Union of Independent Worlds Faction RP thread

[Cannonshop]

Sector 1416

  Sarah Thiel looked at the other Lyran officers and men. "I think I'm just going to go home. I'll work as the Military attache on Arluna and someone has to let Deb know what is happening." She looked at the UIW captain. "Permission to come back aboard?"

"About time you saw SOME sense, Sarah.  Your Daddy is gonna be pleased." Mosovich commented, as the Captain nodded, and helped Thiel back aboard.

[Daemonknight]

A messenger knocked on the Archduchess' door, and entered when summoned. She placed a fascmilie note on Debbie's desk and then withdrew. The note was typed out, and signed by ilChi Hazen of Clan Jade Falcon.

The note read:

Archduchess,

I have just recieved word through my ship in orbit of an incomming CJF jumpship called the CJFS Dancing Mad. It has among its passengers, one Robert Kelswa-Steiner, Archon of the Lyran Commonwealth. It will be arriving here in a matter of weeks. I would sugest some sort of reception for the good Archon, as Tharkad has apparently been attacked by the Tharkad Martyrs, according to the report sent to me. Real-time communications are not possible because of the distances involved, however messages can be sent both ways presently.

If you require the services of my HPG, my dropship at the spaceport will be the best place to utilize the link to my ship.

[Cannonshop]

Deb read the note, then looked at Star Colonel Ezra.  "Ah think we will haf't cut this meetin' shoat." she said quietly, "It would seem the conflicts of others have become oah concahn, aftah all..." she closed her eyes, and focused for a moment, before continuing, "Ezra, I would appreciate it if you would attend a special meeting tonight-I intend to gather you, Star Captain Hazen, Star Commander Jaymie, and Ambassador Inara to discuss the question of war with Arc Royal."

[Marlin]

He nodded. "I will be there. And I must admit, at some point in our talk, which admittedly was not that of a success as I had hoped, you had a firm grip on your standard language." He smiled. "The topic you mention however, will be discussed but I will have to have another message to my Khans ready soon." He stood up, took his cup with the rest of cold Coffee and left.
Would be interesting to see what results the suicide case had brought.

[Cannonshop]

Grantsville Medical Centre, Arluna...

"...think I'm done healing!" Miranda Ortega insisted, "Why all these extra tests?"  

Dr. Chao shook his head, "First off, just because you can handle an airliner flight to the Capital under supervision, doesn't mean you're in any shape to go back out into the bush-you aren't fully recovered yet, and we've seen some...anomalies, issues that are enough to call in outside help."

"I'm fine." Miranda said.

"You feel fine, but you have to understand, Baronesa, the Department of State considers you to be a diplomatic treasure, your excellent relations with the Ice Hellion ilchi alone dictate we take extreme care in guaranteeing your health-as a freeholder and new member to the peerage, there is also a duty to assure that you are able to take up your duty to the State in that capacity."

"I didn't ASK to be added to the Rolls." Miranda groused.

"Yes, but you were-your story, your grand hunt, they're the stuff of local popular myths now-people look up to you, can't have you dying of unpredicted complications, now can we?"

[Cannonshop]

HPG Compound, Arluna...Two weeks prior to the arrival of the Jade Falcon Sakhan Brian Pryde...

Debbie Mac walked up to the gate, and nodded to the Word of Blake guards, "I want to see your boss." she said, "Tell him it's a damn good idea he talks to me today, it's business."

[Marlin]

After being cleared by the Leutnant, it was a suicide, after all, Ezra decided to look after Miranda, besides Deb, she was the most influential person in regards to relationships with his Clan, from the IS side, of course.

And that she owned a considerable mass of land was the reason for her importance. 'Inherited by birth..', Ezra mused. An odd concept for him, but was it not proven that some lines in the Inner Sphere had more success than others? Either through manipulation or more seldomly, skill. The contact with the Inner Sphere obviously had influence on Ezra and subsequently on all Clansmen, one just had to look at the Ghost Bears. They were established as leaders of a giant Empire, the Horses seemingly were coming to terms with a Periphery state. The Adders even inherited a hughe swath of Planets just by their Cobra Abtakha's Bloodname. A really absurd thought would one have thought it before. But all took care in dealing with the people as did the Hellions as well. But no one could deny it changed the attitudes perhaps on both sides.

Where would it lead? Numberswise, it was natural that the Clans could only lead from the top or be assimilated and fade away along with their lifestyle. And then the People would be again be slaves of their Lords, ordered to battle and if not, becoming innocent victims of their petty wars. What could be done to avoid this? Teaching the masses had repeatedly shown to be inefficient, however as the Communist party in the Dominion showed, some were easy to convince of the Caste System's advantages. The New Clusters in the Clan proved that.

With these heavy thoughts he entered the Grantsville Medical Center, where Miranda was supposed to be, according to Gloria.

[Cannonshop]

"...Miranda? Oh, she's on floor six, Sir."  The Nurse at the reception desk told Ezra, "turn left at the elevators and look for room forty-four, of course, the doctor may give you a bit of a runaround-she is under observation."

The facility was competently laid out enough-but scandalously primitive by the standards of Clan medicine...or even most Inner Sphere facilities, and clearly bureaucracy has already begun to take root here.

[Marlin]

He walked away from the Nurse, and moved on to where she had guided him.

Still under observation; what would that mean?

In the Elevator, he straightened his uniform again, of course, when on official duty, he had to look good. With some worry, he watched his wrinkles. He was old, no doubt. His hair, while full, was grey for quite some time. On the left side of his scalp, some scar tissue, but it was not visible except you felt or knew it.

'You have come a long way, Ezra.' he thought. Indeed, his career was very much meandering for the most part. Once he was a true warrior, then it declined. And now he was a mere Diplomat. 'But still a Warrior.'

Finally his confidence came back, just at the right time. He walked up to the next nurse and asked for Miranda or at least her doctor. For now.

[Cannonshop]

He walked away from the Nurse, and moved on to where she had guided him.

Still under observation; what would that mean?

In the Elevator, he straightened his uniform again, of course, when on official duty, he had to look good. With some worry, he watched his wrinkles. He was old, no doubt. His hair, while full, was grey for quite some time. On the left side of his scalp, some scar tissue, but it was not visible except you felt or knew it.

'You have come a long way, Ezra.' he thought. Indeed, his career was very much meandering for the most part. Once he was a true warrior, then it declined. And now he was a mere Diplomat. 'But still a Warrior.'

Finally his confidence came back, just at the right time. He walked up to the next nurse and asked for Miranda or at least her doctor. For now.

"Hello Star Colonel, I am Doctor Li Hu Chao, Miranda is...busy, but you may observe if you like."  The physician was an old man, wrinkled and gray-haired and slightly stooped with age, "You may find it...enlightening, this way please."

[Daemonknight]

Arluna Zenith Jump Point
0945 Shipboard(1145 local)
CJFS Resolve

saKhan Pryde gently floated himself down the corridor to the main dropship's bridge. The Star Captain in charge of the boat nodded to him, as they were undergoing the tenuous procedure of undocking from the jumpship. Once the collision detection system read 1 kilometer, he seemed to relax slightly.

"All is ready saKhan Pryde. Requesting landing clearance for Arluna City now. ilChi Hazen should already know of our arrival." The saKhan nodded without comment, and headed for a grav-chair in preperation for their re-entry.

A transmission was heard in Arluna's Coast Guard Communications room,
"Arluna Control, this is CJFS Resolve-Alpha, requesting clearance to land at Arluna Spaceport for saKhan Brian Pryde of Clan Jade Falcon."

[Cannonshop]

"Resolve-Alpha, this is Coast Guard Control, lock on to landing beacon One-Four Delta Range X-ray, prepare for some turbulence as the weather at Grantsville is thunderstorms with a side of Lightning, winds are at Three Zero Knots South-Southwest and visibility is 200 Meters, Over."

[Daemonknight]

Star Captain Daniel raised an eyebrow at the weather report. Not the worst he'd delivered into, but then again, he didn't have the saKhan sitting 2 meters away, in nothing but a G-chair.

"Better strap in saKhan, we're going to have to do some maneuvers to clear the worst of it."

"Neg. Fast as possible, drop at as straight a ballistic as you can manage. I have not the patience for concerns about comfort. Just get us down Star Captain."

Obviously not a man who put much stock into personal comfort...or safety.
"Aff, saKhan. Desmond, you heard the saKhan. Take us up over the equator, say 3 degrees off, then point the nose and lets get this bird down." The ship rumbled as the new course was plotted, the dropship altering to be directly 'over' the landing pad, albeit many kilometers away from even the highest reaches of the stratosphere.

"Mark!" A 10 second burst at full catapulted the dropship at huge velocity towards the planet below, speed being what would allow them to dodge the worst of the storm's wrath. The faster they punched through, the quicker they'd be done with it. Only after locking onto the beacon and plotting their trajectory, did the Star Captain re-orient his craft, nose to the sky, making it look as if the dropship were hurtling to the ground for a combat drop. The Star Captain grinned, thinking that dealing with saKhan Pryde might not be all that unlike combat after all. The man was sitting, dealing with nearly 3Gs of acceleration(and climbing), and he was not even noticeably concerned, watching the sensor readouts.

"Mark!" The main engines fired again, only 8Kms up, their roar drowning out the booms of lightening as the Star Captain pushed everything he had to begin the 7.5Km retro-burn that would be required to settle the craft onto the pad. He looked at one of his screens, and grinned as he realized that at such a velocity, the ship was blowing through the clouds fast enough to leave a wake behind them, shining sunlight down through the cloud cover briefly.

"750m Star Captain!" Evans, the sensor tech read out the dwindling altitude. Must be something to see, though Evans, as they hit 500m and the drop speed slowed to a crawl.
**********************************

On the ground, standing under a hastily erected tarp some 1km from the beacon the dropship was aimed at, Star Captain Alexis Hazen conceded that such a maneuver was well in keeping with the saKhan's personality. A dangerous tactic in any weather, such a storm could easily throw off their trajectory or blast them with lightening. But then, the saKhan had always been one to whom danger was beneath his notice. No reason for him to get soft now.

As the dropship broke the lowest cloud cover, there was a huge pressure wave from it's enormous velocity coming down, almost a minute before the ship could actually be made out, albeit as merely a glowing outline from it's re-entry. At last, the dropship grounded, and within minutes, one could see forms walking swiftly towards her, one a few steps ahead of the more hulking figures. Hazen grinned despite herself. Things could become quite interesting here with one such as the saKhan around.

Brian Pryde swept past the Star Captain, his coterie of Elementals keeping pace easily, although she was turned around for a moment, expecting him to stop. He said not a word as he walked to a waiting hovercraft, that soon departed and sped towards the Jade Falcon compound at maximum speed.

[Daemonknight]

Arluna, Union of Independant Worlds
Jade Falcon Enclave, Arluna City

saKhan Pryde looked at the compound with a faint look of disdain on his face. It only deepened when he took a room that had once belonged to the head of the estate's family. It's opulence was highly excessive by Clan standards, and Brian wondered why anyone would need all this. Although, there was bound to atleast be better food here than what was normally at hand, so that was something. With only Elementals currently stationed here, as a token guard force for himself and Star Captain Hazen, the manse was largely empty, although in good repair.

He beckoned Hazen into what had once been a study. Still full of countless volumes, and he decided that perhaps such lavish quarters had their benefits.
"Star Captain Hazen, I would hear your report on the situation here."

"The situation is calm. The Ice Hellions, Free Worlds Leauge and Star Adders are all represented here, although it seems our offers have made it farther than the others from what I am able to ascertain. Our communications offer was taken far quicker than I anticipated-"

"Yes, I am aware. However, I am more interested in the people I shall be dealing with. Tell me of the Archduchess. I have heard everything from her being the next Helen of Troy, Minobu Kurita reborn, a simple-minded farm girl, to the next Michael Cameron. I need details, not rumors."

"The last is closer to the truth than any, except perhaps Helen. She is quite pretty, although you wouldn't know it to look in her eyes." A stern glare from Brian made Alexis quickly change her train of thought. "She seems to play up the 'country girl' aspect as a way of weaking one's expectations, and therefore their guard. Shes a very cunning woman, saKhan. Do not underestimate her. I believe that she has a plan, and she seems the type that will see it done one way or another. From what I've gathered in my time here, she is not one to shy from conflict either. Quite the contrary, she seems to positivly thrive when confronted with a challenge."

"And the goal you mentioned? What is it." The saKhan was obviously considering angles and methods, his eyes seemingly looking right through the Star Captain. Although one would be a fool to think he wasn't taking everything he heard into his plans.

"Were I to venture a guess, saKhan, I would say she wishes to make the Union as self-sufficent as possible, to ensure that it becomes strong, able to stand on it's own, not beholden to any other, be it person or nation. I believe that she has the will to make it happen aswell. She is a complex person, saKhan. I believe you share a common hobby, saKhan, as I've heard that her education is laregly fueled by her apetite for reading material." The Star Captain was not ignorant of the irony of the room they now sat in. The saKhan had gazed at the collection with a ghost of a smile on his face.

"She was in the thick of the Plauge, organizing the whole sector from the ashes it was left to rot in by the Lyrans. I think she could make a very capable ally." The saKhan seemed quite intrigued by the Archduchess, and proded the Star Captain for details for a further hour before he was satisfied enough to head to the Govornment Building. He left Hazen at the compound, prefering to travel alone to this particular meeting.
****************************
45 minutes later, Arluna City
Govornment Center

saKhan Pryde walked up the steps of the govornment building, and once his identity was confirmed, he was let through the security checkpoint without so much as a glance at the weapon he carrier: after all, such a man was indeed a weapon himself, what was a pistol? He easily found his way to Debbie's outer office. He came up to the reception desk, and nodded to the receptionist.

Clearing his mind, he offered the receptionist a nearly pleasant smile.
"I am saKhan Brian Pryde of Clan Jade Falcon. I have come to speak with the Archduchess."

[Cannonshop]

Gloria looked up, and touched the intercom switch, "Milady, there is a gentleman to see you, his ident indicates he is the SaKhan of Clan Jade Falcon..?"

"Send 'im in, Ah'm almos' done heah..."

"Sir, the door on the left, would you like a mint or cup of coffee before going in?" Gloria asked.