Chiron Chronicles: 2200

[Cyber]

OOC: Sorry, I couldn´t post earlier, but here goes...


The Spartan Commando copter near Believer-Cult Border

The relieved Spartan commando was sitting in the copter with the rest of the team, next to him the mysterious capsule, satisfied of yet another succesful mission. No enemies had even caused them trouble. Had they been so effective?

Suddenly he smelt something odd. As if it was the smell of...rotten. Soon the whole team could smell it. After a while of confusion, they found out the cause. The capsule was leaking.

What the team never understood was that the little fungus spores inside the capsule were dying, because they had been ripped out of the vicinity of other fungi and their comforting mental radiation, and were now being transported Planet knows how many feet up in the sky.
Normally, the only problem would be the smell, but now with the Super-Grow substance inside the capsule reversing the process from accelerated growth to accelerated rotting. The outcome was alot of gases in the process, which were about to completely pressurise the capsule, or in other words, to detonate the home-made bomb.

"Methane...d*mn... whispered one of the commandos, and scrambled for the capsule. The others made quickly way, as he took the capsule and opened the copter door. He could feel the huge pressure inside the fragile capsule.

As he threw the capsule out, it detonated a few feet from the Spartan. For a moment, only a cloud of flames was seen on one side of the commando copter.

The resulting shrapnel and fungi rain shredded the commando on the door, and covered all the others with dead fungus and deadly shrapnel wounds. The copter tilted badly, its one side blown up, and crashed down in a grand explosion, in Believer territory....

OOC:Natan, okay the hive pilot got away... this time

The scout mindworm unit

The scout boil was dissatisfied. It had moved too slow, and now they had lost their objective.

It dicided to stop, hide and watch the ongoing aerial show...

The locust swarm...

Between the burning napalm clouds, screams of locusts could be heard. The already badly wounded flock was even weaker now. The remaining flock, that had mostly survived with the help illusion, decided not engage back but to instead to return to base for the process of regrowth.
They contacted Nest of Fear, and reported their situation. As an answer, Nest of Fear was in the process of sending three battle-ready locusts swarms to stabilise the area.

The tired flock continued out of the battlefield, knowing that the enemies that would not quickly do the same, would soon suffer...

The west coast of the central continent.

The IoD quickly engulfed two youngling boils. Then it quickly disengaged and drove full speed towards the Cult coast.

The mindworm hunters were watching the Isle as it dissapeared into the horizont. It had been a good first harvest, but would it help their people? Would ten more good harvests help their people against the dark cloud that was the Believers and their allies?

Cult-Believer front

The Cult forces went into full alert in a record time. All units were ready, and three airborne units were on their way to clean the newest battlefield from enemies...
Meanwhile, dozens of telepaths, hidden amongs the many valleys and fungus patches behind the Cult bulk of forces, were ready to begin their deadly task of encouraging the growth of the native life in Believer territory...

[DarkCloud]

OOC: Lets just do the vote now. instead of having it drag on forever.

H.A. Prokhor Zakharov

Zakharov places his vote for Planetary Governor for the Spartan Leader, Colonel Corazon Santiago.

[Kassiopeia]

From: Father Theodore Deacon
To: Planetary Council

Sister Miriam is personally unavailable at this time, but she has authorized me to place the votes of the Lord's Believers to

Colonel Corazon Santiago, leader of Spartan Federation.

[Argonaut]

From: Datajack Roze
To: Planetary Council

To no surprise, the Data Angels vote for myself, Datajack Roze of the Data Angels

[Cyber]

From: Cult Ambassador Quzer
To: Planetary Council

The Cult of Planet has not deemed any of the candidates (without saying: especially Colonel Santiago...) worthy to vote for, so...

we abstain.

[Natan]

From: Chairman Sheng-ji Yang of the Hive
To: The planetary council

On behalf of the Central Committee of the Hive, I cast the votes of our faction for Colonel Corazon Santiago of the Spartans.

[Mr. President]

From: CEO Nwabudike Morgan
To: The Planetary Council

There are some principles which endure for all time and do not change, regardless of what else may take place. Among these are the rights of all people and all nations to exist in peace and freedom, without interference from outside forces.

Following an agenda incomprehensible to the free peoples of Planet, the Peacekeeping Forces and their allies, under the umbrella of the Chiron Alliance, have consistently disrupted the existence of other factions and infringed upon the very rights that they swore to protect.

In the interests of freedom, of security, and of capitalism, I, CEO Nwabudike Morgan of the Morganites, on the behalf of the Morganite people, place our vote for Colonel Corazon Santiago of the Spartan Federation.

May she lead the Council and mankind to prosperity and liberty!

[Guardian]

U.N. Thunder flight...

"All units, stand by to execute maneuver on my mark."
She quickly switched frequencies to address the person she believed to be a Believer at Far Jericho...

"Copy that, sir. Disengaging now."
She momentarily wished she could have seen the look on the Believer's face when the nasty, nasty PK b**ch suddenly rolled over and addressed him as "sir"... She almost giggled at the thought, then she took one last look at the dark dots up ahead...
"Spartan Bravo Squadron, this is U.N. Thunder lead. Adios amigos!"

In that same moment, all the PK jets went to full burner as they pulled up and away. Within seconds, they were all heading back up north.

"Believing Radar... sir, U.N. Thunder is disengaged and heading home. We should be exiting Believing airspace in approximately 2 minutes and 40 seconds. Thank you for sharing your weather data with us. Have a nice day, sir."

She looked over to her left and got a thumbs up from her wingman as they raced across the sky heading back up north.

[DarkCloud]

The University Sun-Governor

Santiago can Claim Victory!

In the election for Planetary Governor, barring a large disaster, Colonel Corazon Santiago can claim victory. She boasts 4 factions' votes, three of the factions being some of the largest and most influential on Chiron.

The only way in which she may lose the election is if the Free Drones, Pirates, Cyborgs and Gaians give their votes to Roze or Lal.


Santiago- 4
Roze- 1
PK's- 1 (Guardian?)
Abstain- 1

(OOC: What is the priate vote, free drones vote?)

[Cyber]

Dawn of Planet

Cha Dawn was watching through his office window the endless, beatiful fungus hills that surrounded the Capital of the Cult. Dozens of well kept fungus 'roads' criss-crossed through and around the surrounding fungus fields, and further away could be seen the shameful remarks of the desperate situation of Cultists. There, huge factories produced day and night more weapons for the brave people on the front, fighting and dying for their common ideology. And those factories were completely against the Cult ideology.

What should I do? Should I keep the Cult neutral?... will the end of this war come finally?...if not, then what could I do to end it now? thousands of questions were racing in Dawn´s mind, but with very few answers.

What will happens to us if Santiago gets in power as Planetary Governor? Will she turn the world against us?The Cult needs allies...
Dawn quickly went back to his desk and opened a comm. channel...

From: Prophet Cha dawn
To: Datajack Roze, Data Angels

Greetings again Datajack,

The situation seems a little more hopeful for the Cult, but what will happen to that situation when Santiago gets to power worries me much. I fear that hostilies will not end here, but doublefold. So, as much as it is worth and for hopes of better friendship, we will after all vote for you in the Planetary elections. I know it isn´t much, but better than nothing...

Prophet Cha Dawn

OOC: I really can´t explain why the Cult didnt do this earlier
From: Prophet Cha Dawn
To: Commisioner Pravin Lal, The peacekeeping force

Greetings Comissioner,

Although the war between us and the Believers seems to be finally ending, I fear that the situation might turn ugly if Santiago takes place as the Planetary Governor. So, as a favor and remembering the time when we helped you against the Spartans, keep your troops in New Hope, atleast for the time it takes to assure that Santiago and the Believers aren´t up to anything. Your precense will surely make them think twice, if they ever decide to make yet another backstabbing crusade.
What do you think Commisioner?

Prophet Cha Dawn

[Kassiopeia]

Voice of God News Network

Peace negotiations to begin after governor election!

In a statement made at the Planetary Council, the Believing representative Father Theodore Deacon informed the planetary community that the Believers are ready for a cease-fire.
The reactions of the public to the news is to be found out, but the Voice of God's own political analysts tell that... more on page 2.

Planetary Governor election takes a new turn

...as Commissioner Pravin Lal of the Peacekeepers informed the Council today that he retires from candidacy. It is common belief that this maneuvre is an attempt to bolster Datajack Roze's possibilites of prevailing Colonel Santiago. The Hive and the Believers have already voted for Santiago, as so have Morgan Industries and the University of Planet. The votes of the Chiron Alliance members are yet to be given, and therefore everything is now possible.
Also, a dispute rose up in the Council as Ambassador Quzer of the Cultist delegation withdrew the earlier vote of the Cult, now informing that they are voting Roze instead. The Spartan representative Karl Solo immediately argued at the matter... more on page 5.

Believing Embassy at Planetary Council Base

Sister Miriam read the news from the Council.
It all was so clear... The Alliance votes would now go to Roze. Lal was not a stupid man. If Roze would be a mediator at the negotiations, New Hope might never leave the Continent. But, Roze had her differences with Lal. Maybe it wasn't as clear as she first thought.
Miriam flipped the intercom switch and informed the security teams that she would be leaving for the Council building in a few moments.

[Sprayber]

[OOC: IIRC I wrote that the choppers with the evidence had already landed shortley after the jets did. They did leave the scene before the Pks got into the area. But oh well, I suppose there is no point in going back to it now. I had to edit my Spartan Captain's name because his name must have been considered obscene. ]


Righteous Sentence

Captain Castor activated the decryption sequence on his recently arrived message. Force 10 had been lying low since their arrival in Believing territory. Force 10’s 50 man team had arrived separately in different units over a three year period. The last of the men had arrived four months ago and had blended in until Castor had received a signal to await further instructions. Now apparently, those instruction had come. After he had decoded the message and read it, Castor leaned back in his chair. “Well, if this doesn’t get someone’s attention, nothing will.” Castor looked further down the list. He didn’t like having a big long list of people to watch out for. Sparta Command was tying his hands by insisting on these people’s safety. And if that wasn’t enough, he had been told to wait until final authority had been given. He would have ran things better, but at last that wasn’t his place. He deleted the message and destroyed all traces that it ever existed. Then, he got up to go assemble his team.

On the other side of Righteous Sentence, a Spartan transport plane came to a smooth stop at the end of the runway. Various officers and many armed Spartans assembled around the transport. After a few moments, the side door opened and two soldiers stepped out of the door and assumed positions on either side of the step ladder that had lowered. They wore the black and green armor of Jade Falcon. As more and more of the amore plated soldiers emerged from the plane, the soldiers outside in formations drew themselves straighter. Everyone there respected the Jade Falcons. Mostly for who they guarded. The last to emerge was Colonel Santiago. The base commander walked up to her and saluted. He attempted to welcome her to the Spartan base but she simply held up her hand to dismiss his speech. “Take me to your command and control facility. I wish to link up with the Command Nexus.” “Of course Colonel, this way.” As Santiago walked behind the commander, her Jade Falcons formed up around her moved out. Six others stayed behind to guard the transport.

******Level 5 Encryption*****
To: Marshal Kessel
From: Colonel Santiago

Marshal, you are to order the northern army groups to maintain their operations. The Southern Army groups are to pull back but are not to reenter their support bases. Simply adjust their movements according to plan Clandestine. Inform the Hive of our troop movements as they will come close to their territory in the North and South. Operation Market Garden may be needed to slightly modified. You were right to initiate movement for Force 10. I have decided that a personal visit to the Council under the conditions that we discussed before may be in order. Although I am hopeful that that will not be necessary.

[Guardian]

U.N.S. Peacekeeper, approaching Planetary Council Base

Commissioner Lal was somewhat startled when the ship's klaxons went off.
"General Quarters! General Quarters! Man your battle stations! This is not a drill!"
(Running footsteps echoing through the ship...)
The executive officer came walking briskly down the corridor, heading for the bridge.
As he was passing, the commissioner grabbed him by the arm. "What's going on?"
"It's just a security precaution, sir. We're approaching the Planetary Council Base and we want to make sure there won't be any nasty surprises on the arrival." Lal frowned. "What kind of surprises?" The XO shrugged. "We don't know that, sir. Probably nothing, but we're ready for anything, just in case..." Great! Just great! The U.N. flagship was going to arrive at the Planetary Council Base in full battle mode! Wonderful! "Now, if you'll excuse me, sir..." Lal realized he was still holding the man's arm and reluctantly let go. The officer excused himself and continued his brisk walk towards the bridge. After hesitating for a moment, the commissioner followed...


New Hope

"New Hope tower, this is Thunder flight with 4 Firebirds."
"Roger that, Thunder. You are cleared to taxi." As she pulled out of the hangar area and started rolling towards the runway, the man in the tower gave her the most recent weather update and informed her that - as far as anybody at New Hope knew - there was nothing new to report on the overall world situation or the more local conditions on the Cult/Believer front. Things had been quiet for the past several days now. Cilia was taking her flight out on a patrol mission in the border area to see what - if anything - was going on. The patrols that had been out yesterday and the day before had reported seeing troops from both sides holding positions on their respective sides of the border. Today she would see for herself. -And this time, she would make sure not to cross into Believer airspace. As she had said in the briefing room, there was "No sense in pissing them off when they're finally going where we want them."


Aboard the Peacekeeper

The entire task force was on alert now, sweeping the PCB and the surrounding waters and airspace with their long range scanners. Everything looked calm, but they'd stay on alert a little longer, just in case. On the aft deck, a squad of Marines were getting ready to board a chopper.

Lal hoped they would stand down before anybody noticed that they were on alert in the first place.
Yes, he could appreciate the need for precautions, but coming to the Council base with a fleet all set for war didn't seem like a very good idea for anybody and especially not for him...

On the bright side, he had just received word from General Braddock that the Spartan forces along the border appeared to be backing off a little. In response, the Peacekeepers had decided not to recall their personnel from the joint border posts. Staring off into the distance, he was lost in thought for a minute or so. He came back when the Marine helicopter took off with a roar from the aft deck and went swooping out across the waves towards the Planetary Council Base.

[Mr. President]

Morgan Industries Central Command
11:30 Central Continent Time

Defense Minister Michelle Pellegrino activated the videophone. She was due to receive a briefing on the terrorist situation from the field.

The screen came to life, showing the picture of a young officer, still in battle uniform. In the background Pellegrino could see heavily armed soldiers walking back and forth, and a reconnaisance rover parked, its broadcast antenna moving slowly.

He saluted. "Sergeant 1st Class Matthias Svensson, Special Forces. Reporting, Minister," the man said crisply.

Pellegrino nodded. "Please continue, Sergeant."

"Interrogators report that the terrorists claim to be from a group called the Steel Arms of Gaia. We're checking with Military Intelligence for data."

"I doubt you'll find any," the Minister said. She had spent most of the previous night reading reports on currently-active terrorists from all corners of Chiron, and had never heard of the Steel Arms of Gaia. "I don't think they exist."

Svensson frowned. "Then, with respect, Minister, who is shooting at us?" he asked.

Pellegrino sighed. "I don't know," she said. Pause. "Is there any more word on those Gaian nationals?"

"One dead, one captured, two unaccounted for," Svensson replied. "None reliably identified."

The Defense Minister rubbed at her eyes. What a total mess. "Thank you, Sergeant. Carry on. Report as normal."

Sergeant Svensson saluted, and his picture faded out. Pellegrino was left to consider the problem of identity. No-one seemed to know who the terrorists were. The signs pointed to governmental involvement, but no government stood out as a clear suspect. The insurgents who had been identified were mostly Morganites, with a couple of exceptions. Aside from the four Gaians, there were some Free Drones, Nautilus, University, and even Cybernetic nationals. Between groups that never existed and people with no names . . .

[DarkCloud]

The University Sun Governor

Deadline for Votes Approaches

With the deadline for Planetary Governor voting fast approaching, all factions but the Free Drones (14 votes?), Cyborgs (11 votes?) and Gaians (8 votes?) have placed their votes for a leader.

Unless they vote soon, it is apparent that Col. Santiago will win the election with her 41 votes.


The Believers placed their (6 votes?) to the Spartans.
The University's (12 votes?) went to the Spartans.
As did the Morganites (11 votes?)
And the Spartans (12 votes?)
-41

The Peacekeepers, in a remarkable show of bipartisanship, voted for Roze with their (14 votes?)
Svensgaard's Pirates voted Roze with their (16 votes?)
-30

The cult and its (5 votes?) abstained