Re: THE SONS OF LIBERTY

Mon Aug 19, 2013 3:10 pm

Hopkins shakes his head. "I'm afraid that's not possible, Malcor. The location of the Empress is uncertain, though our contacts report her last known location to be the Imperial Palace. However, she could also be in the Hall of State, though this is unlikely, her personal summer home, or the Nova Aekhhwi'rhoi, a system of heavily defended catacombs and tunnels. You must avoid scaring her into this bolt-hole at all cost, as assaulting and clearing it would be incredibly difficult and claim the lives of many more troops than is necessary.

The only other thing we know is to stay away from the Citadel Nova Var'Theldun, the heart of the Tal Shiar secret police. These are to be avoided as well--they are masters of espionage, and will investigate any anomalies you make in your assault. Your main objective is now primarily to locate and disable any shields and defenses protecting the city while assessing the army's defense capabilities, and secondarily to locate the Empress without scaring her into the catacombs. Your tertiary goal, perhaps most importantly, is to prevent the Empress's escape, whether into the Nova Aekhhwi'rhoi or otherwise, until the shock troops arrive." Hopkins is about to sign out when he suddenly remembers something. "Oh, yes, I almost forgot. Tyson Malcor, meet DIM Commandos Captain Gilead Morris and Sergeant James Radi. Captain Morris is your relay to the Blackout and therefore us; if we have something to tell you, he'll know first. Radi is your hacker--if it has lights and buttons, he can make it sit, stay, and roll over. Morris, Radi, this is Tyson Malcor, a Yaka Marine who offered to go. He's your heavy.

That's it, we'll relay anything else through Morris. Your drop is in three hours. Good hunting, men!"

Hopkins disappears from the projector, and the commandos feel a slight lurch as the Blackout moves into hyperspace.

Mon Aug 19, 2013 3:52 pm

OOC: Trying to move forward with the story before all PM necessaries are taken care of.... Razz

These few RPG posts may be changed...

Hence why they won't catch so much as a dustball blown by the breeze of my passing out of place, I'll be securing the empress to make sure nothing scares her into the catacombs. After I bundle her out of there, the Tel Shair may lose some of their ability to effectively track her, as that will be my secondary goal, and my tertiary goal will be to forget some rather large items in some important defense areas.

Mon Aug 19, 2013 6:05 pm

*The Liberty undergoes extensive repairs, and within a day, her hull damage is sufficiently mended, thanks to the combined work crews of the Liberty and the Paladin.*

[OOC: Where'd J-red go? Razz

End OOC]

Mon Aug 19, 2013 8:41 pm

The Blackout drops out of hyperspace several hundred kilometers out from Rator III. The three marines, looking out the digital viewport, are astonished by the sight of hundreds of Romulan warbirds swarming the enormous planet, punctuated at intervals by several starbases.

"Let's hope this thing works like they say it does," mutters Captain Morris. Suddenly, an explosion sounds, the Blackout begins shaking violently, and the marines are thrown back into their seats. Morris jumps up and runs to the intercom, yelling, "Pilot! What happened? Are we under attack?"

The pilot replies calmly, "No, sir, we have activated the stealth procedure."

"THIS is stealth?!"

"Yes, sir, our approach is being disguised as an asteroid. The hull emitters are emulating rock with bits of metal, and enemy scanners will see us as such. We will not be discovered, but the approach will bring us inside the atmosphere for only thirty seconds before we shut the thrusters down and drift to the outskirts." The pilot switches to the speaker so the other marines can hear. "This is your captain speaking. Please enter and ready your drop pods. You will be given the green light in seventy seconds."

The shaking becomes more violent as the Blackout approaches the fleet, and Morris catches a glimpse through the flames that began to lick at the viewport of the Romulan fleet moving out of their way, nobody wishing to take such a large asteroid to their shields and risk damage. The marines secure themselves in their drop pods, double-checking their equipment and running through the drop procedure in their HUDs.

The shaking increases, until even the inertial dampeners and five-point safety webs cannot prevent the three commandos from being thrown violently back and forth in their seats. They hear the pilot through their headsets, "Drop in three...two...one...green light! Go!" and they all press the Drop Sequence Activation buttons. Staggering to prevent interference, the pods drop, shooting through the atmosphere and towards the mountain range not five klicks from the outskirts of the city. Morris, who dropped last, can see through the bottom of his pod, and notices two large boulders tumbling beneath him. It takes him a second to realize that they are not boulders, but the other two pods, cleverly disguised as fragments of the "asteroid" that just hit the atmosphere.

The three pods hurtle towards the surface, the mountains growing steadily nearer. With a jolt, Morris feels himself slam into the ground at terminal velocity. "Pod entry and landing successful," the computer helpfully announces, "no unmarked nearby heat signatures detected. Stand by for release." Morris checks his gear for the tenth time as the pod's computer breaks the powerful seal that had kept the hatch shut. Suddenly, it jerks open, and light floods in from outside. Morris climbs out just in time to see Radi and Malcor emerging from their respective rocks-- yes, they were still rocks, Morris observes, you would have to drill right through the armor to prove otherwise.

However, the specially designed pods allow for no such chance, as the computer and any trace of Daragon Incorporated implode, leaving nothing but three curiously hollow boulders lying in their craters. "No time to waste," Morris declares, "Radi, scan the city perimeter and find our entrance. Malcor, run a scanner around the horizon, make sure we don't get surprised. I'll check in with Angel."

Mon Aug 19, 2013 8:51 pm

OOC: Jhony said he was back, which means he's not. Never trust a Johnny that says he's back. Razz

*Malcor makes sure his adaptive camo is working and then heads off circling the city, planning to come in from the rear of the palace. He crawls, waddles, and moves from cover to cover ever aware of anything that even might have eyes or ears. He skirts several enemy defense installations, noting their position for later sabatoge, but not risking blowing his cover yet.*

Mon Aug 19, 2013 9:10 pm

[OOC to Supe and Ant: This is gonna be a GREAT subplot! Wink

End OOC]

Mon Aug 19, 2013 9:14 pm

OOC: That's what I'm hoping for. Razz

Mon Aug 19, 2013 10:47 pm

OOC Scare, I'm lovin' your NPC character.... that guy just adds so much ~~malice~~ to the game! Razz

Superdude, I'm really enjoying watching your stealthy subplot unfold... Smile

End OOC

The Romulan Republic task force came out of warp cloaked as it reached the site of the battle.
"Report Uhlan" Vardok ordered. An officer turned from his station and spoke to Commander S'ren,
"Sir, sensors detect twenty-three Warbird hulls of varying types and classifications. All of them are damaged beyond repair. There is a large amount of debris here sir; there were more ships destroyed here than the trashed husks we can detect. The other Warbirds were likely completely vaporized when their Singularities blew." Vardok drummed his fingers on his chair thoughtfully.
"What designations do those Warbirds bare? Any evidence of what faction they belong to?" The Commander half asked, half wondered aloud.
"Nineteen of the Warbirds bare clearly recognizable designations. None of them belong to any Romulan Republic ship, past or present. Eight of the damaged Warbirds clearly have 'I.R.W.' painted on their hulls. Six Warbirds display the emblem of the Romulan Star Empire Sir."
"Anything else Uhlan?" S'ren asked.
"There are chunks of debris that are clearly not Romulan in design Sir. Most appear to be Federation or Phoenix Command Group, some appear to be from Daragon Incorporated, and there are others the origin of which I do not know Sir." The Uhlan replied.
"Any residual weapons fire?" Vardok questioned.
"Trace amounts of antiprotons Sir, but from how weakly they are appearing on our sensors, I estimate it has been several days since the Romulan disruptors they came from were fired. The only evidence of plasma weapons being used are the scorch marks on some of the larger pieces of non-Romulan debris. All of the Warbirds have extensive damage from phaser, photon torpedo, quantum torpedo, and traces of other weapons of undetermined type Sir." The Republic officer answered.
"So we know that Imperial Warbirds were here, and that they fought a group of Republic allies... Send that information back to Admiral Telth'Alore in code, and inform her that I plan to investigate further."
"Aye Sir." The Uhlan encrypted the data and sent it to the Admiral. Just then the comm officer looked up to Commander S'ren.
"Sir, Commander Telth'Alore is hailing us."
"Onscreen." Vardok commanded.
Nala Telth'Alore appeared on the viewscreen.
"Sir, using an old trick I picked up in the Avanti Incident*, I was able to find and decode an encrypted distress signal; it's coming from the debris field." Vardok looked surprised.
"Uhlan, we scanned for life-signs already, did we not?" Vardok was puzzled. How can there be anyone out there?
"Yes Sir, there are no life-signs; in fact, I just finished a second scan that I started when Commander Telth'Alore informed us of the signal."
"You can't find anything because it's coming from a cloaked escape pod." Nala looked amused.
"Why cloak an escape pod Nala?" The more he heard, the more confused Vardok was at this. "Isn't the idea of an escape pod to be rescued?"
"Yes, but not by us. They don't think like us. Were they in our place, and found an escape pod filled with an invading enemy, they wouldn't hesitate to destroy it, and quite honestly, with good reason."
"Can you locate it? If so, I have a plan..." Vardok rubbed his hands together, working out the details in his mind. I think I can make this work... If only they'll buy it...
"It's actually quite simple. We transmit a message in the same code as theirs saying that we are here and ready to evacuate them, and they decloak." Nala looked quite pleased with herself that she was already on to Vardok's plan.
"Nala, would you kindly beam over to the Alth'Indor, I'll need your help with this."
"Absolutely Commander S'ren, I'm looking forward to this."
"Oh, and Nala, if you could come over in Romulan Empire Subcommander's uniform, it would help as we'll be a bit busy working on some of our own."

One hour later

Commander Nala stood in the Alth'Indor's officers' mess, directing the redecorating of the room in Imperial fashion. The main transporter room, sickbay, the bridge, engineering, an armory, a dozen guest quarters, and the halls and turbolifts leading between said locations had also had any trace of being Romulan Republic affiliated removed, and replaced with the Imperial Raptor. Most of the crew were away from these sections to prevent having to provide them with Imperial uniforms, but those working in these key locations now wore the uniform of the Empire. All non Romulan crew members were now on leave and allowed to use the ship's very limited recreational facilities for the duration of Vardok's plan to prevent any mishap.
The ship's intercom gave a two-tone whistle and Commander S'ren's voice come across,
"Commander Nala, when your done down there, I'm ready for you in the main transporter room."
Nala turned from instructing the hanging of an Imperial banner and motioned to Veri, her first officer. Both woman were now dressed in the uniform of the Empire, Nala in that of a Subcommander, Veri in that of a Centurion.
Veri was a Romulan woman of average height and build, her eyes a deep blue, her black hair worn nearly in the traditional fashion, but a bit longer in front. She and Nala had the kind of friendship that could only be forged through years of daily trusting the other just to survive.
As they walked through they now nearly deserted halls of the Alth'Indor, Nala tugged at the belt of her uniform.
"Blasted Replicator can't get the size right. Does your uniform fit you?"
"My uniform fits me fine. And yours is your size. Or rather, it was your size as of your last fitting." Veri snickered as she said this.
"Shut up Veri; I didn't ask for your opinion." Nala said, not really offended, this was more of a game they played than a true exchange of insults.
"If you didn't have a penchant for Romulan Ale, that uniform would fit you fine." Veri joked.
"And if you keep this up I'll get Bloodwhine instead, and then what will your officers' club have to drink during our weekly Romulan Chess** tournaments?" Nala said, knowing that she had just won.
"No! Please don't do that!" Veri faked being horrified, "You'd have a mutiny on your hands for sure! Either that, or you might attract Klingons!" Both of them burst out in laughter at this.
"Can you imagine, a Klingon playing chess!" Nala was howling with laughter at this point.
Vardok stepped out of the Transporter room to meet them.
"What's so funny, what did I miss?" Nala just kept laughing, unable or unwilling to stop.
"Sir, Commander Nala has a force of Klingons playing chess!" Veri managed to get out in a barely understandable fashion. Vardok didn't get it and changed the subject.
"While our 'guests' are here, you'll need to call Nala SUBcommander."
"Understood Sir," just as Nala started to calm down, Veri broke in again, "They'd probably attack the board with Bat'leths, with Bloodwhine spilled all over their beards, and scream something about "Today is a good day to lose at chess!" Nala laughed harder than before, Vardok quietly walked back into the Transporter room, pretending he wasn't hearing this.

One minute later

Both Commanders, both first officers, six guards, two medics, the ships chief medical officer, and the transporter chief all stood in the Transporter room, all dressed in very Imperial attire. Vardok turned to, now Subcommander of the Romulan Star Empire, Nala.
"Nala, would you please hail that escape pod in that code your were telling us about earlier?" Rather than respond in words, Nala tapped a few buttons on a wall console, then spoke into the mic,
"This is the I.R.W. Alth'Indor, we are here to evac you. Please respond." A faint voice crackled in reply over the audio comm.
"This is Commander Nora'dex, leader of (static) force (static) sending coordi (static) 152793, repeat, 46152793, (static) we are at coordinates 46152793. Life support fa (static) diate help."
The Transporter Chief entered the coordinates provided by Commander Nora'dex.
"I've got five life signs Sir, some of them are very weak." The Chief said.
"Beam them aboard Chief." Vardok ordered. The transporter pad crackled with dancing dots and sparking swirls of green. Five beings materialized on the pad. Four were standing, a middle-aged Romulan male in an Imperial Commander's uniform, a young Romulan women in a the uniform of an Imperial nurse, two Reman guards, and lying on the ground, barely conscious was a Romulan Centurion.
"Long live the Llei'hmne***!" Vardok said with the Imperial salute, waiting long enough for Commander Nora'dex to do the same. "Welcome aboard the Alth'Indor. Is anyone else in your party injured? No? Medics, please take that Romulan to sick-bay. I am Commander Vardok S'ryn, and this is my first officer, Subcommander Nala Telth'aven." Vardok extended his hand for Commander Nora'dex to shake.
"I am pleased to meet you Commander S'ryn, might we have some, refreshments? We had to take our replicator offline to keep life support up, and we are quite famished." Vardok gestured towards the door.
"Why of course. Where are my manners Commander Nora'dex. Come this way and we shall have a feast for you. And perhaps you can shed some light on how the glorious Empire was defeated by a group of inferior Hevam****." Vardok gave a sour look at this, a look that was echoed far more deeply in the face of Commander Nora'dex.
The medics placed the likely dying Centurion on a stretcher and carried him off to sickbay to give him what care they could. The rest of the group went out the door and walked in the direction of the officers' mess.

OOC
* Avanti Incident = I was too lazy to try to figure out a better explanation. Razz

** Romulan Chess, there is so such game. But there is human chess and Vulcan chess, so there must be Romulan chess; can't you just see a Romulan playing chess? Razz

*** Llei'hmne=Empress
**** Havam=humans. Romulans, especially those of the Empire, think that everyone who isn't Romulan is inferior to them.
End OOC

Tue Aug 20, 2013 9:28 am

[OOC] Romulan chess is like human chess, except there are variables allowing friendly pieces to change sides and randomly backstab other friendlies. Razz

[/OOC]

Tue Aug 20, 2013 12:10 pm

OOC, You make one critical error, the backstabbing of friendly pieces is never random. It always advances the ultimate goals of the player. A Raptor lost in exchange for maneuvering one's Assassin close enough to take out your enemy's Empress is a calculated loss, and a net gain. And taking out one of your own Uhlans is well worth it considering that your Praetor was in check and that was the only way to victory. Razz

End OOC

Wed Aug 21, 2013 3:30 pm

[OoC: So...still waiting on someone to be a Romulan for me to talk to... /OoC]

Wed Aug 21, 2013 4:20 pm

OOC: *Looks at dino.*

Wed Aug 21, 2013 4:46 pm

OOC whistles cluelessly... realizing that I needed to do something... End OOC

Banners wave outside of the recruitment center. Young Romulans walk in to join the ranks of the Empire. Several Romulan's in full Imperial dress uniform stand behind a counter at the recruitment center. They call out to passersby:

"Join the glorious military of the mighty Romulan Star Empire today! Fight evil! Bring justice to our enemies! Bring honor to your family name! Defend the Empire from the wicked Federation and her sinister allies! Stand resolute against all who dare oppose us! We are Romulans! None can withstand our power! Join today and fight for tomorrow!"

Wed Aug 21, 2013 5:07 pm

Iramaku and Chinoriki walk up to one of the Romulans in full Imperial dress uniform, and adopting a respectful posture, ask to speak with him.

[OoC: Remember I know nothing about Romulan culture IRL, so if I do something too "human," Dino, just help me out IC by not noticing it, until/unless I do something like, stupidly obvious and I PM you about it. /OoC]

"Sir," Iramaku asks, "my comrade and I would like to inquire about becoming Space Marines of the Romulan Star Empire. Having studied as much as we could, we've determined that the Federation's ground forces, and that of her allies, are nothing compared to her space forces. We want to take on the head of the beast; however, my comrade has often pondered on the tactics of a Space Marine, and what kind of impact the full force of the Space Marines could have against a Federation fleet.
"To be blunt, we wish to inquire about the kind of training a Space Marine endures for his Empire, so we can better prepare ourselves for the honor of serving in the ranks of the Romulan Space Marines."

Wed Aug 21, 2013 6:10 pm

[OOC to All: JSYK, I am currently swamped with school and may not post here as frequently as normal. However, please know I am reading posts and am up-to-date sufficiently, and will step in as GM anytime I'm needed. I should be more active on weekends. These recon subplots are actually a good excuse for me not to post as much. Wink

End OOC]

[OOC to Jace: I know like nothing of Romulan culture, too, but regardless, I think your recon team is doing a good job being subtle. Smile

End OOC]

Wed Aug 21, 2013 6:29 pm

OOC: I don't think the idea of Space Marines has ever occured to Romulans.....on that note, I think their entire military consists of their navy, with officers trained in basic use of their personal defense weapon for anything they might need it for, including personal offense. Razz

Wed Aug 21, 2013 6:33 pm

Commander Ant wrote:OOC: I don't think the idea of Space Marines has ever occured to Romulans.....on that note, I think their entire military consists of their navy, with officers trained in basic use of their personal defense weapon for anything they might need it for, including personal offense.

[OoC: Then, tell me, Scare, what is my recon team doing then? /OoC]

Wed Aug 21, 2013 6:43 pm

OOC: Well first off, I'm not scare. Razz

Second off, probably doing recon. If they wanted to finiltrate anything, they could get hired doing construction work, or accoutant work, or something boring, or they could join the navy and infiltrate it to find out it's strength, ship positions, if they do have some sort of non-space-ship force (Dino will GM that), etcetera. There's all sorts of stuff your recon team could do. If you want, they could even just sneak around as Romulans and drop by any barracks, shipyards, AA guns, heavy weapons emplacements, planetary shields, transporter rooms, weapons manufacuring facilities, etcetera and prepare to blow them up (just don't till the DIMmies and Tyson capture the Empress, we don't want her to catch a wiff of anythign till we have her, or she'll disappear.)

Wed Aug 21, 2013 7:05 pm

Commander Ant wrote:OOC: Well first off, I'm not scare. :PSecond off, probably doing recon. If they wanted to finiltrate anything, they could get hired doing construction work, or accoutant work, or something boring, or they could join the navy and infiltrate it to find out it's strength, ship positions, if they do have some sort of non-space-ship force (Dino will GM that), etcetera. There's all sorts of stuff your recon team could do. If you want, they could even just sneak around as Romulans and drop by any barracks, shipyards, AA guns, heavy weapons emplacements, planetary shields, transporter rooms, weapons manufacuring facilities, etcetera and prepare to blow them up (just don't till the DIMmies and Tyson capture the Empress, we don't want her to catch a wiff of anythign till we have her, or she'll disappear.)

[OoC: I said Scare, because he flat-out told me to ask about Rommie Space Marines. So, my bad. But that's the plan for now, unless somebody tells me otherwise.
And it's nice to see I'm not the only one who calls Supe's guys Dimmies, even if you actually include the acronym part. Razz

/OoC]

Wed Aug 21, 2013 7:34 pm

OOC: Oh, my bad. I didn't know scare had told you that. Razz

Well, I guess the new Romulans have actually come to their senses and know that something other than cloaked ships that fire plasma across their territory might be a good thing. Razz

And yeah, I've been calling supe's guys DIMmies ever since you first did, and I've been using that term in my many PMs with him. Razz

Wed Aug 21, 2013 7:39 pm

[OoC: Hey, no problem man. I just wanna know what to do now that the existence of Romulan Space Marines is in question. Razz

And thank you, I'm flattered. I'm sure it annoys him greatly, so that's a good thing. Razz

/OoC]

Wed Aug 21, 2013 7:46 pm

OOC nothing on Memory Alpha about it... I think their navy is there main force, probably with a few ground troops to guard key locations and keep the peace on captured worlds. Although we don't hear about marines, we do hear about Remans being used as shock troops (aka, cannon fodder) during the Dominion War. So they DO have SOME sort of ground/boarding troops. However, Trek is really all about (in full scale war) the space battles; ship versus ship, fleet against fleet. The very limited ground combat we see are small skirmishes.

Since Scare ok'd it, Romulan Marines will work. They would be good for targeting flagships, space stations, and cities that are desired... intact... P End OOC

Wed Aug 21, 2013 8:04 pm

[OoC: So, basically, another typical sci-fi adventure where it's all about the space aspect, and nobody really pays attention to ground combat...figures...Star Wars is better, but then again, that means it lacks in both space and ground...while Halo is ground-centric with some rudimentary space stuff...

*Continues ranting about how I can't find a sci-fi universe that includes both space and ground tactics equally.* Razz

Though, there is John G. Hemry/Jack Campbell's work. He does both, just not at the same time. /OoC]

Wed Aug 21, 2013 9:10 pm

OOC: @Dino: though I wouldn't expect those affiliated with creating/writing star-trek to know this, but shock troops are not cannon fodder, quite the opposite. Razz

I'm not sure how much you know about HALO (since you're more of a ST/SW person), but Marines would be fodder and ODST would be shock troopers (it's even in their name, Orbital Drop Shock Troopers). ODST where basically the best of the best before Spartans came to light, who are the current Best of the Best.

@Jace: Meh, I don't think it annoys him when I say it. Razz

But I feel ya about the sci-fi universe, though I would include a few other things. Razz

Wed Aug 21, 2013 10:08 pm

[OOC] Just started a college class so I'm getting used to a new schedule, so it'll be a day before I get back on the subplot.

It does not annoy me. In fact, I've adapted it as part of the DIM culture. However, the proper way to say it is "Dimsees," for the acronym DIMC. "Dimmie" is not used at all, as it would refer to the DIMs, which is a division of the DISF (Daragon Incorporated Security Force), and not a unit.

So no, it doesn't annoy me, but yes, you're wrong. Razz

[/OOC]