about to make a strike.

incongruously I wished that mother had never decided for us to go out to Jefferson for that swim in that fancy indoor swimming pool. 

But by then it didn't matter what I thought.

***

to be continued

Generally most characters are TEC with one or two Vasari fighting the evil Advent.

None, part of the issue was the introduction of Steam to Sins with Rebellion.

We still chat from time to time, but at other places like facebook, google, and hopefully more at star citizen as more features come online.  I've lost most of my lore notes so no rundown possible either, best I can say is go back 5 or 6 pages and start there to get the most recent info that's a couple of years old now, or go back to the beginning and read what you can.

No titans in the current story, as Ryat said in much nicer terms then I would ever care to about that situation.

I tried to keep the lore going, but after going a year and being the only poster, I lost interest in continuing even though there have been a few since.  If Teal wants to, she can blow up the universe now and wipe the slate clean without a single complaint from anyone (unless they want to deal with me) and you can start fresh and new using the setting from Rebellion instead of Diplomacy that this story was created from.

Kinda sucks too, 'cause I had a giant corporate website and everything created that people could look at to get the info on the RFT, Finley System, it's holdings and interests, and build side stories off of that stuff.  Just never got around to using it because the fun was killed and good people left.