Capellan Confederation RP Thread

[Fatebringer]

The Celestial Palace
Private Antechamber
Zi-jen Cheng, Sian
12 MAR 3040

Thought the large office room there was very little light which only seemed to enhance the sound of Romano's boots clacking against the green marble floor as she paced the middle of the room. Her head lowered, she kept her eyes locked on the chair by her desk where her sister sat. Long days had been spent thinking up ways to eliminate her from existence, but those plans had to be put on hold. Despite how much she despised her, what Candace and her Envoy brought forth could change everything! If all she had to do was endure her sister's angelic attitude and her ethics clauses in their arrangement, the power she would gain would pay multiple dividends for her patience.

The sound of Candace flipping the page reminded Romano that once the treaty was signed, her sister's presence would always be there. She grinned as she thought of exactly where she would have to run the  dao that hang at her hip though the chair in order to impale her sister while she sat there unexpectedly. The presence of so many guards, some of which belonged to the 7th Kommando unit of the Wolf's Dragoons that arrived as her bodyguard unit, stayed her wild imagination.

The way the arrangement was written she would still have near total control of all realm and military decisions. While she could not abide that fact that the people of her  sister's precious St. Ives would see their betrayal of their great father as a victory only to be rewarded by a declaration of unity that did not include the death of every rebellious noble that followed her. She knew the names of every one of them, she had a list and even managed to scratch a few names from it, but her sister's return allow hers to claim credit for the success' of leadership and blame Candace for the failures.

Frustration mounted as she waited for her sister and her lawyer to finish going over the document. She looked around the room; the royal blue of the Kommando uniforms complimented her own viridian robe. If only she could be convinced that they would fight as complimentary with the other house units. This was the second time the Wolf's Dragoons would be brought into the employ of Capellan Confederation, last time complications between them and the McCarron's Armored Calvary, this time she would ensure the two powerful units were separated.
This was the specific reason she would even consider tolerating listening to her sister's initial proposal. She brought with her the Dragoons, one of the only other powerhouse units they could bring to bear after losing control of the Northwind Highlander contract, which could bring back into the fold their ancestral home, Liao. Romano locked eyes with one of the Kommando Captain. He exuded strength and she knew that without their regiments it would take decades before they recover enough strength to push the Davion invaders out on their own and that would risk allowing her people to possibly falter while in exile to their true allegiance, the Celestial Throne!  That would be the only truly unacceptable outcome.

Romano turned sharply and went back to site behind her desk and stare across its wide expanse at her sister who was done reading the last page. "Everything is as we discussed, sister. I am glad that you are being so accommodating on the terms," Candace said signing the document and turning the papers to Romani who took them and looked at her sister's flowery signature. "What choice do I have, Sister? Personally, I would rather gauge your eyes out, but as the Chancellor, it falls to me to what is best for our people." Romano began to sign, "Besides," she thought to herself, "it would probably only get her more sympathy from nobles that stayed out of our feud and cement them firmly against me." Romano ceremoniously applied cedar shavings that absorbed the access ink. "You have always had a way of getting people to fight for you Candace, even managing to get our enemies to fight on your behalf," Romano said, "it is time to put that skill to use for the good of our citizens, Ni bu tong-yi (Do you not agree)?" Candice stood and gave a slight bow, "Ruguo ni zheme shuo (If you say so), Chancellor." Romano smiled at the implied obedience being shown by her older sister. "Let us show the people the power of a unified Liao family."

At those words the guards turned and marched to the door, opening the large entrance that would lead them back to the celestial throne room. Candace and Romano walked together with all the guards and troopers taking up flanking positions as they moved along the green marble path.

[Fatebringer]

The Celestial Palace
Zi-jen Cheng, Sian
28 MAR 3040

There were many perks to being back in the Celestial Palace, but Candace was focused on the communiques from numerous Prefects and members of the House of Scions. As Romano entered the room with her entourage, a commando operating the scanner at the door let her pass and moved onto all the people following her. Waiting a few steps in the room Romano waited for them. It was a minor inconvenience and she would not allow herself to be seem contemptuous.

Candace stood up smiling, one thing she could count on was her sister's opinion of herself meant that she would not risk killing herself in any suicide attempts, hence why she wasn't scanned. While Romano rarely sought our her opinion on military matters, she still had to her when she needed the verification codes on verisigned documents to give the move orders to any of her units. She had no illusions of her purpose in thier arrangement, Public Relations, Political Liason and the woman currently holding the purse strings of the Dragoons.

"Here you go Eldest Sister," the orders were already filled out except a few key account numbers where Candace would sign. The documents were placed on her desk and the two women sat down together. "I see everything is in order, what word do we have from the front?" Romano replied, "Not as much resistance as we had expected outside of the Sarna System. They must have pulled back the bulk of their troops to watch the other marches and we are trying to confirmation the location of a Lyran unit out past their official line."

Looking at the plan outline Candace traced her finger along the border, "Sometimes, it boggles my mind to think this is all that we hold. We have received so many messages from back channels on worlds still in Federated Suns control pledging to resist and help us once we show up. The missives have been flooding in ever since our announcement, but ... I still have my reservations if this will be enough. They have so many troops, I have seem them myself. They are well trained and have high morale. The Disinherited and Dragoons may not be enough."

"Don't be soft dear sister, this is not the time for regrets, we have not even begun yet!" Romano's ferver was especially in high spirits. "Besides, we have already so many volunteers showing up every day to recruitment centers and if that does not get me ... us, enough troops, I will send out the notice for conscripts. Citizenship for anyone who serves!" Candace thought about it for a second. "Is that not already the way of things?" Romano gave her a funny look, we'll reduce the required length of service. We only need them for a few years after all. Once we have our worlds back, the grateful citizens there will also join us.

[Marlin]

Open Message
House of Scions

The House of Scions wishes to extent their heartfelt congratulations to the victorious Armed Forces, the Strategios and the Chancellor of the Capellan Confederation.

This brilliantly planned and executed liberation of many planets and systems shows that the spirit of our people is unbroken and strong.
With the leadership of Celestial Wisdom and highly able Warriors under her guidance, our enemies must take a step back and crumble as we are not to fall if we stand united as one people.

All liberated citizens are called upon to work for the common goal.

Away with Davion aggression, for peace united under the Celestial Throne!

Arthur Yu on behalf of
The House of Scions

[Fatebringer]

O'Hanlon Building
Barns, Victoria
02 MAY 3040

After visiting Kelly, Candace told her guards to wait outside as she entered the office. She immediately went to the old man in front of her and wrap her arms around him. "Archie, it's been too long." She said giving him a hug. "We can rehash why that is if you would like?" he told Candace. "Please don't be like that. I'm conflicted enough about actually leaving my husband and turning on the people that helped me when Romano was at her worst." Archibald motioned for his aid to close the door. "The Chancellor is a fine upstanding leader ...," when the doors were completely shut, "and just because she's playing nice now dearie, doesn't mean you should ever stop watching your back. She's got a mean streak in her, always has. I get by because she needs us and we're good at what we do." Candace nodded, "I Know that, but I need some professional advice. I know you have no love for the Dragoons, but they're in my employ now and we need them. Unfortunately due to this Velhas incident, Romano has just the right bit of ammunition to ask me to exercise one of the clauses in our arrangement. She had papers drawn up and wants me to sign the orders to release some of the Dragoons on the Capellan  March. Archie, I didn't come back here to press the Duke's buttons. Getting back Liao is a righteous cause and I'm trying to help my people out without letting her draw on my forces to draw out this war."

Archibald sighed heavily, "Duchess, after a decade of having the Duke's fingers threaten the Capellan interior it is my professional opinion that your sister ... well dearie, I think she's right." Candace looked puzzled, "The Duke's fingers?" Archibald pointed to the map, "Kittery, Verlo and of course, Velhas." Candace  looked it over, "I thought this type of concave pattern was referred to as a thumb, not fingers." Putting his hand on the map he said, "Except when you have more than one like this, it looks more like fingers. Look Candance, I've seen those orders already, trust me when I say the Strategios were scared for their safety when they tried to limit the scope of this movement. We all reminded her that the actions at Velhas were not indicative of all the worlds on the border and that scorched earth tactics are not the answer. Sure, I am certain that there are still certain units in the area that do feel that doing anything to hurt us is the appropriate measure, and the Duke's men are always itching for a fight, but the Duke is also no fool. He would lose face if he allowed his units to keep killing their own people. The plan, as it is now, is not about retribution, that's just Romano's excuse, it was designed to put a buffer between our major production sites on Ares, here on Victoria, and your own St. Ives and the rest of the Federated Suns Brigades. Having a buffer buys us time to batten down the hatches and not get caught with our pants down again. I promise you, the plan is solid and if your Dragoons can help, I would support it as well, but it's up to you. You cannot let her untie the bindings of your arrangement, you hold onto the reigns, keep your people safe."

Candace let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "We're lucky to have your council Archie, I know what I must do. Enough of this, your wife has invited a lot of the local nobles and prepared a wonderful dinner, let us enjoy the rest of this night, shall we?" She put our her arm for him to take hold of. "Lets." The way they were dressed with him in his uniform and her in her finery Archibald almost looked like a father walking his daughter to a high society function.

[Daemonknight]

An HPG message was received at Sian, along with all the worlds so recently conquered by the CCAF juggernaut. And radio transmissions of the message were broadcast from every world that the CCAF was currently hovering over, sometimes as a last act before planetary militias melted away before their world was invaded.

The HPG messages came with a video component. It showed a strong woman, calmly looking at the camera that recorded her. Her red hair was left flowing down the epaulets of her dress uniform, the rank tabs of a Kommandant-General of the LCAF not quite hidden. Her bright blue eyes were piercing, giving her an intense gaze despite the calmness of her posture and expression. She waited only a moment before speaking, her voice strong and calm, but with a seriousness that left no doubt she meant to do exactly what she said.

"This message is for the Capellan High Command, CCAF Regimental commanders, newly installed planetary governors, mercenary unit commanders, and of course, the Liao family on Sian.

Greetings to you all. I am Kommandant-General Clara Luften-Steiner, 1st cousin of Archon Melissa Steiner-Davion, and commanding officer of the Lyran 3rd Royal Guards Regimental Combat Team. I send you this message to warn you. You are in direct violation of the sovereignty of the Federated Suns, and by extension, the sovereignty of the Federated Commonwealth Alliance. Which means you threaten the sovereignty of my cousin, the Archon. I have been instructed to deliver to you the following terms.

First, you will relinquish control, and withdraw from, all worlds recently conquered.

Second, you will ceed all worlds core-ward of, and including, Necromo, with the exception of Capella and its immediate neighbors.

Third, you will release the contracts of the following mercenary commands, and sign an agreement never to seek contracts with them again: Wolf's Dragoons, The Dismal Disinherited.

These terms are the most lenient you will be offered. I strongly suggest you accept them while you have the chance to. Because if you force me to bring my RCT out of the Lyran Commonwealth, and set them against you, I will crush you utterly and leave nothing but the smoking remains of your warriors behind me as i march to Sian to personally offer terms of surrender to the one who sits the Celestial Throne. Consider yourselves warned. Kommandant-General Luften-Steiner out."

[Fatebringer]

House LuSann
Grand Base
06 MAY 3040

The scent of warm Teak from the sunspot that shone into her office reminded Tamsin that she was home, but her mood was less than jubilant considering her recent outing. Half of her command was decimated. Despite her sour mood, when she hear that Joao Rajpita had contacted her upon hearing of her return she perked up. Jaoa had a rapscallion appearance about him, but as a social fixture on planet and the new Mandrinn having recently being elevated to the position Tamsin enjoyed spending time with him. Their relationship was simple, they enjoyed each other's company and made no demands.

She walked around her desk to the communications display and sat upright in her chair briefly checking her face. The bruise that dominated almost half her forehead had faded on the trip back and was barely noticeable. Dialing up his personal communicator, she put on a cat-like grin. He skipped the pleasantries, "You missed my big moment." Tamsin raised her eyebrows, "Sorry babe, things to do. I'm not a come hither type, you know that."

Joao pulled out an intricate emerald necklace, "Well, I need some arm candy for an event at the Earthworks plant, big things have been going on while you were off being disgraced." If it had been anyone else but Joao, she would have taken a wrench and beat them down for it, but she knew his sense of humor, but after such a grand failure, the comment got past her personal armor, "I can get away for the night and wouldn't mind having a chance to reset my thoughts. I'll see you there." Joao put the necklace down, "... and I'll be waiting."

[Fatebringer]

Earthwerks Unlimited
Main Office Tower
Grand Base
06 MAY 3040

Dressed to Impress, Tamsin showed up in a slinky silver dress slit up the side. The guards checked her credentials and she entered the lobby which had been converted for the occasion. A squat Cataphract on display was hunched over and displayed the mech's features in a cut a way view. The size was off because it was deliberately broken in certain places and welded to support structures to make it fit without damaging the overhead lights. She thought the old Stinger they had before was a better fit for the lobby, plus it didn't have to be butchered to fit. It stood tall and proud in the same spot, not like it was getting ready to take a Gauss slug to the gut, but that didn't stop the children waiting for their parents were trying to climb onto the mech's foot.

Looking around, she didn't see Joao, but it didn't take an attendant long to find her and lead her to a private lift. When they got to the top, she party was going in full swing. She took one of the offered drinks and sauntered after the attendant who seemed to know where he was going. True to her instinct, she found Joao mingling with several prominent members of the board, his white twead suit make him stand out amongst the sea of black and gray. He stopped one of them from talking and excused himself when he saw her and came right over as the attendant make themselves scared, "You look gorgeous Tam-Tam," He said. "You don't look bad yourself. Congratulations on your horse taking the 'Grey Bettie', I heard some talk about that on the way up here."

"Truly, he is a beautiful specimen. We had to stop offers on studding services because he would be too tired for the Binthia Downs if we let him just keep at it all day long. But enough of Sadek-Haakim, Let us dance!" he pulled close without yanking her arm. Tamsin stared into his eyes and grinned, she loved that he was a great partner and didn't tire out on the floor, and elsewhere...

[Fatebringer]

Earthwerks Unlimited
Main Office Tower
And General Manager's Office
Grand Base
07 MAY 3040

Tamsin was suitably plied with libations after several hours of drinking, dancing and mingling. Joao pulled her in close, nibbled on her ear and whispered in her ear, "I've arranged for a secluded place for you to get your present. Follow me." The gentle command was a promise of more pleasantries. She followed eagerly to the elevator and he grabbed an unopened bottle of Champagne that was presented to him by the same attendant that let her up to the party in the first place. He seemed to be just as attentive to their needs as he was earlier and wished them a good night before Joao pulled her towards the elevator where they started to make out.

The doors open and he kissed her on her neck as he led her down the corridor. There were guards at attention flanking the doors that led to the General Manager's private office. It seemed a little unusual to her considering the GM was down at the party, but she had very few cares as they went past the men and into the office. Joao pulled off his jacket and went towards a large chair near the window tossing it down. "Tam-Tam, ... I so much wanted to tell you." A wide cat like grim was on his face when he turned around. A light came on towards the other end of the massive room by the desk. Seated there, seeming almost pleased, was Tsen Shang. Consort to the Chancellor and Director of the Maskirovka. "Ta-Da!" Joao said jubilantly.

Panic instantly set in and sobered her up quickly, so many thoughts ran though her head, from the Director's presence to his report on House LuSann and certain warrior's being too free with their discriminating of Romano's policies when compared to the Lorix Order, to the guards standing outside the door and finally the jovial attendant that waited on them hand and foot up until he handed Joao the bottle they opened up and drank from in the lift, "Was the attendant a Mask Agent? Was the Champagne poisoned?" were the questions running though her head trying to pierce the fog created by night long festivities. Tamsin started getting sick as if someone had punched her in the stomach. "Master Zamora," the old voice stated, "Please come closer."

Realizing that she'd been lured in to this meeting by a pretty piece of flesh, she steeled herself against whatever machinations the head of the Maskirovka had for her. "Lord Sheng," she said trying to compose herself and hide her fear behind a cheerful smile, "To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?" Joao came dancing over and sat on the desk completely oblivious of the look that Tseng was giving him until she nooded in his direction, "I'm sorry. I'll step back so you can talk." Joao still seemed very happy. Tseng continued, "Remember when Lord Imarra gave you the opportunity of a lifetime, made you Master of House LuSann, he told you to make something of yourself?" She nodded, "Of course, I am exceedingly grateful for the opportunity that I was given."

"We were all greatly saddened by the news of what happened to you and your command, Kěchǐ Mínbīng (Disgraceful Militia). The Battle ROM footage was reviewed by a council of our piers and your actions were deemed..." she held her breath as he read a piece of paper in front of him, she prepared for the worst, "... appropriate." The relief washed over her like a tidal wave. "I am here to inform you in person that by the end of next month, replacement units will make their way here to help rebuild your unit. Of course, you will be placed on the bottom of the list to receive new units being deployed on the front line, ... but anything that arrives here will be examined thoroughly by a crew of engineers from Earthwerk and fully refurbished before being brought to your unit."

The old man stood and grabbed something off of the desk, "While tragic, there was some good that came out of this. It justified our acquisition of several key worlds in the Capellan March and ... removed some of the outspoken elements that have sullied your command." He hit a button and three screens came to life behind him, Grand Master of Houses Ion Rush, Master Victoria York of House Hiritsu and Paul Mossimo from Dai Da Chi were waiting patiently. "Tamsin Zamora," The deep voice of Ion Rush belted into the room from speakers designed to convey messages to anywhere in the massive office. "The time it takes to vet potential candidates for Warrior status is a timely process. We have come together and agreed to send warriors to you from our own recruitment programs." Victoria spoke up, "Most of them have been waiting for a spot to open up for years and have been honing their skills during that time, they are ready to fight." Mossimo chimed in, "Our Warriors have been indoctrinated to our styles, please make them welcome in your house." Tseng thanked them and turned off the monitors.

"Lord Sheng, I will not betray the faith that you, her Celestial Wisdom and Grand Master Rush have put in me. This will not happen again." While all smiles, there was a veiled threat still present from Tseng. "The spirit of Xen Shing has allowed us a momentary opportunity at generosity, so be sure that it does not." He picked up his things, "You have the use of this office still. Now if you excuse me, I hear there's a party downstairs." As the old man left the office Joao handed her another glass of Champagne, "How gracious of them to give rebuild your command." She looked at him as he pulled out the box with the necklace he'd promised her, regretted thinking that Joao might have betrayed her, "You owe me this after this." Then she leaned in and kissed him again.

[Hugin]

The Celestial Palace
Zi-jen Cheng, Sian
Two days before traveling to Terra 3040

Running down the hall to the office holding his credentials high and out in front of him Arthur could hear the shrill voice of Romano yelling spilled forth from the room as soon as the commando's pulled them apart nullifying the sound proofing insulation that such a barrier normally afforded. Ever since Romano Liao heard that Candance had gone behind her back to try and acquire the Northwind Highlander's support for their war, she was on the warpath. Arthur feared this day might come, he hadn't seen her this worked up since the purges. He had been summoned to be a mediator between them by the House of Scions, but they had obviously been at it for a while before he got there. As he was the first mediator who had "survived" more than 3 of both Chancellor's sessions, he was considered stable, even if his successes had just been to redirect Romano's anger to another topic, mostly matters of the House of Scions for long enough to allow Candace a final settlement.
His trick was usually to not acknowledge what was at stake, but today he felt different. He was involved and Romano's threats in her rants were getting to him since the last time. Few knew that his fiancé had been a victim of the purges. He remembered well.

"You had NO right!"

"If it had worked you would see that everything was within the terms, of the agreement; I was going to propose that they can keep the land hold on Northwind if we could get it back! What good does it do us to withhold a world from them that we don't possess? You yourself made the same type of offer to the Lexington Combat Grou..."

"THEY LEFT!" Romano slammed her fist into the cold metal table. A ring of steam formed as her body temperature raised to match her fury. "They left! When father needed them most they tucked tail and RAN!" her head shook and her lip was quivering ever so slightly with rage. "We cannot, I CANNOT keep forgiving past treachery sister dear. You; are family but ... it's just not in me anymore." Romano stormed from around the desk, "I was born to rule! To make the hard the decisions and what has happened? You come home with your children and your soldiers for hire, but I'M the one who has gotten the people motivated for a new Capella! They look to ME! The Chancellor!"

"That isn't it Romano! You know I just want our children to grow up knowing each other, to make sure our line stays strong. Too much has transpired to ... "

"Strong, do you think me a fool? You've tried to bring back all the units that abandoned me and turned Mercenary, I know why the Legion is coming ... I know why you came home ... I have tolerated this long enough! I will not wait until you have BOUGHT your way to MY THRONE! GUARDS!"

Instantly 7th Kommando's took up defensive positions while Death Commando's closed in. Both sides stood staring at each other and Romano stood defiant in the middle of the room point at Candace ready to give the order to shoot when Arthur tried his luck. Nominally, he should be at Romano's Commando's side to protect her, but he stood right in the middle of the whole affair, blocking each women's view. He held his arms up to show that violence was not necessary: "My Chancellor, Lady Romano, please consider your actions carefully. What I know from the Frontlines and your mighty army, the successes are mixed. If you separate yourself from your sister now, all our gains will likely be lost. The Fox tries to play Lady Candace against you to swallow your realm. Please think of your people and not let them subjugated by his bloodthirst! I beg you in the name of the House of Scions and your people.", He pleaded. His mind was almost blank, almost.

But it got Romano startled, several guns pointing at him from both sides were taken down, this situation was the worst so far, it could not escalate much more next time, he thought. His peripheral view was darkening, was he really sweating that much, breathing so hard? He hardly understood Romano as she talked, but she seemed calmer, even smiling at him? The Commandos on both sides seemed to shuffle away, albeit reluctantly, Romano went away gracefully, when he sank on his knees without realizing anything. It seemed like hours when he was escorted back out.

Turning her head away from the unconscious Arthur and showing her back to her sister Romano strode two steps towards the gates out of the throne room and towards her private chambers.
"We shall prepare for our travel anyway sister. Terra is calling and hopefully it brings us more joy than the last visit to this forsaken place.
You shall come with me, I have decided and we will hear what the Order has to propose to us."
Her steps slowed down when something up in the corner between walls and the roof, there in the shadows had caught her attention.
It was a shadow, but it had a distinct form. The form of a hunching frog sitting under a leaf and readying himself to jump away.
Slowly the figure moved its head shaking it with a grim determination.
It was as if a spirit had sought her out, an evil spirit from another realm and when it extended its reach towards her Romano finally got out of her dazzle and started to act again.
"GUAARDS!" She screamed in a high pitched voice, trying to duck and cover. But to no avail as the weapon, which seemed to be the natural extinction of the toad, barked twice.
A cloud of razor sharp, high velocity needles flew towards her like a hailstorm tenderly scuffing off hair, skinn and flesh, penetrating the bones and getting stuck in them.
Romano had risen her arm in defiance but the dense cloud cut through it in dozens of places, forever altering her appearance.
Romano was bleeding from a thousand wounds, quickly spilling her blood onto the jade-marble floor of the room.
In a haunting scream of anguish, despair and hate she went down, quickly withering away.
The Deathcommandos opened fire onto the assassin and brought him to the floor.
His last act, however was looking up onto the closing in guards, cramping and suddenly he burst in fire, incinerating himself...
And in all that chaos stood Chancellor Chandance Liao, her dress stained with her sisters blood and wept.

Back in his chambers Arthur took some tranqs but made up his mind. Next time, Romano would destroy the nation's newfound unity and leave them open to be annihilated by their oldest enemy. He still loved his home. Something had to be done. Candace seemed like a good leader, she was the elder and seemed to care. What if?
He refused to think that through, at least for now, but the next escalation would come soon, he should have something prepared...

[Marlin]

Capellan Citizen Reporter

Covering the successes of our forces at Ulan Bator

by Jennifer Ley
Sian


At the 5th of May 3034 our noble Warriors represented by the Elite Red Lancers, Warrior House Ma-Tsu-Kai and the famed Wolf's Dragoons Alpha Regiment struck at Ulan Bator in an attempt to free our people from the yoke of the Federated Suns.

The significant mass of forces there were dispatched after a hard fight and our forces were victorious. Sadly, the Red Lancers Infantry, after a heroic last stand, was destroyed. It seems that they ordered an Artillery strike on their own positions to stop the advance of a strong enemy unit, shattering it enough to play an important part in this battle.

However, the combined (see our article about that topic here) FederatedSuns - Lyran Warmachine sent more of their bloodthirsty Marauders in to finish what their beaten fellows could not do. Nonetheless, after a strong showing by our Techs and Medics, our Battlegroup prepared and despite a numerical disadvantage handled those adventurers a stinging defeat. The loss of cohesion on the Lyran part went so far that Clara Luften-Steiner, the main figure behind this aggression against the Capellan People (see here the threats uttered by this Lyran Warlord), was captured. To date it is possible that she is going to be repatriated, a testament to our moral strength even in the face of our spineless enemies.
What will happen next? Will our victorious force strike even deeper into the Fed Suns' territory, freeing more worlds that once were rightfully ours?
(Watch the Vidversion with many additional info here.)

[Sorry, links unobtainable as you are reading the free version of the Capellan Broadcast Monthly. Subscribe for just 298 C-Bills/month or use your ID as a Capellan Citizen to get an overview and in-deep perspective of what is going on in the Inner Sphere]

[cavebear]

October 10 th
unknown system

two massive radiation surges form early in the morning as two unknown jumpships come back into real space.

[cavebear]

"lilchan, sir. we have still not recieved any reply to our message. the drives are recharged and all are ready for you orders"
a handsome young man turns to look at the speaker.
"thank you admiral, it appears we must move on, give the order to staet the jump sequence, we head to where the ward system should be.
"jump conrtol initate jump seqeunce, destination ward syatem, and may we find the decedents of our ancestras families there."
"initiating jump sequence, coordinates confirmed, ward system, time to jump 30 minutes"
computer voice "attention all ships and personal, jymp sequence initated, all computers in sequence, 30 minutes to jump"
Markus Lioi (spelling) heads to his seat and opens a fleet communication "attention all citizens of taskforce ccz_103, our inital coordinates from the message has been false and we now pray oyr information is correct for our sister colony location. (turns off the comms and turns to look at the admiral) "admiral, please finish our ancestral ritual before we jump?"
the admiral bows
computer voice "all hands , 15 minutes to Jump."
the admiral opens the fleet communication and in ancient manderin says a old Chinese pray to the gods fir a safe journey
"moments after the admiral is finished (computer voice) "all hands, 15 seconds to jump"

october 17th
nadiar jump point, 1700 est.
ward system

2 radiation surgesrs herald the arrival of new jumpships,  seconds after their arrival a message is broadcast into the system

in a dificult to understand dialect of manderin "hello is anyone out there."
the message enters the system and starts to repeat itself, every 2 minutes

[Fatebringer]

18 OCT 3040 0234 HRS
Fire Base Selena, Ward
Capellan Confederation

Captain Mario Zim lifted his mug as Ambassador Stevens repeat himself for what seemed like the third time in a row at how it was not his responsibility to deal with any force that might be a threat. He took a sip of his coffee but it was stone cold and the artificial creamer had congealed into a nasty clump. Spitting the mouthful out, he knew better to waste any resources they send his way. He took the cup and unceremonious dumped the contents into a pot and reheated it on the stove. The eclectic coils heated up and he knew the lazy bureaucrat was never going to accept what should be his responsibility to do and speak to the strangers. "Fine, I'll have a chat with our visitors." He said as he sloppily poured the contents of the pot back into the cup and stirred the creamer into the fluid.

The Ambassador stormed triumphantly off and Zim wondered to himself if their visitors had anything to do with the increased Maskirovka presence. Sure he wasn't supposed to know about that, but when there's reports of a new space station one jump away from your post it doesn't take much to put two and two together. He wished like hell that COL Sagehorn hadn't taken his Hussars off planet, whoever this was, his one mech, "Purgatory" an old Whitworth, and his support battalion was not going to be able to hold them off given the size of the jumpship's signatures.

Luckily, the Ambassador did provide him with a ride to the communications building. Ward was a nice planet to be stationed on, less backwater then most with its high industrialization and good labor resources. Any time projects on the rimward worlds needed extra people, they came here to get them and it was his job to get them. He'd heard that Larsha had been hit up by raiders, but as he entered his ride and looked up, he noted, raiders don't usually knock. So he had that going for him.

It was a fourteen minute ride to the communications building, but the driver got there in just over ten. He thanked the driver and asked him to wait, which of course he didn't. As he rode off, Zim shook his head. It was the dead of night and he was sure he was not ready to deal with this, but the sooner they sent a message back, the sooner they would get a reply. Without a ride, he also might as well wait in the building and take a nap waiting for  response.

It took a moment for the tech to get the communications gear set up, but all in all, it was simple and straight forward. Zim worked out what he wanted to say on a pad of paper while waiting and then translated it into Mandarin. The tech gave him the go ahead and he started his spiel in Mandarin.

"To the unidentified ships that address this world, you are speaking to Captain Mario Zim, head of the Militia here. Please advise the nature of your business to Ward System before proceeding to land any craft. We of the Capellan Confederation are quite amicable to allowing trade, but not with strangers peddling raided goods on behalf of pirates." He knew the last part was sort of true, if the goods had been raided from Federated Suns worlds, they usually turned a blind eye just so that the pirates would go back for more. As almost an after though, he added: "We eagerly await your reply." He nodded to the tech, "Send it."

"Do you have a place to wait?"

[cavebear]

18 OCT 3040 0235
nadir jump point
ward system
transport ship: deep haul

"officer of the watch, we have incoming message from the 4th planet in the system sir, should I call the admiral and lilchan?" says a young female ensign.
"let me hear the message, ensign" the officer of the watch says in reply.
"I am sorry sir but the message is a bit difficult to understand at the moment, I am sending it to the computer for translation, but from what I can understand it is confirmed that this is the ward system and the confederation has survived to this day"
"get the translation done quick and signal the admiral and lilchan ensign"
"yes sir" as the ensign pushes a few buttons and then over the ship load speaker "admiral to the bridge, I repeat the admiral to the bridge,  lilchan to the bridge I repeat lilchan to the bridge"

0245
bridge

several minutes later lilchan markus liou {sp} enters, followed several seconds later by the admiral.
both approach the officer of the watch, "what is up, mallus" says the admiral to the officer
"we have gotten a response to our hail, sir. It is in translation right now and apparently our sister colony here on ward has survived as has the confederation."
the ensign turns and address her superior officers and lilchan "the computer has finished the translation and is ready to play."
markus looks at the ensign and says "very good ensign, please put it on bridge speaker only"
"yes lilchan sir"

message plays

"thank the gods that we have returned home finally and all seems like it is in order" says markus with a sigh of relief. cheers come from the bridge crew.
"admiral, please come with me to my office we need to reply soonest and I would ask for your assistance in doing so, and ensign please let the rest of the ships know the good news"

{TBC have to think of return message}

[cavebear]

0255
Lil Hans office

The door opens quietly and someone dressed in all white enters quickly and shuts the door.
Markus looks at the new arrival and nods but continues talking with the admiral.
"OK Ivan I think this will do for now, please get comma officer shun in here so i "
"You will want shange li instead lilchan" says the man in white
Markus nods and says "Ivan you heard him please get shange li here, five minutes ago"
The admiral looks confused for a few seconds but then nods and quickly leaves.
Markus and the man speak quietly and quickly in a strange language. Two minutes later there is a knock on the door and the man in white opens it and a middle aged non description man walks in with a recorder bows to the man in white and the lilchan, then walks up to the desk and sets things up then signals the device is ready.
Markus dictates the reply, then change rewinds the audio track then presses a hidden button on the machine and the man in white dictates a very different message. After this is done change breaks down the device and heads to the door and says "the messages will be sent in five minutes" and then leaves.
Markus heads out the door a minute later and the man in white departs the ship to another dropper.

0313

Greeting captain zim,
I am lilchan Markus Liao of taskforce ccz-103.
We received the burst message sent to us 9 months ago, but we had some details to work out before we left.
We are very happy and relieved to find our sister colony here at ward is successful and relieved the confederation is still intact. We awaits resp once and are ready to transmits all codes and all medical information since our ancestors left here to our target system. We would also ask for vacinne update from said year.

Meanwhile on a sub Chanel reserved for mask agents a different message plays " this is commander youh. Wilfred is ready to dance."