RPG Silver One

Rachmaninoff · March 31, 2007

Ignoring the startled glances from the crew over his now filthy uniform Darren immediately headed to his quarters. It didn't take him long to get cleaned up and into a new one, seeing that it hadn't taken the supply master very long to get him several to have on hand at all times. Including, Darren grimaced in distaste, one that made his current one look plain. With far more fancy material and a much higher level of gold trim running though it. Now that it was official, he would be required to wear that any time he faced the High Council. He sighed and finished getting dressed and went back out to the desk in his quarters. He logged in quickly, still not use to having a higher level of security as it still surprised him when it pulled up the multiple screens showing everything he had access to. He quickly checked as to what had happened.

The updates were already in the system, no one had survived. The pilots, and all of the troops had perished. The supplies with them destroyed as well. [I]Damn![/I] Even if they worked for the military it bothered him that so many had been killed. He finished reading what was going on and then switched to something that he could do. The new shipping protocols were not in place yet and he still had information to track in regards to Williams. As well as indications of double dealings among some of the more wealthy merchants. He had been finding evidence of illegal smuggling on their part as well. Something that if what he was finding was correct, indicated that the previous shipping expert had been simply ignoring it, possibly taking bribes to look the other way.

Darren found himself getting angry, there was no need for it. Most of these people had more money and wealth than they would ever know what to do with. Why did they have to cheat and trample on those who did not? This was yet another reason why he had preferred independence. It was why he had made sure everyone could retire when he took over his father's company and why he had made sure those who were not ready to retire were properly set up in a different job when he stripped it down to just him and Mike. In the end, he hated dealing with people like his father and those in power.

With a snarl of irritation he started preparing reports to send off for further information. In this case, knowing how things worked, he knew just how to get his hands on the information needed to prove whether or not the merchants were indeed guilty of smuggling. They didn't understand the system like he did. He knew every loop hole and potential method of hiding illegal stuff. Things that he had not been able to address with the current level of technology when he first started.[I] I'll show you.[/I] He thought as he finished writing up the reports and sending them off with instructions to send the information back immediately.

Then once he had finished that, he opened up yet another set of reports he was now responsible for. Dealing with the selection of staff to work with him in Sector One. He had been reviewing those who had worked with the previous shipping expert and potential candidates should he chose to go with a completely new staff. Darren treated it the same way he had when selecting someone on Earth. He required each and every one of them to apply for the position. Even if they already held it. And then because he did not trust the current system to check them out, he did it himself using other resources to find out about those who had applied. It was no surprise that a fair number of them were involved in illegal stuff as well.

Darren sighed and got up, walking over to fix himself something to drink. Dealing with all of the reports was starting to give him a bit of a headache, or was it because of what happened earlier? He still couldn't get the image of the transport coming in too quickly, it's engines on fire out of his mind. Or the horrible shriek of metal on metal when the other one had crashed into the first one. Darren set his drink on the small table next to one of the padded chairs looking towards the view of Earth. He sat down with a sigh, leaned back and reached up with his hands to massage his temples. He definitely had a headache as he could feel his head pounding under his hands.

He got back up, grabbed his drink and went back over to his desk, it had been several hours since he came back up and he wanted to see if there were any new updates. Darren took a quick look, there was one. London had been put into a lock down and troops had been shuffled there to do a complete sweep. He was not surprised. Unless he was mistaken the shots came from the city. It had surprised him at how brazen the resistance had been by such an attack. Or perhaps it shouldn't surprise him, since it had been determined that former Commander Daniel was in charge. Someone like that would have realized that those transports were a perfect target.

With a sigh Darren finished his drink and pulled the reports on Williams back up. He had been looking forward to a break from the ship, but now it looked like he was still going to be stuck up in space for a while longer.

Aaryanna · March 31, 2007

[COLOR=DarkRed]Crystal did not get the chance to finish going over what had been done at the medical facility in Australia during her absence. When the chime indicating she was needed on the bridge sounded as well as a low level alert status, she politely ended the transmission and quickly headed for the bridge. [I]Now what?[/I] She wondered. To the best of her knowledge the arrival of the reinforcements and supplies did not concern her at all. The Tempest was primarily overseeing the security arrangements for the different medical facilities that had been built on Earth so far. It didn't take her long to reach the bridge and of all things she did not expect to find an image of two of the transports showing them on fire where they had crash landed. [I]How the hell did they crash land? [/I]She thought as she took her seat.

"[B]Give me a status report.[/B]" She ordered as she pulled up her own information at her terminal.

"[B]The transports heading for the US were shot down by the resistance. They also shot down the ones headed for the UK.[/B]" Her Sub-Commander responded.

"[B]Any survivors?[/B]"

"[B]Negative, the Conqueror and the Creator has already sent squads to both locations. Preliminary scans indicate that everyone on board was killed.[/B]"

Crystal pulled up the data from the ships sensors as well. Noting how the squads were addressing the fire from the crash at both locations. She sighed.

"[B]Open a channel to the Conqueror and get me Stevens.[/B]" Crystal ordered.

She pulled up the data on the troops that had been on the four transports and ran a quick data search before transferring the genetic information on the individuals to her hand held computer. She looked up when the screen switched to one of Stevens.

"[B]What did you need Crystal?[/B]" He asked.

"[B]I need your authorization to organize two medical teams to immediately head for the surface and verify who died in the crash. In order to do that I'm going to need the help of other doctors from different ships.[/B]" She didn't need to tell him why, since it was not unusual for the resistance to pull spies from a location right before they destroyed it.

"[B]Done, pull who ever you need to get the job completed . Anything else?[/B]"

"[B]No Stevens.[/B]" She replied.

"[B]Keep me informed.[/B]" Stevens replied before ending the transmission.

Crystal turned to her Sub-Commander. "[B]Take care of things until I return.[/B]"

"[B]Yes Commander,[/B]" he replied.

Then she turned and left the bridge, pulling up a list of the doctors available at Earth, selecting the ones who had the most experience with genetics, including the Tempest's own doctor, Alex. Who she quickly sent an order to, telling him what equipment to bring and to join her in transport room one asap.

Crystal entered the transport room and then started contacting each of the doctors she had in mind, explaining what their task was and sending them to each location. She ignored Alex when he finally joined her, continuing to issue the orders. Then when she was done she finally turned to face Alex.

"[B]Are you ready?[/B]" She asked him.

"[B]Yes.[/B]" He replied.

"[B]Lets go then. I want to get this over with as soon as possible.[/B]"

Crystal turned and gave the order to the transport technician to open a door to where the transports had gone down in the US. Stepping thought the door the moment it opened.

Acrid smoke burned her eyes as she approached the smoldering wreck of what once was a transport. Sharp bitter smells burned her nostrils, ones that she put out of mind as she put herself into the state of mind needed to analytically deal with what had happened. A moment to organize the other doctors who were already waiting for her and then she opened up her hand held and began scanning.

It would take hours to carefully identify all the genetic material left from the crash. There was very little as far as bodily remains went, the fire had burned quickly and hotly, destroying most of what was inside the transport. Once they had all the data they could get, they would move on to putting the pieces together.

She didn't expect to find anything out of order as she highly doubted that there were resistance members among the troops. But it was still necessary to identify everyone before the final death reports were issued. Crystal stifled a sigh. This was one part of her job that she truly detested. [/COLOR]

Aaryanna_Mom · April 1, 2007

Daniel watched Sara leave and then turned and headed back into the side room. In a way he could understand why she was frustrated. She had approached him the other day, looking for more information on Kim. But he had given her nothing and when she had candidly asked if Kim was even alive he had honestly answered that it was standard procedure to execute traitors. Daniel had never heard of prisoners being transferred to an Elite Specialist before. He couldn?t tell her that Kim was still alive and currently on board the Transcendence. Should Sara ever be caught they would want to know how she knew that.

Besides, there was no way they could rescue Kim, she was beyond their reach. In a way it was pointless for Sara to even know that she was still alive and being subjected to interrogations, since the only reason Daniel could think of for transferring Kim to the Elite Specialist was to nitpick her for details on every person she knew here, to get any scrap of information that could lead to the base in the US. Daniel sighed as he sat down and pulled up the information on the transfers from the UK. At least that seemed to be going well. In only a few hours nearly everyone had been moved. There were still people at the base though. It had been one of the hardest command decisions he had ever made.

It was a decision that would haunt him for a long time to come. Knowing that for those people who were still there, it was his fault they were going to be caught, interrogated and eventually executed for treason. It helped that he had been able to evacuate so many, but the bases they had built could hold close to three hundred people. Even with following standard ?silent mode? that would still leave around one hundred of them there. Daniel looked at the update as to how many had been transferred.

It was nearly complete. In less than an hour it would be finished. In addition to those who were stationed in the base under London, those who operated outside the base had all been accounted for. Some had been caught, but now, no matter how hard the troops searched they wouldn?t find anything. Daniel apologized silently to those he had left there. Since at this point, there was nothing else he could do. He couldn?t even make sure all the information in the computers was destroyed. And though the actual location of the base was not in the computers, there was enough information that someone with Kiva?s skills would be able to piece it together to realize that the base was in the western part of the US and not the eastern part.

Though finding them wouldn?t be that easy. When Jared had destroyed the first transportation facility in Denver, he had told Jason and Celestia that the bases would pick up disturbances that were within one hundred and fifty miles from it. A fact that Kim knew as well, but what none of them knew was that the range was actually closer to a thousand miles. William had gotten him better equipment than they had originally planned on and he had never bothered to let anyone know. He knew people would get caught and if the information they pried out of them was inaccurate it would make things even harder. Though he had been careful to only have a few misleading facts like that in use. Still at first it would have them searching the wrong area. And that was what really mattered.

[CENTER]-----------------------------------[/CENTER]

Kim just lay listlessly on the bed in the cell, staring at nothing, trying to forget what had just happened. She had thought that it was finally going to end. And a small part of her had wished for it, if only to stop the interrogations. But that wish had been shattered. Not too long after she was transported to her new cell, the door had opened. She had been expecting it to be a squad to take her before the High Council, for her to be publicly stripped of her command, declared a traitor and then executed. But that had not been the case?

[INDENT]Kim had woken to the sound of her cell door opening. It didn?t seem to matter how soundly she was sleeping, that always woke her up. But this time she just kept facing the wall, if they wanted her they could drag her before the High Council. But instead a familiar voice spoke?

?[B]Come with me Kim.[/B]?

Startled Kim scrambled off the bed, shocked to see the person who had been interrogating her instead of a squad. His side arm drawn and pointed at her. She couldn?t help it; she just stared at him and finally stammered stupidly.

?[B]What are you doing here?[/B]?

He just raised an eyebrow at that question, ?[B]What am I doing here? I told you that you weren?t on a transport to sector one. That you would be here for quite some time.[/B]? He laughed at her. ?[B]I?m not even close to being done with breaking you.[/B]? He gestured with his sidearm, ?[B]Move it.[/B]?

Kim didn?t even try to fight the tears as he took her down the hall and into yet another interrogation room. One that though similar to the one they had been in before was different in a few ways. [I]What more can he possibly want to know?[/I] She thought with despair as he secured her in the chair. [I]Why can?t they just execute me and get it over with?[/I]

?[B]Now, I want you to explain to me the differences in a resistance bases? security level. Starting with the ones on Earth.[/B]?

Something inside of Kim snapped and in a flash she went from feeling despair to feeling furious. ?[B]That?s easy.[/B]? She snarled in anger. ?[B]They?re all designed to keep people like you out.[/B]?

A statement that as soon as she said it she regretted it. [I]Why do I keep doing this? Why do I keep resisting? [/I]She bit her lower lip trying to hide her fear as her anger faded to ashes. [I]I?m such a fool.[/I]

?[B]I guess you?re still not smart enough to not resist pointlessly. Oh well. You know you?ll tell me what I need to know.[/b]"

Kim choked back a sob as she watched him walk over to activate the equipment.

"[B]By all means keep resisting though, that just makes it more fun for me.[/B]?[/INDENT]
And in the end he had been right, just like he always was. He had gotten the information he wanted, even to the specifics of the shielding that had been used for the bases on Earth as well as all the security measures that were taken. Including the fact that since the base in the US was the resistance?s headquarters, it had the best shielding out of all three.

Kim finally shifted so she was lying on her left side exhausted from the interrogation. If only they would just execute her. She had been afraid of dying before. Now she wanted to die, she wanted it to finally end. With a sigh she closed her eyes.

[CENTER]----------------------------------[/CENTER]

[B]OOC:[/B] I think I got Daego's responses right, but if I'm off Takuya, just let me know and I'll fix it.

GuyYouMetOnline · April 1, 2007

OOC: Actually, that was perfect.

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[color=darkslateblue][/color]
[color=darkslateblue]"Confirmed," Daego said. "It's got to be transport doors. Outbound ones, from the looks of it. They're moving a lot out of that base. Not even this ship can determine any more than that, thanks to the shielding. We can't get anything else even at this range."[/color]

[color=#483d8b]"Okay, well, we know there's outbound traffic," Kiva said. "My guess is, this is a response to the declaration of martial law. I doubt they're shutting the base down, though. They're probably evacuating all non-essential personell and equipment. They'll run minimal systems until things have normalized. Or at least, they would if we weren't going to attack. Well, they'll certainly have all the top people out by now. Odds are there's nothing left we could use, but we'll look anyways. Are the troops ready?"[/color]

[color=#483d8b]"They are. They've been briefed and are in position."[/color]

[color=#483d8b]"Okay, then. Give them a transport door. When they're through, we'll transport down ourselves. Let's do this."[/color]

[color=#483d8b][i]"I came up with an idea," Daego said.[/i][/color]

[color=#483d8b][i][color=#483d8b]"Really?" Kiva said. "What do you have in mind?"[/color][/i]

[i][color=#483d8b]"Something that we couldn't have done even with the Catalyst," Daego said. "This ship, however, can target with much more precision. Which is good, because my idea requires precise targeting for transportation doors. Here's what I'm thinking, then.[/color][/i][/color]
[color=#483d8b][i][color=#483d8b][/color][/i][/color]
[color=#483d8b][i][color=#483d8b]"Okay, to the base is protected by a disruption field. We can't transport in without the proper codes. The classic responce, of course, is to transport as close to the target as possible and move in from there. Our target, however, is underground, making that difficult.[/color][/i][/color]

[color=#483d8b][i]"Here's what we do. With the Tr[/i]anscendence[i]'s improved capabilities, we can open a precisely located series of transport doors right at the edge of the disruption field. The locating has to be precise, because we'll be using the transport doors to hollow out a chamber, and we don't want a cave-in.[/i][/color]

[i][color=#483d8b]"Once we have a chamber large enough for our purposes, we transport a combat drone down there. Those things may not be too good against ships, but digging a tunnel won't be a problem for one. And with full stealth active, the Resistance will never see it coming. We'll have it tunnel from the chamber to the wall of the base. Then we transport into the chamber with the troops and proceed down the tunnel to the base. We'll place supports so the tunnel won't collapse on us, then blow a hole in the wall and move into the base. From there, it'll be just like what we did in Australia."[/color][/i]

[color=#483d8b]"Supports are in place," Kiva said. "Daego, make us a door." She, Daego, and the assult team were all in the tunnel the drong had dug. They were all in full body armor, and their rebreather systems were active. They wouldn't need that once they were in the base, but there was no air filtration inside the tunnel. Also, if something went wrong with the suports and the tunnel colapsed, the rebreathers would allow the troops to survive long enough to be located and picked up by transport door.[/color]

[color=#483d8b]The precaution turned out to be unnecessary. Daego placed the explosives, then backed up and detonated them. The supports held fine, so there were no problems. Daego led the charge through the hole and into the base. The rest of the troops followed, with Kiva bringing up the rear. An alarm was sounding, no doubt triggered automatically when the wall section was destroyed, but it didn't matter. They were in, and the Resistance's suprise was complete.[/color]

[color=#483d8b]As with the Australia base, the assult force split into three teams. One went to the transport area to shut down the transport doors and trap those remaining inside the base. Another made its way to the shield systems to destroy them, allowing transportation out of the base when all the explosive charges were set. And the third team, along with Kiva and Daego, went for the base's command center. There wasn't much left when they got there, though. Three people were in the room. The computers had already been destroyed, and the trio was firing disruptors at the remains. Kiva stunned quickly, then went to inspect what was left.[/color]

[color=#483d8b]"Damn," Kiva said. "I don't think I'll be able to get anything out of this. Well, let's gather it up anyways. Daego, signal the [i]Transcendence[/i] for a transport door. We'll gather this stuff, but then our part's done. The assult team will handle the rest. And remember," she said to team leader Kaio, "try not to kill anyone. These people aren't of any use dead. Keep them alive, and someone may just know something useful."[/color]

SunfallE · April 2, 2007

[COLOR=RoyalBlue]Celestia watched Sara turn and stalk out of the Command Center closely followed by Glen and then she watched Daniel as he turned and went back into the side room. She had known that Sara was frustrated, but she had never expected her to snap at her and Jason like that. She wondered just what had happened to make her so angry? Was it because Kim was probably dead? Daniel had told her that the use of drugs and torture was so effective that it was rare for anyone to hold out longer than two weeks before being broken and the information forced from them. A fact that Celestia knew all to well as the memory of when she had first been captured, tortured and then ruthlessly interrogated still haunted her.

She fought the urge to cry. As much as she believed in helping the fight to stop the High Council, Celestia could not feel happy about anyone dying. They weren?t the enemy. At least she didn?t think so. Humans were the same way; both good and bad and she could not see them as her enemy just because they were a Versilan. How could she think otherwise? When it was a Versilan resistance member who had saved not only her and Jason but Kim and her father Daniel as well. There were hundreds if not thousands of Versilans who had risked everything to help people they had been raised to believe were inferior.

Some like Daniel had lost everything. His father dead, his mother murdered and that was only the people she knew about. And Kim? She had sacrificed herself to make sure as many people as possible could escape when the base in Australia had been attacked, both human and Versilan. Celestia looked up at Jason when he finally turned to head back to his seat. More than anything she wanted to talk to him but at that moment the harsh sound of the alarm sounded and the main viewer switched to an emergency transmission from the base in the UK. [I]What the hell?
[/I]
?[B]Commander Daniel! Close the transportation door sequence at your end! The military is invading the base![/B]? It was the officer who ran the base, his expression one of total panic.

Jason moved to respond but Daniel was already back out into the main room. Taking his seat as he immediately started pulling up the information.

?[B]If I close the sequence you?ll be trapped.[/B]? Daniel finally responded.

?[B]I know sir, but that can?t be helped.[/B]? He looked nervously at something before looking back. ?[B]I?ve piggy backed this communication through the transport door to get around the jamming, but if you leave your side open once the assault squad gets to the transport location I won?t be able to stop them from coming directly into the base there.[/B]?

Daniel swore, ?[B]Is there no way to get to the door before they do?[/B]?

?[B]No sir,[/B]? he said miserably. ?[B]They came in by blasting through the side of the base from the outside. They?ll be at this location in a matter of minutes. I had to trigger the security doors to keep them out of the transport room long enough for me to contact you. Now please sir! Close the sequence![/B]?

Jason just stood there, shocked. Had he really said that they blasted in through the side of the base? How the hell had they managed to do that? The base was built underground to prevent that sort of thing!

?[B]All right,[/B]? Daniel finally replied sadly. ?[B]I?ll close down the sequence from this end.[/B]?

?[B]Thank you sir.[/B]? The officer replied. And then the screen went blank.

?[B]Is there really nothing we can do?[/B]? Jason asked Daniel.

Daniel turned to face him. ?[B]No, in addition to the communication he sent me the data on what the security system picked up. Once they entered the base they split into three squads. And the point of entry effectively cut off anyone located in the Command Center.[/B]?

?[B]How did they manage to get to the base without them noticing it??[/B] Jason asked.

Celestia spoke up softly, ?[B]It was the shielding. If they used a good enough stealth system on the equipment doing the actual digging, it would appear to the system as a minor disturbance due to the ground shifting. And with it only being in one area, it wouldn?t register like an earthquake would. It?s not designed to react to things like that, otherwise the alarm would be sounding for every rock or bit of dirt that even moved.[/B]?

Jason sat down, ?[B]Gods, it?s only a matter of time until they find us too, isn?t it?[/B]? He slammed his fist into the console and then folded his arms across his chest, looking down at the floor.

Celestia turned to Daniel, ?[B]I can re-write the shielding program to detect disturbances in the surrounding dirt and rocks that are over a certain limit, I can?t guarantee that it will stop them from doing the same thing though.[/B]?

Daniel stood up, ?[B]Do it, changing the shielding recognition program is to take top priority. Let me know when you have it ready.[/B]?

Celestia watched him leave and then turned to Jason.

?[B]I know,[/B]? he said in response to her unspoken question. ?[B]We have work to do.[/B]? He turned to his computer console and pulled up the shielding program. [/COLOR]

Aaryanna · April 3, 2007

[COLOR=DarkRed]It had taken her several days, but the scanning and death reports were finally finished. Everyone had been accounted for and all of the death certificates issued. Crystal closed the reports and moved to check the updates; with all the work she had been doing she hadn?t gotten to them yet. Once she was finished she was going to call it a day. But then as she was reading one of the medical updates she stopped, and then read it again. [I]That can?t be right.[/I] She thought. Quickly she checked the medical and regular news update. There was no mistake, someone had hacked the system and uploaded the information on two of the research projects in sector fourteen.

It hadn?t even been in the system for more than a few minutes. Obviously the resistance had successfully hacked into her hand held computer that they had taken, but that was not all. Crystal opened up a channel and sent a high priority request to talk to the High Council waiting patiently for a response. And then for the member who had responded to speak first when her call was answered.

?[B]What is it Commander Crystal? If you are calling about the security leak from sector fourteen we are already aware of it.[/B]? The member stated.

?[B]Are you aware that part of the information that was leaked was not on my hand held computer?[/B]?

?[B]Explain.[/B]?

Crystal highlighted part of the information on the second project and sent it to him. ?[B]This information was being handled solely by the director Michael Edwards and his team. Though we discussed it, the actual details were never transferred to my hand held computer.

In order for the resistance to have gotten this, they have to have either an agent at the facility or to have hacked into the computers there.[/B]?

?[B]I see, have you told anyone about this?[/B]?

Crystal shook her head. ?[B]No.[/B]?

?[B]Very well, other than Stevens you are to discuss this with no one. Also, do not contact the facility in sector fourteen until you have heard from us.[/B]?

?[B]Understood.[/B]? Crystal replied.

Once the transmission had closed she went back to looking at the information. Though the High Council would make sure to remove the information from the networks, the damage had been done. But more importantly, even she knew that the computer where the most sensitive research was kept was not networked to anything. It was a closed system. The only way they could have gotten it was from the inside. She wondered if the resistance realized the mistake they had made when they released the information. [/COLOR]

Horendithas · April 4, 2007

[SIZE=1][COLOR=DarkRed]Stevens was standing in the observation room of the Conqueror admiring the view of Earth from space. Although the resistance had been successful in shooting down four transport ships, killing everyone on board and destroying the supplies as well. The resulting lock down and Kiva's excellent work in locating the resistance base under London as well as devising a method of mounting a surprise attack had effectively eliminated most of the resistance's presence in the UK. Nearly two hundred resistance members had been caught that day. Something that had to be a serious blow to their ability to continue the fight. And just like with Australia, once the base was destroyed, the issues with the resistance in that area had pretty much died in the past couple of days.

Now with only one base left it was only a matter of time before they were found and dealt with. Stevens just smiled, it was a pity that Commander Daniel had turned out to be a traitor along with his family. He had turned out to be extremely resourceful and an interesting opponent, it had been a long time since Stevens had dealt with a real challenge. Stevens turned and went back to his desk when the chime of an incoming transmission sounded. He knew who it would be since he had seen the information on the two research projects in the system. Even though it had been removed, who ever had done it was clever, the program kept replicating itself, making it hard to find the original.

In the end to still the unrest the news had caused had required the High Council to issue a statement, carefully explaining just why the research was being done. And though it had helped there were still quite a few people though out the empire who were furious over the knowledge that some of the research being done was in spite of the laws banning it. Stevens couldn't help but admire the timing, after rattling everyone with two very well planned and devastating strikes, to turn around and then show that the government was engaging in illegal activities had been more than enough to create quite a stir. One that had some sectors dealing with mild riots.

Stevens sat down and opened up the transmission, not at all surprised when it turned out to be the High Council, especially after Crystal had told him about the information that had been released and how part of it could have only come from sector fourteen.

"[B]Greetings,[/B]" Steven's said formally to the High Council once the transmission opened. "[B]I can guess as to why you have contacted me.[/B]"

One of them just lifted an eyebrow at that statement, "[B]Enlighten us then.[/B]"

Stevens offered a small mock bow, "[B]You wish to send Kiva to sector fourteen to investigate the security leak. I know this because you issued a lock down and black out instead of an immediate investigation of the situation as well as instructing Crystal to avoid contact until told otherwise.

You have called to see if the situation here on Earth is stable enough for Kiva to be temporarily assigned elsewhere since not only is she the closest Elite Specialist, she is the only one with the newest Messenger Ship. And a mission such as this is exactly what Elite Specialist's are meant for. Also, though Kiva is still new to her position, she is arguably one of the best. So you tell me? Why else would you contact me?[/B]"

"[B]Indeed. Why else?[/B]" The High Council responded. "[B]Is the situation stable enough?[/B]"

"[B]It is. However, once Kiva is done in sector fourteen, if we have not found and eliminated the last resistance base, I want her sent back to Earth immediately to finish the job.[/B]"

"[B]Agreed. Is there anything that you need her to do before we reassign her?[/B]"

Stevens shook his head. "[B]No.[/B]"

"[B]Very well, as of this moment, Kiva has been reassigned to the investigation in sector fourteen. We will keep you informed as to its progress.[/B]"

Stevens waited until the transmission had ended to pull up some reports. Now that the base in the UK was gone and the sweep finished, they could finish transporting those who would not be staying along with getting things ready for when the terra forming would begin. As well as continuing the hunt for the final base. He smiled, in spite of the setbacks, things were coming along quite nicely. [/COLOR][/SIZE]

Rachmaninoff · April 5, 2007

Quicker than he would have thought possible, Darren had the evidence proving that three of the wealthiest shipping companies were guilty of not only cheating the public but the High Council and the military as well. And in each case all of the remaining electronic signatures lead to the three who owned the company in question. Aaron Christensen of Daedalus shipping, Jeffery Francis of Nagendra shipping and Tamara Hadley of Baldomero shipping. Darren had already sent his report along with all the necessary evidence to the High Council earlier that morning and truthfully it had him feeling nervous.

What they had done was something that would warrant the death penalty. Provided it wasn't something that the High Council already knew about and simply looked the other way. Though he found that a bit hard to believe. Darren would have thought that it would have gone the other way, that the merchants would have been giving the High Council better prices instead of deliberately taking advantage of them. In the end it was extremely foolish. The companies had been depending on being able to interfere with any sort of investigation instead of playing it smart.

If it wasn't for his new position, he would never have been able to gather the information so quickly. If he had thought things were quick before, once he had the clearance issued for being the High Council's shipping expert, there wasn't anything in relation to shipping that he didn't get the information immediately when requested. And even then, if one didn't know where to look and what to request, even that would not have been enough.

But now it was too late, by the time the companies had realized that he was requesting the information, it was too late, Darren had already gotten it. They couldn't head off the investigation since it was already done, he had made sure to send the requests simultaneously to prevent them from attempting to withhold or delay releasing the information. He had learned a lot from seeing what his own father had done. With a sigh he put it out of mind, he had other things to take care of.

Darren checked the system to see where Commodore Sandra was, though he still worked through Jared, he wanted to ask her a few questions. He had stayed on the ship in favor of getting the report on the shipping companies done, even though the resistance had been dealt with in the UK. With all that had happened, he felt that dealing with the illegal price gouging was more important. The High Council had stepped in after both the attack in sector six and four to keep things under control, but putting an end to the underhanded dealing would do far more to help keep prices from getting out of hand than what they had done.

With a sigh Darren stood up, pulling out his new hand held computer to contact Sandra, requesting to speak with her. And though he did not get her directly, a moment later a message returned instructing him to join her in her quarters. Something that surprised him until he realized that it was lunch time. Lately it was too easy to get busy and forget to even stop for lunch. Still at least he wouldn't have to wait long and it took him very little time to get there.

When Darren entered her quarters and took a seat across from where she was sitting at her desk, he began to wonder if he shouldn't have come. But it was too late for that.

"[B]What can I help you with Darren?[/B]" She asked him.

Darren looked down, suddenly feeling stupid for coming, "[B]I wanted to ask you about Jared helping my sister...[/B]" He started to say and then looked up quickly, a bit startled when Sandra chuckled at him.

She smiled at him, "[B]Jared was right you are easy to read.[/B]"

"[B]Easy to read?[/B]" Darren asked confused.

Sandra nodded, "[B]Correct, easy to read. You are curious as to why Jared kept her informed as to your well being since you started working for the military, you want to know why he has even bothered to see that she is taken care of. Am I not correct?[/B]"

Darren nodded. "[B]Yes.[/B]"

"[B]It's really simple Darren, it's one of the traits that makes Jared such an excellent officer. He always takes care of those who serve under him. Whether or not they like him is irrelevant.[/B]"

"[B]I see.[/B]" Darren replied, turning a bit red at Sandra's statement indicating he did not like Jared. Even more so since it was true.

"[B]Do you really?[/B]" Sandra mused, "[B]Let me put it to you another way. Just as Jared is useful for his more direct and ruthless methods, so are you for your integrity and honesty.[/B]"

Darren felt his cheeks grow hot as he flushed. [I]What?[/I] He thought. [I]They think I'm honest? [/I]He had never thought of it like that. [I]Aren't you? [/I]The other side of him replied.[I] Be quiet! [/I] He shot back. Annoyed that he had blushed in front of Sandra.

"[B]I hadn't thought of it like that.[/B]" He finally responded.

"[B]Anything else you wish to ask about?[/B]"

"[B]No.[/B]"

Sandra favored him with another smile, "[B]One other thing Darren, in regards to the three shipping companies, all three have been found guilty of high treason.[/B]"

"[B]Already?[/B]"

"[B]They were already under suspicion before you sent the High Council the report. That sort of nonsense needs to be dealt with and to do so we need someone who will not look the other way just because they are wealthy and powerful. You were chosen for a reason Darren. Remember that.[/B]"

Darren stood up, "[B]I see. Thank you for your time.[/B]"

"[B]Your welcome, feel free to stop by any time you need me to clarify something.[/B]"

Darren just nodded before leaving her quarters to head back to his own.

Aaryanna_Mom · April 5, 2007

Daniel looked over the notes Celestia and Jason had given him. Though it was possible to change the routine for part of the security for the shielding to be more selective in detecting the disturbances in the surrounding rock and dirt, it wasn't going to be possible to really put it into practical use. It was unfortunate but in order for it to work they would have to switch out some of the equipment, something that wasn't going to be possible. There just wasn't a way for William to get the necessary stuff to them. So he had done the next best thing, he sent the program to William should they ever need to build a base underground again.

Not that it mattered, at the rate the military was going, it wouldn't be long before the base in the US was found as well. Of all the scenarios he had discussed with William when he first asked him to command the resistance here, it had never occurred to them that an Elite Specialist would be called in. It just wasn't done. Though at the time they had not known about the labor shortage nor had they anticipated the High Council deciding to use one to hunt them down. Originally they had hoped to hold out for several years, making a nuisance out of themselves by interfering with operations.

But that had not happened, two of the bases had been found, and in both cases hundreds of resistance members had either been killed or captured. Even with moving a good portion of the members from the UK to the US, Daniel was still short handed, so much so that he had pulled both Glen and Sara from minor missions and had them working on training new recruits as well as other ones from the UK in basic hand to hand combat. Only using them for the more important operations.

Once this base fell he would have to find a place for Celestia, Jason, Sara and himself to hide. They would have to wait for the terra forming to begin, for the military presence to die down before they made an attempt to get off world. And he would also have to instruct other members to lay low or to work in independent cells. Because even though the two attacks and the release of the information about the part of the research that was illegal had caused problems throughout the empire. The High Council had kept things under control. And they had not gotten the information on the third project in sector fourteen. Daniel sighed, he certainly hoped William had something up his sleeve, since it was looking like things were going back to normal. It was going to take a lot more to get serious support for the resistance's statements from the general population.

[CENTER]-------------------------------------[/CENTER]

Kim had given up trying to figure out just where she was. She had thought she was on the Catalyst, but if that had been true, she couldn't think of a single reason why they would move her. And even she knew that Messenger Ships only had one interrogation room. So if her captor had been trying to play mind games, the cell would not be newer nor would the new place have what appeared to be more advanced equipment. So moving her via transport door to a new cell on the same ship would be pointless.

In the end, she had no clue as to her whereabouts. Kim had heard of political prisons, but why would they transport her to one? The only thing she could think of was that Stevens had handed her over to someone to get every little bit of information she knew from her. Though the few times she had tried to pry information out of her captor, he had merely laughed at her, reminding her that it was his job to break her, not answer her questions. Hell, she didn't even know his name or what sector she was in! Nothing at all.

And her original thought that he could have been the Elite Specialist, was flawed. Both him and the woman she had seen when Australia's base was taken could have been part of a special squad. What if she had it wrong from the beginning? What if neither one was the Specialist? What if Stevens did intend on eventually breaking her as he was known for doing? He could have easily handed her over to someone to get more information before handing her back over to him.
[I]
I should quit resisting [/I]Kim thought. [I]What's the point? I can't stop the drugs or the disruptor's from eventually forcing it from me. [/I] Though she had already gone over this in her mind many times. And yet she still kept snapping at her captor. Foolishly making it worse. Kim sighed. Exhausted and yet too restless to fall asleep as her thoughts raced in circles. Circles that lead to no where.

GuyYouMetOnline · April 7, 2007

[color=darkslateblue]"Who is it this time?' Kiva said when the signal sounded to indicate a transmission. When she accepted the transmission, she saw that it was the High Council. "Greetings, Council," she said.[/color]

[color=#483d8b]"We have a new assignment for you, Kiva," one of the Councilors said. "I assume you're aware that information regarding the research in sector 14 was leaked?"[/color]

[color=#483d8b]"I am," Kiva said. "I assumed the Resistance got the information off of Commander Crystal's handheld."[/color]

[color=#483d8b]"As did we. But Commander Crystal contacted us, and she informed us that some of he leaked information was not on her handheld. She's also the only person in that sector who would have known the information, and she has assured us that she tolld the Resistance nothing. And there's only one other way the Resistance could have obtained that information."[/color]

[color=#483d8b]"An agent on the research team," Daego said.[/color]

[color=#483d8b]"Correct. The Resistance's goal in revealing this information is obvious, especially given that some of the research is forbidden. So far, we have things under control, but if much more is leaked, things could become quite problematic. So this agent neds to be found, and we've decided to assign you to the task.[/color]

[color=#483d8b]"You are to depart for sector 14 as soon as possible. You have two objectives. The first is to locate and capture or kill the Resistance agent or agents. Your other objective is to locate and destroy or otherwise render inoperative the means by which the Resistance agent or agents send the information.[/color]

[color=#483d8b]At that moment, the 'message received' signal sounded. "You have just been sent detailed information on the research facility," the Councilor said. "This includes complete files on all personell, including information which is Council-level classified. There is also detailed information on the sector and the research facility, as well as the Resistance base that was found in the sector. And we've also included information on the three research projects being conducted at the facility. Understand that this information is classified at the highest level."[/color]

[color=#483d8b]Kiva nodded. "Understood."[/color]

[color=#483d8b]"One more thing. Before her defection to the Resistance was on the team that investigated the sector 14 Resistance base. She may know something useful. Also, when you are finished in sector 14, you are to resume your current assignment unless otherwise notified. That is all. Out." The transmission was terminated.[/color]

[color=#483d8b]"Okay, we've got our orders," Kiva said. "I'll set a course for sector 14 and get us mving, and then I'll start examining the data. You get down to Kim. We need everything she knows about the old sector 14 base, as well as anything she might know about Resistance operations in the sector."[/color]

[color=#483d8b]"Got it," Daego said. As he went down to get Kim, Kiva set a course, and the Transcendence began the journey to sector 14.[/color]

SunfallE · April 8, 2007

[COLOR=RoyalBlue]?J[B]ust our luck,[/B]? Celestia said with a groan as the information from the newest hacking routine finally came back.

?[B]What do you mean?[/B]? Jason asked from his spot in the Command Center.

?[B]I was hoping to finally get into the Catalyst?s systems, but according to the information here, it?s been noted that the Elite Specialist has been assigned elsewhere.[/B]?

Jason looked at the information when it came up on his screen as well. And checking the scanners clearly showed that the ship was no longer in orbit around Earth. ?[B]Isn?t it better that they?ve been sent elsewhere? I mean, didn?t Daniel say that Specialists are the best? If the Specialist is gone it will just make finding this base even harder.[/B]?

?[B]True,[/B]? Celestia started to say.

Jason reached over and tousled her hair, ?[B]Just admit it, you?re disappointed that you can?t see if your program would have worked.[/B]?

?[B]Oh you![/B]? Celestia said in mock anger. ?[B]I ought to?[/B]? She stopped and sighed, ?[B]You?re right, I was sure it would work![/B]? And then she stuck her tongue out at Jason, pouting a bit before turning back to the data.

Jason just smiled. ?[B]Well at least it gives us time to think of ways to improve our defenses and make it harder for the military to find us. And according to the information we got, other than to maintain order in the US they will be focusing on the UK and Europe for the time being.[/B]?

?[B]I know. Still there?s no telling how long the Specialist will be gone. We can always work on hacking into deeper levels of security on the Conqueror and the Creator while we wait for them to return.[/B]? She said mischievously.

?[B]Celestia![/B]? Jason protested.

Celestia just laughed as she turned off her workstation and got up, carrying the data chip with the information in her right hand.

?[B]Come on Jason, let?s give this to Daniel and call it a day. I?m ready to get some rest.[/B]?

?[B]You go ahead, I?ll be ready once you get back from giving that to Daniel.[/B]?

?[B]All right.[/B]?

Jason watched as Celestia left and then turned back to his own work, finishing up a tiny bit before finally saving everything and shutting things down. It had been a long time since dinner and though he wasn?t exhausted, he was tired. He smiled when Celestia came back. And then he got up and went to meet her as she was leaving the Command Center.

?[B]Do you think we should stop and say hello to Sara and Glen before calling it a night?[/B]? Celestia asked as they walked though the corridors of the base.

Jason shook his head. ?[B]She?s not here, I understand she?s out training some of the resistance members from the UK on how to avoid attracting attention when out on a patrol.[/B]?

?[B]Ah, I see.[/B]? Celestia smiled as they approached their quarters. ?[B]At least she seems to be much happier since Daniel put her and Glen in charge of training some of the newer recruits.[/B]?

?[B]Yeah, she loves that kind of stuff, teaching that is.[/B]? Jason said as the door to their quarters closed behind them. Without hesitation he immediately went to fetch some pajamas to change into.

Celestia also went to the storage drawers next to the computer workstation and pulled out her own nightshirt before responding. ?[B]I?m glad she?s finally doing something else.[/B]? She turned to face Jason. ?[B]Even though she apologized for her outburst the other day, it?s just not like her to get angry like that.[/B]?

?[B]I know.[/B]? Jason smiled. ?[B]She is spunky, but it?s rare for her to pick a fight with people she cares about.[/B]?

Celestia quickly changed into her nightshirt and then placed her dirty clothing in the pull out drawer meant for laundry. Jason was still changing so she went over to the small bathroom and got into the drawers, pulling out a brush and then she started brushing through her hair.

?[B]You know what?s really a shame?[/B]? She asked.

?[B]What?[/B]? Jason said from the main room.

Celestia finished brushing her hair and put the brush up before walking back out to where Jason was. ?[B]That the attacks and the release of the information about the illegal research being done wasn?t enough.[/B]?

?[B]You mean to turn the people against the High Council?[/B]"

?[B]Exactly,[/B]? Celestia said. ?[B]I would have thought that even though the Council claims that it?s only being done to those they have enslaved, it would have had more of an impact.[/B]?

?[B]I thought so as well,[/B]? Jason said as he finished changing and placed his dirty clothes in the drawer before turning and walking over to where Celestia was standing just outside the restroom.

?[B]But I?ll tell you what?s really a shame if you want me to.[/B]?

Celestia raised an eyebrow. ?[B]Oh? What would that be?[/B]?

Jason reached up and began to unfasten the buttons to her nightshirt smiling when Celestia blushed. Then once her shirt was undone he pulled her close, until their faces were mere inches apart and whispered, ?[B]That we are wasting our time alone discussing work when it could be spent doing better things.[/B]?[/COLOR]

Horendithas · April 8, 2007

[SIZE=1][COLOR=DarkRed]Jared was not surprised to read the update that three of the top executives of the biggest shipping companies in the Versilan Empire had been found guilty of High Treason. But then what did they expect? One did not engage in that kind of profiteering without eventually being caught. Especially since so many of their claims of goods being short were deliberate on their part. But as he walked through the corridors of the Creator on his way to Darren's quarters, what really made Jared smile was the knowledge that the new shipping expert that many of them had considered a nobody was the one who had made sure they were caught.

It was wonderfully ironic that those who were truly corrupt failed to see the value in people like Darren. Once Jared had learned everything, it had been no surprise to him that he had been selected by the High Council. Forceful and powerful companies and individuals needed a certain amount of honesty and integrity present to keep things balanced. Something that the High Council recognized.

It was also ironic that by exposing those responsible and making it possible for prices on goods to be lowered, the timing of finding them guilty of High Treason had effectively drawn the people's attention from the news of the forbidden research to the more high profile one of the treason. Making it easier for the High Council to keep things under control. Though Jared doubted that Darren had realized this. He knew perfectly well that Darren's motive was to help those who were affected by the high prices brought about by the attack in sector six and sector four.

No, it was simply more of that level of honesty he found so attractive, along with his proficiency at his job. Jared had been giving Darren more space since things had changed, but it didn't change the fact that he still found him very desirable. Jared sighed a bit when he reached Darren's quarters and reached up signal that someone was at the door. Entering immediately once the door opened and without hesitation walking over to join Darren at his desk. Jared pulled up a chair and sat right next to him.

"[B]I take it you are ready to start on the arrangements for the UK now that you've finished with the investigation of the three shipping companies?[/B]" Jared asked once he was sitting.

"[B]Actually,[/B]" Darren replied as he blushed a bit, "[B]I wanted to thank you for something first.[/B]"

Jared just raised an eyebrow. [I]Thank me? What for? [/I]He smiled even more when Darren blushed even more when he said nothing. Darren finally looked away.

"[B]Sandra told me how you've kept an eye on my sister. And Kerstin asked me to thank you for her as well...So, thank you.[/B]"

"[B]You're welcome.[/B]" Jared replied, amused at how discomforted Darren was. "[B]Anything else?[/B]"

Darren turned to look at Jared and then frowned a bit. "[B]Would you please not do that?[/B]"

"[B]Do what?[/B]"

"[B]Jared![/B]" Darren said exasperated. "[B]You know I hate it when you...[/B]" He blushed hotly.

Jared just laughed and leaned forward, reaching up and lazily running his right forefinger along the front of Darren's tunic from his collar downward until Darren reached up and stopped him when he had gotten about halfway down.

"[B]I'm serious Jared! Please don't![/B]"

"[B]Darren, you don't honestly expect me to not admire someone I find attractive do you?[/B]" Jared smiled and finally pulled back. Enjoying how adorable Darren looked when he was flustered. "[B]Just as you or anyone else admires someone you think is desirable, I am not going pretend otherwise.[/B]"

"[B]That's not what I meant![/B]" Darren protested weakly.

Jared snickered, "[B]Oh yes it is. All I was doing was looking at you, and you jumped to conclusions. I found it amusing that it seemed to bother you to actually thank me for something and you assumed I was thinking of other things.[/B]" Jared smiled mischievously, "[B]But now that you've brought it up...[/B]"

Jared smiled even more as Darren was rendered speechless. "[B]Do you know what your sister asked me to do?[/B]"

Darren shook his head that he did not.

"[B]She asked me to take care of you.[/B]"

Jared stood up and reached into his pocket and pulled out a data chip. He leaned over, placing it on the desk behind Darren, ignoring how Darren sank a bit into his chair when the movement left them facing each other, their faces a few inches apart.

Jared smiled from his vantage point of looking down at Darren. "[B]I told her that I would.[/B]" Jared paused for a moment and then continued. "[B]Next time don't be so quick to jump to conclusions Darren. And don't be so quick to assume that you wouldn't enjoy the experience.[/B]"

Jared straightened up. "[B]Everything you need for starting in the UK tomorrow is on that chip. If you need anything you know where to find me.[/B]" Jared smiled and then left.

Once the doors to Darren's quarters had closed behind him he took several deep breaths to steady himself. As much as he enjoyed teasing Darren, it was on some level frustrating to never go beyond teasing. [I]I swear,[/I] he thought to himself. [I]The next time that idiot asks me to stop when I've yet to do anything...[/I] Jared just shook his head as he headed towards the bridge. [I]Even I only have so much patience. [/I][/COLOR][/SIZE]

Aaryanna_Mom · April 9, 2007

It had been over four days since the Elite Specialist had left and Daniel had not wasted any time in taking advantage of their absence. He didn't know how long they would be gone, but it didn't matter. There was no telling if he would get another chance to finish setting up some equipment that would help to keep them hidden even longer should the Transcendence be sent back to Earth. It wasn't that hard to actually move the abandoned relays and sensors from Australia and the UK to the US. But the necessary window needed to synchronize them before setting up the permanent stealth shielding was something that the Transcendence would detect.

Out of the eighteen relays and sensors that had been set up in the UK and Australia, seven had not been found and getting them moved and set up to work with the ones in the US would only help to strengthen the signal security and enable Celestia and Jason to make the program even harder to trace. Now that they had written a new hacking routine to take advantage of the daily update system the fleet used it was time to have them work the five relays into the current system. As well as the two grade B sensors that had been missed.

Daniel had already sent them the information on what to do and Jason and Celestia had assured him that in a few days they would have all the transfered equipment online. Once they finished that he had a new programing assignment for them to tackle, though he wasn't sure if they could. It was something that William wanted them to work on. Finding a way to improve the warp drive program to increase the speed. Especially since the specifications for the Transcendence indicated that William would no longer be able to outrun them. The new ship was faster. Once the Elite Specialists were all equipped with the newest model of Messenger Ship, the resistance would lose the edge of being able to simply run.

It wasn't a huge difference, but it was still enough. Daniel just hoped they would be able to find a way to re-write the program to work with existing equipment to increase the speed without needing better equipment. The Transcendence operated on perfect crystals where other ships did not. That was going to be very difficult to out do since the resistance did not have enough or rather enough perfect crystals that were actually large enough to use in a hyper drive system.

Daniel finished putting the necessary information into the system for Jason and Celestia to use. Once they were done he would give them the clearance codes to access the file. And since Kiva had already hacked into their system many times in spite of the security he was careful to avoid listing the specifics of the new Messenger Ship. Instead he merely gave generic listings as to what the equipment was and the hyper drive program that needed to be improved. [I]Maybe I should set them up on a separate computer system, one that is independent of the base? That would make things easier since even Kiva would not be able to hack into that. [/I]

He shook his head,[I] no, then I'd have to rig them to be destroyed as well should the base be taken. And I don't want to waste what little explosives we have on something that can be done on their hand held computers. [/I] Daniel finished preparing the information and then transfered all of it to a data chip to give to them when he was ready. Deleting the files out of the main system. Now all they needed was for the Specialist to stay gone for a few more days and things would be set.

Then since the day was far from over, Daniel started going over the reports and information as to things being done in the US. For now, he had everyone keeping a low profile. The military was mainly focusing on the UK and Europe anyway, and it would be far more effective to wait until they started focusing in the US and then initiate massive strikes across the entire US. Such a tactic would catch them completely by surprise since the lack of activity would fool them into thinking that the destruction of the last base had severely crippled their ability to resist. All Daniel needed was two to four weeks to set things up, and then even if the military had not finished over in the UK, it would still give Stevens quite the surprise. One that had Daniel wishing he could see Steven's expression once he realized just what had happened.

Now if only the Specialist would be gone for several weeks as well, since Kiva was too damn good at her job and having her around hunting down safe houses and catching resistance members would have really interfered with what Daniel had in mind.

Aaryanna · April 10, 2007

[COLOR=DarkRed]It had been over a week since the resistance base in the UK had been dealt with and the resulting calm had on some levels felt almost unnerving. Crystal's work had been also going quite smoothly, the troublesome virus in Australia had finally been isolated and dealt with, the centers for medical treatment in the UK were running smoothly, leaving Crystal with very little to take care of, especially since the incident in sector fourteen had left her in the position of not being able to work with Michael on any of the projects.

About the only thing that was different was the way other members of the military were keeping an eye out for her where ever she went. As if they were worried that the resistance would attempt to snatch her again. She didn't know whether to find it touching or annoying. Crystal was not use to people looking out for her, as a doctor it had always been her looking out for the patients under her care. Even now as she sat in the tiny little coffee shop close to one of the medical facilities in London, she could see that a patrol was keeping an eye on her.

Irritated, she finished the coffee she had gotten and gathered her things to head back to the clinic to transport back up to the Tempest. The last thing she wanted to do was give any of them grief for simply doing their jobs. And she politely ignored them as they conveniently followed her until she was safely within the medical clinic. A moment to request a transport door and then she was back on the Tempest, immediately heading towards the bridge.

[I]I need something new to work on, [/I]she thought. [I]Even if Stevens thinks the US is too unstable, they still need more medical clinics built there.[/I] Crystal pulled out her hand held computer and pulled up the data as to what had been done so far. Other than the major cities, the rest of the US was still unfinished as far as medical needs went. Though the resistance left them alone once they were built, it didn't stop them from destroying other ones as they were being built.

[I]Maybe we should make a point of clearly stating that what's being built is a medical facility? If we place huge signs like the humans do, once they realized that we really are building medical facilities, perhaps they will quit disrupting the construction. [/I] Crystal made a note to that effect so she would remember to discuss it with Stevens when she talked to him later. She was sure he would object to her intention to work in the US, something that made her smile to herself since she would enjoy arguing with him over it. [I]Even if that idiot insists that a security escort is with me at all times, I am not going to sit by and leave them without medial treatment. [/I]

Crystal closed her hand held computer, her mind made up. Tomorrow she would go over to the Conqueror and have a talk with Stevens. She continued towards the bridge, her step a bit lighter now that she had decided on what needed to be done. Crystal always felt better once she knew just what to do. And if things went well, by the time she was finished in the US, the High Council would be finished with locking down the leak in sector fourteen, leaving her free to resume the research.[/COLOR]

GuyYouMetOnline · April 10, 2007

[color=darkslateblue]As soon as the [i]Transcendence[/i] was en route to sector 14, Kiva began going over the data the High Council had provided. She started with the information on just what the research being done in sector 14 was. There were three seperate projects, and Kiva read about them in order.[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]The first project was research into increasing the other races' lifespans. Nothing about it was very shocking, though the details were, of course, classified. It was the research station's 'official' project. Before the leak ohnly a few people outside the facility had known there were actually three research projects being done at the facilty.[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]The second project, Kiva soon learned, was banned research. Like the first project, the second one involved modifying other races. But where the first project was about physical modifications, the second project was mental modifications. Specifically, the second team was researching how to make the 'slaves' submissive and obedient. Mental research like this was strictly banned, so the fact that it was being done was highly [/color][color=darkslateblue]classified.[/color]
[color=darkslateblue][/color]
[color=darkslateblue]As distasteful as she found this research to be, Kiva had to laugh. [i]Man, I can't wait to see Daego's reaction to this[/i]. It was certainly something Daego would hate. Kiva wouldn't be suprised if Daego ended up making a formal complaint to the High Council. He certainly wouldn't be pleasant company for members of the second research team. He wasn't likely to do anything to anyone, but he certainly wouldn't be friendly towards them.[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]Daego entered the bridge just as Kiva was finishing with the information on the second research project. "Well, Kim didn't know much we don't already know," he said. "Seeems like Resistance bases are all pretty much standardized. Access codes, security systems, those things differ from base to base, but aside from that, each base is pretty much the same as other bases. You learned anything?"[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]Kiva nodded. "Yes, and you aren't going to like some of it. You don't need to go over any of the details right now, but take a look at this summary of the second research project."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]Daego's reaction to the information was just as amusing as Kiva'd predicted. She later described the look on his face as the funnieist thing she'd ever seen. The amusement was short-lived, however, because she did agree with Daego, although she wasn't as... passionite about it as he was.[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"My god," Daego said after calming down a bit. "What the hell is the Council thinking? I mean, this is... it's just wrong. For god's sake, there's a reason this kind of thing's banned."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Yeah, I domn't know what the Council's thinking, either," Kiva said," but we don't need to know. Our job is simply to close the leak. We may not like this research, but there's nothing we can do about it."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Still, I can't just accept this. I mean, the theory's fine. Mental alteration is the only way we'll ever be able to subdue the lesser races. It'd actually be better for them if we did. If we could be certain they wouldn't revolt, we wouldn't have to be as opressive as we often are. But this... this isn't suppressing aggression. This is moving over into the realm of mind control, and that... I can't support that. This is exactly the sort of thing the Resistance always accuses us of. Seeing this makes me wonder if they're as wrong as I thought."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Well, we can't do anything about it."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Yeay, but I'm still going to formally complain to the High council as soon as I can."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"You do that. Anyways, I haven't looked at the information for the third research project yet. So let's take a look, shall we?"[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]Though less appalling than the second research project, the third research project was certainly the most shocking. This project was also banned research, and was even more highly classified than the second project. The resistance hadn't leaked any information about this project, so it was safe to assume that whoever their agent was didn't know much about it. Even many members of the Council were unaware of it.[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]Like the first project, the third project involved physical modification, but modification of a different sort. It was actually quite an interesting concept, and Daego in particular was facinated by it. "I didn't know anything like this was even possible," he said.[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Neither did I," Kiva said, "but it obvoiusly is possible."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Yeah. I'll have to ask the research team about this when we get there. this is just incredible."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"You do that," Kiva said. She turned her attention away from the research informatio and began examining the personell records.[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]During the journey, Kiva and Daego had throughly examined all of the provided information. They now knew the complete layout of the sector, the facility's layout and operating methods, the complete histories of the researchers, etc. They'd also read everything about the research projects, and though they didn't understand most of the details of the actualy research processes, they did know precisely what each research team had already accomplished and where they all currently stood, as well as various details about the projects. And it would soon be time to put that knowledge to use."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Proper emergence confirmed," Daego said. "Location confirmed. We're in sector 14, all right."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Yeah, and we're already being challenged," Kiva noted. "Security here is certainly tight. Okay, transmitting clearence codes."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]With the proper codes received, the security system backed off. The [i]Transcendence[/i] was challenged several more times, but each time the security systems backed down when the proper codes were sent. Before long, the [i]Transcendence[/i] was in-system and had arrived at the research facility. It was time for the mission to begin.[/color]

Rachmaninoff · April 10, 2007

[I]What the hell was I thinking?[/I] Darren thought with exasperation once Jared had left. It had been embarrassing and hard enough to actually thank him, but then he just had to go and misinterpret what Jared was thinking when he was looking at him. He just had to open his big mouth and give Jared an opening. But then how could he not respond? He was far too use to Jared?s sly responses and self-satisfied smug looks.

Darren stood up, angrily taking his top suit jacket off and then tossing it to the floor, disgusted that the simple touch of Jared?s hand even on the outside of his tunic had caused all sorts of unpleasant feelings as well as the very real panic that he would do more than what he had done. Making Darren feel as if the simplest thing would cause him to snap.

Something that Jared had made worse when he had told him that he found him attractive and desirable. Darren shuddered. [I]Maybe I should have agreed to work from sector one like the High Council wanted. [/I]He thought. But even that wouldn?t help his present situation since that wouldn?t have happened until after the deal with Earth was taken care of.

[I]I?m such an idiot,[/I] Darren thought miserably as he took a seat in one of the over sized recliner chairs and then took a deep breath to steady himself. Only to shudder again as he remembered Jared?s smug expression when he had accused him of assuming he wouldn?t enjoy the experience.[I] Just because Jared can force someone?s body to respond doesn't mean that they truly enjoy what he does to them![/I] Darren got back up and walked over to the window overlooking Earth. Resisting the urge to bang his forehead on the window in frustration.

At that moment the message received chime sounded and Darren quickly seized on the opportunity to do something else to get the visit from Jared out of his mind. He opened it up and the smiled when he saw that it was from his sister Kerstin. But then a moment later he was stunned as he read through the details of her arrangements in Sector One.[I] How in the world can she possibly afford that? [/I]He thought as he pulled up the picture to the terra formed moon, one that unlike the others that circled the home world that was the center of the Versilan Empire was quite different.

[CENTER][IMG]http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/6295/sectoroneob4.jpg[/IMG]
[SIZE=1]Copyright [URL=http://sakiera.deviantart.com/][U][B] Sakiera @DeviantArt[/B][/U][/URL] [/SIZE][/CENTER]

The third moon or Reflection as it was referred to among the artist community, was elaborately constructed of a material that looked similar to common glass. Giving it a rather unearthly and strange look from all the reflections of light. Not only was it a popular tourist attraction, but to study there at one of the art universities as well as actual living accommodations was unbelievably expensive.

But then as he read further into her brief letter, he paused when he realized that she was thanking him. [I]What is she thanking me for?[/I] He wondered. Darren closed the message and looked up the details for Kerstin?s arrangement and then understanding slowly dawned on him. Not only had Jared made sure she had the necessary clearance to contact him when ever she wished, but he had changed her status to the only living relative who was considered part of his family. Something that he had forgotten would entitle her to certain privileges, including the one that would grant her entry to schools and certain living accommodations at a greatly reduced rate.

Darren sighed, [I]yet another thing I need to thank Jared for[/I]. Though seeing that he had just done so he wasn?t going to say anything to him. Darren closed the message and then bent over to pick up his jacket from off the floor. [I]I?d better put this away before someone comes and sees it on the floor.[/I] He got up and took it into his bedroom and then paused to grab a new one and put it on.

He walked back out and over to his desk, picking up the data chip Jared had left as he sat back down. He had forgotten about the stuff his family would be entitled to due to his position. Embarrassing or not, he was grateful that Jared had seen to the necessary arrangements. If only to keep his father from trying to use it to his advantage something he was sure his father had tried to do immediately. With another sigh Darren inserted the chip into his workstation, the sooner he finished here at Earth, the sooner he could get away from Jared.

SunfallE · April 10, 2007

[COLOR=RoyalBlue]William had already left sector fourteen. Once he had realized that the military had issued a lock down there was no point in staying around. He had lost contact with the agent he had on one of the research teams and the agent he had at the military outpost lacked the security clearance to get him any information. And he was not going to ask him to do anything that would risk exposing his position. It had been so hard to even get an agent on the research team in the first place. But now it was looking like they were not going to find out what the third research project was.

To make matters even worse the information he had gotten on the Transcendence, the first of the new Messenger Ships for Elite Specialists clearly showed that it would have no trouble catching his ship the Clandestine. He had lost the advantage of being able to outrun those who worked for the High Council. Something that was a bit of a problem with the new shipping protocols being put into place, William had been hiding within the system but now that wouldn?t be possible. He would have to start relying on falsified identification, a tactic he disliked since it had serious risks as well.

William didn?t have a choice though, if he didn?t change his tactics he would have been caught. The new shipping expert was nothing like the previous one, that fool had always looked the other way when it came to illegal dealings, though it had worked in the resistance?s favor. Making it easier for them to get illegal goods. But with the new shipping protocols, that was changing and it was, in his opinion, a pity that Darren Anderson worked for the High Council. He had already used his authority to expose the three top shipping companies executives, resulting in them being arrested and charged with high treason. Something that would benefit the people as well as the military and the High Council. At least he seemed to be far more honest than the others, even if that meant trouble for the resistance.

He wondered if Darren remembered that they had actual met once. He doubted it though. It had been back when he first took over his father?s company. William had purchased several shipments of the crystals their technology required from him. And since he made a point of never dealing with the same merchant more than a few times if possible, he had never seen him again. The chime of an incoming priority message interrupted William?s train of thought. Startled he quickly switched it to the conference room off the main bridge and then went to receive it. Opening it once the doors and the channel was secure. The transmission one of audio only.

?[B]William,?[/B] the non-descript voice said. ?[B]I have an important task for you.[/B]?

?[B]What would that be?[/B]? William asked.

?[B]I need you to head to sector seven, can you get there within three weeks?[/B]?

William pulled up their current heading and input the request to calculate arrival time should they change course; a moment later the answer from the computer came back.

?[B]Yes, we can get there in two and a half weeks actually.[/B]?

?[B]Good, proceed to sector seven immediately and contact me once you?ve arrived.[/B]? The transmission ended.

William stood up and went back out to the main bridge, noticing that his crew was waiting for him to speak, to see if the message meant things had changed. And he couldn?t blame them for being a bit curious since he rarely got priority messages and every time they did he had immediately changed what they were currently doing. Which in this case was hauling goods to sector two. William didn?t keep them waiting.

?[B]All right everyone, our plans have changed. Set a course for sector seven, top speed. Switch to full stealth mode.[/B]?

?[B]Understood.[/B]? His second in command said even as he switched their course and activated the stealth systems.

William sat down in the command chair, wondering just what was up in sector seven. He knew from the gossip that he overheard from his crew that they thought the priority messages came from one of his top agents. But what they didn?t know was that they really came from someone even higher up in the resistance than he was. They thought that he was the leader of the resistance when in fact he was more of a second in command himself. And even he did not know the identity of the person on the other side of the transmission. It was done to keep him from even knowing if it was a woman or a man.

Daniel?s father Nathan had known who it was, but he had taken that secret to his grave. William smiled a bit, every time the mysterious person contacted him; it had always led to something interesting. [I]I wonder what it is this time? [/I]Just as he wondered, as he always did, if he would ever get to find out just who they were. [/COLOR]

Horendithas · April 11, 2007

[SIZE=1][COLOR=DarkRed]Since the destruction of the resistance base under London in the UK, things had been quiet. Far too quiet in Sandra's opinion. It was one thing for things to calm down in the UK but the US as well? Especially when things had been anything but calm since the actual take over? No, Daniel had to be up to something, the question, what? It was a pity that for the moment the Elite Specialist Kiva was needed elsewhere, she had turned out to be exceptionally good at her job. And with the state things were in due to the two attacks as well as the unrest caused by the leaked information from sector fourteen, there wasn't another specialist available, at least not one that wouldn't take at least a month to get here.

It would be a waste to pull them from their current assignment when she understood that Kiva had arrived in sector fourteen already. Even if it took her several weeks to finish the investigation, something she doubted after watching her in action at Earth, she still would make it back to Earth before another specialist could be called in. It was a bit ironic that at the rate things were calming down, by the time other specialist's were finished with their tasks and could be reassigned to Earth, it wouldn't matter since Kiva would most likely be finished and would be closer, making sending another one pointless.

Sandra sighed a bit from her vantage point of looking through the observation windows of the side conference room just off the main bridge of the Creator. She had never expected to be promoted to a Commodore so soon, and though she disliked that it was Stevens who had promoted her, she did like the floor to ceiling view that the observation/conference room had. Given a chance she found herself working from the desk in this room instead of the main bridge. It was, in her opinion, far more relaxing than working from the huge main bridge with all the crew. Not that they bothered her, but sometimes, especially after dealing with the liaison's on Earth, she was finding that she needed some space to think calmly.

[I]Or[/I], she thought darkly as the door to the observation room opened to admit Stevens,[I] it could simply be that I need a break from him.[/I] Sandra stifled a sigh as she turned to face Stevens. Unsure as to why he was there since the meeting to go over aspects of the take over of Earth wasn't for another hour. [I]Why is he here so early? [/I] She thought, not quite realizing that she was frowning at Stevens until he spoke.

"[B]If I didn't know that you dislike me my dear, one would think you were suffering from a headache with that terrible expression of yours.[/B]"

Sandra just frowned even more, refusing to respond to his jab. "[B]What do you need Stevens? You do remember that the meeting isn't for another hour correct?[/B]"

Stevens just favored her with an amused smile, "[B]Are you saying one isn't allowed to spend time with his betrothed?[/B]" A smile that just widened when Sandra's expression changed to one of irritation.

"[B]I am not interested in spending time with you Stevens.[/B]" Sandra replied sharply. "[B]Don't make me keep repeating myself in that respect.[/B]"

Stevens ignored her moving closer until they were but a foot apart, forcing her to look up at him. "[B]And I keep telling you that I was not the one who made the decision for us to be betrothed.[/B]" Stevens replied sternly. "[B]You of all people should realize that. No candidate is allowed to make that decision, it is done by the High Council. And since I know you made your objections quite clear by not only protesting to the council as well as ignoring your duties as a candidate in that respect, your objection is not only childish but pointless as well.[/B]"

Sandra started to turn to leave only to stop in surprise when Stevens grabbed her left wrist stopping her. Without hesitation she moved to strike him with her right hand only to have him catch it with his other hand. Then before she could truly respond Stevens swiftly pinned her against the observation window, ignoring her struggles. Struggles that stopped the moment she realized she couldn't get free.

"[B]Let me go Stevens,[/B]" Sandra said furiously.

"[B]Not until I've had my say Sandra. You're not running away from me this time.[/B]" He replied coldly. "[B]I've been more than patient with you and your silly, childish objections to your sworn duty. Whether you actually like me or not is irrelevant and you know it.[/B]"

"[B]Isn't it?[/B]" Sandra countered. "[B]Everything to you is merely something to be conquered, taken as a prize and I am not a prize to be won![/B]"

"[B]Is that what you really think? Gods, you're an idiot! Have you even bothered to pay attention to how other members of the Council have handled being betrothed? It's a mere formality, hell woman you don't even have to carry our child yourself when the time comes! You're free to have as many lovers as you desire as well. The only thing you can't do is have a child with someone else.

The choices are made based on not only keeping the power balanced among the factions of the High Council, but on making the best genetic match possible! It has nothing to do with winning a 'prize' as you put it.[/B]" Stevens replied, tightening his grip when Sandra tried to pull free again.

"[B]It still doesn't change the fact that you disgust me.[/B]"

Stevens sighed, "[B]I'm not as blind as you think I am Sandra, I know perfectly well you don't care for some of my 'amusements' but I'd be willing to bet my command that the fact that Jared and I have been and currently are lovers is what's really bothering you.[/B]"

Stung Sandra struggled even more, furious that Stevens wouldn't release her. "[B]That has nothing to do with it! I am not jealous![/B]" She started to continue but Stevens cut her off.

"[B]Don't lie to yourself Sandra, it isn't becoming. You're not the first woman I've dealt with who was jealous of my relationship with another man and you won't be the last. What I don't understand is how you can even allow something like that to affect your judgment.[/B]"

He waited calmly for Sandra to say something, but she was too angry to speak. Too furious over him keeping her pinned. Stevens sighed.

"[B]I thought you had better sense than that Sandra, especially since Jared simply has no interest in women.[/B]" He shook his head. "[B]Unlike you dear Sandra, I always follow through with my sworn duty, but make no mistake, if you continue to show such disrespect like you did by refusing to follow your duty to provide genetic material, I can and will have you stripped of your command. Even if you are beautiful, I will not tolerate this stupidity from you any longer.[/B]"

Sandra was speechless, and when Stevens finally let go she was unprepared and fell sideways, landing hard on her right side. She didn't trust herself to speak as she was too angry over what he had just said. She started to move to get up and then stopped when Stevens spoke again.

"[B]The meeting has been changed to tomorrow Sandra, in the meantime I suggest you start working on that childish attitude of yours.[/B]"

Sandra waited until Stevens had left to finally get up from where she had fallen. She resisted the urge to smash things as she walked over to the desk and secured the door to the observation room. She didn't know whether to laugh or scream or cry in frustration. A sharp pain brought her out of her daze, she looked down at her hands only to realized that she had been clenching them so tightly that her nails had cut her palms.

Sandra sat down, looking at her open palms and the blood. [I]What's wrong with me? Why am I so upset? Why do I dislike Stevens so much? Am I really jealous like he says?[/I] It was an unpleasant thought. Sandra had always been calm and collected, except when dealing with Stevens. It didn't seem to matter how hard she tried to get over it. He always annoyed her. [I]I really need to figure this out,[/I] she thought. [I]If only to keep Stevens or my father from following through on their threat to strip me of my command.[/I] [/COLOR][/SIZE]

Aaryanna · April 11, 2007

[COLOR=DarkRed]It was hard to believe that it had been nearly three weeks since the base in the UK had been dealt with. Crystal had been expecting Stevens to put up more of a fight over her plans to work more exclusively in the US but other than to assign a security team to her; he had made no fuss whatsoever. And in some ways it had been rather pleasant to work in the smaller communities once she decided where facilities should be built. Smaller towns tended to be less hostile than the larger towns. Then once the decision on where to build a new facility was made and the arrangements taken care of she would then visit all the remaining hospitals in the area, seeing to those who were still being treated with the barbaric medical methods they still practiced.

At first Crystal and her teams had always been met with suspicion and hostility, mostly due to her uniform as a Commander since they did not recognize the medical pattern of her uniform. But once they realized just who she was and what she could do, they couldn?t open the doors for her fast enough; eager for her to tend to the patients they could not help. Every day she would choose a location based on which ones were noted as having the greatest need and then she would transport down and begin. Sometimes staying in an area for several days if needed to get the worse cases taken care of.

Crystal along with the security assigned to her finally took a brief break at one of the hospitals she was visiting, choosing to sit out on the benches of an interior open court filled with trees and flowers for the patients of the facility. She was not hungry, but she was not about to deprive the security team of a much-needed break. Crystal pulled out her hand held computer and took a moment to go over a report she was preparing for the High Council. One that would help to clarify just what was being done in sector fourteen.

Though things had calmed down considerably since the information was leaked, there were still quite a few people sending in formal complaints to the High Council, complaints that in her opinion were due to people not fully understanding why they were researching how to make the lesser races more passive and submissive. They did not understand how it tied into the research meant to make them live longer.

And if there was one thing that annoyed Crystal more than anything else, is was people who objected without taking the time to truly understand what was going on. Currently people were arguing that it was a form of Mind Control, and though physically on some level it was, the type of control they were talking about was not the same thing at all. It was true that they were isolating certain responses in the brain to control certain processes and chemicals, but it was not true that they were controlling their thoughts in any manner at all.

Crystal shook her head in irritation. No, what they were doing with the research was subduing aggressive tendencies. Such as when something upset you or made you angry. The modifications meant that when something upset you the chemical reaction that lead to aggressive behavior due to being angry had been reduced. It did not change the fact that the person was angry; it did not place thoughts in their minds. It did not control them in that fashion. If one were to label a chemical released in the brain when one was angry as Agent C, then the modifications meant that when a ?slave? became angry instead of a normal release of Agent C it was reduced by twenty percent. The slave still got angry, but not on the same level.

Crystal sighed. Even with her careful report, one that she was doing her best to write in terms that would be easy to understand, she knew that some people simply would not accept what had been done. And to be fair, if she had not seen with her own eyes the stress put on a body by modifying it to live longer, she might not have agreed with it either. But she knew better. If they were going to eventually change all of the lesser races to live as long as they did, it would be necessary as even the Versilan Empire lacked the resources to keep up with the potential problems.

Another thing that she carefully explained as well as the knowledge that once the switch was made and the lesser races were moved to genetic reproduction like the Versilan?s instead of the cruder one currently used. At that point some of the modifications could be reversed, as a next generation child would not need the same level of modification. Being genetically produced would eliminate quite a few of the problems associated with increasing their lifespan in the first place. They would still be modified, but at a reduced amount.

Then because she was finally done, she sent the report to the High Council so they could look over it and then clear it for being released to the public. It was important since the resistance had conveniently glossed over that aspect of the research, only focusing on the fact that the second research was forbidden. They had completely left out the part about how the modifications to make them live longer would require other modifications to balance things out. And even the people were ignoring the first statement the High Council sent out in favor of being upset that it was forbidden. But then the first report had not given the specifics on some of what was actually being done. Now once her report was issued, that would be cleared up.

Crystal closed her hand held computer, put it away in the pouch at her waist and then finally pulled out what she had brought along for lunch. Even if she wasn?t very hungry, she did have quite a bit of work to finish up and later she would be wishing she had taken the time to eat. [/COLOR]

GuyYouMetOnline · April 12, 2007

[color=darkslateblue]There were three research projects being conducted at the research facility in sector 14. Each team was made up ten people, for a combined total of thirty. The facility's director, Michael Edwards, was number thirty-one. This was actually a rather small number of suspects. Usually, there were a lot more, but there weren't too many people at this particular facility.[/color]

[color=#483d8b]"It doesn't seem likely that our target is on team three," Kiva said. She and Daego were onboard the [i]Transcendence[/i], going over what information they had. The first thing they'd done was a detailed scan of the system. This scan lcated several well-hidden relay stations located underground. A Specialist had been in this area previously, but the old messanger ships were unable to detect the underground relay stations. It took the [i]Transcendence[/i]'s greater sensor capabilities to locate them.[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]One of Kiva's objectives was to destroy these relay stations, but she'd do that upon leaving the system. Right now, she was hoping to use them. It was always possible that the target would attempt to send a transmission even though Kiva and Daego were looking for him. It normally wasn't a good idea to do that , but there were reasons to. For example, there was some information that would need to be sent no matter what. An agent might also send a final transmission if the agent thought that he or she'd been found out. And some agents were just plain cocky.[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]Instead of destroying the relay stationss, Kiva hacked into each one and made a slight addition to its program. This addition would precisely record the location a relayed transmission originated at, as well as the exact time it was received and relayed. With that information, Kiva and Daego would be able to access security records and see who was at that location at the proper time. This would make identifying the agent quite easy. But they'd have to get lucky for that to happen, and information that exact wasn't already available. Odds were they'd have to identify the agent the old-fashioned way.[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Yeah, that mkes sense," Daego said. And it did. The Resistance hadn't released any information on the third research project, which suggested that they didn't have any. This would mean that the agent hadn't sent any, which implied that he/she didn't know anything about project three. Thus, it was unlikely that the target was working on that project.[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Indeed," Kiva said. "We can't afford to ignore team three, though. It's possible that the agent only sent information on the first to projects in order to throw people off his.her trail. It's also possible that the Resistance does have information on project three and just decided not to release it. So we can't ignore team three. Still, we should check teams one and two first. We'll also need to check Director Edwards, of course."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]Daego nodded. "Yes. All right, who's checking who?"[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"You start with team one," Kiva said. "I'll start with Edwards, then move to team two. You'll pr[/color][color=darkslateblue]obably finish your group before me, since I'll be ckecking one more person than you, so move on to team three when you're done with team one."[/color]
[color=darkslateblue][/color]
[color=darkslateblue]"Got it," Daego said.[/color]
[color=darkslateblue][/color]
[color=darkslateblue]That exchange had occured a week ago. In that week, Kiva and Daego had gone over everyne in the facility, and had narowed down the list of suspects. Still on the list were Velane Menekos and Kleos Telmes, who also served as Michael Edwards's assistant, on team one. The list also included Selna Trekel, team two's head, as well as Seok Lemese and Jomo Trelmesk on team three. Everyone else had been ruled out for various reasons. Now, Kiva and Daego were giving the remaining five suspects more thrurough inspections. Hopefully, it wouldn't be too long before they were able to identify the agent.[/color]

Aaryanna_Mom · April 12, 2007

It didn?t take much for Daniel to know where Kiva had been sent. Once William informed him of the blackout that had been issued in sector fourteen at the nearly the same time the Transcendence had left Earth, he would have been surprised if she had been sent elsewhere. He had no doubt that she would expose the agent. Once it was known that there was an agent for the resistance in a place like that, finding them was unavoidable, especially when an Elite Specialist was called in. An agent?s biggest weapon was total secrecy. Once that was gone, the best course of action was to make a run for it. But in a top-secret project, that wasn?t always possible and the military had issued the lockdown before the resistance even knew they were aware that there was an agent there.

Even William wasn?t completely sure how they had caught on to the agent since he was not the one who prepared the release; it had been the agent at the research facility. William had merely written the program to hack it into the system and then for it to replicate like a virus to keep it from being eliminated from the database to quickly. In the end it didn?t matter. The knowledge as to the third project was going to remain a mystery for now. And attempting to take Commander Crystal?s hand held from her again would be pointless. The High Council would have made sure to provide even better security for her replacement, and even though his agents had reported that she was working in the US, Crystal was guarded by a security team at all times.

There was also the fact that Commander Crystal was addressing the need for medical facilities and treatment for the population in the US. Once Daniel had realized what she was up to he had issued strict orders to all agents to leave any construction she was involved in alone. Stopping construction of medical facilities only hurt the people of Earth and did little to hinder the invasion. And better medical treatment was something the people of this world were in desperate need of. No, there was no need to interfere with what she was doing. For now the two projects had been exposed and due to the lock down in sector fourteen, the research had been halted. Later they could worry about finding out just what was going on in the third project.

Daniel finished what he was doing and turned the workstation in his quarters off. It was almost time to put the final touches for what he had in mind in place. He stood up and then opened up his hand held computer, entering the special codes to activate his most guarded secret. A moment later, in spite of the shields a transport door opened inside his room, but then the generator for this door was deep below the actual base and it?s construction had been carefully done to allow a door to open in this one spot only when the program briefly opened a tiny spot in the shields.

A moment later he stepped through, the lights to the underground storage facility turning on as he entered the command. The huge underground cavern was full with the illegal goods Williams had gotten from sector one before his source had been caught and dealt with. It was here that the two pulse cannons used to take down the transports had been stored. William ignored the carefully placed and stored items as he turned and immediately entered the small room with the computers and systems for the storage facility.

He sat down at the main console and turned on the interface for accessing the information. William was the one who had set the storage facility up, long before he had ever joined the resistance. And now that it was nearly time to get things started he needed to verify just what he had available for the resistance members to use. None of the information for this place was in the main computers, not even a code name or a reference. William had been firm on that detail. And Daniel understood it just fine. They had been fighting the military with second hand goods and the same goods that had been stolen from the troop encampments for the past couple of months.

By now the military was thinking that the best they had to offer was what they had stolen as even the pulse cannons were not a serious threat. But to suddenly switch to high grade weapons and explosives would completely catch the military off guard. By the time they realized just what had happened, the damage would be done. It was why Daniel was glad the Specialist was gone. It would have been pointless to issue the weapons only for the safe houses to be raided and the members and weapons seized. Especially since he wanted to initiate a concentrated strike by all agents in the US and any remaining ones in the UK and Australia at the same time. The resulting confusion would be well worth it.

Daniel finished checking what he needed to and shut the equipment and the main lights off. Then he transported back to his quarters. Once he had the list of what went where on his hand held, he would set a date and then see to getting everyone the equipment they needed Just a little more time to get everyone into position, the proper teams assembled and everything would be set.

Rachmaninoff · April 13, 2007

It was positively amazing at how smoothly things ran without the presence of the resistance in the UK. Without them disrupting and destroying things left and right, construction was quick and getting the shipping set up was turning out to be an easy task. They were into the fourth week of construction since the base in the UK had been destroyed and they were already well past the halfway mark for all the facilities that needed to be built. Things were going so well that Darren was spending a fair amount of his time back on the Creator in his quarters, requesting records now that nearly seventy percent of the Versilan Empire had been switched to the new shipping protocols.

Unfortunately it seemed that the mysterious merchant William had caught on as fragmented reports with them had ceased. If they were still operating as a merchant it was under a new name and probably a forged one at that as very few fragmented reports were being encountered. So instead Darren started requesting older fragmented reports going back to when the changes he had recommended nearly thirty years ago had been put into place. It was rather interesting piecing the parts together. By back tracking where the reports had occurred he had created a time line that linked William to being in the area for quite a few incidents when the resistance was highly active. And in nearly every sector as well. Including the recent attack in sector six and four.

William it seemed had been a member of the resistance for quite some time. It was a pity that tracing the activity back further wouldn't be possible. But what had shocked Darren the most was when he found fragmented reports from when apparently he himself had delivered three different shipments of the crystals needed for their technology to him. But it had been so long ago, back when he had first started as a merchant, that he simply could not remember what William looked like. In the end it didn't matter and once he was done collecting the data he would hand all of it over to the High Council. Someone was sure to find the information useful.

A chime reminded him that he was due to join Commander Crystal down at one of the medical facilities in the US. She had asked him to come and oversee setting up shipments of the needed medical supplies to the facilities being built. Darren could have given the job to one of personal at the shipping facilities in Australia since the supplies for now would be transported directly from them, but instead he chose to transport down himself, if only to take a break. Crystal already had a security team with her so other than to notify Jared, who was in charge of security for him, he was not required to take anyone down with him.

When Darren arrived at the transport room to head down he found that he was actually looking forward to it. He nodded politely to the transport technician who having already been briefed opened a door for him immediately. And then he quickly stepped through. Crystal along with her security team was waiting for him in front of one of the newly constructed medical facilities.

"[B]Thank you for coming Darren,[/B]" She said. "[B]If you'll follow me I'll explain exactly what I need.[/B]"

Darren pulled out his hand held computer to take notes. "[B]I'm ready.[/B]"

Crystal nodded and then turned and briskly took him through a tour of the building, explaining how things would run. What needed to be done and what should go where, until an hour later, when they had walked through the entire building they were finally finished.

Then after motioning for the security to wait at the entrance to the roof, Crystal took him outside and to the other side of the building. Close enough that the security could still see them, but not close enough to actually hear them. Puzzled, Darren waited to see just what Crystal wanted.

"[B]I need to ask you something Darren and I intend to be blunt.[/B]"
[I]
What could she possible need to ask me?[/I] Darren wondered.

"[B]It's simple, the doctor on the Creator tells me that you are stressed, enough that were you an officer he would be pulling you from active duty. As a doctor I need to know just what is going on since I have been asked to evaluate you as well to see if there is anything that needs to be done.[/B]"

Darren turned away before answering, trying to keep the bitterness from his voice. "[B]Just look at my file and see how I was dragged into this mess Commander. Your answer is there, you don't need to ask me.[/B]"

"[B]Wrong.[/B]" Crystal asserted, causing Darren to turn back. "[B]I have already checked into how you were initially caught in a restricted sector, given the choice to work for the military or be held accountable. Just as I have seen the file on how you were given no choice but to accept the position as the shipping expert for the High Council. Those things are stressful, but I think there is more to it than that.[/B]"

"[B]If you think there is more, then why don't you tell me what it is?[/B]" Darren snapped a bit, annoyed that the [I]damn[/I] military was being concerned over stress that [I]they[/I] had caused in the first place.

"[B]Very well, I think that most of your frustration comes from being sexually harassed by Jared.[/B]" Crystal folded her arms and gave him a look that clearly said he was being stupid by acting like there was nothing else.

Darren paled at her words and then he became angry. [B]"If you really think that then why is nothing done to stop it? He knows I am not interested in him and yet he still persists in...[/B]" Darren stopped, swallowing hard. He wasn't sure if he should continue. Complaining about Jared could make things worse.

"[B]Stop him? What do you take me for?[/B]" Crystal told him. "[B]The two of you are adults and unless Jared is breaking the law I do not interfere with how he behaves, even if I find it distasteful. Our laws our not as strict as the ones here on Earth were about consent. Unless there is a severe violation of another person's rights most cases are ignored.[/B]"

Darren laughed bitterly. "[B]Then why are you bothering to even talk to me? If I understand you correctly you're saying he can do pretty much anything he wants and there's nothing I can do about it.[/B]"

Crystal sighed, "[B]On some level that is true, however that doesn't mean I can't do something to help you cope with the stress. And I can and will dress Jared down if I feel that he is causing you undue stress.[/B]"

He tried to hold it in but he couldn't. "[B]I don't believe you. Why would Jared even listen to you? Or better yet, why would you dress down someone who cares about you?[/B]"

"[B]That would not stop me. If you don't believe me ask him for yourself. One of the very first things I did when I came to serve on the same ship with Jared was to point out what an idiot he was when it came to how he liked to amuse himself.[/B]" Crystal said sternly. "[B]In the mean time, you are coming with me to sick bay for an evaluation and then we are going to prepare a means for you to deal with the stress.[/B]"

Darren started to protest but Crystal cut him off.

"[B]That's an order Darren, don't make me pull rank on you.[/B]"

Darren could tell from her irritated look that she meant it. He sighed. "[B]Fine.[/B]" And then he followed her back to where the security was waiting.

Horendithas · April 13, 2007

[SIZE=1][COLOR=DarkRed]When the meeting for the top command officers in the fleet at Earth began, the first thing Jared noticed was that Sandra was unusually subdued. Even though she had been backing Stevens decisions since the attack in sector six, she usually had a barely concealed expression of distaste. But today her expression was carefully neutral, much in the same way when she presented herself to the High Council. [I]I wonder what happened? [/I]He wondered. Ignoring the status reports from each of the officers as he had already reviewed the information before the meeting had begun. Then when they were finally finished he gave Stevens his full attention when he moved on.

"[B]Excellent work everyone. Although things are going well, I want all of you to increase security as well as stepping up patrols. Any questions?[/B]" Stevens asked. When there were none he dismissed them.

Once they had left, leaving only Stevens, Sandra and Jared. Stevens turned to face the two of them. "[B]I take it that you two have questions?[/B]"

Sandra shook her head, "[B]Not really, I only need to get your authorization to reassign some of the security teams from the Conqueror to the US.[/B]"

"[B]You'll find the authorization for that waiting for you as I took care of that just before all of you arrived for the meeting.[/B]" Stevens replied. "[B]Anything else?[/B]"

"[B]No, and if you'll excuse me, I need to go and get the teams to their new assignment.[/B]" She got up and with a slight bow turned and left the observation room.

Jared just watched dumbfounded, since when did Sandra ever give Stevens the small bow that his position required?

"[B]What about you Jared? Did you have questions?[/B]"

"[B]Only to confirm my speculation. I assume that you have increased security and patrols in response to how quiet the resistance has been since the base in the UK was dealt with?[/B]"

"[B]Correct, I find it hard to believe that the loss of the base in the UK would interfere with their ability to mount attacks in the US. If anything, they should be worse since nearly two thirds of their personal were evacuated due to the lock down issued. And yet in spite of moving more members to the US, the activity has dropped considerably.[/B]"

Jared nodded, "[B]I know, it doesn't make sense. Even if they were low on supplies, there are still plenty of things that can be done to disrupt construction as well as other aspects of the occupation.[/B]"

Stevens agreed. "[B]Exactly, Which is why I have increased security and the patrols. Daniel has had more than enough time to get the members transfered to the US settled and in safe houses, which tells me he is planning something. It's almost been a month and I find it hard to believe that it would take him that long to get everyone in place.

Not only that, it's as if they've completely vanished, the reports from other Earthlings has died down and not one safe house has been found in over a week. My instincts tell me that something is going to happen, something big.[/B]"

"[B]Perhaps they are waiting on certain information?[/B]" Jared suggested. "[B]I understand from the computer specialist on the Creator that the resistance has a new hacking routine for getting into the update system, one that other than the occasional fragment he has not been able to catch.[/B]"

"[B]I know.[/B]" Stevens said darkly, "[B]If it wasn't for the fact that turning the update system off would generate quite a bit of extra work to keep people informed, I'd turn the damn thing off until we figured out how to keep them out of it. But for now its best to leave it running, my own specialist is working on improving the security for it.[/B]"

Jared sighed, "[B]I guess it doesn't matter then, all we can do is what you just did, increase security and the patrols and then sit back and wait. At least we've almost gotten two billion of the people here moved elsewhere. It's much easier to keep things under control now that the population has been reduced. Anyway, I need to get going as well as I still have quite a bit to take care of before the day is over.[/B]"

"[B]I'll see you later tonight then.[/B]" Stevens said.

Jared bowed slightly and smiled. "[B]Of course.[/B]"[/COLOR][/SIZE]

SunfallE · April 14, 2007

[COLOR=RoyalBlue]As much as she hated to admit it Celestia was stuck. Her and Jason had been carefully going over the hyper drive routine that Daniel wanted improved but it was far from simple. For starters the program was incredibly complex and computer simulations of the changes they were trying weren?t good enough to determine if the changes they had in mind would actually work. They needed to actually test it.

Also, based on the numbers, the specifics of William?s ship as well as the listing he had given them were way off. She just couldn?t see how the other ship could go as fast as the listing indicated. For one thing, and Jason had been quick to point it out, such an increase would put a terrible strain on the crystals used to power the system. In order for it to work the crystals in question would need to be nearly perfect. And to the best of her knowledge, perfect crystals simply didn?t get big enough.

Celestia had done some research on them when they were gathering the materials to make a solution for growing them here on Earth. For a perfect crystal to form at that size was almost unheard of. Because it would take decades if not centuries of allowing a field to simply grow wild to eventually produce one. And even that was no guarantee that one would even get big enough. And since current ships only had to have a purity rate of about fifty percent, according to what she read, it was considered a waste of time to even try.

There were cases of the purity in larger crystals reaching as high as seventy percent, but those were usually used for the larger flagships in the fleet but their sheer massive size kept them from being any faster than a smaller battle ship.

Frustrated Celestia closed the program with a sigh. Jason and her had been working on it for over three weeks. And though they had been able to suggest changes that would make William?s ship faster, it still would not be as fast as the other listing.

?[B]Ready to call it a day?[/B]? Jason asked her.

Celestia turned to face Jason, ?[B]I don?t know. I hate to give up but at the same time I just don?t see a solution that doesn?t involve nearly perfect crystals.[/B]?

?[B]Me neither, I?ve run the data and even if we managed to get our hands on the better crystals used to power the flag ships, it still falls short of what Williams is looking for. Unless he?s got some perfect crystals stashed somewhere, I don?t see a way to do what he?s asking.[/B]?

?[B]I doubt he has some Jason, the request was to match the listed speed with the equipment he already has. If he had perfect crystals I think he would have told us to alter the routine to use them. What I don?t understand is why he even wants the ship to go faster. It?s not like the military can even catch him.[/B]?

Jason frowned a bit as an unpleasant thought occurred, ?[B]Perhaps that?s going to change. He could have information indicating that the military has figured out how to go that fast. If that?s true it would make sense that he wants us to try and find a way to match it with what we do have.[/B]?

?[B]I hope you?re wrong.[/B]? Celestia said, ?[B]I really do.[/B]? She sighed again.

?[B]Come on Celestia,[/B]? Jason said as he got up. ?[B]Lets go talk to Daniel. We may as well work on something else since we?re just wasting our time on this.[/B]?

?[B]I agree,[/B]? Celestia said as she stood up. ?[B]There are better things we can work on like improving the fragmentation for the grade B sensor equipment or the communication relays. Or even the routine for hacking the update system.[/B]?

?[B]Or the shielding,[/B]? Jason suggested. ?[B]Even if we couldn?t adjust the sensors to detect what they did in the UK, we can still even out the distortions to work better with the stealth shielding.[/B]?

Celestia caught herself yawning a bit. ?[B]After we talk to Daniel I say we call it a day.[/B]?

?[B]Now I know you?re serious about being stuck.[/B]? Jason teased. ?[B]Especially since you never quit before dinner.[/B]?

Celestia just made a face at Jason before turning to head for Daniel?s office. She stifled yet another yawn as she turned her head to make sure Jason was coming. Finishing early would be nice for a change. Lately it seemed like her and Jason were too exhausted at the end of the day to do much of anything. And if she remembered correctly, Sara and Glen should be free this evening as well. It had been far too long since the four of them sat down and simply caught up on what the other was doing.

"[B]I say we go and see how your sister is doing once we're done here.[/B]" She suggested.

Jason smiled. "[B]You mean spy on how things are going between her and Glen?[/B]"

"[B]Jason![/B]"

Jason laughed. "[B]Did you think I hadn't noticed? It's pretty obvious that Glen likes her.[/B]"

Celestia smiled as the door to Daniel's office opened. "[B]I know. What has me curious is whether or not Sara likes him in return.[/B]"

"[B]I think she does, and at the same time I get the feeling that she's not sure what to think of it.[/B]" Jason replied. "[B]Anyway, lets hurry and talk to Daniel so you can go and poke your nose into their affairs.[/B]"

"[B]Oh you![/B]" Celestia said as she poked Jason. "[B]I'll get you for that.[/B]"

Jason just leaned over and whispered in her right ear. "[B]I'm holding you to that.[/B]" And then he chuckled when she blushed. Then as the door closed behind them he moved to take a seat across from Daniel. His mind elsewhere as Celestia began to explain the problem with changing the hyper drive for William's ship.[/COLOR]

Aaryanna · April 15, 2007

[COLOR=DarkRed]It hadn?t taken her long to evaluate Darren. Nor had it taken long for her to get exactly what had happened between him and Jared out of him. If anything Crystal was positive that being interrogated by Jared due to what had happened with the Earthling Sara had probably triggered most of the stress Darren was experiencing. Even though she found it highly distasteful she knew from the medical reports and having been required to oversee interrogations that even a simple one that only involved drugs would scar an individual on a mental level. Even if they didn?t want to admit it to themselves.

Add being teased and harassed, which surprisingly had been very little, at least surprising to Crystal since she had served with Jared and knew that he was usually far more ruthless than he had ever been with Darren. Something that if she let it, irritated her since in her opinion Jared was far too good at manipulating people into thinking they wanted his attention on some level. [I]Or that they brought it upon themselves. [/I] She thought darkly. And though usually those individuals that Jared was cruel to were often guilty of executable crimes, Crystal still felt that to sink to their level was sick. But still, as far as Darren was concerned, especially since he had been promoted, Jared had been quite reserved.

Crystal sighed a bit as she finished going over the report and preparing the request to the ship?s maintenance crew to make modifications to Darren?s quarters. In that respect she had dressed Darren down a bit as simple requests for exercise equipment such as he had used on his own ship was allowed for any officer. He may not have known, but she pointed out that by not asking about such things he was doing himself a disservice. Crystal sent off the evaluation to the doctor at the Creator, noting how she had set up a follow up for Darren with her in a week as well as sending off the request for the modification to Darren?s quarters.

[I]Now if only the investigation in sector fourteen would be finished soon[/I]. She thought. Crystal wanted to get back to focusing on her research. She had already spent quite a bit of time reorganizing her notes and writing up possible changes and different combinations to check out for all three projects. Crystal knew it was necessary, but she hated the delay. But even more, she hated knowing that one or more of the researchers was working for the resistance. Even though she didn?t know each one of them personally, she had still worked with each and every one of them at some point, if not on the projects on something else before they were assigned to it. And some of them she had even recommended for the project.

She pulled up other reports that she needed to go over. Her second in command was expecting her on the bridge soon. Nothing too important but still requiring her to give the final authorization, making her wish all over again that he was in command instead of her. Crystal shook her head, putting it out of her mind. In order for her to go back to only being a doctor, Stevens would have to authorize it and the one time she had briefly mentioned it, he had made it clear that he would not do it.[/COLOR]

RPG Silver One

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