The Assailant's Threats

An encrypted transmission passed through the phase lanes after the perimeter had been loosened according to General Axon's orders.  Although the transmission could be received by other devices, its location was protected by the immense amount of coding that could take weeks to unravel, it was clear that whomever the message belonged to knew exactly how to keep themselves safe from even the most advanced decoding technologies.

"Beep....beep....beep...." the sound continued as the transmission opened a feed of a wounded Novalysian solder bound to a hospital bed in a dark room, no others in sight.  His hands and legs were tied down, his mouth gagged with a tied cloth.  He shifted and pulled against his restrains to no avail as the heart monitor echoed the urgency of his attempts, beeping faster and faster as he fought against them.

"Hello colonies of Crest," a hoarse mans voice began from behind the camera.  "What you see before you is a brave soldier fighting for a life he was forced to devote to a corrupted government that has no concern for its own people.  Akrai was only the beginning, we will conquer the settlements of Kytreon, lay siege to Rescenta, and burn Skyre to the ground along with anyone who has tried to stop us.  Only turning over the ADR scientist Jeck Hawkins and Novalysian captain Nickoli St. John will stop the coming slaughter.  Tell me Cole, how many lives are worth the life of your own son?  I will take an eye for an eye, starting with this soldier's life one prisoner's execution will be broadcast for each day that I do not receive the individuals I have requested.  Let the colonies see just how many you are willing to let die for your own blood."

Muffled screams rang out in the background of the feed just before that boom of a high powered rifle echoed, piercing the soldier's skull.  The man stopped moving and the feed fell dead silent as blood poured from his wound, pooling deep enough that the viewers could see it spilling over the edge of the bed before the feed was severed completely and screens fell dark.

"Motherfucking God," Kenji Wright muttered to the dark screen before him. Clarity, with her arms crossed and standing directly behind him, shook her head in disbelief.

"We can't give up Hawkins," Wright said, more to himself than to Clarity or the several other assorted Senators and high-ranking officials assembled in a Senate committee office. "The sheer amount of information alone that man has..."

"Who would have something against Novalyse and us? We're at opposite ends of the table right now. There has to be some common ground that they're targeting," Clarity noted.

"With the trial dragging on and all the media controversy eating it up, we knew this was bound to happen. It doesn't matter whether they're for or against Hawkins; this man is only a token. A bargaining chip. A power play. It doesn't matter, he's too much of a risk. We should've executed him a month ago and gotten out of all of this nonsense with Novalyse," one of the representatives said. Another agreed. "Hell, what if he's one of them? One of these terrorists? It would make sense." Another vehemently debuffed the others, and bickering started to sprout into the office room. "As of right now, he's not been proven guilty - we cannot sentence an innocent man."

"Enough," Wright barked. "I'll not have this. This was never just Novalyse's fight. You're forgetting we had people on the ground in Akrai, too. We will continue to be targeted, just like Novalyse. I can't do much about any other colony's people, but I'm not going to let any of mine die in a pissing contest with some psychotic phantom terrorist."

A moment of silence fell over the room after Kenji spoke.

"We can't make any final decisions beyond necessary defense measures until we've consulted the Demarchy," Clarity spoke up dutifully with textbook perfection.

"We will convene Senate at eight A.M. tomorrow, all reps on deck. And until then," Kenji's age betrayed him ever so slightly as he leaned against his chair to support himself while he stood, "we'll mobilize the riot police and activate preliminary protocols. I want North in my office in fifteen minutes."

::A message would be sent out publicly addressing the threat, a darkened silhouette and the CSCC insignia behind him:: Cascadia will not stand by as these threats are made. As of this moment the full Cascadian defense fleet has been mobilized and made ready for a full scale conflict. We will defend both Rescenta and Reza, and Novalyse. We would remind the terrorist that by threatening ADR space while our Lord Council is within their airspace is a direct declaration of war against Cascadia and its people. We urge the terrorist leaders to stand down and seek better methods than targeting innocents and civilians. :: the feed would end with a real time image of the entirety of the Cascadian fleets moving out from the planet almost a sea of glistening blue cascadium

Kenji had no sooner gotten back to his own office and sat down before he was informed of Cascadia's declaration of support. Good, he thought, we need you guys this time.

In fifteen minutes, as requested, General North stepped into Wright's office. A brief discussion filled with all the tension of the recent events ensued, and within the hour, there was a full-scale deployment of defense squadrons around Reza and Rescenta. At least one scout or defense vessel was positioned every click around the border, and riot police were stationed throughout the more populated areas and especially in the heart of Rescenta proper. Research labs and some housing units on the planet Reza were locked down entirely and deployed with military troops, bomb squads, and aerial defense craft.

North, per Kenji's request, sent a message of thanks to Cascadia for their support. It did, however, urge them to be wary of the lack of information that they had on the attack thus far and suggested that it could possibly be a bluff to bring the attention of the colonies away from something else. They also asked what ships from their fleet would be sent to help reinforce ADR space, to help get a head-count on their total defenses.

Ricardo got the message and was confused for a few moments "This sector is a hectic place, so much happens in such little time." he sighed "Oh well, guess we get to show people we aren't afraid to pull our wait."

S.T.I.C.S, the A.I with him at the moment nodded "Should i contact the other charr's and tell them?"

Ricardo nodded "Yea, and turn on the datanet connection on and give me ten seconds to gather my thoughts, I'm making a response."

S.T.I.C.S nodded and vanished into the desk, and the stream begun ten seconds later.

Ricardo sat there with his hands on his desk and began to speak "My name is Ricardo Fellini for those who do not know me, the leader of the Nomadic Warrior fleet of Zeon. We received the threats that were sent out by these terrorists, and we will NOT allow them to go unanswered. We call crest our home now, and any threat to our neighbors is a threat to us. I will not sugar coat this, our friends on Cascadia are going to war and we will stand with them. You have made an enemy today, and before the end you will realize you have started a war you are incapable of winning, unleashed a force you are incapable of stopping. I do not wish to scare you into backing down, because I want you to pay for your actions and hubris, pretending you can threaten all these colonies. My men will soon be on the war path, and you have made a grave error this day."

William quickly reacted and send out a data net message as well.

"As a company O.M.N.E Corporation truly prefers to stay neutral in such situations as these...but we can not at this point. The terrorists have threatened Crest's people and their interests and we will not stand by and idly let these people get their way. O.M.N.E Corporation along side with our friends Zeon and Cascadia treat this as a declaration of war against Crest, and will back up their forces with as much support as we can muster."

A man was on his way back from the traders forum when he caught sight of terror threat playing on Deyshan databook and TV's in one of the tech shops.  He stopped dead in his tracks, his brown hair falling over the blue glow of his implants as he watched the terrorists demands.  

"Oh my god...Nick."

An unencrypted message stemming from Deysha II could be directly traced to a Novalysian Neuro-censor somewhere within traders point.  The message was not open transmission, as it was sent directly to a personal line somewhere in Khrysis, if hacked they might be able to contact the informant at the risk of seriously harming him.

"You....how dare you lie to me.  How long have you been stringing me along to get me to be your informant without my knowledge?  You told me you wanted the scientists to study your disease- not to murder the people in Akrai.  That isn't what you wanted at all, is it?  You're after revenge, I should have known...Let me tell you something.  I don't care what they've done to you, and I know exactly what happened, I will never allow you to lay a hand on Nick.  I am coming for you...mark my words.  I will kill you."  No video feed opened with the transmission, only a lone voice speaking, slightly echoing off the surroundings of whatever building he was in.


Thorne tapped into the transmission, his eyes widening at hearing this voice again. He didn't need to hack into his Neuro-Censors of ping his location, he already knew exactly who the message was coming from....but not who it was going to.  He chose to ignore it for now, with Cole still out of commission at his son's bedside the responsibility fell on his shoulders to make a response to the threats.  He opened the feed, dressed in black Kev plated leather armor standing before the solid gunmetal walls of his office.

"Colonies of Crest, threats have been made against not only our people but those of the ADR as well.  I thank you for your support against the terrorism the sector is now being faced with and strongly advice all colonies not to take this matter lightly. Now we must all work together to ensure that everyone remains safe during these harsh times.  I will not take leadership in this effort nor will I give orders to those who chose to fight with us, only advice that they consider protecting the colony of ADR before our own.  Twenty-five years ago Novalyse withstood a five year long war against what appeared to be insurmountable odds, we are not afraid of these war mongering fools.  Let them come to Skyre, let them see the wrath they have stirred by murdering innocence that night in Akrai. We will never give into your will, take as many lives as your see fit.  When the time comes, I swear to you that suffering will be paid back to you ten fold."

The very next morning, the Senate and Demarchy of Reza convened in their capitol on Rescenta. A short time later, a transmission depicting Senate Representative Clarity Davis and Demarchy Representative Mach Westen was sent in response. "We would like to reassure the citizens of the Allied Demarchy of Reza, as well as all people of the colonies of this sector, that every appropriate precaution is being taken to ensure protection from the despicable terrorist threats that we now face," Clarity began solemnly. "We stand united alongside the other colonies of this sector when we say that undue danger towards the lives of innocents, the threats upon the safety of cities, and the blatant disregard for the proper trials afforded to all suspects in the course of justice will not be tolerated."

Mach Westen waited for Clarity's pause and then continued. "On behalf of the Demarchy, we have afforded the Senate military control of this issue in the event of an attack. There will be no hesitation to meet any affront against the Allied Demarchy of Reza, its territories, or its peoples by any hostile forces. Any terrorist activity within or against our colony will be treated as an international offense and dealt with swiftly and thoroughly. Our citizens will not be threatened."

"We will negotiate only under the circumstances that all hostages and prisoners of war are released, and all threats - against any colony or individual - are held down immediately. Upon those conditions, you are welcome to resubmit your requests for consideration. But until then, do not expect to find any fear, respect, or bargaining power in the strategies of terrorism. We will not stand down."

The transmission ended with the insignia of the ADR in the background.

O.M.N.E moved quickly, trying to ping the origin of the unknown informant's message to find him. They would also attempt to ping the location it was sent too, the had no real knowledge of how Novalysian technology worked, not enough to hack it without potentially hurting the man.

A Cascadian intelligence section on one of the capital ships enroute to ADR space would analyze the message:: Sir, we can try and ping the signal and find the informant or its destination but I have a better idea. We can see its from Deysha right near the traders point area, if we filter out the actual message we're left with the background noise and the echo's of the initial voice,we can contact deysha and get an architectural overlay and a materials list of the buildings in the area and use simulations by recreating the sound wave of the Informants voice and see what locations would create those echos and has the same type of background noise, then its just a matter of grabbing surveilance footage of the area and spotting the guy and running him to ground?

" the Inteligence officer- Alright, get on the horn to Deysha, have someone begin rough simulations from our current maps of Deysha, we can narrow it down alittle before hand theres obviously not an overwhelming ammount of noise so he's probly in an alley forward our plan to Thorne at novalyse aswell. If we can get this done quick we can possibly stop more killing. ALert deysha to start taking voice samples for any extra planetary travel too

Deysha-II made no formal statement regarding the terrorist attacks or the threats of the assailants.

When contacted by Cascadia for information, they did not respond immediately. However, their requests for information were answered several hours later.

"To the Cascadian Command Corps and all others concerned, please be informed that the Deyshian Ministry's Special Investigations Team is currently looking into matters concerning the message directed towards the terrorist groups harassing the people of Crest. It has indeed been traced to Trader's Point, and we are working to narrow down the exact locations and details of the message. Due to the sensitive nature of this investigation, we will be taking all necessary precautions to find more evidence as safely and efficiently as possible. This investigation will be treated as confidential and therefore we will declassify information as it becomes necessary. We will advise as soon as possible. Thank you."

Thorne read the message concerning Cascadia's plans over several times...damn there's no hiding it now...he thought to himself as he closed his eyes and sat at the desk before him.  His response took some time to be sent privately to Cascadia and Deysha.

"I have been informed that the Cascadian Command Corps has begun analysis to identify and locate the Informant who directly responded to the terrorist group.  Fortunately all efforts to do so will be unnecessary as I can identify the voice as Commander Colten St. John, who has been MIA for sixteen consecutive years.  His location is currently in Trader's Point, Deysha II, but after sending that message I can guarantee that he will not linger.  

Deysha, I hereby request that all spacedocks in the surrounding area be monitored for the departure of a Novalysian Fighter PF13-Sting Ray, as that was the last space craft Colten was known to have piloted.  I have attached a flight image showing the location of the serials and other identifying markings on the spacecraft however, these may have been removed. I must stress the importance that you do not engage the spacecraft or block its departure.  The commander may have been brain washed or by some other mean's influenced into aiding the terrorists thus, his mental stability is unknown.  We know it will be coming to Khrysis, I only ask that you allow me the knowledge so that the patrols may prepare."

(PF13-Sting Ray in flight)


A student at the University of Rescenta tapped a telecom device similar to Novalysian cybernetic implants however, unattached to a neuro-censor, The student listened for a moment before stepping out side the building and around the corner of the wall where there were fewer people.

"Alright, I'm out of the building.  What's going on?" the student said in a whispered tone.

"They've figured out what we're doing and trying to frame us as terrorists.  Gone as far to kill one of their own in a fake execution tape." A strained voice replied, sounding almost as if they were suffering from strep throat.  "Terra, I need you to get help.  I've marked a place on your map, go there and find Skorn.  He's an Eos, he can help us stop their infant genocide."

Terra looked down at herself, placing a hand on her abdomen where already a small bump had begun to form.  "Understood, I'm on my way." she said as she pressed the button on the side of the telecom, reaching into her uniform jacket to retrieve her glasses.  Within the glass a holographic map opened with a marker set on an ADR assisted living center.  Terra followed the holographic map until she came to the facility, tapping on the door as her hands shook with anxiety.

The Deyshian Ministry's Special Investigations Team relayed the following encrypted message, in confidence.

"Please be advised that we will follow your requests to report any departure of a PF13 Stingray that we believe may be involved in intercolonial terrorist plots, for the safety of all of Crest. However, we are not authorized to make any attempts to engage or detain any individuals, nor provide or investigate any personally invasive or classified information or documentation of those that have not committed any crimes within Deyshian territory. Since we have no other evidence linking any individual to these crimes, we are unable to be of assistance to you should any of your suspects in question leave by other legal means."

As promised, Deysha began monitoring all of their spacedocks for the departure of a PF13 Stingray.

:: the CSCC would reroute the ship that was investigating the aired threat to just outside of Deyshian space and run dark using long range sensors piggybacked off in system satellites to monitor traffic leaving Deysha

The unknown sensors would be detected by the Deyshian satellites' security systems and promptly blocked. Information regarding Deyshian airspace traffic was protected, at least until it left the boundaries of Deysha and the small Canaan system. The satellite security protocols began a retracing attempt which, if successful, would pinpoint the location and ID of the Cascadian ship and alert Deysha that Cascadia was trying to piggyback satellites and tap its traffic information.

The cascadian ship didnt waste time and bounced their own signal to some othe deysian satellite to keep themselves hidden and the ship then launched several small signal enhancing buoys to bounce their sensors off to manual track traffic, a note of deysha's actions was noted with an addendum that deysha may infact be aiding the terrorists and sent back to CSCC. Then they simply waited

Some time passed before anything of significance happened. Suddenly, Deysha's satellites stopped transmitting or receiving signals for a few brief moments. External links to the satellite system were suddenly and unexpectedly disconnected, and they would have to be traced and tapped again. The DataNet on Deysha experienced a brief hiccup, but was mostly unnoticed since it was working again in a matter of minutes.

[Continued in General Roleplay: The Stingray]