| abstract
| - Date: Sunday June 17th, 2007 Time: 5:30 pm Location: Theramore Keep (( This is a War Council held to discuss matters involving a plot to reclaim Lordaeron and it's surrounding lands in the name of the Alliance. Any and all who support such an effort are welcome to attend. There are no IC bulletins for this event. Most of the news surrounding it are hush hush, however, should you spend a fair amount of time in Theramore you might hear whispers about a gathering that takes place in the top of the Keep. This event is open to Alliance only. We do ask that if you have any friendly affiliation with the Forsaken that you choose not to attend. Quite often the results of this gathering end in PvP related activities. (Attacks on undead settlements, ect.)
* If you're a Horde Rp guild who has sympathies with the undead, and are looking for some cross-faction Rp and possibly some small PvP battles, feel free to contact me, or register on our forums ( ) to discuss it further. Thanks! This is a recurring event that repeats every fourth week. - And I'll do my best to make sure the date remains accurate. Or you can check our calendar at our site for the next one. ))
- Several other unused units were once intended to be available to the player through the war council. The signifier as a Nerazim high templar, the skylord as a Tal'darim carrier, and the skytalon as a Tal'darim phoenix exist as partly completed units. The instigator is a completed unit that appears in one mission as a Purifier stalker, but in the final product the adept represents the Purifier faction alongside the stalker and dragoon. Data for the scout as a Purifier-faction unit exists; the scout uses the same assets as the AI-exclusive scouts, but has different stats and tooltips that imply it would have an afterburners ability to give it a temporary speed boost. There is also an incomplete Aiur void ray, and a "shadow archon" that would be merged from two dark templar. The shadow archon would have completed a trio of archons with the normal archon and dark archon, each accessible only by certain factions: the Tal'darim blood hunter contains unused commands to merge into dark archons, while the shadow archon was created by merging Nerazim dark templar. Data exists for an Purifier robotic assault unit called the "Resistor", which was replaced by the Nerazim annihilator. Data also exists for an unnamed Nerazim Sentry and a Nerazim Carrier called "Shakuras Carrier" that use the dark carrier model. In the final product, the Tal'darim motherships occupy the third slot in the capital ship tier, and the arbiter represents the Aiur faction in the assault ship tier. Unfinished data for a purifier mothership and an Aiur mothership exist; along with the Tal'darim mothership and arbiter, the three would have provided a separate tier reserved for cloaking support ships.
- Malion glances across to Ace, cocking a brow. "Kak dela... What the hell is bloody kak dela Ace?" He scratches the back of his head, looking slightly unsure. "If ya askin' if I have a VD, no I don't. If ya askin' if I'm alright... As expected." He glances towards Marlan, giving her a quick nod. "Gotta get ya that invoice Marly, don't run off before I get that to ya." Marlan's just exited the shuttle port, Ace is on the boarding ramp of the Faux... And Malion, he's on the boarding ramp. "Wouldn't think of it." Marlan replies to Malion and turns to Ace, "Alright...so where we headed to?" she asks, "Don't mind taking a hoopin seat somewhere, da." "Sorry," Ace chuckles at Mal, "Meaning 'how are you,' da?" She turns back to Marlan, "Is conference room through there," she points to the common area. "Provided, that is, that anyone shows up." The Jackal's hatch cycles open, and one orange-and-white furred Demarian walks down the ramp, her paws in the pockets of her long, red coat. Swiftfoot pauses behind Mal and looks down at him, one ear flicking halfway back. "She doesn't bite, Mal. You can leave the boarrding rramp, you know." The felinoid chuckles then, her whiskers bristling. "Better than I was," Malion says, offering a smile to Ace. He makes his way down the boarding ramp, taking a moment adjust his suit jacket. "How 'bout yaself Ace?" He glances back up to the Demarian exiting the Jackal. "Nah, Rhian might try and castrate me, if I'm too friendly with other doctors." He snickers, and then folds his arms across his chest, turning his head to regard Marlan once more. "Good, I'll try and get me finger out send ya that bill." Marlan looks in the direction that Ace indicates and notes before turning to move past the Jackal, crutches clacking against the deckplating and closer to the Faux, "Don't know, da. SEems like we've got atleast three of us here already, da." she looks over to the StarSkipper, "maybe four." she shrugs adn turns to Ace, "its a start, da" Another figure exits from the Jackal, sour look on his face. Torr glances around the landing pad, pulling out a fresh cigarette and lighting it. He begins down the ramp, pace slow as he makes his way into the scene. "Privet, Swifty," Ace nods to the Demarian, "And no offense to anyone here," she looks back to Marlan, "But without military support, we are not going anywhere." Swiftfoot snorts, her ears flicking back as the hatch opens behind her. She brushes past Malion, pausing at the base of the boarding ramp to watch Marlan hobble past. The big cat nods then at Ace. "I couldn't agrree morre. We'd just end up dead if we went in without enough backup. Those people don't need marrtyrrs. They need rrescuerrs." She shrugs then, the end of her tail flicking. The gunsmith remains standing their, the smoke of Torr's cigarette reaches his nose and he digs into his trouser pocket for his own packet of cigarettes. He moves to onside as Swifty brushes past him, he withdraws a cigarette and lights up, as to be expected. Malion, Swifty and Torr are near the Jackal, Marlan is hobbling towards the Faux, and Ace is on the boarding ramp of the Faux. Actually fully dressed for once (sans footwear), the Zangali comes out of the shuttle area. He's conspicuously neither scratching at his shoulder nor eating. He heads in the direction of the ships. Marlan shakes her head, "No argument given, da." she replies, "Question is...we contact the militaries and ask them to send representatives? We talk to the council and get their final verdict?" Torr snorts a little at this, the noise serving the dual purpose of letting out smoke from the cigarette as well as the usual aim. "Fuckin' Christ. Yeah. Dead can't help with that shit." He waits behind Swifty and Malion on the ramp. "What is this shit, traffic jam? Christ." He moves past Malion, if he is able. Joshua shuffles in from the Commons in full uniform, stoping near the edge to regard the crowd. Aleksei enters the landing bay of Sol Station with a dour expression on his face. His face does light up a bit as he notices the giant cat and massive dino. He gives a nod to them. His face resumes some of his dourness however as he sees Torr and Ace. To Swiftfoot: "Would like to talk to you later, nothing serious, and no rush, yes?" To Malion, with a nod towards his cig pack: "Which reminds me, have something for you too." And to the big dino: "Congratulations. You have come up and down in the world, as it were." Alek smirks at this last. It would appear he is done talking for this moment. The Faux's kapitan gives a welcoming nod to Torr as he moves down the Jackal's ramp, "Da, Swifty, and we cannot do it alone." She again turns her attention to Marlan, "I spoke with everyone and invited them here, da. Am not so certain Ungstir is going to bother, though." Marlan's brow furrows. She stands, leaning on her crutches in front of the Faux, "Why woudl they not?" she asks Ace, standing a few feet from her on the ramp. "Ya scrounged those durries, huh?" Malion says in reply to Aleksei, a slight smirk residing on his lips. He glances towards the Zangali that everyone seems fixated by. "How's the head Urf?" he calls out to the lizard. "Ace," Torr sends a nod and a slight smirk toward her. "No fuckin' surprise. Ungstir. Bunch of cocksucking assholes. No fuckin' shake up there. Figured they would pull that shit." The Martian shakes his head and takes a long drag. He looks toward Marlan. "Thats why. Assholes." Swiftfoot looks back over her shoulder at Torr and chuckles, then steps off to the side, standing just to the right of the Jackal's boarding ramp. She eyes the Kommissar with one eyeridge quirked upward dubiously, then chuckles and nods. "Sounds good, chief. We can talk overr a vodka sometime." The Demarian shifts her gaze to Marlan and shrugs as Torr answers, seemingly content to let the Martian's answer stand instead of making one of her own. Silvereye steps out of an express shuttle, adjusting his jacket before setting off across the landing area, his gaze sweeping from side to side. Marlan's gaze lifts to Torr, "Ya know." she says, voice even. "It's a hoopin miracle with that mouth of yours no onespushed you out an airlock yet, da." she shakes her head and turns back to Ace, "If the militias given their support you know alot of those ships'll be out there, regardless if the council's decsision changes, da. Its a matter of honor." Making a minute and almost imperceptible correction to his beret, the Zangali first shoots Aleksei a vague glower, asking, "What stupid softskin?" Then, he directs his one eyed glare in Malion's direction and declares, "Urf Urf." Long distance to Torr: Swiftfoot was scared and had to run afk earlier cause she couldn't find her cat :/ Found him in a closet finally. Think he's looking for cool dark places to hide cause he's feelin sick. :/ Joshua makes his way closer to the crowd, ceremonial sword swishing to-and-fro at his side as he approaches. He stops once in with the group. "I apologize for my delay, I was detained by a late communique," Joshua says humbly, giving a Aleksei remarks to Marlan, "I could help in that regard." Then to Swiftfoot: "Good idea. As I said tbefore, no rush, can wait until after this." Al vaguely gestures, then sez to Urf: "I refer to your position in New Luna Militia. Congratulations. I also wish to congratulate you on something else. But that's for later. Not for, ah, prying ears, yes?" Alek gestures vaguely around again." And to Ace: "You could try, though. True, you'll likely die waiting, however. The good Polkovnik General is not changing mind soon. Have it on good authority." Alek has a dour expression once more on his face. The orange-furred Demarian standing near Jackal's boarding ramp quirks one eyeridge upward and eyes Marlan briefly before her gaze simply slides away toward the new arrivals. She flicks her tail at Silvereye, then blinks down at Joshua. "Aw, look, guys. I swearr, Sivadians get cuterr everry day." Swiftfoot looks over at Ace then, her ears laying back. She makes no reply though, content to give only a nearly-imperceptible shake of her head. "Great... More fuckin' hero, hot shot wannabes," The rural Martian grumbles to himself, mainly looking between Joshua and Marlan. "Just what we need." He takes a drag from his cigarette, and then exhales the smoke through his nose. Once more a smirk resides on his lips after Swifty's comment to the RNS Officer. He glances back up to the Demarian. "Should get Jared out... He'd love him." Torr snorts at Marlan. "Many have tried, all have failed. So fuck you." Steely eyes remain on the Ungstiri for a moment then look toward Ace. Then, the Sivadian shows up and Torr snickers. "Christ. Just what we fuckin' need," he remarks, shaking his head a little. Back to Ace; "Like I said, big fuckin' suprise there." He begins trailing after the woman. Marlan looks back over her shoulder, breaking eye contact with Torr. She spots the Sivadian and Ungstiri, "Wonderful, da." she takes several paces, turning full circle and spotting Urfkgar along the way, "Well....looks liek we've got atleast two militiaries herenow, da. Sounds like its time to go take a seat." she comments idly, crutches swingin towards the conference room. Silvereye catches sight of the group around the Faux, slipping his paws into his pockets and following them wordlessly. Joshua glowers at Torr and Malion. "I am here at the behest of the Admiralty," Joshua says, giving an indignant hmph, "If you have any hopes of garnering support from us, you may wish to use a more polite tone." He glances back across the crowed, studying the reactions of the others. Urfkgar shrugs off Aleksei's comment before adding a noncommittal grunt to the answer mix. Looking around slowly, he doesn't react much either way to the Martian/Sivadian exchange. Ace nods to the new arrivals, looking to Joshua, "Is good to see you...do not let any behaviors that offend you stand in the way. This is rescue mission, not afternoon tea, da?" She looks around at all the people gathered, "Ship kapitans and military representatives only, please...cannot have it getting too crowded." With that, she turns to head through to the conference area. Korthall walks down the boarding ramp, cloaked from head to claw in brown robes that obscure mostly everything, except for the very tip of his tail and his piercing yellow eyes. He sniffs the air for a moment, then walks quietly after Kapitan Ace. Joshua glances about the crowd again, spying Korthall and doing his best to hide his disgust. After a moments fixation on the Nall, he turns his attention to the departing Ace and follows after her. Urfkgar lumbers towards the common area, idly checking his uniform as he goes and flicking a bit of lint of his collar with a claw. Swiftfoot nods at the retreating Ungstiri, then turns to Torr. "So which one of us is the captain today, then?" she inquires. "Wanna flip a coin?" She chuckles and winks, then surveys the gathering once more, her gaze resting only briefly on the Nall. Marlan moves past the cloaked figure and into the common area. Aleksei shrugs at the scarred Zangali. To Joshua, with another shrug: "They do not know you. Me, I'd have to see you in action before judging, you yes?" Then Alek notices the little dino. He sneers, but reserves comment for later. He heads into the common area after the others. "Fuckin' wanker," Malion says, to the RNS officer,as he departs. He patiently waits, looking towards Swifty and Torr. "I'm on comms if ya need me." Torr snorts at the words of the Sivadian, only shaking his head at the man. He glances toward Swiftfoot. "Ya wanna field this shit? You bein' the diplomat. You know our stance. Me and Mal'll do our shit, I guess." He takes another drag of his cigarette, tucking a hand into a pocket. Swiftfoot nods. "Yeah, good point. Think if one of you two went in therre, I can think of thrree people that wouldn't come out alive, orr at least not in one piece." The felinoid chuckles dryly, her tail flicking. "I'll brrief you guys afterrwarrd then," she says, waving a paw and following after the rest of the general migration toward the conference room. Marlan on the other hand heads directly for a chair, ignoring the actions of those around her. Reaching the chair she leans heavily on the crutches and reaches up with her left hand to adjust her beret before shifting the left crutch to her right hand and carefully lowering herself into the chair, crutches propped up along her side. Joshua makes way for a nearby seat, gracefully easing into it and folding his hands before him on the table. Korthall moves to take a seat at the far end of the table. The chairs were not totally meant for Nall psyiology, so his feet are left dangling and his tail has to wrap around his waist and point forward. Silvereye slips into the room, "Altheor's Teeth I haven't been in here for years." The Battleclaw remarks before finding himself a seat and scanning the faces. Urfkgar is standing at parade rest by the bulkhead. Ace, Marlan, Joshua, and Korthall have all managed to take seats along with Silvereye now. Aleksei looks over the area as he heads in. He looks around in some awe of the surroundings. He stops close by the conference table, ready to put in his 2 rubles worth of opinion if he has to. Swiftfoot slips in from the common area, looking around at the general gathering. Spotting Aleksei, she makes her way over to him and taps him on the shoulder, leaning down to whisper something in his ear. "Was the only place I could think of where everyone could meet on neutral ground, da?" Ace replies to Silvereye, "Spaciba...everyone...for coming." She smiles at Frey, "Is good to see you as well. Have asked for representatives from militaries and kapitans of ships," she says to everyone, "So please...introduce yourselves and who you are representing so there is no confusion. Am Ace, Kapitan of the Faux and representing both my own ship and G'ahnlese Debt Collector that has been offered for the cause." Marlan makes a small wave of her hand, "Marly Ranix, Captain of the Athena and i'm representing the AES and hopefully...a PHS medical response, da." she looks around the table as she speaks, blue gaze fixing each person sitting around the table for a moment before moving on. "Battleclaw Silvereye Paintedheart, Demarian Militia." The Demarian of the same name informs the room, looking around. "Remy LeBeau an Dr. Freyssinet o da Wolfsbane." LeBeau says as he walks in with Frey and nods to the assembled group. Freyssinet grins and elbows Remy, "Freyssinet-Lebeau now, dear." she jokes. Joshua stands up to address the crowd, "I am Flight Lieutenant Joshua Rummel, of the Royal Naval Aerospace Service, here on behalf of the Sivadian Royal Naval Service," he says, bowing courteously before retaking his seat. "Fighter pilot?" Silvereye interjects, looking across the table and Joshua. Aleksei turns in slight annoyance as Swiftfoot taps him on the shoulder, but then nods as he hears what she whispers to him. He stands on tiptoe to riefly whisper back. Out loud: "citizen and Kommissar Aleksandr Strumenko of Ungstir. " He glares at the little dino for a moment as he resumes his silence. "Would ask for you to wait outside then, Aleksei," Ace says quietly, "Is no offense, but we cannot open this up to everyone who has volunteered or it will be very crowded and noisy. What we decide, though, will be told to all involved when we are finished." Swiftfoot flicks an ear and looks down at Aleksei, then shrugs vaguely and steps up to the table, standing behind an empty seat. "Swiftfoot Starrchaserr. I am herre rreprresenting Blackjack Shipping and Salvage." The orange-furred felinoid pulls out the chair and drops into it, fidgeting a bit as she tries to get comfortable. Joshua gives an affirming nod in the direction of Silvereye. "Correct, Mr. Paintedheart," he replies. LeBeau looks to Frey and nods with a chuckle "Sorry hun, still no sur wha names yu an Gracie were taking o keeping o gedding rid o." Freyssinet just gives a teasing kiss on the lips and wink to Remy, before whispering something. Aleksei nods to Ace. "Nyi offended at all, Kapitan. You seem to have this conference well in hand anyway. I seem to be needed outside at any rate. With your permission to leave?" Al gives a brief wink to Swifty and prepares to exit the area. Silvereye nods approvingly in Joshua's direction. "Glad to hear it." He replies to Joshua, refocusing his attention on the matter at hand. Joshua likewise returns his attention to the task at hand, his hands still folded before him and remaining unnaturally still. Marlan twists her body, looking over her left shoulder to where Freysinnet and Leabeau stand. She frowns slightly and gives a short shke of her head before tuning back to face Ace. "Da, Aleksei, spaciba," Ace nods before looking back around the table, "Only military not here then would be Ungstir. Will have to proceed without them then. Again, spaciba to all of you for coming. Is my intention to ue this meeting to coordinate our efforts for the assault on the Nall base known as Cairo and the rescue of several thousand prisoners from the Orion Arm being held there. Have worked out a general plan of action provided you are all willing to hear it." Silvereye taps his claws against the surface of the table, frowning lightly. He seems to be thinking for a moment before he nods, signalling his vote for Ace to continue. Aleksei offers a small grin to Swiftfoot and a nod to the good Kapitan as he proceedds to exit the area and heads to the common area. Korthall remains silent and mostly motionless as he watches and listens to Ace. Urfkgar doesn't move his body but turns his head so his one-eyed glower is pointed in Ace's direction. Marlan sits back in the chair, silently watching Ac. Swiftfoot looks over her shoulder as Aleksei departs, then at the happy couple as well, but her reaction is much different: she grins and offers a 'thumbs up' gesture and a flick of her tail, whether they see it or no. She then turns her attention back to Ace, inclining her head slightly in a silent bid to continue. Joshua leans back in his chair and turns his gaze to Ace, clasping his hands in front of his face with the indexes extended over his mouth. "Do proceed, Kapitan Ace," Joshua says. "To begin with, much will depend upon what forces all of you are committing to this effort," Ace begins, "Know that Sivad, Demaria and New Luna have agreed to help, but do not know to what extent. However, at this point, the general plan has three phases - Would have the RNS in charge of whatever fleet will be put together, including the Debt Collector," she gives a nod to Joshua then looks to Urf. "New Luna will lead the ground forces and the Faux will be handling infiltration with the help of Korthall," she gives another nod to the Nall at the end of the table. "Faux, under different name, will be taken in with Korthall having captured it. Several of us will be taken into the camp in order to alert the prisoners to what is coming. Is much worry that the Nall will simply start killing them once the fighting begins...will be much more difficult if the prisoners are fighting back. Another small force will be hidden on the Faux in order to take and hold the landing field and cause chaos from within. Other ships such as the Wolfsbane and the Jackal will provide close quarter air support and drop forces from New Luna while the RNS leads the battle in space. That is basic framework of plan at the moment," she pauses, looking around the table again, waiting for comments. Marlan raises her hand, "We have reason to think they'll accept Korthall as one of their own despite his..." she turns her gaze towards him, "I presume..." back to ace, "lack of a history with them? Personally i'd be suspicious, da." Silvereye glances at Marlan as she speaks, nodding slowly. "I support a general infiltration effort. It'd be the dumbest thing we could do to go in without any idea of the fleet presence over the rock." Korthall remains silent. This is not his meeting, and the Nall is quite content to allow the Kapitan to answer any fielded questions. Urfkgar clacks his teeth together and grunts in what may or may not be an acknowledgement of Ace's comment, but he remains blessedly silent as far as speaking goes - for now. Swiftfoot taps a claw on the table and eyes Marlan as she speaks, then shifts her golden eyes back to Ace, nodding. "Jackal and herr crrew arre up forr whateverr you need us to do, even if that changes once you get a plan hammerred out. You've got the experrience herre, chief, and I trrust yourr judgement. We all do." "Korthall, he is not unknown to them," Ace replies to Marlan, "He was part of the battle at Tomin Kora and was stranded here. He will be going there under the guise of having taken the Faux on TK in order to return to the Nall fleet." Marlan nods at Ace's explanation, leaning forward as she steeples her hands on the tables edge. "What are you intentions with regards to the facility?" Silvereye asks. "Are you aiming to take control or is this just a smash and grab, smash the Nall fleet and their soldiers and grab our people then get out as quickly as possible?" He pauses. "Personally I prefer the latter." Urfkgar snorts somewhat dubiously at Swiftfoot's comment, but he manages to not say anything else yet. "Plan is to move in and get prisoners out," Ace replies to Silvereye with a nod, "Whether or not it is possible to take the facility or destroy it, that is secondary. Do not think the opportunity should be passed up if it appears possible, but it is not the objective, nyet." "The Athena's a big ship" Marlan volunteers, "We'll be providing medical support but can house more then a few prisoners in our bays, da." Silvereye nods slowly. "I doubt the Ungstiri could be swayed to use the civilian ships they're bringing for transport purposes but I think they'd be perfect for it, assuming you could keep them from crashing into each other." "There will be troop carriersssss for ground forcessss and guardsssss," adds Korthall, speaking slowly. "But it would be very difficult to take them. Very difficult." Joshua sits idly in his chair, glancing back and forth at the speakers. He's scrawling notes into a PDA. It starts to get painful. The Zangali begins to talk, and he doesn't stop talking unless physically or mentally prevented from his speachifying. He just raises his already loud voice to deafening bellow proportions if anyone tries to interupt him. Urfkgar tells Ace, "Urf need see place. Urf need hear all stuff stupid softskin girly want marines do. Urf hear all stupid stuff. Urf say all stupid stuff Urf heareded." There's a brief pause before he adds, "Urf heareded morerer stupid stuff now. Urf say stupid stuff Urf heareded no marine stuff. Stupid softskin girly go stupid shorty nally stuckededed place. Stupid shorty nallies make stupid stuff go stupid shorty nally stuckeded place talk. Stupid stuff go stupid shorty nally stuckeded place say all stuff know. Time go fix stupid shorty nally stuckeded place. Stupid shorty nallies kill all stuff here." He holds up his index finger and thumb claw in a circle. "Go thingy place." He continues, "Stupid go thingy place no morerer big. All stupid softskin floaty thingies morerer big." He balls his good hand into a fist and tries to fit it through the ring offered by his bad hand, "No go. Need morerer no big stupid softskin floaty thingies. Morerer no big stupid softskin floaty thingies. Morerer no gooderer scram all stupid stuckeded stuff." He waves his hands about in front of him with them bumping into each other frequently, "Time scram. Morerer no big stupid softskin floaty thingies. No stupid shorty nally killeded. All smash all. Want go place." The fingers of his good hand converge on the thumb of his bad hand. Then, he points at his thumb, "Stupid softskin floaty thingy place. Morerer stuff. Marines. Smasheded stupid softskin floaty thingies. Stupid stuckeded stuff. All place. Stupid softskin floaty thingies need go. Kill morerer marines. Kill morerer stuckeded stuff. Need boss say where go. No boss. All grabass. All killededed." He looks over at Marlan and says, "No time take stupid shorty nallies. Need take stupid stuckeded stuff. Want take stupid stuckeded stuff do. Want kill stuff. Boom stuff all stupid shorty nally stuckeded place. Boom stuff morerer gooderer. Kill all stuckeded stuff. No need morerer stupid softskin floaty thingys scram stupid stuckeded stuff. Kill all stupid shorty nallies. No need fight morerer stupid shorty nallies." Freyssinet listens intently. Though at Urf's discourse, she blinks, and has a hard time not chuckling. Swiftfoot blinks bewilderedly at the Zangali, then shakes her head. "Oh, no, no, I didn't mean I was speaking forr everryone herre. Just everryone on Jackal's crrew," she clarifies, then shifting her eyes back to Ace. "I'm rratherr fond of the smash and grrab notion as well. I don't think we could feasibly take and maintain contrrol of the facility without taking a grreat numberr of losses, meh?" Marlan watches the tirade then clears her throat slightly, "Help us out here Urf...you're saying we need to take tangle weapons, explosives..make sure this is the last time we have to face the Nall, da? That you want to see data on the base...attack plans...concrete attack information to take to the Marines?" she asks, body twisted in her chair to face him. "Not sure what you're trying to say about the ships being too big though, da." Ace is simply...stunned, her jaw hanging open for a moment as she tries to fathom the meaning of Urf's word-like utterances. It snaps shut, though, as Swifty replies, "You followed that?" she says softly. Joshua stops writing on the PDA and glances at the Zangali with a rather blank expression. Silvereye's whiskers droop as Urf goes on and on. Korthall just blinks at Urf, silently letting those with a more complex grasp of Terran try and figure out whatever it is that the more massive lizard is saying. "Er... no," the orange-furred Demarian admits, shaking her head as if to clear it. "Well, sorrt of. Mostly, I just wanted to clarrify, cause I thought about what I'd said, and didn't want to step on any toes." Swiftfoot pauses, scratching thoughtfully at her chin. "I do think he wants to kill Nall, though," she says, then shrugs. "I also think he's saying we need morre people. Don't quote me, though." "Urf sayeded boom stuff. Kill all stuff stupid shorty nally stuckeded place. Urf know stupid softskins stupid. No want kill all stuff stupid shorty nally stuckeded place. Want fix. Urf say want fix. Urf need know morerer stuff," says Urfkgar. It's not over yet. He continues, "Stuff stupid softskin girly sayeded morerer stupid. Go stupid shorty nally stuckeded place. Stupid shorty nallies know all stuff stupid softskin girly know." Then, he makes the ring with his bad hand again and tries to fit his fist through. He says, "Go thingy place. Morerer big stupid softskin floaty stuff no go. Go place thingy morerer goodererer place stupid shorty nallies kill all stuff go stupid shorty nally stuckeded place." Joshua glances quizzically at Urfkgar's hand gestures. "What is the ring representing?" he asks. Silvereye blinks. "Is he saying heavy warships are too big to fit through it?" The Battleclaw seems totally lost. "We need a translator." Marlan's face lights up, "I got it!" she exclaims as if she'd just solved the worlds biggest puzzle, she turns to Joshua, "The rings. The ring represents the rings. She turns to face Ace and smirks, "And he thinks your idea is stupid because you're not looking to destroy the base. But he's willing to fix it for you if you give him more information....going over there will only result in your getting 'caught and spilling the details of the mission and getting the rest killed as a result." Silvereye rubs his eyes. "We're not here to play guessing games. Does anyone know anyone nearby who can speak Zangali and translate into standard?" "Err, if I may," Swiftfoot says, blinking again, this time a bit more nonplussed. "Mal might be able to trranslate? He talks to Urrf herre a bit..." The orange-and-white Demarian trails off, tail flicking. "Oh. Sounds like Marrlan figurred it out," she says, nodding. "I think. That makes sense... But I dunno how feasible destrroying the base is." "Think you get a medal for that, Ranix," Ace mutters, looking back to Urf. "Have details of the base layout and numbers of Nall, da. Do not intend to be in the slave camp long enough for Nall to get information...is going to be very quick. And if we have the forces able to destroy the base, think it should be done, da, but first priority is rescuing the prisoners." Urfkgar grunts and nods to Marlan. He says, "Stupid softskin girly doc sayeded Urf sayeded." "I'm impressed, Ms. Ranix," Joshua says in gratitude, "It will definitely make my report back to the Admiralty a touch more accurate." "So," Ace takes a breath, looking around the table, "Any further comments or ideas or do we go with plan as it is?" "How are you going to communicate with us once you're inside the compound?" Silvereye asks Ace. "We have to be able to preserve a no-go option if things are worse than we expected." "Time scram. Morerer stupid shorty nally floaty thingies. No go go place thingy," says Urfkgar, holding up his bad hand in the ring gesture again. He uses both hands, waving them vaguely out in different directions. "All go morerer places. Wait morerer time. Go go thingy place. No all go time. Morerer go. Morerer times." He snorts and adds, "Stupid shorty nallies no mosterer stupid all times. Stupid shorty nallies kill all stuff all stuff go go place thingy go stupid shorty nally stuckeded place." "Mack and Josh are setting up communications gear in hidden compartment on Faux," Ace says, "They will be able to monitor the area and communicate with the outside as well as with Korthall." She looks back to Urf and this time neither blinks nor gapes but instead simply looks to Marlan for a translation. Swiftfoot shakes her head, tapping a claw idly against the table. "Naw, chief, whateverr you think we'rre up forr... well, I'll trrust yourr judgement." The orange-furred Jackal's ears lay back a bit as Urf speaks again, her whiskers drooping. She puts one paw to her forehead, and murmurs something unintelligible to herself, most likely in Demarese. Joshua glances at Urf, then toward Marlan, "Is he trying to suggest we go in waves?" Marlan turns to Joshua and nods, "I think so, da." she turns back to look at ace, "He's saying the Nall aren't stupid, da. And i have to agree with him. We have reason to believe that there's a highly powerful telepath on board that vessel, da. Its possibly she'd pick up on the deception within moments, da." "Volari'sssss ssssisssster?" asks Korthall. Silvereye rolls his eyes. "I'm not even going to try. It's not worth it." He pauses. "I think waves might dilute our already fairly meager forces...All of this is assuming we're dealing with a severely weakened Parallax, if there's a battle fleet parked over this rock then we have to say no go and reassess our plans." Joshua nods back to Marlan, "It also sounds like the Zangali may also be referring to bottle-necking at the gate," Joshua says thoughtfully. Urfkgar grunts and nods, gesturing with a karate-chop style point at both Marlan and Joshua. He says, "Yup." "Da, is possible any deception could be noticed," Ace nods, "Is also possible any force coming through the Nexus will immediately be spotted and countered. Is many possibilities in any plan for detection, but if those prisoners are not informed ahead of time, then their chance of survival is minimal." Swiftfoot blinks at Ace, and nods. "Speaking forr myself only herre, I'm prrimarrily interrested in getting those people out of that place. Therre's always the chance of Nall rretaliation, but therre's going to be rrisks no matterr what we do in therre." Silvereye nods slowly. "Our chances of bottlenecking a Nall retaliatory strike seems greater than their ability to bottleneck us, especially if we're talking about the highly unconventional coalition fleet we've assembled." Joshua looks to Ace, "I do hate to bring such notions to the table, but what are your contingencies should the Nall have... converted... a few of the prisoners?" Marlan turns to Swiftfoot and shakes her head, "It's not Nall retaliation i'm worried about." Marlan frowns, "They get a hold of her.." she points to Ace, "they not only tear her mind apart but they know exactly what our plans are, da." she shakes her head, "Prisoners will defend themselves, da....we know of atleasat one prisoner that is on that planet...it won't be much but perhaps we can get word to atleasther once we're close. Like i said...won't be much but its better then nothing...better then risking the entire plan." Korthall gets down out of his chair and heads off towards the exit. "I have nothing further to add, I will follow the plan you devise," the Nall says as he leaves. "Stupid stuckeded stuff no need know morerer time. Time do stuff. Stuff go say stupid stuckeded stuff scram," says Urfkgar. "Stupid stuckeded stuff know time scram. Stupid shorty nallies know time scram." Marlan looks back to Urfkgar and nods in agreement, "da, exactly my point." "I dunno," Swiftfoot says, shrugging. "I can't think of a betterr way to get worrd to the prrisonerrs so therre isn't just a wholesale slaughterr once we strrike. They'rre not above that kind of thing. Demarr knows therre's always morre slaves, at least frrom theirr point of view." Joshua stands up from his seat. "I too must take my leave," he says, "I shall inform the Admiralty of your intentions. Expect to receive our response soon with more finite details of our involvement in this matter." He gives a final, courteous bow to the group. Silvereye inclines his head towards Joshua. "Thank you for your time. Give the Admiralty the militia's regards." "Spaciba, lieutenant," Ace nods to the man, "Look forward to hearing back from you soon." Urfkgar snorts and says, "Stupid stuckeded stuff know. Stupid stuckeded stuff no know. Stupid shorty nallies no care. Kill stupid stuckeded stuff stupid stuckeded stuff know no know. Kill stupid stuckeded stuff know. Stupid shorty nallies want kill. Stupid shorty nallies kill. Stupid stuckeded stuff know time no fix stupid shorty nallies want kill stupid stuckeded stuff." "I shall," Joshua says, nodding to the Demarian, then turns to Ace, "Yes, Kapitan Ace." With the formalities out of the way, he turns in military fashion and walks out of the hall. Marlan nods, backing up Urf's statement, "There's no question that the Nall are willing to kill their prisoners, but the risk of going in early is too high compared to the possible benefits. We're waging the whole mission on that the prisoners won't pass the information on to the Nall and that their interrogator isn't going to get it out of one of them..." she waves towards Ace, "or one of the prisoners." she frowns, "Look...i speak from experience, da. Something like that moving around...she's bound to atleast sense the difference and investigate." she shifts uncomfortably, "Trust me, da. Even if one of our folks doesn't break...it probably won't take much for one of those pirsoners to." Silvereye nods slowly to Marlan. "The question really is if we can overwhelm the Nall ground presence without demolishing the facility from space." The Demarian comments. "The latter option really defeats the purpose of rescuing the prisoners...This mission has to be fast, fast fast." "Am not talking of going in days ahead of time but hours....twenty four at most," Ace shakes her head, "You are assuming that Volnohmersea will immediately find us and immediately interrogate us which is highly doubtful. If it does go wrong and we are compromised from the onset, is nothing to stop the rest of you from moving in ahead of schedule." Urfkgar clacks his teeth together and says, "Do stuff morerer no gooderer stupid shorty nallies no know time. Stupid shorty nallies know time. No need do. Know all killededed. No all killededed. All stuckeded stupid shorty nally stuckeded place." Swiftfoot nods politely to the retreating Sivadian, offering a flick of her ears before turning back to the table. "Hrr. I guess that's a valid point. About the prrisonerrs not being able to stand up to... interrogation, I mean." The felinoid sighs, shaking her head. "I don't know that therre's a -good- way to go about this. Just a bad way, and a way that is perrhaps less bad. The question is, which is which?" She blinks at Ace then, nodding. "Also a good point. What arre the odds that, of thrree thousand people, they will find ourr agents rright off? Honestly, I'm inclined to side with Ace. I've trrusted herr judgement forr too long to give up on it in the eleventh hourr." Marlan shrugs softly, "Its a matter of risks...who's to say you'll be made part of the general population within the first 24 hours?" Marlan asks, "If it was me running that base, you'd be a fountain of information about what was happening on the other side, da. Not to mention as an unmolded prisoner a possible threat. You wouldn't be part of regular population until i was sure you wouldn't be a problem." "Stupid shorty nallies no stupid fuzzballs. Stupid tally glowlies talk new stuckeded stuff," says Urfkgar, trying to back Marlan up. He explains after clacking his teeth together a few times, "Stupid softskin girly say stupid shorty nally go stupid shorty nally stuckeded place. Say stupid stuff stupid shorty nallies stupid stuckeded place. Stupid shorty nallies stuckeded place say new stupid shorty nally morerer gooderer. Stupid new shorty nally stuckeded morerer new stupid softskins. Stupid shorty nallies see stupid new stupid stucked softskins. Say stupid new stuckeded stupid softskins go talk stupid tally glowly. Stupid tally glowly mudbrain all stuff. Stupid new stupid shorty nally killededed. Stupid new stupid softskins killededed. Time go fix stupid stuckeded nally place. All go fix. Killededed. No killededed. Stuckeded." "You are making a very big assumption that all prisoners are 'molded,'" Ace gives another shake of her head. "Spent eighteen months in Nall prison camp. Saw new prisoners come and go. Think you very much overestimate how much interrogation is done in slave camps, especially in this one which has a high turnover, not to mention we have one very important thing on our side - Korthall. Is no reason for him not to be taken at his word...is against everything the Nall believe in." Silvereye frowns. "Either way we can't go in blind." He says. "That's all there is to it." Marlan turns to Silvereye, "We're not going in that blind...we have information on the number of nall soldiers, information on the layout of the facility...we may not have every detail we may want but i don't forsee us being able to get all that information in 24 hours, da.", she shakes her head and turns towards Ace, "has nothing to do with molded. THe Nall aren't stupid...i can think of more reasons why they wouldn't have you in with general population and mingling within a 24 hour period then reasons why they would, da. The entire mission rests on their *not* knowing we're going in, da. Otherwise they set up outsidet he ring and pick us off as we go through." she shakes her head, "The prisoners, if they'r enot moldd will fight when they see the opportunity...they won't need you or anyone else in there to tell them that." Urfkgar nods and says, "Stuff stupid softskin girly doc sayeded." Silvereye shakes his head at Marlan. "The big piece we're missing is fleet presence. I truly believe that will make or break this mission. If the Nall have a large fleet presence we can't support an attack on the facility." "We'rre not going in blind though," Swiftfoot says, shaking her head. "We just need to use what we've been given. We've got a layout of the compound. We've got a rrundown of just how many Nall we'rre facing. We've got Ace's experriences to drraw on, too." She shrugs then, one ear laying halfway back. "I think the list of names changes farr too often forr them to be interrogating all of the incoming slaves, especially considerring therre's only a handful of Vollistans." "If they do not see it coming, they will be caught unprepared," Ace shakes her head again. "Without some warning, the slaves will be disorganized and slaughtered...it is not as if the Nall are going to announce 'we are here to kill you now.' They will simply walk in and do it." She nods in agreement with Swifty and Silver, "As I said, this place, it has a high turnover rate of slaves and a small crew of a freighter brought in by a Nall is not as suspicious as you seem to think it will be. This is our best chance of relaying information on their military capabilities as well as getting a force on the inside to support the prisoners when the fighting begins." "Stupid stuff go stupid stuckeded place. Stupid shorty nallies know. No morerer stuff. Stupid shorty nallies kill all stuff go stupid shorty nally stuckeded place stupid shorty nallies no know. Time fight stuff. All killeded go. No all killeded go. All killeded fight," says the Zangali. He shrugs and says, "Stupid softskin girly no want hear Urf. Urf no care. Urf need see all stuff stupid softskin girly know stupid stuckeded place." Marlan shakes her head, "Like urf said...if they find out, then the prisoners AND the rescuers are all dead, da." she shakes her head, "Some will die regardless, we can't prevent that. The Nall may come in and klil four or five before they realize whats happening, but i promise you they'll catch on soon enough, da. Volnohm will sense if there's a sudden shift in the demeanor of the prisoners....and it'll take her all of 15 minutes to get the information she needs to confirm it, da." she shakes her head, "All for what...the chance that MAYBE we can get in 24 hours, assuming you have access to the prisoners some sort of internal rebellion going?" Silvereye shrugs. "I'm not waiting for rebellion. If we move fast enough there's a good chance we can take out large numbers of Nall by attacking their barracks and dormitories from space." "Am listening, Urf," Ace replies, "Simply do not agree, and you are giving Volari's sister far too much credit, Ranix. Vollistans, they are not all powerful and are not in touch with everyone at all times as you imply. And am not suggesting rebellion but organization and preparation. You cannot simply land ships in the middle of a Nall compound and shout for all the prisoners to come to you...will be chaos and slaughter that way." Ace rises from her chair, "Can see the pros and cons of both sides, but for the additional intel and preparation we can get by infiltration, believe the risk is worth it." Swiftfoot snorts softly. "I'm prretty surre they'd do anything to get out of that compound. I know I would, werre I in theirr place." She nods then at Silvereye, absently tapping her claws on the table. "The less we've got to deal with on the grround, the betterr forr all concerrned, but still... I think ourr best chance to get the maximum numberr of prrisonerrs out alive is to send someone in therre to lead them out." Urfkgar just shakes his head and says, "Urf need see all stuff stupid softskin girly know." Silvereye rises after Ace. "We can see that the information is distributed. We may have to meet again." Marlan leans back in her chair, now silent, following the conversation Ace pages: what do you want to bet Marlan tries to fuck this up on the sly "Will see to it that what data we have is distributed," Ace agrees with Silver, "Can plan air and ground assaults from there...leave that to RNS and NLM." Marlan sighs and reaches over to grab her crutches, left hand on them, right on the table for support as she pushes herself to her feet, "I'm still waiting on word from the PHS regarding whetehr they'll send some of their doctors with us." Urfkgar grunts and nods. He says, "Marines do marine stuff." "Any help, it would be appreciated, da," Ace nods as she heads for the door. "Spaciba again to all of you." Swiftfoot rises from the table, going through some kind of universal feline stretching ritual before pushing the chair back up to the table. She nods to everyone still present, then walks out after Ace, her tail flicking somewhat irritably as she makes her way out into the common area.
- Thursday, April 26, 2012, 7:52 AM EDC Station – Mars Somewhere between the Martian Lake and the Badlands is this installation, the EDC's original base on Mars. This particular room is circular in shape, about 50 feet in diameter, and has a 50' domed ceiling. Everything is lined in thick concrete and reinforced steel. Computer terminals ring the eastern and southern walls, set on low alert status and covered with protective plastic covers. Hardhead is patrolling around the interior of the base, he seems lost in thought as if something is weighing his thoughts. Amber MacKenzie has parked her backside at a workstation and is busily reviewing Decepticon profiles. One of them has caught her interest, and she stares at the screen with narrowed eyes. Pictured is one tall, dark, bunny-earred Decepticon. His known weapons, strengths, and weaknesses are scrolling down the side of the display. "That's interesting," she murmurs to herself. Wheeljack is working on doing what engineers do best -- take something that works and make it do it better. Even in conditions that are a bit less amiable than a proper workshop, he's still got something propped across his knees as he tinkers with and adjusts it. The contraption actually looks like it could be a baby brother to the net launcher traps he'd patched together from the other's ideas before. Nate Briar is in a smaller room with a computer set up and a door cracked half way open. There is a bed inside there. The Colonel has a flask on his desk and holds it before he closes his computer screen down. Hardhead manages to walk near Wheeljack, he looks at the scientist and nods towards him. "Your traps performed well." He looks at him. "We may need every trick in your bag, if we going to retake Mars." Wheeljack whas as he looks up, having been paying more attention to his attunements. "Bag? I didn't have a... oh, you mean that old earth saying." He chuckles a bit, rubbing the back of his head with one hand. "Sorry, wasn't paying attention... but already working on some new ideas. Sure, things worked, but we don't want to do -exactly- the same thing or they'll start to catch on." Amber MacKenzie is still staring at the screen, but not as intently. She sits back in her chair and relaxes, shutting down the application. "One grudge nipped in the bud," she mutters to herself. Swiveling the chair around, she finally notices the new arrivals. "Evening, people," she greets casually. Hardhead looks at Wheeljack and nods. "Good point, good mouse traps just build better mouses...I am interested in what you have in mind." He rubs his jaw as he looks at Amber. "Evening, Ms. MacKenzie. How are your studies going?" He looks at Wheeljack and motions to Amber and Nate. "The EDC forces have some interesting ideas, I don't always understand the techno-stuff, but you might." Nate Briar is in his office/sleeping quarters and about to join the group. Amber, Hardhead, and Wheeljack are talking about traps. Velum is thinking that Powerglide deserves a third chance. Wheeljack gives Headstrong a friendly slap on the arm. "By the way, congrats on the promotion! With all the effort you've put into keeping things together up here, you deserve it." Then turns back to his current project. "The nets did a good job of tangling up enemies, but I'm thinking they can do more. Some small explosives tied into them, so after they catch someone you detonate it on them before they can get unraveled." After the explanation he rests the launcher against his shoulder and waves to the lady. "Heya Amber, how goes?" And then Repugnus steps in, red dust falling off his frame. "Yes, I agree!" he declares. "We need to set more traps for the next time the 'cons send us packing with our tails between our legs. Ah.. but here's the thing. What's the point of setting a trap for a 'con if his buddies will just fix him? We need to... increase the lethality a little. Maybe borrow a nuke or two?..." "Hey, I don't understand the techno-stuff either, Hardhead." Amber smirks at the mech. "But I can handle common-sense traps. And I don't claim to be unique, either. Though come to think of it, common sense isn't... Well, there should at least be enough of us to help out." She rises from her chair and stretches. Still sore, but better. After sitting at the console for hours, she's stiff. "I'm still alive, much to my surprise," she answers Wheeljack. "And good job on those nets, Wheeljack. I nailed Fusillade and Carnivac with them." Whatever her qualms were to start with, they're carefully hidden now. Hardhead nods slightly towards Wheeljack. "Thank you, just doing my duty." He listens and nods. "Interesting, that sound promising." He rubs his jaw as he smiles at Amber. "Common sense is always in short supply." James Bailey emerges from a storage room repurposed to be a makeshift gym. Unlike their mechanical (or is that bio-mechanical...?) allies, humans have to exercise to keep in shape. And in the lower gravity of Mars EDC pilots are finding they have to work harder than ever to keep up their lower body strength. "We'd rather finish off the Cons -without- blowing up half the planet and most of our organic allies in the process, Repugnus. Kind of defeats the purpose, y'know?" Wheeljack hmms a bit at that though. "The landmines were pretty potent, but limited in accuracy. Not much good if they're not standing on them." Nate Briar quietly heads out of his office and looks around for Duros as he spots Wheeljack. "Hey, I need your help if you have a chance later. I can get the supplies up here if you tell me what we need to mount an orbital weapon system on Phobos?" He smirks, "I want to hit their base hard. While they regroup, we strike again." He then pauses, "How did we win back... Kwarsch or whatever that planet was?" Hardhead glances at Repugnus and nods slightly. "Lethal traps have their use." He rubs his jaw. "I don't think Nukes are the answer." He shrugs as looks at Nate. "Now an Orbital Weapons platform has it uses. We beat them because we out muscled them." He looks at the others and shrugs. "How secure do we think this base is? The last thing we need is attempting a surprise rear guard action." Repugnus grins as he props himself up against a wall. "Kind of a crappy planet anyway. Are there even any resources on it? Whatever--I say crack the planet and the cons on it." He glance at Amber and smiles. "After we evacuate the humans, of course." Amber MacKenzie shrugs. "They destroyed an abandoned, empty base, sir. And while the traps didn't kill all of them, it killed some. I'm with you on 'increasing lethality', though we were limited in what resources we had to work with." Wow, she's finding that she agrees with Repugnus! "I agree with hitting them with everything we have, too. Mars' economic value died when Trypticon sat on the civilian colony that used to be here, so why worry about collateral damage on a lifeless planet?" "Hey Nate!... Orbital weapons, huh? That might be something we can work with though." Wheeljack turns to set his new net launcher down and gets up from the crate he was sitting on. "I think that's why he wants to put it on the moon instead of big guns here, Hardhead. Even with a couple of spacefarers they'd have a harder time getting at it." Hardhead listens and nods. "Interesting...raining down fire on the Decepticons would warm my laser core. What do we need to gather?" "Wheeljack, you hit the point," offers Nate as he pulls up schematics on a tablet. "These are what the EDC is figuring we can use. I am thinking if we can cripple the Decepticons from leaving Mars, we can pick off those that can get into space on their own and keep bombing the planet. Once we have them trapped on Mars, we can force them to die on this red dust ball." He looks at Repugnus, "I think the best option is to risk damaging a lifeless planet instead of one filled with life." "Don't call me sir," Repugnus tells Amber sternly. "I kill for a living." He brightens up and smiles. "Buuut you did agree with me--which doesn't happen often enough, let me tell you--so I won't be too hard on you." He listens some more, and frowns. "Eh, yeah, it would make it harder for some of the 'cons to get to this weapons platform if it was on moon, but not by much. You could wind up in a situation where you have to abandon a bunch of bots to get drawn and quartered by Sweeps." Then he gestures at Nate. "There, see? He agrees with me, too! And you guys probably didn't think I could get along with humans!" Wheeljack nods his head a bit. "Better to do it here than on the populated neighbor, yeah." The inventor walks over and kneels down to look at the plans over Nate's shoulder, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "The hardest part will be getting stuff up there without looking suspicious to unwanted company." James Bailey listens in silence, then frowns. "The thing about an orbital laser...or any kind of large-scale construction is that it gives a target, someplace for the Decepticons to concentrate their efforts. I'm still convinced we need to fight a guerilla action. Not a big gun...a big bomb. Or better yet, a series of big bombs." Hardhead looks at Repugnus. "Since when do you care what others think? What we need to do is also find out what the Cons are up too." Repugnus shrugs. "Since always. But usually I'm just hoping I'm making you mad." He grins wolfishly. Foxfire approaches the gathering, ears perked forward. He couldn't help overhearing, of course; not with his audials. "Repugnus actually cares what people think? Amazing." Amber MacKenzie nods agreeably enough. "I didn't catch your name, Mr....?" She doesn't even call Nate sir! She shrugs, and her face loses all expression. It's not a killer's face, but it's not an innocent's, either. "So do soldiers. So did my father, and my grandfather. In some sectors, soldiers aren't very popular, but I disagree with that attitude." She pauses, looking around at her comrades. "What I'd like is to deal with the threat not just to me or my friends and family, but to my species and my planet. There's no room for bleeding hearts when your species' existence is at stake. If I had a say, nuke 'em. I'll regret any innocents they might have - however unlikely that may be - but it's them or us." Hardhead smirks at Repugnus. "I knew I liked you for a reason." He rubs his jaw. "The best distraction for the Decepticons, is make them occupied on something else." He looks at Repugnus. "Think we could find some ways to terrorize and distract the 'Cons?" Nate Briar looks at James; as he eyes him up and down. "The goal is is reduce the potential of people getting killed. We can easily get a platform built on Earth and sneak it until Phobos. Hell, we can get three of them built and set them up on different areas so we can strike and cripple the Decepticons and then...." He grins, "Do guerrilla warfare." He looks at Repugnus now, "And let's kill all the Decepticons while we have the chance." First Aid emerges from deeper in the base, cleaning his hands on a rag. He has a toolbelt fixed to his waist. "Wow, I can't believe some of the systems back in there," he says with a hint of excitement, "It's got genuine original human technology mixed in with the newer Cybertronian shared tech. They have an old D7 solar generator hooked up to a Cosmotron. It's like an archaeology find in there!" First Aid looks around, hearing something about *series of big bombs*, *no room for bleeding hearts*, and *the potential of getting people killed*. "So... am... I missing a staff meeting?" He also heard something about *Repugnus actually cares what people think*, but assumes his audio circuits simply malfunctioned for a moment. Repugnus scratches his chin. "Hm. Could gather some Wreckers, lure some 'cons into investigating a fake secret base, capture them, have some fun with them, then arrange their horribly mangled corpses in a variety of hilarious poses complete with one holding a sign saying, 'Nope, no base here!' That'll get the 'cons all stirred up for vengeance. Not because they CARED about their comrades, mind you, but mostly to avenge that ol' Decepticon pride they got. Ahhhh.... but you guys wouldn't go for that." He grins cruelly. "Too soft. Shame, since Amber's worried about Decepticon civilians. Ain't anybody told you they don't have any? Name's Repugnus by the way, guess why." Wheeljack is distracted from looking over Nate's plans, as he just has to look at First Aid in response to that remark. Looking as much surprised as one can when you don't have more for expression than optics and fancy head flashers. "A cosmotron? Seriously? Haven't seen one of those since the last time I had to replace one, and that was before the whole being dead deal." Foxfire sits on his haunches, peering up at the larger mechs. "Beats me, 'Aid. I just got here." Galen arrives into the room, just one of the many other Autobot and EDC personnel who has been recently dropped off on planet by the Orion Pax. Things been pretty hectic since the primary base of operations on Mars had been destroyed, but the fact that so many Autobots and EDC military personnel are still here on Mars is testament to the resiliency of their resolve. Galen looks around at the gathered occupants in the room and smiles, "Good to see everyone is still here and in one piece. Care to fill me in on what's brewing while me and the others were away?" Hardhead looks at First Aid and nods. "You are just in time, we were getting to what resources we need to keep the forces going." He motions towards Repugnus. "That sounds perfect...When can you get started? How many locations do you think we can hit, Repugnus?" He looks at Wheeljack and Nate. "So, this is a viable plan? We just need to decide where we build?" He then bows slightly towards Galen. "We are currently plotting our offensive here on Mars. guerrilla hit and run raids, new weapon systems, still are missing an intelligence plan and logistical network." James Bailey looks at Nate dubiously but then pans his gaze around the room to judge if anyone else is interested in the multiple big bombs suggestion. Apparently not. Ah well. "Well," he finally concedes. "As long as it's a BIG gun. Something like the one that carved up Mexico." First Aid finishes cleaning his hands and tosses the rag onto his shoulder, stepping up to join the group along with Foxfire. "It's one of the newer kinds we developed on Cybertron after the Ark went out. You should check it out, Wheeljack." He nods to everyone's favorite Cassettibot. "Sounds like a planning session." It's too bad. If Trypticon weren't here the Autobots could just stage a normal attack. "Are we still thinking of the space gun plan?" he asks Hardhead. This also gives convenient exposition for Galen. Hardhead nods towards First Aid. "Wheeljack, Colonel Briar, and Commander Bailey are currently refining that plan. We need to make the logistics work." Foxfire is apparently everyone's favorite tapebot. Awesome. He nods back to First Aid before turning his attention back to the others. "So what's the plan so far?" he asks no one in particular. Amber MacKenzie comments dryly, "Somehow, I don't think you're joking, either. I said I'd regret it, not that I'd hesitate. But you did indeed hit on one of my own limits. Nice to meet you, by the way," she adds with a calculating smile, hiding her uneasiness at the danger she senses in him. He's scary. The conversation moves on to logistics, and she remains silent, uncertain if she can contribute. Repugnus chews his lip as he ponders Hardhead's question. "Hmmmm... well, that depends on how long we can keep doing it before Rodimus notices. So..." He whips out a calculator, starts pressing buttons. "The inverse of the pragmatism factorial... divided by boy hero differential... add the attention span polynomial... take the integral of moral indignation... oh... I'd say about three times before Rodimus tells us to stop and tells us what horrible people we are. Oh, and nice to meet you too, human." First Aid sums it up for Foxfire, "Build a big space gun on Phobos and sniping the Decepticons. Sort of like that moon laser they had from way back when." First Aid doesn't do the air quotes around 'laser' because, as an Autobot, he has actual dignity. He considers asking why anyone invited Repugnus to a meeting where they wanted to accomplish something, but manages to resist since he knows it'll just make the situation worse. Foxfire thinks about this for about two seconds before nodding. "Ah, yeah, I remember that laser. But anyway, that sounds like a good idea." Galen nods his head at Hardhead as he is given the brief summary of what's going on, "It's still touch and go over in space. Skirmishes within the solar system has been taking place against the Decepticons." The Nebulan World Watch leader holds up a handheld holographic projector in his right hand and activates it with his left. Soon a holographic map of the solar system, with several red and purple dots indicating Autobot and Decepticon starships is shown, "As for the logistics of things, that's what I came here to inform you guys about. Command has taken two more of destroyers off the outer fringe of space and sent them here. It should be enough for us to stabilize our supply line and significantly lower the threat of our supply ships being attacked." He then clicks off the holopad, pockets it, and crosses his arms across his chest, "We'll need to know what supplies you guys need though." "Actually," Wheeljack chimes in, "I'm not sure yet if we want a laser cannon, or a missile cannon. Considering Mars has a thinner atmosphere than Earth, there would be less friction and thermal bleed-off to slow down an inter-spacial ballistic missile." He goes back to regarding the plans Nate had laid out. "There's also the matter of guarding the weapon... I wonder if we could get some sort of armed satellites in geosyncronis orbit within the moon's range to slow down would be attackers. Kinda like... booby traps. In space." Hardhead looks at Repugnus and chuckles. "I think we can easily double that number. I don't think the CnC will tell us no..." He looks at Repugnus. "Now we just need targets...Places and people." He shrugs at Repugnus. "Want to spearhead that?" He then looks at First Aid. "The Laser is just a portion, we need to develop a full plan which is why Repugnus, the Wreckers, and our other aft-kickers are going to take the war to the 'Cons." He then looks at Foxfire and Blaster. "We need more intelligence. The Cons could have kicked us off this planet, but they haven't. They have to be up to something...We need to know what that is." He looks between Galen and First Aid. "I know some of the grizzly details bother you First Aid, but it seems you have the best grasp of our current resources...any idea what we need?" Amber MacKenzie gives the big guy a crooked grin. Her voice softens to keep from interrupting anyone else. "Touché. My name is Amber MacKenzie, officially the EDC press liaison, unofficial low-tech trap builder." She falls silent and listens to Galen, but something is bothering her. "What about the possibility of this base being compromised like the last one? If we have ships coming and going, that's nice for our inventory, but not so nice for keeping our location secret. Shouldn't that be our first priority? Either secure this location or get the hell off Mars?" "What's to say we don't just trap the Decepticons here and blockade them here to rust?" offers Nate. "We should be able to blockade them around here. Perhaps we can get other planets to help us." He shrugs, "A relay of satellites with weapons to keep them from moving should also help." Galen listens intently to Hardhead's comments and when the time comes that the matter of resources is discussed he is able to pick up quickly the situation from the contents discussed and promptly looks over to First Aid for the answer that he too had asked earlier. The matter of what resources to ship in. However before he can listen in for long, Galen is spoken to by Amber and the Nebulan leader promptly assures the intrepid reporter, "Ms. MacKenzie, we're aware that discretion is needed to maintain the secrecy of this base. That's one of the reasons why Fortress Maximus is still onboard the Orion Pax. He couldn't fit in one of the smaller, stealthier dropships. We had a good long walk from our designated LZ just to get here while being escorted by very competent scouts. Supplies will very likely be coming in via the similar methods." Hardhead looks at Galen and nods. "Interesting...that sounds like a solid plan. I wonder if the spies can teach us some basic techniques to cover our tracks?" Repugnus grins at Galen. "Well, I'm stocked up on pornography, so I don't think I need much else. Maybe a molecular nail file for my claws in case they get dull from all the atrocities I'm allegedly going to commit. Speaking of which, yeah, I had an idea in mind, Hardhead--I've been wanting to take down that big purple cyclops Shockwave for a long time, but trouble is doing that to someone of his caliber. Buuuuut... maybe he could be lured away from his buddies if there was some 'new find,' or whatever..." He smiles down at Amber. "Oh, I've heard of you, don't worry. I appreciate a biased press. Biased for us, anyway." That might have been an insult or a compliment, or maybe he doesn't care either way. First Aid pulls up one of the more comfortable chairs and takes a seat, watching the solar system hologram with obvious interest. He's not much of a strategist, so he remains silent on advising where to deploy ships and the like. He nods up at Hardhead, "Don't worry, I can take it. As for our resources--I assume you mean medical supplies--we're doing alright, but honestly shipping everything here from Earth is expensive and dangerous. The Decepticons could attack our freighters and cut off our supply lines. I think it'd be great to set up a spacebridge to bypass that." "As for weapons, it's ammunition that's getting tight. I don't know if you've noticed, but in most pitched space battles it takes approximately twenty rounds for each successful hit against an enemy target. Add the fact that we have to ship ammo all across the system..." Hardhead grins viciously at Repugnus. "Yes, taking down Shockwave would throw the Decepticons into a bit of Chaos." He looks at First Aid and Wheeljack. "We can setup a Space Bridge?" Wheeljack glances over his shoulder to Hardhead for a moment. "Talk to Mirage or Hound. They're the experts at covering tracks. Or finding them. Which is usually good for knowing what to do to make them not findable by knowing how to find the--" He pauses, then stares at Hardhead. "-WE- have spacebridge technology?!" Seems like that one slipped by the old timer with all his other getting reaccustomed to the times. Galen pulls out a datapad and inputs a few things into his notes, before responding to Hardhead, "Not a problem, that can be arranged, Hardhead. Duros, I know you and your partner will enjoy what they got to impart on you guys. They squad that accompanied us can be a bit haughty though, I'm going to trust in you to not try to correct their attitude. Not here on Mars, alright?" The Nebulan world watch leader gives Repugnus a sly smile, "Well I guess that means I won't need to share mine with you then, hmm, Repugnus?" If there's one big difference between Galen and Fortress Maximus, it's that the lil' guy still has his sense of humour. Nate Briar casually asks, "How do these spacebridges work? Can we set up a spacebridge to deliver a payload into the Decepticon's base?" The colonel admits it, "I am ignorant on the workings of these devices." He smirks, "This gives us some new options." First Aid gives Wheeljack one of those looks (Wheeljack gets them all the time, I bet) before answering Hardhead, "Sure. Expensive, but if we're staying here for the longterm it's worth it. Just make sure it's in a place we we're willing to put a lot of effort into defending." The doctor absentmindedly reaches over to fuzzle Foxfire behind the ears as he chats. "Afraid not, Colonel. There's loads of security, and they have to be tuned for specific destination points. Believe me, if it were easy to hack into another spacebridge we'd have done it." James Bailey has been rubbing his chin in though ever since Wheeljack mentioned missile cannon. The he snaps. "Not missiles. Masses of rock, metal, explosive material...whatever we want. We can build a mass driver cannon. The Decepticons did something like that on Cybertron, remember? Only it was some sort of gravity effect, to direct meteors at specific targets." Hardhead smiles warmly towards Galen as he nods his head. His voice is noticeably warmer and kinder. "Of course Galen, you can count on me. I did swear to protect your life. You lead, I follow." Turning away from Galen, Hardhead's face turns into its usual grim expression. "I see, Mirage and Hound..." He ponders. "We may have to institute new protocols? Nate Briar smirks at First Aid, "Let's storm Charr and hijack their side then and hack from their set up." He looks at the Glaive, "I'll spearhead this. I think we can do this." Repugnus pouts a bit at Galen. "Shucks. I bet Nebulans have the best porn, too." Foxfire shudders at Repugnus's comment. Amber MacKenzie is unfamiliar with spacebridge tech, but... "Is it possible to spacebridge something like... well, like what Colonel Bailey said. A nice, big asteroid, specially delivered to Trypticon." A lot of this conversation is starting to go over her head, but she has a shallow, shaky grasp of some of the technology. First Aid hesitates at Nate's comment, "I suppose that's one way to get in. I'll leave it up to you and the other strategists, Colonel." The Protectobot glances around the room. Hmm, humans, Nebulons, and Transformers all collaborating together. Kinda nice. To Amber, he says, "We spacebridged Cybertron itself. I don't know what the upper limit would be, but if we put in the resources then sure." Hardhead optic bar flickers as he looks at Repugnus, he just shakes his head. He looks at Nate and First Aid. "Hmmmm...what is that is our rope-a-dope...make the Con's think we are going after the Space Bridge. We can feint attacks at a bunch of different locations." "Whoa. Whoa whoa WHOA!" Wheeljack waves his hands up a few times to get back attention. "You mean this entire time we've had our own access to the spacebridge technology and no one told me?! I've waited forever to get a look at that stuff, we never could figure out just what Shockwave had come up with to make it work back in the old days! Even after the Cons tried to stick Cybertron near earth and totally screw up its balance." Pause. "I mean, the old days of just us on earth. Not the old old days." "Know anybody who hates life?" Repugnus asks Amber. "Because you can't just send the rock itself, you gotta have someone go with it to guide it or you'll just be flinging it into oblivion." He shrugs a little. "Don't ask me why it works that way, I ain't no physicist. Or am I?" Then he bursts out laughing at Wheeljack. "What, you missed the big sign at Autobot City pointing the way to the space bridge?" The sound of the door sliding open issues as Velum steps into the room, just in time to hear talk of a spacebridge. With all the planning and preparation happening since their retreat she's downgraded into a more comfortable outfit, wear a simple tank top, jeans, and military boots she wore with almost everything. A brow is quirked, but she takes a moment to nod in greeting to the others. "A spacebridge, eh?" A glance is given to Repugnus as he explains the mechanics of the traveling, the woman hmming softly before speaking again. "If you need to send someone with it, sending a bomb would end up being a suicide mission." Galen nods warmly in return to Hardhead, he doesn't need to utter words of appreciation in such a public place and get all mushy when years of friendship and loyalty between the two already speaks volume itself. He allows himself a quick jest with Repugnus, "You better believe it, Pug." Galen gives a Wheeljack a quick pat... er... where ever a Nebulan of his height can reach, "The information's sitting in our databanks. I'm no scientist, but from what I heard we were a short a few key elements and theoretical equations revisions away from our own, right and proper." He leaves the discussion on what is theoretically possible to the other egg heads though, this is one field he can't help much with even if he still had Fortress Maximus' vast database to access. First Aid fidgets, suddenly wishing he hadn't brought up the spacebridge. He meant for logistical supplies, and now everyone's planning to invade Charr or fling meteors, bombs, and whatever else through one. "Or maybe we should stick with the space gun idea?" Hardhead looks at Velum and nods politely towards her, favoring her with a slight smile. "Perhaps we could engineer a drone to fly the mission?" He then looks at Galen again and nods in affirmation. He looks at the others and listens. Wheeljack rubs his forehead. "I've been so busy with everything else that's gotten thrown my way -- not that I'm complaining, it's just like old times -- I must of missed that somehow." In typical fashion, he snaps back quickly. Wheeljack never was one to be kept down for long, especially when there's work to be done. Being dead hasn't seemed to stop that much. "Though First Aid's right. At least for now. If we could get a terminal up here to help with the supply lines that -would- be a good asset." Pauses, then looks to Nate. "Is there a base or anything up on the moon? If that's where we're going to put a giant gun that needs to be defended, would be the best place to put other things that need defending. Or the supplies for." Amber MacKenzie nods grimly to Velum. "Yes, it would." She lowers her voice and continues more quietly, "I know that many would be willing to volunteer, even if there wasn't a certainty of success, just a decent chance." She's thinking of an asteroid being spacebridged, not a bomb. It's... bigger, and more certain to do a massive amount of damage. Mars might be destroyed, but it would be a huge, huge blow against the Decepticons. In fact, if their leadership were there, they could wipe it out entirely... Some loud music is heard nearby followed by a few sounds of transforming, "I thought I told you all, just chill inside while Big Red handles his business out here! Don't fret my pets! Ya'll can listen in through my internal speakers. It's no biggie!" Yes, the party has officially started. Walking up to the gathered group, some might catch a final glimpse of Ramhorn's tape form as he enters Blaster's chest compartment. Taking a look at the variety of characters huddled around, it's obvious some sort of heated discussion is afoot. It's also obvious to the others that Blaster has no idea what's going on. "Uh....rock and roll forever?! What's the low down ya'll?! It's the Mixmaster of Disaster checkin' in to see what's on the agenda with this meetin' here!" "It feels like we have a lot of good ideas," First Aid comments, "Build a bridge for supplies, build a bridge for offense, build a space gun, invade Charr... I'm not so sure we can sustain all of them. We're going to have to choose." He gives Amber a surprised look. He doesn't know the woman well, but having read all of her papers he didn't think she'd suggest something like this. Still, First Aid can't really argue against blowing up Mars if it wins them the war, given that it's way more lifeless than any other planet. As Blaster arrives, First Aid gives him a friendly wave. Nate Briar jokes to James and Amber, "Man, we outnumbered; even in our own galaxy." He then says to Wheeljack, "I have bases hidden everywhere. Michael Briar and Faireborn were pretty great with allocating resources to set up hidden staging grounds." He then adds in, "The Phobos station was evacuated and shut down when Mars was under attack. I gave the orders to turn off /everything/ so there is no way the Decepticons can find it. I figured it was a safe bet that we would need it for later on." He leans against the wall. "I'm not that smart but I try to be." Hardhead looks at Amber and nods to her. "Cut off the head and the beast withers away..." He looks at Blaster and nods to him. "Blaster, we were in need of some thoughts on how we can spy on the Decepticons and figure out what they are up too." "Cleeeverrr." Wheeljack gets distracted again for a moment, but it's by something more familiar this time. "Blaster!" He turns to give the rocker-bot a hearty slap to the shoulder. "Should of known you'd be up here poking the airwaves for us." Pause as his train of thought shifts again. "You know." He looks from Nate, then to the conversation Hardhead and Repugnus were having. "Hey, Nate, what about giving the Cons a spot to notice on purpose? Make them look somewhere -other- than the moon while we work? Coordinate with their guerrilla tactics," thumb jab towards the headmaster and monsterbot, "to keep them jumping and looking in the wrong places until we can eighty-six them for good?" Velum rolls her shoulders in a shrug at Hardhead. "Maybe. But I'm no techie, so who knows. I think right now we need to focus on digging our heels in here and not get run out by the Cons again like last time. The plan was good, yes, but we sure as hell weren't expecting them to crash right through our projection with a slapped together ship." She mutters in thought, thumb of her robotic hand hooking onto her pocket while normal one combs her hair from her face before gaze settles on Galen, a casual smirk lighting her expression. "And by the way. Been a while, Galen. Been good, I hope since I last saw you on Nebulos." Blaster grins as he hears talk about something he's actually pretty good at, "Oh spyin' you say huh?! Well spyin' is my name of the game so I can certainly give ya my opinion if you're willin' to lend me an audio receptor! But first it sounds like there's a bunch of plans on the tables and too many ways to stretch us thin. I agree that we gotta get down to the low down on one of these tactics and take a rockin' vote!" Nate Briar looks at Wheeljack and smirks, "A decoy? Why, I never thought you'd ask." He takes his tablet and pulls up a blueprint of a space station. "This was Copernicus. The Decepticons took it. I want to take it back. It will convince the Decepticons that we are up to something on our end but towards Earth. As we finish this stage... I want to set up a decoy with Grimlock's crew and the Wreckers." First Aid smiles inwardly at Velum's comments. Oh, so many different ideas. The Protectobot gives Galen a look. The look says 'someone has to make a call here on how to proceed'. First Aid is really good at giving meaningful looks. Repugnus gives Velum his most devilish grin as she arrives. "Yep, exactly. I'm not sure we could send a drone either. It has to be someone or something that's self-aware... as in, alive. But hey, you know, find someone who wants to be a hero..." He smirks. "Anyway, right, Wheeljack, Hardhead and I were actually talking about that, but well, I'd need some assurance our activities won't be... ah... interfered with by the higher ups?" He gives Galen a sidelong glance, then Blaster, too. Just because he's "cool" doesn't mean Blaster wouldn't shut down an operation that got too brutal. Galen rubs his chin grimly as he listens to all of the potential plans being brainstormed at the moment in the room, "First Aid's right on the mark here, folks. We might have enough materials to construct all these things, but getting them here and the time and labour is our limiting factor here." The Nebulan leader unfolds his arms and begins explaining his reasoning with the occasional hand gesturing, "All of this takes time, and we have no idea what Galvatron is doing on Mars yet and if how close is he in completing whatever his plans are here." He looks over to Velum as he finally notices her presence and he smiles warmly, "Well I honestly didn't think I'd see you, of all people, here, Velum. When did you ship off from Nebulos?" Galen notices Repugnus' glance and smirks ever so slightly, "I'm going to want to sit down for this one, won't I, Pug? Go ahead and fill me in." Velum sends Repugnus a rather flat look as she glances at him from the corner of her eye, "Maybe we should just send you then, Repugnus." A sharp smirk replaces her expression, "I'm sure you'd love jumping ahead of whatever we send through, kill tons of Cons, and then get blown up with the rest. A noble death, I think." Attention shifts back to Galen when he speaks, waving her hand dismissively, "Yeeaaars ago, Galen. Surprised you didn't hear. I was with the spacefaring sector of EDC. That's why you never saw me on Earth. Buuut.. Things have changed. So I guess I'm here to stay." Hardhead leans in towards Repugnus. "I'll cook the paperwork...if there is paperwork, command doesn't question" He gives the Monsterbot a firm nod. He then looks to Galen and nods slightly. "True, but if the Decepticons thought we were doing all of these things, it would occupy them. Misdirection wins wars." Amber MacKenzie steps over towards Blaster, remembering the mantra 'never again volunteer yourself' with a sigh. With her voice lowered once again, she says to him, "I have some skills in sneaking around, sir, with the disadvantages of being limited to ordinary human foot speed, and recovering from some injuries. If this is a longer-term mission, then I hope to assist you and Moonracer. I've spoken to the lady already, and she is eager to get out there." Amber herself isn't, but she'll do what she has to. "I know you guys don't wanna divide resources," Repugnus says, "but the thing is, you might not have a choice. I ain't any good at building, for instance. I mean, I can do it, I guess, but eventually I'll get bored, start slacking off, then try to amuse myself by ticking people off. Remember how some guy vandalized the old base with dirty drawings? Yeah, something like that. I imagine I'm not the only one--I mean, guys like me? All we're really good at is killing and it's only by some weird miracle that we didn't wind up Decepticons ourselves. So let us just kill guys and let the guys who build things build things. Anyway, Galen, let me just put it to you this way: We're gonna go out, Decepticons will die, and maybe we might have done it, maybe not, but try not to get bothered by it, kay?" He gives Hardhead a nod, but knows from experience that cooking the books isn't always enough to ward off the idealists in the Autobots. "Oh, my dear Velum, you sorely tempt me!" he tells the Nebulan woman. "Buuut... nah, not this time." Nate Briar sighs heavily, "Where is Rodimus in all of this? I haven't seen him. He was so worried about the other alien planet but not Mars?" He lowers his head, "Ok, let's take out Shockwave. I have some history with the one-eyed purple monster." He grins, "We take him out and we show that we are up to something bigger." First Aid remembers what Repugnus is talking about. It took him hours to wash off all the pictures of... well, it was very rude. He folds his arms in disbelief at the idea that any Autobot is only good for killing. "While I respect your willingness to die for the cause and all that, going out there without proper support seems like a waste." Hardhead looks at First Aid. "Guerrilla Warfare is seldom properly supplied." He looks at Repugnus and nods. "Some hit and run operations should do the trick." He looks at Blaster. "Could you find us some high priority targets? I think we have settled on Shockwave as being target #1." "Rodimus has his hands full making sure the defenders still on earth don't get blindsided so we can get done what we need to do up here," Wheeljack answers Nate's query. "He's got plans of his own. With Trypticon up here, there's openings.. but keep that under your hat." Then hmmms, going back to the orbital assault/defense plans. Galen gives Velum a shrug and a resigned smile, "Well, it's been a crazy few years for me and my crew. Being binary bonded to cybernetic lifeforms and fighting an intergalactic civil war and all. It's good to see another familiar face though. Welcome to Mars, I look forward to working with you again." He then responds to Hardhead, "Indeed it does, but it's a race against time and we have no idea just how close the Cons are to the finish line. Hmm... let me see what I can do for you guys. Should still be able to divert some engineering teams off the frontlines of Huo III to help speed things up." The Nebulan leader listens to Repugnus simple overview of their plans, while he doesn't look too amused by the condescending nature of the briefing he remains on task nevertheless. When the summary is done, Galen nods a single time and replies briskly, "Approved. Get it done, just make sure I see real results though." He looks around a moment before, in case there's anybody shocked at his response, "I'm not one for mindless killings, but we have no idea what the Decepticons are planning but I know it's huge and Earth is way too close in all of this for comfort. Can't risk another world's safety." Galen is pragmatic like that. "Work with Blaster and make your strikes mean something though, and no unnecessary heroics. I expect you to bring your mechs back in one piece at the end of the day. There's still too much to do here for you lot to die on this rock, got it?" ...yeah, but Galen still can be a softy too. First Aid shrugs at Hardhead. He has some experience with guerrilla warfare during the Dark Ages on Cybertron, but never really took to it. "Anything you need from the Medical division, Galen?" he asks. Nate Briar smirks, "A body bag for me so after I finish fighting Shockwave..." Galen pulls out his datapad, uncurling the side to access his notes within before looking up at First Aid, "Allocate enough supplies for Repugnus and his team beforehand, this can get messy. I also need a projection on what other medical supplies you anticipate needing. Command doesn't get these reports in real time, so give us your best estimation." He then glances over at Wheeljack and informs him the same thing, "Same for you, Wheeljack. You've got the best idea how much materials you'll need for all these construction efforts. Let me know before I head back to the Orion Pax tomorrow, alright?" Galen shares Nate's smirk as he comments, "So eager to get that posthumous promotion?" Repugnus raises his hands in a conciliatory gesture. "Hey now, everyone, chillax. If there's one word that doesn't describe me, it's 'heroic.' So don't worry about any blazes of glory from me." He grins at Blaster. "Hmmm. And I'm already thinking of ways you could be a big help to me, big guy! Heheheh. Heheheheheh! Hahahahaha--*cough* sorry I laugh maniacally sometimes." Hardhead looks at First Aid and gives him a matching shrug. He looks at the gathered group. "It sounds like we have a plan..." He looks at Repugnus. "I have no doubt you can keep the 'Cons plenty occupied." Blaster shrugs, "Well I'll let you guys sort out the rest of your plan, but I definitely can handle a little spyin' to find out where ol' blinky is gonna be next." Looking over to Repugnus with a grin, the Intel CO offers a thumbs up, "You sure you aren't sneakin' some of Kup's ol' cold crank medicine?! Ow! That's just fine with me dude!" Nodding at Amber's comment, Blaster continues on, "With a little help from our human friends we can definitely setup a little scenario to lure Shox's ugly mug out from hidin' alright! Then we rock his robo-socks off with a little dose of the Pug-Man! What do you say?!" "Sure thing," First Aid replies to Galen. To Repugnus, he says, "We can whip up some field kits for you guys. Energon stimpaks, cyber-bandaids, transforming cog jumpstart kits, and other things that are useful when you're away from base for an extended period of time." "You've got it, Galen. Just let me make a copy of these, and I'll get to work." Wheeljack pulls out a datapad and uses it to scan Nate's blueprints so he's got something to start working with. Nate Briar looks over at Wheeljack as he scans over the blueprints, "We could build them on Earth and ferry them over. We can also drop satellites into orbit that are armed with smaller weapons to provide interference to the Decepticons who will try to take out our BFG." Repugnus replies to First Aid, "And I'll send you a list of whatever else I might need." But really, he fully intends to send First Aid an enormous list of supplies he "needs" filled to the brim with horrible things like aborted fetuses, and maybe buried somewhere near the bottom of the list will be the handful of things that he himself needs. If there's one thing Repugnus prides himself on its being self-sufficient. "I'll be looking forward to it, Blaster," Repugnus says. "Now, I can't promise anyone that we'll be able to off Shockwave, but even if we don't we can delay him and maybe tick off his buddies, too." "Great, sounds good Repugnus," First Aid replies, having no idea what's in store for him. The Protectobot heads over to the main computer to begin sending in the requisition orders needed for all this. Looks like everything's more or less settled for Galen here, he's done what he came here for though and all there is to do now at the moment is wait for the reports to come in. Galen rubs his chin with a hint of fatigue showing on his face, "If you'll excuse me, folks. Time for me to see just how marvelous the EDC's stock of dried field ration really are. Hardhead looks at Galen. "I wouldn't have high hopes, old friend." Amber MacKenzie calls to Galen, "Don't choose the Chicken a la King MRE. It's really bad." Nate Briar looks at Galen and grins, "I can get you the good stuff." He pulls out Chef Boyardee - Now with 75% real processed meat! from a cabinet. Galen raises his eyebrows in surprise, hot damn he was just about to choose that too, "Thanks for the heads up!" He then extends a hand out and accepts the ration that Nate offered, "I'll return the favour next time we're off world, Nate." Galen grins ever so slightly before disappearing off to where ever the mess hall is. "Alright well enough talk and more action! I'm gonna hustle on down to find the nearest place I can setup a little intel station, but I'll be in touch about settin' our plan and gettin' this goin' pronto!" Blaster looks over to Repugnus, First Aid, and anyone else who happens to turn in his direction. "Can't wait to corral that big tin can so we can show him who can reallllly throw down like a dance-dance champion!" Waving out, the Intel CO turns around and heads out. ============================= Autobot ================================= Message: 3/59 Posted Author Mars: Operation Clean Sweep Thu Apr 26 Hardhead
* TEXT ONLY REPORT* TO: AUTOBOTS ON MARS From: HARDHEAD Autobots, it has come to my attention that we are currently leaving tracks all across the Martian surface which is what is giving the Decepticons our location. This includes stray electronic transmissions and heat signatures. We need to come up a method to cover our tracks. We are currently looking for solutions to this problem. The last thing we need is another Decepticon Shuttle rammed down our throats. We have already lost too much to the Decepticons. Let's not just hand them an easy victory. Report all possible solutions through the official channels. -Hardhead ============================= Autobot ================================= Message: 3/60 Posted Author Mars: Operation Division by Zero Thu Apr 26 Hardhead
* TEXT ONLY REPORT* TO: AUTOBOTS ON MARS From: HARDHEAD Any and all information about Shockwave needs to be directed to Blaster and Repugnus immediately. This is a top priority. -Hardhead ============================= Autobot ================================= Message: 3/61 Posted Author Mars: Operation Rolling Thunder Thu Apr 26 Hardhead
* TEXT ONLY REPORT* TO: AUTOBOTS ON MARS From: HARDHEAD Autobots, we are currently planning multiple assaults on the Decepticon holdings on Mars. We are looking for Shock and Awe attacks on minor Decepticon holdings on the Red Planet and attacks on their random patrols. Additionally, let's try and capture some of their supplies. Let's give the Decepticons a taste of their own medicine. We will not give up Mars without a fight. We will not go quietly into the night. Remember, keep damage to our forces at a minimum, no need for unnecessary heroics. Our supplies are limited. If you have questions contact Repugnus or myself. Good Hunting. -Hardhead ============================= Autobot ================================= Message: 3/62 Posted Author Mars: Operation BFG 9000 Thu Apr 26 Hardhead
* TEXT ONLY REPORT* TO: AUTOBOTS ON MARS AND EARTH From: HARDHEAD Autobots, Wheeljack is currently spearheading a top secret project that involves Earth and Mars. He is going to need a lot of resources and a lot of technical expertise. This mission will require interaction with the EDC and working with their military and science division. This project is critical to our war effort on Mars. If you can assist, please report to Wheeljack through any means possible. Let's put our vaunted processing power to work. -Hardhead ============================= Autobot ================================= Message: 3/63 Posted Author Mars: Operation Big Brother Thu Apr 26 Hardhead
* TEXT ONLY REPORT* TO: AUTOBOTS ON MARS From: HARDHEAD Autobots, it is our currently belief that the Decepticons are plotting something on Mars. We need to find out what this is. Blaster is currently planning our intel operations on Mars. Please report anything you know and find. You never know what could be useful. -Hardhead ============================= Autobot ================================= Message: 3/64 Posted Author Mars: Operation Circling the Wagon Thu Apr 26 Hardhead
* TEXT ONLY REPORT* TO: AUTOBOTS EVERYWHERE! From: HARDHEAD Currently, we are working on developing supply lines to Mars. Fortress Maximus is spearheading our logistical operations, but we are to explore all of our options, including operating Space Bridges. If you have any thoughts, please report immediately. -Hardhead
- War Council is the 59th chapter of Inheritance. It takes the point of view of Eragon.
- Newly Compliant worlds were given to the rule of Imperial Commanders who served as Planetary Governors, each of whom ruled, lived and died by the will of the Emperor and his War Council. Many of these new leaders were military men and women rewarded for their service by being given a planet to govern in the Emperor's name, while others were the indigenous rulers of worlds who had bent the knee to the Emperor willingly and had been rewarded for their wisdom. Imperial Commanders were masters of their worlds, but operated within the clearly defined strictures of Imperial law, and each possessed important responsibilities. First of all, they were to uphold and expand the sway of the atheistic, rationalist Imperial Truth upon the people of their new world, eradicating any vestiges of religious belief or superstition. Second, they were to supply troops and natural resources as called upon and provided shelter and succour for the Emperor's armies and fleets, enhancing the reach of the Great Crusade as it moved ever farther out into the galaxy. Importantly it was the responsibility of the Imperial Commanders to cleanse their population of grievous mutations -- specifically those individuals who were psykers. Each was told to expect great Black Ships to visit them and transport their psykers to Terra, and these ships were not to be denied access to the world's population of identified psykers upon pain of planetary extinction. This great endeavour was called the Imperial Tithe. As the Great Crusade progressed, the War Council grew, as an inevitably widening vortex of admirals and commanders, generals, sector governors and ministers of state were appended to its administrative apparatus. Below these luminaries were advocates and technocrats responsible for the Imperial control of far-flung administrative systems and world-regimes with chains of supply and distribution whose scale beggared belief. As the years became decades, each of the Primarchs were discovered and brought into the Imperial fold and were given a seat on the Council, as was the Chief Custodian and Captain-General of the Legio Custodes, the Emperor's bodyguard. Yet, such men were creatures of war and not politics, and as some of the purely human Council members died in battle, or through simple old age or infirmity, they were replaced only irregularly. Malcador the Sigillite, unnaturally long-lived and razor-minded, proved the only individual capable of managing the minutiae of this vast Imperium, becoming over time both overseer of the Imperial Tithe as well as the Master of the Imperial Administration. So it was that the Imperium was increasingly coming under the control of its superhuman military components rather than the mortal men and women that the Emperor had sought to lift up to a new Golden Age through the Imperium's creation. After the decisive victory during the Ullanor Crusade, when Mankind's re-ascension to predominance in the galaxy was no longer in doubt, the Emperor bestowed upon the Primarch Horus Lupercal the title of Imperial Warmaster and ceded to him control of all the Imperium's military forces in the Emperor's stead. The other Primarchs were then instructed to follow Horus and obey him and to complete the Great Crusade under his direction. There was, it is said, some disquiet among the Primarchs that the Emperor had decided to no longer fight alongside them, but the Emperor was as adamant as he was close-mouthed as to what he would do on his return to Terra. The Emperor then departed for the homeworld of Mankind and the dungeons deep beneath his great Imperial Palace to begin His great work under a veil of secrecy previously unknown in the Imperium. He drew to him certain advisors and retired to the private vaults of his city-fortress. While the Warmaster Horus directed the rest of the Primarchs in the resolution of the Great Crusade, the Emperor formed a new administrative body known as the Council of Terra. This formalised the role of the Emperor's previous advisors in the Imperial hierarchy and the Council began with a half dozen members. Already, under the far-seeing eyes of Malcador, the Adeptus Administratum had been born, a new civilian bureaucracy intended to govern the Imperium in place of military rule. It was a bright start for the new dawn of Mankind envisioned by the Emperor. This council, under the leadership of the Emperor, was to become the body of civilian government that would administrate the myriad bureaucratic tasks needed for the survival of the newly formed human interstellar empire. The Emperor was determined that in his Imperium power would reside with those men and women who were governed by its apparatus and not with an artificial military elite composed of genetically-engineered beings who were so powerful that they already possessed only a very tenuous grip upon their own humanity. The Primarchs and their Space Marines had been created to give life to the Emperor's dream of a united human Imperium stretching across the galaxy and to defend it from humanity's myriad foes. They were not to rule it as a hereditary caste of immortal warriors imposing their whims upon those they deemed mere "mortals" by brute force. In addition to the Council of Terra, the Primarchs, under the Warmaster Horus, were to be a part of a separate Military Council, charged to lead the Imperium's military branches in the latter days of the Great Crusade and to spread the rule of the Imperium far across the galaxy. Yet the creation of the Council of Terra and a separate Military Council tasked solely with overseeing the Imperial military rather than the broader aspects of the Imperium became contentious. Some of the Primarchs took great exception to being ruled by those deemed less worthy of such honours than themselves. The Primarchs felt that it was they and their Astartes who had suffered and sacrificed the most to build the Imperium and thus it was they who should have the greatest say in how it was ruled, not a council composed of effete Terran nobles and faceless bureaucrats. It is said that Horus himself was a staunch opponent of the Council of Terra's imposition of the Imperial Tithe, feeling that it would cause civil unrest and even outright rebellion in the more unstable areas of the Imperium as well as among some newly Compliant worlds. In time, this tension was one of the many growing resentments amongst the Imperial elite that allowed the Ruinous Powers to infect and corrupt several of the Primarchs, who had been dismayed that the Emperor would no longer be fighting at their side. Some, in their ignorance and hurt at the Emperor's refusal to reveal the nature of the secret project he had retired to Terra to complete, even whispered that they had been cast aside like tools whose usefulness had worn out. Such sources that survive from this ancient time, apocryphal as they are, claim that of all of the Primarchs, Angron of the World Eaters Legion was particularly bitter and most outspoken at this turn of events, not out of rancour for Horus' elevation above his brothers as the Warmaster, but rather as he counted this as the second time the Emperor had failed him, the first being when the Emperor had teleported him from his homeworld before he could lead his band of ex-gladiators in their final, hopeless battle against their oppressors. Following the calamities of the Horus Heresy and the Emperor's interment within the Golden Throne and the sacrifice of Malcador, the Emperor could no longer take an active hand in ruling his realm directly. The role of Imperial Regent initially fell to Roboute Guilliman, the great Primarch of the Ultramarines Legion. It was he who set up the new ruling body for the Imperium based on the foundation of the Council of Terra, the Senatorum Imperialis, or as its members were more commonly called, the High Lords of Terra.
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