Phoenix War III

[Destructionator XV]

Destructionator Command Ship
Genator II
Deep space

"Thirteen," someone who looked just like Will Riker said, "the ships we have been tracking have arrived. Maintaining silent running, cloak and missiles both ready at your command, all crews now report condition one."

"Let them come a little closer..."

[Destructionator XV]

After a moment of silence from everyone at the Lord's words, he decided to continue pushing it:

"'Wouldn't you think it is an overkill'" Adam said, repeating Kreshna's words, "Overkill. Good sir, what is a superlaser if not overkill? You say you champion peace, yet here you are, using them as standard equipment on your battleships. You have a great granddaddy of a superlaser on your diplomatic outpost, on which you are entirely not open to negotiation. You seem to have these superlasers everywhere, but here you are, saying you champion peace."

He paused for a moment to let those words sink in before continuing:

"You claim to champion peace, and yet, you antagonize everyone who does not bend to your very will," he said, pointing at Detritus.

"You claim to champion peace and cooperation, but our man on your ``diplomatic'' station, the beforementioned Mr Kruger, was all but ignored. When Mr Namartu arrived to represent the Zerg, did you ask for our input? No, you did quite the contrary, teleporting away, leaving our man behind. We've seen the control you have over these teleportation feats, this could have been nothing but a deliberate act.

"O, while your harassment of us is entirely incomplete, it is not limited to us. I read the transcript of that meeting, and what happened after Mr Namtaru exited. You, and your Imperial lapdog, levied accusations against the Zerg, accusations for which there was no evidence, no provocation. Accusations that were entirely baseless, existing only as an excuse to attack.

"Yes, sir, I know of your and the Trolls plan to invade the Zerg. Our own people have detected your fleets building up near their border. War games my ass, you are wanting to terrify them into submission or provoke them to make the first move, so you and your 'noble Fleet' could wipe them out.

"But that wasn't good enough for you, was it, sir? Oh no, what if they didn't take the bait? What if they were not terrified? How would you use your precious superlasers then? So you decided to engineer an excuse, just as you tried to engineer an excuse to attack with those accusations against Namartu."

He decided to pause for another moment to let that sink in, or to even let them respond before going on.

[Ra]

"What say you to the honorable Lord Adam's statements, Darth Kreshna?" Ra grinned. "To further flesh out his statements, I find it very strange of you to answer my concerns with logical fallacies and imperialist bullshit."

Ra noticed the suprised looks from the gathered leaders.

"God forbid that your superlaser-armed Edifices to Death are not properly escorted," Ra mocked. "Attacking me on my knowledge of naval etiquette is utterly irrelevant, and a patently obvious attempt at evading my point. You created this 'ceremonial formation' out of a desire to intimidate and influence others. And it has failed miserably, as we are neither frightened nor amused.

You say that your fleet exercises were conducted in neutral space, and that no territory has been violated. This is indeed correct, but you are making no attempt to hide the fact that you're hiding behind the rule of interstellar law! This was an unscheduled exercise. You told no one that you or the Trolls would be conducting fleet war games, an action which is dangerous and in defiance of interstellar protocol. Wars have begun that way, Darth Kreshna. Need I remind the honored Sith Lord that unscheduled wargames might just happen to cause the other side to send 'observers' in response, and fighters harass each other, wings clip, they crash, and soon it's not shooting of weak practice beams, it's firing full-powered shots. At the very least, you're negligent. At the worst, you're provoking."

[DesertFly]

A shadow appears in the doorway of the meeting room, with a fwoosh, Lord Detritus, one of the Four lords of the Imperium, Lord of sanity, or whatever passed for it these days, steps into the room.

Ladies and Gentlemen! You will cease your mind numbing retoric now! The last word lounder, since the babble had become a great wave of whitenoise

I came to this meeting in good faith, however, when I heared someone suggest you start without me... I thought I might listen to your various views He absent mindedly starts throwing and catching a small silver orb in one hand.

Whilst you've all been stomping around the place and making the galaxy untidy, I have been making certain... Provisions he looks around the room, giving each of the leaders a glare.

As you may, or may not know, during the Guardian war, my faction seemed to up sticks for some time. The reason for this was because we were trying to develop a method of disabling one of the horde without killing it. Before we managed to deploy what we had developed, others did capture one with... far less elegance

He looks down at the sphere in his hand again This he says, whilst pressing a button on itIs the result of that research, this device, which I have just turned on, disabled all psychic connections within this room for the next three hours, Her ladyship over there He nods to the Zerg QueenIs no longer connected to her swarm, so we may disscuss with her... certain irregularities without being disturbed by any of her creatures

He nods to Lord Kreshna I have also disabled your powers as well m'lord, I know that once you feel... angry, the pheonix has a rather depressing tendency to explode on us. He looks around the room again, getting several glares in return

What? Did you really think we spent months locked away in our caves doing wall paintings? My spys have been telling me of the various ... plots that seem to be occuring at the moment, I shall not mention them, some of them might be necessary to get this mess sorted out.

he sits down, in the chair that was several times bigger than the rest

I will not tolerate being bloody minded for bloody minded sakeness on my watch

He glances around the room once more, much happier than before.

Now, I think this meeting can continue

(OOC: Y'know, doing highly controversial things like this while I'm not around to respond is really not cool. Sigh, ah well.)

Kerrigan stood up, fuming. Her tone was ice. "You offer me a grave insult by distrupting the control of my nation in this way. Disable this device's effects immediately, or I will be forced to consider this an act of war against the Zerg by the Trolls, and respond appropriately."

Hmm, It seems thats many of my spies have been mis-informed M'lady. They all seemed to think you were as alien as the rest of your swarm He looks down at the datapad again, clearly amused by what he seesMy my.... It appears that you infact are human as the rest of my fellow guests here He grins, lighting up the room with his diamond teeth

Don't be surprised that I can tell. Whilst most of my allies invest most heavily in the art of war, I tend to invest in the science of espionage, diplomacy and the tools to do those tasks. How else would I be able to know whose who and what species? I would be most delighted if you could tell us how you came to be in charge of such a speices when your so much different to them.

Kerrigan looked at him with undisguised derision. "Clearly your spies are far more adept than your scientists, if your statements indicate the state of affairs in your empire. And both are obviously in a sad state. I am no more human than the Goa'uld, anymore; I am far more."

He smiles And don't think about bringing in some of your little zerglings. They are all blissfully unaware they are dis-connected from their ruler, I have no wish to harm them or you.

Kerrigan nearly laughed, quivering with rage and scorn as she was. "You really are as thick as your appearance would suggest, aren't you, troll?" She seemed to spit the last word. "Right now the Swarm is very much aware of my absence, and will soon be taking appropriate steps to discover its reason and rectify the situation. If you don't disable your device, I won't have to declare war. Within a short time every Zerg in this galaxy will be at this planet, looking for blood. You believe that the combined fleets of the Empire or the Imperium could hold off the fury of the Swarm, but you won't have that chance. Before any reinforcements can arrive this planet will be covered in darkness and you will all be dead beneath a crushing onslaught that's far greater than you imagine. Without my influence to hold them in check even I tremble at the thought of the slaughter that will be unleashed here! For I am Kerrigan, Queen of Blades, and my fury WILL NOT BE DENIED! She paused. As she had spoken, her voice had risen, as had she. Now she floated several feet above the ground, eyes flashing with red fire. She took a breath. The fire faded, and she settled to the ground. Gripping her chair in her hands she squeezed, unleashing some of her hidden strength and crushing it into dust. "Besides," she added, in a quiet, deadly tone, "if I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't need my armies here."

[Ra]

Prime Minister Salar of Vulcan rose from her seat, and stated, "Disable that device, now, Lord Dietrius. It is illogical of you to cut off contact between the Zerg and her leader, and if what she says is true, this brings our entire world into needless danger. She says they will come and slaughter everyone, and from what I know of the various creatures that make of the Zerg armies, my own analysis is that we should believe her."

Ra watched the Vulcan, and said nothing. Out the corner of his eye, he saw another, much younger Vulcan, actually look distressed, if not angry at what the Imperials and their Trollish allies were doing. She looked Ra in the eye, but said nothing. From her position, apparantly some military officer, she likely wasn't even in proper authority to.

"Starting war is not what we are gathered here for!" Galadriel boomed. "You are so confident and sure in your own power that you've become reckless! This will stop, now!"

Kerrigan was on the verge of going berzerk, the Vulcans were terrified, and Galadriel was having to play nanny to a room full of whining national leaders. Ra remarked to himself, "Dietritus just opened up Pandora's Box."

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

"Starting war is not what we are gathered here for!" Galadriel boomed. "You are so confident and sure in your own power that you've become reckless! This will stop, now!"

Kerrigan was on the verge of going berzerk, the Vulcans were terrified, and Galadriel was having to play nanny to a room full of whining national leaders. Ra remarked to himself, "Dietritus just opened up Pandora's Box."

"SILENCE!!!!" The crowds were stopped as Albus Dumbledore... er, Darth Kreshna rose from his chair and shouted. He was enveloped in his Phoenix aura. Even Kerrigan, who was on the verge of going berzek on Lord Detritus, was stopped on her spot.

The Sith was calm again, then spoke to Galadriel, "milady, if you allow me."

He then spoke to others, "Lord Adam and Supreme System Lord Ra had expressed their concern on the Empire's capability of vaporizing a planet in a single shot. While they're accurate on the fact itself, I believe they are both incorrect in the implication."

"See, both Lord Adam and Lord Ra made a false impression, that since the Empire is capable to destroy a planet outright, then the Empire is an aggressive nation that is so eager to use such firepower against other nations. They both confused willingness with capability, and I hope it was not a deliberate attempt," the Sith stared at both Ra and Adam sharply.

"But the fact is," the Sith paused for an effect, "the fact is that the Empire has never, I repeat, never been the first to initiate aggression. In fact, we have been a victim of an inhumane terrorist attack aboard the Death Star; a bombing that costed the lives of many civilians --Imperial civilians, Trollish civilians, and Goa'uld civilians alike. Was it the Empire who took the first blood? No! Neither the Trollish Imperium nor the Galactic Empire has ever taken the first blood. In fact, we have been working hard to keep the peace and stability, to build for our people, and we would be very surprised if other nations disagree with our effort."

Kreshna continued, "today, we have heard so many red herrings. An example is Lord Adam's concern about his ambassador being left out in the welcoming ceremony. But I have to say that it was NOT the fault of Lord Detritus, since if ambassador Kruger was being punctual, he would have been included in the teleport."

"While I could not speak for Lord Detritus, I apologize if some of you feel disturbed by the psychic-disabling device he activated. Please understand that many Trollish civilians were also killed during the recent terrorist bombing aboard the Death Star, so you could not blame my ally here for being cautious. While some of you may object to his act of activating the device, I would assure you that Lord Detritus did that out of caution. I should make a note that my Phoenix telepathy was also disabled by the device, but I did not object."

"Furthermore," Darth Kreshna turned to Kerrigan, "no offense, O Illustrious Queen of Blades," Kreshna did not known if Kerrigan noticed his mocking tone, but he did not really care, "but I have to say that the Zerg attack on Tais II was a display of savagery; people being maimed alive by the claws and fangs of the Zerglings. So again, please understand that Lord Detritus had no ill-intention when activating the device; he merely wanted to assure that such horror would not happen again."

"Like I said," Darth Kreshna ended his speech, "the fact is that neither the Trollish Imperium nor the Galactic Empire has drawn the first blood. In fact, we were the victims of a cowardly and disgusting terrorist attack aboard the Death Star. While we are peaceful nations by nature, please understand that our patience has its own limits. We are now working our effort to capture the terrorists, and when we do, be assured that JUSTICE shall be served."

He sat again.

[Destructionator XV]

The linka I give are in universe links to the Empire's own records.

"But the fact is, the fact is that the Empire has never, I repeat, never been the first to initiate aggression.

"Liar." Adam called him on it. linka
The result of your unprovoked aggression

The death of Pluto, by one of the very ships around Vulcan right now.

Darth Kreshna BDZs Mars, exterminating Daleks, with no provocation.

ambassador Kruger was being punctual, he would have been included in the teleport."

"He was there the whole time, liar." linka

"but I have to say that the Zerg attack on Tais II was a display of savagery; people being maimed alive by the claws and fangs of the Zerglings

"How is that any different than your overpowered blasters cooking people alive," he wanted to add 'asshole', but a squeeze of his hand by the Lady cut him short.

"While we are peaceful nations by nature,"

" ``Fear will keep the local systems in line, fear of this battlestation.'' " Adam quoted, from the Galactic Empires's own history records on his precious battlestation.


The A'millian has only just begun.

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

The linka I give are in universe links to the Empire's own records.

"But the fact is, the fact is that the Empire has never, I repeat, never been the first to initiate aggression.

"Liar." Adam called him on it. linka
The result of your unprovoked aggression

"That was before the end of the Guardian War, Darth Kreshna was angered again. "After the war, we have all committed to keep the peace and stability among us. Let me remind you that after the war, the Empire never drawn the first blood!"

[Destructionator XV]

"What is that sound? Oh, it is goal posts being moved. But, I'll play your game."

While he said his words aloud, a wholly different thing was going through his head:
"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear, I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain."

The litany is good words, but it is more than just that, they carried a low level calming response conditioned in the early stages of training for all A'millian knights. As the calm swept over him, he was able to continue:

"But you still maintain massive weapons of terror and intimidate other nations, as seen by your 'war games' along the Zerg border."

He felt a slight tap on his middle finger: the Lady telling him it is time to move on to stage II.

"You claim you have never drew first blood, and decry this so called terrorist attack on your battlestation. But not all is as it seems.

"Our people have analyzed high definition footage of the Zerglings on the Death Star, and we found very surprising results, that we have already forwarded to the Vulcans on our trip here.

"We found that the Zerglings on the Death Star had no relation whatsoever to the other Zerglings we have seen, including the rogues from the Tais II attack.

"No relation whatsoever. They were not Zerg, but rather copies constructed to look like Zerg. They must have been made in haste, as the imperfections were easy to find visually.

"Tell me, sir, from where did these fake Zerg come? Who has the resources needed to construct a fake biological creature and get it to the Death Star so quickly? How exactly did fake Zerg get aboard the Death Star, past your Imperial security?"

[DesertFly]

"While I could not speak for Lord Detritus, I apologize if some of you feel disturbed by the psychic-disabling device he activated. Please understand that many Trollish civilians were also killed during the recent terrorist bombing aboard the Death Star, so you could not blame my ally here for being cautious. While some of you may object to his act of activating the device, I would assure you that Lord Detritus did that out of caution. I should make a note that my Phoenix telepathy was also disabled by the device, but I did not object."

"Furthermore," Darth Kreshna turned to Kerrigan, "no offense, O Illustrious Queen of Blades," Kreshna did not known if Kerrigan noticed his mocking tone, but he did not really care, "but I have to say that the Zerg attack on Tais II was a display of savagery; people being maimed alive by the claws and fangs of the Zerglings. So again, please understand that Lord Detritus had no ill-intention when activating the device; he merely wanted to assure that such horror would not happen again."

Of course Kerrigan noticed his mocking tone, and inside she seethed, but she suppressed it, so that the only outward sign of her anger was a mocking tone that matched Darth Kreshna's own.

"Clearly your intelligence is as spotty as that of your ally's, if you still labor under the false impression that we had anything to do with that unfortunate incident. Or perhaps you're just dense, so I'll spell it out for you. The attack on Tais II was done by a rogue Cerebrate. We have called for reprisals against him, not because we need help to bring a sole would-be warlord into line, but merely to show our good faith and honorable intentions. Of course, there is another possibility, that you are accusing me of lying. Clearly one who has such trust issues has things to hide of his own."

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

"Tell me, sir, from where did these fake Zerg come? Who has the resources needed to construct a fake biological creature and get it to the Death Star so quickly? How exactly did fake Zerg get aboard the Death Star, past your Imperial security?"

Darth Kreshna almost lost his patience. How dare this insolent A'millan falsely accusing him of behind the Zergs riot aboard the Death Star?

He read his PDA again; the summary of intelligence reports provided by the Trolls. He decided to play his one particular card now.

"Good question," he replied, "who was behid the fake Zerg riot aboard the Death Star?"

He paused for a moment, "to answer the question, I invite everyone to see what has been recorded by our security cam." Without even waiting for Galadriel's approval, he connected his PDA to the meeting room's Holo-Projector.

The miniature transporter units come to life, materializing seven zerglings each before dematerializing themselves.

These zerglings were excellent copies; it would take an expert to tell them apart from the real thing.

The forty-two fake Zerglings all come together and start off toward one of the populated civilian centres of the station, brutally slaughtering anything in their path with incredible speed.

Darth Kreshna noticed that Lord Adam was sweating as his treason being exposed. After the recording ended, Kreshna rose from the chair. He pointed at Lord Adam and boomed.

"WHO HAS THE TRANSPORTER TECHNOLOGY???"

[DesertFly]

"You claim you have never drew first blood, and decry this so called terrorist attack on your battlestation. But not all is as it seems.

"Our people have analyzed high definition footage of the Zerglings on the Death Star, and we found very surprising results, that we have already forwarded to the Vulcans on our trip here.

"We found that the Zerglings on the Death Star had no relation whatsoever to the other Zerglings we have seen, including the rogues from the Tais II attack.

"No relation whatsoever. They were not Zerg, but rather copies constructed to look like Zerg. They must have been made in haste, as the imperfections were easy to find visually.

"Tell me, sir, from where did these fake Zerg come? Who has the resources needed to construct a fake biological creature and get it to the Death Star so quickly? How exactly did fake Zerg get aboard the Death Star, past your Imperial security?"

Kerrigan suddenly looked smug. "Fellow heads of state, I believe I can shed more light on this issue." From a pouch she withdrew a miniature holo-projector, then activated it. In the air above it shimmered to life a picture of Namtaru, the faux-Zergling still glued to his back. Behind him could be seen images of destruction and carnage; his face was scratched and torn; clearly he was calling immediately after the attack on the DSIII.

"My lady," he hissed, "strange news. This station was just attacked by creatures that appear to be similar to Zerglings. As you can see--"he indicated the creature on his back--"it was a crude approximation at best." He went on to detail his exploits, then Kerrigan gave him instructions to take the captured creature to Darth Kreshna and allow his scientists to examine it. Security camera footage showed just that happening.

"As you can see," said Kerrigan, "Darth Kreshna is already well aware that we had nothing to do with this, and we have been nothing but helpful in the investigation."

[DesertFly]

"WHO HAS THE TRANSPORTER TECHNOLOGY???"

Kerrigan looked directly at Darth Kreshna calmly. "Who doesn't?" she asked quietly, her calm in stark contrast to the Sith's ravings. "Even if this is a closely guarded secret of the A'millians, it take only one traitor or one captured ship to allow this technology to fall into anyone's hands. You seem hasty to point blame for this attack, more hasty than one who isn't hiding something should be." Again she made a not-very-hidden jab at Darth Kreshna.

[Destructionator XV]

I am moving this post to after DesertFly's, since Kerrigan was able to speak before Adam did.

Darth Kreshna noticed that Lord Adam was sweating as his treason being exposed.

(that wouldn't happen, by the way. he can control persperation quite well, and thanks to the Litany, he is incredibly calm right now)

"WHO HAS THE TRANSPORTER TECHNOLOGY???"

"As Kerrigan pointed out, most of us do. We do. The Goa'uld do, requiring rings and a platform to function. Our friends the Asgard do, but this footage is entirely inconsistant with their operation.

"The Trolls do, and they regularly use their transporters in your Death Star, unlike us.

"Your own allies have both the technology needed and the ability to operate on the station to pull that off, and as you know, our technical specifications are no secret. Anyone can download transporter specs from our public data web and build their own, assuming they have the necessary technical foundation and resources to do so. Both of which you have."

edit: removed my flame in light of DesertFly's post

[Ra]

"I find it all a little too convenient," Ra chimed in. "Was it merely coincidence, or perhaps your vaunted Imperial security just happened to let the Zerglings in?"

[Ra]

OOC: Ooh, ghetto edit, I just thought of adding a new line of flaming!
==========

"And the fact that Imperial civilians are stationed onboard a battlestation in the first place is damning!" Ra boomed, standing to his feet. He smiled darkly as he added, "Why were they there to start with? Because they were needed to operate the systems of a planet-cracking doomsday weapon, or was it because if the station was attacked, you could do just what you're doing now, stirring the emotions of the Imperial public and trying to influence other powers into helping you, because 'innocent' - he spat the word in mockery - blood was shed?! Tell me if I'm wrong!"

[Destructionator XV]

Adam looked out the corner of his eye into the Lady's green eye, that looked orangeish through the slight shimmer of their still activated body shields.

He sees her resisting the urge to laugh out loud at the current turn of events. Her plan was proceeding even better than she had forseen. If it continues like this, universal armageddon might not be necessary.

He, too, resists the temptation to smile, allowing his face to remain as emotionless as the Vulcans, turning his eyes back to Darth Kreshna, waiting for his response.

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

The Sith Inquisitor stared at the audience with blank stare. "Haven't anbody just realized that even naked eye can tell the difference? Take a look at the materializing Zergs; only A'millan transporter show such distinctive visual appearance."

"Besides," the Sith pulled out another card, "it is a standard procedure aboard the Death Star to record energy signature of various activities --notably transporter. And the energy signature of the transporters that brough the fake Zerglings were consistent with that of A'millan transporter. Do you have any explanations, Lord Adam?"


Darth Kreshna then turned to Ra.

"And the fact that Imperial civilians are stationed onboard a battlestation in the first place is damning!" Ra boomed, standing to his feet. He smiled darkly as he added, "Why were they there to start with? Because they were needed to operate the systems of a planet-cracking doomsday weapon, or was it because if the station was attacked, you could do just what you're doing now, stirring the emotions of the Imperial public and trying to influence other powers into helping you, because 'innocent' - he spat the word in mockery - blood was shed?! Tell me if I'm wrong!"

He replied coldly, "isn't it a little bit ironic such words were spoken by one of the head of the states who signed the Sol Charter? Should I remind you, that after the end of the Guardian War, we have agreed that we should prevent another great war and settle our differences peacefully, and I, out of good will, offered my personal Death Star to serve the purpose, which was then being made official in the Sol Charter? Isn't it a little bit ironic that you said 'innocent victims' with mockery, while Goa'uld civilians were among the bombing casualties? Don't you have concerns for your own people, or do you think that they deserve to die in your worship?"

[Ra]

"I will not deny that I signed the Sol Charter, though in hindsight, it was probably the worst mistake I have ever made," Ra snapped.

Galadriel was in shock. She finally stood to her feet, and stated, "We were both there to sign the Charter, Ra. We signed it together, with the same pen, no less. While you did have your doubts, we both understood at the time that it was the best course of action. The Guardian threat was still fresh on our minds, and the dead were still being buried! How could you forget that?"

Galadriel actually looked saddened by Ra's continuing madness, and personally hurt. What had her former ally and possibly even... friend at one time become?

"We saw that the Guardians had ruined all that once stood around us. The realm you and I forged out of the scattered, divided, and chaotic remnants of the System Lords' holdings - System Lords dead from the Replicator War, who had left a dangerous power vacuum in their wake - was virtually destroyed by the Guardians and their unholy crusade. We were an Alliance, Ra, and now you've let your own greed destroy all we once bled to maintain."

"We could not have predicted that the solution for the postwar situation would have been so bad in the long term, Galadriel," Ra said coldly. "For now we all sit as inferiors before the might of the Empire. We have lost our very right of self-determination! Now who dictates the policies, Galadriel? Who sends in the battle fleets when something goes wrong? It is the Empire, my lady -- my friend. Don't you see that?"

"Some dark influence is over him," Galadriel pondered. "He is himself, he does honestly believe what he says, but something else is bidding him on. And I believe I know whom it is..."

"That is why we must work this out, and come to a solution that benefits all parties. You wish greater independence from Imperial might, believing that while their rules and mandate may be acceptable in all ways, the power backing up their authority is too great, in your eyes. Am I correct?"

"Yes."

"Then shall we, as my friends here would say, think about this logically?" Galadriel said, offering a smile.

"I can do that," Ra nodded. "The Empire has too many high-power assets in this galaxy. I believe the A'millians would agree with me if I say the superlaser on the Death Star needs to go; as Ambassador Kruger stated. While back at the signing of the Charter it seemed like a good idea to keep the thing around, now the superlaser's purpose has changed."

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

"That is why we must work this out, and come to a solution that benefits all parties. You wish greater independence from Imperial might, believing that while their rules and mandate may be acceptable in all ways, the power backing up their authority is too great, in your eyes. Am I correct?"

"Yes."

"Then shall we, as my friends here would say, think about this logically?" Galadriel said, offering a smile.

"I can do that," Ra nodded. "The Empire has too many high-power assets in this galaxy. I believe the A'millians would agree with me if I say the superlaser on the Death Star needs to go; as Ambassador Kruger stated. While back at the signing of the Charter it seemed like a good idea to keep the thing around, now the superlaser's purpose has changed."

Kreshna couldn't help but smile. Galadriel was always more reasonable, and after the meeting ended he actually planned to ask her about Irene.

But now, he had more important matters on hand.

"I understand now. The Honorable Lady Galadriel was correct; it is not because Imperial Mandate is not acceptable in any ways. In fact, the Empire have never started any aggression after the signing of the Sol Charter. No. It is because certain nations think that the Empire is too powerful."

He emphasized the words, paused for an effect, and continued, "however, you cannot blame us for something that is not our fault. It is not our fault that Imperial firepower is magnitudes more powerful than, say, the A'millans. It is not our fault that our technological level enables us to build a superlaser powerful enough to vaporize a planet in fraction of seconds."

"We are guilty if we conduct terrorist attack on other nations. We are guilty if we made an unprovoked bombing against innocent civilians. However, we are not guilty of such things.; we are 'guilty' because we are way more powerful than any other nations. And by that logic, the Trollish Imperium is also guilty because its economic power is greater than the A'millans and the Goaulds combined. NOW WHERE'S THE LOGIC IN THAT??" The Sith rolled ihs eyes.

"So just because we are more powerful, then we are liable for terrorist attack, aren't we? Is that what Ra and Lord Adam is thinking?"

"Since the signing of the Sol Charter, the Empire never commit unprovoked aggression to other nations. However, we were recently attacked by a cowardly terrorist attack. And here, people are blaming the Empire because it is 'too powerful'."

The Sith took a deep breath ,"it should be noted that, in my reply to Ambassador Kruger, I already offered an opportunity to hold a disarmament treaty conference aboard the Death Star; I was actually open to such suggestion. But did the A'millan suggest for the disarmament? No, they made an outright demand to disarm the superlaser, and without provocation whatsoever. And when I reminded the A'millan Ambassador about the Sol Charter, he did not even bother to reply. No. All and every A'millan personnel aboard the Death Star just left the station afterwards, and coincidentally before the bombing." he paused for an effect.

"Like I said, I was actually open to disarmament treaty; that's why I invited Lord Adam to hold such conference aboard the Death Star. However, recent bombing aboard the Death Star has made me change my mind; there will be no disarmament of Imperial forces in Milky Way galaxy. Not until the threat of terrorism is completely neutralized."

[Ra]

Ra then crossed his arms, and stated, "Are you implying that the Reformed Goa'uld Empire and A'millian Star Empire somehow supported, or are responsible for, a terrorist attack, Lord Kreshna? I would hope not, for that would be leveling quite an accusation, a theory for which you have zero proof."

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

Ra then crossed his arms, and stated, "Are you implying that the Reformed Goa'uld Empire and A'millian Star Empire somehow supported, or are responsible for, a terrorist attack, Lord Kreshna? I would hope not, for that would be leveling quite an accusation, a theory for which you have zero proof."

"I was asking. The point is that the Death Star just suffered a terrorist bombing that costed the lives of many civilians, and now people are complaining that the Empire is too strong. Well no shit, Sherlock. The Empire has been strong for thousands of years, but that's not the point; the point is that we all must stop terrorism once and for all. No nation should endorse terrorism, directly or indirectly."

[Ra]

"I see how it is," Ra thought to himself. "He's using the excuse of terrorism to justify keeping his damn weapons. Holy shit, he just won't stop."

"But if he wants to play it that way, and overblow the terrorism card, what if... I have to talk to Kerrigan about that."

"She just might be interested in such a campaign. The Imps' noses are bloodied; the trick is to bleed them white! Then public opinion will sour back in their Home Galaxy, and the Imperials will be forced to withdraw. It might leave a lot of my worlds razed or under Imperial occupation for awhile, but planning it out would be the most critical part. I'm loathe to sink to the low of using terrorist tactics, rather than showing brute force, but what else is a Goa'uld to do, in face of such superior forces?"

Ra stared on, and awaited Lord Adam's response.

[Destructionator XV]

"Haven't anbody just realized that even naked eye can tell the difference? Take a look at the materializing Zergs; only A'millan transporter show such distinctive visual appearance."

"I've already gone over this. Our transporter specifications are no secret. Anyone, literally anyone, can connect to the public data net or go to a public library, found in all cities and all bases in our domain, and look up how to build one. We have dozens of civilian models available on the market, and they would be easily affordable to anyone in this room, among countless others. Yes, it is our design. So what. If someone wanted to, say, frame us," he paused for just a moment, "as an excuse to invade perhaps, this is one trivial way of going about it."

"however, you cannot blame us for something that is not our fault. It is not our fault that Imperial firepower is magnitudes more powerful than, say, the A'millans. It is not our fault that our technological level enables us to build a superlaser powerful enough to vaporize a planet in fraction of seconds."

"No, it is not your fault for being able to build such things, but it is your fault that you actually do as a regular matter of course. It is your fault that you have used such terrible weapons before, and are clearly willing to do so again, evidenced by the fact that you blatetly refuse to shut them down or send them away."

it should be noted that, in my reply to Ambassador Kruger, I already offered an opportunity to hold a disarmament treaty conference aboard the Death Star; I was actually open to such suggestion.

"But, you refused to talk to Mr Kruger, a man on your station with the specific job of doing such negotiations on my behalf. No, you wanted me to go to your station of death personally, coincidentally right as a bomb went off in that sector."

No, they made an outright demand to disarm the superlaser, and without provocation whatsoever.

"I grow tired of your incessant lies, sir. Let us see what was actually said:

``In the name of the of Emperor Lord Adam the First of the A'millian Star Empire, we hereby request the immediate and complete disarmament of the super laser on this Death Star III.'' linka

Request, sir. Request, with no backing of force whatsoever. If that is a demand, I am a Chinese jet pilot. Furthermore, since when does a diplomat need provocation to make a diplomatic request on behalf of his nation?"

And when I reminded the A'millan Ambassador about the Sol Charter, he did not even bother to reply. No.

"First, you purposefully ignore him when Namartu arrives. Then you blow him off, demanding to speak with me personally instead of going through proper channels. Add to that three yahren of nothing whatsoever, I ask you: what good was he doing there? Since the whole diplomatic thing was doing nothing at all, I called those men and women home so they can see their families again. We don't put our citizens in places for nothing, sir."

All and every A'millan personnel aboard the Death Star just left the station afterwards, and coincidentally before the bombing.

"Coincidentally, indeed, unless you would care to partake in a post hoc, ergo propter hoc fallacy."

[Dartzap]

Time?

'Three minutes and closing, sir'

Good, have they all got the recorders?

'Aye commander, they are set to beam straight to the Nemisis'

Good, I don't want anyone claiming we did anything wrong in this


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As you all know, since the end of the Guardian war, me and my people put our fleets into storage.Why would we do this if we wanted to threaten everyone with overwelming fire power? The answer is we dont, other than in times of war He glaces around the room again. Focusing on Lord Adam

Your lordship, I have to enquirewhy you only came to the conclusion that the super laser should be disabled recently? You have had a long time to make this known to all the leaders before now, so why? it can't have been fear, your empire even with it's outposts here is strong, so it cannot be the fear of miltary reprisals

He stands up and walks over to the Queen and bends down next to her and whispers in her ear, so no one else can hear Terran


My lord and ladies, I must return to the Goliath, I am waiting for some information from one of my agents, I shall leave the device here. It is coded to my seam type, so unless anyone else here happens to of a boulder like tendency, It wont respond. It is locked on for for the next few hours, I cannot change that

He picks up his datapad and heads for the door. With a quick dust explosion, he returns to his flagship.

------------------------------------------------
'My lord, we have the connection with the Nemisis established. Once Flotsam begins his operation, we shall see whats on that ship. All data is being saved to the core'

Well done Igneous, I'm sure this will be intresting

'Yes sir, T-minus sixty secounds until the shuttles reach their target'

*OOC: Waiting for Adam for that part to begin*