Union of Independent Worlds Faction RP thread

[Cannonshop]

It's been less than two years since Arluna was depopulated by a horrific plague, and even now, there is a faint 'taint' of death in the air.  The Plague year changed the people here, as it did on six other worlds.  Self-reliance, determination, and a subtle streak of...things have changed radically here.

Much of Arluna's capitol is still empty, but it is slowly filling out, and there is a sense of something building here, streets are no longer marked in german-they are marked in english, or vietnamese, but the german signs and adverts are slowly being overtaken by a new identity, one that is growing in strength even as the influence of Lyran culture diminishes.

These are survivors, and they know it-there is a grim pride, and under that pride, a wrath lurks, a sense of a people, coming together, with vengeance on their mind and in their hearts.

The graffitti along the main road from the space-port says it all...


'Rim Worlds Delenda Est."

'Ten Billion Demand Vengeance'.

'No more Absentee Landlords'.

'Where was Tharkad when we needed them?'

'Independence forever!'

'On Our Feet.'

On Inarcs, the sentiments are echoed, the same can be said of Neerabup, and Anembo, and Jerangle, and every other world in the Union- the Plague zone has begun coming together, and they chose the hardest-hit world as their capital for one reason: To remind them all, to become more...a black centre of fury, tempered by hard-won wisdom.

[Cannonshop]

Boojum 17, Nghien Cooperative, Kowloon system...

Lt. Giao Pham switched on her suit-light, and crawled through the half-collapsed airlock tunnel to the inner door.  "Fourteen, did the datalink show any damage to the inner door?" she asked.

"Negative on a breach alarm.  Looks like the impact probably knocked the sensors offline."  Fourteen, an Inarcs native going through his last week of Coast Guard training, replied.  Giao reached the broken-open inner door of the burrow.

"How many bodies?" she asked.

"Living or dead?" Fourteen replied.

Gaio made a face, "LIVING, Fourteen, you don't rescue dead Rockjacks, unless they're a nav-hazard."

"Two." Fourteen said, "We're gonna need to excavate to get the beachballs out, the parking bay's wrecked too-looks like the fire might've started there, the reaction probably-"

"Don't speculate, Fourteen, this rock should've been in a stable orbit, something moved it with the people inside into an orbit that intersected something else-we're about two degrees off the course they SHOULD have been on if they were hit in their registered orbit..."

"Right...burrows don't move under their own power." Fourteen noted.

"Exactly.  someone gave this rock a push."

[Cannonshop]

Nha Tranh spaceport, Kowloon...

"...sorry Scott, we can't pay you, and the Commonwealth's dumped out of their contract."  Charles Vanh wasn't sorry.  Not one bit, but there was no reason to be uncivil, and more than a few reasons not to be unpleasant.

"You've already said you're making for somewhere south-now, I can read a map, and so can you.  When you catch up with Adam, give him this from Top, got it?"  Charles handed Scott Blackstone, Commander of the Blackstone Highlanders, a small thing, really.  Five centimeters long, wooden, and sharp with a triangular profile, on one face, it said "Somerset", on another, "IOU".

"I lost my oldest son on Somerset, Scott...and take care of yourself. I don't want to see you again at all until this is over."

The Mercenary left the room.

"You're just letting him go?"  Anh Le asked.

"Yeah." Charles said, "I am.  If we have to fight someone, I'd as soon NOT have it be on our home soil, and maybe the damn Congress might get some damned sense-we're not in a position to launch foreign wars, not with the Commonwealth on one border, Debbie dancing her ass off at the Clanners to keep them from 'adding' us to their possessions, and all the rest."

"But you gave him a toothpick..." she said.

"To give to Adam Steiner.  yeah...well, Scott Blackstone's not wrapped up in personal business, but I needed someone to take it there." Vanh told her,  "He needs to know why before I kill him, make himself right with god or whatever he does as a replacement for that."

[DXM]

Colonel Scott Blackstone took the toothpick with a bemused expression.  He nodded to Vanh.  "I will, and I will.  And, for what its worth -- I'm sorry that things ended up this way."  He came to attention, saluted, executed a crisp, parade ground-precise about-face, and left the room.  He wound his way out of the spaceport's terminal, through two security checkpoints (who didn't stop him; the marblized blue-black-white battle dress of the Highlanders was well known), and out onto the spaceport's drop pads.

His XO, Major Charles Lydecker, was waiting for him, watching as the last of the unit's 'Mechs and tanks were loaded up on their DropShips.  He saluted and let out a breath.  "I'm amazed you're still alive."

Blackstone snorted.  "Yeah. . . me too."

"They actually going to let us leave?  Or is this all a charade so that they can kill us via decompression when they blast our DropShips while outbound?"

"They'll let us go, Chuck," Blackstone said as he pulled out his sunglasses.  It was bright and sunny, not a cloud in the sky.  "They know where we're going, but Vanh said they'd let us leave unmolested.  Coming back?  That'll be the hard part."

"Really.  He said that?"

Blackstone let a grim smile creep onto his face as he stepped off towards the DropShips.  "Not in so many words.  But Daphne's a friend of mine, but they all hate her here."

Lydecker chuckled.  "Good thing I didn't invest in that retirement home."

[Cannonshop]

LCS Kowloon, in transit from Tharkad...

The bridge speakers echoed with the sound of a Skye traditional-Copyright belongs to Flogging Molly and their record company-I didn't write it, I don't intend to infringe on their copyright.

"...Genuflect all you refugees who fled the land
Now on guilt you kneel
And say a prayer for those left behind
From beyond the pale to the Northern sky
So you saved your shillins and your last six pence
Cause in God`s name they built a barbed wire fence
Be glad you sailed for a better day
But don`t forget there`ll be hell to pay
Rebels are we, though heavy our hearts shall always be
Ah, no ball or chain no prison shall keep
We`re the rebels of the sacred heart
I said no ball or chain no prison shall keep
We`re the rebels of the sacred heart..."

Kapitain Michael Collins sipped whiskey, and stared out through the vision ports.  "Regrets, sir?"  his Nav Officer was a rockjack with the improbable name of St. John Nghien.

"Regrets? hell yes...but they took Maddie, and I won't leave my friends to face those maniacs alone." he said, "I guess I really am not a good officer-hell, I'm not even a particularly good terrorist, you know what I was in Blackgate for, St. John?"

"No sir."  Nguyen replied.

"I bombed a tax-office on Rahne." Collins said, "For Free Skye, now, I'm going out into the dark to fight for independence for someone else...while Skye is free, and the price of that, is I'll never be welcome back home agian."

"You're a good officer sir." Nghien said, "You held it together, held US together."

"We'll see, boyo." Collins said, "We'll see, contact all units, prepare for KF jump in Time-minus three hours."

[GraeGor]

Vincent has never been so busy as he has these last few weeks, as he acts as the middleman for the UIW and his Clan. So much so, that he is starting to feel as if he is nothing more than a glorified mailman, but that attitude and opinion changes as he reads the message that was delivered to him:

TO: Vincent Frehley, Clan Star Adder Consulate, Arluna
FROM: Lan Nghien, Deputy Director, InterClan Watch
ORIGIN: Sudeten

Sir,

I write this to ask of you a favor.

I was recently informed of the deaths of my sister and her husband, leaving their young children, Vinh and Lan, without parents, with myself being the last living family member.

Unfortunately I am scheduled to depart for my new posting in the Homeworlds that comes from my position within the ICW soon, so I will be unable to care for them for the duration of my stay.

Sir, I ask you to travel to Kowloon and take them as your charges. Please keep them close to their heritage, their people. Allow them to grow up in a way that I was not able. Give them the chance to be children and the opportunity to heal from the horrors they have survived.

Sincerely,
Lan Nghien

After reading the message, he feels obligated to do as Lan asked, he recalls his own parents and the sense of loss he felt when they died. He had other family to take him in, and it is the least he can do for the larger Family that he and Lan share in Clan Star Adder.

Calling to his aide, Kyle, "Contact any outgoing Drop and JumpShip that is planning on going to Kowloon, tell them that they're going to have a passenger."

As Kyle does as told, Vincent sends a short missive to Debra:

ArchDuchess,

I have received a request from a fellow Adder who was at one time a citizen of Kowloon. Family members have recently died there, leaving a pair of young children without any to care for them.

He asked me to take them in and foster them, thus I am already making preparations to depart in order to fulfill his request. I shall return as soon as possible in order to address the Committee. While I am gone, Kyle will act in my stead.

My home staff will be occupied making my residence ready for new additions.

Respectfully,

Vincent Frehely

[Cannonshop]

"Dao, what's this?" Debra asked.

Coast Guard Adjutant Commodore Dao Thanh read the message from the Adder Consul.  "oh...yeah... There was a collision in the Boojum Belt, killed some civilians, turns out to be something of an international thing-the Nghien 17 burrow...looks like fifteen dead total, two survivors-and they're related to a former Marine who defected to the Clans at Addergrad." she said.

"Why wasn't I informed of this before...Dao, we've got to work on this shit, ah cain' have mattahs o' int'national ampoat con' undah mah nose wi' no breif'ns, sweet Jayzus..." Deb was almost incoherent.

Dao waited five minutes while her Boss ranted, then spoke up, "Other than the fact that the next-of-kin is in foreign service, the notification procedures for this sort of thing are long established.  I got a bounce off the canary sheet because it's a criminal investigation."

"Criminal? he said it was an accident..." Deb pressed.

"Criminal investigation of sabotage-that burrow had to cross three orbits, means it had to have been pushed-it moved retrograde and off its orbital path-sure as hell they'd have known something was wrong on-board, but there wasn't a radio call and everyone was confined inside.  According to the Canary sheet, they've got a dozen suspects with motive and some opportunity."

"Who's leading the investigation?" Deb asked, "I want someone good on it, you can tell Alicia Li I'll be following this closely...and tell her I want every courtesy shown the Consul or his men while they're in the Kowloon system." 

"Because Vincent's a Friend, or because of Politics?" the AG Commodore asked.

"Both."  Debra asserted, "One, the Adders are our point of contact with the Clans of the Grand Council-at least, until some Other clan decides to put up housekeeping on Embassy Road, they're our eyes and ears for security on that front, and I'd as soon NOT lose that information source-which, if they think we're not taking their concerns seriously...and second, because Vincent's a good friend and I don't want that relationship jeapordized."

[DisGruntled]

The same dispatches also contained the following message directed to Coast Guard Adjutant Commodore Dao Thanh

"Commodore Dao Thanh, I am contacting you to seek permission for the safe transit of a merchant convoy through several of the UIW's systems.  The convoy is en route to the newly formed Adder Commonwealth carrying relief workers, HPG technicians, various needed supplies, and infrastructural components.  My fellow merchants have assured me that there is sufficient lift capacity for several dropships destined to the worlds of Arluna, Inarcs, Anembo, Australia, and Mandaoaaru with requested humanitarian aid.  With the horrific attack uncovered on Jesenice in the last months, saKhan Tobias McKenna will not allow these transports through without adequate protection and as such the convoy will have appropriate military escorts.  He also wished me to inform you that some of the convoy's goods are time critical and as such the convoy must go through on schedule, whether or not safcon is granted.  Clan Star Adder intends to extend its rede with regards to Kowloon to the entirety of the UIW, and shall not be the first to instigate any hostilities that may occur.  We both hope to avoid any unpleasantness that this passage may result in, but that of course is up to you and your government.

Personally I look forward to all the potential business we may share in the future, and I bid you a good day."
-Wallace Mart, IS Mercantile Adjutant, CSA

OOC: not sure who this should be sent too, but figured the Coast Guard would be a good choice.

[Cannonshop]

The same dispatches also contained the following message directed to Coast Guard Adjutant Commodore Dao Thanh

"Commodore Dao Thanh, I am contacting you to seek permission for the safe transit of a merchant convoy through several of the UIW's systems.  The convoy is en route to the newly formed Adder Commonwealth carrying relief workers, HPG technicians, various needed supplies, and infrastructural components.  My fellow merchants have assured me that there is sufficient lift capacity for several dropships destined to the worlds of Arluna, Inarcs, Anembo, Australia, and Mandaoaaru with requested humanitarian aid.  With the horrific attack uncovered on Jesenice in the last months, saKhan Tobias McKenna will not allow these transports through without adequate protection and as such the convoy will have appropriate military escorts.  He also wished me to inform you that some of the convoy's goods are time critical and as such the convoy must go through on schedule, whether or not safcon is granted.  Clan Star Adder intends to extend its rede with regards to Kowloon to the entirety of the UIW, and shall not be the first to instigate any hostilities that may occur.  We both hope to avoid any unpleasantness that this passage may result in, but that of course is up to you and your government.

Personally I look forward to all the potential business we may share in the future, and I bid you a good day."
-Wallace Mart, IS Mercantile Adjutant, CSA

OOC: not sure who this should be sent too, but figured the Coast Guard would be a good choice.

To: Wallace Mart, IS Mercantile Adjutant, Clan Star Adder
From: Adjutant Commodore Dao Thanh

RE: Transit

Per Executive Order 14: Instructions to the Coast Guard, All systems have been informed of your convoy's movement and intentions, and the time-critical nature of your mission.  Your Convoy's flight plan has been pre-approved, and UIW Coast Guard search-and-rescue is standing by to render assistance should you require it.  Safe IFF codes and frequencies are included in the attachment at the end of this message.

Request your escorts observe SLDF Transit regulation 189 Dated 2 December, 2769 (Signature Aleksandr Kerensky, countersigned by Admiral Noriko Murakami) and broadcast 'friendly' IFF to all recievers.

Best of fortunes to you, and godspeed your journey,

Dao Thanh,
Union of Independent Worlds Coast Guard
Adjutant Commodore, Arluna.

Countersigned:
Alicia Li, UIW Coast Guard
Admiral, Chief of Naval Operations Spider Moon, Kowloon

[Attachment]

[Cannonshop]

Congress of Electors, Arluna, August 20 3068...

Those who enjoy sausage, and respect Government, would do well to observe the making of neither Laws, nor Sausages.

"You grasping filthy bastard..."  Carlin Norris of Neerabup snarled, "What we do on our world is none of your concern!"

James Litchveld of Inarcs reddened, "None of our concern? It's bloody immoral!" he thundered, "Letting those...practices...see the sanction of law? Forcing members to acknowledge them, to legitimize them?  IT's the road to HELL I say!"

One of Norris' aides whisered in the Neerabup senior Elector's ear, and he smiled broadly, "Hell you say?" he sounded reasonable, "I suppose so-if your religion demands it-nobody's really come back from the afterlife to report, however, I'm told you, yourself have contracted such...services.  I've even got holorecordings in my possession..."

Litchveld let out a half-strangled cry of pure rage, and vaulted the barrier, crossing the floor as the master-at-arms and three deputies moved down from the entries to try and intercept-everyone at a dead run, as the Junior Inarcs Elector, from the enclave of Paradiso, then vaulted into the main opposition party's ranks, lashing out with fists and feet.

The brawl was on.

Debbie MacAulliffe, Archduchess of the UIW and Elector Arluna, reached down, stood up, and raised her pistol, firing a single chamber of the revolver into the air-the blank was designed to generate more than the normal volume of a pistol.

BLAM!!!

"I Said Order, Get Back in your Seats!!!"  she bellowed.

Legislators looked up, frozen for a moment at the immediate threat of deadly violence from the person they'd themselves chosen to lead them.

"Now, Sit Yo' Asses In Yo Seats, an' Act lahk ADULT rep'sent'ives of th' PEOPLE or by-god, Ah will have to use the speedloadahs in mah desk..."  She snarled it rather quietly, but with the kind of theatrical projection that let even the stunned ears of the audience in the galleries overlooking the chamber hear her.

"You, Mistah Norris, an' You, Mistah Litchveld, Yo' ah-gument is NOT about legalized Prostitution, it's Personal, and none of the People's business...except YOU all made it eVERYONE's business..." The master-at-arms and the security Deputies separated the brawlers and treated those injured in the five seconds of actual scuffle.

"Yo' takin' it out on the LAWN." she finished, "you two can pick your weapons, but you two settlin' it out front.  This Congress is in Recess until Twelve Noon, at High sun, two of you will face one another, one will remain, and this matter is CLOSED, per Provision Fourteen of the Instrument of Governance, covering the use of Honour duels.  Your choices are as follows..." Here, she reached into the desk, and brought out a copy of the document:  "You may use the following: claw-hammer, Knife, or Hatchet.  Right hands bound, the fight will continue until either one, or both combatants are unable to fight further, Or you could both Apologize and submit yourselves to a form of discipline to be determined by the Committee on Conduct Within Chambers."

[Cannonshop]

Grantsberg, Arluna...

"Read the most recent screed from our neighbours spinward?"  Commodore Dao Thanh asked. 
Debra MacAulliffe nodded, and sipped her tea.

"You're going to respond, aren't you?" Dao asked.

"Nope." Deb said, and sipped a bit more, "Strategically, what they're trying to do is more suicidal than what we did."

"Yeah..." Dao, the Military Attache' to the Archduchess prompted.

"Arc Royal's in a position where they have to rely on the kindness of strangers." Deb told her, "We're in largely that position ourselves, but instead of doing everything they can to cultivate good relations with their Neighbours, they're doing everything they can to drive off their allies, in the middle of an invasion...where Arc Royal and the territories that joined Sharon Mulcahy's little pseudo-Estates General are on the front lines." she set the cup down, "We're a backwater-nothing of importance to the Grand Council or the Star League here, certainly nothing important enough to send a large force to collect-at least, for the moment.  Means we can be dense and maybe survive this, if we can convince MOST of the people looking at our home that it's not worth the trouble to take or hold...they've got REAL wealth down there, and REAL enemies who REALLY see them as a genuine threat-enough threat to commit real forces to taking.  If, say, you were a merchant, in a bad part of town, and you have, say, a few good bodyguards, do you go and piss off both the gangs, and the police?"

"um...not if you're smart." Dao said.

"Right.  The Arc Royal folks, they NEED the SLDF there, they need the Leaguers spending blood and treasure defending them-and instead of cultivating the Leaguers, instead of making sure that Star League's troops WANT to defend them, what're they doing?  Callin' them names, trying to run them out, making threats...and then, there's them and us-to attack us they're going to have to strip their other defenses, to do it successfully, they're going to have to strip a LOT of those defenses-what's the Grand Council going to do while Arc Royal is out here, playin' blood-tag with us?"

"Over-run 'em?" Dao speculated, "It's what I would do."

"Exactly.  Sharon's a bully, but she's smarter than that...or she was, anyway, or I can hope she's got an advisor who can read a damn map, analyze trends, and count heads, and I can hope she's got the wits to listen to that advisor...I sent a letter to General Hall, He probably won't like what I said, but he's smart enough to know why, and I offered a little carrot to go with the stick I HAD to use." Debra commented, "Hopefully it doesn't screw up our relations with the Wolves, and it doesn't screw up one of the other carefully balanced-yet-tippy relationships we've got.  I would much prefer knowing at least a little ahead of time, who's going to attack us, and being prepared to defend against THAT attack, than finding out I've pissed off someone else and now I've got a war with someone we SHOULD be at peace with."

[Cannonshop]

Uncharted Space...

There was nothing to warn whatever strange inhabitants of these lifeless stars that...
discontinuity

"Radar's clear, Commodore."  Vinh Van Giap sighed, reached up, and un-zipped the LCAF uniform overjacket.  "Secure from Jump, we're holding in this zone until the Inarcs Jaegers show up."  He said.

Some of the crew were Dirtyfeet, they looked nervously at the nav-station, which showed an empty star system populated with unliveable rocks and balls of gas.  Humans, even Jumpship crew, don't come out into these reaches much-the chance of a mechanical failure stranding a shipper in one of the dozens of empty star-systems out here was too great, and the zone had been emptied long ago of the nav-beacons that, in the Star League's era, had led travellers along this route in safety.

"Okay, I want one squadron on CAP at all times, one on ready-standby, with Patrol droppers loose until our friends get here, while legit traffic doesn't run through this sector, illegals do-if we see an illegal, we take them. I'd as soon NOT have our position broadcast across half of known space."

"Aye sir."

Nearby, the rest of TF Tiger's jumpships rippled into being, the orders were relayed to them, as well- Transports stay locked, as do Assault ships-the Assault boats needed to conserve their fuel, and would only undock in the event of a hostile or unidentified contact too tough for the fighter squadrons, Patrol ships, and Marine boats to handle.

Anything too tough for the Assault boats, of course, meant pulling in the CAP and Patrol ships and boogeying the hell out to the second rendezvous location.

"Keep the fax open in case we pick up some interesting traffic-I half expect Arc Royal's people to come poking for a quick, safe route to hit Objective Zulu."  He ordered.

"Zulu's pretty dense, sir, you sure they'd peel that kind of force?"  Poindexter Kravitz, a Coventry native, asked.

"I would.  Factories, recharge station...it's a prime piece of real-estate and I think Mulcahy's smart enough not to want it in the hands of her enemies."  Giap quipped. "If they show up, we run."

[Cannonshop]

Spider Moon, August 25, 3069...

"Admiral, what's with the recent series of advertisements?"  Greg Killhane of CBC News asked.

"Well...part of the recent troubles in the Commonwealth included paralyzation of commerce-and with all the claimants to the Archon's throne out there-besides the big ones of Robert Kelswa Steiner, Charlemagne Steiner, and Sharon Mulcahy, that paralysis is only worse-and what happens when economies are paralyzed across big areas of development? Look out at the antispinward, and you can see what happened to the old, former Rim Worlds.  It's a nest of piracy and a navigation hazard.  We're offering a unique service-we're not aligned with any of the powers currently at war with one another, we can provide safe shipment of goods, search-and-rescue services, relief supplies, and mediation of disputes in a timely fashion.  We also have a considerable body of experience in hunting pirates in large part thanks to the neglect of our former sponsor-state, and this could be of considerable use to nations facing Reaver bands like The Dark..."  here she kind of half-smiled bitterly, "Of course, the other reason, is because the UIW is a small nation, and there's a recession on-trading in our strongest areas of expertise, the Congress is hoping to pull the economy up to pre-plague standards,and to surpass those standards using any and every available resource we've got-and what we've mainly got, are experienced Spacer crews, and manpower.  We don't have a lot to sell, besides our services, but those services are something nobody else has, or can afford to put, on the table at the prices we're willing to accept."

[Cannonshop]

The Steps of Congress, Grantsberg Arluna, 28 August, 3069...

"...one question at a time, please..."  Archduchess Debra MacAulliffe made placating gestures to the crowd of reporters, "Jim, I think you've waited longest..." she said to the Skye Broadcasting reporter.

"What is your government's position on the recent announcement by Archon Robert-Kelswa Steiner?" he asked.

"Well, 'kay Jim? first off, even Robert has yet to announce more than candidacy and line up supporters-he's not claimed it's a fait accompli yet...but his government did Recognize our sovereignty, and he's announced the dispatch of an Embassy here, naturally, we're working out who to send as our Embassy now."

"Any ideas who that might be?" Jin Lah Suk of WKLN asked.

"That's not for public consumption yet." Debra told her, "I'll announce the name when the Congress has finished their closed door hearings."

[GraeGor]

TO: Archduchess Debra MacAullife, Union of Independent Worlds
FROM: Khan Stanislav N'Buta, Clan Star Adder
ORIGIN: Addergrad, Clan Star Adder Environs

Archducess MacAullife,

I have good and bad news for you and your Realm. The Grand Council of all the Clans of Kerensky has seen fit to recognize the Union of Independent Worlds as its own Nation. The bad is that the UIW has been given no special protection from those Clans that may wish to test the mettle of your Warriors and Soldiers.

Clan Star Adder is still willing to place what limited forces we have in your territory at your disposal should their skills and experience be required, though I would advise to only do so in emergencies. Against another Clan it would be seen as my Clan shielding your Nation, which I can but suspect is something you would prefer not to be perceived. However, they are there just in case.

Furthermore, Charlamagne Steiner is planning on making a stop at Arluna to address the Ruling Body of the UIW, I have no insight as to what he will say, only that he requested it, and since this is his mission, for the lack of a better word, I saw no reason to deny him.

Through the unorthodox and often illegal channels available to any military, I have been made aware through the Watch of Clan Star Adder that a rather sizable combined force of former LCAF Units are already in, enroute to, or in place within the borders of this Adder Commonwealth. Some are prestigious and would have been a formidable opponent had they remained to face the Clans, and I can only offer conjectures as to what has gone over to the other claimants and sub-factions.

I hope that the UIW has gained the services of reputable and honorable forces.

Sincerely,

Stanislav N'buta
Khan, Clan Star Adder