The Galactic Conference for commerce and economics (Open FT)

[The Fedral Union]

Eight weeks ago:

Message:
From:Various Terran corporations, the Terran Department of Commerce.

Code: Select all

It is with great pleasure we invite  the nations of the galaxy to join us in the opening of the new Terran Commercial  Center  in Union city with a multinational trade and relations conference. It has been many years since the alliance has attempted to  host an event and we hope the galaxy hears our message and wishes to engage in an exchange of dialogue.  Both representatives from  countries and corporate entities are  welcome

-Preamble-

New Earth.. The center of the Terran civilization at least that's what the inhabitants thought , a planet so far from the original home world of humanity. Its population so far removed from the ragtag fleets that first discovered and settled nearly a millennium ago. Now this world was linked to the far corners of the galaxy through an extensive gate network , it rose from its inconspicuous beginnings as a back water to one of the most developed worlds in the sector. Its form was dwarfed by the massive ring world encircling the yellow warm ball of plasma that lit the darkness of space. The ring was a leftover of times long past most of its form built by machines, the rest of the massive structure was finished by the hands of the Terrans. Five hundred years of engineering and tens of thousands of automated machines built the world bit by bit. In the end it was well worth it. Despite the large ring and its mostly empty surface and grandeur of design The small blue earth sized orb situated third from the yellow life giving sun was still the center of politics for the Terran Alliance.

This system was at the center of an “empire” that spanned many worlds not one ruled by tyranny or one man, but one ruled by its people. Governed by the enlightened philosophies of civil liberties, political and economic freedoms and the right to individual liberties. Five point five trillion sapient's, Terrans, baseline sapient's, AI's and aliens all alike coexisted on many populated worlds. The impressive high technology of these people was all adapted and replicated in their own ways with human touches making them nearly alien to those who had originally produced the technology the Alliance now relied on.


It had been many years since anything of international importance was held in this system or indeed on New Earth itself, but today was a red letter day...

-New Sol, New earth the white house 0900 hours (9:00 AM E/ST civilian time)-

President Richard Sagen stood in his ornately decorated office, his brown eyes focused out of the two large windows behind his desk. He pressed a hand against his chin seemingly deep in thought. He looked around a bit before his eyes locked for a moment not on to the image of the bustling as far as the eye could see hives of skyscrapers out the window contrasted on the blue crisp sky and accented by lines of flying PTV's but on a simple book. It was ordinary and had a rather worn brown leather cover. The authors name and title of the old book was printed clearly on the bind. The larger text read “Fifth Business” and in smaller text “By Robertson Davies”. A soft smile came across his youthful face as he picked up the novel. It was a particular favorite of his, he held it in his right hand about to open it when a small communique came in . The hololink behind him crackled to life a man stood there. It was the secretary of commerce Linda Jackson. Richard Looked back and gave an exasperated sigh.. He looked weary dealing with the election year looming ahead, and various domestic issues. He spoke with a soft tone.

”Linda.. I take it your hear to brief me on whats going on tomorrow?”

”Like clock work ain't it? We have a small issue, weather control has to shut the grid off for the allotted two month “environmental realignment” Period.. and since I know you just want to relax and forget about the news and all this political brawling. I'd thought I'd fill you in that forecast call for a rather intense blizzard. Over half a meter of snow.. Oh don;t worry it wont be on all day theres a pause in the middle then another half meter...”

Richard frowned, he sighed once more putting the book down, he hated the cold, especially when it snowed. He responded with a frustrated tone.

”You have to be kidding me, this is fucking wonderful. I take it we can at least heat the roads to clear them?”

”Don't worry the roads will be clear. I should mention that the conference will be officially opened by Maximilian Raython-


”The CEO of Raython Enterprises... That damn merchant of death and transportation has been getting spot light after spot light. I'm surprised hes not running for office...

”I suspect that's because private enterprises of that scale are often more profitable than civil service...”

A small female voice came from behind Richard and the hologram of the secretary of commerce. The nano form of President Sagens companion drone shimmered in to existence as a lithe visually stunning female with long silky auburn hair, her blue eyes gazed softly at Richard she had a plain look across her pale face her clothing were rather mundane a simple black suit dress. Richard turned away from his bookshelf looking at her. Companion drones were given to every Terran at birth they often develop with the child as a sister or brotherly figure.

”Oh.. Hello Laura... I take it you heard about the snow tomorrow?”

”That's not the only thing I heard Richard..”

She responded in such a way that one could tell she knew something. She continued a second later.

”Well, you certainly got yourself in a mess with the foreign affairs commie...”

Richard placed a hand on his fore head rubbing his sinus area for a moment.

”Its not like I did anything unethical I just didn't tell them about my plan.. Well I wasn't until this mess in the galaxy popped up... Listen I'm done talking about politics I need a rest .. I've got another week filled with events and this conference is three days long. Three.. Long.. days with eccentric money wielding tycoons from all across the galaxy, fat arrogant politicians and royalty, and we mustn’t forget the wide spread raving mad despots that make a parliament of owls running the hyperborian lie of a republic seem less loony.....

He gave a sigh, he went on a slight rant there, Jackson and Laura both gazed at him and then looked at one another nodding. Laura made a comment, in a some what down trodden voice.

”Richard your under an enormous amount of stress, why not take some leave. I'm sure “Vice President” Stabler can handle things for a while, after all Allen owes you , all he does is go on token trips around the country. Its an election year make him work more...”
Richard shook his head, he gave another sigh before stepping towards his desk, he placed his hands upon the red glossy oak desk lip. He looked back and nodded..

”You're right, this is killing me. I cant walk away now though this country needs me to lead them through at least one more diplomatic mine field before I go south for the winter.”

Laura nodded. Secretary Jackson spoke up after a moment of silence.

”Well Mister President, not to worry, there’s going to be plenty of drinks of various calibers offered., it shouldn't be too mind numbing. At any rate I have some last minute affairs to attend to sir I have consult with the AI about the conference tomorrow.”

Richard nodded as the brown skinned female flicked out of existence...

---

--The Next Day---
The skies had grown gray overnight, the normally green and metal-glass land scape of the northern part of Union cities burro “Island County” had been disturbed coated already with a soft layer of white fluff. The thousands upon thousands of sky scrapers that pierced the heavens for miles were only outlines from a certain distance. Snow flakes twirled and flung in the air with in an hour of the storms beginning the snow fall had become heavy. The ornate and lavish canals that crisscrossed the city were still active with various sleek sea going vessels Still as usual tens of thousands of flying PTVs swarmed around the city at reduced speed but still zipping from place to place. The International capital and Commercial exchange center or (ICE) was a massive new multi-billion credit complex with tens of thousands of offices, hotel rooms, entertainment and culinary venues. Its spires dwarfed several large skyscrapers around it, and at the center of the large complex a massive arboretum enclosed in a glass dome would come in to view for anyone landing on the large star shuttle pad provided to the east of the convention hall. Both ground and elevated streets and high ways crisscrossed the massive hive of high wealth offices.

Holo-signs flickered to life over the ground level avenues, trees coated in snow planted in the center of the medians hung over the twin canals around the median strips it wasn't lively today many had opted to take the under ground mag (Metro transit) or their PTV to work. Many outdoor venues were left deserted due to the cold weather normally they would have been bustling with hedonistic activates they were mostly taken inside, the wind howled .

President Sagen walked out of the presidential mansions front door, ice and snow had coated the pristine white marble steps the fountain in the court yard and the arrangements of Flowers around the hedges and trees near the fence. Icicles formed and hung low from various leaves. Richard thought it was indeed beautiful however the cold quickly broke his concentration. It was a welcome thing as time was wasting. He needed to get to the convention hall as soon as possible. The sleek futuristic limousine hovered up the snow melting bellow its form, the back door opened Richard along side two of his Burly and heavily augmented secret service agents slipped in to the PTV, the vehicle to hover right away it was joined in the air by two gunship like police vehicle's and several secret service PTV's armed with various hidden weapons. The motorcade of flashing lights surrounding the limousine kept pace. The presidential and Terran flags posted on each of the four corners of the limo flapped in the snowy wind .

---

-Orbit over new sol. Residential satellite Alpha Nine One (ANO)-

“Max.... Maaax...” Spoke a male spherical drone hovering to the side of a young red haired green eyed man with a smooth face. The man looked over his lips curling in to a smile.

”Yes Jeffery?”

A tune began to blast through the pressurized cabin of a luxury shuttle. Just as Max responded.

”We should really get a move on...”

The tycoon just chuckled a bit, he took a cup of auburn liquid from a cupboard chamber to the right of him. Two attractive females strolled from the back of the craft coming through two double doors from a luxurious room located near the back of the shuttle. One was a red headed woman with luscious red lips brown eyes and a creamy complexion. The other was pale black hair, yellow eyes a hybrid of sort. They donned contrasting dresses.


”They're not going to have a heart attack if I'm a few minutes late. Relax we'll get there Jeff..”


”I hope so.. I would hate to see the faces of everyone who wanted to start off if you showed up late. Though funny as it would be not good for your image on the hill..”

”Ah fuck I guess your right...”

Maximilian responded his two female companions Sitting on either side of his lap, he smiled taking a swig of his drink his face curling as the strong liquor hit him...

”Alright lets get the hell out of here, I cant wait to see Jenny, I'm sure epsilon is doing great in the market right now...”

He simply chuckled, once more his face filled with elation. He sunk back on his chair A holo monitor flickered to life the channel turned to 10001 -EPOC- news network economic tickers updated every second and political reports on the hour.

The sleek winged shuttle detached from the orbiting luxury residential station ,it began to fly towards the blue planet, and in to the cloudy brew that shrouded union city. Several moments passed the shuttle touched down on Pad A the snow was piling up on the buildings around it. The shutles hot engines melted various piles of snow as it had entered the port.

Max and his body guard mini drones exited the shuttle, the markings on the shuttle could clearly be seen “Maximilian Enterprises. The mini drones were bi peddle units the size of large house hold dogs, they followed him and his companions down towards the lift system.... The hotel rooms assigned to diplomats and CEO's were ornate, lavish and exposed every facet of Terran culture, dragon carvings and statues eagles and the fondness for “water” would all be represented in the rooms, as well as what seemed to be an intense taste and interest in various forms of advanced holographic and hand painted classical arts....

(OOC you can assume your there if you want and just post showing up remember its open to private companies as well its basic a tech/goods and economic show with various other secondary themes.)

[The Ottish Empire]

5 days ago.

The large complex known as the "Ottish Ministry of Foreign Affairs" was, unusually, bustling with activity. Not so long ago a message popped up over the "Letter Display". This message was indeed an odd one. The senders were not only on the other side of the universe, but had little to no interactions withe Ottia in the past. Such an informal message was rare to pop up, but the need for more allies and diplomatic ties was so great that the message could not be ignored. Viktor Kiovosk, aide to the Emperor and Minister of Foreign Affairs, had immediately been called.

Viktor laid quietly in his king sized bed. His mind drifted off into a realm of peace while his body stayed dormant in the dull room. From across the room the large holo-screen glowed a bright blue and a ringing began. He tossed for a minute and threw a pillow across the room before finally giving into its demands. He clicked a button and a prerecorded message played, "Viktor, a message showed up here the other day. You might want to take a look at it." He sighed heavily and lifted himself from the bed. Immediately an armada of arms and mechanical devices reached out from the walls dressing the man and preparing him with a coffee and a copy of the "Xoiakov Chronicles". He chugged the drink and walked towards the door when the house's automated voice came on,

"Good morning Mr. Kiovosk. Your time of awakening was 05:10:35. The date is January 3rd. You have 1 missed arrival and the weather is rainy. Have a nice day Mr. Kiovosk." Once again an armada of arms reach out from the wall wrapping the man in a heavy coat, a hat, and an umbrella was handed to him as the door open. The overcast skies above cast out a series of lightning bolts and thunder claps. Maybe the gods had were angry today. A sleek sports car hovered on the street just at the end mobile sidewalk. He clicked a button and a beep from the vehicle and its side door opening came in response. He hopped in and selected the" Ministry of Foreign Affairs" from a preexisting list of sites and the vehicle took off taking the quickest route to the building.

The vehicle came to a stop in front of the building and Viktor stepped out onto the mobile sidewalk which slowly took him to the front door. The doors opened automatically and a wave of heat swept over the man. He stepped inside and the coat, hat and umbrella were taken from him as he walked towards his office. The red carpet made soft crunching noises as he strode gracefully towards his office. The door opened and the lights flickered on. A screen in the back turned a light blue and informed him that one message was awaiting him, Let's see it." The lights hut off and a projector broadcasted the message on the wall in front of him,

It is with great pleasure we invite the nations of the galaxy to join us in the opening of the new Terran Commercial Center in Union city with a multinational trade and relations conference. It has been many years since the alliance has attempted to host an event and we hope the galaxy hears our message and wishes to engage in an exchange of dialogue. Both representatives from countries and corporate entities are welcome.

He smiled and rubbed his hand over a rough section on his desk which, in turn, illuminated a bright red and he spoke, "Prepare my shuttle."

Today
The shuttle descended ever so carefully onto the platform. The side door lowered and Viktor stepped out waving to whatever audience may have gathered. He tightened his jacket around him as the icy chill set in. He turned to his right-hand man, "Where in Hades is our greeter?"

[Woklinde]

Zackariah Houston had not seen another soul outside of that of the shuttle crew of two - of which both pilot and co-pilot spent most of their time arguing, drinking coffee, or having sex. Yes, it would be the last time Zachariah ever flew with a married couple ever again. In the intervening periods of sleep and attempting to look like an object while the lovers quarreled, Zachariah had spent his time reading and watching the clock count down from one jump to the next. In all, the shuttle ride had taken five separate, but equally long twelve hour jumps to reach the Terran homeworld of the Federal Union - a substantial power block in of itself within the Milky Way.

It went without saying that Zach was relieved to make landfall when he did, as the married pair were in the midst of another fight. Having landed on a flight pad outside of the convention hall, itself a marvel of engineering, Zach exited the craft he had come in to be greeted by the freezing temperature of what must have been an Ice Age. Under more suitable temperatures he would have stood outside and spent hours taking in the beauty of the Terran homeworld - but alas he firmly believed that hypothermia would set in if he did not get inside.

As it was, he was greeted by a wave of heat the moment he went through the doors into the great building that was hosting the event. The architecture that had gone into the building and the reception by staff was credit to the proprietors. Checking in at the counter, Zachariah was shown the way to his diplomatic room that had been assigned to him. After seeing to the placement of his luggage by room service (which consisted of two duffel bags and one large suitcase), Zachariah took a moment to think about his next course of action.

He had been selected from a very limited pool of diplomats for the job, and while that may have spoken for his skills and professionalism, it was more or less due to the fact that Woklinde was relatively new to the galactic community. During the trip he had checked the small suitcase that had been handcuffed to his hand at least a thousand times. In it contained the goals he was supposed to pursue and access to a private account that would provide more than enough wealth for him to use in the purchase of items and technology alike. He had slept countless hours away on the ship and although he had not eaten today, he felt there would no harm in taking a quick look around the expo. So it was he locked the door on his way out and made off into the general direction where voices of merchants and corporate reps could be heard touting their wares...

[The Fedral Union]

Bump and tag for post tomorrow)

[Taledonia]

Rearden took a large pull at his drink, a gin and tonic with plenty of limes, and raised his eyebrows at the bartender; the gesture had been established early on in the week between the two, and it meant that another drink should be placed in front of him before he finished the last of his current one. His accommodations had been adequate, and the size of the building was surely impressive. The general architecture of it, however, was lacking in his opinion. Still, he thought to himself, the Terrans seemed to be more on the ball than some other nations. He couldn't believe it when the Fulmans told him they would receive the Consortium's diplomat at a castle. A castle! In this day and age!

"I thought I'd find you here!"

It was a light, friendly voice, followed by a warm embrace from behind. Rearden turned to wrap his arms around his good friend. "You can't let me have one drink, can you?" he pleaded.

"One drink?" she gave a wise smile and looked over at the bartender, who responded by lifting up three fingers. "Uh huh."

She laughed, a small girlish laugh. Rearden always enjoyed hearing it, and seeing her do it even more. She was a pretty girl, with a body to die for that she always flaunted with her form fitting garments, but he always thought of her as a daughter. Or his secretary, which she actually was. "Fine. Jack, I guess I'm cut off."

The bartender grunted in reply.

"So what's up?" Rearden asked.

"You left your room before I could give you the finalized copy of the treaty. I'm sure you want to give it a go over before you propose it to everyone."

"I suppose I should," he sighed and took the extended data pad. At the touch of a button, a holographic display appeared, projected from the small device. Rearden skimmed over the data being displayed.

"I would have thought such a thing would have been as straightforward as possible. Seems like the Terrans wanted to make it slightly more complicated by dropping the international meeting on us like this. I think they want to steal the show from us. None-the-less, I'm sure I can maintain control of the assembly and get our original plan across. I swear, if this turns out to be some kind of democratic 'let's all vote on what we like' affairs, then I'll have their President's head."

[The Garbage Men]

If there was anything that The Garbage Men relied upon, it relied upon an ever expanding network of corporate contacts both from within existing markets and to branch into new markets. The message about a 'multinational trade and relations conference ' in Union city was passed through the various communication channels, finally ended up displaying on the terminal of the grand poobah, the big Boss, the CEO and owner of the Garbage Men, Trevor Desorté.

Trevor and his wife were sitting in their office the two of them shared a deep connection, a connection of love, trust, devotion and complete faith. There was absolutely nothing that they hid from each other. However business was business and while both of them would of liked nothing more than to stay in each others company. Once the message came the response was clear.

To the Terran Commerce Department

The Garbage Men is interested in being represented at this conference, Our CEO and owner Trevor Desorté and his wife Dominique Ryder are available and shall represent our corporate interests. However due to specific dietary requirements and specific allergies please be alerted that many items of the Alliaceae plant family do cause adverse reaction, please take appropriate measures to ensure any food that doesn't contain these items are not cross-contaminated with food that does, and that they are appropriately labelled.

Details of members of the plant family that are known to cause problems are included.

[Tierra Prime]

A small, lone Lambda Class Shuttle would shoot from the System Gate above New Earth. For a few moments it would sit there, motionless, then suddenly glide towards the Planet below.

This wasn't any ordinary Shuttle however, it was the personal transport of Darth Valorum....one of the most powerful Sith Lords in the Universe. He was most well known for snapping the necks of those who fail him. A tall man, originally named Dimitri Alenkov, he had been burned and maimed during the destruction of the Jedi Order on Tierra Prime, and was rebuilt. Forced to wear a special life support suit to keep him alive, he would make sure the Galactic Emperor's rule continues uninterrupted.

Eventually it would land...the Tierrans had arrived. But would there be someone there to greet them? Hopefully, they liked being made a fuss out of, and loved to look important when possible.

[Xenohumanity]

Eight Weeks Ago…

Code: Select all

It is with great honor that we accept your invitation. As well as the federal trade ministry, XenoTrade, we will also bring a representative of the Xeno-Tech Corporation who wishes to attend. We thank you again for offering us this opportunity to expand our markets.

If there was one thing Xenohumanity needed, it was more customers. Their accumulation of shiny technology and… notably unique products had few, if any, external customers. Xeno-Tech had opened its doors to the galaxy long ago, but other than that, Xenohumanity remained mostly mercantile, trading with itself above all others. Hopefully, with the entrance into the Terran’s protectorate program, that would change quite abruptly.

Today…

The shuttle landed on the VTOL pad as directed, and after the engines shut down, the exit/entrance ramp descended. From the ramp descended two holodroids. Both were in the visage of their masters: One was a standard human, hailing in for XenoTrade. The other was a typical white-hide Drakon, reporting in for Xeno-Tech. Looking about at the other guests from across the galaxy, they wondered where their greeters would be… It wouldn’t be a great first impression if there wasn’t anybody there to do the impressing!

[Dastardly Stench]

OOC: Prepare for the Clown Prince of Demons!

IC:

Credentials? Who needs credentials? The now-open kitchen refrigerator gaped before the demon-no-more, its delicacies laid out, just waiting for him to have his way with them. Those 'noids who were watching the place were so gullible that the undemon had been able to get to the place's prime real estate and all he'd had to do was make himself look like the head chef. Of course, they wouldn't appreciate the nuance that he had gone through, or how he had managed to make his ripped, six-foot-three body look like a five-foot-eleven 'noid lard ball...but every artist has to suffer at some point in his career. The turned demon resumed his normal form--horns, wings, tail and all--and closed in on his prey, extending his hollow, foot-and-a-half long tongue for the strike.

Three super jumbo eggs (crack! slurp slurp slurp! plop.), some rather buttery peas (glug glug glug glug) and about four pounds of ham on the bone (you don't WANT to know what that sounded like) later, Marvel was just about right for a while, and began to turn his attention to the drinks when her heard a soft but familiar click coming from the other side of the door. Having had appropriate training, he recognized it immediately: it was the sound of the safety being disengaged on a hand-held rail gun. Oops. He guessed that he must have gotten a little too tied up in the food and stopped paying attention to the sounds around him.

Putting the cheapest little schoolgirl smile that he could possibly manage on his face, he popped his head back around the fridge door and regarded his new company. Seems the real head chef had noticed something and brought about four rather burpy looking men with burp guns along with him--and, judging by the look on his face, the man was not amused.

Marvel would have to remedy this. After all, what good is life if it doesn't have a little levity in it.

He raised his hand, and pointed his index finger straight up in the air.

"One minute, please," he said. "Not done eating yet!"

[Grittonia]

Some weeks ago | The Jackin' Rabbit | The Gnat System | The Grittonian Banking Authority

The Jackin' Rabbit, a old and gnarly looking capital ship which was brought from a couple of pirates by the Grittonian Banking Authority, drifted in the space of the Gnat system. The Gnat system was newly acquired by the GBA. Well, they were the rulers of it for many years but had only just begun exploiting it's wealth. The Gnat system was previously used as a pirate base, due to it being relatively unknown and because it was GBA territory, no other foreign power would be dumb enough to send a patrol into it. And the GBA? It knew about the base and accepted it, as long as they would pay their fees for the 'Recreational Base with Level-2 Hangar and Repair Facilities', as pirate bases were named. However, when the old pirate leader was shot in the chest when raiding a transport, the new leader thought that he could do without paying the fees. Within days, three days to be exact, GBA infiltrator droids had taken over the base defences and when the main force arrived, they made the pirate ships, which had also been infiltrated, fly away on their auto-pilot systems and dock in the hangars of the GBA ships. Many of the pirates surrendered and accepted the GBA's offer to join their navy, flying their own ships. The others were shot by the infiltrated defences, their own security turned against them.

With the base added to their possessions, the GBA and their Chairman, Sann Duo, had decided to begin the exploitation of the Gnat system. Now, a burstling new base stood in the system, the old base being used as a patrol base. And to oversee the construction of the floating city of Gnat Prime, the Chairman, the High Priest and their new ship, the Jackin' Rabbit, had come.

''Ghat, Grrtary, Grath, Gliiph, Glimph, Glath, Gnash, Grash, Glash and now the Gnat system. We're already exploiting 10 systems with another 10 in our sphere of influence and 5 others being in our possession but without any current worth. You know, we have the droids needed to take over a few independent systems. You know the drill, get some infiltrators in to disable their defences and then drop some MTV's...''
''No, Greg. We're not going to invade any systems. Besides, unless we can get some forces on the inside, those Mega Transport Vehicles will be destroyed. Now, check the process on Gnat Prime.''

The massive Ghat, Greg Freikel, walked across the massive conference room that was built in the Jackin' Rabbit. A large screen was placed on one side of the wall, providing a, almost panoramic, view of anything within visibility range of the Jackin' Rabbit. Pressing a few buttons and saying the needed voice commands, the screen showed a report on the progress and two humans behind a black screen. The man looked nervous yet happy while the woman had a stern look in her eyes.



''Dr. Bravaska, how is the progress on Gnat Prime going?''
''Oh yes, Natasha, send the results to the Jackin' Rabbit. For now, sir, the progress is going good. The Bulk Build Droids have placed the foundation and the new reactor that I designed is up and running and will be able to provide enough power for this city to house 500 million people!''
''Good, Doctor. Me and Chairman Duo are happy with the progress. I see that after the construction of the Reactor Dome, we can begin placing our prefabricated buildings?''
''Yes, yes. As soon as the Reactor Dome shuts the reactor from any outside influences, it will be safe enough to...''

Suddenly, a man runs into the screen before pointing at a nearby screen, to which the Doctor looks.

''What?!? This is not possible, my calculations were perfect! Ya ne ponyala!''
''Doctor, what is happening?''
''Natasha, get the Bulk Build Droids back, they need to rip out the Reactor and bring it to the repair base.''
''DOCTOR!?! Answer now, what is happening?''
''My... The reactor, it went wrong. The damage, oh the damage. It'll take days for the reactor to be rebuilt. Still, this gives us experience...''
''Experience means shit unless the GBA reaches it's goal.''
''You will have your city soon enough, I promise. With just a couple of billion more, some droids and a little more time...''
''You can have a billion and have 50 droids plus reinforcements to replenish the ones lost. Time however, is something you should beat on your own.''
''Yes, I understand. I will get working right away, Doctor Bravaska out.''

The black screen goes away, just keeping the report open until a message pops up.

It is with great pleasure we invite the nations of the galaxy to join us in the opening of the new Terran Commercial Center in Union city with a multinational trade and relations conference. It has been many years since the alliance has attempted to host an event and we hope the galaxy hears our message and wishes to engage in an exchange of dialogue. Both representatives from countries and corporate entities are welcome.

Upon seeing the message, Greg turned around to face Sann, Sann's face filled with thinking dimples, as the Ghat species got dimples when thinking. Scratching the base of his green afro, he looked at Greg.

''I guess we have a conference to go to. Have Gnat Prime send a shuttle with Doctor Bravaska and we will go.''
''But what about the reactor?''
''His assistant Natasha can handle that. We will bring him along in order to show our newest technology.''
''Alright.''

Walking to a intercom-like system, which also featured as a database, Greg pushed the button for the bridge.

''Bridge Commander H-91 speaking! Currently, Captain DD-91A is not on duty.''
''Stand at ease. Could you send a shuttle to pick up Doctor Bravaska?''
''Of course, High Priest. Do you need anything else?''
''Yes, please contact Doctor Bravaska about his pickup and if he asks why, just tell him he's going on a trip.''
''Shall do.''
''Good, High Priest Freikel out.''

With Doctor Bravaska eventually coming on board, one of the greatest human minds of the GBA, the Jackin' Rabbit speeded away to the Terran Commercial Centre, it's engines glowing in a red and purple colour, showing the strange technology embedded in them.

---

Today, a few hours before Maximilian's landing

The shuttle of the Jackin' Rabbit, called the Comin' Rabbit, landed on one of the pads, it's four legs spreading like a real rabbit would do. As soon as it stood firm on the pad, it's 'tail' spread out, revealing a small shield generator at it's tip. Looking like a massive rabbit, it was now protected from the show, other weather conditions and weaponry due to the shield that the generator created.

Slowly, the ramp extended from the mouth of the Comin' Rabbit, like a tongue. First out of it were three droids, large elite security droids that wielded two electro-batons and a wrist-mounted laser cannon. These XX-9 Security Droids looked around before giving the sign to Doctor Bravaska, High Priest Greg Freikel and Chairman Sann Duo to come out of the shuttle. Slowly leaving the shuttle, the Doctor took out a scanner.

''Again, ya ne ponyala! Why do these people let this snow fall? It is totally useless for the productivity and will only decrease stability of the Inner-workings of the planet.''
''Good to know, Doctor. Now, shall we enter the building?''
''Alright, alright. Do not smack the Doctor.''

[Old Tyrannia]

Tyranno-Sinosian Empire
Holy Tyranno-Sinosian Imperial Confederation / IMPERIVM TYRANNO-SINOSIANIVM SACRVM
/ พระสมาพันธ์อิมพีเรียลเผด็จการฉลาด

Official Communique
Seer Council of Sinos - High Council of Tyrannus

TO: United Terran Alliance
RE: New Earth Economic Conference

The glorious Holy State of the Eternals, the Tyranno-Sinosian Imperial Confederation, shall attend the economic conference on New Earth in an attempt to establish economic ties with the heathen nations of the Milky Way and beyond. We of the Empire feel that our Imperial hegemony would benefit greatly from increased trade and economic contact with outsiders, which so far has been tightly regulated. We welcome this conference as a great opportunity for the nations of the Universe, for not only shall it lead to greater economic prosperity, but the increased trade it could lead to may help the spread of the True Faith, the Path of the Eternals.

Signed and Approved,
Lord Rakaash, Leader of the Sinosian Seer Council
Identification Code: 1486489
Supreme Commander Netorius, Leader of the High Council
Identification Code: 3435675

---

Despite the flattery of their communique, the Tyranno-Sinosian Empire was not particularly eager to expand trade and increase economic growth. Economics were an important but mundane part of governing a nation that was more often than not left by the more powerful Seer Council, the leaders of the Sinosian part of hegemony, to the Tyrannian High Council, which had considerably less influence in the Empire's policies. This explained, then, why the party dispatched to New Earth was entirely Tyrannian, without a single Sinosian delegate, as opposed to the usual half/half split between the two allied species.

The head of the small party was Tiberius Herennius Ambustus, influencial High Lord of the Tyrannian Imperial Treasury. Lord Ambustus was accompanied by Terentius Culleo, a lesser Lord in the High Council, Mamilius Lurco, the fat, conniving head of the Imperial Confederate Mint, Iuventia Laterensis of the obscure Committee for External Trade of the Tyrannian High Council, and more importantly (but also secretly) the Romulan Imperial Order's representative in the delegation, and finally, the Inquisitorial representative, Lord Inquisitor Naevius Sura.

The odd collection of diplomats arrived in the Terran system onboard a Megalodon-class warship, but the great ship did not enter the system; the Empire didn't want to alarm the inhabitants of New Earth. For once, they had no hostile intentions. The delegation were ferried to New Earth by a small Destroyer-class fighter/shuttlecraft that had been disarmed but remained capable of travelling at considerable speeds below light speed. The craft therefore reached New Earth fairly quickly, and soon, it had lowered itself onto the platform in New Earth's primary spaceport on three huge steel legs that extended from beneath the saucer-style craft like the legs of some giant insect.

---

New Earth

The delegation soon departed their shuttle, and were then somewhat lost as to what to do next. Ambustus insisted that they would be picked up sooner or later. Laterensis began talking at length about his recent trip to Setos with Lurco, who was helping himself to a piece of Tarantulan seed cake. Sura and Culleo began arguing with Ambustus about whether or not to address the guards near the gate, with Sura mostly just staring unnervingly at Ambustus and Culleo doing the actual arguing.

Eventually Sura was fed up waiting and began striding off towards the main building, followed by the other delegates. All looked immensely displeased, except for Laterensis, who was still happily talking about his experience with a Seti who couldn't speak very good Tyrannic Latin. Lurco finished his seed cake and began exhibiting symptoms of extreme displeasure at actually having to walk anywhere, which were dismissed cheerfully by Laterensis. Considering that they represented one of the most hostile, mysterious and ruthless nations in the Milky Way, the delegation was nothing like what one would expect.

Finally, they were indoors. While most of the delegates stood in the corner, looking around in utter disgust at the alien delegates, Laterensis was quick to head off socialising. As Lurco began asking a helpless servant if there was a buffet at the conference, and the Lord Inquisitor took the time to make everyone feel awkward by praying to the Eternals, Laterensis wandered up to the delegates from the Grittonian Banking Authority.
"So," he began, "how are you fine people on this fine day?"

[Dastardly Stench]

This was the part that Marvel really liked. The muzzles on all four burp guns wilted. It was only an illusion, but none of the storm-trooper-types knew that. One of them even pulled his gun up to look at it. The barrel seemed to lol around as the gun shifted--and the look on his little pink face was to die for.

Marvel sighed. "Y' know," he said, looking at the head chef, cheesy grin still quite intact, "I've heard that these guys really hate it when they can't keep it up!"

"Don't just stand there, arrest him!" bellowed the chef.

This wasn't the part that Marvel liked any more...but it had its compensations. The two stormies on the ends rushed him, so he pointed at the closest one and said, quickly, "Goochiegoochiegoo!" As he did, the dumb 'noid stopped running and bent over, going into a seizure of uncontrollable laughter. Then, he pointed at the second one. "Goochie goochie goo!" he said.

The man straightened up, looked at him and smiled an evil smile.

"Guess he's not ticklish," the undemon said. And, as the man charged, he brought his right wing around so that it looked vaguely like a bull fighter's cape. "O-lay!" he said, neatly stepping out of the man's way. WHAM! went the refrigerator. Splat went the stormie.

As he moved, his prehensile tail reached out and grabbed a small jar of cooking oil of the nearest shelf. Before the other two guards could reach him, it was on the floor in front of him--and so were they.

"Well, thanks for the free food," Marvel said. "Gotta run." He faded into invisibility, stepping toward the nearest door.

The chef shook his bald head.

"Why can't I ever have just one of these things go right for a change?" he muttered under his breath.

Marvel appeared directly in front of him. "Because that wouldn't be any fun!" the undemon exclaimed--and, with that, he bent down slightly and gave the man a big, loud kiss right in the middle of his forehead.

As Marvel disappeared, waving goodbye, he could see that the poor man was not happy at all.

Some people just don't respond to therapy. Sometimes, it takes more therapy.

[The Cerberus Alliance]

Two humanoid machines stood, staring each other down. The sound of a buzzer rang throughout their surroundings to signal the beginning of the battle. What was to be witnessed would be no more than half a minute of brutality. Weapons fire, kicks, punches, the public would have to see the footage slowed down to a fraction of the speed to truly understand what had happened. The arena's buzzer rang as one of the beasts fell to the ground, not even a third of its hull remaining. Only slightly worse-off was its opponent, which was now brandishing the fallen's severed, battered arm as some kind of club. The match over, the crowds turned to the nearby displays to see the details while those who had bets ran to collect.

Standing at the windows of one of the arena's executive boxes, the cyborg referred to as Thoth made a few short calculations. This arena, and those like it around Protectorate-owned space, were semi-self-funding testing and training facilities after all, and as the head of the nation's R&D since the end of the Sornei Civil War. Turning back to his guests, a pair of council members, he stowed his notes.

One went ahead and spoke, pleasing Thoth as striking up a conversation could be too much of a bother at times. "I apologize if this comes at a bad time."

"Do not worry about my distraction, Councilman Icarus. It is but a momentary thing. Now, about this message? The Terran one?" He responded, half bored with always having his availability questioned like this whenever someone decided to meet with him.

The other councilman responded. "We want to have one or two people from your department advising the ambassador that the council will be sending. We could have handled this via normal communications, but you weren't replying so we came here to ask in person."

Thoth looked at the one who just spoke, eyes narrowing. "Or as close to in-person as you can get. Regardless of my own networked status, however, I am aware of your need and was preparing one of my selves to accompany Mr. Icarus there on his voyage. Just don't expect me to find anything too interesting."

"Good to have you aboard, then. The itinerary should be in your possession already. I look forward to working with you." The councilman that was identified as 'Icarus' replied, and then fizzled out of existence as the other, unnamed, council member deactivated the emitter, and made his way out.

Thoth turned back towards the arena, just in time to see crews finally get the last bits of debris off of the field so that another 'test' could be performed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There's something to be said about the diplomatic vessels of the Alliance. Armed, armored, and well-furnished, it is little surprise that they are actually re-purposed warships. Granted, many of them were ancient models from near the beginning of the Protectorate's ESUS membership centuries ago, but that did not stop the Royal from still being an impressive sight.

The decorated vessel kept its weapons systems disabled as it entered a safe location and launched the shuttle containing the delegation from the Cerberus Alliance. Provided that no horrifying incidents occur, the cyborg Thoth and the psionically gifted Councilman Icarus would arrive at the site of the event following whatever guidelines their hosts demanded of them.

[Roten]

Apprentice Lais Oestis was bursting with excitement, but had to bottle it up. She stood behind Celion Cvean, head diplomat of the knights, and this was her first trip off-planet. She knew that if she screwed something up, it might also be her last, so she had to maintain a perfect, calm exterior, not easy to do when the excitement of the past two days had kept her awake for days. With all the activity of the past couple days, a part of Lais wanted to just collapse and take a nap. Another part of her wanted to keep moving forward, to explore all the new experiences that lay seemingly just beyond the door of the small intermediary shuttle that took them to the Rotenese-Terran transfer station. The final part of her knew that it didn’t matter what she felt like doing, she had better not collapse on the floor right behind the head diplomat, or her cute young butt would be back planetside in less than the thirty minutes it took to get to where she was.

Of course, currently, the only thing that lay directly beyond that door was the deadly vacuum of space, but that stark reality was easily defeated by her romantic imagination.

Moving as little as possible, Lais checked her reflection on one of the gleaming white walls, scanning it to see if any hint of her inner discombobulation shoo the contrary, it all looked more or less properly combobulated, although she tried to adjust her circlet ever so slightly just by moving her temples so that it sat just perfectly on her ginger hair.

Lais glanced over, almost imperceptibly, to her equally young companion, a floating former sentry droid whose AI was about nineteen years old, like she was. However, his white plastic ‘head’ with its led emotion-displaying blue ‘eyes’ blended almost seamlessly into the interior walls, and his body was so motionless that he could have been mistaken for being off, if his floating parts were fully attached. Lais envied the way he could do that, and secretly wished for that ability, although according to Brint, as he called himself, humans actually did have this power, they just didn’t consciously know how to use it.
Brint, too was accompanying his head diplomat, and though Lais didn’t remember that diplomat’s name, she knew he was a far less combat-oriented robot than Brint. Lais knew, from telepathic conversation with the young AI, that he didn’t really consider himself likely to achieve diplomat status, and was far more likely to be used at some low-level security establishment like the others of his class. Lais didn’t believe that, since he was far brighter and more sociable than most of the other robots of his type, and despite his lack of a mouth or dedicated speech synthesizer, was a capable enough telepath that he had no need of verbal communication normally. Lais had been in near constant conversation with him since the trip began, and the telepathic communication, normal for most knights, allowed her to maintain most of her composure, although she had to suppress the desire to giggle every so often. Brint had such a clever, dry sense of humor, she was discovering.

Lais finally felt the soft deceleration that told her that the windowless vessel, their space-borne dinghy, had finally joined up with the much larger station. It was sort of odd to Lais that the trip from the hyperspace ferry to the station took almost as long as the entire gravity jump from Talna to this part of the galaxy. Finally, the gleaming white-and black airlock doors opened to reveal the inside of a massive waystation, a testament to the merging of two cultures.
There were two sides to this waystation. On the Rotenese side, the one Lais stood on, architecture native to the Telvean home world was dominant: white gothic-nouveau arches and designs crawled everywhere, showing an incredible attention to detail while maintaining an unobtrusive air. Through the transparent floors, Lais could see the full architecture of the place, it’s spherical floors maximizing both space and stability, and all the way to the Terran side, where greys and more obviously utilitarian architecture showed forth, though the difference was understated.

Lais stepped forward, keeping pace with her older, but still vigorous mentor. At first, the shaped gravity, a Rotenese art form, was difficult to get used to, but soon Lais was able to walk with ease amongst all those smooth, semi-reflective surfaces, heading towards the more crowded Terran side, where new pilgrims gathered, as well as traders not necessarily on Rotenese-related business, although Lais thought she saw an archaeologist or two returning home with oddly-shaped packs, which suggested that they were removing small bits, probably of old buildings, and taking them home, which she thought was illegal in most Terran systems, but she decided not to say anything. After all, would it really be such a travesty if some small Terran communities developed close familial bonds and an overwhelming sense of integrity and morality?

[Grittonia]

Upon seeing the Tyrannian coming to the Chairman, High Priest and the Doctor, the XX-9 Security Droids activated their electro-batons and took a active combat stance. The Doctor, who was a bit nervous upon seeing the droids going into a combat stance, adjusted his glasses slightly.

''Doctor Bravaska, could you have your security droids stand down please, so that we have a normal conversation with the person who is coming to us?''
''Yes, yes. XX-9's, activate defensive plan Delta-Alpha-Two, Code Green.''

One of the three XX-9's turned to the Doctor, his purple colored sensors focussed on the Doctor. Identifying the Doctor as the real Doctor by scanning his eyes and multiple other parts of the Doctor, the three droids deactivated their electro-batons.

''Authentication code?''
''Uhm... Doctor Bravaska?''
''Wrong Authentication code. AC-2 Code needed for Delta-Alpha-Two.''
''Oh, then it is... Доктор Бравашка!''
''AC-2 Accepted. Enjoy your conversation Doctor, we will go and drink something. Ex-Ex-Two and Ex-Ex-Three, let's go. We're off-duty for now.''

The droids left their combat stance and began walking around, slapping each other on the back and laughing like they were humans. One of the things that the GBA Droids were known for, and could be identified with, was that they would take human traits and traits from other races, making for very diverse droids with deep personalities.

As the droids walked away, the Tyrannian finally reached the party and asked:

How are you fine people on this fine day?

The first one to respond was the Chairman, Sann Duo. The Ghat, who was only 2.25 meters long and thus small for a Ghat, had a light blue skin and a massive green afro. Wearing tight pants, which expanded into wide legs that went over his large gold with diamonds-decorated platform shoes, and a tight leather wifebeater, revealing his muscles. In the Ghattian culture, the more important someone was, the less formal he would dress. As such, this was a way to display importance.

''We are quite fine. Doctor Bravaska here, one of the greatest human minds in the Grittonian Banking Authority, has made a reactor that will allow us to fuel a entire planet, construction in our new system goes great and soon, we will be able to export droids, create new droid citizens and make and export many other things. Oh yes, Doctor Bravaska, meet...''

The Doctor walked around Laterensis, a small scanner in his hand.

''The database says that this being is a Tyrannian, someone hailing from Tyrannus. It also says that the GBA Threat Level on this being is lower than normal due to the being giving off no reasons that it is hostile to us.''
''Yes, Doctor. Very nice. Now, can I introduce the man?''
''You do not have to introduce him, my scanner says that it is Iuventia Laterensis, a Tyrannian. I do have to say that if he was a droid, he could get upgrades to work 20% more efficient...''

The Doctor placed the scanner in the inside of his pearly white labcoat, many pockets were in the inside and many of them contained devices of some sort. Again readjusting his glasses, he looked into Laterensis's eyes before nodding.

''Doctor Nikolai Nikita Vladimir Alexander Bravaska the Third. But most people just call me the Doctor or Doctor Bravaska. I make things that explode when you shoot them. Droids, reactors, spaceships... Any machine, really. You need a machine that lets you see the history with your own eyes? I have it. You need a walking, talking massive killer droid capable of crushing armoured vehicles with it's bare hands? I can make it, given enough time and money.''
''Lots of money.''
''Yes, my creations may cost more than their regular variants but they are unique. Now, mister Laterensis, pleased to meet you.''

The Doctor took a bow before readjusting his glasses for the third time. Fiddling with one of the machines in his lab coat, he walked back to where he was standing. Suddenly shouting 'Eureka', he pointed the machine to his hand and pushed a button. Within seconds, a small shot glass filled with a liquid materialised in his hand.

''I am the greatest scientist alive! My Schnapps Creator works! Now, we will be able to enjoy alcohol in little shot glasses where ever we might be...''
''But where does it come from?''
''Who cares? It could come from time that has passed or from another universe or from a local bar... Either way, I have created the eternal gift of Schnapps!''
''Don't drink too much Doctor, I think you already had a glass. Or two. Or a dozen.''

[The Fedral Union]

expect a post tonight I have work to do and I should be done soon enough.

[Sidereal Cities]

OOC: I soo want in. Tag.

[The Garbage Men]

Whatever the response by the hosts of this conference would be in terms of the food both Trevor and Dominique arrived on their personal space yacht. The yacht was fast and luxurious and most importantly contained a vast supply of food that was suitable for Trevor's dietary needs.

It didn't take long but they arrived, both Trevor and Dominique dressed to impress, a simple yet stylish tuxedo hung perfectly from the frame of the CEO and it looked like he was born to wear such a suit. Dominique was wearing an elegant sequinned blue dress, high heels and some earings that just pulled everything in and framed it perfectly.

The two of them seemed to be utter perfection as they carefully made their way into the conference hall. They were perhaps a bit overdressed but that would simply mean they automatically would draw more attention to themselves and allow them to showcase the corporation that bit more... after all if any one could make the business of garbage and sanitation glamorous it would be these two.

Trevor and Dominque had their arms inter-lock with each others as they gracefully made their way into the convention centre. “Darling, did you hear back about the food meeting our dietary requirements?” Dominique asked looking over at her husband, lover and friend.

“No, I haven't, Darling, perhaps we should find the kitchen and ask.”

The two of them shared a look at each other and that was it, they went off to find someone who might know where the kitchen was.

[Dastardly Stench]

Marvel hung from the kitchen ceiling. In his hands was an illusionary paint tablet. On his head was the illusion of a billowing artist's hat. In front of him was his latest "masterpiece." (He called this particular illusion "Magic Marker.")

When he had started, it had looked exactly like the torso of the head chef. That had been about five minutes ago--before the mustache, gap in the teeth, glasses, lightning bolt scar and, the crowning glory, the bolts on the neck, had appeared. Needless to say, the cooking staff was in a rather raucous state as he hummed and "painted" away.

Of course, someone had called the head chef...and, it was at that moment that he chose to walk in the door with several stormies in tow.

"It's YOU!" bellowed the 'noid. The demon smiled...and waved...and pushed the wooden end of the paint brush against the "masterpiece."

As he did, all the little changes he'd made suddenly appeared on the head chef's body. They were all illusions, so none of them would actually harm the man, but they could be thought of as...mildly embarrassing.

The man swore. "This is MY kitchen," he said, his huge, phony mustache bobbing in time with his words, "now get that $#@@#$ before I fire every one of you!"

By then, Marvel was already on the floor. As he went for the door without any stormies in it, three suddenly appeared. With a look of mock terror, he turned, screamed quietly, shook his hands and ran for the table in the center of the room. They all followed. Just as they were about to tackle him, however, he disappeared...and reappeared by the door he was originally going to leave through.

The head chef must have been very popular with the hired help. Not one of them so much as lifted a finger to help the stormies. Judging by his mannerisms, Marvel didn't even start to wonder why.

Before walking away, he bowed and waved.

After walking away, he ran straight into a gaggle of reinforcements.

He smiled.

Some people just don't respond to therapy.

[The Fedral Union]

Most of the delegates would arrive at a large cavernous staging area, arches seemed to be used in many aspects of construction as they held up a huge domed roof, several large well lit tunnels lead towards the respective landing pads and arrival rooms that the delegates departed. On the walls of these tunnels every few steps adverts for various companies sponsorship the event could bee seen flickering to life on the holo monitors. In addition to the adverts stunning pictures of various core worlds could be seen. Ixcumane and its vast windswept savannas at sunset moons rising above various hills. Camanis and its beautiful icey landscape stars glimmering in the darkness twin moons bathing the icey terrain and patches of arctic in an Erie twilight , the sky caught in one of its colorful auroral shifts.

The art however was just a supplement to the buildings sleek and high tech architecture and its “natural harmony” as every delegate would walk in to the staging area next to the main entrance to the conference hall itself. They could see a large central fountain with a marble like statue of a female figure holding a torch to the sky and a shield in her other hand. The fountain fed canals that were lined with various trees and colorful flower bushes , these canals made ornate patters on the ground and were filled with life, various kinds of earth and non earth fish and several kinds of alien plants that would remind anyone from earth of Lilly pads. Each delegate and their staff were assigned a nearly credit card thin PDA like device containing direct lines of communications to security, medical and information. A three dimensional map of the building was offered at the press of a button.

Indeed an announcement came over each of the PDA's and the intercom.

”Welcome to the Union City commercial exchange and business center , we would like to inform all delegates and participants in the convention that your bags and belongings you wish to place in your lodging will be automaticly transported from your shuttles to your rooms. We would also like to offer seasons greetings for those who celebrate Christmas, in the delay between the start of today’s events and the waiting period we would like encourage delegates and representatives to please visit the many culinary and entertainment venues offered at this location.

Indeed there were long winding hallways lined with intricate art and various interactive adverts leading from the second floor catwalks that encircled the room against the walls of the domed building towards the entertainment and food court section of the center. The food courts offered a wide verity of cuisine . Standard earth food. Alien dishes and traditional dishes of various cultures were offered. One hall had a holographic sign above it reading in bold three dimensional letters “Terran Museum of Art History and sciences”

--- ---
Maximilian flanked by his two drones and his companion Jeffery stepped through to the long winding hall heading towards the staging area. His mind of course wasn't on the conference at all. No it was on more “leisurely activities” . His next three dimensional gold trip to the white sands of the moon ” percas II” Then that moon was simply an entire surface and underground network of recreation and pleasurable activities... Of all kinds. His attention was split easily, he had needed no effort due to being modded to keep himself in his thoughts and in reality at the same time. So it came to no surprise that he heard Jeffery starting to babble.

”This place is.. Max are you sure this was a worthy investment it looks a bit... much …. Looks like a risky venture if I ever saw one, after all..”

”Jeffery, don't be such a pessimist. Your nuts on a stick if you think this place is gonna fail, even if it doesn’t fulfill its main purpose it can be rented out and leased and such. Its a freaking cash cow either way..”

“... Right, well if you say so … I wonder where the president is..”

The drone said.. Max responded with a furrowed brow.

”I do hope hes on his way. I wonder what Richy's been up to since the council of wise people known as the senate lost a screw..


From a small side hall intersecting the tube right next to the entrance to the staging area a scream could be heard, one of slight terror but it was also comical. The source of that scream was made clear immediately as a well dressed man in a suit ran in to the staging area callking out

”Ahhaha! That mans fucking crazy...”.

He hastily made his way passed the delegates. Maxwell cocked his head, his lips then turned to a smile. Jeffery was not amused, he was worried something was actually wrong and scanned the area. Several security drones materialized at the door way storming passed Max.

”Looks like Doctor Vonpedro is here, I wonder what freakish experiments hes brought us this time....”

Max commended if Jeffery were in human form he would have cocked his head but he settled for silence and a stare.

”You want to know what hes doing here, well hes the new CEO of Gen-Sol genetics, Been asleep at the wheel Jef?”

“No its not that, its why does he have to be here and why did he have to bring something by the sounds of it.. Its nasty.”

The drone responded. Max looked on ward he saw the security drones restraining a four eyed eight legged two point five meter tall insectoid that happened to have wings and two crab like claws many times sharper and harder than diamond. It looked more like a spider mixed with a crab and a fly of some sort.

”Wow ….That man gets odder and odder”

To the left of this beast in a hovering cage was an eccentric looking man with a holo visor over his eyes. He had white combed hair a lab coat and jumpsuit of sort under it. To the left of him was a flying piglet sized version of a full grown hog, with wings, merely just hovering in one spot idly stopping and perching for a few moments.

”Doctor Seymour Von-Pedro, what the hell brings you here ya loon..

The doctor responded with a smooth voice.

”Well I came here to peddle what my company has to offer, I've become a salesmen unfortunately , not much time for hands on inventions... I heard you'll be opening this ya?”

”Yes, I have the honour of making a boring speech, I'll try to liven it up.”

”Bah, ve'll. I'm sure you'll do just fine Now I must get these marvelous things to za show room. Tch tch tch. I should have given it flammable chemical glands...

Max shook his head, he smiled stepping out and finally in to the central area. Who ever was there closest to him he would greet.

”Greetings, hello there My name is Maximilian Raython. CEO of the Raython Enterprise.”

H held out his hands and had a charismatic smile upon his face. At the other end a nanoform materialized in to a lithe beautiful female with red wavy hair and blue eyes as well as a smooth silky complexion. Two other foglet clouds formed in to a male and a female associate both looked young they seemed to be the red headed woman’s associates. She glared at Max by passing the commotion and his attempted en-mass greetings. She was the CEO of Epsilon Systems Incorporated . One of the top computer system designers and manufactures in the Alliance. They had many contracts with the Terran government and major gal-net server hives. She was more conservative being an AI and all she could do trillions of things at once. And thus most of the company was in-fact her .She had staff working for her of course but she assisted in design and many other aspects.


The presidents lengthy PTV came to a stop on the fourth floor executive parking suite surrounded by the Executive Security Service. ESS Agents donned standard black government suits and ties with sunglasses, they also happened to be augmented and carried pistols under their suit jackets. They stepped out of various unmarked cars. No more than six, two accompanied the president up the ramp as he stepped from his limousine , the rest went through an alternate entrance toward security control. of-course the complexes AI, security drones and officers were aware hours before the presidents arrival.

An announcement came over the PA once more.

Attention everyone, the president of the Terran Alliance has arrived at the north entrance.

Several drones and security officers were planted at key locations not a grate many.

The president and his two agents as well as his sisterly companion Laura in her human form stepped in to the lime light. A version of “hail Columbia” began to play. President Sagen with his charismatic smile and authoritative yet kind demeanor got him many places in life, he learned this though from his humble and shy beginnings. There he was walking in the middle of the staging area. News drones began to fly from various corners surrounding the conference with live feeds. Holo pictures were also taken.

Richard spoke in a plain but friendly voice through a sound system.

”Greetings to you all I am both humbled and honored to have your many nations and companies represented here today. I welcome you to the Terran Alliance and to Union City, I hope you've enjoyed things so far. I've been informed the conference will not open until about an hour and a half from now. I would like to invite all the delegate's and leaders to a round table at “Saint Marks” in the food court.

*plots an incoming doctor strange love reference*

[Cyber Utopia]

To the Administrator's delight, it seemed that nation's were hosting diplomatic events left right and centre. It must have been that whole 'Christmas Spirit' rubbish that organics spoke of around this season.

The newest such event to catch the attention of The Administrator was an economic conference hosted by the Terran Alliance. While The Network no longer had an economy to speak of, and the nation's currency was now worthless, it would be worth sending an envoy to attend the conference purely to meet representatives from other star-nations. Besides, there must be some nations that would be willing to barter rather than accept currency.

The Administrator toyed with the idea of creating another ADMIN system, a modified copy of itself that could be sent away for diplomatic missions. However, there were already several in existence. It wouldn't do for hundreds of them to be gallivanting around the galaxy. Easy prey for tech-thieves and the like.

So the supercomputer sent the next best thing: one of the long-running and trusty Dave series androids.

The most reliable of these androids, Dave III had unfortunately been destroyed, but luckily his intelligence was still backed up in Network databanks. Determined that that III was the 'bot for job, and wanting to dispatch the android as quickly as possible, The Administrator had uploaded the Dave program to a probe designed for planetary exploration. Perhaps not the best body for the occasion, but needs must and all that.

Dave III was, to say the least, rather taken aback by this change of form. As the spherical, four-legged, two meter tall machine strode through the crowds of the Terran world on it's way to the conference, it staggered as if drunk. Dave could not quite master the art of quadrupedal travel.

A device resembling an eyestalk moved from left to right, surveying Dave's surroundings, noting the sparkling white coating of ice and snow. Despite not being able to feel the cold, he felt it would have been prudent to wear a hat.

Staggering uneasily toward what looked like a Terran official, Dave decided to ask for directions. He had not yet tried to use the voice function of the probe, and was unimpressed when a harsh, monotone, heavily synthesised and slightly aggressive voice boomed out from his body, punctuated by a low angry buzzing sound.

"Bzzzt - EXCUSE ME - bzzzt - COULD YOU TELL ME - bzzzt - WHERE THE ECONOMIC CONFERENCE IS BEING HELD - bzzzt."

[CoreWorlds]

OOC: As the forums ate my beautiful post, I will have to make a not-so-beautiful one here. Sorry!

IC:

On behalf of the Emperor and the Shogun, the Supreme Kage of the Shinobi Corps was dispatched along with the CEO of Jikukan Industries, Welch Vineyard, to attend the trade conference with all speed. For the Daikage, Lady Yoshino Matsurani, it was a prime opportunity to meet a few of the galactic residents and learn a little bit about them for future potential interaction. Perhaps she might even advertise a little bit, considering that Shinobi are a mercenary-minded force as well as the nation's primary go-to people for defense. For the CEO, it was an awesome idea as she would definitely be able to show off some of her products, even a few trinkets that were going to be distributed on the markets soon.

Their ship, a sleek bird-shaped vehicle named the Song of Songs, soon arrived into Fedral space and requested entry into the trade conference.

[Dastardly Stench]

Marvel ran around the corner, into a U-shaped corridor, then quickly stopped and held out his hand. Behind him, the corridor faded out of sight and a new, slightly longer corridor faded in. It looked as though the corner started just where it had ended. In effect, he had made it look like the bottom of the U was longer than it really was.

Three stormies came around the corner and ran straight for what they thought was the next bend. Splatsplatsplat! Down on the floor they went, and the illusion faded back to reality--they had run headlong into a wall.

Marvel took off running back the way he had come--but not before he made one quick turn-around and gave them all the raspberry.

Therapy could be so...therapeutic.

[The Fedral Union]

(reserved for post tomorrow)

[Tierra Prime]

Valorum's Shuttle glided to a halt outside the Conference, after a few moments of silence the Sith Lord finally appeared flanked by eight Imperial Guards. Slowly he made his way to the Conference room, the sound of his Mechanical Breathing filling each room he walked into.

After ten minutes of very slow and ominous walking he finally arrived and sat down at a large table in the middle, his Guards waiting by the door. Ignoring the rest of the attendants, he simply waited. Hopefully the Conference would begin soon, he did not like to be kept waiting, and was known for the killing people who did, he of coarse wouldn't do it in this case, he would simply just leave if it annoyed him enough.