The Great War has been cancelled.

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ArcaneDude
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Requiem for an empress

Post by ArcaneDude »

Who am I?

Explosions rocked the palace.

What am I?

A pylon collapses.

Am I....dead?



A few hours before

Elizabeth picked up the datapad lying on her desk. She looked through her appointments disgruntedly.
Oh. That's just great. she though, while scrolling down the long list of diplomatic officials and dusty aristocrats, trying to tighten their bounds with the Imperial Palace. One name sprung out of the rest.
Nathaniel Cesarus... she thought. Now there's a chance of an interesting discussion. He had made an appointment for lunch, probably wanting to go over the final plans to protect the IVL against future incursions. Well then. She picked up the picture of her daughter, Rebeca, from her desk, fondling over it with her thumb. She put it back, and walked towards the large, wooden door of her office.

Approximately 32 lightyears from Antaries, bridge of the Preserver cruiser Kinal'vorath.

The intelligence we gace you are accurate, Preserver! HOW DARE YOU PROPOSE OTHERWISE?

I am sorry, my lord, we are simply being cautious. Such a daring move requires maximum preparation, even a small...

I KNOW THAT. Do you believe massive show of power is our only way of battle? We know how to make such a move!


Excuse me, my lord. I will not question you again. We are ready to make the hyperjump soon, presuming that we are not detected yet.

Very well. Continue our plans, Captain. The reward for your effort shall greatly outweigh the costs..

Yes, my lord. Thank you.

The screen shut down, and the fearsome gestalt on it dissapeared. Captain Rikalth had always found the To'Hol Venaari creepy, but this one was worse than most others. The intel he provided, on the other hand, was reliable. It would assure them a quick and decisive strike against their enemies.
'Prepare for battle. Charge the hyperdives. I want Antaries burning within the next hour!'

Antaries high orbit, geosynchronous defense platform above the Imperial Palace

Colonel Brackett stampeded up and down the walkway above the empty hangar.
'Are those shields in place yet? What's the ETA on the goddamn freighters? I need those emitters yesterday!'
'The freighters have been delayed, sir.' said Lieutenant Shrödinger. The young Lieutenant was overseeing the operations below.
'Something to do with Preserver attacks, I reckon. They'll be here tomorrow morning.'
The Colonel grunted. Tomorrow wasn't soon enough. The orbital station was the most important one in the grid; it hung directly over the Imperial Place. With those shields down, it was a sitting duck against hit-and-run attacks. And with the MRA Archimandrite arriving to visit the Palace, things were even more volatile.
'Allright then. I guess we'll have to wait. Can you place backup generators for the time being?'
'For the whole station? That'd take more than a day, Sir.'
'Meh, not then.'
'Don't worry, Sir. There's a fleet in orbit, remember? And I doubt the Archimandrite 'll be coming in a rowboat, either.'
'I guess you're right. Okay then, wrap up those refits, people, we'll continue tomorrow. Let the pricks at NavOps handle station defense in the mean time.'

Antaries, Imperial Palace

Elizabeth walked down the marble floor of the hallway. Massive pylons stood on either side of her, creating the impression of trees on a lane. Birds would fly through the shielding every instance or so, as it was only designed to stop weapons fire. Their frolicking whistles made the palace a calming place to be. At least, if you think away the cleaning and servant droids, one of which was approaching her. The droid was an advanced piece of technology, almost humanoid, and with a VI intelligence. It was also pretty obnoxious.
'Your Majesty. We have received a transmission from the Victorious. Her Majesty the princess is aboard and wishes to speak with you.' it said in a nasal voice.
'Very well." Elizabeth replied. 'Patch the channel through to my office.'
'Yes, Your Majesty.'
The droid stopped in it's movements for a while, relaying her orders to the central comms AI.
'Your office terminal is ready to be connected, Your Majesty.'
'Thank you.'
She walked towards the large double doors of her office.

14 lightyears from Antaries. Bridge of the Preserver cruiser Kinal'Vorath

'Captain Rikalth, sir?'
'Yes? What is it?'
The captain swiveled his bridge chair around, facing the sensor officer, who was almost entirely encased in his console.
'We are detecting a large IVL ship, following an almost parallel course with ours. It's a Zeus class, we believe. Registry indentifies it as the Victorious.'
'And? What's so special about an IVL warship setting course for the IVL capital, hmmm?'
'According to the intelligence files the Technocracy gave us, the Victorious is carrying an important official of the IVL Imperial Palace.'
'Do we know who?'
'Negative, sir.'
'Has the ship detected us? Are we still under stealth?'
'Yes, Sir. They haven't seen us, or they're trying to give that impression.'
'Hmm. Of no consequence, then. Continue the operation as planned.'
'Aye, Sir.'

9 Lightyears from Anatries. Bridge of the IVL-DM-09-Victorious

'What's the ETA on the Lux Majestas?'
'They'll arrive at the capital approximately 10 minutes behind us, Your Majesty.'
Imperial Princess Rebeca Brewster sat in the captain's chair, watching the blue field of the wormhole in front of the ship on the main viewscreen.
'Good. I've always wanted to see a Michael Goede class. Have you ever seen one, captain?'
Captain Vandermeer shut down the datapad, and gave it back to the crewman standing impatiently in front of him.
'I haven't, your majesty. But I hear they're quite the sight.'
'They are, trust me. What's our ETA?'
'5 minutes, Your Majesty.'
'Well, then I guess I better get to the shuttle bay.'
'We've prepared a gunboat for you, Your Majesty. I'm more comfortable with you taking an armed and shielded transport. You never know.'
'Allright then. Thank you, Captain.'
'My pleasure, Your Majesty.'

Antaries High orbit

The hyperspace rift cut open normal space-time, and a blue field with blurred edges appeared. The sleek bulk of the Victorious Slowly emerged through it. It slowly drifted towards the defensive perimeter stations in orbit over the IVL capital.

Victorious, this is Antaries Flight Control. Stand by to receive course and orbit parking slot.

Understood, Flight Control. Victorious standing by. Don't keep the princess waiting, gents.

Heh. Don't worry, Victorious. Sending course solution now.

The Victorious manuevered toward the military space-lanes, veering left and right to avoid the swarms of civilian vessels going in and out of the planet's gravity sphere. It entered the military lane, slipping in between two military freighters.
Captain Vandermeer stood on the shuttle deck, watching the small parade of ceremonial marines flanking the princess up the ramp of the gunboat.
'Ten-HUT!' their commander yelled. The marines saluted as the princess walked up the ramp, rolling her eyes about all the military fuss.
'Safe journey, Your Majesty. It was an honor having you aboard.'
'Thank you, captain. Safe journey!'

The gunboat lifted itself from the deck, and flew through the athmosphere shielding. The shuttlebay doors closed behind it.

3 lightyears from Antaries, Preserver cruiser Kinal'Vorath

'ETA?'
'A minute, sir.'
'Allright. Charge our forward weapons arrays. Is the equipment they gave us operational?'
'Yes, Sir. The device is in place and ready for use, but our targetign scanners aren't precise enough for long-range usage. We'll need to come in pretty close.'
'Well, that's what we do, isn't it?'
'Yes Sir. It is.'
'Good. Give me another scan.'
'We're detecting a fleet in orbit, sir, as predicted. The Victorious is in geosynchronous orbit with the capital. And...odd.'
'Whaaaaaat?'
'We're picking up another signature. A ship, ETA to Antaries is seven minutes, Sir. It doesn't match any of the IVL profiles we have. I don't think it's IVL.'
'Then what is it?'
'The Computer is searchi...oh. This is bad.'
'WHAT THEN?'
'It's an MRA ship, sir. The Lux Majestas, from the registry. Michael Goede class OberDreadnought. We're not detecting any escorts.'
'A Michael Goede? Here?'
'Yes, sir.'
'Darn. That could complicate things a bit. No matter, though. We'd counted on a fleet in orbit, now we'll just have a bigger fleet in orbit.
'Aye Sir. Ready for jump.'
'JUMP!'

Antaries High orbit, geosynchronous defense platforms

Colonel Brackett had popped a blood vessel. Again. The Preserver cruiser had emerged a mere fifteen kilometers off the station's bow, and was closing in slowly.
'Charge our weapons. Give me a firing solution! I want that ship reduced to space-dust, people!'
'Our weapons are charged and operational. Acquiring firing solutions.'
'What the hell is that fool doing out here?' Brackett wondered.

Aboard the Kinal Vorath, a grenade was baing laid down on a small platform.
'Are we ready for transport?'
'Yes commander. We're close enough, and the station's shields are down.'
The ship rocked as the first missile salvo's hit.
'Start the transport. NOW.'

Brackett heard the obnoxious sound before anyone else. A high pitched whistle, and a small flash of light, right behind him. He pivoted on his left heel, and spotted the grenade, suddenly lying on the floor in front of him.
'What the mother fu...'
They were his last words.

On the ground, in the Imperial Palace, alarms sounded.
'What the hell is going on up there? Elizabeth asked. She and her daughter had just sit down for tea, and the service droid stumpled away.
The intercom turned on, and a monotone voice repeated;
'Attention, palace guards. Attention, palace guards. Emergency code red. Emergency code red. Evacuate the Imperial Family. Evacuate the Imperial Family.'
'Mother? What is going on? Code red is reserved for orbital attacks, but we detected no fleets on our way here.'
'I don't know, dear. Let me find out.'

Captain Rikalth stepped onto the transporter platform.
'Are you sure you want to do this yourself, Sir?'
'Absolutely sure, commander. Engage the transport. I want be the one sounding this glorious day for the Preservers.'
'Allright, Sir. Engaging transport.'
Rikalth took a deep breath, and when he released it, he was on the bridge of the IVL battlestation. Bodies littered the floor, and he nearly tripped over a Colonel with a rather surprised look on his burned face.
IVL imbeciles, Rikalth thought. He walked towards the command console, and inserted the small datadisk he had with him. The console immediately showed a download progress, as the computer program overrode the command codes. He tapped the weapons panel on the console. Shaking with anticipation, he activated the plasma beam arrays, and aimed them...straight....down.

'Your Majesties, we have to get out of here, the geosynchronous station over the palace has been boarded.'
'So? Let the marines aboard deal with it!'
'Madam, the station has activated it's weapons. We don't know how, but it has been captured.'
'What? Okay, that's enough reason to trail out. Rebeca!'
'I'm coming, mom!'
The palace guard tapped the comms badge on his wrist.
'Yes? WHAT? EMPRESS, THE STATION IS FIRING ON THE PALACE, WE HAV...'
A deafening sound rocked the palace. The marble columns collapsed, as the roof behind Elizabeth was reduced to a cloud of vapor. A massive shockwave threw the Empress forward, away from the blast radius.

Antaries high orbit, bridge of the Lux Majestas

'Archimandrite, Sir. We are deteecting weapons fire from the IVL Home Fleet. They are firing on one of their own battlestations, sir.'
'What? On screen, now!'
The Archimandrite could barely believe his own eyes. An entire IVL fleet descended down upon one of the stations, spawning beam fire and missiles, reducing it to a smoldering, shapeless cloud. Escape pods from the station were fleeing the battle, being picked up by IVL support ships. The station's beam arrays weren't even trying to protect it, they pointed straight down.
'What in the world of hell is going on there? Patch me through to the Imperial Palace!'
'Yes, Sir. Patching through.'
'Sir, the stations beam arrays...have discharged themselves.'
'What? They're pointing straight down, how can they....oh god.'
The Archimandrite sunk down in his chair.

Nobody actually noticed the small, umbrella-shaped Preserver cruiser, entering hyperspace.




Who am I?

Lights. Voices.

What am I?

Bright light. Worried voices.

Am I....dead?

Elizabeth slowly opened her eyes, immediately regretting it. THe light felt like a gunshot in her eyes.
'Uhh, doctor? She's waking up!'
'Turn down the lights, for god's sake.'
'Yes, doctor.'
The lights dimmed, and Elizabeth passed out again.

When she woke back up, her hospital bed was surrounded by people. People she knew. And people she wished she didn't know.
'Your Majesty, can you hear me? The Imperial Senate has...'
'Let her rest, Senator.'
'But...but we can't just do nothing, the Empire needs a leader!'
'My god man, shut the hell up! She's burned, cut, bruised, has a concussion, may be paralyzed, and you think she can lead a nation? Let. Her. Rest.'
She reckognized the voices. But she couldn't see the second man who'd talked.
'Archimandrite, I will not be talked to like that, I am an Imperial..'
Nathaniel Cesarus stepped towards the senator, and she finally see him. His expression went two ways; shocked, and angry.
'Senator.' he whispered. 'You will let her rest, and you will leave this room. Or I will do far more than talk to you like that. Do I make myself perfecty clear?'
'Wha...but...how....hrm.' The Senator flushed. He left the room, the other officials trailing behind him. Cesarus stayed behind, opening his mouth to say something, then quickly closing it.
Elizabeth tried to speak.
'A...a...Arch...'
'Try not to speak. You will strain yourself.'
'Wha...what...ha...'
The Archimandrite sighed, and took a deep breath.
'The orbital station...above the Imperial Palace...was captured by Preserver forces. We don't know how they got in, no one reported any fighting aboard. But they managed to upload a computer-virus, which overrode the command codes.'
He paused.
'They fired the station's plasma beam arrays on the palace. The planetary shields weren't up in time. Half of the palace was destroyed before the station could be stopped.'
'The...ship...?'
'The Preserver ship got away. I'm sorry, it was too fast for my ship to follow. We barely saw it when it jumped.'
A doctor tapped the window.
Cesarus exited the room, and immediately flushed when he saw the frightened look on the doctor's face. The man was shaking.
'Doctor?'
'The princess, sir.'
The guards in the corridor looked at each other. Cesarus looked through the room's window, into the intensive care room, careful to avoid the Empress' eyes.
'I'm sorry, sir. There was nothing we could do.'
'I'm not the one you need to be sorry to, doctor.'






Three months later

...The headlines today; IVL Empress Elizabeth Alexandria Brewster has stepped down from office, the Senate is discussing possible candidates for...

...Thousands of Loyalists have yet again gathered at the Rebecca Brewster shrine. Several Separatistic protesters attempted to disrupt the peaceful mourning parade, and have been arrested by law enforcement...

...The Empress wears a mask; symbol of her closed behavior these past few months, or is she really that badly burned? Get it all on Antegra One...


'The Senate demands action, your majesty. We cannot simply wait, the Empire needs a leader!'
'Calm down, Senator.' The Empress said. Her voice sounded muffled through the mask. 'I will leave the appointment of a temporary leader to the MRA, I trust their military leadership more than I do the Senate. You'll have to wait for them.'
'But Your Majesty...'
'That is all, Senator.'
'...Yes, Your Majesty'.
The greebly senator trailed out of the chamber, almost bumping up on Archimandrite Cesarus.
The Empress looked at him for a moment.
'Archimandrite?'
'Just checking in. May I ask you a question?'
'Of course.'
'You have refused any sort of plastic surgery, while the IVL has very good plastic surgeons. Why is that exactly?'
Elizabeth remained silent, then stood up, and faced Cesarus.
'My daughter is dead.'
'So it's out of grief? Is that it?'
'You don't know me if you think that's the reason.'
'No, I don't know you.' he said, now seeming agitated. 'No one really does, do they. But what I do know is that your daughter wouldn't want to see her mother walking about with a mask for the rest of her life.'
Elizabeth looked him in the eye, and Cesarus squeezed his own eyes to thin slits, trying to peer right into her thoughts. She took a deep breath.
'My daughter is dead. Murdered. I will not rest, not for a second...untill I've found her assassin. And he will look into my eyes, and he will feel the consequences of what he did.'
'A vendetta. I see. And what does that have to do with the mask?'
Elizabeth brought her hands to her face, and carefull put her fingers behind the edges of the mask. She clips open the buttons, loosening the mask. She takes it off carefully.
'Do you see it now?'
Cesarus' eyes went wide with distaste, pure disgust as he stares at her face. That face, once the face of an empire, once so pristine. That face...now blackened by fire, carved and mutilated. Her eyelids were gone, some of her skin melted away, showing the white bone beneath.
'Do. You. See it. Now?'
Cesarus staggers.
'I...I get it...I believe I do...'
'He will see the consequences of what he did. In fact, he'll look. Straight. At. Them.'
She put the mask back on.
'So. You'll try to find him. I presume an all out assault on the preservers is next?'
'I'm going to find him. Alone.'
'I see. Alone. And how exactly do you plan on doing that? You against the preservers, in the middle of a war?'
'You clearly don't know me.'
'As I said, no one really does.'
'How I do this is my business. And nobody else's.'
'I see. And what happens to the IVl in the mean time? They need their empress.'
'The IVL will be fine. The senate will choose a temporary leader.'
'In this time of war? Nonsense.'
Elizabeth started walking around the room, then stopped, and reeled on her heel to face Cesarus again.
'I HAVE IT COVERED. NOW STOP INTERROGATING ME.'
'I'm not interrogating you. I'm simply questioning your ability to think clearly.'
'WHAT?'
'You. Heard. Me. You would sacrifice a nation to exact vengeance on someone you'll never find. That is not thinking clearly.'
'GET OUT.'
'NO, I WON'T GET OUT. BECAUSE IF I'M GETTING THIS STRAIGHT? YOU'RE NOT AN EMPRESS ANYMORE. SO NOW YOU LISTEN TO ME. If you want to go after that preserver, be my guest. But it's a selfish act, and you don't need to count on me to support it. Get it?'
Cesarus turned towards the door, and left the room, leaving Elizabeth staring blankly at his back.
'Your support? Pfah. I don't need your support.' She said silently, and swallowed another painkiller.

Antegra, Imperial Family Private spaceport

Elizabeth stumbled up the ramp, dragging a heavy suitcase. She had refused to let a servant droid carry it. She carried it into the small yacht standing on the platform.
The suitcase carried clothing, painkillers, but most importantly, a plasma pistol. Everything she needed for her journey. She entered the cockpit, and sealed the outer hatch.
She looked out of the cockpit window, staring into Antaries' night sky, for a last time. She activated the ship's thrusters, and it lifted upwards.



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And in this Alliance we bestow our hope and will, that the Dogs of War may never harass the people of our homes again, and that it will bring peace, equality and liberty for all in need and despair. One Universe, One Goal. By the Manifest we command this.~ Saren Vil Ush
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Post by Lizzie »

The above post is officially endorsed by me. First person to give AD shit about taking my intellectual property dies horribly.
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Droid
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Post by Droid »

Great writing. :D
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Post by natan_j »

Agreed, that was pretty darn good. Beautiful, even. You portrayed the Preservers more or less perfectly, and the changes I noticed were all for the better. Good job! :D
One nitpick though, the larger preserver vessels are shaped like a boomerang/B2 stealth bomber, not an umbrella.
[url=http://www.wyrdysm.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2267]Ships of the Imperial Tul'tharian Navy.[/url]
[url=http://www.wyrdysm.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2878]Minifleet Project.[/url]
ArcaneDude
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Post by ArcaneDude »

Eh, sorry 'bout that. What I can remember of the one picture you showed me is that they have this cut-out umbrella shape, so much for my visual memory.
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Post by ArcaneDude »

This may not come as a surprise to some, but I believe making it official is necessary.

Between going to school, building fleets and running an RP while having no expercience with it at all, I've "take too much hay on my fork", as they say. I cannot continue the Great War, for several reasons, all related to that;

-the battle system is buggy and confusing
-a pivotal player is mostly AFK
-Encounters with the ships are time consuming and slow
-the organisation sucks big donkey dong.

I take full repsonsibility, of course, for this fiasco. I hope that some day someone will be able to take the concept and improve it. But it won't be me. I'm sorry for getting everyone's hopes up with this, but it's simply not working. I'm sorry.

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Post by Lord-General Thunder »

I hope this doesn't mean that there won't be another MRA download... :(

Can we expect a Technocracy download any time soon? :)
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Post by DeathsHand »

Curses :cry:

And I was soooo close to fixing up my fleet for submission. Hmm, perhaps we'll see a revival, or at least a clone in the future...

Annnd yes, a Technocracy titan spider ship juggernaut download would be awesome!
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Post by DoubleThink »

Guess this means Operation New Paradigm's off.

(Shifty eyes)
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Post by ArcaneDude »

Ehm. I cancelled this so I actually have more time to work on my fleets. Including the THV fleet.
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Post by AidanAdv »

DoubleThink wrote:Guess this means Operation New Paradigm's off.

(Shifty eyes)
Mitteilung empfing
Von:Fleetlord Omendais
Mitteilung:

Projekt Neues Paradign, Status: Schwarzes

Endenmitteilung \\
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