JSA Joint Council [JSA only]

[Fulma]

The Fulma looked over and at the man, and spooke up. " Now everyone I think we should allow this new speaker the floor." Motioning with his hand he waved the newcomer onto the floor.

[The Fedral Union]

Willard looked at the remnant representative, he recognized the others clothing from the Terran data bases. His eyes gazed art him as he stood there with interest, he wondered what was going on..

[Dbrought]

The Dominion ambassador Markus rose from his seat and walked over to greet the new arrival
"Welcome my friend to the JSA council room. We are happy to see you again after the success of our last meeting. We hope you are happy with our Hyperspace gate, and are welcome to any other beneficial treaty of agreement between our nations"

[Hornopolis]

The Mouth of the Remnant knelt in the chambers of the Remnant's embassy, his form flickering slightly as the distance between the Doppelganger and the original increased at an astonishing rate. And then in one startling moment, the Operative and Servitors of the embassy received a single message, transmitted from hundreds of thousands of lightyears away. They worked around the Mouth as he continued to kneel in the centre of the chamber, dismantling every piece of Remnant technology and storing it in the containers from whence the equipment had come. The entire process took only twenty minutes and the Operative and Servitors quickly carried the disassembled structure of the embassy to their shuttle, and without a single word, the small vessel departed the system, leaving the Mouth alone in a now empty and bare room.

Standing up slowly and with dread purpose, the Doppelganger of the true Mouth walked through Delta Capita, exploring and watching, seeing all one last time. And finally, when he had taken in the view and recorded it for further use, his entire memory bank was encrypted into a single package and transmitted over lightyears of space. So it was done.... With nothing left to do, the Mouth walked towards the JSA Council chambers and stopped outside the door, his tall silver form bowing its head slightly, the black cloak billowing in some chilled, unearthly wind. He spoke to the guards at the door in monotonous, inhuman words.

"The Progenitors wish to speak."

Mosby stood to straighten his uniform, looked the Remnant speaker up and down, "The floor is yours my friend, speak your piece."

[The Downcast Remnant]

((OOC: Okay, given the guideline timeframe of NS FT of 1 RL day = 1 NS year, I'm assuming a fair amount of trade has occurred since my conference thing, so you've gotten a fair amount of resources from me Dbrought as per our agreement. Also, I've taken some liberties in regards to my effects on things to add to the ridiculous amount of theatricality of this speech. Anything I describe will have no lasting effects on you, all I'm doing is making the place colder and the lights fade out. Nothing damaging. So without further ado, here. We. Go....))

+++

The Mouth glanced around briefly at all assembled and nodded in acceptance as he was granted permission to speak. His voice rang out throughout the hall, cold and metallic and utterly without emotion. Like a whisper amplified to fill the chamber, the hissing voice spoke in slow, carefully chosen words.

"For years now, the Remnant has been active, pursuing the goals and objectives of our creators, the Progenitors. We have engaged in trade with multiple nations assembled here. The Dominion and United Terran Alliance have gifted us with stargates to assist in trade. We have examined and learned much from the numerous civilisations we have come in contact with...."

A strange choir seems to begin, apparently without a source, filling the hall with calm whispers. At the centre of the hall, the Doppelganger flickers, its silver skin beginning to change tone and colour. It continues unheeding.

"It is with this in mind, after learning all we can and biding our time, that we have elected to speak before the council of the Joint Systems Alliance. Know that all you have given us shall be utilised to strengthen you, and that your kindness shall be repaid.

The Progenitors wish to speak..."

The change is almost immediate. The Mouth doubled over, seemingly in horrific pain, clutching its stomach as the cloak disappears back into its shoulders. The silver melts away, replaced by dead, sickly white skin. The figure loses its muscular appearance and there is a bright flash of blue and an explosion of dread black smoke as the holographic emitters and nanomachinery of the Doppelganger rapidly alters its appearance.

But the Mouth is not the only thing seemingly affected, and as the smoke clears the room grows horribly cold, all warmth leeched from it. The lights dim, some going out completely as a dread chorus of whispers, screams and inhuman chanting fills the room. Only the immense distance between the Doppelganger and the actual speaker, only the thousands of light years from Delta Capita to the Progenitor's fleet holds back the more malevolent effects of the dread Aura.

The figure in the centre of the chamber is different now, beyond all recognition. He is tall and frighteningly thin, yet his figure exudes an impression of immense strength. The skin is dead, cracked and pale as veins of the darkest blue criss cross the whiteness. The eyes are closed, but the teeth are bared. Such malevolent teeth, cold and white, sharp as needles and as numerous as the stars in the night sky. A single pointed tongue licks the pathetic, dead edges of the mouth, for there are no lips. Dread claws extend beyond the black military uniform of the new figure, a black which seems to absorb what little light is left in the room. There is no hair, only needle like spines which extend over the back of the head. The face is gaunt, the cheeks sunken and finally the eyes open. There is nothing in them, they are dead and featureless, filled with a white cloud and the only thing which breaks the apparent blindness are the dark blue veins which criss cross where the pupil should be.

And finally, as he glances around the room, that cruel sadistic smile blazing across his face, does the figure open its mouth and hisses, the tongue flicking out between the teeth. The voice is even more horrifying than the choir which now fills the hall, dead and raspy. The only emotion is pure sadistic enjoyment.

The choir begins to sing in a haunting tone, filled with pain and malice, filling the room. And above it all, the nightmarish figure finally speaks....

[Rethan]

We are the sons of perdition,
We are the darkness supreme,
We are the soulless, the fallen,
We are the all cleansing flame.

...."My name is Dragomyr Lazarevik. I have been the Mouth of the Remnant for as long as you have known me. But before that I was something with much more meaning. I was Grand Marshal for vast armies and starfleets.

In the past years that the Remnant has been active, venturing throughout the galaxy and making contact with nations and alliances across the four sectors of the Milky Way. We sought out the strong, the valuable, the worthwhile nations amongst the stars. We believed that it would not be difficult to convince the galaxy to unite. We made contact with the United Terran Alliance. We constructed an Embassy for the JSA. We held our own diplomatic conference. We made trade deals with numerous nations, while we mined our own vast collection of resources. Our stockpiles were enough to build an entire fleet, and yet we continued: making contact, signing contracts. We have walked on the ringworld of New Sol, we have spoken with the representatives of entire star empires, we have seen the lives of billions.
And we are disgusted."

The chorus grows louder. Louder. Louder. Four voices rise above the screeching cacophony, their bodiless words reverberating throughout the hall.

"I am the owner of all." speaks the first voice, calm and carefully delivered.
"I am the cause of corruption." speaks the second voice, female and with a slight hint of apprehension in her voice.
"I am the end of the end." speaks the third, loud and with a clear flavouring of pure malice and insanity.
"I am the united flame." speaks the last, cold, malicious and perfectly clear. Without emotion....perfect....

The chorus of voices gets louder, their haunting whispers and screeches getting louder as the warmth of the room leaves, frost begins to form on the walls and floor. Plants wither and die, while at the centre, utterly unperturbed, Dragomyr speaks again, his voice somehow cutting through the incessant screams. Those of weak minds would begin to have their eyes deceive them, all manner of monstrous being crawling up from the floor. Security guards would turn to Rethast Initiates, strange twisting and apparently alive metallic wire lashes out at the delegates, but passes through without causing harm. The visions grow stronger as the Aura's effects bleed through the carefully designed device which continues its speech.

"We watch as you wallow in disgusting decadence. We were reviled by the pathetic showcase of comfort and complacency of the Terrans, of the cowardice of the member nations of the JSA, of the weakness of your armies. You hid behind words of democracy and peace when the Jannarii threatened you, abandoned a so-called friend. You are pathetic.

You cling to your old ideals of democracy and freedom. Weakness and disorder. But you are not to blame. Through our guiding, purging, and all-cleansing flame, you shall be brought strength and unity. But we see that you are too foolish to accept, too cowardly to conform, too misguided to submit. And so, in your pathetic weakness, you shall be destroyed. Your extinction is inevitable.

We have seen the pain in which you live, deluded into believing you are safe and strong. Our cleansing fire shall heal you, we shall make you stronger by bringing you unto us. Death cures all pain. We are your cancer and we are your cure. Your stars themselves shall scream at our coming, and in death you shall be reborn as us. I hope you can see the salvation we bring and that you will not resist. We do this for you. We do this for the galaxy.

Know this, species of the JSA. You have fuelled your own demise. The resources you gave us has built a fleet that shall purify and cleanse the galaxy. The stargates you have so willingly given unto us shall be used against you. Your fate is sealed...."

There is a pause, and the haunting voices get louder, to the point that they are near deafening, but Dragomyr speaks, practically yelling above the screeches and hisses, the cold winds and ignoring the hallucinations.

We are the sons of infection,
We are the cancer supreme,
We are the soulless, the fallen,
We are the great Pathogen!

And at last, he speaks his final words...

"We are the Rethast. Your species are now obsolete."

And in a final burst of blue fire the body collapses into ash, as a sudden explosion of blue flame obliterating the body as black smoke rises to the roof and nought but ash billows in the wind. The warmth returns to the air, the lights brighten again and the insanity inducing effects of the Aura fade as the hallucinations vanish in an instant. The message is clear....

The infection has begun to spread.

Mwaaa ha ha ha! I played you all like puppets and then cut your strings.

Okay, serious mode for a minute here. I'm expecting (perhaps a bit paranoid of me, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong) that people will be somewhat angered by this rather insidious and manipulative act. I hope you can all see and understand why I did it and not cast an Ignore on me.

The JSA is currently one of the few alliances I actually have been watching and taken an interest in, and I hope we can work together to tell a grand story of infection, war and subterfuge as you fight my infection as it spreads. But let me make a few things clear.

Oh, and thanks to Kisia for reminding me to say this: There will be no massive war unless you want one. Besides, that's not how the Rethast work. More likely things will start with small spy missions or sabotage, kidnappings and infections, which I can deal with on a nation to nation basis and not across the whole alliance.

Yes, I have your stargates Dbrought and TFU, but no I will not be sending weapons and fleets through them without your permission. I did it because it could be an interesting plot and roleplay as I seed an infection on one of your worlds through them, or if you're forced to find and eradicate mine because you cannot safely utilise your gates while I still have one (because I might send some kind of superweapon through it).
Yes, I lied to some of you OOCly to maintain my cover. I'm expecting TFU to be the most offended by this, but I hope you can see why I did this. It also serves the purpose of showing just how the Rethast work and why you'll need to be a little more cagey and cautious than just hurling fleets at me.

If you have any questions or are angered, please address me through TG, this OOC thread or MSN if you have my address. TFU does, so if any of the JSA want it just ask him. If this big rant of mine is for nothing and you all take it willingly without getting irate, then you can all laugh at me for being hopelessly paranoid. For now, adieu, and let the infection spread....

[Ekilion]

"Well that is rather worrysome" Andy said completely unphased by what just happened. The only thing that bothered him was the holograms ability to minipulate its surroundings so well. "I must inform the High Lord." he sent his aide away to inform the high lord of the threat.

"We must come up with a plan for the worst.' Andy said as he turned back to the council.

[Hornopolis]

Mosby stood, weapon drawn, pointing it at the pile of ash, he neared it slowly, then swiftly pulled a glass tube from his pocket and collected some ash, he didn't know why he did it, it was involuntary, "Evict the Remant from their embassy, if you need to kill them, I'll make sure to slip it past DCS." a group of Praetor ran out of the room, heading towards the Remnant embassy, Mosby stayed to adress the council, he walked nonchalanlty to the podium, then cleared his throat and spoke, "Members of the Joint Systems Alliance, this is our finest hour, I suggest you inform your nation's leader and be on your way, this place is no longer safe anymore." Mosby did a curteous bow and swiftly left the room, straight towards the Centurion Embassy to warn of the comming conflict.

[Kisia]

"Good Idea." The Kisian ambassador rose. He said one other thing before he left the room. "These...things are a very threat to the existence of trillans of lives. We should prepare for outright war." He then proceeded to the Kisian embassy.

[Ekilion]

2 hours later

High Admiral Nane stood before the collective military group assembled before him (you guys can post your characters and stuff). "Earlier today war was declared on the JSA as a whole and we must prepare ourselves for invasion. Any ideas."

[Dbrought]

The Dominion will provide our Gateship Hadrian as well a a few other ships. our war with the Drej is tasking most of our attack fleets unfortunately. The Gates we gave them still appear intact. if nothing else they are still carrying around fragments or them. with your approval we would like to begin raiding runs against all known coordinates associated with their movements

[Hornopolis]

Mosby scoffed and ruffled his brow, frowning at the Lizard's defiling of the podium, ''With all due respect Nane is it? Anyway, I do not think that blurting out "we've been had, what should we do?" like a scared serf, we should weigh the pros and cons of actually attacking the Rethast.'' Mosby stood and bowed, deeply, showing respect as is accustomed to do in Centuria, even if one hated the other they bowed to, "But please continue.''

[Kisia]

Imperial Star General Farzon walked in. Notcing someone was speaking, he simply took a seat.

[Dreadful Sagittarius]

IC:
Hein stood, 'Admiral, if the JSA command can provide us with coordinates for Rethast territory, my government would be willing to despatch our Banshee-class Stealthstars to gather as much intelligence as possible.'

OOC: Night guys, TFU, I'll TG you about those shield generators, okay?

[Ozymos]

UEK High Command Douglas C-57 Dakota,
En Route To Delta Capita

"Desmond's not going to be happy about this" the woman, clad in the uniform of High Command, said to her colleague, sipping her tea as the pure-white Dakota headed across space towards Delta Capita. The old design was still going strong, 40-odd years on, and it skipped across space with ease

"I was aware the Rethast were no more" the woman continued, glancing out of the porthole-style windows. Little to see, for the moment "Why were we not notified of their return beforehand?"

Her colleague, clad in the same uniform as the woman he was sharing the craft with, pondered her question for a few moments. For those few moments, only the dull drone of the Pratt & Whitney Twin Hornet's propelling them through the inky blackness in IFMO space

"I think..." he began slowly "...I think we had no prior warning, because this is the first anyone has heard of the Rethast". He looked across at the woman, still sipping tea. She took a moment, contemplating his answer. It was true; the Rethast were more a myth than anything else in the UEK. There had been no sightings of them for many, many years. For them to return, and with such style - it was worrying, to say the least. To the point that Ambassador Danders' C-57 had been denied access to the Jumpgate out of UEK space, and they were now taking her place. These thoughts were interrupted by a clunking of a docking mechanism and the slow hum of the engines dying down

"Well, I guess this is it, Colonel Parker" the man said, standing from his seat and straightening his uniform, before grabbing his briefcase and moving to the door. Parker was right behind him, donning her hat. They stepped off the craft and headed inside, wondering just what the rest of the JSA had in mind for the Rethast's return.

[Cypra Mundii]

Explorator Techpriest Ralens was seeing the reactions around the room of those who were preparing for war. His calm collected attitude was attributed to his old age. He informed one of his attendants to send a message back to Cypra Mundii telling the Archmagos Veneratus of the possibility of the coming war. He began to speak to the chambers,

"Gentleman! We should not be sword rattling just yet! These Rethan's seem to be advanced in technology enough to infiltrate and affect the systems of the largest and most secure space station in JSA space. This could mean this species has already infiltrated our home systems. We should be looking at making sure we are secure at home before we go hunting this potentially dangerous enemy."

[Hornopolis]

Explorator Techpriest Ralens was seeing the reactions around the room of those who were preparing for war. His calm collected attitude was attributed to his old age. He informed one of his attendants to send a message back to Cypra Mundii telling the Archmagos Veneratus of the possibility of the coming war. He began to speak to the chambers,

"Gentleman! We should not be sword rattling just yet! These Rethan's seem to be advanced in technology enough to infiltrate and affect the systems of the largest and most secure space station in JSA space. This could mean this species has already infiltrated our home systems. We should be looking at making sure we are secure at home before we go hunting this potentially dangerous enemy."

Mosby nodded to the old man, "The Cypran is correct, I suggest no action should be taken against the actual Rethast space until we have made sure our own systems are not infected by their plague, once we are for sure there is no Rethan presence in our systems we will talk about the idiotic option of attack.''

[Order of the Light-]

Jedi Master Jacc Fi leant forward before speaking.
"The Republic, and by extension the Jedi Order, will of course support it's allies in the JSA, the Council has authorized me to offer the services of the Jedi to gather intelligence on our new enemies" He offered, although not the usual task of a Jedi, with the force assisting them, a Jedi Knight could hide him or her-self from detection, infiltrate hostile facilities, and of course if detected, fight their way out.

[Cypra Mundii]

As Mosby finished the old man started again,

"Do we know where the Hypergates that Rethan bought are currently? If they are in a non-populated region of space it will be extremely difficult to try and gather intelligence on the Rethan's as any ship getting too close will stick out like a Supernova."

[Dbrought]

As Mosby finished the old man started again,

"Do we know where the Hypergates that Rethan bought are currently? If they are in a non-populated region of space it will be extremely difficult to try and gather intelligence on the Rethan's as any ship getting too close will stick out like a Supernova."

The gates.. or at least what is left of them are currently in transit between systems. We are attempting to get an exact fix for their coordinates as we speak. From the sound of things however it seems that they are still in a buildup stage. in the event of a preemptive strike, should their be a strike i can compile a list of the locations of all their movements with the gates as well as the amount of waste material we sent them. perhaps with this we can get a general estimate of their locations and the size of their fleet.

[Hornopolis]

As Mosby finished the old man started again,

"Do we know where the Hypergates that Rethan bought are currently? If they are in a non-populated region of space it will be extremely difficult to try and gather intelligence on the Rethan's as any ship getting too close will stick out like a Supernova."

The gates.. or at least what is left of them are currently in transit between systems. We are attempting to get an exact fix for their coordinates as we speak. From the sound of things however it seems that they are still in a buildup stage. in the event of a preemptive strike, should their be a strike i can compile a list of the locations of all their movements with the gates as well as the amount of waste material we sent them. perhaps with this we can get a general estimate of their locations and the size of their fleet.

"There will be no pre-emptive strike, I suggest we wait until they mobilze their fleets.''

[Cypra Mundii]

"We don't even know what we are up against yet. We need to be concerned with securing our home systems, defenses, fleet commanders, political leaders, capital ships, from sabatoge while attempting to locate the possible threat. No major action should be taken as of yet. Until these two things are accomplished, we can't do anything effectively if war does break out. We should also be contacting the other nations and Alliances in the Milky Way and alarming them to what seems to be an invasion of some sort."

"Should we recall the fleets at Gaugemela Naval Academy?"

[Hornopolis]

"We don't even know what we are up against yet. We need to be concerned with securing our home systems, defenses, fleet commanders, political leaders, capital ships, from sabatoge while attempting to locate the possible threat. No major action should be taken as of yet. Until these two things are accomplished, we can't do anything effectively if war does break out. We should also be contacting the other nations and Alliances in the Milky Way and alarming them to what seems to be an invasion of some sort."

"Should we recall the fleets at Gaugemela Naval Academy?"

Mosby pulled an ancient ram's horn, over a hundred years old and yellowing, he looked at it, his lucky charm had been in his family for years, "Yes, recall them from Center immiediatly Scipio Africanus will understand." he unbuttoned a few of the top buttons of his uniform jacket, a dark blue covered in medals of commendation, heroism and countless acts of selflessness, bravery and valor, "Do what you must, although Gaugamela will have to search all ships outbound from Center, as a precaution against Rethan presence on your's and our ships.''

[Kisia]

OOC: This is just a idea, don't go saying it's a suicide mission as soon as you read it, it's somewhat strategic...

Imperial Star General Farzon said, "If I may speak, I have a idea. When the JSA is ready, we can initiate a 2 step invasion of the Rethan systems. You see, the Kisian Empire can attack Rethan systems and ships, sending most of the force towards us. Thus, the rest of the JSA can start a counterattack on the undefended parts of their systems. They will be strained for ships and men, as the 2 separate wars rage on."

[Ozymos]

OOC: This is just a idea, do go saying it's a suicide mission as soon as you read it, it's somewhat strategic...

Imperial Star General Farzon if I may speak, I have a idea. When the JSA is ready, we can initiate a 2 step invasion of the Rethan systems. You see, the Kisian Empire can attack Rethan systems and ships, sending most of the force towards us. Thus, the rest of the JSA can start a counterattack on the undefended parts of their systems. They will be strained for ships and men, as the 2 separate wars rage on.

It was at this point that Colonel Parker and her as-yet unnamed colleague walked in, only to hear this being mentioned

"I would hope, sir, that we will not be taking such a rash course of action this early in the day" the man said, removing his hat and tucking it under his arm, revealing his jet-black hair "Surely The Rethast's main goal should be uncovered before we launch such a bold move"