Beyond Alpha Centauri :::

[GeneralTacticus]

ENCRYPTED VISUAL DIPLOMATIC TRANSMISSION:
TO: Morganite Foreign Ministry, Morgan Interstellar
FROM: General Menelaus, Supreme Leader of the Laekdaemon Cadre

Your apology for your slowness in replying has been accepted. We appreciate your agreement with us and shall await the arrival of you diplomatic team with anticipation.
Enclosed are the data-files we have compiled on Progenitor technology as promised. In addition, we are transmitting a map of our system indicating the current extent of our mineral reserves.

Regards, Menelaus

[GeneralTacticus]

Laekdaemon Central

General Menelaus sat in the Cadre Council chambers as his advisers filed in. “Well ladies and gentleman,” he said when they had all seated themselves, “you are going to have to run things without me for a while.”
“Then, sir,” replied Warmaster Leinin, “you will be leaving now to negotiate a treaty with the Free Drones?”
“Yes, Warmaster, I will be. This council will run the Cadre in my absence, but if any major crises occur, send a message to me at once. And I particularly want you to keep an eye and a half on Lysander and Co. We don’t know where he went, but his followers are still here and still a threat. Now, does anyone have any reports to present me with before I leave?”
There was silence for a moment before Leinin spoke up again. “Yes, sir, I have some reports to make.” He consulted his datapad briefly before looking up and going on. “The orbital shipyard expansion which we have been working on for the past two years is now complete, and we are ready to start on the prototypes of the two heavy ships that were designed some time ago. Our scientists are currently testing some new energy weapons for use in ship combat, though unfortunately they are too large and energy consuming to be used anywhere else. Raymond, what’s the status of our weapons production?”
“Well, sir, we have been able to finish constructing a new tank factory outside Athena Nova, which should be able to produce new chassis on a rate of 10 per day. In the last week we have manufactured another 1000 gauss rifles, and 800 new armour suits. Our surveyors have discovered a new mineral deposit on Laekdaemon VIII, and have added this to our charts. We have produced another new needle-jet squadron, which will be equipped with the standard armament of Gauss cannons and gatling lasers. On a related note, I would like to begin sending colonists to the moon of Laconia. There are some minerals there which would be very useful to us.”
“Go ahead, Raymond.” Replied Menelaus, “Anything else? Anyone?”
The others shook their heads.
“Dismissed.”

* * *

Menelaus strode into the Cadre launching bays with his bodyguards close behind. One of the workers there saluted him and pointed off to the right. “Your shuttle is over there, sir.” The man said.
Menelaus nodded and headed across. When he arrived the crew all saluted him and indicated that the ship was ready to go. He nodded at them and walked up the ramp into it. His guards and the crew followed him and the shuttle soon lifted off. About a quarter of an hour later Menelaus saw the five ships that would bring him to Vega, and the shuttle headed towards them. It glided into the hold of one of them, and the other ships formed up around it before the whole group accelerated away from the planet. After some time they engaged FTL drive and vanished from the system.

[Lonestar]

To: Admiral Garland(UCS)
From: War Minister Kolasklar of the Protectorate of Man
Re: Communication frequency.

I have been authorized by the Lord Protector and Senate to give you to following information;

(1) Protectorate Diplomatic frequency # 32-2 (exact frequency in appendix.)

(2) In order to contact the Lord Protector, you are to send a message on said frequency to Roving.

(3) You are to remain five lys away from Roving. Any one of your vessels that approaches,especially cloaked, will be either destroyed or detained.

(4) Matters pertaining to trade and commerce will be addressed at a later date between the Lord Protector (or his representitive) and a representitive of your government.


This concludes our transmission.

Go With God.

War Minister Nishant Kolasklar
The Protectorate of Man

[Frankychan]

2 lyrs from Roving
Hive Corvette Skipfire

Captain Fassini stared at the massive University ship in awe. Moments ago they sent a coded transmission informing him that both of them were to head to Hive space. Hive decoders were working on the encrypted transmission at the moment.

A Hive technician called to the captain, interrupting Fassini's quiet awe.

"Sir, we have decoded the encryption...It's true, Hive command wants us to head toward Hive space. It has the Emperor's Personal Seal attached. Hive command also gives the location of our destination...planet Drone Mound."

Fassini continued to gaze at the University ship. I wish I commanded that. Captain Fassini turned around to issue his commands.

"Helm, plot a course to planet Drone Mound. I want three course corrections on our way there. We are going to stop at three locations before reaching our destination...just in case anyone decides to follow our flight vector."

The captain turned to the viewscreen one last time.

"Give the University ship our confirmation and the first set of coordinates to follow...we're in their hands now."

* * *
To: Admiral Garland, UCSS Enterprise
From: Captain Fassini, Hive Corvette Skipfire

Admiral Garland, we have confirmed Hive commands authenticity. We have plotted a course that we will take that will take us to Hive space. We wait for your order to jump.
* * *
--------------------
Hive Prime
Emperor Yang's Private Office

Emperor Yang read the latest message from Provost Randius. Randius wanted diplomatic channels opened as well as embassies established. Yang planned on having planet Drone Mound as the official University meeting place. Sheng-ji also prepared the planet by personally sending ambassador's to the planet to welcome the University guests.

As the Emperor continued to read the Provost's message, his face darkened. Apparently the Protectorate was causing trouble to the University Commonwealth as well. So Protector, there is more to you than we see.

Yang pushed the com-button to begin recording his message to Randius.
* * *
Encrypted Visual Message
To: Provost Randius of University Commonwealth of States
From: Emperor Sheng-ji Yang of Greater Hive Empire

Academician Randius, it is good to hear from you so soon. I agree that we should begin exchanging diplomats for the beginnings of an alliance. However, the establishment of a University embassy in my territory is one that troubles me.

The Hive Empire remains isolationist and therefore, we value our privacy. I have taken the initiative of having one Hive world on our fringe designated as the site of a University embassy. The planet's name is Drone Mound.

I believe we should move slowly with a full alliance for both of our governments sake.

As for your observation of Protectorate incidents, I thank you for this bit of information. It will be...useful to us. (Yang's glance trailed off-screen for a second).

I hope that we can meet face-to-face one day so that we can personally meet each other.

Yang out.
* * *
--------------------
Hive ambassadorial ship: Seeker of Truth

The Seeker of Truth exited from FTL space into the legendary Sol System, the birthplace of the Emperor.

Ambassador Sillk felt slightly agitated as he stared out the viewport. He couldn't wait to meet the acclaimed Terrans of old.
The pilots voice suddenly filled the cabin.

"Ambassador Sillk, we have spotted our communications ship, the Watcher's Eye. We will be heading there shortly."

Sillk nodded in content, then reached over to the comm.

"Pilot, as soon as we are within range, transmit our message to the Terran goverment via the Watcher's Eye.
* * *
Encrypted message
To: Terran Government
From: Hive Ambassador Sillk, via Hive communications ship

Terran government, I am Hive ambassador Sillk. I will be conducting our negotiations between our two governments. I must speak with your commanding officer as soon as possible. We must discuss Morganite aggression.
* * *
--------------------
Hive Patrol Ship Darkdance
System Wu345

The Darkdance's sensors scanned the wreckage of the Hive cargo vessel. Analyses of the wreckage recorded stated that Fusion weapons were used to destroy the ship.

The Xiero captain shook her head.

"Fusion weapons. Our cargo ship didn't have a chance. Are there any bodies?"

One technician turned to the captain.

"No sir, not even a body part floating around. Sensors indicate no organic matter anywhere."

The Xiero snorted, "It's like the crew vanished."

After contemplating the next course of action, the captain issued her command.

"We're leaving, record what you can. I want this reported to Hive Command. Something's wrong about all this."

Minutes later, the Darkdance engaged in FTL.

[Lonestar]

The Chesapeake, Roving

The Chesapeake tugged the battered San Jacinto to the Beaumont Repairyard that had been built in orbit of Roving 3. The Monstorous 2.5 km Battleship. actually larger than the new Goliath Battleships was a dominating sight.

Captain Christopher Acosta took the time the examing the records of the trespassers. Like the San Jacinto, the Chesapeake was part of the last generation of Protectorate Warships that didn't incorporate Dosi technology. Odds were that the University Vessel's missiles would have done as much damage to his ship's hull as the San Jacinto.

He has still confident the Chesapeake could have destroyed the intruders. Still...the events of this past year had been unnerving. The Protectorate may have to take more aggresive actions if they were to avoid being destroyed by the Chironians or the Terrans.

Acosta glanced at the viewscreen. It showed several ships in orbit. The Tactical overlay indicated 15 battleships had arrived in the Roving system in the last 24 hrs, and 22 Crusiers, mostly light, in the past 30. Massive Orbital batteries were underconstruction.

Acosta's lip twitched, thinking of the GHE and the UCS. What would it be like, he wondered, To unify all of Homo Sapiens?.

-------------------------------

To: His Imperial Majesty Sheng-ji Yang the 1st
From: Lord Protector Ian of the Protectorate of Man
Re: Roving Incident

Your Majesty, I must say I am distressed, distressed, I tell you, that you behave in such a manner. Such actions are not befitting the ruler of a great empire.

Fortunatly, your Empire is unremarkable.

For someone who cherishes his isolation almost as much as we cherish ours, you men were very eager to intervene in our affairs. The University vessel, as I'm sure you know by now, entered a Protectorate Holding, cloaked, and attempted to crack into our encryption net. We both know you would quickly order your Defense forces to destroy a ship that attempted such a thing in your Empire, so why would you be so quick to stop us?

Well now, your Majesty(exagerated sarcasm) I must admit I hadn't expected you to be so quick to show emotion. I have gone over your profile from the Unity mission, and more than a bit puzzleed by your reactions. Perhaps you are getting senile in your Old Age.

Old Age...That reminds me. Your comment, "I was conquering planets while you were still in the childrens creche", do me the favor, and when your diplomatic mission lands on Earth, look up information on the Texas Republic's Endeavor mission. You also might want to look up the Battles of the 2nd Mexican War, specifically the organizer of many of the Militia Units around San Antonio.

You will find I am not as big as an upstart as you think.

[History Guy]

A Walk in the Rec

Recreation Commons, Central Plaza Area, Morgan Interstellar

CEO Nwabudike Morgan strolled through the elaborate gardens of the recreation commons of Morgan Interstellar, soaking up the artificial sunlight from the large sunlamps suspended above the glass dome so high above Morgan and all the trees growing about him. This day he was another year older, but he hardly noticed it, the years passed so quickly when he was under the influences of the Longevity Vaccine. It was still cold outside the rec-commons, of course, but inside it was warm, quite pleasantly so, in fact.

This warmth is something these plants need, reflected Morgan, they couldn’t survive long outside the recreation commons. The only problem with the planet chosen for the headquarters of Morgan Interstellar was that the soil content wasn’t very good, Earth and Chiron vegetables could not survive long outside the protective domes of the cities. The prime reason for the choosing of Cyrus as headquarters planet in Morgan Interstellar was the excessive mountainous regions along which energy was so easily trapped. The seas were also rich in minerals that could prove very pricey when sold abroad. Then, there was the air...Cyrus was thus an ideal place for a full-scale colonization effort, especially for a government based on commerce and industry like Morgan Interstellar.

Morgan hadn’t paid a visit to the rec-commons since the start of this damn-fool business with Terra, and so he’d forgotten how wonderfully pleasant they were. As he walked through the crystal garden commons of the large rec-complex, he tried his best to ignore the security men lurking behind the many trees, watching Morgan’s every move and the moves of everyone about him, and focused on the others enjoying their time at the rec-commons. There were two elderly patricians sitting underneath a palm playing a game of chess with ivory chess pieces, while sitting nearby in the verandah alcove a man and a woman ate and talked.

After a few minutes of walking about the plants and sniffing the flowers, he saw a familiar couple chatting idly near a copse of pines. They held each other’s hands and looked deep into each other’s eyes as they spoke to one another. Morgan chuckled as he saw them, Ben Ewell and Sophie Carstairs. The two were recently engaged to be married, and Morgan wished them all his best. Turning about, Ewell spied the CEO. At first Ewell looked quite embarrassed, but Miss Carstairs gave the CEO a wave, shouting, “Good afternoon, CEO!” Ewell quickly put on a smile.

“Ah, good afternoon Sophie, Ben, how are you this fine day?” asked the CEO, advancing towards them.

“All is well, CEO, we’ve got the dates set up for the wedding and all, sir. In two months, the 14th of May, at St. Benedicts,” responded Ewell.

“Splendid. I’ll most certainly be present, my friends,” said the CEO, taking a seat at a table beside them. They also sat down. Morgan made friends easily. He had the charm, the money, and usually the time to do so. Furthermore, Morgan called everyone his “friend”, he even referred to some of his political opponents in this way, and so, despite his ruthlessness in most political and commercial matters, everyone who knew him soon came to like him over time.

“We’re glad to hear it, CEO,” responded Miss Carstairs, speaking for poor Ewell. “I understand it is your birthday today, CEO,” she said after ordering a lemonade from a passing porter.

The CEO laughed slightly. “Ah yes, birthdays. Every year they give me a huge silly party and I’ve forgotten it even happened by the next day. Don’t tell Miss Kwan this (Miss Kwan always sets up these things), but I hardly notice ‘birthdays’ anymore.”

After a laugh, Miss Carstairs asked, “How old are you, CEO?” Mr. Ewell looked slightly embarrassed once again.

With another of his laughs, the CEO replied, “Miss Carstairs, you obviously haven’t been around men much in your time, otherwise you would no that one thing never to ask a man is ‘how old are you’. But seeing as you are such a wonderful girl I’ll tell you…696 years to the day. In other words, I’m the oldest bugger about…at least in Morganite territory!” Morgan took a seat beside the couple as the drinks arrived. After a sip from his drink and said in a low voice, “Six hundred and ninety-six. Heavens. I’m that old, am I? When I was born, attaining that age was a scientific impossibility. Now, however, anyone with the money can do it. Six hundred and ninety-six…Good Lord…When I was born in 2005, 696 years separated me from the late 1200s. 696 years separated me from the French rule of Sicily, the last several Crusades, and St. Wenceslaus. My word, I am old, aren’t I? Now 696 years separate me from several hundred nasty wars on Earth, from the Sahara Burst Wars, from my diamond mines, from my family…It’s remarkable. I don’t feel old at all.” Morgan thought to himself a bit, not really too sure where this was leading him. “I’m sorry,” he said, “Excuse my mad ranting. Next I’ll probably be frothing from the mouth and several old women will shout to the security men, ‘Old dog! Old dog!’” he said with a slight chuckle.

“You aren’t old, CEO,” said Miss Carstairs with a smile, “Or at least you don’t seem it to me…or to anyone else. You just have an impressive bunch of numbers to boast about. You’re a very lively fellow, as everyone knows.” Morgan gave another laugh.

Ewell, feeling a bit left out, moved his chair a little closer with the odd words, “Oh, rather.”

“Now, look, you shall both have to meet me at Rudolpho’s this evening for dinner,” said CEO Morgan, suddenly. “I must have lunch with Imran and Temple and talk over politics and strategy today at 1:30, but if I didn’t I’d take you two to lunch, but it’ll have to be dinner, I think. Is this alright?”

After thinking on it, Ewell said, “I suppose so, CEO. Is it alright, Sophie?”

“Yes, Ben.”

“Splendid,” said the CEO, “How’s 7:30 sound?”

"Rather good, I should think."

"Oh excellent. By the way, Ben", said Morgan, leaning a little closer, yet another friendly smile playing about on his lips, "We'll be having new openings soon for higher offices in the commerce department. How would you like to be put down on the list for the guys to hire? It'll pay better, and I'm sure you'd like to take a break from being about good old Mr. Delgado and those grease-paint eyebrows of his..."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

TRI-ENCYRPTED DIPLOMATIC TRANSMISSION
TO: Queen Maria Sanchez, Saturn Kingdom
FROM: CEO Nwabudike Morgan, Morgan Interstellar

My Dear Queen M.,

It most certainly is most unfortunate that what looked like such a promising political agreement had to end so dismally. I trust, however, that in a short matter of time this war will be long past, and our friendship may continue.

I hope that your kingdom’s association with my government will not damage your reputation or even put you in any danger whatsoever. It is most unfortunate that at this time this distressing business must arise, especially in the case of the birth of your fledgling society. It is also most unfortunate that, as you say, our diplomats are marooned in each other’s territories, unable, it seems, to move for the duration of the war. I fear that sending back Miss Sofia to you kingdom would either 1) put her in danger of accidentally being shot down by the Terran Alliances fighters en route to Saturn, or 2) damage your reputation and make things appear to show Miss Sofia to be a traitor to the Terrans. Either case would be a very sad and unfortunate thing, which we both must strive to avoid.

As for possible covert trades during this war, they would be quite possible. I think that if you are willing to take the risk they might prove beneficial to both our governments. If proper protection against discovery can be made, then I suggest opening these agreements at the earliest possible time.

I trust I find you in good health, Queen Maria.

I remain,
Graciously yours,
Morgan
------
WHERE DO YOU WANT YOUR NODE TODAY?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

[Sovereign]

2 LY from Roving
UCSS Enterprise

Admiral Garland sighed. He had just finished reading the two messages, one from the Protectorate ship the Cold Harbor, and the other from the Hive ship the Skipfire. He signaled Ship to Ship Comm Officer Mulahoney to compose a final mesage to the Cold Harbor and another message to the Skipfire. He also instructed Mulahoney to inform the UCSS Einstein and UCSS Newton to assume escort duty of the Skipfire as soon as the group got underway.

**************************************************
Encryoted Tranmission to Captain Omar Bradley, Cold Harbor
From Admiral Garland, UCSS Enterprise

I have recieved your reply and your comm frequencies. I shall foward the comm frequencies to the leader of UCS to hopefully initate peace talks. We are now withdrawing, as a gesture of goodwill. It is my sincere hope that we will be able to co-exist in peace, rather than war.

Peace and Prosper.

**************************************************
Encrpted Tranmission to Captain Fassini, Skipfire
From Admiral Garland, UCSS Enteprise

I have recieved your proposal to be escorted to Drone Moud. I am informing my battleships to assume escort formation. We shall commence FTL shortly, and we shall follow your lead. We shall remain at Drone Mound as per Emperor Yang's request, until a more solidified alliance is formed.

Peace and Prosper.

**************************************************
UCSS Enterprise bridge

Admiral Garland commanded, "Initiate tractors on the Magellan, and prepare for FTL." The crew obliged, engaging in a frenzy of action and shouts.

The Enterprise slowly began to inch foward to the crippled Magellan, and slowly tractored the Magellan to the Enterprise's largest docking bay with green energy beams. The energy reacted to the Neutronium hull, creating an electromagentic field of attraction to the UCSS Enterprise, thereby pulling the Magellan towards the docking bay. Several minutes passed as the Magellan was carefully docked within the bay, and then the huge FTL drives of the Enterprise hummed to life.

The Skipfire needled into nothingness as it engaged its FTL drive. The three massive UCS ships followed suit a millisecond later. The space looked so empty with the absence of the trio of massive warships, where a huge and probably bloody battle would have occurred if not for the quick thinking on both sides.

The Enterprise and its two battleships formed a protective triangle around the Skipfire, to ensure that the Skipfire wouldn't come to harm easily. After a hour, the group arrived at the first destination coordinates, and then the Skipfire transmitted another set of coordinates. The group jumped into FTL almost immediately, and the another hour passed before the second set of coordinates were reached. The Skipfire transmitted another set of course corrections, and the group followed the Skipfire's lead. Yet another hour passed before the third set of coordinates were reached. Skipfire finally transmitted the final set of coordinates, Planet Drone Mound, and the grouip arrived a hour and half later.

As the Enteprise approached the planet, its features were striking, with green tinted oceans, with red landmasses and several huge clusters of clouds roaming the sphere.

Admiral Garland massaged his temples and debated with Captain Ryu, "That was a lot of jumping around like fleas attempting to escape a fercious itching by the dog. Thankfully our ships are more than capable to engage in such rapid FTL changes in course. I understand why this would be a viable course of action, but why all this cloak and dagger secrecy?"

"Perhaps it is because the Hive would prefer to keep its true strengths and weaknesses hidden, so to surprise enemies once war arises."

"Hmm... quite logical, Captain Ryu. We are doing the same thing, hiding our robotic units until wartime, and when enemies expect an easy conquest or victory would be sorely disappointed. I wonder if our esteemed Academician Randius is keeping that from Emperor Yang. Even alliances hide secrets, and to preserve an alliance, some secrets have to be revealed to each other to preserve trust and at the same time security."

Admiral Garland motioned to Comm Officer Mulahoney to send a tranmission to the planet.

**************************************************
Encrypted Tranmission to Planet Drone Mound
From UCSS Enterprise

This is Admiral Garland of the University Commonwealth of States. The War Carrier UCSS Enterprise and the escort Einstein class Battleships have successfully escorted the Skipfire to this location. Our orders are to stand by, and serve as a goodwill envoy. Our leader Academician Randius has authorized us to aid in defense if needed.

Peace and Prosper.

**************************************************
University Commonwealth eXperimental Starship Prometheus

Academician Randius relaxed in the leather command chair of the Prometheus bridge. He had just recieved updates from the Enterprise battle group, and a new tranmission from Emperor Yang.

The AI of the ship informed Randius, "I am now ready to depart on my maiden voyage."

"Engage."

The Prometheus slowly decoupled the Trak-Eleva tube and hummed to life. It began to fire its sublight engines, emitting the green glow of supercharged plasma, and the Prometheus deftly weaved and dodged through the masses of mines, assembly yards, and asteroids until it finally exited the asteroid belt.

Academician Randius inquired, "Are the new Excalibur reactors ready?"

"Affirmative. Engaging FTL drive now."

The Prometheus accelerated foward into FTL at twice the speed of ordinary vessels, and engaged its experimental Excalibur reactors. It reached record FTL speeds unattainable by any human faction ships previously.

"We are approaching 18 light years per hour. Approaching the Nova solar system."

Several hours later, the Prometheus made a wide semicircle around the Nova solar system to head towards the Zak system. Two hours later, the Zak solar system loomed in the holo-viewscreen. The ship, again, semicircled around the entire solar system in record time.

Randius asked, "Hey, can we FTL to the two new solar systems that are being colonized? Spira and Eden?"

"Affirmative. Estimated arrival to Eden is 5 hours, 46.8253 minutes."

"5 hours and 47 minutes? Impressive."

The Prometheus arrived at the Eden system, and as it circled the system, it used its experimental enhanced sensors to record data.

"Thank god we colonized and claimed this fertile solar system before anyone else even got a whiff at its existence. The Eden solar system is aptly named. I read three Earth-class planets, two Mars-class planets, four beautiful gas giants, and two ice planets."

The female voice interrupted Randius's musing over the data with, "Now we are proceeding to Spira. ETA 3 hours and 39.273 minutes."

Upon arrival in Spira, Randius began to scan the data rolling over the holo-screen. The Spira solar system was rich in minerals and resources, and had an excellent Earth-class world, home to three civilizations, the Guado, Al-Bhed, and the tiger Ronso. All are members of the University Commonwealth, being the only alien species in the University for the time being. However, several dozens of millions of University citizens moved to Spira in 2675, due to its paradise cities and landscape, as well as building stronger ties with the three native civilizations. As further information scrolled across the screen, it displayed that Spira also had three gas giants and four volcanic worlds similiar to the ones found in Zak. In addition, Spira had an arctic-class world, a much larger version of Pluto in Humanity's ancient birthplace, the system of Sol.

"Academician! My new sensors are detecting previously unknown ruins on the third gas giant, designated as Berrik. In addition, I am detecting solidified hydrogen in the general area of the ruins."

"Take a closer look! This may be of much use."

"Affirmative."

The Prometheus exited FTL near gas giant Berrik and spent the next couple of hours scanning the planet, analyzing its atomsphere, identifing elements present in the planet, mapping the rough locations of the ruins, and identifing solidified hydrogen deposits. Tremendous amounts of raw data were collected and stored in Prometheus's data tanks.

Prometheus spoke up, "Sufficient data has been collected for analysis on the homeworld."

"Take us home, then."

The Prometheus warped back into FTL tunneling, and in a half-hour, it arrived in the Univeralis system. It taxied past the asteroid belts, back to Station Myria. As it approached the Trak-Eleva tube, Prometheus readied its airlocks so Academician Randius would be able to exit the ship. A net-ship veered off course from a fabricator plant nearby and charged towards the Trak-Eleva tube that Prometheus was connecting to. After multiple frantic calls from the station command center ordering it to power down, change course, or kill its engines, the station powered up its weaponary.

Admiral Brackiss shouted, "We must protect the Trak-Eleva to ensure the safety of our Academician!"

The command center was in utter chaos.

People were yelling at each other.

The tachyon cannons opened fire at the rogue net-ship that was charging at an insane sublight speed of 0.7 lightspeed.

Missed.

Missed.

Missed.

Direct hit.

The net-ship lost its engines, and slowed down slightly to 0.5 light speed. But it was too late. Its momentum carried it towards the Trak-Eleva tube, and impacted with it. A spectular explosion ensured, and multiple shards of the ship flew in all directions. Randius was preparing to enter the airlocks when the impact shockwave shattered the Trak-Eleva piping for several hundred meters. The Trak-Eleva wasn't made out of Neutronium, rather it was made out of standard ceramsteel. However, the neutronium armor granted complete immunity towards projectile weapons, rogue asteroids, and rammings. However, the airlock was not made out of neutronium, therefore, it was smashed utterly. Only the interior airlock, made out of neutronium alloy prevented a hull breach. On the other hand, even neutronium armor doesn't block energy, so the shockwave continued through the neutronium hull unimpeded and threw Randius aganist the corridor wall.

What the hell....

Unconsciousness fell upon Academician Randius Zakharov.

[Frankychan]

Planet: Great Collective
Communications Room

Ehud walked around the command table sipping hot Hiverian tea. The steam rose from the cup, dancing in front of Ehud's face. He watched Shirlak, who was making final adjustments to their plan.

Shirlak and Ehud decided to begin Hive operations on the Morgan world of Samnos. Its location next to Terran space made it ideal for a Terran-Hive invasion.

Shirlak stood up and dismissed a Hive official sitting next to him. Ehud took a sip from his tea while Shirlak reviewed the operation.

"Hive saboteurs weaken Samnos and Naxos defenses. Sensors and power supplies are to be disabled or destroyed. Next, Hive assassin's will terminate Morganite officials. After initial sabotage, our agents will cause widespread panic amongst the populace, preparing the way for invasion."

Ehud nodded in agreement while smiling behind his cup of tea. Finally.
--------------------
Morganite World: Samnos

The glittering Morganic city sparkled on Samnos. People everywhere were dressed in elaborate clothes and walked from one party to another.

Past the glamorous lights of the casino's and parties was one of the power suppliers to Samnos.

A hover-van drove up to the checkpoint and was waved through after security checks confirmed its identity. The van continued to drive until it approached the power supply complex. Five individuals wearing Morganite technician uniforms entered the main building.

Half and hour later all five men were killed.....an enormous explosion ripped the power supply complex apart, engulfing everything nearby in heat and flame.

At that moment a large portion of Samnos lost its power, blanketing much of the populace in darkness.

[Cybergod]

Voyna Zora Spacedock, Titan

Torres tapped the desk in front of him with his bonny fingers. The old hands showed their owner’s age and experience. The eyes have seen too much, the ears have heard what they shouldn’t have, during the Great Persecution, fighting for the revolutionary cause. He was expected to relax, being on the winning side, but holding and defending a world was a tenfold harder than to declare independence. His white beard and short hair, together with white buttons and medals on his uniform, contrasted the overall colour of his dark robes. And Torres’ old face never tired.

A hologram of his head-of-command popped-up and he listened.

“…must board the X-5 vessel. The detained spy will be shipped there, along with our probe team crew. They will carry confidential data, which means the latest crypting and anti-detection technology must be used. Understood?”

“Yes sir,” said a deep voice. ‘If the TA finds out, we’ll be in for some real bull….’ he thought to himself.

“And the other matter – prisoners of war. They must board the transport vessel that will head to Earth. Details are listed to you. Myodin out,” and the hologram disappeared.

Torres pressed a button on his desk and shortly the door to his right opened and light came into his dark office. A young oriental-looking officer, in blue uniform, entered without much sound.

“Officer Shantoi, you are to take care of our detainee. Transport him from his chamber to the X-5 vessel. Clear?”

“Yes sir,” an unusual voice, with no accent answered and stepped out of the room.

***

Mr Sym looked at the floor of his cell. It was metallic, newly constructed. ‘Specially made for me,’ he thought sarcastically. His face was showing signs of physical weakness, being stranded on this strange world of Titan, where nothing was like it seemed. ‘The twisted AI,’ he thought, ‘I should have given the damn thing a thought.’ Now, waiting to be executed upon arrival, he had nothing to do but hope, something completely non-existent to him.

Suddenly the heavy door of his cell pulled itself in, like any other biomechanical apparatus would, and a man in blue uniform walked in. He looked at Mr Sym blankly. He then pointed the psych whip at the man’s head and Sym felt a tingling sensation as the officer did a light search of his memories. Suddenly Shantoi disengaged the whip and analysed the data using his wrist pad. He smiled as he addressed Sym:

“I was hoping to find you in good shape Mr…”

“Sym,” the other man answered.

“Mr Sym. Well, the Emperor would be most pleased,” Sym suddenly jumped up. It was the Hive! They got through somehow. But why him?

“You will be an invaluable resource to the Emperor’s greater plans. Now you must come with me,” and the face turned to a cold stare, gesturing Sym should follow. They walked out of the cell, everyone assuming everything is ordinary, as Officer Shantoi was holding a psych whip in his left hand, suggesting everything was under control. As they entered a compact elevator, Sym couldn’t contain himself not no ask:

“I never expected you to find me here. But how did you bypass the colonial AI?! Surely you wouldn’t risk detection?”

“We searched for the source of the datastream you sent to us and we tracked you to this location. Our infiltrators did the rest. The Titans think that having a centralised security system is the best way to handle security. In fact, if our own teams can access the core of the system then all their efforts will be futile.” The door opened and they approached the cells where the prisoners of war were kept. In one cell, Kain looked up with a surprised expression to the officer who was pointing a psych whip fully loaded and waved in it his direction. The weapon did its work and Kain’s neural network completely collapsed – he was now no more than a body without a functional nervous system.

“Take his clothes and assume his identity until you arrive on Earth. Our teams will handle you there,” Shantoi said as his small wrist commlink flashed discreetly. He looked at it and then at Mr Sym, directly in his eyes.

“Mr Sym, it was a pleasure to meet you,” as he dragged the half-naked body off to the nearby disposal unit. It was to be treated as organic waste to be reprocessed in the Recycling Tanks. Mt Sym watched the man leave and then put on the clothes of the dead man.

“Good evening officer Kain,” Sym chuckled to himself.

***

ENCRYPTED DIPLOMATIC TRANSMITTION
TO: President Henry Gerald Tremaine
FROM: Queen Maria Sanchez

Dear President,

Forgive me for not waiting for your reply but I am just announcing that, as a gesture of our good will, all Earther people that were detained on Titan are scheduled to be returned to Earth in any moment now.

Please consider my earlier message,

Regards,

Maria Sanchez

END OF TRANSMITTION

[History Guy]

Revelation

Morgan Interstellar, Central Plaza, M.I.A. (Morgan Intelligence Agency) Building

The light switch of the office of Mr. Ku, head of M.I.A., Morgan Intelligence Agency, was suddenly, and violent yanked upward, filling the whole room with the dim glow that the small energy lamp produced. Mr. Ku preferred the lights to be dim, he always had headaches when it was much brighter than this. It was just right as it was now. That rather pleasant light greeted Mr. Ku as he entered his office and removed his small, tri-cornered felt military cap, and then his long gray coat, which he hung on the tall rack standing beside the door. He had just come back from an exhilarating war game with his second, Kao-Tsung. These war games were necessary in his line of war. As usual, Mr. Ku had won decisively.

Mr. Ku pulled back his leather chair at his little metal desk, and brushed aside one of his many copies of Sun Tzu, placing his MorganDeskTop in it’s place directly in front of him. After ringing up a secretary for a mug of green tea, he turned the computer on. After a few minutes of checking the transmissions sent personally to him, he saw one from one of the operatives in the Saturn Kingdom. The message read: “Something afoot, will send more info as thing progresses”. Ah well, it’ll have to be looked into. As he prepared to look onto some other things, Kao-Tsung made his way in, unannounced, without even so much of a knock. This greatly disturbed Ku.

“What in heaven’s name is the matter, Kao?!” cried Ku, jumping up from his seat. This had to be bloody well important…at least it had bloody well be bloody well important, or Kao-Tsung would be receiving quite an earful.

Slowly advancing towards Ku, Kao-Tsung said quietly, “I’m sorry to barge in, Mr. Ku, but we are receiving disturbing reports from the colonies of Samnos and Naxos, on the Terran border. It seems as if there was a terrorist attack on those two colonies. I thought you should know immediately.”

“Oh Lord…” said Ku, “What has happened now, child?” Mr. Ku referred to everyone younger than he as “child”. This included nearly everyone. Ku was, after all, a Chironian.

“Several unidentified terrorists managed to destroy the power plants of both Naxos and Samnos, plunging those colonies in total darkness for about 13 minutes before the back-up power was put on. When the light came on, we found what the terrorists had done.”

“Which was…”

“That they had murdered the Governor, Wzeloski, and his whole family. Right in their own quarters, it seems. All six bodies were found riddled with shredder fire in the living space of their quarters. It seems they were all herded into this one room and there they were all shot to death. And that wasn’t all, sir, it seems Colonel Taylor Nevins, defensive supervisor of the two moons, was also shot to death outside the military barracks. It seems that when the lights when off he ran down from his HQ to see what was the matter. An attempt was made on the life of Major General Marmion as well, but the terrorist sent to kill him came too late, for he prepared to fire as the back-up power came on, and he was revealed to Marmion, and several members of the staff. The terrorist’s shot ricocheted off the wall in back of Marmion, but the terrorist was shot dead by staff officers. It seems several other terrorists were found dead, but their corpses all were unidentifiable, as many had put a shredder pistol to themselves as soon as they accomplished their mission…those that hadn’t blown themselves up along with the power plants already…”

Mr. Ku sat for a few minutes in silence, thinking of what to do. This was pretty bad. It could have been worse, serious damage to the colony defenses could have been done. The Governor and the defensive supervisor, though, that was a heavy loss. Wzeloski was a very trusted fellow. He had always been a great supporter of the CEO, and a good friend to Temple. Temple, he’d take this news hard. As for Nevins, he was a good officer too. The Morganite government doesn’t place inept officers in command of anything. They may be decadent as hell, but they are no fools, thought Ku.

“I suppose what the first thing to be done is get the news to the CEO. We shall have a lot of work to do, weeding out the terrorists, finding their homes of origin…destroying them. It’ll be like old times, like what we did to the Cepheleens when they revolted. We hardly needed to toss a grenade, it was my boys who shut them down. The same thing for the Hive on Chiron. Morgan didn’t have to send his military in with the Spartans and the Coalition, M.I.A. was causing enough havoc in Hiveria to help our allies out…”

“You think that when we find out who’s responsible we’ll be sent in to damage their government?”

“If they have a government, this could very well be the work of a small gang, or a mafia group, or perhaps even groups like the Black Shadow, you know. Whatever it is, you can be sure that the government will ask us to send in our men to go do some very nasty damage. I suppose prime suspects are the Terrans…or the Hive, perhaps.”

“The Hive, sir? Do you think they are involved?”

“Almost certainly, I should think. After we intercepted the Earther’s little note to them we have to come to that conclusion. I hope not, though, I hate the Hive…That terrorist who tried to murder Marmion, was his body so badly shot up that he is unrecognizable?”

“No, thankfully. The staff officers only put several holes in the man’s chest, but his head was undamaged. There is thus a good chance that, if he is Terran or Black Shadow, or whatever, he can be identified. If he is Hive he may still be identified…”

“But that sort of thing will be much harder to do. How did you get this information?”

“Colonel Motyer, Morgan’s quiet little lackey, told me this on the way to the CEO. He wanted you to be one of the first to hear, as you will be the one who will be most useful in the counterstrike, if there is one.”

“Oh, Kao-Tsung, my child, I do not doubt at all that within several months whoever did this will be wishing he hadn’t…When CEO Morgan gets angry, God help anybody in earshot…”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

MorganNetDaily.com
All the News a Morganite Needs
Pg. 1
Special Edition

TERRORIST ATTACKS ON SAMNOS AND NAXOS!: This evening the minor Morganite colonies of Samnos and Naxos (on the Terran border) were hit by a terrible terrorist attack that took the lives of 34 Morganite citizens, among them Governor Paulus Wzeloski and his family of five, Colonel Taylor Nevins, Supervisor of Defense, and Garret Reynolds, owner of a Morganite casino on Samnos that was hit by debris from the colony’s power plant, which was, like that of Naxos, blown up by an identified group of terrorists, who also murdered the Governor and his family and the defense supervisor. The suspects include the Terran Alliance, the Earth Coalition, InEn, the Greater Hive Empire, or the secretive group known as the Black Shadow. READ FULL STORY

EXODUS FROM NAXOS AND SAMNOS BEGINS: In light of these terrorist attacks, a full-scale exodus from the two moons has begun. Shuttles are already leaving the moons full of tourists and colonists alike. Many are convinced that the two moons will shortly be attacked by the Terrans, and that this terrorist act was merely the first stage. Samnos-based Transportation Officer Susan Kennedy says, “People are leaving Samnos like crazy, getting out as fast as possible, taking all their belongings, just so as they can get as far away from here as possible. They really think that this place is in very serious danger…” READ FULL STORY

RED ONE ALERT ON ALL TERRAN BORDER COLONIES: Major General Paul Lehman, second-in-command of all Morganite military forces, has announced this evening that all Morganite colonies bordering on Terran holdings are on Red One Alert, the highest alert possible. “In light of this very clear and present danger, this is all that can be done. Not only now are civilians leaving the area, but so is our own 1st Corps, which can not be endangered by being left in so perilous a position.” In consequence, security and military strength will be beefed up in the area. If it is attacked, Terra will have a heavy price to pay for it… READ FULL STORY
--------
WHERE DO YOU WANT YOUR NODE TODAY?

BE PATRIOTIC! SUPPORT YOUR ARMY! BUY WAR BONDS! CLICK HERE
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

[Cybergod]

Voyna Zora Spacedock, Titan

“Where is he?!?” Torres shouted across the room to the two submissives that were standing in front of his desk, who felt slightly intimidated by his voice.

“He is nowhere to be found. His cell is empty, the computer cannot detect him anywhere in the base, sir!” one of them cried. Torres turned a surveillance hologram on, showing various locations around the base.

“Security systems 95% online,” the computer voice crackled, after an hour of inaction. “The detainee is nowhere within the base perimeter.”

Torres was now both mad and fearful. Mad that he couldn’t execute the task properly without a setback. Fearful – wondering what Forces Marshal Myodin might do.

“Send after Officer Shantoi, he was meant to be in charge of the prisoner. Now!”

***

Officer Shantoi watched as the transport ship lifted off into the orange sky, securing his mission’s success. Suddenly claxons began to wail throughout the military installation. The AI security was back. It was time.

He spoke into his commlink on his wrist quickly and then destroyed it by repeatedly hitting it against the nearby wall until the electronics cracked. Then he pointed the psych whip to his own head as he spoke his last words:

“For the Emperor…”

***

“He what?!?” Myodin shouted at Torres. Maria was standing next to him, her face in a bewildered expression. She was wearing her unofficial violet robes.

“I told you sir, the systems were offline for a full hour. Detainee Sym must have sued this to his own advantage and escaped!” Torres defended himself.

“The task was your responsibility!” Myodin snapped and Maria interrupted.

“Gentlemen, it was probably not Major’s fault. The self-aware colony requires much maintenance,” She shifted her position and started walking around. “But is the rest of the probe ship crew in proper condition?”

“They only lack the detainee, but all data is triple-crypted and secure. Our weak stealth technology is implemented in the ship design, along with long and short-range scanners. However if the EC, TA, Morganites or anyone else decides to take a shot at it, they could easily destroy the weakly armoured ship. But the likelihood of such an event is ignorably low,” Myodin concluded.

“Good, good. Now what do you suggest we tell the CEO? His own infiltrators will probably tell their own version of the events. It would be much better for him to hear it from us than anyone else,” Maria asked Myodin.

“Our Queen, I’d suggest that you graciously should tell Morgan that his ‘diplomatic’ was involved in a covert operation in which an unidentified third party was killed and that he was planning, or possibly even found the time to do it, to disclose data on the Morganite army. You could even send him a recording of our fellow Sym in action.”

“Excellent suggestion Marshal! Now, for him to identify our probe ship, he should be sent its unique frequency Transmittion in a separate triple-crypt datastream, after my message to him. The probe ship will answer in that frequency and will cooperate with the Morgan intelligence centre. Captain Tyre must consult immediately with Minister Tanaka about the tech trade immediately. We will offer data on Advanced Bio-machinery and our weak experiments in Psionics, which I feel the CEO will find most interesting. Especially if we demonstrate the powers of the psych whip to him,” a small grin swept across Myodin’s face for a second and then Maria continued. “They should ask for anything involving Nanotechnology or Robotics. Those fields are the ones we require in our Kingdom’s development. Marshal you are to execute that task. Major, this incident will appear on your record but you are free to continue your job for now.”

“Yes, Our Queen,” both men saluted as they left the room.

ENCRYPTED DIPLOMATIC TRANSMITTION
SPECIAL: FTL TRIPLE-CRYPT
LABEL: URGENT
TO: CEO Nwabudike Morgan
FROM: Queen Maria Sanchez

Dear CEO,

I have matters of great importance to discuss with you.

Your diplomat, under the name of Mr Sym, was caught in covert operations in which an unidentified third party was involved. He tried and probably succeeded to divulge data on the complete Morganite Forces, not to us, but to an unknown third party. I send you the recording of Mr Sym in action as an attachment. However, Mr Sym is no longer with us and appears to have escaped our grip. He is now labelled as a fugitive on our lands. You will probably take your own course of action.

The probe ship, christened Quantum Shadow will lift off Titan soon and travel to Morganite space. They will broadcast from the frequency I will send you in a separate triple-crypted stream afterward this. We are willing to exchange data on Biotechnology/machinery and Basic Psionics in exchange for the latest you have on Nanotechnology and Robotics.

Best regards,

Maria Sanchez

END OF TRANSMITTION

[Frankychan]

Hive Prime
Emperor's Sparring Dojo

The opponent swung his massive right fist in a downward blow. Sheng-ji ducked, easily dodging the clumsy Bulwark. Yang wore only the sparring pants which flapped noisly as he moved with surprising quickness.

The Bulwark crumpled over suddenly, clutching his stomach in pain. No one saw the three consecutive blows the Emperor landed as he dodged the Bulwark's attack. Sweating, Yang walked over to grab one of the towels hanging on a wall.

"Get up, you can leave." Yang said to the Bulwark as it stumbled to his feet.

"Yes, my lord." The Bulwark replied and stumbled out of the dojo. Of course the Bulwark never had a chance; the match only lasted a few seconds. Sheng-ji had centuries to perfect hundreds of martial arts while the Bulwark only had his one pathetic life. This day in particular, Yang needed to stretch his muscles.

Reports came in that the campaign against Nwabudike and Morgan Interstellar had begun. Hive agents launched covert attacks against Morganite territory close to the Terrans. Shirlak and Ehud reported that the initial stages of the campaign went well.

But this news wasn't the cause of concern for Yang...it was the
latest message from Protector Ian.

The tone was very ominous, almost mocking. However it did have a great deal of information about the Protectorate that Yang found impressive. His momentary lapse of anger seemed to benefit him despite being out of character.

The message contained references to the so called Texan Republic and something called the Endeavor mission. Hive agents were looking into these records taken from Earth records pirated from their systems.

Senile in my old age. That's what Ian told Yang in the message. Sheng-ji wiped the sweat from his brow, lost in thought.

He goes too far. Time to make precautions.
* * *
To: Lord Protector Ian of Protectorate
From: Emperor Sheng-ji Yang of Greater Hive Empire

My actions are none of your concerns. I may act however I please and do not need to justify them to someone such as yourself.

In response to your remarks on one of our ships saving a University ship from one of yours...True, we would destroy any ship trying to break into our systems but it wasn't our systems that the University infiltrated, it was yours. If your government's encryption net is that simple to decipher, I think it should have been hacked just to show your government how inept they, or more appropriately you, are.

Our government on the other hand, would not have this problem because we are much more careful than your bumbling officials seem to be.

I must say that my demeanor in the last transmission was a little out of character, but nevertheless, it has proven useful.

(Yang smiled smugly)

I grow tired of our....enlightening conversations Ian. So I make this fact aware to you:

You and your pathetic government are no longer welcome in ANY Hive territories. If any of your ships are spotted in my space, it will be considered most.....unwelcome.

The Hive Empire no longer considers the Protectorate an ally, Ian. Remember that.
* * *
--------------------
Planet: Drone Mound
Conference Room

Ambassador McBride reviewed the University message that came through recently. The planets governor, Governor Melkin, sat across from the ambassador in a lavish chair obviously bored.

Melkin sat forward. "Foreign ships arrive in the Emperor's space and we are to think that they are on a goodwill mission? Are these University people stupid?"

Ambassador McBride set his datapad down and shifted his gaze to the governor. "The Emperor has been looking for these people since our ancestors left the accursed world of Chiron. He considers them his allies."

Melkin scowled, "At least those people had the decency to leave our corvette alone." Sighing, the governor leaned back in his chair.

"Very well, ambassador, send them a message. I'll prepare one of our hangar bays for one of their shuttles arrivals."

Ambassador Melkin nodded while the governor continued talking.

"But I am restricted their access to that specific hangar bay until we figure out exactly where they are coming from. I'm going to have Hive security there just in case things go wrong....We'll wait and see if these University people are genuine."
* * *
Encrypted message
To: Admiral Garland of University escort group
From: Ambassador McBride of Hive Empire on planet Drone Mound

Welcome, Admiral Garland. I am Hive ambassador Colin McBride. Our glorious Emperor has assigned myself to be the official liason between our two governments. I have been briefed on the current situation between our two governments and hope that we can strengthen our relationship.

Since you are the first government that is officially welcomed into the Emperor's space, we offer you and your people a chance to see Hive life. Therefore, we invite you and a chosen few to land on this planet so we may give you an official tour.

We are sending you coordinates so that you may send one shuttle to one of our hangar bays. Please send us your response as soon as possible.
* * *

[Lonestar]

The Palace, Nuevo San Antonio

Ian leaned forward and turned off the holo of Yang's smiling face. He turned to his "Inner Cabinat", Ministers Kolasklar, Pym, Onate, Grant, and General McCarty.

"Thoughts?"

Grant scratched his beard. "Hmmm....he's scared. We're a unknown, and being a creature that hides in the shadows, he fears the unknown. I recomend that we do as he says, and withdraw any...Ranging ships we may have exploring that general area."

Inteligence Minister Jose Onate spoke next. "Our inteligence on the GHE is spotty at best. Most comes from agents we have among the Gaians. What we do know, however, indicates that we would be unable to prosecute a offensive war without extensive outside help. Would the Dosi be willing to provide such help?" Grant was shaking his head.

"No, only defensive measures. The Ambassador has informed me that the Emperor considers this to be a 'internal species affair', and will only fight to prevent Protectorate Holdings from falling."

"So we're indestructible." Ian mused. He leaned back in his chair and took a sip of the Dr. Pepper on his desk. Like any good Texan, he prefered that elixer above all others. "And, of course, the GHE is too large and too populated to conquer on our own. Unless we had our own tricks up our sleeves." He looked at Pym and Kolasklar. Onate was curious at the expression, he had only just recently become a Minister, and didn't know what was going on. Pym spoke.

"I spoke to CEO Stone yesterday sir, he says there are...problems with the "Cyber" program, and he expects it delayed for another year."

Ian was quiet for a moment. "I am going to kill him over and over gain." Everyone else in the room shuddered, remembering he had done something similiar to Spartan leader Laurence Tarwater. "Fine. Minister Onate, use our remaing assets in Morgan Industries to find out what it's diplomatic channel is. It is time for us to be known."

[Frankychan]

Hive Fringe
Hive Expeditionary Fleet under command of Admiral Bippol

The last reports were coming in that the last three troop ships arrived...the last carrier arrived just moments before. The admiral turned to the communications officer.

"Patch me into Hive command." The small Fran ordered.

Seconds later, Warmaster Kang's visage shimmered on the viewscreen. Kang's mouth was ringed with fresh blood.

"Warmaster, our fleet is ready to depart on your orders." Bippol couldn't help but be distracted by the blood dripping down the Bulwark's fangs.

"Good, your fleet will wait at our deepspace station near the Morganite colonies of Samnos and Naxos. Once there, you are to keep your ships on red alert and ready to attack the pathetic Morgans."

The Fran bowed in compliance while the Warmaster's image dissipated from the viewscreen.

"Give the order to jump to FTL to the other ships. We must not fail the Emperor."

After a few minutes of ship-to-ship communique, the Hive Expeditionary Fleet engaged in FTL travel, heading for their spacestation near the Morganite colonies.

[Lonestar]

Morganite Capital System

The 2.5 km long 'Santa Fe' battleship Golden Horn entered real space some 300,000 km from the Morganite Capital world. Almost instantly, it was bombarded with hails from the System Defense force. Several large and well-armed vessels took up Firing position.

Captain Fox shook his head, and simply tapped the "transmit" button on his chair console. The Galaxy was about to change once more.

---------------------

To: CEO Nwbuneke Morgan, Moragn Intersteller
From: Lord Protector Ian McDiarmid of the Protectorate of Man
Subject: Greetings and Salutations!

Mr. Morgan, I pray that when you recieve this, your forces wioll not have destroyed my vessel.

Please, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ian McDiarmid, Lord Protectorate of Beta Hydri, Roving, and RE 123. I am sure you are wondering what faction or subfaction I orginiated from. I have sent a brief synopsis of the Protectorate's history, and I would be more than willing to sit down and chat with you on this later.

Sir, For 700 years now, my government has remained hidden from Humanity at large, which is just how we like it. However, times are changing, and it is now my decision that we should open up communications with the 'Galactic Club', as it were. Certainly, this would be very profitable for both us and you. I already have several Fortune 100 CEO's clamoring for buisness trips to your fine capital!

On a more serious note, we have watched with interest your conflict with the Terren Alliance. We worry that this war may get out of hand, and before long Humanity's home will be attacked directly. We would prefer that not to happen.

Therefore, I hereby offer my services to Mediate between the Believers/Morgans/Saturnia and the Terren Alliance. I know you are the most influencial of the allies, and I hope you will accept my offer.

If you do accept my offer, we can begin trade immediately. You will find that our tariffs will be low, however, our trade laws allow us to mirror other nations trade practices. Should you jack up Tarriffs, we will. Being the Free-Market gentleman that you are, I am sure there will be no problems.

Finally, I would like to invite you to take a tour of our fair capital city of Nuevo San Antonio. It is, I think, a lovely city. Of course, I am a bit biased.

I eagerly await your response.