Announcement

**Ouro_827** · April 23, 2004, 14:06

It had been a long and hard day, especially for one as busy as Rolowski. She now had to deal with the Internal Affairs Director charging into her office and demanding that she report back to Command immediatly, and refused to tell her what it what it was about. She was led by a silent guard into the classified labs, filled with equipment and papers that didn’t even exist. He led her to a door labeled “Interogation Room,”and motioned for her to enter. She smoothed out her uniform and stepped through. Inside, sitting at a table, was Datatech Sindar Roze. Sindar rose to her feet and greeted Rolowski. “Empath, please sit.” She motioned Rolowoski to a chair. “Now Empath, this investigation is not regarding you specifically,”Sindar began. “However, any attempts at cover-up will be detected and you may be punished. So please, be completely honest. Now, for starters, where was your superior, Empath Giardi?” So was suspicion sowed.

“You must listen to me, Academician! I tell the bitter truth, and you do not accept it!” A hand slammed down on Zarhakov’s desk “Why do you persist in such utter nonsense? We both know that they will not come up with anything! Is it simply a gesture of power?!” All this came from the mouth of a man who was storming through Zarhakov’s office. He whipped around and stared at Zarhakov. “Don’t just sit there! Answer me!”
Zarhakov calmly looked back at the man. “Alexandri, you must not get so angry. It is bad for morale. Yes, I know that all results coming from the labs have been negative. But you must believe Alexandri! Believe! Is it not worth the risk to find out?”
Spit flew from Alexandri’s mouth. “Indeed, it is worth it, if it was possible to even find out! But these algorithms that have been developed are simply recurring loops in the standardized form as proved by the Urian Theorem. You know that!” Alexandri threw his weight into a chair, exhausted.
“I know that the theorem says it can’t be. I also know theorems can be wrong.” Zarhakov reached into a drawer and pulled out a bottle. “Here. Would a little vodka help? It isn’t the original, I don’t have much of that left, but it is good and strong!” With a tilt of the bottle, he fills up two glasses, and handed one to Alexandri. “To the good times, old friend.”
“To good times and those to come.” With a gulp, he drained the vodka and smacked his lips. “Now then, it is time to do something about those foolish Pirates. Do you agree?”
Zarhakov smiled, an evil smile. “Yes, it is time. And I think I have just the thing......”

Once again, the Paer’dt was on the move. The security teams had missed him on the last sweep, but he needed to work fast.30He activated the timer on a diversionary device, and planted it to the right of the path. Lastly, he called out with his mind for the worms and began running. About twenty-five meters down the trail, he heard the first scream from his device. He dove for cover, and began to crawl along the bank of the trail. He heard gunfire, and voices. Inside his head, he heard a little voice telling him to stop, but he had long since stopped listening to it. From his pack, he pulled a batch of explosive material. He next hefted it in one hand, to estimate its weight and how large of a detonator would need to be used on it. Another set of blaster fire rang out, much closer. He stuck the material back in his pack, and crawled on. As he reached the beginning of the sensor grid, he removed a small pen-like device from his pack. Slowly, and with precise movement, he pointed it at the sensor. A small, bluish stream was emitted, similar to a tuning tool. The sensor beeped once then went quiet. He removed the tool, and did the same thing to the next sensor. Next, he stepped out into the field, and activated the grid....

Alarms in the networking center of Zybroski began sounding. The techs raced over to the terminals are read the messages. Someone was in the network. Immediately the loudspeaker began giving orders out, and someone commed the on-duty technician in charge of network patrols. Armed with standard security measures, he entered the system. The first thing he noticed was the damage. Someone was in his precious system, and didn’t mind leaving tracks. He armed the first tracking probe, and set it loose, keeping his eyes ‘open’ to watch for signs. A rush from the left, and three hunter viruses swirled towards him. Focusing, he bounded up, sweeping them out with a viral probe. He looked around for his assailant, but saw nothing. His arm went up, then nothingness. He blinked his eyes, and found himself back at the data port. Realizing what had happened, he tore the link from its socket and threw it on the floor. Sparks began to fly out of the socket. He grabbed the nearest com-link. “Get electrical down here, priority urgent!” After the repair team came down and went to work, he slumped back into his chair, disgusted. He had been so close. They didn’t even have a probe on him, so the other patrol technicians were going to be having trouble.
Indeed, the others were having trouble. The Paer’dt was skilled in cyber-combat, and had the advantage of being on the attack, which is almost always a good thing. The only problem is that it can be turned against you very easily. The techs were attempting to trap him, but he would never come all the way after them.... It was almost as if it was simply a distraction. The tech that used to work at University realized this first, and sent a com out. Command got the word out to patrols in the right areas to be stepped up. Meanwhile, research was trying to find out where this guy had come from..... The only place where people get this good was with the Data Angels, and they hadn’t been having problems.. Had they? Long-range communications was impossible, so they couldn’t find out very easy. Bolt fire rang out through the voice, and the sound of a returning volley. Sensor techs had alarms sounding around the area, and patrols gathered to defend the base like bees are drawn to honey. More bolts rang out, and then the screams were heard. Quickly, several patrols rushed forward.... to find the remainder of the perimeter patrol, who had been assaulted by... droids? They quickly examined the remains, to find nothing incriminating. Nonetheless, they took the parts for further tech examination. After clearing the area, they headed back, making sure to leave some patrols behind. By the time they made it back, there had been a full network shut-down, incapacitating production for now, but ridding their systems of the intruder. It had been a very bad day.
The Data Angels were reasonably infuriated by the claims made against them. They vigorously denied having any rouge personnel. This forced network evaluation of every system within linkage distance of Zybroski. This, of course, delayed production for a while, and the normal insurrectionist activities used this as fuel for their war campaigns. Security activity was severly increased, which created more discontent. Meanwhile, the leaders of the factions were in severe standings with each other, the effect multiplied due to lack of good communications. Everything was coming together, and the end approached.....
Defensible positions on the fungal ridge arose. More sensor grids were erected, and constant checks were run on the surveillance equipment. Aki-Zeta started upping prices on her sensor algorithms, and began to have energy pour in. Morgan’s monopolies began to vanish beneath him, and Svensgaard became more in more withdrawn. Drone uprisings and revolts happened frequently, nearly everywhere. The Free Drones became generally regarded as terrorists, as the closest represenative of their kind. Empaths started congregating with each other, and avoiding normal people. Generally, the social structure that had been built up began to erode beneath the factions. Everything was coming apart and together at the same time.....

The University was the first faction to notice it. More accurately, the lack of it. When tech shifts ended, and the new ones moved in, a relative newcomer decided he wanted to see the flares again. He shifted view to the view of Hercules. Nothing. It looked normal. His eyes flared open, but he didn’t say anything, for fear of falling victim to a practical joke. He pulled up a communications window to a Consciousness base, a good distance away, that they hadn’t been able to communicate with. He sent a test firing out..... and got a return signature! A powerful one at that! He fired a few more test fires, and got returns every time. Finally, as a final test, he tried a private com to a friend he had there. The vid-link came up on the screen, her face showing bright. “Bryan! You didn’t tell me you were coming! Where are you?”
Bryan deadpanned,”Working. At base. The lines are open!” When this brought his friend’s eyes open, he said,”No telling yet! I get first!” He broke contact, and turned to announce it. This produced instant disbelief, but they took a look, just the same. When they realized what they were seeing, the lines began filling up with traffic, trying to verify this, before they announced anything.

The announcement went out on the University nets, and went from there to all the Conciousness nets, and then throughout the factions. For some reason or another though, the Pirates net was closed down, and nothing could get through their links, so all ambassadors were cut off. This made for some very slow negotiations, until the Pirates began expelling the ambassadors, and gunship activity was stepped up. For some, such as the Conciousness, this was the final straw. Their cruisers were taken out of storage, and their techs began studying blueprints from fifty to a hundred years ago, with outdated weaponry and shielding. New platforms would be needed, new AAA batteries, basically everything had to be adapted. Soon, the machine that was their manufactoring system began to wake up, and mass produce the new Tachyon Amphibious Cruiser. Specially designed for ship-to-ship warfare, the troops aboard each ship were trained in boarding operations, and were skilled with normal hand weapons, and equally skilled in hand-to-hand combat.

The Data Angels had spread their security patrols, and information scans over a large area, but had not turned up and good leads on the location of the missing Empath. It was almost as if she had been swallowed by Planet. When this news reached Datatech Roze, she began her rampage. “We are called the Data Angels! This is the best that we can do? Are you trying to get me out on the networks? Do I personally need to run this search?” Her advisors attempted to calm her, but with no result. She brushed through them, saying,”Is she that good? The head Datatech of the entire faction has to go out to find her?” As she spoke the words, a chiming sounded. One of the techs raised their voice, as they typed furiously on their board.
“I have something, Datatech. You may want to look at this...” Roze launched herself over to the board, and stared at the screen. A large diagram was shown, and a flashing icon in the corner.
Roze clinched her hand tight on the tech’s shoulder, and said,”Maximize the image!” The icon grew larger, revealing text. Roze read for a few moments, then turned. “Polito, we need five rovers ready to move, and three enhanced infantry armed and ready in two hours.” Her military advisor, who had been watching, nodded and reached for his com-link.

The University had sent up several ships to examine Chiron’s Station, all armed with the newest Tachyon technology. It had been up there for a while, and there was no telling how bad it had been contaminated by the fungus. Containment suits were mandatory on all walks around it, and there was a general area quarantine on merchant and transport traffic. Most research techs were busy analyzing the satellites data from the solar flares. They didn’t have much time to notice small overusage alarms that were going off... which resulted in some very bad things. Deep inside their data network....

The last of the mercenaries extracted themselves from the link, rubbing at the data terminal at the side of their neck. Svensgaard, standing there impatiently, asked quickly of them,”Did you get it?”
The leader, still rubbing his neck, responded,”Keep your men back. We got your data chip. Now, if you don’t mind, our pay?” Svensgaard handed him a cred-chip, and nearly ripped the data chip out of the man’s hand. Without another word, he rushed out of the room, and to his personal terminal. 47 Inserting the chip into the input drive, he loaded the data onto his screen. A set of building blueprints came up on the screen. After examining them, he stuck another chip in a second slot, and copied the chip off. The original chip he removed and hid it. The copy he took to the manufacturing supervisor, to see what he could do with it. Once the supervisor saw the plans, his eyes grew wide.
“Where’d these come from? I’ve only heard of this from two places, one that doesn’t exist, and one from a person that never was here. The last I knew, the..... Gaians were trying to develop this!”
“That, you don’t need to know. The question is, can you build it?” Svensgaard asked.
“Well...... let me see. Right materials, and a goodly allotment of techs. Maybe. I’d say..... fifty percent with techs and the highest quality materials. And that’s the best probability you’re going to get this side of whoever developed this.”
Svensgaard said,”Write up a list. I’ll see what I can do.” With that he strode off, not waiting for an answer.

Morgan stood waiting, attempting simply by standing and staring to speed up the price transfer from the off-planet Morgan exchanges. As the last of the data made its way across the cables, he transferred all of it straight into the stock net, before the trading ended. As it went through what he felt were unnecessary barriers that scanned all the data, alarms began to sound, and his station went black, along with all the lights in his sector. He looked up, becoming suspicious. “Lights!” With no response from the automated system, he flashed his quicklink on. Nothing. The link was blanked out. He heard the pounding of footsteps down the corridors. Then, a faint bit of light began to shine from the door. In a moment, the door blew back and a faint bit of light seeped through. Two men stepped into the open, and shone large lights into the room. They spotlighted Morgan, and said,”Anyone else in here?” not even recognizing him. He stood tall and stared them down, and began to approach them. A flash of recognition flashed in their eyes. They reached for their links, and said,”We’ve found the CEO. Repeat, we have found Morgan. Med team down here right away!” Morgan shrugged them off.
“I’m fine! Nothing happened to me... what happened to the computers and power?” The men looked at each other, than back at Morgan.
“You mean, you didn’t know?”
“Why would I be asking if I knew,”Morgan raged.
“Data link was corrupted, sir. Someone had a tracer in files going over our networks. Probably trying to get some data. We snapped them hard though, I doubt they’ll be back.” Morgan looked at them suspiciously.
“How many other sectors had this problem,” Morgan asked. He noticed both men twisting themselves to try and hide something.... guns? So that explained it! He looked accusingly at them. “You were going to shoot whoever was in here, weren’t you! You thought that someone was purposefully adding the tracer into the datastream in here! Who gave you the orders? Tell me now!”
“Director Aring, sir. Do you need any more help?”53 Without saying a word, Morgan stormed off past them.

Together and apart the loop pulled. Never ceasing in its endless revolutions. Aki sat contemplating the figure that was displayed on the viewscreen. A half-helix. It spun around nothingness, a point that was not there and yet was. It was times like these, that most of all, she let Luttinen have control. It was odd, such a severe personality acting like a little child. She could gaze endlessly at the spiral in front of her. Alas, she had not the time for such things, but such is life. She smiled briefly, then closed the contact on the circuit board, bringing up a display of the communications going through to Svensgaard. Tracers ran down the board, displaying known data from their own databanks. Next, Aki accessed the other factions databases, looking heavily at the Data Angel reports. Finally, she sent tracers on all the numbers contacted, checking for usage out. Now that that was done, she moved onto some slightly less critical things.

55 The mobilized gunboats moved about as little blinking lights on Svensgaard’s screen, as he waited to hear from the local supervisor of manufacturing. A small tone sounded. He activated the link. “Captain Svensgaard here!” he answered it. A lower chime that was the sound of the switching of circuits reached his ear, then the voice of the supervisor.
“I have the list you asked for, Captain. I’m transmitting it right now.”
Ulrik waited for receipt verification, then closed the channel with only a brief,”I’ll get back with you.” He looked down the list..... Nothing too hard to find. He looked over it once more, then opened up his list of suppliers.

The Data Angel force that had been hastily moved across the harsh terrain, constantly receiving updates of their objective. According to the satellite feeds, there was nothing where they were heading. Energy, however, told a different story. The transmissions going in and out of the area seemed unusually high for a dormant area. Either there was a bloom there, or something bigger was happening. As the rovers cleared the last bluff, alarms sounded. The drivers opened there eyes in amazement.... sensor grids surrounded the area... but deep inside the grid, was what appeared to be a thermal borehole farm. There were several platoons of what appeared to be photon garrisons. Slowly, they heard the whirr of defense grids coming on line. The drivers panicked and turned around, frantically trying to get an outgoing link to warn others. In their haste, however, they did not fail to notice the markings on the soldiers. Each of the soldiers had an interlinked anchor and U on their shoulder, and three cannons on their right, the sign of the elite marines of the Pirates. Two fusion choppers, and six missile penetrators were sent as attack air craft, with four chaos intercepters as cover. In addition, more rovers were deployed as reinforcements for the ground troops in the area. Plenty was devoted to this effort, but as of yet, war had not been declared. The noose closed and yet the victim was only dimly aware of it.

**Ouro_827** · April 23, 2004, 14:08

Zarhakov looked out on the bay of computers, all running in sychronized harmony. They monitored the brigade of speeders that sat in silence, waiting for their troops. They were still being outfitted with their bolt guns, but it was still a silent splendor. One of the techs approached him,”Sir, we have the results from the new bolts. After the overhaul, they are performing at 250% of their former capacity.” Zarhakov turned, a faint smile on his face.
“250%, eh? That is good news, no? Very well then, prepare the missiles for launch. The time for their use is near. Oh, and have Alexandri called.... He may want to see this...”

Data Angel forces converged heavily on the once hidden Nautilus base. At that moment, Datajack Sindar Roze opened a com-channel to Svensgaard. “This is your warning, Ulrik! Either order your forces to stand down, or else you will find their ashes on your doorstep!”
Across Chiron, a vicious smile came to Ulrik’s face. “I have this to say to you, you thieving Data Angel. You and your kind shall vanish from Chiron, and the seas shall overtake you. Vendetta upon you, and all your allies, Datajack!”
She calmly watched the channel open icon vanish, then brought up another com-frequency, speaking this time to a young woman, who looked about twenty-five to thirty. “I tried, but he will not listen. It is time to initiate the Delta Tango.” The woman nodded, then vanished from the screen. Within a minute, blasts began to rock the bowl that contained the Nautilus base, and penetrators screamed overhead. The rovers once again crested the hill, skirmishing with the guards. The infantry too cleared the ridge, and began firing on everything in the valley. A whine came from over the heads, and a voice in their earpiece.
“We have an incoming vampire! Scatter plan Romeo-Sierra! Get out of there now! We may not be able to catch it!” The troops began falling back firing, allowing the Nautilus time to regroup. The Angel commander at the base ordered the defense pods brought around.... and the controls stopped working.
A tech across the room looked up. “A minor virus, Sir. I’m not sure how long it will take...”
“Hurry it up then! Those are our men out there, and I wouldn’t put it past Svensgaard to try something nasty!” All that was heard was the click of fingers over the boards. Meanwhile, they issued a defense call out to the other factions...
A few flashes of light shot towards the vampire from above, then it begins to swerve wildly. Then, still miles up, the warhead prematurely detonates, scattering the shrapnel of the missile, and sending out large sonic waves. Watching it on the camera, the commander leaned forward. “Did we do that?”
“No sir,” the tech answered. “The virus still has us locked out.” A few more vigorous types, and then he said,”System control back online. What keyed off the missile?” The commander rolled his eyes. Sometimes those techs could be so dense...

As Ulrik recieved repeated reports of severe casualties, he slammed his fist down hard, causing various papers to scatter. “Why can no one tell me what happened with that missile?! I need answers people, otherwise some people are not only going to lose their jobs, but something even more!” The team in charge of the missile grid nervously looked at each other. He had been in this mood all day, and they had been getting very nervous. The entire problem was that they weren’t sure. One of the men sighed, and tried again.
“Sir, there is a certain improbability to anything mechanical. When the missile began the seperation phase, to accelerate the warhead, the transmissions that command the missile began to slow down, possibly due to some atmospheric phenomon. The system has safeguard in to abort the attempt if that happens. This may have been what the missile did. In the abort phase, it is supposed to try to pull out. If the heat burned through the emergency shields...” 64 Another tech across the room shook his head frantically at the speaker, but to no avail.
Ulrik raised his voice and said,”And can we tell if that happened? Do we actually have any record of the shield dissipating?”
“Well, normally, yes, we would, but the record must be mistaken due to the bad transmission conditions....”
Ulrik turned to glare. “And why would the record have to be mistaken? Might it be just that you don’t have an answer?!” With that, Ulrik turned on his foot and stormed out.

A security guard stood firm between Morgan and the exit, arms crossed on his chest. “I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t allow you to risk your life. If you want, I can try and get a link to the director if it is urgent.”
Morgan tried to stand taller. “Listen to me! He is not a director! He is a suspect! A suspect, do you understand? I need him back in here immediatly! Do you understand that?”
The guard’s eyes flashed wide. “You mean that the Director of Internal Security is a suspect? For what?”
Morgan looked at him carefully. “If you were meant to know, you would. Now either let me pass, or send out a patrol to retrieve him!” The guard, sombered by such a direct command, reached for his com-link.

The University staff of the defense grid were laughing, having stopped the missile that had been the doom of the Data Angel invading force. The man who had been in charge of the control of the defense pod that overrode the control center was the united hero of the place. The administrator was attempting to have a serious conversation with his superior, so the Data Angels could be notified, but it was of no use. With the background shouts and screams, the man on the other end of the link kept looking at the administrator suspiciously. Finally, exasperated, he simply transmitted a video feed of the missile expoding, and cut the com. It was time to party!

There were not that many factions left on planet, really. The University and Counciousness were still around, because this was the ‘hub,’ so to speak, of the space exploration efforts. The Angel’s follow the technology, which all flowed through Chiron. The Morgan’s ran their trade network from the same space hubs that drew the other factions. The space program, as far as launches, had been hit or miss, so until a water planet was found and reported, the Nautilus were staying. With that, the most govermental and survivalistic factions were the ones who were sent out on the ships. So, as such, the Spartans and Believers were sent as the ones with the hope of surviving, and the Hive and Peacekeepers went out to establish colonies with their opposite governments. Granted, seeing as most of them had warred the controlling powers, they were no longer welcome, so this provided a good excuse to get rid of them. What they did on arrival was up to them, if they survived. The core had considered this, but finally decided that the risk was worth it to let them have an alien planet to their credit, if survival happened.

Diedre had been feeling oddly lately. Her experiments into what was wrong with the vast ‘planet’ had not been going well. There wasn’t much that she could see in the spaceship launches that would adversely affect planet. The other, more wild theory, didn’t seem nearly as likely but it was possible that planet had grown used to having many humans around. She just couldn’t be sure anymore. Slowly nodding, she heard the buzzing of her com. Absent-mindedly, she pushed it, activating the voice for a conversation.

Zarhakov was happy. His army was beginning to start its vast machinations, and come out of hiding. Ulrik Svensgaard was going to regret attacking the Data Angels. He started into his com-link. “Diedre, I know that you have been doing research into the fungus. I also know your scientists have been trying to get some way of making large blooms. We need this information. You will see the fruits of such labor, soon, if you would just let us take a look at the data! We have been dedicating ourselves in other paths, but we need this now, and it would take us too long to try and go into our own tests of it. Besides, you have always had a better rapport with this planet, so you are better at understanding how you would spread such large fungus blooms.”
On the other end of the com-link Diedre rubbed her head.. She wasn’t exactly sure how Zarhakov had found out, but she was obligated to share her research. From what her scientists told her, though, it could also be used to try and rip the planet apart though. Oh, what to do, what to do. Finally, after weighing the risks in her mind, she made her decision. She answered,”I’ll have all the fungal research transmitted immediatly. Good-bye.” She swiftly cut the link, and arose, heading back out to see Lindly. Maybe she might have ‘heard’ something.

The Data Angel forces, after hearing that there was no longer an inbound missile heading for their heads, turned back towards the Nautilius. Their penetrators ripped through the guard patrols, strafing them down. Then, the rovers crested the ridge once more. They used their superior speed to chase down and kill most roving patrols that were left. Then, the infantry came in, assaulting the remaining guards still hiding in the base. Their bolts tore through the defenses, and the Data Angels marched into the base, raising the symbol of the Data Angels high. Their standard was now the one that flew.

Aki was concerned. Looking over the logs of communication signatures, one link in particular seemed suspicious. There were several links with no calls except to Svensgaard, but this link... it had many calls made to it, but few made out... She brought up its location... not traceable!? Following the link back, she found it was a communications satellite, designed for interstellar communications. That was odd... most people didn’t have the right frequencies for the satellites... it was not known to many other than the other faction leade... her blood seemed to run cold, and in all her detachtedness, she shuddered. She mst just be getting paranoid... it couldn’t be a plot. Still, she ordered a check of atmospheric phenomenon recorded in the last month.
Ulrik was brooding. This wasn’t the way things were supposed to go! Something had thrown his plans into a downspin, and some said that the other factions were sending strike forces out. All the covert bases had essentially shut down, stopping all production and transmission, to lower the chance of them being found. Unfortunatly, this meant most of the spy transmissions had to stop. His com rang loudly. He reached for it, and noticed the caller. He immediatly brought it up. “What game are you playing? You said that you would have them immobilized!”
The mysterious caller replied with contempt. “They would be immobilized if you would have struck when I told you! I know you’re still holding back your reserves! Just launch the assualt! Once you strike at their heartland, they will be finished! And watch your back!”

The newly commisioned pilot Ivanovich Narov stood proud beside his new needlejet. The new jet was quite a sight to behold. It had a nice, elongated pod, and was built for speed. He let a few quick shots be taken of him, then jumped in. He felt immensly powerful. Formerly the top of his class in the flight academy, he had graduated with honors, and had bested many of his flight instructors. He was now the newest member of the air patrols running over Data Angel space. He started the engine from the reactor, then began to speed down the runway, executing a short takeoff and starting his first patrol.

Zarhakov was very pleased. This was exactly the breakthrough they had been looking for! Apparently, Diedre’s scientists had been doing some very worthwhile work. The work that had been transmitted was something to do with movement, which was odd. Specifically, they had been investigating the ability to move fungus around, to better plant it. He had a slightly better idea for it. This could technically move payloads around, and disrupt Planet a little... either triggering fungus growth, or perhaps tectonic activity... His friend Alexandri stood watching him. “The men are ready to move. They... want some words of confidence..”
Zarhakov smiled kindly. “They deserve at least that, for all the work they have done. Our grand plan is working! We shall ascend! Have you seen the latest warhead schematics? They are calling it the ‘tectonic missile.’ The warhead is supposed to even be able to raise the land! A great achievement for us...”
Alexandri replied,”Wasn’t that originally from Deirdre? I thought I heard that her scientists had done the research?”
“Yes... at least most of it. Our scientists broke through into the tectonic research.. she provided the major share of it though.”
“Did you tell her what you found?”
“Well.... not yet.. You know how she feels about intervention within Chiron’s cycles...”
“And what’s she going to do? Impose sanctions because of research? She would never try such a thing! Besides, that would mean admitting she was researching such deadly military applications!”
“I guess you’re right... When should I tell her?”
“Preferably now! Don’t wait till after you’re done building the missile! She has ears everywhere!”

Morgan sat stonily, staring at the Director of Internal Security. He had been arrested and dragged off by his own men. Now, he sat in interrogation. “Tell me, Director, how much were you paid to have me killed? Was it enough to pay for the cost of all this, and the loss of your job?”
The Director responded,”Why do you insist that I attempted an assassination? What evidence do you have to prove such?”
“You ordered your mean to shoot on sight! In an area that I was known to be in! That could fairly be judged as an assassination attempt! What do you have to say to that?”
“I tell you! Your sensor was not showing up as present there!”
“Would you like to check the records? Our technicians are very meticulous, and they can prove that my transponder was operating fine! Admit it! You tried to have me killed, and then call it an accident! You would like to have me gone, wouldn’t you?”
“No! You are the driving force behind us! You are the reason for the Morganites’ existence! I would never intentionally cause harm to you!”
“And you think I believe your lies?” Morgan stalked out of the room.

The Data Angels were happy in their success. Their warriors were hailed as hero’s, and were treated graciously. Little do they know the full consequences of their actions. Their pilots began to sortie over the Pirate bases, often, taking dangerous risks to show off and taunt the Pirates and the absence of any good anti-air defense. This illusion was soon to be shattered.

The veteran Pirate divisions slipped stealthily through the fungus, carefully avoiding the sensor grids. Cutting a narrow swath with their weapons, hoping that it wouldn’t trigger any satellite alarms. Now, if they could just get in place....

The drones were rioting. This riot, however, was no ordinary riot. It had a purpose, a driving purpose. It was not just a protest, it was a mean to the end. The Data Angels, could not be blamed, however. They had no way of knowing what was behind these riots. Oh, they suspected. With only narrow evidence, they could not be sure, however. Soon, though, they would realize what a terrible mistake had been made. And to think they could have stopped it in the beginning, with but a few simple words...

Narov was running low on fuel, and began his bank turn, to return to base. Out of his cockpit view, to his left that he was banking on, a glint of sunlight off some airborne pod caught his eye... another craft! He slowed the bank, trying to get a good view of what it might be. Whatever it was, it wasn’t showing up.... yet... He got on the com to the nearest Angel base, calling in and asking for a AAA with some radar to check it out... and treat as hostile.

Deirdre frowned. Zarhakov, on the other end, sighed softly, too quiet for the com to pick it up. Resigned, she said,”You deliberately withheld knowledge of a weapons research project? You deliberately engaged in research which is designed to harm planet? And now, you’re saying you deliberately lied to me about the capabilities of the research?
Zarhakov, on the other end, responded,”You make it sound much worse than it really is. Your people were the ones..”
Deirdre cut him off with a sneer,”Listen to me, my good Academician. You know perfectly well the problems that I’ve been having with Planet. And your missiles are designed to tear it apart! And you think I’m making it sound too bad? You listen to me, and you listen well. For starters, you are going to lock that research down, now. Next, you will cancel all plans for construction of your ‘tectonic’ missiles, and disband all the materials that you have on them. Furthermore, you are going to need to transfer the contents of all the data networks that this data made its way through to me, immediately. Do you have any idea of what you have done?”
The Academician responded,”Deirdre, really, you’re overreacting. Our data networks are perfectly secure, and you know it. Roze herself couldn’t crack into our network!”
“The vaunted Roze has had her networks sabatoged, and you think her vote of confidence is going to convince me? Nonetheless, that is not my primary concern. I am not willing to trust you with such deadly technology. And not just you, what if you are overthrown? One of the ambitious students beneath you may get it in his head that Planet is an atrocity, and decide to try and fight it! Then what would we have on our hands?”
“Please, we will transfer the research files. But Diedre, please take some time, just rest. When was the last time you got out? Visited one of your beautiful gardens? To use the old Earth phrase, get out and smell the roses! You’re stressed! Its understandable, considering all your duties. I’m your friend, your ally! You don’t need to yell. You always said talking to Planet made you feel better... why don’t you try that?”
“Thank you Prokhor,”she said, calming down. “What as for yourself? When was the last time that you, as you put it, smelled the roses? You are always cooped up in your gloomy and musky research centers... you haven’t enjoyed Gaian hospitality for a while! Come, visit me, old friend. Your people are to report anyways, why not come and make it personal? Surely their is someone who can keep the machines running at home while you make a long overdue visit to our lands!”
The Academician smiled. “I may take you up on that, Diedre. I very well may.”

**Ouro_827** · April 23, 2004, 14:09

Morgan was silently turning over the thoughts in his head, when he heard a tone, siginaling he had a vistor. Slowly, he pulled himself out of his chair, and strode to the door. Opening it, he found the his personal secretary. “Squad leader Gadri, Tachyon Rover Division Four of Morgan Industries here to see you, CEO.”
“I’ll see him out here.” He stepped out into the waiting area. 94 The lieutenant stepped forward, saluting.
“Lieutenant Wilhelm Gadri reporting as ordered, sir!”
“At ease, Lieutenant. You may be seated.” They both sat, and Morgan leaned back in the plush, comfortable chair. “Now then Lieutenant, do you know why I have called you here?”
“No sir!”
“I have asked for you to answer some questions for me. Is that all right Lieutenant?”
“Yes sir! I will do my best!”
“Good, good! Now then, what is your mother’s name?”
“Excuse me, sir?”
“I asked you, what is your mother’s name? Are you refusing to answer?”
“No sir! Her full name is Becky Amder Gadri.”
“Good then,” Morgan said, a smile on his face. “Were you not on backup patrol eight rotations ago?”
“I was, sir.” He paused. “Does this have something to do with the fungus burn, sir?”
“It may, or may not. Now then, could you recall for me what happened after you recieved the call for backup?”
“Well, sir, we had to warm up the rovers. We were supposed to get off shift soon, and their was no point in wasting support energy on it.
“That was good of you. Please, continue.”
“The call came in, something about fungal problems. As soon as the rovers started, we pulled out of the station, and just about ran throught the fungus. We started to burn throught the fungus, but it hurt! Not hurting us... not really. It was like something was in our heads, tugging at our thoughts..... then it would erupt in pain whenever we swept the beam throught the fungus. We got a path burned throught to the primary task force. The thing was, I hadn’t seen a single worm! There’s usually worms in the fungus anyways, and always when it blooms like that! It was just... the fungus kept coming! We were burning it for nearly half a hour before it stopped coming! Then, we had to burn it back to the perimeters. I bet the Lady’s hair was in tangle about the burn-off....” He remembered who he was talking to. “Sorry sir! I must have been thinking out loud.”
The CEO chuckled. “She did at that. She had me on the com half a minute after you men started. Something in your heads, though? Do you go to see an empath about that?”
“No sir. All the men had them, so we figured it must have been the...... food.”
“A little on the job drinking?” When the Lieutenant looked amazed, the CEO smiled. “I’m not an all seeing god... I have come to recognize embarrassment thought. That is what I think should be next. Your entire squad should report to your base for empath counseling by next rotation. I don’t doubt your story, or think you’re crazy... but you’d be amazed at what the scans can reveal. Do you understand?”
“Yes sir!”
“You are dismissed, Lieutenant. Thank you.”
“Yes sir!” He turned on his heel and left.

As the University squad marched past, they did not notice the faint sounds in the fungus. In their wake, a five man squad wearing the Pirate ensigna on their shoulder emerged from the fungus. They ran across the path, and laid something down on the ground next to the door terminal to enter the base hatch. Three kept their eyes on the lookout, and one typed something on the object. He then attached it to the side of the terminal, where it attached. Then, they turned to run into the fungus.
They had been striding away for less than a minute, when they suddenly collapsed to the knees, and reached for their weapons. A woman emerged from the fungus. Her uniform bore the ensigna of the University, but the facial marks about the eyes told her as Gaian trained. With but a raise of her hand, the mindworms swarmed out of the fungus around her. As the Pirates recoiled in horror, reaching for their chaos blasters, the first of the psychic attacks was launched at them. Some went prone, pulling at their hair and shrieking. Only one even go off a shot, but it went wide and up, useless.
Ten minutes later, there was an explosion on the nearby base grounds. The outer doors were blown open, and alarms began to sound. Air raid alarms. Two missile interceptors were scrambled, and they caught the first wave, a set of chaos bombers from the pirates. They went down for fuel, then in came the missile planes. The strafed down the base, loosing their payload at the breach in the doors. There was an immediate request of backup interceptors to target and eliminate the planes. The Pirates must pay, and soon.

Narov landed, and set out to find out what had happened to the unauthorized craft he had spotted. Apparently, the Data Angels didn’t put much stock in the word of a Univerisity pilot, because there was no record of any patrols being dispatched. He let loose a string of Russian curses while standing in the fighter’s lounge, waiting for refueling to be done. The mechanic came in and informed him the jet was ready to go. Narov disgustedly marched out to his plane and took off, pulling up a full twenty feet before he was supposed to and earning a tounge lashing over the radio until he took his headset off. He headed off for the Data Angel territory. On arrival, he took some time to circle around the area that he saw something at. This time, he saw the fungus rumbling around, and a burnt through area. He reached for his radio, then realized that it wasn’t any more likely that a patrol was going to be dispatched now than when he called in last. He pushed the stick down, and dove at where most of the movement was.

Zarhakov had perfectly timed his movements. The troops were to strike shortly after he left, when they least expected his men to be ready. He was escorted to the cruiser that was going to take him to Gaian lands. He stepped aboard, and saluted the captain, then shook his hand in greeting. “It is good to have you aboard, Academician. If you’ll just step this way, we have your quarters ready for you.” As Zarhakov stepped inside, the crew were already untying the lines that held them to the dock. A loud salute sounded from the ceremonial guns of the fourteen ship escort that was responsible for escorting the cruiser to shore. On reaching their destination safely, two would return to port, several would be brought around to the nearest Gaian base and turned over to them, and the rest would undergo strike south against the Pirates. Everything was going fine.

The factions in the story are based on the characters of Alpha Centauri and Alien Crossfire, both ©2001 - 2004 Firaxis Games. All rights reserved

**Ouro_827** · April 26, 2004, 13:24

Comments, anyone? I know someone is reading it, because views went up!

**Illuminatus** · April 26, 2004, 15:21

Could you remove those numbers please?

**GeoModder** · April 26, 2004, 19:36

I recall reading sections of it earlier...

Did you post it somewhere sooner, Ouro?

Great story, but I keep wondering why writers so easily move outsystem. It's like Chiron (or Alpha Centauri) itself isn't interesting enough.

**Ouro_827** · April 26, 2004, 22:26

I'm removing the numbers slowly.... I'm not moving out of system, Geo, its just that I ended up making it that way to explain some things that appeared in it... yeah, I posted it it one of the pages around here, but it wasn't its own topic, so I didn't get any comments..

**Sovereign** · April 27, 2004, 00:16

Ouro, your story needs some formatting, then its good to go.

**Ouro_827** · April 27, 2004, 13:27

It was formatted... how do I get formatting to work on the boards?

**Paddy** · August 22, 2004, 22:52

had fun reading this on the train this morning

looking forward to reading more of your work

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